“The Family” is taking on new meaning in Spokane, Wash. The Local Planet Weekly reports that the Cowles family, developers of River Park Square mall in downtown Spokane, has filed subpoenas in the long-running legal battle over the public-private partnership established to remodel the mall and adjoining parking garage. The Cowles family also owns Spokane’s daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, as well as the local business journal and NBC television affiliate. The subpoenas target political opponents, including The Local Planet Weekly and anyone who helped with its AAN first-place award-winning story, "All in the Family," which details the Cowles family's conflicts of interest.
Biff Baker blew the whistle on abuse in the U.S. missile-defense program. Then, he got fired. "The national missile-defense system is supposed to protect America against a nuclear attack. Biff Baker's job was to protect American taxpayers against getting ripped off by the agencies and contractors developing the system. When he did his job too well, he says, he was fired," reports Colorado Springs Independent's Terje Langeland. "Now, federal investigators are looking into Baker's allegations that agencies working on the missile-defense program are engaging in fraud, waste and abuse."
