Restricted turns on red, a traffic police unit (finally!) and a plan to get to the root causes of crash fatalities announced at Mayor Brown’s street safety press conference this week.
A new ordinance would include Two-Spirit people in the city’s human rights code, double up on state shield protections and ensure city employees’ insurance covers gender-affirming and reproductive healthcare.
For some Spokanites, a 12% rent hike means forgoing medicine or turning the heat off. A rent stabilization law that would cap annual hikes at 5-to-7% is closer to passing than ever.
We covered police accountability from a lot of different angles: police shootings and transparency, legislation for more accountability, Spokane Valley's desire to help ICE and hopes for more money for more cops.
Like other Pride Festivals, Spokane Pride lost a key sponsorship from Anheuser-Busch and some smaller sponsorships. But still, Spokane organizers, as well as organizers from North Idaho and rural Washington, have seen an uptick in community support.
As the Spokane County prosecutor refuses to engage with families affected by police violence and continues to find police killings justified, state bills designed to hold police accountable failed this year in the legislature. Meanwhile lawmakers look to pour more money into policing.
“Individuals increasingly find themselves in cages unfit for lab mice and subjected to conditions with less scrutiny than that of invertebrate species kept in aquariums.”
