# RANGE Media > RANGE is a local worker-owned news organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About Us URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/about/ Last updated: 2026-03-19T18:38:22.000Z We believe our communities are stronger when our newsrooms are run by truth’s fiercest advocates: the journalists themselves. Since 2020, RANGE has built a newsroom that empowers working people with civic education and people-centered investigative reporting. We are emphatically anti-racist, class-focused and passionate about bridging divides to build solidarity among all people, but especially working people. As a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to democratic management, RANGE exists to serve our region, to resurrect the idea of thriving careers in local journalism and to ensure rank-and-file journalists have the power to direct our growth in ways that best support the beats they cover and the community we all serve. ## We believe - The more people who participate in civic life, the more our cities, regions, and states will reflect the people who live there. - Information access, and ultimately news awareness, are vital requirements for civic action and should be accessible to everyone. - For many reasons, community members at the margins are either actively excluded or self-select out of news awareness and civic participation. ## Our Vision & Mission We want to refocus the news in the Inland Northwest toward the needs of ordinary people by cultivating complex conversations, expanding our moral imagination, and holding the powerful accountable. We are building action-oriented journalism that serves people where they are and gives everyone the tools to demand better. The ultimate goal is building a journalism outlet focused on the kind of reporting that can change lives, helping as many community members as possible move from disempowerment and lack of news access toward meaningful information, citizen advocacy, and action. We want to help provide the journalistic spark for a more robust, democratic, just and fair region. ## How we started *RANGE* started as a personal project and podcast from founder Luke Baumgarten in April 2020\. Now we’ve grown to a small team of four — and we’re still growing. Spokane is changing faster than most of us ever imagined. The choices we make today will impact the region for generations. *RANGE* isn’t trying to replace the *Inlander* or *The Spokesman-Review*, weprovide a vital and missing lens to the great reporting happening in local newsrooms. ## Where we are *RANGE* is based in Spokane, Washington. We cover our city, as well as the greater Inland Northwest — from Central Washington to the Idaho Panhandle and when it impacts us, even Western Montana. ## Who owns us We do! RANGE is owned by the [Spokane Workers Cooperative](https://www.spokane.coop/?ref=rangemedia.co), which means all RANGE employees are worker-owners of our news outlet and the other businesses that SWC owns. SWC is governed by a board of directors elected from among the worker and investor members. Each business in our cooperative operates with independence, so no SWC business or the board can tell RANGE what to do or what to report on and we can’t tell another business to do their work differently. We believe this ownership model ensures independence and helps build up our community. ## Our partners A strong local news outlet needs a strong news ecosystem to be able to serve our entire community. That’s why we have partners across the region, state, and nation: - [KYRS Community Radio](https://kyrs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) – a volunteer-powered, non-commercial, community radio station in Spokane serving the area with unique programming for un-served and underserved populations on 92.3 & 88.1 FM. - [FāVS News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co) – informs and builds faith and non-faith community through digital journalism and online and offline engagement opportunities. - [Look 2 Justice](https://look2justice.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) – A WA-based nonprofit that empowers incarcerated journalists and organizers for a more just and fair criminal legal system. - [Stonewall News](https://www.stonewallnews.net/?ref=rangemedia.co) – centers on informing and empowering rural LGBTQIA+ communities, which are marginalized and increasingly threatened segments of the populace. - [The 19th News](https://19thnews.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) – an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. - [Sunlight Research Center](https://www.sunlightresearch.net/?ref=rangemedia.co) – a nonpartisan journalism support organization that equips newsrooms of all sizes to provide their communities with fact-based, transparent investigative journalism that holds power to account. - [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) – a nonprofit, collaborative newsroom producing high-impact investigative journalism that holds power accountable, exposes injustice and empowers underserved communities across the Pacific Northwest. - [Cascade PBS](https://www.cascadepbs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) – a community-licensed and supported public television station and media organization with a mission to inspire a smarter world. ## How you can get involved *RANGE* is a reader-supported publication. You can help us grow by becoming a [paid subscriber](https://rangemedia.co/support-us?ref=rangemedia.co) starting at $10 per month or $100 per year. If you don’t have the means to support *RANGE* financially, it’s okay! You can still read and listen to 100% of our content for free. And if you like it, you can support us by sharing our work with your friends and family and helping get the word out however you can. [**Subscribe**](https://rangemedia.co/newsletter/?ref=rangemedia.co) to our podcast and newsletter. **Follow us on social media:** [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/rangemedia.co?ref=rangemedia.co), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@rangemedia4all?ref=rangemedia.co), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RANGEMedia4all?ref=rangemedia.co), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RANGEMediaforAll), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rangemedia4all/?ref=rangemedia.co), and [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/RANGE%5FMedia/?ref=rangemedia.co). **Join our** [**Discord server**](https://rangemedia.co/spokane-discord-community/?ref=rangemedia.co) to be part of the news conversation and connect with others who care about our community! Get your invitation [here](https://discord.gg/X3TATarry3?ref=rangemedia.co). **Email us** at [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co) ## How to share sensitive news tips with us If you have information of possible interest to the public, like data or documentation regarding unethical or illegal activities by public or private entities, or something that threatens or could harm the public, we want to talk to you. Read our guide on how to do that safely [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/range-anonymous-tip-whistleblower-spokane/). ### Actions URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/actions/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T01:21:37.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/02/icons--1-.png) #### Support us Our work is free to anyone, but we can't do it without you. Become a member for as low as $10/month to keep our work going and growing. [Become a member](#/portal/signup/free) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/02/1.png) #### Get the latest news Sign up for our newsletter to get news, analysis and incredible conversations you can’t get anywhere else. [Sign up!](#/portal/signup/free) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/02/icons.png) #### Say it with Newsy Couture Our merch designs are fun, flirty, and fierce — perfect for showing how civically engaged you are. [Check out our merch!](https://range-media.square.site/?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Topics URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/topics/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T02:29:04.000Z _No content available._ ### Meet the RANGE team URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/writers/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T19:58:55.000Z [**Luke Baumgarten**](https://rangemedia.co/author/luke-baumgarten/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Publisher & Editor > Luke is the founder of RANGE Media and a bunch of other things. He’s passionate about telling great stories, promoting world-changing ideas and enabling the creative spark that follows when people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and expertise get in a room and discuss anything with passion. A lifelong Spokane guy, he studied Philosophy at Gonzaga University before joining the journalism world as a writer and editor at The Inlander for 10 years. In addition to RANGE, he’s a co-founder of Terrain, a non-profit arts organization, the founder of Fellow Coworking, and a founding partner of creative services firm Treatment. [**Valerie Osier**](https://rangemedia.co/author/valerie-osier/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Managing Editor > Val is from the Inland Empire of Southern California and found her love for journalism while at community college. After working in CA local news for four years, she started at RANGE in January 2022 and is proud to call Spokane home. Valerie is passionate about empowering her community through knowledge and bringing important issues to light. Outside of the newsroom, you can find her reading books, thrifting for new treasures or trying a new DIY home project with far too much confidence. [**Erin Sellers**](https://rangemedia.co/author/erinrangemedia-co/?ref=rangemedia.co) – City Hall & Politics Reporter > Erin moved to town from Idaho to attend Gonzaga University, fell in love with Spokane and hasn’t left yet. They are a queer storyteller, and when they’re not pounding Red Bulls (not sponsored) and typing frantically, you can find her on and off stage at a few of the theatres in town. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to public meetings, telling stories from underrepresented communities and pitching funny merch ideas. Reach them at erin(at)rangemedia.co [**Aaron Hedge**](https://rangemedia.co/author/aaron-hedge/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Reporter > Originally from Colorado, Aaron earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University in June 2023\. His writing explores environmental issues and the relationship between humans and animals. He grew up in a Christian home and wants to write more about end times theology. Reach him at aaron(at)rangemedia.co [**Daisy Zavala Magaña**](https://rangemedia.co/author/daisy-zavala-magana/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Reporter **Se habla español** > Originally from central WA, Daisy has covered farmworkers and labor rights issues. Before joining RANGE, she lived in the US-Mexico border community of Nogales, AZ. Reach her at daisy(at)rangemedia.co [**Sophia Mattice-Aldous**](https://rangemedia.co/author/sophia-mattice-aldous/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Murrow Fellow Reporter > Based in Newport, Sophia is a [Murrow News Fellow](https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/murrow-news-fellows/?ref=rangemedia.co) covering rural issues for the Miner Newspaper and for RANGE. She has over 20 years experience as a reporter and photojournalist serving rural communities in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. She has covered everything from economics, health, education, crime, the environment, the arts, sports, etc. Sophia has also won numerous awards for her writing and photos from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. Reach her at sophia(at)rangemedia.co [**Pascal Bostic**](https://rangemedia.co/author/pascal-bostic/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Editorial Producer > Pascal Bostic (they/them) is an artist, storyteller, and the Editorial Producer for RANGE. When they’re not producing episodes of [Free RANGE](https://rangemedia.co/podcast/?ref=rangemedia.co), you can find them working on their latest creative project, reminiscing on a previous art piece, or finding a way to start the next one. They started as an intern in 2024 and joined the team in 2025\. Reach them at pascal(at)rangemedia.co #### Regular contributors: [**Lauren Pangborn**](https://rangemedia.co/author/lauren-pangborn/?ref=rangemedia.co) – Urbanism columnist > Lauren is a fifth-generation Spokanite and advocate for safer, happier, and better-connected communities. She serves on two city boards, maintains an [unofficial infrastructure project tracker](https://trello.com/b/eFMhFOsB/unofficial-spokane-bike-infrastructure-project-tracker?ref=rangemedia.co) and [spreads news about Spokane-area infrastructure on Twitter](https://x.com/lpangborn?ref=rangemedia.co). [**Sandra Rivera**](https://rangemedia.co/author/sandra-rivera/?ref=rangemedia.co)– Photographer > Sandra is a senior Journalism major at Gonzaga University and former RANGE intern. She is an alum of SFCC, where she earned her first degree in Communication Studies and Photography. Her work centers on telling people’s stories through [photography](https://sandrariveraphotography.pic-time.com/portfolio?ref=rangemedia.co), and she also writes for her school’s yearbook and newspaper. She is deeply engaged in pop and fandom culture, a proud member of the Hispanic community and based in Spokane. **We’re also incredibly thankful for frequent photography contributors** [**Erick Doxey**](https://www.erickdoxey.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) **and** [**Ben Tobin**](https://www.instagram.com/capturing%5Fspokane?ref=rangemedia.co)**.** ### Banner Header URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/banner-header/ Last updated: 2026-10-06T19:20:11.000Z _No content available._ ### Podcasts URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T21:52:16.000Z _No content available._ ### Privacy Policy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/privacy-policy/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T22:24:34.000Z *Last updated: May 25, 2023* This Privacy Policy sets out RANGE Media’s policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of your information when you use the Website and informs you of your privacy rights. By using the Website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. ## Definitions For the purposes of this Privacy Policy: - **You** means the individual accessing the Website. - **Publisher** (referred to as either “the Publisher”, “we”, “us” or “our”) refers to RANGE Media, and includes, Indiegraf Media Inc. (a corporation federally registered in Canada), insofar as it is providing services to RANGE Media in administering the Website. - **Account** means a unique account created for you to access the Website. - **Cookies** are small files that are placed on your computer, mobile device, or any other device by a website, containing the details of your browsing history on that website among its many uses. - **Device** means any device that can access the Website such as a computer, a mobile phone, or a digital tablet. - **Personal Data** is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. - **Website Provider** means any party that processes the data on behalf of the Publisher. This includes third-party companies or individuals employed or otherwise retained by the Publisher to facilitate the Website, to provide the Website on behalf of the Publisher, to perform services related to the Website, or to assist the Publisher in analyzing how the Website is used. - **Third-party Social Media Service** refers to any website or any social network website through which a user can log in or create an account to use the Website. - **Usage Data** refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Website or from the Website infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit). - **Website** refers to RANGE Media, accessible from [www.rangemedia.co](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/). ## Collecting and Using your Personal Data ### Personal Data While using the Website, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to: - Email address - First name and last name - Phone number - Address - Date of birth - Gender - Interests - Usage Data ### Usage Data Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Website. Usage Data may include information such as your location, Device’s IP address, browser type, browser version, the pages of the Website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data. When you access the Website through a mobile device, we may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device you use, your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser you use, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data. We may also collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit the Website or when you access the Website by or through a mobile device. ## Information from Third-Party Social Media Services If you decide to register through or otherwise grant us access to a Third-Party Social Media Service, we may collect Personal Data that is already associated with your Third-Party Social Media Service’s account, such as your name, your email address, your activities, or your contact list associated with that account. You may also have the option of sharing additional information with the Publisher through your Third-Party Social Media Service’s account. If you choose to provide such information and Personal Data, during registration or otherwise, you are giving the Publisher permission to use, share, and store it in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy. ## Tracking Technologies and Cookies We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on the Website and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze the Website. You can instruct your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept Cookies, you may not be able to use some parts of the Website. Cookies can be “persistent” or “session” Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on your personal computer or mobile device when you go offline, while session Cookies are deleted as soon as you close your web browser. If you navigate away from the Website, other parties may also place a Cookie in your browser. The use of such Cookies is governed by the privacy policy of those third parties. The Publisher does not control, nor is it responsible for the activities or practices of these third parties. We use both session and persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below: ### Necessary / Essential Cookies Type: Session Cookies Administered by: Us Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide you with services available through the Website and to enable you to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services cannot be provided, and we only use these Cookies to provide you with those services. ### Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Us Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website. ### Functionality Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Us Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices you make when you use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide you with a more personal experience and to avoid you having to re-enter your preferences every time you use the Website. ### Tracking and Performance Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Third-Parties Purpose: These Cookies are used to track information about traffic to the Website and how users use the Website. The information gathered via these Cookies may directly or indirectly identify you as an individual visitor. This is because the information collected is typically linked to a pseudonymous identifier associated with the device you use to access the Website. We may also use these Cookies to test new advertisements, pages, features or new functionality of the Website to see how our users react to them. ### Targeting and Advertising Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Third-Parties Purpose: These Cookies track your browsing habits to enable us to show advertising that is more likely to be of interest to you. These Cookies use information about your browsing history to group you with other users who have similar interests. Based on that information, and with our permission, third-party advertisers can place Cookies to enable them to show advertisements which we think may be relevant to your interests while you are on third-party websites. ## Use of your Personal Data The Publisher may use Personal Data for the following purposes: - **To provide and maintain the Website**, including to monitor the usage of the Website. - **To manage your Account:** to manage your registration as a user of the Website. The Personal Data you provide can give you access to different functionalities of the Website that are available to you as a registered user. - **For the performance of a contract:** the development, compliance, and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items, or services you have purchased or of any other contract with us through the Website. - **To contact you:** To contact you by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application’s push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation. - **To provide you** with news, promotions, contests, special offers, and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information. - **To manage your requests:** To attend and manage your requests to us. - **To facilitate the general management and administration of our business**, including to meet our regulatory, legal, insurance, audit, security, and processing requirements. We may share your personal information in the following situations: - **With Service Providers:** We may share your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of the Website, to show advertisements to you to help support and maintain the Website, to advertise on third party websites to you after you visited the Website, for payment processing, to contact you. - **For Business transfers:** We may share or transfer your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Publisher assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another Publisher. - **With Affiliates:** We may share your information with our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include the Publisher and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that we control or that are under common control with us. - **With Business partners:** We may share your information with our business partners to offer you certain functionality, products, services, or promotions. - **With other users:** when you share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside. If you interact with other users or register through a Third-Party Social Media Service, your contacts on the Third-Party Social Media Service may see your name, profile, pictures, and description of your activity. Similarly, other users will be able to view descriptions of your activity, communicate with you, and view your profile. ### Retention of your Personal Data The Publisher will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies. The Publisher will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of the Website, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods. ### Transfer of your Personal Data Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Publisher’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer. The Publisher will take steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information. ### Disclosure of your Personal Data ***Business Transactions*** If the Publisher is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy. ***Law enforcement*** Under certain circumstances, the Publisher may be required to disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency). ***Other legal requirements*** The Publisher may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: - Comply with a legal obligation - Protect and defend the rights or property of the Publisher - Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Website - Protect the personal safety of Users of the Website or the public - Protect against legal liability ### Security of your Personal Data The security of your Personal Data is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. ## Detailed Information on the Processing of your Personal Data Service Providers have access to your Personal Data only to perform their tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose. ### Analytics We may use Third-Party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of the Website. ***Google Analytics*** Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of the Website. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Website available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms [web page](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co). ### Advertising We may use Service Providers to show advertisements to you to help support and maintain the Website. ***Google AdSense & DoubleClick Cookie*** Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on the Website. Google’s use of the DoubleClick cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visit to the Website or other websites on the Internet. You may opt out of the use of the DoubleClick Cookie for interest-based advertising by visiting the Google Ads Settings [web page](https://www.google.com/ads/preferences/?ref=rangemedia.co). ***AdMob by Google*** AdMob by Google is provided by Google Inc. You can opt-out from the AdMob by Google service by following [the instructions described by Google](https://support.google.com/ads/answer/2662922?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co). For more information on how Google uses the collected information, please visit “[How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or app](https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites?ref=rangemedia.co),” or visit [the Privacy Policy of Google](https://policies.google.com/privacy?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Email Marketing We may use your Personal Data to contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. You may opt-out of receiving any, or all, of these communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions provided in any email we send or by contacting Us. We may use Email Marketing Service Providers to manage and send emails to you. ***Mailchimp*** Mailchimp is an email marketing sending service provided by The Rocket Science Group LLC. For more information on the privacy practices of Mailchimp, please visit their [Privacy Policy](https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Behavioral Remarketing The Publisher may use remarketing services to advertise on third party websites to you after you visited the Website. We and Our third-party vendors use cookies to inform, optimize and serve ads based on your past visits to the Website. ***Google Ads (AdWords)*** Google Ads (AdWords) remarketing service is provided by Google Inc. You can opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising and customize the Google Display Network ads by visiting the [Google Ads Settings page](https://www.google.com/settings/ads?ref=rangemedia.co). Google also recommends installing the [Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on](https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?ref=rangemedia.co) for your web browser. Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on provides visitors with the ability to prevent their data from being collected and used by Google Analytics. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the [Google Privacy & Terms web page](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Payments We may provide paid products and/or services within the Website. In that case, we may use third-party services for payment processing (e.g. payment processors). We will not store or collect your payment card details. That information is provided directly to our third-party payment processors whose use of your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy. These payment processors adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of payment information. ### Stripe Stripe’s Privacy Policy can be viewed [here](https://stripe.com/us/privacy?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Children’s Privacy The Website is not intended to address anyone under the age of 13\. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13\. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers. ## Links to Other Websites The Website may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services. ## Access and Updating of your Personal Information You have the right to access, update, and correct inaccuracies in your Personal Data in our custody and control. You can make this request by emailing us at the email address found at the end of this Privacy Policy. We may require personal information from you to verify our identity to process your request. You may update your account information and communications preferences yourself by logging into your Account online. ## Changes to this Privacy Policy We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on the Website, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page. ## Contact Us If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us [via email](mailto:team@rangemedia.co). ### Subscription Agreement URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/subscription-agreement/ Last updated: 2021-09-02T17:56:20.000Z *Last updated: September 6, 202*3 1. This Agreement relates to the provision of a paid service (the “Service”) to you by **Range Media** (the “Publisher”) in association with any third parties, as authorized by the Publisher in its sole discretion. This Agreement will be presented to you for acceptance in the course of the subscription process. Information provided by you to fulfill a subscription is subject to the Publisher’s Privacy Policy. 2. By subscribing to the Service, you acknowledge that you are bound by the terms of this Subscription Agreement with the Publisher and/or any third party, as authorized by the Publisher in its sole discretion. 3. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement, you acknowledge that the Publisher is at liberty to reject a request for a subscription or the continuation of a subscription at any time. ## Payment of fees 1. The fees for the Service (plus any applicable taxes), accepted methods of payment and frequency of billings will be specified by the Publisher and selected by you at the time of subscription. All fees, unless noted otherwise, are in US dollars (US$). 2. You acknowledge that the collection of fees and your payment information is to be processed by Stripe, Inc. (see [www.stripe.com](https://www.stripe.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)) and, also, you reaffirm your acknowledgement to the Publisher’s payment policy, as stated in the Publisher’s Website Terms of Use & Payment Policy. 3. ***By subscribing to the Service, you agree to pay the subscription fees using the payment method chosen and billed/charged at the frequency provided.*** 4. **Your subscription will continue until canceled by you. When you cancel your subscription, there will be no refund for unused fees paid for the Service to the end of the current paid-up billing cycle. Rather, you will continue to have access to the Service until the expiry of your current billing cycle. In order to avoid charges for the next billing cycle, a request for cancellation must be sent to [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co) such that it is received 10 business days before the commencement of the next billing cycle. Alternatively, you may cancel your subscription through the subscription management system by logging into the website online.** 5. You will be automatically billed for the Services at the beginning of each billing cycle on or around the date that you first subscribed and, thereafter, at the commencement of the relevant periodic anniversary date of your subscription to the Service in accordance with the billing cycle selected at the time of subscription. 6. You are responsible for maintaining accurate billing and contact information. ## Changes to service: made by you 1. You may change the frequency of billing for the Services in accordance with the notice provisions of this Subscription Agreement. There are no refunds for cancellations requested to take effect prior to the completion of the paid-up billing cycle in which the request for cancellation is made. ## Changes to service: made by the publisher 1. The Publisher will give you advance notice of any changes to the fee structure for the Services by email and/or publication on the Publisher’s website. If you do not wish to accept the new fee structure, you may cancel your subscription in accordance with the terms of this Subscription Agreement. 2. This Subscription Agreement is to be read together with and to be consistent with the Publisher’s Website Terms of Use & Payment Policy as well as the Publisher’s Privacy Policy. This includes, but is not limited to, provisions relating to warranties, limitations of liability, indemnities, and the method/jurisdiction by which disputes are to be resolved. ## Notifications 1. Where a notice is to be provided under the Subscription Agreement: - ***In the case of a communication to be given by the Publisher to you***, the Publisher may satisfy its obligation by, in its sole discretion: - sending you an email to the most up-to-date email address provided by you to the Publisher as indicated in your subscription information; and/or - posting a notice of general application to all or a group of subscribers on the Publisher’s website. - In either case, receipt of such notice shall take effect on the earlier of two business days of: (a) the email being sent by the Publisher, and/or (b) the posting of the notice on the Publisher’s website. - Where the notification is provided by email, the Publisher’s only obligation is to provide the notice to the email address noted on file by you – even if there is a bounce back indicating that that email address is no longer valid, or that you are away. - ***In the case of a communication to be given by you to the Publisher***, you shall direct such communication to [luke@rangemedia.co](mailto:luke@rangemedia.co). Receipt of such communication shall take effect within 10 business days of the receipt of the mail on the Publisher’s server. ### Terms of Use and Payment Policy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/terms-of-use-and-payment-policy/ Last updated: 2021-09-02T17:58:38.000Z *Last updated: September 6, 202*3 **This is a binding agreement**. 1. These terms of use (the “terms of use”) govern your use of all of the webpages posted at this domain, being rangemedia.co (the “website”), including any product or service offered by Range Media (the “Publisher”) arising from the use of the website. If you are paying a fee for any services arising from the website, you may also be bound by an additional subscription agreement of similar sort of arrangement (the “subscription agreement”). 1. By accessing the website, you are agreeing to accept the terms of use and this forms a binding contract between you and the Publisher. ***If you do not accept the terms of use, any applicable subscription agreement and the Publisher’s Privacy Policy, then please do not access the website.*** 1. You specifically acknowledge that Publisher is providing you with access to the website in reliance on the terms of use as well as any applicable subscription agreement and the Publisher’s privacy policy. **ACCESSING THE WEBSITE** 1. You acknowledge that there are risks with accessing any website and that accessing the website is no different. You acknowledge that it is your sole responsibility to protect yourself against computer viruses, malware, spyware and any other risk inherent in accessing information online. Moreover, you agree that it is also your sole responsibility to back-up your data in the event that these sorts of risks manifest themselves. 1. You also acknowledge that the Publisher is not responsible for any charges that you incur for accessing the website, including (but not limited to) data plan charges from providers of telecommunication services. **CREATING AN ACCOUNT** 1. You may create an account to facilitate your use of the website by being prompted to do so by the website or by visiting rangemedia.co. By creating such an account, you are agreeing to the collection and use of your personal information by the Publisher for this purpose. 1. When creating this account, you are representing to the Publisher that all of the information provided in the registration process is accurate and that you will keep it up-to-date. You will not pretend to be someone else or engage in other deceptive tactics such as spoofing the identity of others. 1. In the course of creating your account, you will be required to select a password. You agree and acknowledge that this password is to be held in strict confidence and not shared with anyone else. 1. You agree that the Publisher is entitled to terminate or suspend your account without any notice to you at any time. Such action may be taken where the Publisher, in its sole discretion, determines that your user information is incorrect or not up-to-date or if you are in breach of any terms of this agreement, the privacy policy or any applicable subscription agreement. However, you also agree that Publisher can terminate or suspend your account for any other reason – in its sole discretion. **COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARKS** 1. You agree that all of the literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works, including but not limited to computer programs, software, databases, text, information, data, code, sounds, sound effects, sound recordings, audio, musical compositions, performances, video, cinematographic works, photographs, pictures, illustrations and graphics associated with the website are the exclusive property of the Publisher (or licensed by the Publisher from a third party) – all of which are protected by intellectual property laws in Canada and elsewhere. 1. Similarly you agree that all trademarks (including, but not limited to trade names, logos, word and design marks) are the property of the Publisher (or licenced to the Publisher from a third party). The use of any of these trademarks without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited. **USER GENERATED CONTENT** 1. As a user of the website, you may have the opportunity to submit text, photographs, video, sound recordings, comments or other contributions to the website (the “User Generated Content”). 1. If you choose to provide the Publisher with User Generated Content, you are warranting that you are the sole copyright owner of the User Generated Content and that you have the right to grant the Publisher all intellectual property rights required to include the User Generated Content on the website. 1. Moreover, by providing the User Generated Content, you also grant Publisher a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable worldwide, non-exclusive licence (but not obligation) to use the User Generated Content in any material form, in any media on any platform, including blogs, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts now and in the future and for all purposes (including advertising and promotions) and to unilaterally sublicense such User Generated Content to any licensee of the Publisher. 1. By providing the User Generated Content, you are also waiving all moral rights in the content in favour of Publisher and acknowledge that Publisher may edit, remove, modify or alter the User Generated Content in its sole discretion and without attribution to you. 1. In addition, you hereby grant the Publisher an irrevocable right to use your name, user name, persona, image, likeness and photograph that you provide in connection with any User Generated Content, without any obligation or remuneration to you. **YOUR AUTHORIZED USE OF THE WEBSITE** 1. You are permitted to use the website only for your personal, private and non-commercial use. 1. You may not modify, sell, resell, make derivative works, create a database, create a media monitoring service, aggregate, deep link, republish, retransmit, distribute, transfer, communicate or broadcast the website by caching, scraping, harvesting, framing or otherwise without the prior written consent of the Publisher. 1. You agree that: 1. you will not use the website in an unlawful manner; 1. the Publisher may reveal your identity and any of your user information in its possession to any law enforcement authority in the event of a violation or suspected violation arising from your use of the website; 1. you will not use the website to engage in conduct that is defamatory, libellous, offensive, abusive, stalking, threatening, demeaning, obscene, promotes hatred, bigotry, discrimination, is pornographic, indecent, unlawful, profane, harmful to minors, false, misleading, would constitute spam, promotes, advocates or otherwise encourages illegal activities or give rise to civil liability; 1. you will not infringe the intellectual property rights of the Publisher or third parties, including copyrights, trademarks, privacy rights; 1. you will not introduce any software to the website that is designed to compromise the functionality of it, including Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, computer viruses, code or corrupted files; 1. you will not access any aspect of the website or its underlying architecture that you are not explicitly authorized to access; and 1. you will not impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the infrastructure of the website. **DISCLAIMERS/ LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY** 1. The content of the website is not necessarily reflective of the views of the Publisher, including the publisher, staff, contributors or advertisers. 1. You agree that Publisher and its licensors are not liable to you, either directly or indirectly, for your reliance on any of the content of the website. 1. If you download any material from the website, you acknowledge that the Publisher makes no warranties regarding the downloaded material and will not be responsible for any loss or damage arising from the download either directly or indirectly. 1. You expressly agree that in no event shall the publisher be responsible to you or anyone else for any claim, loss or damage whatsoever, including without limitation any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, special, punitive or consequential damages or any damages for loss of profits, goodwill, business interruption, loss of information or data or other intangible losses arising from or in any way connected with the website. 1. In any event, and notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the Publisher’s aggregate liability to you exceed USD$20. **INDEMNITY** 1. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Publisher and each of its respective officers, directors, affiliates, business partners, employees, agents licensors from any and all claims, actions, losses demands related to your breach of these terms of use; your access and use of the website; your reliance on the website; your publication, communication, distribution, or transmission of the website; or your violation of any law of legal right of a third party. The Publisher reserves the right to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you. **JURISDICTION** 1. Your use of the website shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America and the State of Washington. Any dispute arising with respect to this agreement including, but not limited to, non-payment of our account(s), shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the State of Washington, situated in the City of Spokane. **GENERAL** 1. These terms and conditions supersede any prior agreements between you and the Publisher in respect of the applicable subject matter and constitute the entire agreement between you and the Publisher. 1. You may not assign or otherwise subcontract your rights or obligations to anyone. 1. If any part(s) of these terms of use are determined to be void, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by a court, such determination shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. **PAYMENT POLICY – PROCESSING THROUGH STRIPE, INC.** 1. To the extent that you make any payments arising from or relating to the website, you acknowledge that such payments are made by you to a third party, namely through Stripe, Inc. (“Stripe”) (see www.stripe.com). 1. In making such payment, you irrevocably agree that you are contracting solely with Stripe and you acknowledge that any issues that may arise relating to the processing of such payment are strictly between you and Stripe and, explicitly, that these issues are in no way related to the Publisher and that the Publisher does not form any part of the agreement for payment processing. 1. To the extent that Stripe receives any such payment, the processing of same is a contract solely between you and Stripe and governed by the terms of use of Stripe as they relate to the payment processing that is undertaken by Stripe. 1. You acknowledge and accept that Publisher receives no information from Stripe with respect to your credit card details. 2. Without limiting the generality of these terms of use, you specifically acknowledge that the disclaimers, limitations of liability and indemnity provided in these terms of service apply to your payment of any amounts relating to the use of the website. ### Contact Us URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/contact-us/ Last updated: 2026-04-07T20:47:50.000Z Use this form to reach us with your questions regarding coverage, our journalism, membership, advertising or anything else! We're a small team, so we'll get back to you as soon as we can. **PLEASE NOTE:* We are an independent, local news outlet based in Spokane, WA. *We are not affiliated in any way with "Range Media Partners."* We are not the media representatives of any actors, musicians, or influencers. You cannot reach any famous people through this contact form.* Loading… ### About Us URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/about-2/ Last updated: 2022-03-09T21:00:47.000Z *RANGE* is a media organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. We believe our communities are stronger when our newsrooms are run by truth’s fiercest advocates: the journalists themselves. Since 2020, RANGE has built a newsroom that empowers working people with civic education and people-centered investigative reporting. We are emphatically anti-racist, class-focused and passionate about bridging divides to build solidarity among all people, but especially working people. As a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to democratic management, RANGE exists to serve our region, to resurrect the idea of thriving careers in local journalism and to ensure rank-and-file journalists have the power to direct our growth in ways that best support the beats they cover and the community we all serve. ## We believe - The more people who participate in civic life, the more our cities, regions, and states will reflect the people who live there. - Information access, and ultimately news awareness, are vital requirements for civic action and should be accessible to everyone. - For many reasons, community members at the margins are either actively excluded or self-select out of news awareness and civic participation. ## Our Vision & Mission We want to refocus the news in the Inland Northwest toward the needs of ordinary people by cultivating complex conversations, expanding our moral imagination, and holding the powerful accountable. We are building action-oriented journalism that serves people where they are and gives everyone the tools to demand better. The ultimate goal is building a journalism outlet focused on the kind of reporting that can change lives, helping as many community members as possible move from disempowerment and lack of news access toward meaningful information, citizen advocacy, and action. We want to help provide the journalistic spark for a more robust, democratic, just and fair region. ## How we started *RANGE* started as a personal project and podcast from founder Luke Baumgarten in April 2020\. Now we’ve grown to a small team of four — and we’re still growing. Spokane is changing faster than most of us ever imagined. The choices we make today will impact the region for generations. *RANGE* isn't trying to replace the *Inlander* or *The Spokesman-Review*, weprovide a vital and missing lens to the great reporting happening in local newsrooms. ## Where we are *RANGE* is based in Spokane, Washington. We cover our city, as well as the greater Inland Northwest — from Central Washington to the Idaho Panhandle and when it impacts us, even Western Montana. ## Who owns us We do! RANGE is owned by the [Spokane Workers Cooperative](https://www.spokane.coop/?ref=rangemedia.co), which means all RANGE employees are worker-owners of our news outlet and the other businesses that SWC owns. SWC is governed by a board of directors elected from among the worker and investor members. Each business in our cooperative operates with independence, so no SWC business or the board can tell RANGE what to do or what to report on and we can’t tell another business to do their work differently. We believe this ownership model ensures independence and helps build up our community. ## Our partners A strong local news outlet needs a strong news ecosystem to be able to serve our entire community. That’s why we have partners across the region, state, and nation: - [KYRS Community Radio](https://kyrs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- a volunteer-powered, non-commercial, community radio station in Spokane serving the area with unique programming for un-served and underserved populations on 92.3 & 88.1 FM. - [FāVS News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- informs and builds faith and non-faith community through digital journalism and online and offline engagement opportunities. - [Look 2 Justice](https://look2justice.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- A WA-based nonprofit that empowers incarcerated journalists and organizers for a more just and fair criminal legal system. - [Stonewall News](https://www.stonewallnews.net/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- centers on informing and empowering rural LGBTQIA+ communities, which are marginalized and increasingly threatened segments of the populace. - [The 19th News](https://19thnews.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. - [Sunlight Research Center](https://www.sunlightresearch.net/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- a nonpartisan journalism support organization that equips newsrooms of all sizes to provide their communities with fact-based, transparent investigative journalism that holds power to account. - [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- a nonprofit, collaborative newsroom producing high-impact investigative journalism that holds power accountable, exposes injustice and empowers underserved communities across the Pacific Northwest. - [Cascade PBS](https://www.cascadepbs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- a community-licensed and supported public television station and media organization with a mission to inspire a smarter world. ## How you can get involved *RANGE* is a reader-supported publication. You can help us grow by becoming a [paid subscriber](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us) starting at $10 per month or $100 per year. If you don’t have the means to support *RANGE* financially, it’s okay! You can still read and listen to 100% of our content for free. And if you like it, you can support us by sharing our work with your friends and family and helping get the word out however you can. [**Subscribe**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/) to our podcast and newsletter. **Follow us on social media:** [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/rangemedia.co?ref=rangemedia.co), [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@rangemedia4all?ref=rangemedia.co), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RANGEMedia4all?ref=rangemedia.co), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RANGEMediaforAll), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rangemedia4all/?ref=rangemedia.co), and [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/RANGE%5FMedia/?ref=rangemedia.co). **Join our** [**Discord server**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-discord-community/) to be part of the news conversation and connect with others who care about our community! Get your invitation [here](https://discord.gg/X3TATarry3?ref=rangemedia.co). **Email us** at [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co) ## How to share sensitive news tips with us If you have information of possible interest to the public, like data or documentation regarding unethical or illegal activities by public or private entities, or something that threatens or could harm the public, we want to talk to you. Read our guide on how to do that safely [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/range-anonymous-tip-whistleblower-spokane/). ### Newsletter URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T15:52:41.000Z ## Sign up for RANGE Media RANGE is a local news organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Sponsorship opportunities with RANGE URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/advertise-with-us/ Last updated: 2022-10-20T21:47:58.000Z #### **High Quality, Affordable Ads** Since 2020, RANGE has been building the most dynamic and loyal news readership in the Spokane area. We're excited to be rolling out opportunities to partner with aligned businesses and organizations to ensure your message reaches our audience in a way that is going to deliver a better value to you than a standard ad. The majority of our dedicated readers are long-time residents of the Inland Northwest (10+ years) and are currently living within Spokane and the surrounding areas. Readers say we’re “the only media outlet sharing detailed information about how to be civically engaged.” **No barriers, no distractions:** Our website is free to all and has no annoying pop-up videos, so there’s no barriers between our readers and the information they need to access. We also don’t just take any ol’ sponsor. Our promise to readers is that they can trust what they find on our site, and that promise extends to our sponsors and ad partners. #### **You Can Make a Difference** Sponsoring RANGE is one way to support our work that provides the tools and information needed for our community to demand better. Submit to the form below to request our media kit. #### Learn More Please note that our advertising partners undergo a vetting process to ensure consistency with our values. We are selective about advertising partners in order to maintain the trust and loyalty we’ve built with our community and audience. Learn more in our [Sponsorship Policy](https://www.rangemedia.co/sponsorship-policy/). **Contact: sponsorships@rangemedia.co** ### RANGE Media Sponsorship Policy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sponsorship-policy/ Last updated: 2022-10-26T18:25:50.000Z RANGE Media is committed to independent, fair and accurate journalism. Funds from advertising and sponsorships allow RANGE Media to cover operating costs and expand coverage. The following policy explains in detail how we protect our journalistic integrity and the trust of our readers while working with advertisers and sponsors, but the bottom line is: **RANGE’s sponsors and advertisers have zero input into anything we publish, period.** ****WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR** RANGE Media's sponsorship options are designed with small businesses, local non-profits, and community programs in mind. In short, we’re looking to work with anyone who’s striving to make Spokane and the Inland Northwest a better place for everyone. If you share our publication’s values and respect our editorial mission, we’d love to hear from you. **Email ads@rangemedia.co** **POLICY** All advertising policies are independent of editorial decisions. RANGE Media does not endorse any product or service marked as an advertisement or promoted by a sponsor in RANGE Media publications. Our editorial content is not compromised by commercial or financial interests, or by any specific arrangements with advertising clients or sponsors. Advertisements may not be deceptive or misleading and must be verifiable. Advertisements will clearly identify the advertiser and product or service being offered. **SCOPE** This policy covers all functions within RANGE Media and any affiliates that involve advertising operations. **RESPONSIBILITIES** It is the responsibility of RANGE Media’s advertising coordinator to ensure compliance with this policy. **PROCEDURE** RANGE Media has the right to decline any advertisement that, at its sole discretion, is incompatible with its mission or inconsistent with the values of RANGE Media, the publication/website or the organization, and to stop accepting advertising previously accepted. Ads are subject to review by the publisher and other relevant worker-owners at RANGE Media. RANGE Media will not change what, when, or how we publish editorial content, regardless of sponsorship status. In no case shall separate agreements with RANGE Media or its affiliates supersede this policy. - All native/content advertisements/sponsorships are labeled with “Sponsored” text., i.e. sponsored by, made possible by, in partnership with, together with. - Ads that contain a URL or domain in the body must link to that same URL or domain. - Landing pages cannot use “fake” close behavior or any of the spam behavior which is recognized as malware. - Ads must directly relate to the content on the landing page. Ads may not send users to irrelevant or malicious sites. - Ads must clearly represent the company, product, or service that is being advertised. **PROHIBITED ACTIONS** Advertising for the following categories is prohibited: - False, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive advertising. - Insulting, harassing, or threatening a user. - Political advertising - Discrimination agains any racial, political, or religious groups In addition, RANGE Media will not work with any organizations that: - promote policies or practices that are antithetical to our [values and mission](https://www.rangemedia.co/about/). - engage in discriminatory practices based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or any other protected status. - fundamentally run counter to RANGE’s ethical stance of working to create a fair and sustainable society, including but not limited to contributing to the following: active environmental or animal harm, exploitative labor practices, human rights abuses, and the manufacture or sale of weapons. By avoiding these types of sponsors, we can ensure that our values and mission are aligned with those of our sponsors and that we are not inadvertently supporting organizations that engage in harmful practices. **VIOLATIONS** Violations of this policy may lead to consequences up to and including the refusal to publish an advertisement or the removal of an ad already being served on RANGE Media sites and related material. **PAYMENT** Payment for display advertising will be submitted prior to publication, unless otherwise agreed upon, in which case, payment must be made within 28 days of publication; RANGE Media reserves the right to levy a 10% fee for late payment. Payment terms for long-term sponsorships will be negotiated by the advertising coordinator. **RESERVATION OF RIGHTS** RANGE Media reserves the right to modify or terminate this Policy with or without notice. ## **ADVERTISING COMPLAINTS POLICY** Please send any complaints about advertising/sponsorship to **sponsorships@rangemedia.co** ## PARTNERSHIP CLAUSE RANGE Media retains editorial control of our content in all circumstances. Funding partners do not have input into the stories that will be produced, are not aware of specific stories we are working on, do not review them before publication, and do not have special access to reporters. Partners must sign a sponsorship agreement including a clause agreeing to editorial independence before entering into a partnership with RANGE Media. ### Advertising Specs Sheet URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/advertising-specs-sheet/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T22:01:06.000Z Welcome to RANGE's digital spec sheet. Our publication offers a variety of digital advertising opportunities in our newsletter and on our website. Share this page with your graphic designer to achieve the best possible results for your ad. Please note, advertising with RANGE must be confirmed before ad content is submitted. Ads will only run once payment has been received. Questions? Contact us at sponsorships@rangemedia.co --- ## Newsletter: Presenting Sponsor ### Format | **Header** | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | "Brought to you by" sponsorship notation at the top of the email. | | **Ad Spot** | | **Image**◦ Size: 970 x 550 px ◦ Resolution: 72 DPI◦ File size: 1mb max◦ Color mode: RGB**Ad Content**◦ Headline (16 words max)◦ Copy (50 words max)◦ Link (1) | | File Types | **Accepted File Types** PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF **Not Accepted** TIFF, EPS, AI, PDF, DOC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/presenting-sponsor-newsletter-ad-spec.png) --- ### Best Practices - Limit the text on your ad image, making sure that no more than 30% of the image has text. - Keep text as large as possible, we recommend a 12 point type or larger. - Use a sans serif typeface when possible for clarity, fine serif typefaces should be avoided. - Limit the number of logos on your advertisement, with a maximum of one or two. - Include a single, simple action for customers to take in your ad copy. For example, “Buy you tickets here.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/range-media-30-per-cent-guide.png) --- ## Newsletter: Supporting Sponsor ### Format | **Ad Spot** | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ◦ Size: 300 x 250 px◦ Resolution: 72 DPI◦ File Size: 250KB max◦ Color Mode: RGB◦ Link: 1 | | **File Types** | | **Accepted File Types**PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF**Not Accepted**TIFF, EPS, AI, PDF, DOC | ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/supporting-sponsor.png) ### Best Practices - Limit text on your advertising image. - Keep text as large as possible, we recommend a 12 point type or larger. - Use a sans serif typeface when possible for clarity, fine serif typefaces should be avoided. - Ad should include a single, simple action for a customer to take, i.e. “SHOP NOW.” - No more than one logo. --- ## Display Ads ### Format | **Placements & Sizes** | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Header**Leaderboard (728 x 90)**Sidebars**Medium Rectangle (300 x 250)**Article Footer**Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) | | **Ad Specs** | | ◦ File Size: 250KB max◦ Color Mode: RGB◦ Resolution: 72 DPI | | **File Types** | **Accepted** PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF **Not Accepted** TIFF, EPS, AI, PDF, DOC ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/range-media-display-ad-placements-template-1.png) --- ### Best Practices - Limit text on your advertising image. - Keep text as large as possible, we recommend a 12 point type or larger. - Use a sans serif typeface when possible for clarity, fine serif typefaces should be avoided. - Ad should include a single, simple action for a customer to take, i.e. “SHOP NOW.” - No more than one logo. --- ### Deadlines Ad content for all ads must be submitted a minimum of 2 business days prior to the start date/publication date. ### Proofs A screenshot proof of your ad will be sent for approval a minimum of 1 day before start date/publication date. If no response is received from the advertiser by end of day, the ad will be considered approved and will be published as is. --- ### Ethics Policy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ethics-policy/ Last updated: 2023-04-28T21:57:25.000Z Our mission is to do the kind of reporting that can change lives for our community members in the Inland Northwest. To do this, our readers and sources need to be able to have confidence in our work. Our standards of editorial independence are adapted from the [Institute for Nonprofit News](https://inn.org/resources/ethics-governance/?ref=rangemedia.co): RANGE retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We make news coverage decisions based on our journalistic values and our staff’s capacity. We accept membership dollars, donations, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. This means that the decisions on the stories we pursue, the angles we identify, and the quotes we use are made according to what we believe is most important to our community. Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content. For sponsorships and advertising, we give preference to local, community-focused organizations that fit our mission as a news and civic engagement-focused organization. We will never compromise our values for a pay day. As with grants and even memberships, our sponsors will never have any say or sway over our editorial decisions. --- To access our Privacy Policy, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/privacy-policy/). ### Welcome to RANGE! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/welcome-subscriber/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T01:56:51.000Z *RANGE* is a media organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. **We're guessing that's you and we're glad you're here!** Be sure to subscribe to our [podcast](https://rangemedia.co/tag/podcast/?ref=rangemedia.co) and if you'd like to support our mission, consider [becoming a member](https://rangemedia.co/member/?ref=rangemedia.co) for $10 per month. We are building an anti-racist, equity-minded, class-focused newsroom striving to spotlight the perspectives and expertise of members of marginalized communities, from the ground up. We’re devoted to thinking about how we can build a better world than the one we currently live in, and we try to do it all by balancing anger and humor. We report honestly and fairly, and host incredible conversations with folks whose talent, vision, and expertise isn’t always heralded in traditional media. ### Read more about us [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/about/). ### Privacy Policy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/privacy-policy-2/ Last updated: 2022-04-22T22:28:19.000Z **PRIVACY NOTICE** **Last updated April 22, 2022** This privacy notice for Spokane Worker's Cooperative LCA (doing business as RANGE Media) ("**RANGE Media**," "**we**," "**us**," or "**our**"), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ("**process**") your information when you use our services ("**Services**"), such as when you: - Visit our website at [https://rangemedia.co](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/), or any website of ours that links to this privacy notice - Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events **Questions or concerns?** Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at team@rangmedia.co. **SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS** ***This summary provides key points from our privacy notice, but you can find out more details about any of these topics by clicking the link following each key point or by using our table of contents below to find the section you are looking for. You can also click*** [***here***](#toc) ***to go directly to our table of contents.*** **What personal information do we process?** When you visit, use, or navigate our Services, we may process personal information depending on how you interact with RANGE Media and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. Click [here](#personalinfo) to learn more. **Do we process any sensitive personal information?** We do not process sensitive personal information. **Do you receive any information from third parties?** We do not receive any information from third parties. **How do you process my information?** We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. Click [here](#infouse) to learn more. **In what situations and with which types of parties do we share personal information?** We may share information in specific situations and with specific categories of third parties. Click [here](#whoshare) to learn more. **How do we keep your information safe?** We have organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Click [here](#infosafe) to learn more. **What are your rights?** Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information. Click [here](#privacyrights) to learn more. **How do I exercise my rights?** The easiest way to exercise your rights is by filling out our data subject request form available [here](https://app.termly.io/notify/caaa4298-7aff-4231-a4fc-77a7310eda6e?ref=rangemedia.co), or by contacting us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Want to learn more about what RANGE Media does with any information we collect? Click [here](#toc) to review the notice in full. **TABLE OF CONTENTS** [1\. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?](#infocollect) [2\. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?](#infouse) [3\. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?](#legalbases) [4\. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?](#whoshare) [5\. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?](#cookies) [6\. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?](#inforetain) [7\. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?](#infosafe) [8\. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?](#infominors) [9\. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?](#privacyrights) [10\. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES](#DNT) [11\. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?](#caresidents) [12\. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?](#policyupdates) [13\. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?](#contact) [14\. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?](#request) **1\. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?** **Personal information you disclose to us** ***In Short:*** *We collect personal information that you provide to us.* We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you register on the Services, express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us. **Personal Information Provided by You.** The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following: - names - email addresses **Sensitive Information.** We do not process sensitive information. **Payment Data.** We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Stripe. You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: [https://stripe.com/privacy-center/legal](https://stripe.com/privacy-center/legal?ref=rangemedia.co). All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information. **Information automatically collected** ***In Short:*** *Some information — such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics — is collected automatically when you visit our Services.* We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage information, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, location, information about how and when you use our Services, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our Services, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes. Like many businesses, we also collect information through cookies and similar technologies. The information we collect includes: - *Log and Usage Data.* Log and usage data is service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services and which we record in log files. Depending on how you interact with us, this log data may include your IP address, device information, browser type, and settings and information about your activity in the Services (such as the date/time stamps associated with your usage, pages and files viewed, searches, and other actions you take such as which features you use), device event information (such as system activity, error reports (sometimes called "crash dumps"), and hardware settings). - *Device Data.* We collect device data such as information about your computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access the Services. Depending on the device used, this device data may include information such as your IP address (or proxy server), device and application identification numbers, location, browser type, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, operating system, and system configuration information. **2\. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?** ***In Short:*** *We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent.* **We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including:** - **To facilitate account creation and authentication and otherwise manage user accounts.** We may process your information so you can create and log in to your account, as well as keep your account in working order. - **To deliver and facilitate delivery of services to the user.** We may process your information to provide you with the requested service. - **To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users.** We may process your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the requested service. - **To send administrative information to you.** We may process your information to send you details about our products and services, changes to our terms and policies, and other similar information. - **To fulfill and manage your orders.** We may process your information to fulfill and manage your orders, payments, returns, and exchanges made through the Services. - **To request feedback.** We may process your information when necessary to request feedback and to contact you about your use of our Services. - **To send you marketing and promotional communications.** We may process the personal information you send to us for our marketing purposes, if this is in accordance with your marketing preferences. You can opt out of our marketing emails at any time. For more information, see "[WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?](#privacyrights)" below). - **To protect our Services.** We may process your information as part of our efforts to keep our Services safe and secure, including fraud monitoring and prevention. - **To identify usage trends.** We may process information about how you use our Services to better understand how they are being used so we can improve them. - **To determine the effectiveness of our marketing and promotional campaigns.** We may process your information to better understand how to provide marketing and promotional campaigns that are most relevant to you. - **To save or protect an individual's vital interest.** We may process your information when necessary to save or protect an individual’s vital interest, such as to prevent harm. **3\. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?** **In Short:* We only process your personal information when we believe it is necessary and we have a valid legal reason (i.e., legal basis) to do so under applicable law, like with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with services to enter into or fulfill our contractual obligations, to protect your rights, or to fulfill our legitimate business interests.* **If you are located in the EU or UK, this section applies to you.** The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we may rely on the following legal bases to process your personal information: - **Consent.** We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e., consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Click [here](#withdrawconsent) to learn more. - **Performance of a Contract.** We may process your personal information when we believe it is necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations to you, including providing our Services or at your request prior to entering into a contract with you. - **Legitimate Interests.** We may process your information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests and those interests do not outweigh your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, we may process your personal information for some of the purposes described in order to: - Send users information about special offers and discounts on our products and services - Analyze how our services are used so we can improve them to engage and retain users - Support our marketing activities - Diagnose problems and/or prevent fraudulent activities - Understand how our users use our products and services so we can improve user experience - **Legal Obligations.** We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved. - **Vital Interests.** We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person. ***If you are located in Canada, this section applies to you.*** We may process your information if you have given us specific permission (i.e., express consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose, or in situations where your permission can be inferred (i.e., implied consent). You can withdraw your consent at any time. Click [here](#withdrawconsent) to learn more. In some exceptional cases, we may be legally permitted under applicable law to process your information without your consent, including, for example: - If collection is clearly in the interests of an individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way - For investigations and fraud detection and prevention - For business transactions provided certain conditions are met - If it is contained in a witness statement and the collection is necessary to assess, process, or settle an insurance claim - For identifying injured, ill, or deceased persons and communicating with next of kin - If we have reasonable grounds to believe an individual has been, is, or may be victim of financial abuse - If it is reasonable to expect collection and use with consent would compromise the availability or the accuracy of the information and the collection is reasonable for purposes related to investigating a breach of an agreement or a contravention of the laws of Canada or a province - If disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or rules of the court relating to the production of records - If it was produced by an individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was produced - If the collection is solely for journalistic, artistic, or literary purposes - If the information is publicly available and is specified by the regulations **4\. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?** ***In Short:*** *We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following categories of third parties.* **Vendors, Consultants, and Other Third-Party Service Providers.** We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents (“**third parties**”) who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. We have contracts in place with our third parties, which are designed to help safeguard your personal information. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will also not share your personal information with any organization apart from us. They also commit to protect the data they hold on our behalf and to retain it for the period we instruct. The categories of third parties we may share personal information with are as follows: - Data Analytics Services - Communication & Collaboration Tools - Finance & Accounting Tools - Data Storage Service Providers - Payment Processors - Performance Monitoring Tools - Sales & Marketing Tools - Testing Tools - User Account Registration & Authentication Services - Website Hosting Service Providers We also may need to share your personal information in the following situations: - **Business Transfers.** We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company. **5\. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?** ***In Short:*** *We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.* We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Notice. **6\. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?** ***In Short:*** *We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy notice unless otherwise required by law.* We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require us keeping your personal information for longer than the period of time in which users have an account with us. When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. **7\. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?** ***In Short:*** *We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.* We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment. **8\. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?** ***In Short:*** *We do not knowingly collect data from or market to children under 18 years of age.* We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent’s use of the Services. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at team@rangemedia.co. **9\. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?** ***In Short:*** *In some regions, such as the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom (UK), and Canada, you have rights that allow you greater access to and control over your personal information. You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time.* In some regions (like the EEA, UK, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section “[HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?](#contact)” below. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are located in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: [https://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index\_en.htm](https://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index%5Fen.htm?ref=rangemedia.co). If you are located in Switzerland, the contact details for the data protection authorities are available here: [https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html](https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html?ref=rangemedia.co). **Withdrawing your consent:** If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided in the section "[HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?](#contact)" below or updating your preferences. However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal, nor when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent. **Opting out of marketing and promotional communications:**You can unsubscribe from our marketing and promotional communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the emails that we send, or by contacting us using the details provided in the section "[HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?](#contact)" below. You will then be removed from the marketing lists. However, we may still communicate with you — for example, to send you service-related messages that are necessary for the administration and use of your account, to respond to service requests, or for other non-marketing purposes. **Account Information** If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can: - Log in to your account settings and update your user account. - Contact us using the contact information provided. Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases. However, we may retain some information in our files to prevent fraud, troubleshoot problems, assist with any investigations, enforce our legal terms and/or comply with applicable legal requirements. **Cookies and similar technologies:** Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Services. To opt out of interest-based advertising by advertisers on our Services visit [http://www.aboutads.info/choices/](http://www.aboutads.info/choices/?ref=rangemedia.co). If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at team@rangemedia.co. **10\. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES** Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this privacy notice. **11\. DO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?** ***In Short:*** *Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.* California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us using the contact information provided below. If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with Services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Services. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California. We will make sure the data is not publicly displayed on the Services, but please be aware that the data may not be completely or comprehensively removed from all our systems (e.g., backups, etc.). **12\. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?** **In Short:* Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.* We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information. **13\. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?** If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at team@rangemedia.co or by post to: Spokane Worker's Cooperative LCA 304 W Pacific Ave #210 Spokane, WA 99201 United States **14\. HOW CAN YOU REVIEW, UPDATE, OR DELETE THE DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU?** Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it in some circumstances. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please submit a request form by clicking [here](https://app.termly.io/notify/caaa4298-7aff-4231-a4fc-77a7310eda6e?ref=rangemedia.co). This privacy policy was created using Termly's [Privacy Policy Generator](https://termly.io/products/privacy-policy-generator?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Thanks for signing up for the RANGE newsletter! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/range-newsletter-confirmation/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T01:55:47.000Z Check your inbox to confirm your newsletter subscription. Once you do, we'll start emailing you our latest local reporting and explainers. We're excited to bring you our action-oriented journalism! ## What's next? **Follow us on social media** **Join our Spokane Discord** [Chat with us](https://discord.gg/xFGn4qeMEu?ref=rangemedia.co) **Support our independent local journalism** RANGE is a reader-supported publication. You can help us grow by becoming a paid subscriber starting at $10 per month or $100 per year. [Become a member](https://www.rangemedia.co/#/portal/) ### How to share sensitive news tips with RANGE URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/range-anonymous-tip-whistleblower-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-04-07T20:43:17.000Z 👋 Hey! If you just want to send us a ****press release or non-sensitive news tip**, there's no need for all this cloak-and-dagger stuff, you can just email it to team@rangemedia.co or use our [contact form](https://www.rangemedia.co/contact-us/) We’re journalists — we want to know ALL of the dirt that needs exposure, but we want our community to stay safe, so we’re sharing a guide to help you share confidential information with our newsroom securely. If you have information of possible interest to the public, like data or documentation regarding unethical or illegal activities by public or private entities, or something that threatens or could harm the public, we want to talk to you. But it is important to acknowledge that tipsters and whistleblowers can face legal, economic and psychological consequences for their actions — even if it was the right thing to do. RANGE makes a big effort to maintain confidentiality, but we cannot guarantee your safety 100%. Even simply visiting this page or similar ones on other news sites may leave traceable metadata on your personal or work computer or phone. Before leaking information to us, we recommend that whistleblowers understand the potential legal and personal ramifications of their actions and inform themselves about information security and assess risks. 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Who is she? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/carmela-conroy-congressional-district-5/ Last updated: 2026-10-22T04:55:24.000Z It was winter at the beginning of one of the most difficult of President Barack Obama’s years in office, and a crisis was brewing in the streets of Lahore, Pakistan. Raymond Davis, a former US Army soldier working as a CIA contractor, was stopped at a red light on January 25, 2011, he said, when two men approached his vehicle on a motorcycle. He later said he thought he was being robbed, that one of the men brandished a gun. [Davis shot them dead](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/20/cia-agent-lahore-civilian-deaths?ref=rangemedia.co) with 10 rounds — five through his windshield and five after he exited the car — from a pistol. A US rescue vehicle also struck and killed a third man while responding to recover Davis. The person in charge of the US embassy in the city was a diplomat from Eastern Washington named Carmela Conroy. “I got a call from my regional security officer,” Conroy told RANGE, “and he said, ‘We've killed three Pakistanis, and I need you to stay put until we can figure out how to get you safely back to the official residence.’” She was later the first person to visit Davis in Pakistani jail, and she appeared at a hearing where Davis [refused to sign](https://www.dawn.com/news/608803/trial-in-double-murder-case-against-davis-to-begin?ref=rangemedia.co) a charge sheet for two murders. The US later paid the families of the people Davis killed $2.4 million in blood money. It was an intense international controversy swirling around angst over American military activity in the Middle East, but Conroy experienced it viscerally. The phrase “we’ve killed” resonated with Conroy, she said. It left her feeling like bait hung out on the long fishing line that “the mothership” of US foreign policy dangles into the world. Her time as a diplomat — present for crises like the [Davis incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond%5FAllen%5FDavis%5Fincident?ref=rangemedia.co) along with environmental cleanups and relations with warlords — remains a strong influence on her thinking as the Democrat seeks to unseat US Rep. Michael Baumgartner, the Republican who represents Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District. It’s not Conroy’s only leadership experience in jobs marked with high levels of stress and conflict — she’s also served a stint as chair of the Spokane County Democratic Party. Now in her second campaign against [Baumgartner](https://www.rangemedia.co/michael-baumgartner-trump-district-5-congress/) after losing the open race to replace former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in 2024, Conroy said the region has weathered many new challenges under the Trump administration’s domestic and foreign policy. She said she recently met with lentil farmers on the Palouse struggling with chaotic tariffs and other trade disruptions. “They lost 20% of their market when USAID was shuttered,” Conroy said. “I know from my experience as a refugee coordinator for the State Department that lentils are the gold standard of famine relief.” She describes Baumgartner’s support for Trump’s gutting of federal agencies as being particularly bad for the regional economy, which is largely agricultural and depends on strong international relationships that the president’s trade wars are eroding. This is emblematic of her tactics in running for the seat in Congress: Say what she knows is bad, attribute it to her opponent and promise to restore things to the way they were. She’s campaigning to end tariffs, undo cuts to public education and healthcare programs, boost the federal minimum wage and roll back spending on the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees federal immigration enforcement. In interviews, she often positions herself in juxtaposition to Baumgartner, whom she tries to pin down as a toady for President Donald Trump. The logic of this calculus is obvious: Trump is more unpopular than he’s ever been, and a significant percentage of 5th District voters who elected Baumgartner to his first term in 2024 did not vote for Trump for president during the same election. But keeping the spotlight on her political opponents doesn’t spell out who Conroy is or, really, how she’d be different from Baumgartner. Some of that contrast can be drawn from the tea leaves of campaign finance reports, her public statements and multiple interviews she did this campaign season with RANGE, as well as from her campaign website. These artifacts tell the story of a relatively conservative Democrat dedicated to the way things were before the second Trump administration. [Is a vote for Michael Baumgartner a vote for Trump?District 5's Congressman isn't full-on MAGA — but you have to be paying close attention to notice![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-76d203ec-5bf4-4251-b5e2-42bce51302a7.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Baumgartner-aca5f7d4-2e83-4f2c-a728-8e333780c096.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/michael-baumgartner-trump-district-5-congress/) ### The platform, the opportunity ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/Election-2026-package---1-.jpg) Carmela Conroy speaking with a constituent at the People's Town Hall on July 12, 2026\. (Photo by Sandra Rivera) Before she was a diplomat, Conroy, who has Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington, worked as a deputy prosecutor in Spokane and corporate lawyer for the carmaker Nissan. She has stacked up a list of prominent endorsements from liberal organizations, including the Spokane County Democrats, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the Spokane Regional Labor Council and the Washington State Stonewall Democrats. “I’m not delusional,” she told RANGE. “It's really difficult to unseat an incumbent, and Michael Baumgartner is the incumbent and he's fallen in line with the Republican Party.” Incumbency is not the only problem she faces. She probably will also need the support of leftist voters who are skeptical of what they see as her being too soft on the cresting political issue of data centers and whether Israel’s war on Palestine amounts to a genocide. (Her position is that it’s not useful to employ the label.) Still, if the previous election for this seat and current political climate are indicators, she has something going for her. Election results show Baumgartner outperformed Trump by about 10 points in 2024\. Baumgartner has since mostly supported the president through a tumultuous raft of political controversies and an unpopular, entrenched war in the Middle East. Both candidates have run on the idea that foreign policy often impacts quality of life in a state with large ports and a strong agricultural industry that depends on international trade. Conroy thinks she has the more legitimate bona fides as far as foreign policy goes. Though Baumgartner also served a dangerous post working for the State Department in Afghanistan, she often points out that she is formally educated in diplomacy while Baumgartner is not. Conroy is a graduate of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and a master’s degree from the Naval War College. They also split on the traditional central topics that divide Republicans and Democrats: Conroy wants to restore funding to Medicaid that the Trump administration cut; restore rights to healthcare, including reproductive and gender-affirming care; and rein in Immigration and Customs Enforcement from indiscriminately targeting people for deportation. Conroy said she is running to restore liberal values and basic rights — many of them hard won over centuries — to the American public square. “I was a child when a lot of that was going on, but having studied law, which is a sort of specialized version of history, I understand the struggle to gain those,” she said. “I'm horrified at how quickly the ratchet can go back the other way.” ### Taxes and trade Baumgartner [enthusiastically supported](https://baumgartner.house.gov/2025/07/03/baumgartner-issues-statement-upon-final-passage-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/?ref=rangemedia.co) the most prominent piece of legislation enacted during Trump’s second term: the so-called [One Big Beautiful Bill](https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/what-does-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-cost/?ref=rangemedia.co), which extended the large tax cuts Trump implemented during his first term, cut Medicaid and expanded federal immigration enforcement so much that it’s larger than some nations’ militaries. The bill increases federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars. Conroy has said that the bill, along with Trump’s other economic policies like tariffs, has hurt the American economy. The Medicaid cuts in particular seemed to disturb Conroy, who pointed out that some rural hospitals in Washington could lose 25% of their budgets due the cuts. Medicaid pays the medical bills of people who can’t afford healthcare. It’s a streamlined system that many hospitals, especially in rural areas like Eastern Washington, rely on to serve their patients. Conroy has voiced support for making that program available to everyone, which would ostensibly cut out the middlemen of the insurance industry, itself a vast and expensive bureaucracy. “What I've heard from healthcare providers across the district — big ones here in Spokane, as well as a little but vital ones in Dayton — is that Medicaid is their favorite form of payment,” Conroy told RANGE. “It is the most seamless. They submit their bills, and they get it paid.” Conroy said Trump’s tariffs have also upended the state’s bread basket. The lentil farmer is not the only kind of agriculturalist Conroy says she has spoken with during this year’s campaign, and the demise of USAID is not the only policy she is attacking. She also points to how Trump’s trade wars have impacted the booze industry. She said she met a winemaker who lost 40% of their market when Canada began levying tariffs against American wine and spirits after Trump levied indiscriminate tariffs in September on Canadian steel, aluminum and cars. It’s also a year when Washington grape growers had a large crop. “That meant that a lot of grape farmers were scrambling to figure out what to do with a really good crop of grapes that they all of a sudden didn't have anybody buying from them,” Conroy said. ### Data centers Data centers — the energy-intensive facilities that process every keystroke you send across the internet — have become a flashpoint in local, state and national elections. RANGE [has covered](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-area-data-center-proposals-explained/) the issue extensively because of the environmental and public health impacts caused by some large data centers across the country. And it’s growing as an issue in Spokane County after activists [exposed](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/) county officials’ secret conversations with data center developers. So what’s the difference between Conroy and Baumgartner on data centers? Conroy points to Baumgartner’s support for the One Big Beautiful Bill he voted for, which [exempted data center developers](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/03/data-centers-midterms-tax-credit-01063014?ref=rangemedia.co) — including tech behemoths like Meta, Azure and Amazon — from federal taxes that would otherwise apply to data center buildouts. (The tax breaks apply to a range of projects in addition to data centers.) "It's clear those companies don't need incentives to build data centers," Conroy said. "It cut their effective tax rate from about 20% to like 2% to 4% and that is outrageous." In addition to his vote for that bill, though, Baumgartner did introduce a bill to regulate data centers on the federal level. The rules he wanted to set up — requiring developers to pay for their own infrastructure and barring them from jacking up electricity rates — echo the sentiments of local Republican lawmakers who want to develop data centers in Spokane County. But the bill also does a lot to encourage data centers, framing them as a national security issue, and seeks to restrict local governments from imposing their own rules. Section 3 of [the bill](https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/spaces/urn:aaid:sc:US:ef725d42-af5d-4aea-8dac-6265e14ef873/?ref=rangemedia.co) reads: “The United States should pursue an all-of-the-above strategy to develop the energy and water infrastructure required to maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence. The United States should address demonstrated and localized infrastructure impacts through targeted, evidence-based measures rather than broad restrictions, blanket moratoria, or policies that impede responsible development.” “It's all well and good for him to say, ‘Well, you've gotta make sure that … local tax rate payers don't take the hit.’” Conroy said. “But he's basically incentivized the building of data centers with his vote” for the One Big Beautiful Bill. And yet, Conroy has all but ruled out support for stronger federal regulations on the data center industry, saying the facilities should be regulated at the local level. “Most of us are protective of local decision-makers,” she told RANGE. She supports local moratoriums for data centers — which temporarily stop governments from approving new developments — but confirmed with RANGE the pauses she supports are only that: local. Other Democrats angling for seats to represent similarly conservative places in November have been bolder on data centers. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, has proposed investigating data center developers, and Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-New York, [signed](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/first-statewide-moratorium-new-hyperscale-data-centers-launched-governor-kathy-hochul?ref=rangemedia.co) the first statewide moratorium on approvals for new data centers in the nation in July. Baumgartner and Conroy are both being challenged on a [long-shot write-in ticket](https://brittanyforcongress.carrd.co/?ref=rangemedia.co) by Brittany Anderson, a home-schooling mom, who has recently made a name for herself challenging local lawmakers on their behind-the-scenes conversations with data centers. Anderson said she is drafting a proposal for a federal law that would require baseline water and soil contamination studies to be done at potential data center sites. The idea is that people would be able to track whether a data center contaminated the local environment. “Michael and Carmela do not have good stances on this issue,” Anderson said. “Carmela wants to leave it up to the cities and counties, and that's not good enough.” ### The police state Before she was a diplomat, Conroy worked for long-serving Spokane County Prosecutor Don Brockett in the 1990s and said the office dynamic was different: Caseloads were manageable and the office generally had a positive relationship with police. This was before the influx of military equipment into police inventories. She said she witnessed extensive debate at the Naval War College, where she completed a master’s degree in 2004, over concerns about how widespread militarization might change local law enforcement as returning veterans also surged in the ranks of local departments. “We've got all sorts of military equipment that the military no longer wants to be responsible for maintaining and holding being dumped into local communities, into the hands of people who spent time in a war zone,” she said. “I wish we could come up with a way to pound those swords into plowshares.” Some of her proposed platform could be the start of that work on the federal level. She wants to defund the military operations — such as the strike on unidentified boats in the Caribbean Sea and the war against Iran — of the Trump administration and Homeland Security, channeling the funds instead to federal emergency management. In one of the larger rhetorically-driven controversies of the campaign, Conroy said Congress should “dismantle and behead” the Department of Homeland Security, which Baumgartner seized on, saying there was an “undercurrent of bloodlust in her campaign. She said she simply meant the agency should be dramatically remade. “She doesn’t even own a machete,” her campaign manager told RANGE. Most of her donations seem to come from more liberal places such as ActBlue, the nonprofit political action committee that supports Democrats. As of the July filing deadline for campaign finance reports, Conroy [has drawn](https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H4WA05168/?ref=rangemedia.co#total-raised) about $400,000 in donations, compared with Baumgartner’s [more than $2 million](https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H4WA05234/?ref=rangemedia.co), which he reported at the end of September. *Daniel Walters contributed this report.* [Spokane Election 2026 – RANGE MediaWelcome to RANGE’s one-stop shop for Washington election stuff. Here you’ll find resources for voting, links to voters guides and our coverage on it all. We’ll be updating this page with more of our coverage through Election Day.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-160f8796-ad57-47b9-be74-0bb10d223dbc.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Election-1-5-2108acff-0067-49f9-9d36-4122ddd758da.webp)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) ### In his rare critiques of the president, Rep. Michael Baumgartner speaks softly and carries no stick URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/michael-baumgartner-trump-district-5-congress/ Last updated: 2026-10-21T20:57:24.000Z US Rep. Michael Baumgartner, very clearly, is not a member of the anti-Trump resistance. Just ask President Donald Trump. "Michael has my complete and total endorsement," Trump said in a [video endorsement](https://vimeo.com/1228950010?turnstile=1.uR7nAaqhuO-YOw-A5FTuAMgp0kMsweDYH8CNwB93arTv-A3CwbLikarx1NMXLlSYnFGG0VnT7XlJrl46V2jGqUXPqAE9nRRQGFjs5cpXaryluGtTDNnVJGbO2OBRsf0Pyszg%5FiPkarYaWqOqzdZQvX2c8NlLCWhokQqhA44VS7Vf9F2-GQx-%5FFEGRTWKGu6K5BB3PmI9Ym0aGi-MsVK6LC0WEnoVu5gfzh9G9g0a-oMoiAZL56nd4lpCDLeTdUGau2eMn0b0WuiFONoybe0iKO3KoUU8DwGcaDRoqwZ-0ylRjEPu3sIHBxyUIxcH4CosQzHorjYV19tDfYs63mVnjjxcljv-bwXP1W4SqKAgDpOVEupT617COAS8Zf3-Gpu%5FpCXgQJEUez-MC6g-csKKAlMjYuubVhGxqLjy3d%5FysBwYNKgHN9uUtoMNzapEiu6OQQfMhjMzJa9GslWGs7RweQEfloPBfJKfBIadPiKpUavThGlQkScc5dcH9e%5FZtiki4m2T1tdpPTujA6BRSc-DRPGRfO9uSMOsA3D7RaRJfZGuvjPn7NKnKyYnAt-npu0VxLr3gLmw-6DPjjA%5F-t0npzxig7ZHOaUQuGg8LRoeWT2LrR8PS9teRaVt7ieHEc4Q.JXkwgWTOkm0fAZEC4DmuZg.2b5ccbfb2e1225cfd512c85ddf2c1ec98780f2d9f503e6699b690c67b5abd200&ref=rangemedia.co) last month. "He's a spectacular person." Trump endorsed Baumgartner as "a tremendous guy" and “a “pivotal vote” for Trump’s tax cuts. “Michael will not let you down,” the president said. “He’s a true fighter for Eastern Washington, and a great guy.” And yet: folks who pay laser-focused attention to politics can identify multiple examples of moments where he has objected to parts of the Trump agenda. Maybe that pushback is a political calculation, or maybe it comes out of his conservative beliefs, his conscience or his Catholic faith. But whatever the case, Baumgartner’s objections to Trump have been diplomatic: soft enough to avoid raising Trump’s ire. Like [his opponent](https://www.rangemedia.co/carmela-conroy-congressional-district-5/), Carmela Conroy, Baumgartner has a background in the diplomatic world, having worked with the State Department in both Iraq and Afghanistan — though Conroy likes to point out that Baumgartner "never went through diplomatic orientation." But Conroy argues that Baumgartner’s treatment of Trump has, if anything, been too diplomatic: soft enough to avoid raising Trump’s ire and empty enough to make little difference. “You can’t go by letters to the editor or op-eds” when judging Baumgartner’s record, Conroy argued at a *Spokesman-Review* debate last month. “If you have someone in Congress, you have to go by how they vote.” The 5th Congressional District is very Republican — but it’s significantly less supportive of Trump than it is for the GOP. In 2024, Baumgartner beat Conroy by over 20 percentage points, while Trump won the same district by just 11 points. That gap, of ticket-splitters voting for the Republican congressman but not for the Republican presidential candidate, was [among the largest in the nation](https://abcnews.com/538/strongest-senate-house-candidates-2024/story?id=117522803&ref=rangemedia.co). As inflation has continued and gas prices have soared, Trump’s approval rating has since plunged nationally, from nearly 50% on inauguration day to just [31%](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-approval-falls-record-low-31-midterms-near-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-10-19/?ref=rangemedia.co). Some Democrats see a flicker of hope in Baumgartner’s lackluster primary performance — the first time in more than three decades when a Republican failed to break 50% of the vote in the [primary](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/oct/11/a-lot-has-changed-in-two-years-will-the-baumgartne/?ref=rangemedia.co). If Democrats have even the slimmest chance of an upset, in other words, it will likely require convincing many of the tens of thousands of those Trump-skeptical Republican voters to decline to re-elect the Trump-endorsed Baumgartner. For those voters, the question is whether Baumgartner’s expressions of mild misgivings matter. He has voiced unease at times on Trump’s trade and immigration policies. And yet, in stark contrast to the Catholic church he’s a part of, he’s fervently defended Trump’s war in Iran. Spokane Valley Council Member Al Merkel, a Baumgartner supporter, told me that he thinks Baumgartner’s pushback did make a difference on issues like tariffs and government jobs. “I don’t think he did it by picking up a figurative rifle and marching into the office,” Merkel said. “It wasn’t a big show.” But to Washington state Sen. Marcus Riccelli, a Democrat who once teamed up with Baumgartner to [change state law](https://www.inlander.com/news/a-second-opinion/article%5F55359755-d345-5a86-822e-f813dff2b8ee.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to allow for a Washington State University medical school, Baumgartner’s occasional policy quibble with Trump is hardly enough to count as genuine courage. “I think there's fundamental concerns with how our democracy moves forward after just all the norms being blown away and all the safeguards being completely removed,” Riccelli said. “I don't see him pushing back or fighting against any of that stuff, which is honestly a bit surprising and extremely disappointing.” [Carmela Conroy thinks she can beat Baumgartner this time. Who is she?The challenger wants to be the first Democrat since ’92 to be elected to the 5th Congressional District seat.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-4609d217-75a8-46a1-a697-e1dbec11664e.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Conroy--2--08643af8-5310-4d3d-b1b8-c0e41cf3faae.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/carmela-conroy-congressional-district-5/) ### **Welcome to the ‘clown show’** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-8b1095f2-e022-4096-b0ca-3f7d2d2972f9.jpeg) **US Rep. Michael Baumgartner at a press conference in Spokane Valley on October 19, 2026\. (Photo by Daniel Walters)* Once upon a time, Baumgartner’s criticism of Trump was unrestrained. During the 2016 primary, Baumgartner called Trump “a narcissistic clown show,” “laughably vapid on policy” and joked that he must have been a plant for Hillary Clinton. By the time the general election rolled around, however, he had warmed to the man, particularly praising Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Gen. James Mattis. In the years since, Mattis has decried Trump as a divisive threat who makes “[a mockery of our Constitution](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/?ref=rangemedia.co).” Baumgartner has not. Baumgartner [accused](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzYNuLWqiOQ&ref=rangemedia.co) former special prosecutor Jack Smith of having politically-influenced timing when the prosecutor concluded Trump had “engaged in serious crimes against our nation.” But Baumgartner also [said things](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzYNuLWqiOQ&ref=rangemedia.co) many Republicans are wary to admit in public: that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and the actions by Trump supporters of the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, represented a “terrible riot” and an "abhorrent day.” In Congress, talk isn’t always cheap. Talk can be costly. The whole reason why Democrats have a shot to win a Texas Senate race is because Trump backed the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as a primary challenger to Sen. John Cornyn. Sure, Paxton was [so corrupt](https://www.npr.org/2023/05/27/1178606035/ken-paxton-impeachment-texas-house-republican-attorney-general-investigation?ref=rangemedia.co) that he’d been impeached by the Republican-dominated Texas House of Representatives, but Cornyn had made the tactical error of saying Trump shouldn’t run for office and that the attack on “the Capitol was horrific and appalling.” Riccelli says he’s glad to hear that Baumgartner criticized January 6, but Baumgartner isn’t exactly a hero for stepping over such a low bar. “That's my problem,” Riccelli said. “I would push back on a write-up of 'thanks for doing these two or three small things.’” Conroy argues that the President didn’t even notice. "That's not going to be picked up by the mainstream media,” Conroy said. “It's not going to be seen by the president.” Republicans didn’t seem to mind either. Unlike most of the races of his predecessor Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Baumgartner didn’t attract a Republican challenger during this year’s primary. “That's a strong indicator that Mike is somebody that has at least appeal across the different shades of Republicanism,” Republican County Commissioner Josh Kerns said to me. Baumgartner’s political career began during the Tea Party wave, when conservative rhetoric was all about small government and free trade — a long way from the Trump Republicans today. Three months into Baumgartner’s first term in Congress, he co-wrote an opinion piece that “Eastern Washington will suffer from” Trump’s tariffs, which he noted are “taxes paid by American businesses,” and “are often passed down to consumers in the form of higher prices.” While the column, notably, did not use the word “Trump,” it argued that the tariffs “are a gift to foreign competitors” that “will hit trade-dependent states like Washington [especially hard](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/05/rep-michael-baumgartner-and-edmund-o-schweitzer-ta/?ref=rangemedia.co).” Yet Baumgartner was handed an [opportunity](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/12/newhouse-helps-house-rebuke-trumps-tariffs-on-cana/?ref=rangemedia.co) to vote against the Trump tariffs on the record in an official February vote, but didn’t take it. “That's another example where it might have cost him politically in his own caucus had he voted against it,” Conroy told me. “But it would have been a vote in favor of us.” After the vote, Baumgartner told *The Spokesman-Review* that tariffs are an important national security tool, and the Republican Speaker of the House convinced him to vote no to restricting Trump’s use of them. Often, public statements have been part of Baumgartner’s strategy. When Trump shut down the [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health](https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:494bd6c5-0000-4348-9b46-b2eabcd7d34c?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover&ref=rangemedia.co) Laboratory in Spokane as part of billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” cuts, Baumgartner wrote multiple letters to Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2025 to try to get the cuts reversed. After nine months of waiting, last January the Trump administration reversed the cuts without explanation. That month, Baumgartner, along with the vast majority of both houses, voted for a Sen. Patty Murray-authored appropriations bill to [protect those](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/25/after-9-months-of-uncertainty-federal-workplace-sa/?ref=rangemedia.co) positions in the future. Merkel told me Baumgartner’s tactics weren’t crazy. “Can I know how much Mr. Baumgartner's conversations or letters to Mr. Trump have made any motion in any direction? I can't,” Merkel said. “But what I can know is that when I've seen him draw a distinction with some of the president's policies, I've seen those policies turn.” But they can just as easily turn back. According to the conservative Tax Foundation think tank, federal tariff policy has changed [more than 50 times ](https://taxfoundation.org/research/federal-tax/trump-tariffs-trade-war/?ref=rangemedia.co)since Trump’s second term started. In the weeks since the KSPS debate, whole new categories of Canadian products have been slapped with tariffs — or [outright banned](https://www.rbc.com/en/economics/canadian-analysis/featured-analysis/insights/new-u-s-tariff-retaliation-what-it-means-for-canadas-economy/?ref=rangemedia.co). And the effects of Baumgartner’s letters are limited. In May of last year, Baumgartner joined a bipartisan group signing a [letter to call](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/01/michael-baumgartner-and-ryan-crocker-keeping-the-p/?ref=rangemedia.co) for 20,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans who helped the US during its occupation of Afghanistan. The additional visas were never granted, the visa program for Afghans was frozen, and hundreds of [Afghan visa holders](https://www.npr.org/2026/08/15/nx-s1-5897606/afghanistan-visa-green-card-deport?ref=rangemedia.co) have received letters warning them of paperwork problems and that the basis for their visas had been revoked. Baumgartner also wrote a letter urging Trump to prevent the deportations for the thousands of Ukrainians who had been granted temporary protected status after the 2022 Russian invasion. “Revoking their protections and sending them back to a war-torn country before peace is secured would be devastating for both them and their families,” Baumgartner wrote about Ukraine refugees here temporarily on "humanitarian parole” status. So far, deportation protections for Ukrainians have been [preserved](https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/18/politics/ukraine-sudan-temporary-protected-status?ref=rangemedia.co), even as they have been removed for other several ethnic groups. But in the meantime, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Trump praised Baumgartner for supporting, kicked many of the Afghan and Ukrainian immigrants [off Medicaid](https://thehill.com/homenews/6126910-refugees-legal-immigrants-lose-medicaid-coverage/?ref=rangemedia.co). "Had Michael Baumgartner crossed the aisle with seven other Republicans ... that bill would not have passed in that form,” Conroy emphasized. ### **Unholy wars** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-7771fb61-6c6c-448e-9970-4a1cd0bde032.jpeg) **Bishop Thomas Daly (left) poses with US Rep. Michael Baumgartner (right) at an event with the US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon (center). (Photo by Daniel Walters)* Monday afternoon, Baumgartner stood beside Donald Trump’s education secretary in a classroom at Chesterton Academy of Notre Dame, a Spokane Valley Catholic school, touting the scholarship benefits that the Big Beautiful Bill had for parents of schoolchildren, including those who wanted help with private tuition. “For families here, that could mean putting a Catholic education at Chesterton within reach,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said. Thomas Daly, the bishop of the Spokane Diocese, watched the press conference unfold from the back, standing below posters with phrases like “[Don’t Be A Sophist](https://gyazo.com/dddb341a00e51aa8472cc3a58900b5fc?ref=rangemedia.co)!” and “Protect your cultural inheritance. [Don’t let Western Civilization die](https://gyazo.com/722c5d8600af54e75e65a6f1331369c0?ref=rangemedia.co).” For his entire political career, Baumgartner has pointed to his Catholic faith as informing his political positions, particularly on issues like [abortion](https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/08/senate-hopeful-to-reporter-go-f-k-yourself-132850?ref=rangemedia.co). Daly, part of the [more conservative wing](https://www.inlander.com/news/in-the-battle-over-the-catholic-churchs-soul-spokanes-current-and-former-bishops-fight-on/article%5Fa751967e-549c-59a7-be1d-d3d4f0d5a884.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of the Catholic Church, told RANGE that the Church has “a lot more in common with this administration than we have in the past.” But the larger Catholic Church has been a vocal critic of Trump’s tenure. Archbishop Blase Cupich, Daly’s predecessor in Spokane, has accused the Trump administration of “[viciously racist](https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/catholic-bishops-slam-racist-post-by-trump?ref=rangemedia.co)”social media rhetoric, “sickening” and “deeply offensive” [propaganda](https://abc7chicago.com/post/cardinal-blase-cupich-archbishop-chicago-weighs-trump-administration-videos-us-israel-iran-war-news/18697344/?ref=rangemedia.co) around war, and aggressive immigration tactics as cruel and intolerable violations of [human dignity](https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-ice-crackdown-cardinal-blase-cupich-calls-donald-trump-administrations-immigration-tactics-unnecessary-intolerable/18000094/?ref=rangemedia.co). Trump has hit back. He hit the Pope as, among other things, “[weak on crime](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/13/us/trump-news?ref=rangemedia.co)” and posted an AI image of himself depicting himself, seemingly, as [Jesus Christ](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17v8y0z9z2o?ref=rangemedia.co). Baumgartner told *The Spokesman-Review* that he believed “President Trump was wrong to criticize Pope Leo and to post an inappropriate AI image of himself healing the sick.” After Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shot anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti repeatedly in the back in Minnesota, killing him, Baumgartner issued a statement that said he was “disturbed” by what he had seen. When he called for Congress to investigate ICE after the shooting, it was rare enough among House Republicans that Fox News wrote [about it](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republican-calls-hearing-after-deadly-ice-shooting-minneapolis?ref=rangemedia.co). “I think the Congressman has done a fine job supporting the work of the president, but there's also a few issues he's not afraid to say, ‘I think there's another perspective,’" Daly said. But the starkest contrast between Baumgartner and his church is on war: After Trump attacked Iran, Pope Leo warned in March that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.’” But despite the Catholic Church’s criticism of war, Baumgartner has remained thoroughly on team Trump when it comes to fighting in Iran. As the Iran war has driven up gas prices and inflation, roughly [two-thirds of Americans](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/08/iran-conflict-remains-deeply-unpopular-as-many-americans-expect-it-to-go-on-for-months/?ref=rangemedia.co) say they do not approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict, according to a Pew survey this month. That includes a third of all Republicans. Baumgartner had run for US Senate in 2012 by slamming Democrats on their votes for wars in the Middle East. He called for a pull-out from Afghanistan a [decade before it happened](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/dec/24/time-to-leave-afghanistan/?ref=rangemedia.co), writing in a column that “many politicians from both parties refuse to speak truthfully about the wars, due either to embarrassment over votes and campaign promises or fear of criticizing their own leadership.” But today, Baumgartner is a passionate cheerleader of the war in Iran, echoing the kinds of arguments that Vice President Dick Cheney made about Iraq in 2003: you can’t wait for the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud. “The further Iran gets from nuclear weapons the better,” he said at the KSPS debate this year. “I think you're saying that \[Secretary of Defense\] Pete Hegseth lied last year when he said that we had destroyed all of Iran's nuclear capacities,” Conroy countered. In *National Review*, a conservative publication that, like Baumgartner, was once [against Trump](https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/01/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace/?ref=rangemedia.co), Baumgartner had [written](https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/03/applying-iraqs-hardest-lessons-to-iran/?ref=rangemedia.co) that the Iran war was “a test of endurance, and Iran’s strategy is to raise costs and fracture will.” By contrast, when asked by a TV reporter in March about Trump’s repeated claims that the war would last four to five weeks, Hegseth dismissed it as a "typical NBC gotcha-type question.” That was seven months ago. ### **‘No one who will even think about casting a vote for me’** This is supposed to be the part where Baumgartner himself weighs in, where he explains how he weighs the politics, morality and the practicality of each choice he makes — how he balances the competing duties of his constituents, his conservatism, his conscience and his commander-in-chief. It’s intended to be the section where I might point out an irony or a contradiction, while Baumgartner gets to toss off a jab or two about the media, or snark about his opponent. When answering a questionnaire before the primary for RANGE, Baumgartner ventured that he cared for constituents who disagree with him. “Whether you agree with me or not, I represent you; I work for you, and want to hear your points of view,” Baumgartner wrote. But Baumgartner declined my request to interview him for this story about how he’s navigated the tensions between his conservatism, his faith and his president. “I have too much going on in the final stretch of the campaign to sit for a piece like that in a left-wing publication with an agenda that no one who will even think about casting a vote for me will read,” Baumgartner said in a text message. “Let’s touch base in January.” I countered by arguing that conservatives read a lot more broadly than he might assume — (Kerns and Merkel, for instance, not only read RANGE, they regularly listen to the RANGE podcast) — and pointed to [examples](https://www.rangemedia.co/unionization-labor-rights-planned-parenthood-spokane/) of RANGE holding liberal institutions accountable. Baumgartner knows I can be fair. I’ve been interviewing him, off and on, for nearly a decade and a half. When Baumgartner’s former coworker was trapped in Afghanistan as the country fell to the Taliban, I was the [reporter](https://www.inlander.com/news/as-afghanistan-falls-to-the-taliban-spokanites-try-mostly-in-vain-to-rescue-their-afghan/article%5F1d2c0f0b-4140-57b0-b1f8-f6faef95fcc2.html?ref=rangemedia.co) he trusted to write the story. But what had I done for him lately? “There’s a lot of things you could have covered in a fair way about my work in Congress over the last two years to establish better credibility for RANGE,” Baumgartner said. “I politely decline your request.” Baumgartner later called to invite me to the press conference at Chesterton — though couldn’t resist throwing in a jab calling RANGE a “quasi-legitimate” left-wing extremist publication. Before declining my interview request, Baumgartner was eager to suggest to RANGE a tough angle to press his opponent on when she granted us an interview. He texted over a clip he’s been hammering Conroy on, where she said she wants to “dismantle and behead” the Department of Homeland Security. Conroy’s campaign clarifies that she, obviously, was speaking metaphorically about firing Homeland Security leadership, not anything bloodier. (“I don’t even think she *owns* a machete,” a Conroy campaign spokesperson emphasized to me.)But Baumgartner, who accused Conroy of an “undercurrent of bloodlust,” implied such language could have consequences in the wake of the devastating fires in Spokane. “The Sec of Homeland Security (the guy who oversees FEMA that I’ve been working with to get us help on the fires) is not a fan of this language,” Baumgartner wrote. Eastern Washington voters know that Trump — no stranger to overheated [rhetoric](https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/trump-says-military-leakers-should-be-shot-amid-iran-bomber-mission-being-compromised-arizona-rally-montana-air-force?ref=rangemedia.co) — takes into account politics when it comes to doling out federal aid. In the wake of the devastating 2020 fires in the small town of Malden, Baumgartner’s predecessor, McMorris Rodgers, wrote multiple letters to Trump to ask him to unblock aid for individual survivors of the Malden fires. Trump was [upset](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jan/16/trump-is-blocking-aid-to-malden-pine-city-fire-vic/?ref=rangemedia.co) at Washington’s Democratic governor and Malden had to wait until Trump was out of office for aid to be granted. Ultimately, McMorris Rodgers introduced the “[MALDEN Act](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jun/15/mcmorris-rodgers-introduces-malden-act-to-stop-pre/?ref=rangemedia.co)” — legislation intended to depoliticize the federal disaster aid process, but the legislation never passed. Trump is once again in power, and Baumgartner urged me to ask Conroy about how she would ask DHS for fire relief, considering what she said. It suggests an addendum to an old axiom: If journalism is about speaking truth to power, perhaps politics, to some, is about being nice to power, so power doesn’t get mad. *Aaron Hedge contributed to this story.* [Spokane Election 2026 – RANGE MediaWelcome to RANGE’s one-stop shop for Washington election stuff. Here you’ll find resources for voting, links to voters guides and our coverage on it all. We’ll be updating this page with more of our coverage through Election Day.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-5145536c-8c8d-4001-916c-5cc9ae50cd5a.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Election-1-5-5c3c0598-3bd9-4274-b5df-1a83fa3ad2c9.webp)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) ### Spokesman-Review union rejects plan to keep embattled editor Rob Curley as nonprofit takeover looms URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokesman-review-union-rejects-rob-curley-comma-nonprofit/ Last updated: 2026-10-21T01:29:59.000Z **This report was produced in a collaboration between* [**InvestigateWest*](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) *and RANGE.* The nonprofit poised to take over *The Spokesman-Review* at the end of October plans to keep suspended executive editor Rob Curley in a leadership role, drawing renewed opposition from the newspaper’s union. Curley was suspended by the *Spokesman* in August as the paper was preparing to transfer ownership to a nonprofit he founded, Comma Community Journalism Lab. But as [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/rob-curley-spokesman-review-ended-in-a-newsroom-revolt/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/after-a-newsroom-altercation-the-spokesman-review-benched-its-top-editor/) reported on Oct. 2, newsroom workers have raised alarm about alleged retaliation and ethical breaches and whether Curley is fit to lead the newspaper's transition into a community-supported nonprofit venture. Comma board leadership told union members that Curley would oversee the philanthropic side of the business and also keep a seat on the board,according to an Oct. 20 statement by the Spokane Editorial Society, the collective bargaining unit for nonexempt newsroom employees. “We strongly reject this decision. Scores of current and former employees showed the courage to either speak with investigators hired by Cowles Publishing or give quotes to local media about their adverse interactions with Curley over his 10-year tenure as editor,” the union said. “Those statements carry weight.” Thomas Clouse, the union president and a longtime *Spokesman-Review* reporter, said the union is refusing to consider any potential offer letters to work for Comma until they see their future benefits package and an explanation of Curley's new role in writing. Comma’s board chair, George Brunt, disputed the union’s description of Curley’s new role but would not say what Curley’s involvement with Comma will be. *Spokesman-Review* Publisher William “Stacey” Cowles, who agreed last year to transfer ownership of the newspaper to Comma, did not respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear if Curley has accepted the role overseeing philanthropy. He did not respond to a request for comment. Clouse said Curley is out on a Disney boat cruise through the end of this week. ### Comma quietly responds Results of the internal investigation into personnel complaints against Curley have not been made public, though the newsroom union said they’ve been told that investigation found no “harassment or discrimination.” More than a dozen current or former *Spokesman-Review* staffers told [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/rob-curley-spokesman-review-ended-in-a-newsroom-revolt/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/rob-curley-spokesman-review-newsroom-revolt/) they had concerns about Curley’s journalistic integrity when coverage risked angering Comma donors or powerful community figures. They also detailed workplace complaints about lewd and sexual comments by Curley or Ron Sylvester, a Comma editor. On Tuesday, the union said that reporting represented “just a handful” of the concerns with Curley’s leadership, and that his “10-year tenure with the newspaper has been nothing but challenging for the journalists in the newsroom.” Tensions boiled over in August, when Curley tried to fire *Spokesman-Review* reporter Alexandra Duggan, after she had a verbal altercation with Sylvester, who reporters say had been editing articles without permission. Then-managing editor Lindsey Treffry refused to fire Duggan, and following a series of meetings the next day, Cowles suspended Curley and hired an attorney to conduct an internal investigation. Curley and his lawyer have declined to answer questions about the allegations or the circumstances surrounding his suspension. Sylvester has been scrubbed from Comma’s website, and Brunt confirmed Tuesday that he was no longer an employee with Comma. Hours after the Oct. 2 article, then-board chair Bill Simer resigned, though Comma did not make a formal announcement about the change. Brunt, who took over as chair, said Simer’s resignation the day of the article was a “coincidence.” Simer said in text messages that his resignation was a “personal decision” that “shouldn’t be misinterpreted as an indication that I don’t support this vision.” But he stopped short of expressing confidence in Curley’s leadership when asked by a reporter. “I continue to believe in the strategy and vision that Rob Curley developed for community supported journalism. Building a strong board of directors and experienced leadership team was part of that strategy, and I continue to support it,” he said. A number of Comma donors have pressured the board to answer questions about the paper’s transfer to Comma, the nonprofit’s finances and the investigation into Curley. One [prominent donor](https://www.comma.cm/donors/?ref=rangemedia.co), Ron Reed, sent a letter to Cowles and *Spokesman-Review* staff saying that Curley was integral to him and his wife’s continued support of Comma. He vowed to walk away with their money if Curley was removed as *the Spokesman's* executive editor. Reed also said the Oct. 2 article raised serious allegations and, without more transparency from Comma about the investigation and its findings, the public will only hear one side of the story. Now over two months after Curley's suspension, the community remains in the dark about details of the internal investigation's findings. “It’s very frustrating,” Reed said during a phone call. “After everything that’s been talked about in the public, I’m not sure how anybody could consider that being a suitable resolution or outcome of this.” Reed said his continued support depends on who will be “steering the ship” at Comma and if the vision aligned with what he signed on to support. “There is no transparency right now with anything,” he said. In the days since newsroom concerns about Curley became public, the nonprofit quietly updated its website’s “Frequently Asked Questions” page to seemingly address some of the criticism raised in the news article. One question added to the page asked,“What is Comma’s approach to news coverage that seems critical of Comma partners and supporters?” “The Spokesman-Review’s journalistic independence is sacred — it is central to our mission. Under no circumstances do we support or condone interfering with journalistic content,” the response said. “Comma is building a culture of transparency and integrity in journalism by promoting accuracy, impartiality, and balance in news reporting for the public good.” In its statement, the newsroom union said it opposes “any scenario that would allow Rob Curley to have a say in any future hiring and firing decisions of newspaper staff.” Last week, union members unanimously voted no confidence in the Comma board of directors if it decided to retain Curley in any capacity. Since the board members were initially chosen by Curley, they could later reinstate Curley “into the very role where he created a hostile work environment,” according to the statement. The union is backing Treffry, who has served as acting executive editor during Curley’s suspension, to lead the newsroom. But newsroom employees say they still do not know who will be their boss when ownership of the paper is transferred in 10 days. They’ve also been told that there will be no severance offered to employees who choose not to work for Comma. ### Comma finances Comma was billed as a way to transform the 143-year-old institution into the “People’s Paper,” relying on philanthropy and community funding and less on advertising. Though newsroom employees say they believe in the overall vision, they’re worried about Comma’s ability to sustainably fund a newsroom. The paper had previously pointed to several “community-funded reporters” — paid for by Comma’s philanthropy efforts — as evidence that the model could work. But newsroom staffers had previously shared with InvestigateWest and RANGE that after Curley’s August suspension, they were told that none of the paper’s reporters were currently “community funded,” a major blow to their confidence in the plan. In an interview Tuesday, Brunt said Comma had raised enough money to pay for those community-funded reporters, but that the *Spokesman-Review* had made a “business decision” not to pay them with money raised through philanthropy. “It wasn’t because of a lack of funds from Comma,” Brunt said. “We’re very confident in our ability to continue to operate the paper business as usual.” The union has also raised concerns about lawsuits involving Comma co-founder and executive director Scott de Rozic. De Rozic had his Comma wages garnished in late April for consumer debt of over $28,000 he owed Velocity Investments after the company purchased his debt, according to a Spokane County District Court document. “We have concerns going to work for an organization that’s being led by someone who shows that he’s had trouble managing his own finances without legal intervention,” Clouse said. “We’ve raised this to both the publisher and George Brunt.” Brunt, in an interview Tuesday, said he wasn’t concerned and the garnishment “didn’t change anything about how funds were used.” “It doesn’t give me any level of concern about him or his fitness to continue in his role,” Brunt said. Brunt, who previously worked for law firm Lee & Hayes in Spokane, previously represented one of de Rozic’s other business ventures, Olympio Inc, a short-lived nutritional supplement company that dissolved in 2024 after the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee [challenged](https://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn97147226&docId=CAR20220418224419&linkId=8&ref=rangemedia.co#docIndex=7&page=1) the company’s attempt to register its name. Another company called Midas Brands, co-founded by de Rozic, also faces a federal lawsuit alleging it failed to pay a $300,000 loan. PML Gold, the Washington-based company that is suing Midas, also alleges that Midas backdated a letter stating that the money it owed had been converted into shares of stock and without the notification required under their contract. Midas countersued, arguing it was PML who breached their agreement. De Rozic from 2018 to 2022 was also the chief operating officer and president of a Spokane-based software company called CloudEngage, which Cowles Company has [invested](https://www.geekwire.com/2020/uw-spinout-answerdash-contextual-qa-service-customer-support-acquired-cloudengage/?ref=rangemedia.co) in. Clouse said donors will want to know that the money they’re sending to an organization is being managed responsibly. “Those court cases would create a lot of questions in my mind,” Clouse said. De Rozic did not respond to requests for comment. Brunt said moving forward, both the newsroom and everyone at Comma will have to work together to build a local journalism organization that the community can trust. “I get it. I get the changes are scary.” Brunt says. “It’s a process, and we are looking to come together after the transition and really prove not with our words, but with how we operate, that Comma and the Comma board is trustworthy and takes its stewardship really seriously.” **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. RANGE is a worker-owned newsroom covering Spokane and the greater Inland Northwest. Contact Wilson Criscione at** [**wilson@investigatewest.org**](mailto:wilson@investigatewest.org) **and Daisy Zavala Magaña at** [**daisy@rangemedia.co**](mailto:daisy@rangemedia.co)**.** ### Data centers spur 4th district Spokane County Commissioner race URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/data-center-4th-district-county-commissioner-miller-schmidt/ Last updated: 2026-10-19T23:31:31.000Z Write-in candidates rarely make it past a primary election. But in Spokane County’s latest 4th District Commissioner race, one did just that. Rachelle Miller, a licensed social worker, won 1,083 votes in the August primary, or about 4% of votes cast, as a write-in independent candidate for the county commission seat representing southeastern Spokane County. Republican Commission Chair Mary Brooks did not file for reelection to the office, which initially left two-term state Rep. Suzanne Schmidt (R-Spokane Valley) facing an uncontested race to take over the open seat. That is, until Miller, who is running on an anti-data center platform, filed as a write-in candidate in June. 📍 District 4 of Spokane County [includes](https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spokanecounty.gov%2FDocumentCenter%2FView%2F43158%2FSpokane-County-Commissioner-District-4-PDF&url%5Fhash=125daf22c5fdee1e4ad1d3a2fa766eba&domain=spokanecounty.gov&site=77c5ed44-107e-459a-93fb-649b1aa308a6&found%5Fon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spokanecounty.gov%2F321%2FPrecinct-Maps&ref=rangemedia.co) Spangle, Fairfield, Rockford, Waverly, Latah, Liberty Lake, Southern Spokane Valley, Veradale, Valleyford, Mica and unincorporated Southeast Spokane County. It’s the first time since 2010 that a write-in candidate in a county race has made it onto the ballot for the general election, according to Spokane County elections manager Ryan Dosch. That year, now-state Rep. Rob Chase (R-Spokane Valley) advanced as a write-in for the county treasurer seat and won. Miller was the only declared write-in candidate for a county office in this year’s primary, Dosch said. Because Schmidt was otherwise unopposed, Miller needed just 1% of the votes cast to advance to the November 3 general election. Schmidt still captured over 22,000 votes in the primary — or more than 90% of ballots cast — after emphasizing her experience in the state legislature could support her county work if elected. The seat is one of two up for grabs on the Spokane County Commission this fall. In [District 2, Commissioner Amber Waldref](https://www.spokesman.com/elections/2022/washington-general-election-nov-8/candidates/amber-waldref/?ref=rangemedia.co) is running unchallenged for reelection. Just a few months ago, Miller had no intention of running for public office. But as data centers have become a flashpoint in communities across the country, Miller said her campaign grew out of community concerns about [rumblings about a data center](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-area-data-center-proposals-explained/) coming to the region. Petra Hoy, a longtime community organizer and Miller’s campaign manager, said many people were caught off guard when the filing deadline came and went in May and Schmidt ended up running unopposed. “A lot of people just kind of got to talking that — at the very least — Suzanne shouldn't run unopposed, that we should try to at least see where she stands on \[data centers\],” Hoy said. “From scouring the website and different things, we really didn't see where she had taken a position on it, and so we thought that was important.” Schmidt told RANGE that when data centers became an issue, she felt she “needed to make a statement” to make her stance clear, which she did in early September. She said that data centers were not a hot topic when she first filed in February and started campaigning, but that she has been working on learning more about the topic in recent months. She added that she wished Miller had spoken to her before launching her write-in campaign. “I am not going to support any economic development in Spokane County that hurts the residents,” Schmidt said. “If it affects electric rates in a negative manner, or it depletes water or natural resources, then no, I’m not going to support that.” In July, a [public records request](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) revealed that Spokane County Commissioner Al French had held discussions with Apricus Energy Partners, a company interested in developing a data center in the county. After weeks of criticism, the commission [voted unanimously](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-four-month-moratorium-data-center/) in August to enact a four-month moratorium on permit approvals for such projects. In an interview with RANGE, Miller described data centers as “the single greatest issue threatening our community.” She also acknowledged that she does not know “everything” about the county commission and the problems it faces, but promised that, if elected, that she would “jump in with both feet to learn.” When asked if she would support any version of a data center project, Miller said it would require a lot of time and airtight protections for residents. “To me, it’s a no right now,” she said. As an independent and political newcomer, Miller faces an uphill campaign. She said she’s voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates in past local elections. For Spokane Valley voter and registered Republican Mike Penick, concern about data centers has pushed him to vote across party lines. The issue is bipartisan in nature, he said, emphasizing concerns about rising energy costs and water disposal. He noted he’s also concerned about how underground water sources in his area would be affected. Miller’s lack of political experience is a point in her favor for Penick, even as the county faces a [$30 million budget deficit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/sep/24/spokane-county-sheriff-says-county-budget-deficit-/?ref=rangemedia.co) for 2027\. “She’s going to have fresh eyes when it comes to it,” he said. “People who already are there and doing it — well, they’ve been involved in this budget issue to begin with.” Despite all the buzz about data centers, Schmidt said that there is often unclear information about the facilities. She said that not all data centers are built to be utilized for AI — many online applications, including cloud storage, use data centers. “Where I see data centers is on Nextdoor and in social media,” Schmidt said, “but when I’m actually out talking with people — doing town halls, doing doorbelling, just different events — it very seldom, very seldom ever comes up.” To her, the issue seems to be that the data center proposals were “sprung on” the community, rather than one approached in a “transparent” manner. But the data center issue is just one of several challenges that Schmidt expects the next commissioner will have to confront. She pointed to hundreds of families displaced by the August wildfires, the need for what she described as a multifaceted justice system and the massive budget deficit for 2027\. In June, the [commission voted 3-1](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/09/spokane-county-joins-its-largest-city-in-consideri/?ref=rangemedia.co) to submit an application to the state that would let it enact a 0.1% sales and use tax in the county, which could funnel an extra $17 million annually into county finances for public safety. Schmidt said she has made supporting small businesses a legislative priority and highlighted her experience with workforce development, like increasing interest in trades. She’s sponsored state bills on public safety and worker support. Before joining the legislature, Schmidt led the Inland Pacific chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, a national trade association. “When we’re rebuilding all these houses, we’re going to need a workforce, and we’re going to need a trained workforce,” Schmidt said. Schmidt’s campaign has raised more than $60,000 in cash contributions, with roughly a third each from political action committees, individuals and businesses, as of Sept. 28\. Miller has raised more than $9,000 in cash contributions since registering in June, mostly from individual donations. [Spokane Election 2026 – RANGE MediaWelcome to RANGE’s one-stop shop for Washington election stuff. Here you’ll find resources for voting, links to voters guides and our coverage on it all. We’ll be updating this page with more of our coverage through Election Day.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-fb05fbf8-0343-421a-a775-27daed858615.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Election-1-5-b4b46370-e1a5-476c-b0c4-8b13dd1ff007.webp)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) ****Want election info and Spokane news sent straight to you? Sign up for our free newsletter!** [Stay informed and empowered ](https://www.rangemedia.co/#/portal/signup) ### County set to extend data center pause to June 2027 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/county-set-to-extend-data-center-pause-to-june-2027/ Last updated: 2026-10-19T19:21:41.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. It’s a chill week with a lot of bodies not meeting. Still, some things that stick out to us this week include: - Ready, set, vote! Ballots are out and our Elections [page](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) is live with more to come! - The BOCC is set to adopt a new pause on approvals for permitting new data centers that would last until June 1, 2027, more than five months longer than its original pause, which would have expired on December 15. - The Spokane Valley City Council will host a “community conversation” about its revised long-term plan that will govern how the city develops between now and 2046. - The Spokane Public Library Board will be getting a presentation on the library’s 2026 Summer Reading Program, which is also for adults! - The Bicycle Advisory Board will be discussing and preparing feedback on the city’s ongoing bike safety efforts. - Spokane City Council this week is cancelled for a school break. No council meetings! - The Spokane Airport is getting a temporary baggage claim as it expands terminals, so pay attention to signage next time you fly. ## Ballots are out Have you gotten your ballot in the mail? The Spokane County Elections Office sent them out, which means it’s time to start voting! Our Elections page is live with candidate questionnaires, ballot measure explainers, race profiles and voting information. Find it all [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/), and become the most informed voter in the Spo! ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### On this month’s agenda… The Spokane Public Library Board will meet and talk about revising their emergency procedures policy, get an overview of their 2026 Summer Reading program (which is for adults too!) and hear a variety of reports. These agendas never have much in the way of detail. However, they do include meeting minutes for the prior month’s meeting, which means we know more about what was on… ### Last month’s agenda! In September, the Library board instituted a policy for books that were burned from the Spokane Complex fires. If patrons had books or other library-owned items in their homes that burned, replacement fees for the items will be waived and the details of the loss reported to FEMA. The elevator at the Central Library downtown failed inspection due to a faulty installation that damaged the door of the elevator. The new door was delivered and likely installed by the time of this CIVICS agenda with the goal of getting a new inspection ASAP. Conversations about the budget and the library’s request for more funding have few new updates, though Spokane City Council and the mayor’s administration are about to start their public budgeting process, so more details should come soon. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanelibrary.org/about/administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 20 at 4:30 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed here*. ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Workshops The Bicycle Advisory Board (BAB) is scheduled to hold two workshops at their meeting. The first is a discussion on bikeway design standards, quick build process for quickly and cheaply adding bike infrastructure and the Vision Zero Safety Action Plan — the city’s plan to reach zero traffic fatalities. The second workshop is on deciding who should be the BAB’s representative on the city’s Transportation Commission, as Lauren Pangborn has stepped off both of those boards to sit on the Plan Commission. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 20 at 6 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Recycling expansion in Silver Lake on the table The BOCC is set to schedule a public hearing to discuss a proposed expansion of Spokane County Solid Waste’s recycling service to 40 homes in Silver Lake. See a map of the expanded area [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2328/files/attachment/24142?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 20 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Longer data center approval pause up for vote The BOCC will likely adopt a new, longer “pause” on approvals for building permits for data centers. The new pause will be the latest development in a years-long saga in which County Commissioner Al French was being courted — mostly in secret — by the data center developer Apricus Energy Partners. The original pause would have ended on December 15, whereas the one under consideration now would last until June 1, 2027\. The pause allows the commission time to develop zoning restrictions on data centers, which are large facilities full of computing technology that processes and stores electronic information sent over the internet. Read RANGE’s extensive coverage of the data center saga [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-area-data-center-proposals-explained/), [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/), [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) and [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 20 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Temp bag claim for airport renovation As the airport continues to expand its terminals, it will need to create a temporary baggage claim. The board will accept a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to fund this project on Thursday. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 22 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Community conversation on draft comp plan The city council will host a special meeting at 5 pm for the long-term plan that will govern how the city will develop between this year and 2046\. The biggest items address how certain kinds of housing are zoned. For example, changes to the plan will allow two accessory dwelling units — extra small homes — on a lot with an existing single family home, rather than only one. Such changes are mandated by changes to Washington’s Growth Management Act, the law that requires local governments to update their long-term plans every 20 years. The changes are focused on creating denser housing and reducing urban sprawl. Learn more about the changes [here](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=1682&meta%5Fid=111397&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 20 at 5 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 20 at 6 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### A peek behind the radio curtain with KYRS URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/a-peek-behind-the-radio-curtain-with-kyrs/ Last updated: 2026-10-16T21:09:44.000Z We love public media here, especially our pals at KYRS Community Radio who help produce this very show. Ahead of their upcoming fundraiser, KYRS' Dana Matthews and Steven Smith join RANGE's Aaron Hedge to discuss independent media, public radio and the landscape of broadcast and print journalism in an increasingly algorithmic world. Support KYRS: [https://kyrs.org/donate/](https://kyrs.org/donate/?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Medida que exigiría verificar el "sexo biológico" de todas las niñas que participan en deportes escolares en Washington estará en la boleta electoral de noviembre URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/medida-que-exigiria-verificar-el-sexo-biologico-deportes-escolares/ Last updated: 2026-10-16T21:26:19.000Z La asociación deportiva del estado tiene conocimiento de [menos de 10 atletas transgénero](https://www.kuow.org/politics/2026-06-04/?ref=rangemedia.co) que participan en competencias deportivas en todo el estado de Washington. Pronto, los votantes deberán decidir si estas atletas, y todas las demás niñas y adolescentes deportistas del estado, deberán someterse a un proceso de verificación de su sexo biológico para poder participar en deportes escolares. Let’s Go Washington, el comité de acción política conservador financiado por Brian Heywood, multimillonario y administrador de fondos de cobertura, ha promovido la iniciativa como una medida necesaria para "proteger la equidad en los deportes femeninos", al impedir que las niñas transgénero compitan contra sus compañeras cisgénero. La medida aparecerá en las boletas electorales de noviembre con el número "IL26-638". El texto señala que prohibiría que los estudiantes a quienes se definen como "biológicamente masculinos" participen en deportes femeninos y que "exigiría que los proveedores de atención médica de los estudiantes verificaran su sexo biológico". Esto significa que cualquier niña o adolescente que desee practicar deportes, no solamente las niñas transgénero o aquellas a quienes se haya acusado de ser transgénero, tendría que obtener una verificación médica de su sexo biológico antes de poder competir. Según la medida electoral, los médicos tendrían que incorporar un paso adicional para verificar el sexo de cada estudiante durante los exámenes físicos deportivos de rutina, basándose en al menos uno de los siguientes criterios: "la anatomía reproductiva del estudiante, su composición genética o sus niveles normales de testosterona producida naturalmente por el organismo". De aprobarse, esta medida constituiría una de las [prohibiciones más restrictivas](https://19thnews.org/2026/07/washington-state-trans-girls-sports-ballot/?ref=rangemedia.co) del país contra la participación de estudiantes transgénero en deportes escolares, ya que exigiría verificar el sexo de todas las estudiantes que deseen participar en deportes femeninos, y no solamente de aquellas cuya elegibilidad haya sido cuestionada por otras personas. La medida llega a consideración de los votantes como parte de un [esfuerzo nacional](https://19thnews.org/2026/07/trans-athletes-sports-ballot-measures/?ref=rangemedia.co) para utilizar iniciativas ciudadanas con el fin de revertir las decisiones de legislaturas progresistas que hasta ahora se han negado a prohibir la participación de niñas transgénero en deportes femeninos. Colorado y Arizona enfrentan propuestas similares. En Maine y Nevada, las medidas fueron retiradas tras impugnaciones relacionadas con la recolección de firmas y demoras judiciales. Así aparecerá la [medida](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/7327) en su boleta electoral: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-d0f6503e-e299-4206-8d7c-972b897e75dc.png) ### **¿Qué cambiaría con esta medida?** Los partidarios de la medida electoral han argumentado que habría pocos cambios con respecto a los exámenes físicos habituales a los que ya se someten las niñas y adolescentes para participar en deportes escolares. La Dra. Erica Li, pediatra de Spokane que publica artículos en Substack en contra de la "medicina transgénero" y que apoya públicamente la [medida](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Argument%20Prepared%20By), [declaró a *Vox*](https://www.vox.com/politics/501579/transgender-washington-midterms-ballot-measure-girls-sports-athlete?ref=rangemedia.co) que esta no "representaría ningún obstáculo para ninguna mujer" que quisiera participar en deportes escolares. "Un médico simplemente marcará una casilla en un formulario de examen físico que ya existe para confirmar el sexo de un menor", señala la [sección de preguntas frecuentes](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-638) de Let’s Go Washington. "Puede utilizar la información del historial médico existente, el formulario actual de antecedentes médicos o cualquier otro método que el médico y el paciente consideren más adecuado para marcar la casilla en el formulario de examen físico deportivo". La Dra. Libby Loft, médica de familia con certificación profesional que ejerce en Spokane y que ha realizado exámenes físicos a estudiantes, considera que este argumento no es sincero. "Actualmente, los exámenes físicos para participar en deportes no incluyen ningún tipo de revisión de los genitales de las niñas", afirmó Loft. "Si quieren una medida que diga que el médico simplemente puede marcar una casilla, entonces deberían redactar una medida que diga eso". Tras revisar el [formulario](https://wiaa-dna4aga5arc0gyeb.westus2-01.azurewebsites.net/results/Forms/PPE-Physical-Examination-Form.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) que actualmente exige la asociación deportiva del estado para participar en deportes escolares, RANGE no encontró ninguna casilla de ese tipo. Es posible que los médicos no cuenten con procedimientos estandarizados para verificar el sexo de un estudiante durante los exámenes físicos, ya que el formulario actual no les exige indicar el género del estudiante. El texto de la medida, tal como está redactado, exigiría un procedimiento adicional y potencialmente invasivo, mediante el cual los médicos tendrían que verificar físicamente la anatomía reproductiva de los estudiantes o realizar pruebas para determinar su composición genética o sus niveles de testosterona producida naturalmente por el organismo. Los certificados de nacimiento no se aceptarían como documentos válidos para dicha verificación. Según Kelsey Gellner, enfermera de práctica avanzada y miembro de la junta directiva de la Asociación de Enfermeras del Estado de Washington, los exámenes físicos actuales incluyen evaluaciones de aspectos como la frecuencia cardíaca, los problemas de visión y las debilidades musculoesqueléticas. En ocasiones, estos exámenes los realizan los proveedores habituales de atención primaria, pero con frecuencia los estudiantes acuden a profesionales de salud en farmacias como CVS, centros de atención de urgencias o incluso gimnasios escolares donde se ofrecen jornadas gratuitas de evaluación médica con profesionales voluntarios. Gellner, quien ha participado como voluntaria en estas evaluaciones, explicó que los estudiantes normalmente permanecen vestidos durante los exámenes. "No hay nada invasivo", afirmó. "Se puede realizar todo el examen sin que tengan que quitarse la ropa". Si se aprobara la medida, esto podría cambiar: los médicos podrían verse obligados a examinar visualmente y verificar los genitales de las niñas y adolescentes. "No creo que las personas que redactaron esta medida tengan los mejores conocimientos de ciencia y anatomía, pero la anatomía reproductiva no se encuentra en la parte externa del cuerpo de una niña", afirmó Loft. "Intentar determinar el género o el sexo de una persona mediante un examen pélvico interno sería muy invasivo y totalmente inapropiado". La medida contempla otras opciones: pruebas de ADN para identificar los cromosomas o análisis para medir los niveles naturales de testosterona. Sin embargo, el estado no cubriría los costos de estas pruebas para las niñas y adolescentes que optaran por esa alternativa. "Ambas pruebas tendrían que ser solicitadas por un profesional de salud y no son médicamente necesarias. Así que la primera pregunta es: ¿quién pagaría por ellas?", señaló Gellner. "Es muy difícil encontrar a alguien que realice estas pruebas incluso cuando son médicamente necesarias, y también es muy difícil conseguir que el seguro médico las cubra en esos casos. Lograr que las cubran cuando no se consideran médicamente necesarias y se solicitan con fines deportivos sería muy complicado". Tampoco está claro cómo la aprobación de la medida podría afectar a los [estudiantes intersexuales](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16324-intersex?ref=rangemedia.co), cuyas características cromosómicas, niveles hormonales, órganos reproductivos internos o genitales externos no se ajustan a las características típicamente masculinas o femeninas. Unas horas después de nuestra entrevista, Loft, quien tiene dos hijas que practican gimnasia, envió un mensaje de texto a RANGE. "He pasado toda la tarde pensando en Larry Nassar", escribió. "Todavía está muy reciente lo que ocurrió con él. No necesitamos abrirles la puerta a los depredadores sexuales, dándoles un motivo para examinar las partes íntimas de las niñas fuera de una situación ginecológica específica que requiera atención médica". ### **Una campaña costosa** A pesar de que se estima que el número de atletas transgénero que compiten en todo el estado es extremadamente bajo (y cabe aclarar que algunos de esos atletas probablemente sean niños transgénero que participan en deportes masculinos), se han invertido millones de dólares en esta disputa en Washington. Let’s Go Washington ha recaudado casi 3,8 millones de dólares para apoyar sus tres iniciativas (puede leer más sobre ellas aquí y aquí), mientras que No Hate in WA State ha recaudado 2,1 millones de dólares para oponerse tanto a esta medida como a la iniciativa conocida como la Declaración de Derechos de los Padres (*Parents Bill of Rights*). Si calculamos que un tercio de los fondos recaudados por Let’s Go Washington se destina a apoyar esta medida específica y suponemos, tomando la estimación más alta, que hay 10 atletas transgénero que desean competir en deportes femeninos, los promotores de la iniciativa estarían gastando 125.891 dólares por atleta. O bien, si consideramos las [79.020](https://a-us.storyblok.com/f/1022696/x/85a6414d04/2024-25-nfhs-high-school-athletics-participation-survey.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), participaciones de estudiantes de secundaria en deportes femeninos registradas durante el año escolar 2024-2025, el gasto seria apenas 16 dólares por cada estudiante que tendría que obtener una certificación de su sexo biológico, Sin embargo, esa cifra podría ser mayor, ya que el estudio contabilizó más de una vez a las estudiantes que participaron en varios deportes. Incluso tomando la cifra más baja, sigue siendo mucho menor que el [costo](https://www.mdsave.com/procedures/chromosome-analysis/d284f5c5?ref=rangemedia.co) de un análisis cromosómico o una prueba para medir los niveles de[ testosterona](https://www.ondemand.labcorp.com/lab-tests/comprehensive-testosterone-test?srsltid=AU7gw4U27DnCq2ScxmtS0tGipJgkdofWDBdxi4RDRiYQXrrwZ6ixYuCs&ref=rangemedia.co). ### **Apoyo y oposición** Entre los principales partidarios de la medida se encuentran varios grupos de Jóvenes Republicanos, la sección de Washington de Moms for Liberty, la comentarista conservadora Brandi Kruse y organizaciones nacionales que buscan excluir a las mujeres y niñas transgénero de las competencias deportivas, como Save Women’s Sports, XX XY Athletics y Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender. Entre los donantes locales al comité de acción política Let’s Go Washington, que apoya sus tres iniciativas electorales, se encuentran [Harley Douglass Inc.](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/18/trial-paints-late-harlan-douglass-titan-of-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) (20.000 dólares), la empresa constructora Divcon Inc. (10.000 dólares) y William "Stacey" Cowles (5.000 dólares), presidente de Cowles Company, empresa que históricamente ha sido propietaria del periódico *Spokesman-Review* y del centro comercial Riverfront. La campaña de oposición ha recibido el [respaldo](https://nohateinwastate.org/about-i-638?ref=rangemedia.co) de la Coalición del Estado de Washington contra la Violencia Doméstica y la Agresión Sexual, la Asociación de Enfermeras del Estado de Washington, la Asociación de Padres y Maestros del Estado de Washington y más de 100 médicos de familia y otros profesionales de la salud. Todas las donaciones provenientes del área de Spokane al comité de acción política No Hate in WA State son de 250 dólares o menos. Entre los donantes se encuentran un profesor de Eastern Washington University, un docente del Distrito Escolar Público de Spokane y la Dra. Pam Kohlmeier, excandidata a un cargo político por el tercer distrito legislativo de Washington. [En español - RANGE MediaNoticias de Spokane y el interior del noroeste, ahora en español. Esta página marca el inicio de nuestros esfuerzos para conectar y mejor servir a nuestras comunidades hispanohablantes. No dude en ponerse en contacto con cualquier sugerencia o idea para una historia.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-6e300acd-5355-4450-be96-1aba1659da4a.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/marmot-emails--1--fdb2bf1c-1642-4016-95dd-3fe7ebee0ebe.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/tag/en-espanol/) ****Lee más aquí** ### Measure to require "biological sex" verification for all WA girls’ sports athletes on November ballot URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-measure-1l26638-school-athletics-biological-sex/ Last updated: 2026-10-16T00:15:42.000Z The state athletics association knows [of fewer than 10](https://www.kuow.org/politics/2026-06-04/transgender-ballot-initiative-could-require-genital-exams-for-wa-secondary-school-students?ref=rangemedia.co) transgender athletes competing in sports across the entirety of Washington. Voters will soon be asked to decide if those athletes — and every other girl athlete in the state — should have to undergo a biological sex verification process in order to compete in school sports. Let’s Go Washington, the conservative political action committee funded by multimillionaire and hedgefund manager Brian Heywood, has marketed the initiative as a necessary measure to “protect fairness in girls’ sports,” by keeping transgender girls from competing against their cisgender peers. The ballot measure will appear on ballots in November under the label “No. IL26-638,” stating that it would prohibit students it defines as “biologically male” from competing in girls’ sports and “require verification of biological sex by students’ healthcare providers.” That means that any girl wanting to play sports — not just transgender girls, or those accused of being transgender — would have to have her biological sex verified by a doctor before competing. According to the ballot measure, doctors would have to add an additional step to verify the student’s sex during routine sports physical examinations, relying on at least one of the following: “the student’s reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.” If passed, this would stand as one of the [most restrictive](https://19thnews.org/2026/07/washington-state-trans-girls-sports-ballot/?ref=rangemedia.co) school trans sports bans in the country because it requires sex verification from every single student wanting to play girls’ sports, rather than just those who have faced eligibility challenges from opponents. The ballot measure comes before voters as part of a [national push](https://19thnews.org/2026/07/trans-athletes-sports-ballot-measures/?ref=rangemedia.co) to use citizen initiatives to overrule progressive legislatures that have thus far refused to ban trans girls from girls’ sports, with Colorado and Arizona facing down similar proposals. Measures in Maine and Nevada were withdrawn after signature challenges and legal delays. This is how the [measure](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/7327) will look on your ballot: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-34f95389-7c7c-48ac-9f53-63d5b0d13c10.png) ### What would this change? Supporters of the ballot measure have argued that little would change from the normal physical examination process girls already go through to participate in sports. Dr. Erica Li, a Spokane-based pediatrician who writes Substack articles against “transgender medicine,” and a vocal [supporter](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Argument%20Prepared%20By) of the measure, [told *Vox*](https://www.vox.com/politics/501579/transgender-washington-midterms-ballot-measure-girls-sports-athlete?ref=rangemedia.co) that it would not “pose any barriers to any female” seeking to participate in school athletics. “A doctor will simply check a box on a physical form that already exists to confirm a child’s sex,” the frequently asked questions section of Let’s Go Washington [reads](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-638). “They can use existing medical history knowledge, the existing medical history form, or any other method the doctor and patient deem is best to check the box on the sports physical form.” Dr. Libby Loft, a board-certified family physician in Spokane who has performed physical exams for students, thinks this argument is disingenuous. “ It is not currently part of the process of a physical exam for a sports physical to do any examination of a girl's genitals,” Loft said. “ If you want a measure that says your doctor can just check a box, then write a measure that says that.” RANGE found no existing box to check upon review of the [form](https://wiaa-dna4aga5arc0gyeb.westus2-01.azurewebsites.net/results/Forms/PPE-Physical-Examination-Form.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the state athletics organization currently requires for sports participation. Doctors may not have standard processes to verify a student’s sex during physical examinations since they are not required to say what gender a student is when filling out the current form. The actual language of the measure would require an additional and potentially invasive process, during which doctors would have to physically verify a student’s reproductive anatomy, or administer tests to determine genetic makeup or naturally-produced testosterone levels. Birth certificates would not be considered qualifying verification material. The current physical examination process requires medical providers to test for things like a healthy heart rate, vision issues and musculoskeletal weaknesses, said Kelsey Gellner, a nurse practitioner and Washington State Nurses Association board member. Sometimes, they’re done by primary care providers, but often, students are seen by providers at pharmacies like CVS, urgent care offices or even school gyms at free clinics with volunteer providers. Students usually keep their clothes on for these, said Gellner, who has volunteered to do physical screenings. “There's nothing invasive,” she said. “You can do this entire examination while they are wearing their clothes.” If the measure were to pass, that could change: Doctors could be required to view and verify girls’ genitals. “ I don't think the folks who wrote this understand science and anatomy the best, but reproductive anatomy is not on the outside of a girl's body,” said Loft. “It would be very invasive to try to determine somebody's gender or sex based on an internal pelvic exam, and totally inappropriate.” There are other options identified in the measure — DNA testing to identify chromosomes or natural testosterone level checks. However, the state wouldn’t bear the costs of running these tests for girls who opt to go that route instead. “ Both of those would have to be ordered by a provider, and they're not medically necessary. So the first issue is: who pays for this?” Gellner said. “ It is very hard to find someone who will do those tests when those tests are medically necessary, and it is very hard to get insurance to cover those when they are medically necessary. To get them to be covered when they aren't deemed medically necessary and it's for sports purposes would be very restrictive.” It’s also unclear how the passage of the measure could impact [intersex](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16324-intersex?ref=rangemedia.co) students, who have chromosomes, hormone levels, internal reproductive organs or external genitals with features that aren’t typically male or female. A few hours after our interview, Loft, who has two daughters in gymnastics texted RANGE. “I’ve been thinking of Larry Nasser all afternoon,” she wrote. “He’s barely in the rearview mirror; we don’t need to open the door for predators to have a reason to examine girls’ privates outside of a specific gynecological concern that medically needs to be addressed.” ### A costly campaign Despite the extremely low number of trans athletes estimated to be competing across the state (and to be clear, some of those athletes are likely transgender boys playing boys’ sports), millions of dollars have been pumped into the fight here in Washington. Let’s Go Washington has raised nearly $3.8 million to support its slate of three initiatives (read up on those here and here), and No Hate in WA State has raised $2.1 million to oppose both this measure and the Parents Bill of Rights measure. If you estimate a third of the Let’s Go Washington funding is going to support this specific measure, and assume the number of trans athletes wanting to compete in girls’ sports on the high end at 10, proponents of the initiative are spending $125,891 per athlete. Or, considering there were [79,020](https://a-us.storyblok.com/f/1022696/x/85a6414d04/2024-25-nfhs-high-school-athletics-participation-survey.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) total high school girls athletes as of the 2024-2025 school year, that’s as little as $16 per high school-aged girl who will have to get their biological sex certified; though it could be higher — the study double-counted students who participated in multiple sports. Even at the lower end, it’s still much cheaper than the [cost](https://www.mdsave.com/procedures/chromosome-analysis/d284f5c5?ref=rangemedia.co) of a chromosome analysis or testosterone level [test](https://www.ondemand.labcorp.com/lab-tests/comprehensive-testosterone-test?srsltid=AU7gw4U27DnCq2ScxmtS0tGipJgkdofWDBdxi4RDRiYQXrrwZ6ixYuCs&ref=rangemedia.co). ### Support and opposition Chief supporters of the measure include multiple Young Republican groups, the Washington chapter of Moms for Liberty, conservative media personality Brandi Kruse and national organizations fighting to exclude trans women and girls from participating in sports, like Save Women’s Sports, XX XY Athletics and Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender. Local donors to the Let’s Go Washington political action committee — which supports all three of their ballot measures — include [Harley Douglass](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/18/trial-paints-late-harlan-douglass-titan-of-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) Inc ($20,000), construction company Divcon Inc. ($10,000) and President of the Cowles Company (which has historically owned the *Spokesman-Review* and the Riverfront mall) William “Stacey” Cowles ($5,000). The opposition campaign has been [endorsed](https://nohateinwastate.org/about-i-638?ref=rangemedia.co) by the WA State Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the Washington State Nurses Association, the WA State Parent Teacher Association and more than 100 family doctors and other medical professionals. Spokane-area donations to the No Hate in WA State political action committee are all $250 or under, and include contributions from an Eastern Washington University professor, a Spokane Public School district teacher and former 3rd Legislative District political candidate Dr. Pam Kohlmeier. [Spokane Election 2026 – RANGE MediaWelcome to RANGE’s one-stop shop for Washington election stuff. Here you’ll find resources for voting, links to voters guides and our coverage on it all. We’ll be updating this page with more of our coverage through Election Day.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-94afebe2-7f11-426d-93ab-c0dfc2d68131.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Election-1-5-5087218b-539e-4fde-9bfd-87485ae5c081.webp)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) Find all our election coverage here! ### ¿Quién quiere cobrarles impuestos a los millonarios? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/impuestos-a-los-millonarios-washington/ Last updated: 2026-10-19T22:53:36.000Z Usted, personalmente, no tendrá que pagar el impuesto a los millonarios. Eso es casi seguro. A partir de 2029, el impuesto a los millonarios, promulgado por el gobernador Bob Ferguson en marzo de este año, gravaría con una tasa del 9.9% los ingresos anuales de los hogares de Washington que superen el millón de dólares. Pero lo más probable es que usted esté a salvo, incluso si tiene un millón de dólares por ahí escondidos en el banco. Siempre y cuando su hogar no tenga la mala suerte de andar recibiendo ingresos anuales de un millón de dólares, estará exento de este impuesto. Actualmente, según datos del Departamento de Ingresos del Estado de Washington, menos de 500 personas en los tres distritos legislativos que abarcan la mayor parte del condado de Spokane estarían sujetas a este impuesto, y lo más probable es que usted no sea una de ellos. Claro, podría ser una de esas contadas excepciones. Tal vez sea Arsen Kitch, director ejecutivo de Clearwater Paper; Scott O’Brien, ejecutivo de Providence; o Mark Few, entrenador del equipo de baloncesto de Gonzaga. (Mark, si está leyendo esto, probablemente tendría que desembolsar al menos 200.000 dólares anuales en impuestos por su salario de 3 millones de dólares). Pero Spokane no es una ciudad de millonarios. Incluso a nivel estatal, según un [comunicado](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-signs-millionaires-tax-law?ref=rangemedia.co) de la oficina de Ferguson, menos del 0,5 % de los contribuyentes tendría que pagar el impuesto a los millonarios. Sin embargo, a veces basta un solo millonario para marcar la diferencia: Brian Heywood, millonario y administrador de fondos de cobertura en Seattle, ha destinado una parte considerable de su fortuna a causas conservadoras, como la revocación del impuesto a los millonarios. Su comité de acción política, Let 's Go Washington, encabeza los esfuerzos para aprobar la Iniciativa 645, que no solo revocaría el impuesto a los millonarios, sino que también prohibiría cualquier impuesto sobre la renta a nivel estatal y local en el futuro. Más de 500.000 residentes del estado de Washington —aproximadamente doce veces el número de personas que tendrían que pagar el impuesto— firmaron la petición para incluir la iniciativa en la boleta electoral. Heywood sabe muy bien que los millonarios como él son un blanco fácil para las críticas y que difícilmente despiertan compasión. "Si presentan esto como un impuesto contra los millonarios, contra esos malditos ricachones que se merecen una buena patada en la entrepierna, entonces la gente dice: “¡Sí, estoy a favor de un impuesto a los millonarios!”", declaró Heywood a [KIRO Newsradio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxjKAJjrwBY&ref=rangemedia.co) en julio. Por eso, Let’s Go Washington ha tratado de cambiar el enfoque del debate: dejar de hablar de lo que este impuesto es actualmente y centrarse en lo que podría *llegar a ser* en el futuro. "Les hacemos a las personas una pregunta muy sencilla: “¿Creen que este impuesto sobre la renta terminará afectándolos a ustedes?”", continuó Heywood. “Con solo hacer esa pregunta, los resultados de las encuestas cambian y la proporción de 60 a 40 se invierte.” ### **Alguien tiene que pagar** La Legislatura pretende que el impuesto a los millonarios haga algo más que simplemente recaudar fondos. Busca trasladar parte de la carga tributaria del estado de Washington de los pobres a los ricos. "Lo interesante del impuesto a los millonarios es que, de distintas maneras, tiene un impacto directo en todos los niveles de la escala tributaria", afirmó Emily Vyhnanek, del Washington Budget and Policy Center, un centro de estudios de orientación progresista. Durante años, el sistema tributario del estado de Washington ha sido citado como ejemplo de la hipocresía progresista. A pesar del predominio del Partido Demócrata en el estado, su sistema de impuestos impone a las personas de menores ingresos una carga proporcionalmente mayor que la de cualquier otro estado del país. Como las personas pobres gastan una proporción mucho mayor de sus ingresos en las compras que hacen en las tiendas que las personas ricas, depender en gran medida del impuesto sobre las ventas significa que quienes tienen menos ingresos soportan la mayor carga tributaria. "El 1 % de los ricos de nuestro estado ha disfrutado durante muchísimo tiempo de un trato especialmente favorable gracias a nuestro sistema tributario, que data de la década de 1930", afirmó Vyhnanek. Sin embargo, en 2024, el Instituto de Política Tributaria y Económica (Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy) reclasificó a Washington como el segundo estado con el sistema tributario más regresivo del país, después de Florida. Esto se debe, en parte, a la decisión de la Legislatura de gravar en 2021 las ganancias de capital, es decir, las ganancias obtenidas por la venta de activos mantenidos a largo plazo, como acciones y otras inversiones. Aun así, el 20 % de la población más pobre sigue pagando en impuestos una proporción de sus ingresos tres veces mayor que la que paga el 1 % más ricos. "El impuesto a los millonarios podría sacar a Washington de los llamados “Diez Terribles”, los diez estados con los sistemas tributarios más desiguales del país", ella señaló. La ley del impuesto a los millonarios no solo aumenta la carga tributaria de los más ricos, sino que también alivia la de los más pobres. Cuando el impuesto entre en vigor en 2029, la ley también eliminará el impuesto sobre las ventas de ciertos productos de primera necesidad, como pañales, cepillos de dientes y Tylenol. La medida también extendería dramáticamente el número de hogares que reúnen los requisitos para recibir el Crédito Tributario para Familias Trabajadoras (*Working Families Tax Credit*), un programa de devolución de impuestos sobre las ventas dirigido a trabajadores de menores ingresos. Según Vyhnanek, en el condado de Spokane el número de hogares beneficiarios aumentaría a más del doble, hasta superar los 66.000. "Eso significa que el 25 % del condado podrá acceder a este beneficio", afirmó Vyhnanek. "Si usted tiene una familia con tres personas a su cargo y cumple con los requisitos para recibir este crédito, podría obtener más de 1.300 dólares". Seattle es mucho más rica que Spokane y tiene muchos más millonarios que pagarían este impuesto. Por eso, según Vyhnanek, en la práctica funciona como una transferencia de recursos desde el oeste del estado hacia el resto de Washington. La campaña que busca mantener el impuesto a los millonarios cuenta con el respaldo financiero de sindicatos con importantes recursos económicos, particularmente los sindicatos de docentes. Cuanto más dinero ingrese al fondo general del estado, más recursos habrá disponibles para invertir en educación. Sin embargo, al menos en Spokane, muchos de los principales financiadores de la iniciativa para derrotar el impuesto a los millonarios son los mismos millonarios, según los registros de la Comisión de Divulgación Pública (PDC). La empresa de Harley Douglass, hijo del fallecido multimillonario del sector inmobiliario Harlan Douglass, aportó 20.000 dólares. Stacey Cowles, editor del *Spokesman-Review*, contribuyó con 5.000 dólares. Y aunque pueda parecer extraño que Brenda Hester, bibliotecaria de una escuela pública, haya donado 5.000 dólares a Let’s Go Washington, resulta más comprensible al saber que su esposo, quien gana más de un millón de dólares como director ejecutivo de la empresa inmobiliaria Kiemle Hagood, también aportó 5.000 dólares. Los críticos del impuesto a los millonarios [argumentan](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/us/politics/washington-state-millionaires-tax.html?ref=rangemedia.co) que, cuanto menos atractivo sea el estado para las personas adineradas, más probable será que estas se marchen y se lleven consigo sus ingresos sujetos a impuestos. Jeff Bezos, de Amazon, se fue. También lo hizo Howard Schultz, fundador de Starbucks. Sin embargo, los partidarios del impuesto sostienen que ese riesgo se ha exagerado. “El mito más común es que los millonarios simplemente podrían hacer las maletas e irse,” afirmó Vyhnanek. “Existe una amplia cantidad de investigaciones que demuestran que, en términos generales, eso no es cierto”. Vyhnanek señala que los críticos plantearon el mismo argumento después de que Washington aprobara el impuesto sobre las ganancias de capital en 2021\. Pero, dejando de lado los casos más conocidos, no se ha producido una migración significativa de personas adineradas. "Los millonarios, al igual que todos los demás, deciden dónde vivir teniendo en cuenta las mismas cosas que consideramos todos, como la cercanía a nuestras familias", explicó Vyhnanek. "El sentido de arraigo a una comunidad también se aplica a los millonarios". ### **Pero ¿qué pasará después con el impuesto?** Independientemente de lo que ocurra con la iniciativa electoral, no está del todo claro que el impuesto sobreviva a los tribunales. La Constitución estatal establece que "todos los impuestos deberán ser uniformes para una misma categoría de propiedad", y los tribunales han dictaminado anteriormente que los ingresos se consideran propiedad. Según este razonamiento, un impuesto que aplica una tasa a los millonarios y otra a quienes no lo son no sería constitucional. Sin embargo, un recurso judicial similar que buscaba anular el impuesto sobre las ganancias de capital fracasó, y la composición actual de la Corte Suprema del estado está lejos de ser tranquilizadora para los conservadores. Esa misma Corte Suprema dejó sin efecto práctico una impugnación conservadora contra el texto que acompañará la iniciativa en la boleta electoral, según el cual eliminar el impuesto "reduciría los fondos destinados a la educación pública K-12, la educación superior (incluidas las universidades y los colegios comunitarios) y los servicios sociales (principalmente la atención médica)". Sin embargo, la ley del impuesto a los millonarios no destina explícitamente los ingresos recaudados a ninguno de esos fines. A excepción del 5 % que se asigna a programas de cuidado infantil y educación preescolar, el resto ingresa al fondo general del estado, donde puede utilizarse para cualquier propósito que decida la Legislatura. Como los magistrados de la Corte Suprema estatal quedaron divididos en partes iguales sobre si el texto era aceptable, la redacción de la boleta electoral se mantiene. Si los tribunales determinan que los impuestos sobre la renta son constitucionales en el estado de Washington, advierten los republicanos, el impuesto a los millonarios será apenas el comienzo. En una entrevista televisiva realizada en mayo, el senador Jamie Pedersen (demócrata de Seattle), uno de los promotores del impuesto, afirmó que "personalmente, sin duda alguna" apoya un impuesto sobre la renta que se aplique a todos los residentes del estado de Washington, pero que no cree que sus colegas lleguen a respaldarlo. Incluso algunas personas de izquierda consideran que el impuesto a los millonarios no pretende ser el último paso. "Una de las cosas que me frustran del debate sobre el impuesto a los millonarios es que los demócratas finjan que no tienen como objetivo establecer un impuesto sobre la renta más amplio y progresivo", escribió en X (antes Twitter) Hannah Krieg, colaboradora de *The Burner* y ex periodista de izquierda de *The Stranger*. Ferguson ha prometido [vetar](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/27/ferguson-vows-to-veto-any-expansion-of-wa-milliona/?ref=rangemedia.co) cualquier intento de ampliar el impuesto. Pero, históricamente, las promesas de los políticos del estado de Washington de no ir más allá en materia tributaria no han durado mucho. El exgobernador Jay Inslee aseguró una y otra vez que vetaría cualquier [impuesto sobre la renta](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/does-gov-jay-inslee-support-a-state-income-tax-no-he-does-not/?ref=rangemedia.co) durante su mandato. Sin embargo, eso no le impidió respaldar el impuesto sobre las ganancias de capital. Tampoco le impidió declarar este año: "Habría firmado con orgullo el impuesto a los millonarios si hubiera llegado a mi escritorio cuando era gobernador". Por supuesto, si la Legislatura del estado de Washington decide incumplir su promesa e imponer un impuesto sobre la renta a quienes no son millonarios, existe una solución: presentar otra iniciativa electoral. *Nota del editor: Ninguno de los periodistas de planta ni los colaboradores independientes de RANGE tendrán que pagar el impuesto a los millonarios. Este artículo ha sido actualizado para corregir una inexactitud sobre los productos exentos del impuesto sobre las ventas bajo el impuesto a los millonarios.* ### Who Wants To Tax a Millionaire? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/millionaires-tax-spokane-will-i-pay/ Last updated: 2026-10-20T17:14:16.000Z You, personally, will not have to pay the Millionaires Tax. That is almost certain. Starting in 2029, the Millionaires Tax, signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson this March, would tax Washington households at 9.9% on any income they make over $1 million. But chances are you’re safe — even if you have a million dollars squirreled away in the bank. As long as your household isn’t unlucky enough to be pulling in $1 million a year in income, you will be spared. Right now, there are fewer than 500 people in the three legislative districts that make up most of Spokane County who would qualify for the tax, according to Washington Department of Revenue data, and you most likely aren’t one of them. Yes, you could be a rare exception. You might be Clearwater Paper CEO Arsen Kitch or Providence executive Scott O'Brien or Gonzaga Basketball Coach Mark Few. (Mark, if you’re reading this, you would probably need to shell out at least $200,000 in taxes every year for your $3 million salary.) But Spokane is not a town of millionaires. Even statewide, according to a [statement](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-signs-millionaires-tax-law?ref=rangemedia.co) from Ferguson’s office, less than a half of a percent of taxpayers will have to pay the Millionaires Tax. But sometimes, it only takes one millionaire to make a difference: Millionaire Brian Heywood, a hedge fund manager in Seattle, has dedicated a big chunk of his fortune to conservative causes, like repealing the Millionaires Tax. His political action committee, Let’s Go Washington, is leading the effort to pass Initiative 645, which would not only repeal the Millionaires Tax, but ban any income taxes at the state and local level going forward. More than 500,000 Washington state residents — roughly a dozen times more than the number of people who would have to pay the tax — signed the petition to get it on the ballot. Heywood knows very well that millionaires like him make a juicy target — and an unsympathetic victim. "If this is framed as, this is a tax on millionaires, those dirty rich bastards that deserve a good kick in the groin, then people say, ‘Yeah, I'm for a Millionaires Tax,’" Heywood told [KIRO Newsradio](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxjKAJjrwBY&ref=rangemedia.co) in July. So Let’s Go Washington has sought to shift the frame, from what this tax is now to what it could someday *become*. “We ask people one simple question, ‘Do you think this income tax is coming for you?’” Heywood continued, “Just asking the question, the polling switches 60-40 the other way.” ### **Someone’s gonna pay** The Legislature intends the Millionaires Tax to do more than simply raise revenue. They want to shift the Washington state tax burden from the poor toward the rich. “What's cool about the Millionaires' Tax is it actually directly impacts all ends of the tax spectrum in a few different ways,” said Emily Vyhnanek, with the Washington Budget and Policy Center, a progressive think tank. For years, Washington state’s tax code has been cited as an example of progressive hypocrisy. For all the state’s Democratic dominance, its tax system punished the poor more heavily than any other state in the nation. Because poor people spend a much greater percent of their incomes on things they buy at the store than the rich, relying heavily on a sales tax means the low-income residents bear the biggest burden. "The top 1% of our state, because of our tax code that's from the 1930s, have gotten a really special deal for a really long time," Vyhnanek said. But in 2024, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reranked Washington as the second most regressive, behind Florida. Credit, in part, goes to the legislature’s 2021 decision to tax capital gains, the sale of long-term assets like stocks and investments. Still, the poorest 20% still have to pay a three times larger share of their income than the top 1%. “The Millionaires Tax could get Washington out of the ‘Terrible 10s,’ which is the 10 most inequitable tax codes in the country,” Vyhnanek said. That Millionaires Tax bill doesn’t just hammer the richest, it lightens the load on the poorest: At the same time the tax goes online in 2029, the law would eliminate sales taxes on specific necessities like diapers, toothbrushes and Tylenol. The measure would also dramatically expand the number of households that qualify for the Working Family Tax Credit, a sales tax refund for lower-income workers. In Spokane County, the number would more than double to over 66,000 households, Vyhnanek said. "That means that 25% of the county is going to be eligible," Vyhnanek said. “If you're a family with three dependents that qualifies for this credit, you could be getting upwards of $1,300.” Seattle is so much richer than Spokane — with so many more millionaires who would pay the tax — Vyhnanek said that it effectively works out as a wealth transfer from the west side to the rest of the state. The campaign pushing to keep the Millionaires Tax is funded by deep union pockets — particularly teachers unions. The more money in the state general fund, the more money is available to spend on education. But in Spokane, at least, many of the biggest funders of the initiative to defeat the Millionaires Tax are millionaires themselves, PDC filings show. $20,000 came from the company of Harley Douglass, the son of late real estate billionaire Harlan Douglass. $5,000 came from Stacey Cowles, publisher of the Spokesman-Review. And while it may seem strange that public school librarian Brenda Hester had given $5,000 to Let’s Go Washington, it makes more sense when you see that her husband, who makes more than $1 million as the CEO of real estate company Kiemle Hagood, also gave $5,000\. Critics of the Millionaires Tax [argue](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/us/politics/washington-state-millionaires-tax.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that the more inhospitable you make the state for the rich, the more the rich will flee the state, taking all their taxable income with them. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos left. So did Starbucks founder Howard Schultz. But supporters say that’s overblown. “The most common myth is that millionaires might just pick up and leave,” said Vyhnanek. “There’s a broad swath of research that shows that is just not true on a broad level.” Vyhnanek notes critics made the same argument after Washington passed a capital gains tax in 2021\. But setting the high-profile examples aside, there *hasn’t* been a significant migration of the rich. “Millionaires, just like everybody else, make decisions about where they live based on the things we all consider, like how close are we to family?” Vyhnanek said. “The concept of embeddedness within your community applies to millionaires as well.” ### **But the tax after that…** No matter what happens with the voter initiative, it’s not entirely clear that the tax will survive the courts. The state constitution declares that “all taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property” and courts have previously ruled that income counts as property. So, the thinking goes, a tax that hammers millionaires with one rate and non-millionaires with another rate doesn’t fly. But a similar legal challenge to overturn the capital gains tax failed, and the current makeup of the state Supreme Court is anything but comforting for conservatives. That same Supreme Court rejected a conservative objection to the language accompanying the initiative on the ballot, claiming the repeal of the tax “would decrease funding for public K-12 education, higher education (including universities and community colleges), and human services (primarily healthcare)” Yet the Millionaires Tax doesn’t explicitly earmark the money for any of those things: Other than 5% going to support early childcare and preschool programs, the rest goes into the general fund, where it can be used for anything the legislature pleases. With the state supreme court evenly split on whether the language was acceptable, the ballot language stands. If the court rules that income taxes are constitutional in Washington state, Republicans warn, the Millionaires Tax is just the beginning. In a TV interview back in May, Millionaires Tax sponsor Sen. Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) said he “personally, absolutely” supports a universal income tax for all Washington state residents, but that he didn’t believe his colleagues would ever support it. Even some on the left believe that the Millionaires Tax is not intended to be the end. “One thing that is frustrating about The Discourse about millionaires tax is Democrats pretending they don't have the goal of doing a larger, progressive income tax,” tweeted *The Burner* writer Hannah Krieg, a left-wing former journalist for *The Stranger*. Ferguson has promised he’ll [veto](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/27/ferguson-vows-to-veto-any-expansion-of-wa-milliona/?ref=rangemedia.co) any attempt to expand the tax. But historically, this-far-and-no-further promises from Washington state politicians on taxes have had a limited shelf life. Former Governor Jay Inslee swore up and down that he would veto [income taxes](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/does-gov-jay-inslee-support-a-state-income-tax-no-he-does-not/?ref=rangemedia.co) while in office. But that didn’t stop him from endorsing the capital gains tax. And that didn’t stop him from saying this year, “I would have proudly signed the Millionaires Tax if it had come to my desk as governor.” There is, of course, a remedy if the Washington state Legislature decides to break its promise and put an income tax on non-millionaires: another initiative. **Editor’s Note:* None of the staff writers or freelancers or RANGE will have to pay the Millionaires Tax. Also, this story has been updated to correct an inaccuracy regarding the products exempted from the sales tax by the "Millionaires Tax."* ### RANGE preguntó a cuatro adolescentes de la zona qué opinan sobre la iniciativa electoral de la Carta de Derechos de los Padres URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/carta-de-derechos-de-los-padres-lets-go-washington/ Last updated: 2026-10-16T21:25:58.000Z Evan Burnette eligió el nombre "Evan" para sí mismo años antes de contárselo a su familia. En sexto grado se dio cuenta de que no le gustaba el nombre que le habían dado al nacer. No quería ser una niña, explicó. Le incomodaba que los demás lo vieran así. Por eso empezó a escribir "Evan" en todos sus trabajos escolares. Sus maestros y compañeros guardaron el secreto, dándole tiempo para acostumbrarse poco a poco a su nueva identidad. Sin embargo, fue precisamente un trabajo escolar el que terminó revelando su identidad. Tres años después de que empezara a firmar sus tareas con su nuevo nombre, su tío lo vio escrito en una hoja cuando la familia se reunió alrededor de una fogata para quemar documentos viejos. Aun así, haber tenido esos años adicionales fue importante. Si sus maestros se lo hubieran contado inmediatamente a su familia, Burnette dijo: "Eso me habría desanimado a intentar descubrir quién era". Aunque reconoce que el texto de la iniciativa electoral le resulta algo confuso y difícil de interpretar, Burnette —un joven de 17 años con dibujos hechos con marcador permanente en los brazos y varias pulseras de goma en las muñecas— tiene inquietudes sobre la Iniciativa IL26-001. Conocida comúnmente como la Carta de Derechos de los Padres (*Parent’s Bill of Rights*), la iniciativa revocaria las modificaciones respaldadas por los demócratas a las leyes que regulan qué información médica y de salud mental deben proporcionar las escuelas a los padres. Millones de dólares se han destinado al debate estatal, pero, aunque la mayoría de los estudiantes de secundaria todavía son demasiado jóvenes para votar, son ellos quienes podrían perder parte de su privacidad si se aprueba la medida. ### **Lo viejo vuelve a ser nuevo** En 2024, la Legislatura del estado de Washington [aprobó](https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2024/03/07/washington-legislature-approves-three-citizen-initiatives/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=of%20doing%20so.%E2%80%9D-,Parental%20rights%C2%A0,-Initiative%202081%2C%20or) una iniciativa ciudadana redactada por Let’s Go Washington —el comité de acción política conservador respaldado por el multimillonario Brian Heywood— que exigía a las escuelas públicas facilitar a los padres el acceso a materiales como libros de texto, planes de estudio y expedientes médicos para su revisión. La iniciativa también permitía a los padres solicitar que sus hijos no participaran en tareas o actividades que incluyeran preguntas sobre la sexualidad, el género o las creencias políticas o morales de los estudiantes. Al año siguiente, la Legislatura modificó el texto de aquella iniciativa de 2024, argumentando que los distritos escolares habían expresado [confusión](https://ospi.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/2025-01/2081-december-2024-report.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) durante su implementación y que era necesario cerrar vacíos legales que pudieran interpretarse como una obligación para los maestros u orientadores escolares de revelar a los padres la orientación sexual o identidad de género de estudiantes LGBTQ+ sin su consentimiento. Con esos cambios, los distritos escolares obtuvieron más tiempo para responder a las solicitudes de los padres sobre los planes de estudio. También se ampliaron las opciones para que los padres pudieran decidir en qué actividades no participarían sus hijos y se eliminaron disposiciones que se hubieran podido interpretar como una obligación para los maestros u orientadores escolares de revelar a las familias, sin el consentimiento de los estudiantes, que estos eran LGBTQ+ o transgénero. Los partidarios de la iniciativa ciudadana original presentaron rápidamente una [demanda](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/10/24/conservative-group-sues-to-overturn-rewrite-of-wa-parental-rights-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) judicial y reunieron las firmas necesarias para someter a votación una medida que revocaria las modificaciones y restablecería la versión de 2024 de la Carta de Derechos de los Padres. Así aparecerá la iniciativa en su boleta electoral: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-d428f3a6-f1db-4fe1-b9e1-9b1ac716c564.png) ### **Los puntos de desacuerdo** Las dos versiones de la ley —la que está vigente actualmente y aquella a la que se volvería si se aprueba la iniciativa— son [bastante similares.](https://www.kuow.org/politics/2025-02-06/the-fight-over-parents-rights-is-back-in-olympia-here-s-what-s-going-on?ref=rangemedia.co) Tanto la iniciativa ciudadana respaldada por los conservadores como la versión modificada por la Legislatura con apoyo demócrata establecieron por ley el derecho de los padres a acceder los expedientes académicos y registros de asistencia de sus hijos. Ambas leyes exigían a los distritos escolares permitir que los padres excluyen a sus hijos de la educación sexual integral y de actividades educativas que plantean preguntas sobre temas potencialmente controvertidos. Ambas también exigían que las escuelas notificarán a los padres si sus hijos habían sido víctimas de delitos dentro de las instalaciones escolares. Sin embargo, existe una amarga ([y costosa](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2026-30644?ref=rangemedia.co#overview)) disputa por los detalles en los que difieren ambas versiones. Los partidarios de la iniciativa electoral [argumentan](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-001) que permitiría a los padres acceder a más expedientes y obtenerlos con mayor rapidez, aumentaría la transparencia sobre los contenidos educativos y les daría más control sobre la educación de sus hijos. Los opositores [argumentan](https://nohateinwastate.org/about-i-001?ref=rangemedia.co) que, si se aprueba la iniciativa, la ley restablecida desalentaría a los estudiantes a buscar apoyo de salud mental, eliminaría protecciones de privacidad para menores víctimas de maltrato infantil y obligaría a los distritos escolares a revelar a las familias la identidad de estudiantes transgénero y LGBTQ+ sin su consentimiento. Aunque el [tono](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-001) en el sitio web de Let’s Go Washington afirma que la iniciativa "no exige que las escuelas notifiquen a los padres simplemente porque un estudiante se identifique como LGBTQ+", el argumento incluido en la boleta electoral y redactado por seis de sus partidarios sugiere lo contrario, al afirmar que la medida "apoyaría a las familias, no el secretismo". "Las políticas actuales permiten que las escuelas oculten información fundamental cuando un menor expresa una nueva identidad de género en la escuela", [señala](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/7326) su argumento. "Esto debilita la relación esencial entre padres e hijos y les niega a las familias la oportunidad de abordar juntas cuestiones importantes sobre la salud y el bienestar". Los conservadores también han [argumentado](https://www.heritage.org/gender/report/public-school-gender-policies-exclude-parents-are-unconstitutional?ref=rangemedia.co) que la transición social de los estudiantes —que puede incluir el uso de un nuevo nombre o pronombres y cambios en su forma de presentarse mediante el peinado o la ropa— constituye una forma de atención médica o de salud mental que tendría que comunicarse a los padres si se aprueba la iniciativa. La ley vigente, que podría ser revocada, garantiza a los padres el derecho a acceder únicamente a la información "educativa" de sus hijos, en lugar de categorías más amplias como los "expedientes médicos o de salud" y los "registros de cualquier asesoramiento de salud mental". Esta distinción busca proteger a los estudiantes que reciben orientación psicológica mientras exploran su identidad de género o su orientación sexual. ### **Diferencias principales entre las dos versiones de la ley** | Si la iniciativa es rechazada | Si la iniciativa es aprobada | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Los distritos escolares tendrán 45 días para responder a las solicitudes de los padres sobre expedientes disciplinarios, registros de asistencia y expedientes académicos de sus hijos, de acuerdo con las normas federales. | Los distritos escolares tendrán 10 días para responder a esas solicitudes. | | Los padres tendrán garantizado el acceso a los expedientes educativos de sus hijos. [Otras leyes estatales](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70.02&ref=rangemedia.co) les garantizan cierto acceso a expedientes médicos y de salud mental. | Los padres tendrán garantizado el acceso a los "expedientes médicos o de salud" y a los "registros de cualquier asesoramiento de salud mental" de sus hijos. | | Los padres bajo investigación por maltrato o negligencia infantil no recibirán, aunque los soliciten, expedientes de atención médica, trabajo social, asesoramiento psicológico ni registros disciplinarios de sus hijos. | Los padres bajo investigación por maltrato o negligencia infantil no recibirán expedientes médicos ni de asesoramiento psicológico, pero podrían recibir registros de trabajo social y disciplinarios si los solicitan. | | Los estudiantes podrán recibir atención médica o de salud mental sin notificar a sus padres, conforme a una [ley de privacidad de 1985](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/02/10/wa-senator-sparks-fury-with-description-of-40-year-old-law-limiting-parental-rights/?ref=rangemedia.co). | Los padres recibirán una notificación previa antes de que se ofrezcan servicios médicos a sus hijos. | | Los padres podrán excluir a sus hijos de la educación sexual integral y de tareas o actividades que incluyan preguntas sobre sus "experiencias o atracciones sexuales", creencias religiosas, opiniones políticas, problemas de salud mental del estudiante o de su familia, conductas ilegales o autoincriminatorias, o ingresos económicos. | Los padres podrán excluir a sus hijos de la educación sexual integral y de tareas o actividades que incluyan preguntas sobre sus "experiencias o atracciones sexuales" o creencias religiosas. | | Se notificará a los padres si sus hijos son víctimas de un acto ilegal en las instalaciones escolares en la "primera oportunidad posible" y dentro de un plazo de 48 horas. | Se notificará inmediatamente a los padres si sus hijos son víctimas de un acto ilegal en las instalaciones escolares. | | Los padres no podrán demandar al estado por posibles violaciones de la Carta de Derechos de los Padres. | Los padres podrán demandar al estado por posibles violaciones de la Carta de Derechos de los Padres. | ### **Lo que los adolescentes de la zona quieren que usted tenga en cuenta** En medio de la intensa cobertura mediática y los millones de dólares destinados a las campañas a favor y en contra de las iniciativas electorales, los estudiantes de la zona quieren que los votantes recuerden cómo era ser adolescentes cuando hagan su voto. Joanne, de 18 años y recién graduada de Mead High School, tenía pocas cosas que quisiera ocultarles a sus padres, quienes siempre la aceptaron tal como es. Pero ahora que busca convertirse en educadora, Joanne —quien pidió que se utilizara únicamente su nombre para proteger sus oportunidades profesionales— está pensando en la confianza. Explicó que quiere que sus futuros estudiantes puedan confiar en ella si están sufriendo maltrato en casa. Si sienten que ella llamará a sus familias o que estará obligada a entregarles notas detalladas sobre sus conversaciones, podrían dejar de hablar con ella. "Eso destruye la confianza que los estudiantes tienen en sus maestros", afirmó. "Y para algunos estudiantes, sus maestros son lo único que tienen". Los adolescentes ponen a prueba los límites. Hacen cosas que no deberían y experimentan para descubrir quiénes son, explicó Burnette. Pero considera que poder hacerlo en un entorno relativamente seguro, con maestros u orientadores escolares en quienes confiar, es fundamental para su desarrollo. "Es muy difícil que alguien no respete tu autonomía, especialmente durante la adolescencia, sobre todo en los primeros años, porque tus padres todavía intentan enseñarte y tratarte como a un niño, pero tú ya no te sientes como un niño, porque en realidad ya no lo eres, ya no eres un bebé", explicó. "Tienes que aprender. No pueden protegerte de todo. Se siente como si alguien estuviera constantemente vigilándote por encima del hombro". Liam Hathaway, un joven de 17 años cuyo cabello teñido de verde azulado combina con el color de sus aparatos de ortodoncia, quiere que los votantes consideren las posibles consecuencias que podrían poner en peligro la vida de los estudiantes transgénero si la iniciativa se aprueba y se revela su identidad sin su consentimiento, o si sienten que deben volver a ocultarla. Al igual que Burnette, Hathaway reveló que era transgénero en la escuela antes de contárselo a sus padres. Probó un nuevo nombre y pronombres con sus compañeros antes de hablarlo con su familia. Finalmente, sus familiares fueron "muy comprensivos y lo apoyaron mucho", contó, pero podía imaginar que ese momento habría sido muy diferente si la conversación la hubieran iniciado sus maestros u orientadores escolares. "Para muchos estudiantes, la escuela es una red de apoyo. Es un lugar donde pueden experimentar y preguntarse: “¿Será que esto realmente encaja conmigo?”", explicó Hathaway. "Y a veces no significa nada, y otras veces se convierte en algo más importante. Creo que, si se aprobara esta iniciativa, podría perjudicar a los estudiantes y su capacidad de seguir explorando y comprendiendo mejor quiénes son". Arthur —"como el rey Arturo", dijo al presentarse— explicó que, aunque personalmente nunca le ha contado a un maestro u orientador escolar algo que no quisiera que sus padres supieran, también le preocupa la iniciativa. "Es una invasión muy grande de la privacidad", afirmó Arthur, quien pidió que se utilizara únicamente su nombre. "Entiendo que los padres deben participar en la vida de sus hijos, pero esto me parece ir demasiado lejos y prácticamente pedirle al estado que obligue a los adolescentes a contarles a sus padres muchas cosas con las que quizá todavía no se sienten cómodos, o que ni siquiera comprenden del todo porque apenas están experimentando". Arthur, de 17 años, tampoco podrá votar en estas elecciones. Espera que los adultos recuerden cómo era ser jóvenes y tener sus propios secretos. "La gente debería intentar ponerse en el lugar de los adolescentes", dijo Arthur, "porque sé con certeza que casi todas esas personas que dicen “Yo debería saberlo, soy su padre o su madre” también les ocultaron información a sus propios padres porque todavía no estaban listas para contárles". [En español - RANGE MediaNoticias de Spokane y el interior del noroeste, ahora en español. Esta página marca el inicio de nuestros esfuerzos para conectar y mejor servir a nuestras comunidades hispanohablantes. No dude en ponerse en contacto con cualquier sugerencia o idea para una historia.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-6e300acd-5355-4450-be96-1aba1659da4a.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/marmot-emails--1--fdb2bf1c-1642-4016-95dd-3fe7ebee0ebe.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/tag/en-espanol/) ****Lee más aquí** ### RANGE asked 4 local teenagers how they feel about the Parent’s Bill of Rights ballot measure URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/parents-bill-rights-washington-ballot-2026/ Last updated: 2026-10-15T21:05:09.000Z Evan Burnette chose the name “Evan” for himself years before he told his family. In sixth grade, he realized he didn’t like the name he was given at birth. He didn’t want to be a girl, he said. Being perceived that way made him uncomfortable. So he started writing the name “Evan” on all his school papers. His teachers and peers kept his secret, giving him time to ease into his new self. It ended up being a school paper that outed him anyway. Three years after he first signed his homework with a new name, Burnette’s uncle had noticed it on a piece of homework when the family gathered around the fire to burn old documents. Having that extra few years though, was important. If his teachers had told his family immediately, Burnette said, “It would have deterred me from trying to figure out who I was.” Though he said he finds the ballot language a little confusing and hard to parse, Burnette — a 17-year-old with Sharpie drawings on his arms and rubber bracelets stacked on his wrists — has concerns about Initiative Measure No. IL26-001\. Colloquially known as the Parent’s Bill of Rights, the measure would repeal Democrat-backed amendments to laws governing what medical and mental health information schools must disclose to parents. Millions of dollars have poured into the statewide debate, but while most high school students remain too young to vote, they are the ones who could lose some privacy should the measure pass. ### **What’s old is new again** In 2024, the Washington State Legislature [passed](https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2024/03/07/washington-legislature-approves-three-citizen-initiatives/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=of%20doing%20so.%E2%80%9D-,Parental%20rights%C2%A0,-Initiative%202081%2C%20or) a citizen initiative drafted by Let’s Go Washington — the conservative PAC sponsored by multimillionaire Brian Heywood — that required public schools to make materials like textbooks, curriculum and medical records more readily available to parents for review. The initiative also let parents opt their students out of assignments and activities that included questions about students’ sexuality, gender, political or moral beliefs. The following year, the Legislature amended the text of that 2024 initiative, citing [confusion](https://ospi.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/2025-01/2081-december-2024-report.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) from local school districts during the implementation and a need to close loopholes that could be interpreted as requiring teachers or counselors to out queer students to their parents. Those amendments gave school districts more time to respond to requests for curriculum, added a few extra protections to allow parents to opt their students out of more types of activities and rolled back provisions in the initiative that could be interpreted as requiring teachers or counselors to out queer or trans students. Proponents of the original citizen initiative quickly [filed a lawsuit](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/10/24/conservative-group-sues-to-overturn-rewrite-of-wa-parental-rights-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) and gathered the signatures necessary to place a measure before voters that would repeal the changes and reinstate the 2024 version of the Parents Bill of Rights. Here’s how the measure will appear on your ballot: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-ff299a17-95d2-4b34-b921-ac2125acf459.png) ### **The sticking points** Both versions of the law — what we have now and what we would go back to if the measure passes — are [pretty similar](https://www.kuow.org/politics/2025-02-06/the-fight-over-parents-rights-is-back-in-olympia-here-s-what-s-going-on?ref=rangemedia.co). Both the conservative-backed citizen initiative and the Democrat-supported legislative replacement codified parents’ rights to access academic and attendance records. Both laws required school districts to allow parents to opt out of comprehensive sex education and educational assignments that ask questions about potentially controversial topics. Both laws required schools to notify parents if their students were the victim of crimes on campus. But a bitter ([and](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2026-38851?ref=rangemedia.co) [expensive](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2026-30644?ref=rangemedia.co#overview)) fight is raging over the details where the laws differ. Proponents of the ballot measure [argue](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-001) that it would give parents broader and faster access to records, more curriculum transparency and more control over their kids’ education. Opponents [argue](https://nohateinwastate.org/about-i-001?ref=rangemedia.co) that if the measure passes, the restored law would discourage students from seeking mental health support, remove privacy protections for child abuse victims and [force](https://www.rangemedia.co/teens-olympia-lobby-day/) the the school district to out transgender and queer students. While [language](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives-2026/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-001) on Let’s Go WA’s website claims the measure “does not require schools to notify parents simply because a student identifies as LGBTQ+,” the ballot statement drafted by six of its supporters implies otherwise, stating that the measure would “support families, not secrecy.” “Current policies allow schools to withhold critical information when a child expresses a new gender identity at school,” their argument [reads](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=899&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/7326). “This undermines the vital parent-child relationship and denies families the opportunity to navigate consequential questions about health and well-being together.” Conservatives have [also argued](https://www.heritage.org/gender/report/public-school-gender-policies-exclude-parents-are-unconstitutional?ref=rangemedia.co) that students socially transitioning — which can include going by a new name and/or pronouns and changing gender presentation through hair or clothing choices — is a form of medical or mental health care, which would have to be disclosed to their parents should the measure be passed. The current law at risk of being overturned guarantees parents the rights only to “educational” information about their students, rather than the more broad “medical or health records” and “records of any mental health counseling,” to protect students who seek mental health counseling for exploration of their own gender or sexuality identities. ### Key differences between the two versions of the law | If ballot measure fails | If ballot measure passes | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | School districts will have 45 days to respond to parents’ requests for their kid’s discipline, attendance and academic records, which aligns with federal guidelines. | School districts will have 10 days to respond to parents’ requests for their kid’s discipline, attendance and academic records. | | Parents will have guaranteed access to their students’ educational records. Other [state laws](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70.02&ref=rangemedia.co) guarantee them some access to medical or mental health records. | Parents will have guaranteed access to their kids’ “medical or health records” and “records of any mental health counseling.” | | Parents under investigation for child abuse or neglect will not be provided health care, social work, counseling and disciplinary records for their students if requested. | Parents under investigation for child abuse or neglect will not be provided health care or counseling records, but could be provided social work and disciplinary records for their students if requested. | | Students will be able to seek mental healthcare or medical care without notifying their parents, per [a 1985 privacy law](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/02/10/wa-senator-sparks-fury-with-description-of-40-year-old-law-limiting-parental-rights/?ref=rangemedia.co). | Parents will be given prior notification before medical services are offered to their child. | | Parents can opt their kid out of comprehensive sex education, and any assignments or activities where students would be asked questions about their “sexual experiences or attractions,” religious beliefs, political beliefs, mental health problems of the student or their family, illegal or self-incriminating behavior, or income. | Parents can opt their kid out of comprehensive sex education, and any assignments or activities where students would be asked questions about their “sexual experiences or attractions,” or religious beliefs. | | Parents are notified if their student was the victim of an illegal act on campus at the “first opportunity” and within 48 hours. | Parents are notified if their student was the victim of an illegal act on campus immediately. | | Parents cannot sue the state over potential Parents Bill of Rights violations. | Parents can sue the state over potential Parents Bill of Rights violations. | ### What local teens want you to consider Amidst the media firestorm and the millions of dollars flowing into the campaigns for and against the ballot measures, local students want voters to remember what it was like to be a teenager when they cast their ballots. Joanne — an 18-year-old recent Mead High School graduate — had little she wanted to hide from her parents, who were very accepting. But now that she’s seeking to become an educator herself, Joanne, who asked to use her first name only to protect her career prospects, said she is thinking about trust. She said she wants students to be able to confide in her if they are being abused at home. If they feel like she will call home or be required to disclose detailed notes to their parents, it could keep them from talking to her. “It takes away that trust that students have in their teachers,” she said, “and for some students, that's all they have is their teachers.” Teens test boundaries. They try things they shouldn’t and experiment to figure out who they are, Burnette said. But he thinks being able to do that in a relatively safe environment and have teachers or counselors to confide in is crucial to development. “It’s very hard to not have someone respect your autonomy, especially in your teenage years, like early teenage years, because your parents are still trying to teach, treat you like a child, and you don't feel like a child because you're not really, you're not a little baby anymore,” he said. “You have to learn. You can't be sheltered. It feels like someone's looming over your shoulder constantly.” Liam Hathaway, a 17-year-old whose dyed teal hair matches the color of his braces, said he wants voters to consider potential life-threatening consequences for transgender students who may be outed or feel like they have to go back into the closet, should the measure pass. Like Burnette, Hathaway came out as trans at school before he came out to his parents. He tested a new name and pronouns with his peers, before bringing it up to his family. Ultimately, they were “very accepting and very supportive,” he said, but he could imagine that moment going differently if it had been initiated by his teachers or counselors. “ For a lot of students, school is a safety net. It's a way for people to experiment of, ‘Is this something where this would even fit for me?’” Hathaway said. “ And sometimes it's nothing, and sometimes it blossoms into something, and I think if we were to enact this initiative, it might harm students and their ability to continue exploring and better understand themselves.” Arthur — “like King Arthur,” he introduced himself — said that while he personally has never told a teacher or counselor something he didn’t want his parents to know, he’s still concerned about the measure. “It’s a really big breach of privacy,” said Arthur, who asked to use his first name only. “ I understand that parents should be in their kids' lives, but this feels like going a step too far and basically asking the state to require kids to tell their parents a lot of things that they might not feel comfortable with or might not fully understand yet and are just trying out.” At 17 years old, Arthur won’t be able to vote in the election either. He hopes that adults remember what it was like to be young and have their own secrets. “People should try and put themselves in the kids' shoes,” Arthur said, “because I know for a fact almost every single one of the people who are saying ‘I should know, I'm their parent,’ are also people who withheld information from their parents because they weren't ready to tell them.” [Spokane Election 2026 – RANGE MediaWelcome to RANGE’s one-stop shop for Washington election stuff. Here you’ll find resources for voting, links to voters guides and our coverage on it all. We’ll be updating this page with more of our coverage through Election Day.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-94afebe2-7f11-426d-93ab-c0dfc2d68131.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Election-1-5-5087218b-539e-4fde-9bfd-87485ae5c081.webp)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) Find all our election coverage here! ### Public, meet our friend, the PDC website URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pdc-how-to-use-public-disclosure-commission/ Last updated: 2026-10-15T18:55:33.000Z During this year’s primary elections, then-auditor candidate [Dale Whitaker](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391675?ref=rangemedia.co) paid nearly [$13,000](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391675?expenditure%5Fdescription=text&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures) to send hundreds of thousands of texts to Spokane County voters. One of his opponents, Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart, listed [75 pieces of rebar](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3344211?expenditure%5Fdescription=rebar&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures) under campaign expenditures. Sheriff John Nowels has raised [nearly $60,000](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3382140?ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) this year to run his race — unopposed. Conservative megadonor [Larry Stone](https://www.inlander.com/news/conservative-donor-and-businessman-larry-stone-is-forming-the-spokane-business-association-to-lobby-city/article%5Ff06c9317-f385-5b49-b783-7bdfcc27f1c6.html?ref=rangemedia.co) gambled away [over $100,000](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2026-42148?contributor%5Fname=stone&ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) of his manufacturing fortune by donating to a committee opposing the local transit authority’s tax renewal. It passed anyway. Incumbent legislative candidate Natasha Hill spent [$500](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3382021?expenditure%5Frecipient=glos&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures) for the [billboard design](https://www.facebook.com/hilltothehouse/videos/natasha-hill-has-great-jeans/4145971498950513/) and social media campaign proclaiming she “[has great jeans,](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPCXSiUD%5Fsh/?stkn=aDh6ZXI2NnZjZGhj&ref=rangemedia.co)” a spoof on the[ controversial ad](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/01/nx-s1-5487286/sydney-sweeney-american-eagle-explained-why-controversy-racist-eugenics-trump-bathwater-ad-klein-statement?ref=rangemedia.co) from fellow Spokane blue-jean-wearer Sydney Sweeney. Meanwhile, her seatmate hopeful, Luc Jasmin III, spent [$43.60](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391569?expenditure%5Fdescription=pride&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures) to buy 80 Pride flags from Amazon.com. Prosecutor candidate Preston McCollam shelled out $36.85 for [legal pads and a new pen](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3352407?expenditure%5Fdescription=legal+pads&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures), and another $544.99 for [a new laptop](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3352407?expenditure%5Fdescription=laptop&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures). State legislative candidate Jonathan Bingle spent $1,537.18 on “[phone and phone accessories](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391257?expenditure%5Fdescription=phone&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures).” Republican candidates held fundraising events at places like [David’s Pizza](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/expenditures?election%5Fyear=2026&recipient%5Fname=david%27s+pizza&ref=rangemedia.co) and [The Steam Plant](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/expenditures?election%5Fyear=2026&recipient%5Fname=steam+plant&ref=rangemedia.co), while Democrats chose [Cascadia Public House](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/expenditures?election%5Fyear=2026&recipient%5Fname=Cascadia+Public+House&ref=rangemedia.co) and [Jewel of the North](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/expenditures?election%5Fyear=2026&recipient%5Fname=Jewel+of+the+North&ref=rangemedia.co). We found all this information without making a single phone call — and you can too! The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission’s [website](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data?ref=rangemedia.co) is a treasure trove of information for the morbidly nosy and the professionally probing alike. A candidate’s favorite caterer, what parades they marched in and who donates to their campaign can all be found by digging through the records filed to the PDC. If you want to learn to use the PDC like a journalist, read on. ### Candidate curiosities To start your search, go to the [“Candidates” page](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates?ref=rangemedia.co) on the PDC. Once you’re here, you have your pick of the litter — you can look for a specific candidate you want the goss on, or you can filter by different categories, like every candidate running for a specific race, or every candidate of a certain party. For example, there are 74 independents running for state or local races in Washington this year, and three of them are local. Once you have chosen a specific candidate you want to dive deeper on, here are the kinds of things you can find about them: - **The Basics**: information like their party, when they registered their candidacy and their campaign email. - **Finance Overview**: a bare-bones snapshot of their campaign’s finances, like how much money they’ve raised and spent, and whether they’ve taken on any debt. - **Contributions**: an itemized look at who has contributed to their campaign and how much they gave - **Expenditures**: an itemized list of what has the candidate spent money on and how much - **Debts, Loans and Pledges**: tabs that show candidates’ campaign debts and loans - **Independent Expenditures**: a breakdown of outside money spent in the race either for or against the candidate. The PDC also allows you to download most of their datasets, which empowers the most obsessive public information fangirl to do their own customized analyses. At RANGE, here are some of the things we look for when analyzing a candidate’s campaign contributions: - Are their donations coming from large donors maxing out their individual contributions — $2,400 or $1,200, depending on the race — or small donations? This can show how much support a candidate is getting from the working class, and how much from people who can afford to drop $1,200 in political donations. - What about political action committees (PACs) and businesses? How much of a candidate’s total contributions came from individuals? This can indicate whether a candidate is more tied to their constituents or special interest groups. - Are their donations coming from themself? If most of a candidate’s warchest is just a loan from themselves to their campaign, it might demonstrate a lack of support from constituents. - Are their donations coming from the area they want to serve? This one requires a bit more Excel-heavy work, but you can download a .csv file of a candidate’s contributions, then sort by zip code or address to determine the proportion of financial support actually coming from their potential constituents. If you switch to the “Expenditures” tab on a candidate’s page, there’s even more to look at. You can see how much they’re paying their campaign managers, how much they’re spending on candy to hand out at parades (exactly [$395.56](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3344211?expenditure%5Fdescription=candy&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures) if you’re Cathcart), and how much they’re spending on printing and design services. Is their primary campaign strategy billboards? Yard signs? Sending thousands of targeted texts? You can answer all those questions by scrolling through a candidate’s expenditures list. Sometimes you spot interesting tidbits, like candidates using their funds for charitable giving: Incumbent Hill gave about [$205](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/expenditures?filer%5Fname=natasha+hill&election%5Fyear=2026&description=charity&ref=rangemedia.co) to the ACLU of Washington, described as “charity donation for campaign support,” while Bingle gave about [one dollar more](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/expenditures?filer%5Fname=Jonathan+bingle&election%5Fyear=2026&description=charity&ref=rangemedia.co) to the Spokane GOP, characterized as “charity.” If your candidate curiosity still isn’t sated, there are more places to dig. All candidates have to submit a filing form, which is typically linked in the overview section of the candidate profile. On the registration form, you can often find a candidate email, and contact information for their treasurer and campaign manager. If you have any additional questions about the candidate that the PDC can’t answer, those people usually can! ### Peeping on the PACs Your local candidate is going to appear on your ballot; your local political action committee is not. And yet, these committees often have an outsized influence on elections, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into funding candidate war chests, supporting or opposing ballot measures and running independent attack ads. You can peel back the curtains on their smoke-filled rooms by becoming a PDC wizard. “Independent expenditure spending” can contain some of the most revealing tidbits . Some of the highest spending in local races often comes via these independent PAC expenditures — purchased, supposedly, without direct coordination with a campaign — instead of from the individual campaigns. If you’re getting 5 million annoying YouTube ads telling you to vote for someone and you want to know who to be annoyed with, first check a candidate’s regular expenditures. If you don’t see it there, it might lie within their independent expenditures, where you can see if a PAC or individual has spent independently to support or oppose that candidate. In this year’s local races, independent expenditures are currently under a grand, with just $735.65 logged — all from Fuse Votes WA committee. Some years, though, that spending goes crazy, like in [2023](https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-state-private-wealth-fueling-candidates-spokane-independent-expenditures/) when roughly $2 million in independent expenditure funds were spent in Spokane, or last year, when conservative PACs funneled [nearly $100,000](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-campaign-finance-update/) into a city council candidate (he lost). It’s a little tricky to know exactly which PACs are active in your area, but one trick is to go to the “committees” [page](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees?ref=rangemedia.co), and filter by county and year. It isn’t a perfect method. If committees registered in different counties are spending in local elections, this won’t capture them. You can also check by jurisdiction or go granularly specific and search by candidate, though, and this will tell you any PAC influencing those races. While candidates have campaigns to donate to, ballot measures do not, which means that all spending to support or oppose ballot measures goes through PACs. You can usually find these by using the method above. They’ll be categorized as “Local Ballot Measure” committee, or sometimes a “Continuing Committee” if they support things like levies or bonds for a specific jurisdiction that run repeatedly. By looking at those PAC details, you can learn things like the Washington Trust Bank donated [$50,000](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2026-42148?contributor%5Fname=washington+trust+bank&ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) to the committee in charge of running the transit tax renewal opposition campaign, while not a single contribution to the [Yes for Buses PAC](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2026-41333?ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) was over $10,000 — and most were under $5,000\. ### Other things you can use the PDC for You can do even more than just getting rote data on spending, contributions and independent expenditures using the PDC website. Here’s a list of examples of how we’ve used it to get your creative citizen journalist juices flowing: - Which prosecutor candidate do attorneys prefer? What about social workers? Cops? You can search to see what candidates in your area people of certain occupations are donating to. You can get even more granular and search by specific employer, too. Spokane County [lawyers](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/contributions?contributor%5Femployer%5Fname=spokane+county&ref=rangemedia.co) seems to really love their current boss, McCollam. - We noticed a few large donors’ names appearing frequently. You can see just how much they’ve donated — ever — by going to the “Contributions” tab and searching their name and business’s name(s). For example, frequent donor [Stone](https://www.inlander.com/news/conservative-donor-and-businessman-larry-stone-is-forming-the-spokane-business-association-to-lobby-city/article%5Ff06c9317-f385-5b49-b783-7bdfcc27f1c6.html?ref=rangemedia.co) has contributed nearly $1 million to candidates and PACs since 2009, with most of those [donations](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-campaign-finance-update/#:~:text=All%20but%20$43%2C000%20of%20the%20pro%2DBarrientos%20spending%20has%20come%20from%20the%20Spokane%20Good%20Government%20Alliance%2C%20a%20PAC%20that%20historically%20donates%20to%20conservative%20candidates%2C%20which%20received%20$120%2C000%20in%20contributions%20from%20conservative%20megadonor%20%28and%20Barrientos%E2%80%99%20boss%29%20Larry%20Stone%20this%20election%20season%20alone.) coming in the past seven years. - Want to know which candidates are supporting each other’s campaigns? You can search candidates’ names in the contributions section too, and learn things like that independent prosecutor candidate Danny Tarkenton [donated](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391565?contributor%5Fname=danny+tarkenton&ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) to Democrat auditor candidate Callie Gee, but Gee [didn’t](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391391?contributor%5Fname=callie+gee&ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) donate back. - Check in on the local power players and their political donations. Which candidates are they supporting? For example, [Avista](https://www.rangemedia.co/power-polls/), who was in talks with potential data center developers, gave [large contributions](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/contributions?contributor%5Fname=avista&ref=rangemedia.co) to Hunter Abell, Luc Jasmin III, Michael Cathcart, John Nowels and Natasha Hill, among others. - Are you getting mailers and you’re curious who sent them and who paid for them? Mailers are required to list their funders on them, which you can then look up on the PDC (though sometimes, [the wrong committee is listed](https://www.rangemedia.co/pac-responds-to-complaint-over-mislabeled-mailer/), which is a violation.) - You can use the above method to see who your friends, neighbors and enemies are contributing to politically as well. Your Tinder date says they’re “apolitical?” Look their name up on the [PDC](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/contributions?contributor%5Fname=My+Tinder+Date&ref=rangemedia.co). Hell, if you can get his birthday, you can check if he votes regularly, but that’s on a different website… - There are local lobbyists working to push legislators to vote one way or another on issues. You can look them up on the PDC website [here](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/lobbyists/agents?ref=rangemedia.co), and see which businesses are hiring them! - If you’re wondering who is bad at following the rules, you can search the PDC’s [enforcement portal ](https://pdc.wa.gov/rules-enforcement/enforcement/enforcement-cases?ref=rangemedia.co)and see who has received complaints, and what the verdict was on those complaints. You can also [report violations](https://wapdc.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new?ref=rangemedia.co) yourself, like if you notice campaigns using AI tech to create deepfake video or photos of other candidates, which is against state laws. Just a note: this doesn’t apply to generating pics of candidates as [Voldemort](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/12/likely-illegal-ai-generated-attack-ad-depicts-repu/?ref=rangemedia.co), He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, according to PDC spokesperson Natalie Johnson. - You can see Washington’s most notorious rules lawyers and PDC hawks, like [Conner Edwards](https://www.chronline.com/stories/why-one-man-filed-800-campaign-finance-complaints-against-washington-state-candidates,340028?ref=rangemedia.co), an Olympia-based lawyer who has filed over [1,300 PDC complaints](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/rules-enforcement/enforcement/enforcement-cases?complainant=Conner+edwards&ref=rangemedia.co). Edwards was also on the payroll of local candidates [Dave Lucas](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3390951?expenditure%5Frecipient=Conner+edwards&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures) and [Isaiah Paine](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3348294?expenditure%5Frecipient=Conner+edwards&ref=rangemedia.co#expenditures), eliminated in the primaries, who hired him to do accounting and regulatory compliance. - You can [learn more](https://pdc.wa.gov/about-pdc?ref=rangemedia.co) about the PDC itself, watch their meetings, and read up on the commission members. 💡 Want EVEN MORE to sort through? You can look through and download the PDC’s open datasets [here](https://pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/open-data?ref=rangemedia.co) to find out even more things about local elections. ### After RANGE revealed calloused cop texts, sheriff reopens shooting investigation URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/after-range-revealed-callous-cop-texts-sheriff-reopens-shooting-investigation/ Last updated: 2026-10-17T17:36:53.000Z The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office [today reopened](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/6279?ref=rangemedia.co) its investigation into the 2024 fatal police shooting of Spokane man Joshua Musselman, after text messages released last month showed the officers who shot him had not established probable cause to be at the scene. Less than two months after he cleared the officers, and two weeks after a RANGE investigation revealed the existence of those text messages, Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam asked the independent investigative team to reopen the case. McCollam is running a tight race against challenger Danny Tarkenton to hang on to his job. The sheriff’s announcement does not specify what information spurred McCollam to reopen the case, but he told RANGE last week he’d asked the sheriff for “additional followup” after he learned of the texts. The sheriff will publish updates to the investigation every two weeks in accordance with state law, the announcement says. The day after RANGE revealed the text messages, the Spokane Police Department issued a statement, saying it was adding the texts to its own separate internal affairs investigation and sending them to the county prosecutor. In the texts, which were added to court records as part of discovery in the Musselman family’s wrongful death lawsuit against the Spokane Police Department, the officers were trying to figure out how they would justify their presence at the scene. Just a day after they’d killed Joshua Musselman, Officer Daniel Valencia texted Officer Matthew Stewart: “So what’s the crime we were investigating yesterday? Unlawful discharge? Haha.” Stewart replied: “Hahahahahaha Being a douche lol.” Valencia responded, “Right. But for reals. For the report. What’s the crime at that point? Unlawful discharge or are we doing a welfare check? Lol. Cuz no one developed \[probable cause\]. Huh? Lol.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-62021014-d03d-428b-8a03-6080e58a4593.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-9a237afa-6249-42d8-be44-8e85d59422d5.png) **Screenshots of text messages between Spokane police officers Daniel Valencia and Matthew Stewart.* The prosecutor’s office has not charged a police officer for killing a civilian since at least 2015, when McCollam’s predecessor Larry Haskell took office. McCollam replaced Haskell last year. McCollam told RANGE last week that he had not seen the text messages when he issued his [initial decision](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/sep/02/spokane-prosecutors-office-determines-8-members-of/?ref=rangemedia.co) that the killing was justified in early September. His report on the prosecutor’s office review of the initial sheriff’s investigation mentioned text messages but quoted them only lightly and said they “do not alter the above analysis regarding whether the involved officers were justified in their use of deadly force and whether they acted in good faith.” McCollam said his team was on standby if the sheriff’s office made a new report. “That decision stands at the moment, but in light of the situation, I want to make sure that I have everything, and I’ve tasked my team with being prepared to review what, if anything, additional that we receive,” McCollam said at the time. In addition to saying they lacked probable cause, the officers also sent a number of text messages wishing they’d done more damage to Musselman, lamenting the inaccuracy of their aim and planning to get together to drink beers. “I’m hoping we hit him at least once each lol,” Valencia texted Stewart. [UPDATED: ‘I’m hoping we hit him at least once each lol’: SPD texts from 2024 killing show lack of probable causeIn messages, SPD officers hoped they inflicted maximum damage when they shot Joshua Musselman, mocked the police chief’s response to the killing.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-b8b113ec-259a-4bae-b733-c2f050c27693.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/civics-aart--1--dbc8e6b3-be66-46e5-91e5-a486852d1b91.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/im-hoping-we-hit-him-at-least-once-each-lol-spd-texts-from-2024-killing-show-lack-of-probable-cause/) Read the original story here ### Empire of grift URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/empire-of-grift/ Last updated: 2026-10-14T20:55:20.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and*[ *FāVS News*](https://favs.news/spokane-pastor-matt-shea-leading-anti-muslim-communist-movement/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work*[ *here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* For the uninitiated: The worship pastor Sean Feucht embarked on a massive, 50-Capitol concert tour in 2023 fully funded by TPUSA Faith. But he secretly solicited funds from other places and got sued. That concert tour was conceived in Spokane, according to a man who helped him organize it. [Gavan Spies](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/) of Airway Heights sat down in a Spokane-area coffee shop with Sean Feucht to pitch an idea in late 2022 or early 2023\. His good friend and comrade in the fight against queer rights and liberal values was all ears, Spies told RANGE/FāVS in 2023\. Spies wanted Feucht to embark on an audacious [worship concert tour](https://www.rangemedia.co/political-pastors-christian-nationalism-comes-home/) that would hit every single state Capitol campus in the US to take political power from lawmakers and give it to Jesus. At each stop, sinners could repent and be baptized, and Christians could call Jesus into the halls of power, vanquishing any evil spirits present and returning control of government to their Christian God. Spies had a line on funding through [Turning Point USA Faith](https://tpusafaith.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), the religious arm of TPUSA and Spies’ employer, and, as a connected member of state Christian nationalist circles, politicians like state GOP chair Jim Walsh ran in, had an avenue into halls of power. Feucht, who’d gained notoriety for staging illegal worship protests during COVID, brought the organizing cred. Feucht was into it: What would become the “Kingdom to the Capitol” tour would, presumably, expand God’s Kingdom on Earth. Former congressional candidate and unabashed Christian nationalist Feucht, got to work quickly after his coffee with Spies, planning stops in Washington, D.C.; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Topeka, Kansas. In just a few months, the tour would wend through the Pacific Northwest, Spies’s turf, hitting Olympia, Salem, Oregon, and Boise, Idaho. “Kingdom to the Capitol” was a reference to the Christian utopia — ruled by biblical edicts against homosexuality and other religions — Feucht, Spies and their Christian nationalist followers wanted to establish in the US. But because it would be expensive, Spies’s TPUSA funding connection stipulated that it was to be a TPUSA event, not one branded after Feucht’s many “[movements](https://www.seanfeucht.com/about?ref=rangemedia.co).” But Feucht, whose lucrative ministry empire needed publicity, had other ideas. In advance of the tour, he solicited donor dollars from folks like unsuspecting Christian business titan Steve Bray, a Southern California power industry mogul. Bray gave Feucht $250,000 to support the tour. A [newly amended lawsuit](https://apnews.com/article/sean-feucht-christian-worship-leader-lawsuit-45cd178768c4dac0c64f82695e18dc6b?ref=rangemedia.co) — part of monthslong litigation accusing Feucht lying about needing money for the Kingdom Tour — says Bray thinks he was duped: that Feucht spent his money on ways to promote his own ministry instead of using those dollars to rescue politics for Christianity. The suit is the latest development in a years-long saga involving the worship pastor, his ambitious and lucrative Christian nationalist organizing and the Inland Northwest. It highlights how Feucht — a litigious personality who [has sued](https://www.rangemedia.co/sean-feucht-spokane-lawsuit/) the City of Spokane for millions of dollars over a dispute about another of his concerts — uses local organizing hubs to advance his agenda. And it shows how the Spokane area is a wellspring for Christian nationalist organizing efforts. ### Kingdom to the Capitalist As Feucht, who did not respond to a request for comment, brought the good word to the cities on the Tour via his affective [Christian lyrics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fffn7My7zmg&t=4s&ref=rangemedia.co), he also [brought in piles of cash](https://www.rangemedia.co/zach-williams-meets-redemption-machine-sean-feucht-matt-shea/#:~:text=Feucht%20and%20his%20team,more%20than%20%245.3%20million.), a testament to the fundraising behemoth his nonprofit, Sean Feucht Ministries, had become. Sean Feucht Ministries has always been dependent on ostentatious fundraising tactics — book and merch sales and FāVS’ [documented](https://www.rangemedia.co/zach-williams-meets-redemption-machine-sean-feucht-matt-shea/#:~:text=Since%20his%20guitar,himself%20a%20believer.) daily solicitations from followers. Bray’s lawsuit contends that the ministry’s fortune has, at least in part, also been garnered under false pretenses. Soliciting donations for the tour was, to begin with, explicitly against the rules of the Feucht agreement with TPUSA Faith. “They didn't wanna pay for the Sean Feucht show,” said Jon Root, who was then Spies’s fellow strategic director with TPUSA Faith. Bray has [sued Feucht in federal court](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.1009864/gov.uscourts.cacd.1009864.46.0.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) to recoup his money because he doesn’t believe it was spent on the concert tour — which, unaware of the agreement between Feucht and TPUSA, is what he understood he was funding. Bray had noticed Feucht as a rising star in the Christian ministry, so he invited Feucht to speak to his corporate board. On March 6, 2023, the board sat for a presentation from Feucht, who said he needed a quarter of a million dollars to finance the already-financed Kingdom tour. He did not tell the board his tour was already paid for, as Root and the lawsuit detailed. “At the time of the solicitation, Feucht knew that TPUSA had agreed to fund the Tour entirely and that \[he\] did not need Plaintiff’s or any other person’s contribution to fund the Tour expenses,” the lawsuit says. ### The gift of grift Feucht’s ministry [has *always* been trying](https://www.rangemedia.co/zach-williams-meets-redemption-machine-sean-feucht-matt-shea/#:~:text=Visitors%20to%20the,himself%20a%20believer.) to get more money. During the Kingdom Tour, there was hardly a day when the effort would not send multiple requests for donations to people who’d signed up to receive them. The line for merch at the Olympia stop took 15 minutes to get through, as revelers in God’s holy word clamored to buy copies of Feucht’s multiple books, T-shirts and worship albums. In the meantime, Feucht was traveling around the world doing music videos on remote mountaintops in Iran and over [cities in Iraq](https://music.apple.com/ng/music-video/i-can-hear-the-sound-live-from-the-nineveh-plains/1675627632?ref=rangemedia.co) and later in farmers’ fields in [Canada](https://www.westernstandard.news/news/from-farm-fields-to-legislature-steps-sean-feucht-rallies-supporters-in-alberta/67004?ref=rangemedia.co). Around the same time he solicited his donation from Bray’s board, Feucht posted videos to [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-%5FzHHuefOjI&ref=rangemedia.co) and other social media platforms bragging about a fancy concert tour bus that he had wrapped in the banner of the Kingdom Tour. “This is our brand new bus,” Feucht beams into the camera, as he takes the viewer on the tour of the bus most viewers would never go inside of. “Look at this, guys; this is amazing! This is where we're gonna sleep tonight; we got 12 beds, a huge chill area in the back. This is where we're going to take America back for Jesus.” On top of this, Feucht was amassing a [$7 million real-estate empire](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/worship-leader-sean-feucht-mismanaged-millions-in-ministry-funds-former-associates-say/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Property%20records%20posted,Alps%20of%20Texas.%E2%80%9D) that currently spans California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. In July, 2025, Bray learned from former TPUSA Faith employees, including Root and other concert and TPUSA employees Richie Booth, James Dumont, Jay Koopman and Lia Fischer, that TPUSA had committed full funding to the Kingdom tour. “I gave because Sean told me — and I believed him — that my money was needed to fund the Kingdom to the Capital Tour,” Bray wrote to RANGE/FāVS. “Learning that TPUSA had already agreed to fund the whole tour, it raised serious questions for me about why my donation was requested and how it was used.” TPUSA did not respond to a request for comment. Bray filed an initial lawsuit in federal court in March 2026\. In September, the judge said Bray didn’t have enough evidence to prove his claims and sent him back to the drawing board. Feucht, on social media, falsely claimed he’d been vindicated, even though the judge left room for Bray to refile the suit with more evidence. “PRAISE THE LORD! 🙏🏽🔥,” Feucht [tweeted](https://x.com/seanfeucht/status/2099485320710398114?s=46&ref=rangemedia.co), comparing Bray, a fellow Christian evangelist, to leftist organizing groups. “We’ve seen intense opposition to the Let Us Worship movement. Antifa has hurled rocks at us, satanists have doused us in pig’s blood, and multiple left-wing politicians have threatened us with arrest. And most recently a well funded few waged a lawfare war against us. The lawsuits were picked up by all sorts of news outlets, with a story framed around smearing us. Here’s the update on the lawsuit — on Thursday, a federal court in California DISMISSED all four claims against Sean Feucht Ministries and Let Us Worship.” Bray refiled the suit with more detailed information on Sept. 30. ### ‘The money gets to ‘em’ Bray’s faith in Feucht’s organizing abilities came from the rock star’s fight against COVID restrictions. In 2020, the rising Christian rock star, who’d previously run to represent California’s 3rd Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, had staged a defiant worship concert on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Between 300 and 400 people gathered to worship. But the event had a distinctly political valence: to flout Governor Gavin Newsom’s edict against mass gatherings at a time when COVID was killing more than one thousand people every [day](https://worldmapper.org/maps/covid-19-coronavirus-deaths-august-2020/?ref=rangemedia.co). Afterward, Feucht deftly spun that spontaneous gathering into an ongoing concert tour titled “Let Us Worship.” Through this effort, Sean Feucht Ministries had grown from 2020 to 2021 from less than a half a million dollar operation to a $5 million worship juggernaut. Spies wasn’t wrong about Feucht’s ability to bring people in. But donating businessman Bray eventually realized that Feucht, with his burgeoning wealth, might be in the throes of a darkness that, from the time of Constantine to the time of televangelists to the time of the international celebrity worship warrior, has swallowed God’s earthly minstrels. “The money gets to ‘em,” Bray [told](https://roysreport.com/podcast/businessman-suing-sean-feucht-speaks-out/comment-page-1/?ref=rangemedia.co) *The Roys Report*. ### Redemption? Bray is dedicated to the mission of expanding God’s kingdom on Earth — ostensibly the same mission Feucht is working to promote. But he has different standards for accountability than many of his comrades in the same mission, many of whom believe the government has no right to look into church finances. US tax code allows religious nonprofits that incorporate as churches not to file the normal 990 tax form required by nonprofits. Bray thinks it should be different, not only because churches are powerful and must be transparent but because he thinks forced disclosure would be healthy for the [body of Christ](https://www.gotquestions.org/body-of-Christ.html?ref=rangemedia.co). “When people give in faith, they deserve honesty about how their money is used,” Bray said in an email. “Transparency honors donors, protects the church, and builds trust.” Despite repeated run-ins with Christian grifters, including not only Feucht but others who he thinks misspent church money (he specifically mentioned [the split of](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-12-21/spiritual-manipulation-deception-alleged-anaheim-vineyard-church-lawsuit?ref=rangemedia.co) Anaheim Vineyard Church), Bray keeps hope that Feucht can be redeemed. On *The Roys Report*, Bray said the temptations of celebrity and money are inherent to the vast industry that spreads the gospel, but he is optimistic that Feucht might change his ways. “I believe redemption is possible for all of us, including Sean,” Bray wrote in an email response to questions for this story. “I hope for truth, repentance, and restoration. Forgiveness and accountability can go hand in hand.” Spies is no longer affiliated with TPUSA and hasn’t returned phone calls from this reporter in three years. He now works as a groundskeeper and campus manager for the year-old branch of the Seattle megachurch The Pursuit, which has many of the same hallmarks that define Feucht’s ministries. Its pastor Russell Johnson has a similar flair for spectacle, which you can read about in depth in RANGE/FāVS [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/persecution-inc/) and in *The Spokesman-Review* [here](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/12/brownes-addition-residents-raise-alarm-at-new-neig/?ref=rangemedia.co). Even if Spies is no longer onboard with Sean Feucht, he has joined Feucht in the conservative response to the September 10, 2025, assassination of his former boss, Charlie Kirk. After Kirk was killed, Feucht remembered him during yet another [concert tour](https://ministrywatch.com/sean-feucht-and-rob-mccoy-plan-the-courageous-christianity-tour-in-memory-of-charlie-kirk/?ref=rangemedia.co) in partnership with the co-founder of TPUSA Faith, Rob McCoy. Spies, for his part, [tried to inspire](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/) people gathered in front of the Riverfront Park clocktower to fight — *nonviolently*, he was sure to qualify — against the left in remembrance of his old boss. ### What to know about mail-in voting for the 2026 midterms URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/mail-in-ballots-2026-midterms-washington/ Last updated: 2026-10-13T22:30:44.000Z **This story was originally published by* [**Propublica*](https://www.propublica.org/article/mail-in-voting-rules-midterm-elections?ref=rangemedia.co)**, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.* The Supreme Court in mid-September rejected the Trump administration’s plans to impose new rules for mail-in voting for the midterm elections in November. In a March executive order, President Donald Trump had [instructed the U.S. Postal Service to create rules for election officials](https://www.propublica.org/article/mail-voting-usps-officials-concerns-disenfranchisement?ref=rangemedia.co) sending mail-in ballots to voters. If a state didn’t comply with the new rules, the Postal Service wouldn’t deliver the ballots to voters. State officials said it would have been impossible to comply in time, and two federal judges blocked the rule for the November elections. Lawyers for the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene. In a brief, [unsigned order](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28624005-26a305-3756/?ref=rangemedia.co) on September 14, the court’s majority denied the administration’s request, writing that the “Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge.” Justice Samuel Alito wrote an eight-page dissent, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, saying he would have allowed the rules to go into effect. The court has not yet decided whether the rules can move forward after the November election. Trump criticized the Supreme Court’s order in a [Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117275286602582454?ref=rangemedia.co) post the following day, calling it “a big loss for Republicans, and America itself.” The result of the Supreme Court order is that nothing has changed for states. “State and local election administrators all across the country will continue to do what they always do, which is run safe, secure and transparent elections,” said [Barbara Smith Warner](https://responsivegov.org/team/barbara-smith-warner/?ref=rangemedia.co), a senior adviser for the [Institute for Responsive Government](https://responsivegov.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a think tank working on election issues. “Everyone can and should be sure that they can vote in this election.” [We’ve been reporting](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-midterm-elections-takeover?ref=rangemedia.co) for months on the Trump administration’s efforts to issue [new regulations](https://www.propublica.org/article/mail-voting-usps-officials-concerns-disenfranchisement?ref=rangemedia.co) on mail-in voting, gather state [voter data](https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-voter-data-trump-justice-department?ref=rangemedia.co) and investigate [voter eligibility](https://www.propublica.org/article/noncitizen-voting-trump-homeland-security-investigations?ref=rangemedia.co) ahead of the November elections. We spoke with experts on mail-in voting to answer practical questions about voting by mail. [Federal Impacts on Washington State Elections | WA Secretary of State![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/sos-favicon-75a9f564-0ebb-4230-a866-1f68371976a4.png)Washington Secretary of State![](https://www.sos.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/sos-logo.svg?uid=6acd24ba54f70)](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/federal-impacts-washington-state-elections?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Why is Trump trying to restrict mail-in voting? Mail-in voting has become more common over the decades. Roughly [a third of Americans](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/usps-mail-voting-postal-service-elections/?ref=rangemedia.co) cast their ballots through the mail nowadays, according to the [Brookings Institute](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/usps-mail-voting-postal-service-elections/?ref=rangemedia.co). Trump himself [voted by mail](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/us/politics/trump-mail-vote-florida-election.html?ref=rangemedia.co) twice this year. But mail-in voting varies dramatically from state to state. While more than 95% of voters cast their ballots by mail in Oregon and Washington state, which have all-mail elections, less than 3% of voters vote by mail in West Virginia and Tennessee. Trump has attacked mail-in voting for years, calling it “cheating” and “corrupt.” And as Trump has tried to [exert more federal control over elections](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-midterm-elections-takeover?ref=rangemedia.co), he’s also sought to impose new restrictions on mail-in voting and voter eligibility. The president has claimed, without evidence, that voting by noncitizens is rampant. He’s pushed Congress to create stricter voter identification requirements, and with legislation stalled on Capitol Hill, he set out to regulate mail-in voting through an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections/?ref=rangemedia.co). White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement that the president wants “commonsense exceptions” for Americans to vote by mail because of an illness, a disability, travel or service in the military. And she said Trump’s use of mail-in ballots to participate in Florida elections while living in the White House “is a nonstory.” But “universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it’s highly susceptible to fraud,” she added. [Studies](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/noncitizen-voting-missing-millions?ref=rangemedia.co) have [consistently found](https://electioninnovation.org/research/claims-noncitizen-registration-voting-analysis-tracker/?ref=rangemedia.co) voter fraud is [exceedingly rare](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/mail-voting-in-the-us-data-points-to-very-low-fraud-and-significant-benefits-to-voters/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### What did the USPS rule say? Trump’s order instructed the Postal Service to set criteria for mail-in ballots. The USPS finalized [the rule](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/26/2026-17238/ballot-mail-for-federal-elections?ref=rangemedia.co) in August. If it went into effect, the Postal Service wouldn’t mail ballots for states that failed to comply. The USPS rule set design standards that required envelopes for mail-in ballots to include the official election mail logo and a unique bar code. States were required to upload lists of their eligible voters’ names and mailing addresses to a portal that’s still being built. (On Sept. 1, [the Postal Service said](https://about.usps.com/newsroom/statements/090126-statement-on-development-of-us-federal-ballot-mail-portal.htm?ref=rangemedia.co) the portal would be available soon.) The bar codes on the envelopes needed to match the voter information in the lists states uploaded to the portal. If the ballot envelope failed to fit the criteria, USPS would reject and return the mail to election officials. In August, an anonymous federal employee filed a [whistleblower disclosure](https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2026-08-31%5Ffinal%5Fletter-disclosure.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, calling the Postal Service’s new system untested and error-prone. The employee described the process as “secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed.” According to a [September audit](https://www.propublica.org/article/postal-service-audit-primary-election-ballots?ref=rangemedia.co) by the agency’s Office of Inspector General, some Postal Service facilities failed to properly handle ballots during this year’s primary elections. (In a response included with the findings of the audit, USPS wrote that “overall ballot mail performance is strong,” while acknowledging “we can always reinforce and amplify our internal processes and procedures.”) As ProPublica’s Jen Fifield [reported](https://www.propublica.org/article/mail-voting-usps-officials-concerns-disenfranchisement?ref=rangemedia.co), top USPS officials expressed concerns in meetings about how the new rules could delay or block ballots from reaching large swaths of eligible voters. The rule change would’ve affected the people who rely on mail-in voting the most: older people, people with certain disabilities, and people who live in remote or rural areas, said [Richard Hasen](https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/richard-l-hasen?ref=rangemedia.co), a UCLA law professor and director of the school’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, in an interview before the Supreme Court order. On Sept. 3, a bipartisan group of 99 current and former state and local election officials said [in a court brief](https://washingtonlitigationgroup.org/news/99-election-officials-and-local-jurisdictions-urge-court-to-block-trumps-mail-in-ballot-rule/?ref=rangemedia.co) that it would have been impossible for states to comply with the rules ahead of the midterms. The Trump administration said in its [filing to the Supreme Court](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A305/423226/20260906094442523%5FUSPS%20v.%20State%20of%20California%20PI%20No.%2026A%20-%20Stay%20App.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the Postal Service rule “imposes only modest envelope-design and addressee-information requirements” on mail-in ballots. A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service did not respond to a request for comment.In a previous statement, a spokesperson said the agency had spent months developing its system, in a manner consistent with federal court orders. The spokesperson added that the agency’s goal is to ensure “that Americans can have confidence that their election mail will be handled securely and delivered reliably.” In response to concerns raised by the whistleblower, Postmaster General David Steiner [said in a statement](https://about.usps.com/newsroom/statements/090426-statement-from-usps-pmg-david-steiner-regarding-concerns-about-ballot-mail-for-federal-elections.htm?ref=rangemedia.co) that the agency “takes these concerns seriously” but added that “our standards for quality, security, and system integrity were not compromised.” In a concurring opinion with this week’s decision blocking the new mail-in ballot rules, Justice Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged that state and local election officials didn’t have enough time to implement the Postal Service changes before the November midterms. But Kavanaugh added that the rules may fall within the Postal Service’s authority, not ruling out that they could be implemented for future elections. ### Can I vote by mail? State laws vary on who can vote by mail, and when. Your eligibility depends on the law in your state. Every state offers some version of voting by mail, but your state may require you to have a reason to vote absentee, such as an illness, a disability or travel out of state. [Check the rules](https://www.nass.org/can-i-vote/absentee-early-voting?ref=rangemedia.co) for mail-in voting in your state. Take note of whether your state requires you to request a mail-in ballot ahead of the election and what the deadlines are for those requests, as well as when ballots must be returned in order to count. Before you request a mail-in ballot, make sure you’re [registered to vote](https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the local election office has your address. Eight states and the District of Columbia proactively mail ballots to every registered voter. In 29 states, voters can request a mail-in ballot without providing a reason. The other 13 states require voters to provide an [eligible excuse](https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-2-excuses-to-vote-absentee?ref=rangemedia.co) when they ask for an absentee ballot. [Frequently Asked Questions on Voting by Mail | WA Secretary of State![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/sos-favicon-c2c18410-b1c9-4eaa-b876-1b7890b624de.png)Washington Secretary of State![](https://www.sos.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-03/sos-logo.svg?uid=6acd24ba54f70)](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/helpful-information/frequently-asked-questions-voting-mail?ref=rangemedia.co) Washington votes by mail every election. Find FAQs here ^ ### How do I make sure my mail-in ballot counts? We asked experts what voters should know if they plan to vote by mail. Keep in mind that the rules for mail-in voting depend on where you live. **Read the directions carefully,** Smith Warner said. Make sure you fill out the ballot completely and don’t leave any stray marks. **Sign the ballot with your typical signature.** Use the same signature you have on other government documents, such as your driver’s license, experts say. That signature is printed on your license, and you can pull it out to refresh your memory. **Don’t miss the deadline to turn in your ballot.** Deadlines for turning in absentee ballots [vary by state](https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot-deadlines/?ref=rangemedia.co). The U.S. Postal Service recommends voters mail their completed ballot at least a week before their state’s deadline to ensure it arrives in time. The Postal Service’s routes may have changed, so delivery of your mail-in ballot may take longer, said Tammy Patrick, the chief programs officer at the [Election Center](https://electioncenter.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). “So, make sure you get your ballot back as early as possible,” she said. **Consider dropping off your ballot at a local election office.** Election experts we spoke to recommend voters return their completed ballots to a ballot drop box or their local election office. Drop boxes are often found at city halls, libraries and schools. Check with your local election office to find locations near you. **Track your ballot.** State and local election officials often have online portals where you can check to see whether your ballot has been received, approved or rejected. ✅ ****Get Spokane County updates and info** [****here**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/5497/Elections?ref=rangemedia.co)****.** ### What if I change my mind and prefer to vote in person? It’s not unusual for people to vote at the polls after requesting a mail-in ballot, said [David Becker](https://electioninnovation.org/team/david-becker/?ref=rangemedia.co), the executive director of the [Center for Election Innovation & Research](https://electioninnovation.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Washington that works with election officials and conducts research to build trust in the voting process. States have systems in place to prevent people from voting twice. Some states allow voters to bring completed mail-in ballots to polling places, but check with your local election office before relying on that method. If you decide you want to vote in person instead, experts recommend you bring your mail ballot and envelope so the poll workers can cancel or spoil it (mark it or rip it up). We also asked experts what to do if a voter has already sent in their mail-in ballot but wants to make changes. Experts said to avoid this if possible. Depending on where you live, if the mail-in ballot hasn’t yet been accepted and cast by election officials, voters may be able to change their mind and vote in person, Patrick said. “As long as it hasn’t gotten back to the elections office and it hasn’t been accepted,” she said, “then the voter can usually still be provided another ballot.” [Amid uncertainty about mail-in ballots, WA leaders say they’re ready for what comes next • Washington State StandardWashington officials are drawing up contingency plans for the November election amid uncertainty on what might change for mail-in ballots.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/cropped-WA-SS-icon-2-LG-270x270-6f0ad9e4-109b-4c23-b4f2-30c4c938fe24.png)Washington State StandardDonna Gordon Blankinship![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/unnamed-5-2048x1536-5cb1963f-ba32-4bc6-b53b-3fb33708281c.jpg)](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/09/11/amid-uncertainty-about-mail-in-ballots-wa-leaders-say-theyre-ready-for-what-comes-next/?ref=rangemedia.co) ### A lot of questions with (most of) the candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/general-election-candidates-top-issues/ Last updated: 2026-10-13T02:20:01.000Z Before the primaries, we asked candidates running for local office a series of questions and some of them even answered.\* We cleaned up the clutter and pared down our questionnaires to just the candidates who survived in the primaries to help you make your decision in the general election! (\*although we later determined that [some of those answers](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients/) were AI-generated.) From skyrocketing cost of living to public safety to what could happen to the millionaires tax, we covered a lot of ground. You can navigate to the race you want to know more about, then use the individual dropdown menus to switch between questions. Cost of living SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid Dignity Act and farmworkers Congressional stock trading Why Congress should or shouldn’t trade stocks Corporate PAC money Political donation reform Expanding the Supreme Court Other Supreme Court reforms AI and data center regulation First Amendment protections ICE accountability Federal policy on trans people Policy for rural constituents Eastern Washington funding Fighting for Eastern Washington funding Surveillance technology Gaza Funding the Israeli military Why you’re the best candidate Single biggest issue Tax policy Medicaid Federal actions and state reactions Housing and cost of living Universal Basic Exemption tax structure AI regulation Gender-affirming care Abortion rights Drug use Data center tax exemptions Public disclosure and legislative privilege Single biggest issue Tax policy Medicaid Federal actions and state reactions Housing and cost of living Universal Basic Exemption tax structure AI regulation Gender-affirming care Abortion rights Drug use Data center tax exemptions Public disclosure and legislative privilege Top goal in office Reason for running Housing Inflation and public assistance Rural hospitals Growth management PFAS and forever chemicals Public disclosure and legislative privilege Religion and governance Beer Qualifications and experience Wildfire prevention Agriculture Homelessness Housing affordability Childcare Public safety Mental health access Legislative committees Advocacy if not elected Judicial temperament Changes to the justice system Fairness from the bench Judicial independence Millionaire’s tax Constitutional challenges to state laws Responsibilities of the court Role of the state Supreme Court Judicial reforms Government transparency Judicial temperament Changes to the justice system Fairness from the bench Judicial independence Millionaire’s tax Constitutional challenges to state laws Responsibilities of the court Role of the state Supreme Court Judicial reforms Government transparency Judicial temperament Changes to the justice system Fairness from the bench Judicial independence Millionaire’s tax Constitutional challenges to state laws Responsibilities of the court Role of the state Supreme Court Judicial reforms Government transparency Judicial temperament Changes to the justice system Fairness from the bench Millionaire’s tax Constitutional challenges to state laws Responsibilities of the court Role of the state Supreme Court Judicial reforms Government transparency Partisanship and the auditor’s office Ballot box security Redesigning Washington’s voting system Election fraud claims Voter fraud in Spokane County Alternatives to signature verification Auditor’s office staffing Confidence in election security Marriage, vehicle and property records Voter registration and turnout ### Spokane City Council voting on new 0.1% public safety sales tax Wednesday URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-voting-on-new-0-1-public-safety-sales-tax-wednesday/ Last updated: 2026-10-12T19:16:59.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - It’s PolitiCrawl this Friday!!! That means you can (and should) join us on a politics-themed barcrawl downtown, using the Spokane City Line to get from bar to bar. We’ll chat with local politicians, aspiring candidates and each other about the pressing local issues. We’ll also drink beer. It’s a good time, and [you should come](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-2026/)! - Spokane City Council will vote on imposing a new 0.1% public safety sales tax that would go into effect January 2027\. This is in addition to the county’s new public safety sales tax. - At the Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee meeting, the city council members will discuss setting their lobbying priorities for the 2027 legislative session. There’s one really interesting proposal — an effort that could shift property tax burden away from home and business owners and onto land speculators. - The Spokane Transit Authority is taking public feedback on their Wellesley Corridor Development plan, which could change transit along Wellesley Avenue in north Spokane. - The Board of County Commissioners and the Spokane Valley City Council are both establishing their legislative agendas for what they will advocate for from the state of Washington and the federal government. - The Spokane Valley City Council will host a public hearing on its budget for 2027, which focuses on infrastructure projects and expanding the police force. ## POLITICRAWL The crawl is THIS FRIDAY! Yes, this Friday from 6 pm to midnightish, you can join RANGE staff, local electeds and current candidates for a bus-driven, politics-themed barcrawl. We’ll hit three local bars — one in each city council district — then have an afterparty at a \*super secret\* location. Come to build community, spark change (two pieces of legislation have been passed out of past PolitiCrawls!) and talk about all your niche local government interests. [RSVP here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2464842?ref=rangemedia.co) so that we can give bars an accurate headcount <3 ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Every Tuesday, the council meets to finalize the Wednesday agenda, which now includes items that are coming up in the next two weeks, giving you more of a chance to comment on things before they’re up for a vote. Up for a vote next week: - An ordinance to expand the boundary of the East Sprague Parking and Business Improvement Area to include new parcels on the west side of the current area, stretching along Sprague Avenue to Hatch Street. - An emergency ordinance that would extend the current interim ordinance prohibiting stores selling booze to be consumed off the premises from being permitted near schools and parks. The extension would continue this until April 28, 2027, but the council anticipates addressing permanent changes in the Comprehensive Plan update in December. Up for a vote in two weeks: - An ordinance to establish equitable budgeting practices that was deferred from last week > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/review-agendas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, October 13 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** Up for a vote this week: ### New tax alert Spokane City could join [the county](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/oct/07/spokane-county-commission-approves-criminal-justic/?ref=rangemedia.co) in taking an additional 0.1% sales tax through the state Public Safety Funding program. This tax will not appear on your ballot — the decision about whether or not to impose it lies solely with the council members voting on it this week. Money collected would go to “establish a Community Safety Campus, further integrate behavioral health into public safety systems and improve emergency preparedness.” If passed, collection of this tax would start January 2027\. ### Reappointment galore The city council could approve a full slate of reappointments of representatives to city boards and commissions. The list includes reappointing Joni Harris and Kaylee Jackman to the Transportation Commission, and sending former congressional candidate Kevin Fagan, Gonzaga professor Brian Henning and Dr. Bob Lutz to the Climate, Resilience and Sustainability Board. ### Federal homelessness funding Deferred previously to add more information to the agenda, the city could now vote to accept over $4 million in federal housing grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There’s a lot of complicated acronyms in the breakdowns for how the money is getting divvied up, but the lion’s share is headed to the city’s [Community Development Block Grant program](https://my.spokanecity.org/chhs/programs/?ref=rangemedia.co). That program has three goals aligned with national objectives, “1) benefiting low and moderate-income persons (earning less than 80% area median income). Other ways to qualify projects include 2) activities which aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight and 3) activities designed to meet community development needs having particular urgency.” ### Opposing ballot measures The council could also pass a resolution to officially oppose Let’s Go Washington’s ballot measures to reinstate their original Parents Bill of Rights, and to require all girls wanting to participate in girls’ sports to get their sex assigned at birth checked and certified by a physician. This was added to the agenda with a rules suspension last week, which requires a supermajority of votes, so it seems likely it will pass. ### Legal fees for Musselman case Last week, the council was set to pass a contract amendment to spend an additional $100,000 on legal services to fight a lawsuit from the estate of Joshua Musselman, who was [shot and killed](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/) by the Spokane police in 2024\. It was deferred to this week. If passed, this would bring the total spent fighting the suit to $250,000\. In early October, RANGE reported on the flippant [texts](https://www.rangemedia.co/im-hoping-we-hit-him-at-least-once-each-lol-spd-texts-from-2024-killing-show-lack-of-probable-cause/) officers were sending just hours after shooting Musselman, recently updated with Spokane Police Department’s response to our reporting. ### Other things! It’s a busy week, here’s other items you should be aware of that are up for a vote this week: - Deciding on the schedule for budget hearings, as the city prepares for another potential deficit in 2027 - A resolution to approve allocating unspent ARPA dollars to backfilling police and fire overtime costs - A resolution to support the Department of Natural Resources land exchange of the [Thorpe property](https://www.rangemedia.co/thorpe-parcel/) - An ordinance to penalize “nuisance properties” - A slate of ordinances to approve rate increases for waste- and storm-water services > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 14 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, October 13 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### 2027 Legislative Priorities Every year, the city has to decide what it’s going to ask the state legislature for. Of course, there’s probably a million things they \*could\* ask for, but in order to increase the odds of actually getting what it wants — like a kid crafting a Christmas list — the council sets a limited list of priorities. This year, the draft of top issues includes: Spokane Complex fires recovery, preserving the Thorpe Trust Land, expanding domestic partnership eligibility and advocating for vehicle tab reform to charge heavier vehicles more for their vehicle tabs. Perhaps the most interesting item on the priority list is a project that Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke has been a long time champion of: an effort to create a tax exemption for buildings. Right now, property taxes are levied based on the value of the land and the value of the building on it, meaning that apartment complexes, hotels, homes and businesses pay more in taxes, while owners of vacant lots or parking lots pay very little. The city of Spokane will be asking the legislature to let it run a program where property taxes are levied only based on the value of the land itself, shifting the tax burden away from the kinds of structures that make a vibrant city, and onto land speculators and parking lot owners. This is definitely one to keep an eye on during this legislative session! If you have thoughts on the city’s priorities, this is just the first committee meeting. They’ll take public comment here, and at multiple future council meetings. ### Bridge rehab The Latah Bridge (aka High Bridge and Sunset Bridge) was built in the early 1900s — making it more than 110 years old. Its condition has deteriorated significantly, the city agenda reads, and will take millions to fix. Thanks to a large federal grant, the city is preparing to contract with Horrocks, LLC, paying roughly $3 million for 60% of the design of the bridge. The design process will take roughly two years, ending in fall of 2028\. It’s unclear from the agenda what exactly 60% of the design entails, and what 40% will be left undesigned (or was previously designed?). ### High vis crosswalks When you’re walking in a crosswalk, you want cars to see you. The city is expanding their list of which crosswalks will get high visibility crosswalks, adding 10 new intersections, on a federal grant’s dime. We didn’t notice a list of which intersections, but it’s cool that there’s 10! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 13 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 12 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 14 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Public hearing If you have thoughts or feelings about the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan (which also included the 2025 and 2026 Annual Action Plans) this is your meeting! There’s a public hearing, so go make your voice heard when it comes to plans. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Tuesday, October 13 at 4 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Legislative priorities: $15M for public defense Last year, the Washington Supreme Court required public defenders in the state to manage no more than 300 cases each year. Because of this, the relatively stagnant budget of the Spokane County Public Defender Office can’t afford the staff to represent each case that needs a public defender. So as part of its legislative priorities, Spokane County will ask the state for $15 million in next year’s budget to beef up the office. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 13 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### County may regulate crypto-kiosks Following actions by the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley to ban virtual currency kiosks in city limits, the BOCC is considering a resolution that would create a framework for regulating where kiosks can be located. The kiosks, which work something like ATMs for trading electronic money such as Bitcoin, create massive opportunities for fraud and theft because the currencies are essentially unregulated. The resolution would not outright ban crypto-kiosks but would give the county government much more say in how they work within county limits. The commission will schedule a public hearing on the ordinance for October 27. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 13 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Urban land development codes The commission will host a work session on new development codes for urban lands that will be included in the 2046 Comprehensive Plan. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 15 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Public hearing alert Do you live or work on Wellesley Avenue? The Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors is taking feedback this week on their Wellesley Corridor Development plan, which can be read [here](https://www.spokanetransit.com/projects/wellesley-corridor-development-plan/?ref=rangemedia.co). They’re planning to take action at the November 19 board meeting. If you have feedback, but can’t make this week’s meeting, you can email your thoughts to Emily Poole at [epoole@spokanetransit.com](mailto:epoole@spokanetransit.com). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 15 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 12 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 12 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 13 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public hearing on budget The city council will host its second public hearing on the proposed budget for 2027\. The largest single bucket of spending in the $163,680,774 budget is $51 million in street, parks, railroad and stormwater building and refurbishment projects. The fund that pays for street construction is projected to have a deficit of $1 million, so the city may transfer that money from real estate tax revenue. The next-largest portion of the budget, $46.8 million, will be spent on police. ### Federal policy agenda The Spokane Valley City Council is deciding what legislation they’ll advocate for at the federal level. At the top of the list of programs Spokane Valley wants help from the federal government is a familiar item: public safety, which translates loosely to more cops. As the city continues its push to dramatically increase the size of the police department, its list of federal priorities is topped by support for law enforcement and emphasizing the city’s relationship with the US Marshals to chase fugitives and drug traffickers. Other priorities include programs surrounding: - Transportation and infrastructure - Housing and homelessness - Economic development and jobs - Maintaining hydropower dams in the Pacific Northwest > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 13 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Una organización que ayuda a los inmigrantes despide trabajadores mientras buscaban sindicato URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/red-de-solidaridad-inmigrantes-washington-sindical/ Last updated: 2026-10-10T00:56:03.000Z ### **To read this story in english, click** [**here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/waisn-union-nlrb-deportation-hotline/) Durante tres semanas, los empleados de la mayor organización sin fines de lucro dirigida por inmigrantes en Washington esperaban que sus líderes respondieran a su demanda sindical. Esa demanda ya había obtenido el apoyo de la mayoría del personal de la organización y era un esfuerzo que continuaba creciendo. Marsha Enriquez, excoordinadora de finanzas y operaciones de la organización, dijo que los trabajadores pidieron a La Red de Solidaridad de Inmigrantes en Washington, también conocida como WAISN por sus siglas en inglés, que reconociera voluntariamente a su sindicato el 8 de septiembre. Los empleados formaron la WAISN Workers Collective a principios de septiembre, impulsados en parte por lo que el colectivo describió como la crisis financiera de WAISN, una ronda anterior de despidos, reducción de horas y una percepción de falta de transparencia. El 22 de septiembre, el liderazgo de WAISN envió un correo electrónico informando al colectivo que podían esperar una respuesta la semana siguiente. “Así que, de buena fe, esperamos”, dijo Enriquez. WAISN no reconoció voluntariamente al sindicato. El 30 de septiembre despidieron a aproximadamente la mitad de su personal, dijo ella. “Entendemos que esta fue su respuesta”, dijo Enríquez. “Despedir a 14 personas”. WAISN niega que los despidos fueran una represalia. Pero Enriquez, quien era copresidenta del colectivo, le dijo a RANGE que todas las personas despedidas formaban parte del movimiento sindical, incluida ella misma, o eran supervisores que habían expresado su apoyo a los trabajadores. Actualmente,[ la Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo](https://www.nlrb.gov/es?ref=rangemedia.co) (NLRB) está examinando siete denuncias por prácticas laborales desleales presentadas contra WAISN. Según el expediente del caso de la Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo, las acusaciones incluyen la negativa a reconocer al sindicato, acciones coercitivas y represalias contra los trabajadores que apoyaban al sindicato. “¿Cómo puede una organización abogar para la sindicalización… pero luego despiden a (la mayoria de los empleados) que la apoyaban?”, preguntó Enríquez. “Simplemente no tiene sentido”. Tras los despidos, las líderes de WAISN enviaron un correo electrónico a las líderes del colectivo indicando que reconocerían voluntariamente al sindicato y que procederían con el proceso para confirmar si aún contaban con el apoyo necesario para dicho reconocimiento. El colectivo declinó la solicitud, señalando que la mayoría de sus miembros habían sido despedidos y reafirmando su intención de continuar con el proceso de denuncia ante la Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo (NLRB por sus siglas en inglés). WAISN, con sede en Seattle, se estableció en 2016 como una red de respuesta rápida para apoyar a inmigrantes y refugiados que enfrentan la deportación, incluyendo la provisión de fondos para fianzas, educar a las comunidades sobre sus derechos y acompañar a las personas a sus citas legales. Lo que fue alguna vez un personal que superaba las 30 personas, se ha reducido a 14, dijo Enríquez. Los despidos recientes incluyeron a los tres miembros de WAISN que manejaban la[ línea de defensa contra la deportación](https://waisn.org/es/what-we-do/deportation-defense/hotline/?ref=rangemedia.co) y los dos organizadores que lideraban los equipos de[ respuesta rápida](https://waisn.org/es/what-we-do/deportation-defense/rapid-response/?ref=rangemedia.co) en el estado, añadió. Igual que en otras dos ocasiones, WAISN rechazó una solicitud de entrevista. En su lugar, una portavoz envió por correo electrónico un comunicado general a los medios, en el que afirmaba que “WAISN respeta y apoya” el derecho de los empleados a formar un sindicato y declinó hacer más comentarios. Posteriormente, WAISN dio comentario sobre algunas de las acusaciones por medio de un correo electrónico. Los ex empleados siguen esperando los resultados de las acusaciones, [un proceso que puede durar meses, o incluso más.](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/what-we-do/investigate-charges?ref=rangemedia.co) Si la Junta Nacional determina que los despidos fueron ilegales, esos empleados podrían ser reincorporados. ### Recursos locales [Refugee and Immigrant Connections](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/rob-curleys-reckoning/) Spokane: (509) 209-2384 [Coalición de Derechos de los Inmigrantes de Spokane ](https://www.sircwa.com/contact?ref=rangemedia.co)(SIRC) [Manzanita House](https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co): (509) 309-8404 [World Relief Spokane](https://worldrelief.org/spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co): (509) 484-9829 Línea directa de Spokane: (509)743-3864 (si le gustaría sugerir otras organizaciones locales, [mándenos un mensaje](mailto: team@rangemedia.co)) ## La presión sindical A medida que la represión migratoria cada vez más violenta de Trump se extendía por Estados Unidos en los últimos dos años, las organizaciones que apoyan a inmigrantes en Washington se movilizaron rápidamente para apoyar a las comunidades afectadas, incluyendo a WAISN. Durante ese tiempo, los empleados se sintieron sometidos a condiciones laborales cada vez más difíciles de manejar, incluyendo preocupaciones no abordadas sobre la carga de trabajo y el agotamiento, dijo Enríquez. Otros también expresaron preocupaciones sobre la estrategia de recaudación de fondos de WAISN y sus prioridades. WAISN no comentó directamente estas inquietudes en un correo electrónico que envió a RANGE. Sin embargo, la organización resaltó que el personal había participado en el proceso presupuestario y destacó el salario inicial de la organización de 70,000 dólares y sus beneficios, que incluyen 46 días de vacaciones, además de otros días libres. Enriquez dijo que la incapacidad del liderazgo de WAISN de ser transparente con los trabajadores, quienes vieron a tres colegas despedidos repentinamente a finales de agosto, otro despido a mediados de septiembre, sumado a la reducción de las horas de trabajo de algunos empleados, agravó aún más los problemas existentes. “Se sintió como que se les pedía a los empleados que absorbieran todas las consecuencias de la crisis financiera, mientras que quienes estaban en el poder y quienes tomaban las decisiones sobre cómo gastábamos el dinero… no se veían afectados en absoluto”, dijo Enríquez. La esperanza era que el sindicato empoderara a los empleados a ser parte de la toma de decisiones, incluyendo cómo WAISN gasta su dinero y dónde recauda fondos, ella dijo. Por su parte, WAISN dijo que su déficit presupuestario de 2.4 millones de dólares fue anunciado a todos los empleados a principios de año. También dijeron que la mayoría del personal que trabajaba con horario reducido participó en el programa estatal de SharedWork, lo que les permitió recibir el 75% de su salario bajo las horas reducidas. Cuando el Colectivo respondió al correo electrónico de WAISN después de los despidos, en el que las directoras ejecutivas afirmaban que reconocerían al sindicato, el Colectivo criticó las acciones que la organización había tomado. “Al optar por desmantelar el personal que impulsó este esfuerzo, el liderato destruyó fundamentalmente la unidad de negociación colectiva e hizo imposible que nos sindicalizáramos como estaba previsto”, escribió el colectivo. El correo electrónico rechazaba la posibilidad de que ambas partes pudieran superar la “expulsión forzosa de la mayor parte de nuestro sindicato y la destrucción deliberada de nuestra unidad de negociación” por parte del liderato, y simplemente seguir el proceso de reconocimiento sindical. El colectivo afirmó que el liderato estaba al tanto de quién organizó los esfuerzos sindicales. El correo electrónico del Colectivo también confirmó la creencia de los trabajadores de que WAISN había empleado un “enfoque de mala fe” en respecto a la crisis actual debido a su “mala gestión financiera prolongada” de activos, la decisión de mantener los salarios de los ejecutivos y sus asociados mientras despedía a muchos empleados y su continuo uso de consultores y abogados costosos. “Cuando la organización atraviesa una crisis financiera y se argumenta que no se están alcanzando los objetivos de recaudación de fondos, no se despide al director de finanzas ni al director de desarrollo”, dijo Enriquez. En un comunicado a RANGE, WAISN dijo que ambas directoras ejecutivas tomaron una reducción salarial del 25% el 11 de septiembre, y que dos personas del Departamento Ejecutivo comenzaron a trabajar a tiempo parcial. Según las [declaraciones de impuestos](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833341588/202533219349323448/full?ref=rangemedia.co) del 2024 de WAISN, tres directores de tiempo completo ganaron más de 100,000 dólares anualmente, y las dos directoras ejecutivas, Brenda Rodríguez López y Catalina Velásquez, tenían un salario base de 160,000 dólares cada una. Las declaraciones de impuestos, que proveen la información más recientemente disponible sobre sus finanzas, también indican que un redactor de subvenciones contratado ganó 136,750 dólares ese año. La organización reportó ingresos de 3 millones de dólares y gastos de 3.2 millones de dólares, con un déficit de ingreso neto de 220,000 dólares. En total, la compensación de los “funcionarios, directores, fideicomisarios y empleados clave” sumó más de 443,000 dólares en gastos totales, mientras que otros sueldos y salarios para sus 27 empleados sumaron más de 1.2 millones de dólares. En ese año fiscal, la organización gastó más de $28,000 en gastos de viaje y más de $155,000 en gastos de conferencias. En [declaraciones](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833341588/202443189349306119/full?ref=rangemedia.co) del 2023, López y Velázquez recibieron compensación base de $170,000 y $165,000, respectivamente. Ese año, la organización destinó $1.5 millones a otros sueldos y salarios para sus 39 empleados, y más de $66,000 a gastos de viajes y conferencias. WAISN reportó ingresos superiores a $9.3 millones, gastos de $3.1 millones y un ingreso neto de $6.2 millones. La noche del 30 de septiembre, RANGE asistió a una reunión de Zoom de más de 100 voluntarios de respuesta rápida donde alguien le preguntó a una gerente de WAISN que moderaba la reunión sobre la declaración de impuestos de 2024 de la organización. En respuesta, la gerente dijo: “Lo único que puedo decir al respecto es: 2024 no es 2026, y no soy experta en finanzas, ni puedo dar ese nivel de detalle sobre financiación. Pero nos encontramos en una situación financiera desesperada”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/civics-2026--33-.jpg) Brenda Rodríguez López, una de las directoras ejecutivas de WAISN, durante el Día de Abogacía para Inmigrantes y Refugiados de 2026 en Olympia. (Foto de Sandra Rivera) ### Responder a una pérdida de capacidad En un correo electrónico enviado a RANGE el 30 de septiembre, WAISN dijo que ha lidiado con una “pérdida desalentadora” en la financiación proveniente de donantes y del gobierno estatal, lo que ha provocado que la organización sin fines de lucro tenga que tomar decisiones difíciles y hacer recortes para superar la crisis. La organización compartió públicamente que muchas fundaciones que antes apoyaban la labor que realizan se han retirado y que el apoyo estatal que recibían también se ha reducido debido a la enorme presión del gobierno federal. WAISN declaró a RANGE que, además de comenzar 2026 con un déficit, no había recibido el apoyo necesario. Por primera vez, WAISN solicitó 5 millones de dólares a la legislatura estatal para la Línea de Defensa contra la Deportación. Sin embargo, la iniciativa no prosperó. La organización sin fines de lucro también había ampliado el lenguaje del[ Proyecto de Apoyo para Migrantes y Solicitantes de Asilo de Washington](https://www.wamassproject.info/hc/en-us?ref=rangemedia.co) (WA MASS por sus siglas en inglés) para hacerse más elegible para obtener financiación. Según el comunicado, el Estado aún no había abierto el proceso para que las organizaciones solicitaran financiación a partir del 7 de octubre. “Ninguna organización ni grupo está satisfaciendo la creciente necesidad surgida durante esta campaña de detención y deportación masiva”, dice el comunicado. “Si bien hemos tenido que tomar decisiones y realizar recortes sumamente dolorosos, no permitiremos que este revés nos desvíe de nuestra misión y de nuestro compromiso con nuestras comunidades”. La Línea de Defensa Contra la Deportación de WAISN ahora funcionará bajo horario reducido de 7 a. m. a 2 p. m., de lunes a viernes. Anteriormente, la línea estaba disponible de 6 a. m. a 6 p. m. esos mismos días. Otros servicios de apoyo también continuarán bajo la capacidad reducida de WAISN, como ayuda a los inmigrantes para pagar las fianzas de detención, acompañamiento para citas legales o administrativas y[ búsqueda de recurso](https://resources.waisn.org/es?ref=rangemedia.co)s, según la organización. Aun así, persisten preocupaciones sobre qué tan bien posicionada está la organización sin fines de lucro para seguir apoyando a las comunidades de inmigrantes afectadas por la creciente presencia de operaciones del ICE en comunidades como Yakima, Seattle y Spokane. Durante la reunión por Zoom del 30 de septiembre, la gerente de WAISN les dijo a los voluntarios que los despidos habían afectado a todos los departamentos y que ella, otra empleada de WAISN y un contratista atenderían la línea de defensa mientras tanto. Uno a uno, los participantes en la reunión plantearon preguntas sobre los despidos, las finanzas y las operaciones de la organización, y al mismo tiempo expresaron su preocupación por el aumento de operaciones migratorias en todo el estado. En el chat, los voluntarios de todo el estado se animaron mutuamente a contactar los equipos locales y comentaron su interés en establecer sus propias líneas de ayuda. David Morales, voluntario de la Red de Respuesta a Inmigrantes de Yakima, dijo a RANGE que Yakima está experimentando el “mayor aumento de actividad del ICE de su historia”. “Podrían estar llevándose a más de 10 personas al día en el condado, dependiendo del pueblo”, dijo. “Hemos empezado a ver redadas en huertas agrícolas, así que hay mucha necesidad”. Explicó que el objetivo principal del equipo de respuesta rápida de su red es grabar los encuentros del ICE con civiles para garantizar la protección de sus derechos legales. Añadió que también existe un equipo humanitario para brindar apoyo a las personas detenidas y los servicios de acompañamiento para los miembros de la comunidad que necesitan asistir a una cita con el ICE. Todos estos programas se basan en los programas de WAISN, Morales dijo. Según Morales, la Red de Respuesta a Inmigrantes de Yakima sube los informes al sistema WAISN al final del día. Dijo que WAISN cuenta con la tecnología y la infraestructura necesarias para mantener una base de datos que incluya videos y arrestos. Eso es “simplemente irreproducible”. “La mayoría de las personas que trabajan en la línea de respuesta han sido despedidas”, dijo Morales. “Así que tendremos que hablar sobre qué vamos a hacer”. ### Esfuerzos locales Aunque 14 personas perdieron sus empleos recientemente, Enríquez señaló que la comunidad también sufrirá pérdidas. “WAISN no ha estado presente”, dijo. “WAISN no ha brindado apoyo en la medida en que le corresponde porque, en esencia, ha estado trabajando internamente en contra de sus propios trabajadores”. Enriquez dijo que WAISN no tiene el personal necesario para atender la creciente necesidad mientras los arrestos de ICE continúan aumentando en las comunidades inmigrantes de Washington. Hizo hincapié en que no quería alejar a la gente de WAISN, pero los instó a conectarse con sus equipos locales. A nivel local, WAISN ha sido un recurso clave para la Coalición de Derechos de los Inmigrantes de Spokane ([SIRC](https://www.mcasspokane.org/https/wwwsircwacom?ref=rangemedia.co) por sus siglas en inglés), que está compuesta por organizaciones locales sin fines de lucro e iglesias para proporcionar asistencia financiera a familias que se enfrentan a la deportación, entre otras ayudas. SIRC se puso en contacto con WAISN hace aproximadamente un año y medio para “desarrollar capacidades dentro de Spokane”, según la copresidenta de la coalición, Margot Mejía. Con los materiales educativos de WAISN, la coalición organizó capacitaciones en Spokane, se desarrolló un equipo local de respuesta rápida y se fomentó el uso de la línea directa WAISN. Según Mejía, la línea directa estatal fue un recurso vital para la coalición, ya que les ayudó a investigar los secuestros, mitigar el pánico en la comunidad y obtener un recuento preciso de las personas que ICE se llevó. Pero los miembros de la comunidad comenzaron a sentir que WAISN no estaba captando todas las alertas, aunque no sabían si simplemente no se estaban reportando las llamadas o si la comunidad no estaba al tanto de la línea directa, dijo Mejia. “A veces, las cifras eran tan bajas como tres secuestros en la comunidad, cuando claramente estábamos viendo muchos más”, dijo Mejía. Este verano, la coalición de Spokane terminó estableciendo su propia línea directa como número complementario para las horas en que la línea directa de WAISN no estuviera disponible. Según Mejía, ante la precaria situación de WAISN, la coalición tendrá que centrar sus esfuerzos a nivel local en lugar de dirigirse a la organización estatal. Mejía dijo que WAISN les informó en su última reunión que contaban con dos directoras, ya que cada una era responsable de una zona del estado. Sin embargo, Rodríguez López, quien era responsable de la zona este, nunca se había puesto en contacto con el equipo de Spokane, afirmó. “Se necesita tiempo para generar confianza en la comunidad”, dijo Mejía. “Mucha gente está perdiendo esa confianza en un sistema que no parece ser transparente en la toma de decisiones y que tampoco parece rendir cuentas por sus acciones”. ### After union effort, WA immigration nonprofit lays off deportation hotline and rapid response staff URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/waisn-union-nlrb-deportation-hotline/ Last updated: 2026-10-10T00:51:58.000Z ### Lea el artículo en español [aquí](https://www.rangemedia.co/red-de-solidaridad-inmigrantes-washington-sindical/) For three weeks, employees at the largest immigrant-led nonprofit in the state waited for leadership to respond to their union demand, which had already gained support from the majority of the organization’s workforce and was only growing. Workers asked the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, also known as WAISN, to voluntarily recognize their union on September 8, according to Marsha Enriquez, the former Finance and Operations Coordinator for the nonprofit. Employees formed the WAISN Workers Collective in early September, prompted in part by what it described as WAISN’s financial crisis, an earlier round of layoffs, reduced hours and a perceived lack of transparency. On September 22, WAISN leadership sent an email telling the Collective that they could expect a response the following week. “So in good faith, we waited,” Enriquez said. WAISN leadership did not voluntarily recognize the union. On September 30, they laid off about half of its remaining staff, she said. “We understand this was their response,” Enriquez said. “To lay off 14 people.” WAISN denies the layoffs were retaliatory. But Enriquez, who was the Collective’s co-chair, told RANGE that all of the people laid off were either part of the union effort, including her, or were supervisors who had expressed support for the workers. Currently, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is looking at seven separate Unfair Labor Practice Charges filed against WAISN. Allegations include refusal to recognize the union, coercive actions and retaliation against workers who supported the union, according to the National Labor Relations Board case docket. “How can an organization champion for unionizing … but then turn around and lay off (most employees) that (were) in support of it?” Enriquez asked. “It just doesn't make sense.” In the aftermath of the layoffs, WAISN leadership sent the Collective an email indicating they would voluntarily recognize the union and move forward with the process to confirm that the union still had the support needed for recognition. The Collective declined, noting that the majority of the union had been laid off and affirming their intent to continue with the NLRB charge process. WAISN, based in Seattle, was established in 2016 as a rapid-response network to support immigrants and refugees facing deportation, including providing bond funds, educating communities about their rights and accompanying people to legal appointments. What was once a staff of over 30 has since been reduced to 14 people, Enriquez said. The recent layoffs included all three members of WAISN’s [Deportation Defense Hotline](https://waisn.org/what-we-do/deportation-defense/hotline/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the two organizers leading the [rapid response](https://waisn.org/what-we-do/deportation-defense/rapid-response/?ref=rangemedia.co) teams across the state, she added. Like it has on two other occasions, WAISN declined a request for an interview. Instead, a spokesperson emailed a general media statement, saying that “WAISN respects and supports” the employees’ right to support a union and declined to comment further on the ongoing effort. WAISN later commented on some of the allegations in an email. Former staff continue to wait for the outcomes of the charges – [a process that can take months if not longer.](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/what-we-do/investigate-charges?ref=rangemedia.co) If the board finds that the layoffs were unlawful, those employees could be reinstated. ### Local resources [Refugee and Immigrant Connections](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/rob-curleys-reckoning/) Spokane: (509) 209-2384 [Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition](https://www.sircwa.com/contact?ref=rangemedia.co) [Manzanita House](https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co): (509) 309-8404 [World Relief Spokane](https://worldrelief.org/spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co): (509) 484-9829 Spokane Deportation Defense Hotline: (509)743-3864 *(If you’d like to suggest an addition, please* [*contact us*](mailto: team@rangemedia.co)*)* ## The union push As Trump’s increasingly violent immigration crackdown spread across the US in the last two years, immigrant organizations across the state quickly mobilized to support impacted communities, including WAISN. During that time, staff members felt subjected to working conditions that were increasingly difficult to navigate, including unaddressed concerns over workloads and burnout, Enriquez said. Others also voiced concerns over WAISN’s fundraising strategy and its priorities. WAISN didn’t directly address these concerns in an email to RANGE. It however emphasized that staff has been a part of the budget process, and touted the organization’s starting salary of $70,000 and its benefits, including 46 days off in addition to other time off. Enriquez said the inability of WAISN’s leadership to be transparent with workers who saw three colleagues suddenly laid off in late August, another layoff in mid-September and some of whom had their work hours reduced further compounded the problems. “It felt like staff were being asked to absorb all of the consequences that come with the financial crisis when those in power and those who make the decisions about how we spend money … were not being affected in any way,” Enriquez said. The hope was that the union would give workers “a seat at the table” and empower them to be part of the decision-making — including how WAISN spends its money and where they fundraise, she said. For its part, WAISN said that its $2.4 million budget deficit was announced to all employees at the beginning of the year. They also said the majority of staff working reduced hours participated in the state’s [SharedWork program](https://esd.wa.gov/get-financial-help/sharedwork-program?ref=rangemedia.co), allowing them to receive 75% of their pay at the reduced hours. When the Collective responded to WAISN’s post-layoff email saying it would recognize the union, it criticized the actions the organization’s leadership took as they tried to form the union. “By choosing to dismantle the very workforce that built this effort, leadership fundamentally destroyed the bargaining unit and made it impossible for us to unionize as intended,” the collective wrote. The email rejected the prospect that both parties could move past leadership’s “forced removal of most of our union and the deliberate destruction of our bargaining unit” and just go through the union recognition process. The collective said that leadership was well aware of who organized the union efforts. The Collective’s email also affirmed workers’ belief that WAISN has employed a “bad faith approach” to the ongoing crisis in between its “prolonged financial mismanagement” of assets, decision to retain executive salaries and executive associates whilst firing many employees, and decision to continue using expensive consultants and attorneys. “When the organization is going through a financial crisis and you are citing that we are just not meeting fundraising goals, you don't lay off your director of finance and your director of development,” Enriquez said. In a statement to RANGE, WAISN said both executive directors took a 25% pay cut on September 11 while two staffers in the Executive Department began working part time. According to WAISN’s latest available [tax filings](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833341588/202533219349323448/full?ref=rangemedia.co) from 2024, the three full-time directors all made more than $100,000 annually, with the two executive directors, Brenda Rodriguez Lopez and Catalina Velasquez, making $160,000 each in base compensation. The tax filings also list a contract grant writer making $136,750 that year. The organization reported $3 million in revenue and $3.2 million in expenses, with a net income deficit of $220,000. In total, compensation for “officers, directors, trustees, and key employees” summed to more than $443,000 in total expenses, while other salaries and wages for its 27 employees came to more than $1.2 million. In that fiscal year, the organization spent more than $28,000 on travel expenses and more than $155,000 on conference expenses. In [filings](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833341588/202443189349306119/full?ref=rangemedia.co) from 2023, Lopez and Velazquez made $170,000 and $165,000 in base compensation, respectively. That year, the organization spent $1.5 million on other salaries and wages for its reported 39 employees and spent more than $66,000 on travel and conferences expenses each. WAISN reported more than $9.3 million in revenue, expenses of $3.1 million and a net income of $6.2 million. On the night of September 30, RANGE attended a Zoom meeting of more than 100 rapid response volunteers where an attendee asked a WAISN manager facilitating the meeting about the organization’s 2024 tax filing. In response, the manager said, “All I can say to that is: 2024 is not 2026, and I am not a finance person, nor can I give that level of detail about financing. But we are in a desperate financial situation.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/civics-2026--33-.jpg) One of WAISN's executive directors, Brenda Rodriguez Lopez, at the 2026 Immigration Advocacy Day in Olympia. (Photo by Sandra Rivera) ## Responding to a loss in capacity In an email to RANGE on September 30, WAISN said it has dealt with a “disheartening loss” in funding from donors and the state government, which has resulted in the nonprofit needing to make difficult decisions and cuts to weather the losses. The organization shared [publicly](https://www.instagram.com/p/DcmzEYMGgbo/?hl=en&img%5Findex=1&ref=rangemedia.co) that many foundations once supportive of the work they do have “pulled back” and that the state support they once received also “shrunk under immense pressure from the federal government.” WAISN told RANGE that in addition to starting 2026 in a deficit, it had not received support to the scale it needs. For the first time, [WAISN requested $5 million](https://southseattleemerald.org/news/2026/01/29/washington-deportation-defense-hotline-seeks-state-funding-as-calls-surge?ref=rangemedia.co) from the state legislature for the Deportation Defense Hotline. But the effort was unsuccessful. The nonprofit had also sought to make itself more eligible for funding by broadening the language of the [WA Migrant and Asylum Seeker Support program](https://www.wamassproject.info/hc/en-us?ref=rangemedia.co) (MASS), according to the statement. But as of October 7, the state had not yet opened up the process for organizations to request funding. “Not one organization or group is meeting the growing need during this mass detention and deportation agenda,” the statement read. “While we have had to make incredibly painful decisions and cuts, we will not allow this setback to deter us from our mission and our commitment to our communities.” WAISN’s Deportation Defense Hotline will now run under reduced hours from 7 am to 2 pm, Monday to Friday. Before, the hotline was staffed from 6 am to 6 pm those same days. Other support services will also continue under WAISN’s reduced capacity, like helping immigrants pay for detention bonds, accompaniment to legal or administrative appointments and the resource finder, according to the organization. Still, concerns abound about how well positioned the nonprofit organization is to continue supporting immigrant communities affected by the growing presence of ICE operations across communities like Yakima, Seattle and Spokane. During the September 30 Zoom meeting, the WAISN manager told the volunteers that layoffs had affected all departments and that she, another WAISN employee and a contractor would staff the hotline in the meantime. One by one, participants in the meeting asked questions about the organization’s layoffs, finances and operations, while also voicing concerns about increased immigration enforcement statewide. In the chat, volunteers across the state urged each other to connect with local teams and discussed wanting to set up their own hotlines. David Morales, a volunteer with the Yakima Immigrant Response Network, told RANGE that Yakima is currently experiencing its “biggest surge ever of ICE activity.” “They might be taking upwards of 10 people per day in the county, depending on the town,” he said. “We’ve started to see raids on agricultural farms, so there’s a lot of need.” He said the main goal of his network's rapid response team is to take videos of ICE encounters with civilians to make sure their legal rights are being protected. There is also a humanitarian team to support detainees and accompaniment services for community members who need to attend an ICE check-in, he added. All of these programs are based on WAISN’s programs, according to Morales. The Yakima Immigrant Response Network uploads reports at the end of the day to the WAISN system, Morales said. He said WAISN has the technology and infrastructure to maintain a database that includes videos and arrests that is “plain unreplicable.” “Most of the people who work on the response line have been laid off,” Morales said. “So we’re going to have to have discussions about what we’re going to do.” ## Local organizing Although 14 people recently lost their jobs, Enriquez noted that the community is poised to lose too. “WAISN has not been present,” she said. “WAISN has not been supporting in its capacity because it's been essentially working against its workers internally.” Enriquez said WAISN does not have the staff necessary to handle the growing need while ICE arrests continue to surge across Washington immigrant communities. She emphasized that she didn’t want to turn people away from WAISN, but urged them to connect with their local on-the-ground teams. Locally, WAISN has been a key resource for the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition ([SIRC](https://www.mcasspokane.org/https/wwwsircwacom?ref=rangemedia.co)), which is made up of local non-profits and churches to provide financial assistance for families facing deportations, among other aid. SIRC had reached out to WAISN about a year and a half ago to “build capacity within Spokane,” according to coalition co-chair Margot Mejia. With WAISN’s educational materials, the coalition held trainings in Spokane as it developed a local rapid response team and encouraged the use of the WAISN hotline. The statewide hotline number was a vital resource for the coalition, Mejia said, since it helped them investigate abductions, mitigate community panic and get an accurate count of people being taken. But community members started to feel that WAISN wasn’t catching all the alerts — though they didn’t know if calls were simply not being reported or if the community wasn’t aware of the hotline, Mejia said. “Sometimes the numbers would be as low as three abductions in the community when we were clearly seeing a lot more,” Mejia said. This summer, the Spokane coalition ended up setting up its own local hotline as a supplemental number for hours when WAISN’s hotline was unavailable. With WAISN in such a precarious position, the coalition will have to focus its efforts locally rather than looking toward the statewide organization, Mejia said. According to Mejia, WAISN shared in their last meeting that they had two directors because each was responsible for a side of the state. However, Rodriguez Lopez, who was responsible for the east side, had never reached out to the Spokane team, she said. “It takes time to build community trust,” Mejia said. “Many folks are losing that trust in a system that doesn’t appear to be transparent in the decision makings, and also doesn’t seem to take accountability for its actions.” ### Rob Curley's reckoning URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/rob-curleys-reckoning/ Last updated: 2026-10-09T19:38:18.000Z InvestigateWest's Wilson Criscione and RANGE's Daisy Savala Magaña join Luke Baumgarten for a discussion of their piece detailing the events that led to Rob Curley's suspension from the Spokesman-Review this summer. Articles discussed in this episode: [How Rob Curley’s plan to make the Spokesman-Review ‘The People’s Paper’ ended in a newsroom revoltNewsroom staffers tell InvestigateWest and RANGE that concerns about Curley’s leadership festered until his August suspension — weeks before the paper was set to transfer to his nonprofit![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-6f943d26-631e-40b7-be6f-785724e9dd1d.png)RANGE MediaWilson Criscione, InvestigateWest![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/230403-ANSP-Mega-Conference-290-537322da-b486-457d-8bf6-c465fa1df09f.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/rob-curley-spokesman-review-newsroom-revolt/) [Last week, the Spokesman-Review benched its top editor. Now, its union has voted no confidenceFor a decade, Rob Curley has told Spokane he knows how to save journalism. After last Friday, it’s unclear if he can save his job.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-7b0a5f7d-02b5-4905-91c0-a9133150af76.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A4293-148c9898-aed7-4366-852b-2acbba1914d5.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/after-a-newsroom-altercation-the-spokesman-review-benched-its-top-editor/) ### Spokesman-Review officially bans AI in guest columns after RANGE exposé URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokesman-review-ai-opinion-impact/ Last updated: 2026-10-09T21:23:11.000Z Last week, RANGE released the first salvo of “[\*Contains Artificial Ingredients](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients/),” our investigative series on how AI-writing is pervading media and politics in Spokane. In our first article, we exposed that a rising number of guest writers for the *Spokesman-Review* [had used AI to write their columns](https://www.rangemedia.co/ai-slop-spokane-op-eds/). In fact, in recent months, the number of columns with significant swaths of AI writing was exceeding the number of fully human-written columns. The day after we published that article, the paper issued an official policy: [No more AI writing on the opinions page](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/sep/30/the-spokesman-review-opinions-should-be-stated-by-/?ref=rangemedia.co). “Letters to the Editor and Guest Opinions, also known as op-eds, must be written in full by humans,” the *Spokesman* announced. As suggested by several of the AI-using columnists RANGE spoke with, *The Spokesman* is adding a check box to their online form asking writers to officially state that they didn’t use AI. If they don’t check the box, their column won’t get published, the policy says. “If AI is suspected in a submitted article, we will run it through an AI detector tool,” the statement continues. “If the suspicion is confirmed by the tool, we will either ask for the author to rewrite with their own words or deny the writing entirely.” The announcement also says that as the paper aims “to strengthen our Opinion pages, remove AI interference and focus on local issues,” it will limit the number of days it features the opinions page to three days a week. The publication emphasizes that “all *Spokesman-Review* articles are reported, written and edited by journalists, not AI.” It’s a contrast to the direction some of the biggest media conglomerates have gone lately. McClatchy, the newspaper chain that runs *The Idaho Statesman*, has been using AI to spit out [reprocessed](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/business/media/mcclatchy-ai-newsroom-byline-strike.html?ref=rangemedia.co) versions of articles to be published in different publications, all while [firing](https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho/nearly-half-idaho-statesman-staff-laid-off-part-national-cuts-parent-company/277-b3e6c562-2591-4761-b594-eb30265098bc?ref=rangemedia.co) many of the reporters who wrote the originals. Reporters at the *St. Louis Post-Dispatch,* the biggest paper in Missouri, have been told they need to churn out [three times](https://www.stlmag.com/news/post-dispatch-triple-content-production/?ref=rangemedia.co) as much content, while AI tools have been embedded in their content management system. The *Post-Dispatch* is owned by Lee Enterprises, which also owns the *Missoulian,* a daily in Montana. Policing AI, of course, is easier said than done. AI detector tools can vary widely in quality. Pangram, which RANGE used to analyze the *Spokesman*’s op-eds, is generally very accurate. It isn’t *entirely* flawless, it is much [better](https://www.pangram.com/blog/best-ai-detector-tools?ref=rangemedia.co) than most other tools on the market, particularly [TurnItIn](https://www.pangram.com/blog/pangram-vs-turnitin?ref=rangemedia.co), which many colleges use to check for AI and plagiarism. A RANGE analysis found a surface-level human revision of AI prose often isn’t enough to fool the better AI detectors. Fixing AI-riddled copy can sometimes require starting all over again with a blank page. The challenges of policing AI columns were highlighted yesterday: RANGE sent Sunday’s guest opinion [piece](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/oct/04/dr-crystal-l-pyrak-prepare-now-for-respiratory-vir/?ref=rangemedia.co) about preparing for the flu season through Pangram. The AI detector indicated that the column, published four days after the ban on AI writing was established, had signs of AI writing throughout [87%](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/oct/04/dr-crystal-l-pyrak-prepare-now-for-respiratory-vir/?ref=rangemedia.co) of the column. ### County Commissioners considering longer data center pause URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/county-commissioners-considering-longer-data-center-pause/ Last updated: 2026-10-05T19:07:27.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane County is realizing that a good data center zoning policy is going to take more than four months to develop and will consider extending it until June 2027\. - The Spokane City Council will hold final hearings on two ordinances designed to help people quickly get back on their feet after disasters like the Spokane Complex fires. - The council could also approve an additional $100,000 in legal fees to fight a lawsuit from the family of a man shot and killed by Spokane Police. Last week, we reported on flippant texts from the officers who shot him just hours after his death, with [a recent update](https://www.rangemedia.co/im-hoping-we-hit-him-at-least-once-each-lol-spd-texts-from-2024-killing-show-lack-of-probable-cause/) from Police Chief Kevin Hall. - At the Public Safety and Community Health Committee, the Spokane City Council will discuss officially opposing two of the three ballot measures backed by Let’s Go Washington. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Every Tuesday, the council meets to finalize the Wednesday agenda, which now includes items that are coming up in the next two weeks, giving you more of a chance to comment on things before they’re up for a vote. Up for a vote next week: - A full slate of reappointments of representatives to city boards and commissions, including former congressional candidate Kevin Fagan to the Climate, Resiliency and Sustainability Board. - Deciding on the schedule for budget hearings, as the city prepares for another potential deficit in 2027\. - A resolution to approve allocating unspent ARPA dollars to backfilling police and fire overtime costs - A resolution to support the Department of Natural Resources land exchange of the [Thorpe property](https://www.rangemedia.co/thorpe-parcel/) - A resolution to officially oppose Let’s Go Washington’s ballot measures to reinstate their original Parent’s Bill of Rights, and to require all girls wanting to participate in girls’ sports to get their sex assigned at birth checked and certified by a physician. In order to pass that next week, the council would first have to approve a rules suspension - An ordinance to penalize “nuisance properties” - A slate of ordinances to approve rate increases for waste- and storm-water services - An ordinance to establish equitable budgeting practices - An ordinance to implement an additional 0.1% sales tax through the state Public Safety Funding program. Money collected would go to “establish a Community Safety Campus, further integrate behavioral health into public safety systems and improve emergency preparedness.” This is a separate sales tax from the one the Spokane County Commission is [considering](https://www.rangemedia.co/possible-new-sales-tax-for-county-law-enforcement/) for county law enforcement costs. Up for a vote in two weeks: - An ordinance to expand the boundary of the East Sprague Parking and Business Improvement Area to include new parcels on the west side of the current area, stretching along Sprague Avenue to Hatch Street. This is currently the only proposed (two weeks out) legislative item on the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/review-agendas/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Legal fees for Musselman case The council is set to pass a contract amendment to spend an additional $100,000 on legal services to fight a lawsuit from the estate of Joshua Musselman, who was [shot and killed](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/) by the Spokane police in 2024\. If passed, this would bring the total spent fighting the suit to $250,000\. Last week, RANGE reported on the flippant [texts](https://www.rangemedia.co/im-hoping-we-hit-him-at-least-once-each-lol-spd-texts-from-2024-killing-show-lack-of-probable-cause/) officers were sending just hours after shooting Musselman, recently updated with Spokane Police Department’s response to our reporting. ### Shelter beds in bad weather The council could pass a resolution allowing the administration to enter into an up to $1 million contract with Catholic Charities and Jewels Helping Hands to operate shelter beds during inclement weather conditions. This will be paid for with 1590 funds. Details on the shelter beds can be found [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-hearing-alert-its-time-to-give-your-input-on-data-centers/). ### Final hearings If you want to make yourself heard on the emergency ordinances to provide regulatory relief for rebuilds in the wake of the Spokane Complex fires, and to create a Temporary Disaster Housing Program for residents displaced by emergencies like wildfires or other natural disasters, this is your last chance as those have a final hearing scheduled this week. The regulatory relief ordinance would let the city’s planning director quickly approve Like-for-Like residential rebuild projects — essentially, putting the exact same kind of structure back. This wouldn’t apply if property owners wanted to rebuild a different kind of structure, for example, placing a duplex where a single family home once was. It would also allow for homeowners to construct an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) prior to reconstructing the original main structure. The Temporary Disaster Housing Program ordinance would “provide a temporary, expedited, and coordinated process for the safe placement and occupancy of Temporary Disaster Housing for residents displaced from their primary residences,” according to the agenda. It would let the city site temporary housing units — like tiny homes, motor homes and manufactured homes — in certain locations across the city in the event of a disaster, including on public right of way. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 7 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** It’s a full agenda at the Public Safety and Community Health Committee. Here’s a preview of what they plan to discuss: - Officially opposing two of Let’s Go Washington’s two ballot measures: The Parent’s Bill of Rights measure, which would reinstate conservative-backed language, and the ordinance to keep trans girls out of girl’s athletics by requiring all kids who want to play girl’s sports to get their sex assigned at birth confirmed by a doctor. - Domestic Violence Awareness month in Spokane — they’ll be getting a presentation from the YWCA - An update on how many people ran red lights or sped in Spokane and were caught by cameras. Spoiler: it’s up from last year, but that could be attributed to more cameras and an earlier school start date. - Accepting a grant from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission that would allow the city to expand their co-response policing model. In plainer language, they’ll be able to hire four new full time staffers, including two behavioral health clinicians, and contract with Peer Washington to respond to mental health calls, rather than just cops. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** If you have thoughts on the city’s urban planning, this might be your meeting. The Community, Housing and Human Services Board will be holding a hearing and taking public comment on the [2025-2029 Consolidated Plan](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/chhs/plans-reports/planning/draft-substantial-amendment-2025-2029-consolidated-plan.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) and the [2026 Annual Action Plan](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/chhs/plans-reports/planning/draft-substantial-amendment-py-2026-annual-action-plan.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 4 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### County may regulate crypto-kiosks Following actions by the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley to ban virtual currency kiosks in city limits, the BOCC is considering a resolution that would create a framework for regulating where kiosks can be located. The kiosks, which work something like ATMs for trading electronic money such as Bitcoin, create massive opportunities for fraud and theft because the currencies are essentially unregulated. The resolution would not outright ban crypto-kiosks but would give the county government much more say in how they work within county limits. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Longer data center pause up for consideration In August, the commission followed the tack of other nearby jurisdictions, including Kootenai County and the City of Spokane in temporarily pausing approvals for new data center developments. But that pause was only to last until December 15, a four-month window that would allow county planners to develop regulations on the facilities, which store electronic information but consume massive amounts of energy. Activists [relentlessly criticized](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/) the board over the resolution, which they said was far too short to develop good zoning policy around data centers. Now, the board is considering doing away with the current pause in favor of one that would last until June, giving planners almost six more months to regulate the centers before they consider applications. ### New cops tax The BOCC will host a public hearing on a new tax to fund public safety spending. The tax is enabled by a state bill that passed in the last legislative session allowing local jurisdictions to impose a .1% sales and use tax to fund police. The tax is expected to raise $14.5 million next year. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 8 at 1 pm* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 7 at 6 pm (special meeting at 4:30 pm)* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 6 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### How long will it take for Washington fire victims to get FEMA relief? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/how-long-will-it-take-for-wa-fire-victims-to-get-fema-relief/ Last updated: 2026-10-06T20:10:18.000Z Governor Bob Ferguson announced September 28 that he had submitted a letter to President Donald Trump asking for a federal major disaster declaration in the wake of a devastating wildfires across Eastern Washington in late July and early August. The fires caused more than $188 million in damages, Ferguson said at a Monday press conference in Spokane. A major disaster declaration would open up an estimated $11.2 million in funds for individuals for Benton, Spokane, Stevens and Okanogan counties and the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and qualify the state for an additional $117.7 million in public assistance funds for debris cleanup and emergency costs across 11 counties. Now, the region waits for the president's decision. However, data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency shows that past declarations have taken months for approval. Ferguson credited Trump for “very quickly” granting the initial emergency declaration that allocated short-term federal resources for immediate response in the wake of the wildfires. “But to be candid, the most significant request by far that any state has in a situation like this, that any community has in a situation like this, is the one that we're seeking today: a major disaster declaration,” he said. A preliminary damage assessment by the Washington State Emergency Management Division, FEMA and local county jurisdictions showed that the fires had burned nearly 369,000 acres. Across the four counties, the fires destroyed 649 primary residences, with an additional 2,542 homes damaged, and forced more than 118,000 people to evacuate. About 70% of affected county residents and Spokane tribal members were insured, Ferguson said. ### How long will it take? Over the past five years, across both the Biden and Trump administrations, the president has taken an average of 43 days to approve a request for aid from Washington, according to a RANGE analysis of FEMA data. This encompasses seven approved state declarations and three from tribal nations in Washington. Approval for the 2023 Gray and Oregon Fires took more than four months. The state's 2025 floods — the most recent major disaster declaration in Washington — took two and a half months to be officially approved. “I want to emphasize that each disaster declaration request from different states can have its own timeline,” Ferguson said Monday. Ferguson pointed to how the state had received a major disaster declaration for the historic flooding that more than a dozen counties experienced last December. He described the federal administration as "tremendously helpful" in past situations. “I have had multiple communications with folks at the federal level and the administration and deeply appreciate the assistance they provided to us up to this point," Ferguson said. Jeremy Fagan and his wife Kittie Blansfield lost their home just a couple blocks from Rifle Club Road and are hoping for the funding to come through. If the disaster declaration is approved, they’re planning to apply for FEMA funds. Ferguson’s request asks for the maximum amount of $42,500 to be made available for FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program. “I have a whole house to rebuild, so I'll probably apply for the maximum,” Fagan said. Ferguson’s request detailed that nearly 900,000 acres had burned in Washington this year as of September 2\. So far, the state has invested more than $150 million for wildfire response and recovery in 2026 and distributed nearly $1 million in assistance to more than 600 households thus far, according to a press release from Ferguson’s office. Since 2021, FEMA has committed more than $214 million in approved individual assistance and obligated hazard mitigation and public assistance funding to Washington as the state has grappled with disasters like severe storms, flooding and wildfires. However, outlets like the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/climate/fema-disaster-aid-slowdowns.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and the [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/trump-fema-disaster-declarations-cf3f78f5c10d431340a638f6ced9746a?ref=rangemedia.co) have reported increased approval times for disaster assistance nationwide in recent months. Dan Bisbee, the local district director for US Rep. Michael Baumgartner’s office, echoed Ferguson's message about how timelines for major disaster declarations can vary. “There is no ticking clock for the feds to make this answer, but I think they’ve been well-informed about what we need here,” Bisbee said. “Congressman Baumgartner has a personal relationship with Secretary (of Homeland Security) Markwayne Mullin, so I think they’re well aware of it.” If the declaration is granted, individuals will be able to apply directly with FEMA for assistance. Ferguson acknowledged that FEMA ultimately determines who receives funds, and that the state could not guarantee who receives funds. However, the declaration would be “a lifeline” for thousands, Ferguson said. Ferguson also announced additional state support for rebuilding, including energy code flexibility for homeowners and sales and use tax rebates for rebuilding costs. FEMA funding would be significantly higher than what the state is able to offer victims, according to Karina Shagren, communications director for the Washington Military Department, which oversees the Emergency Management Division. However, she noted that there are some eligibility differences between the two funding sources, as FEMA’s individual assistance cannot cover [expenses already supported by other funding sources](https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/fema-individual-assistance-does-not-impact-other-benefits?ref=rangemedia.co) like insurance or crowdfunding, whereas the state will not take insurance or income levels into account. “The homeowner could have been fully insured and they still would have been eligible to receive state individual assistance,” Shagren told RANGE. For residents like Fagan and Blansfield, FEMA funding would play a significant part in rebuilding their lives. Though the family has received money from insurance, the Karen Worthy Memorial Community Fund and money from the VA thanks to Fagan’s veteran status, they are being left to navigate an unexpectedly costly process that Blansfield described as feeling directionless. “It’s just nickeling and diming us to death, trying to figure out what to do with our property and how to take care of it,” Blansfield said. They have also realized that cleanup comes with hidden costs that they didn’t expect to have to pay for, Blansfield said. Fagan added that as soon as his insurance company and bank align, he will begin testing for asbestos and clearing the debris from his property before starting to rebuild. To Fagan, FEMA support for cleanup would be a vital piece of support. “This is one of the scariest things I've ever approached,” Fagan said. ### Love, Politics, and Robots URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/love-politics-and-robots/ Last updated: 2026-10-05T22:38:17.000Z Reporter Daniel Walters joins Val to talk about AI and his recent articles on the use of LLMs in Spokane politics and media, including at RANGE. Articles discussed in this episode are all featured in our series '\*Contains Artificial Ingredients': [Spokane AI Slop: \*Contains Artificial IngredientsColumns. Politics. Activism. Journalism. Your feeds are being invaded with AI-generated content, even at the local level.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-a204cd2e-ca79-454a-995c-f368d758c618.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Story-One-67322744-22b7-43d0-9a35-f703f41a85cc.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients/) ### How Rob Curley’s plan to make the Spokesman-Review ‘The People’s Paper’ ended in a newsroom revolt URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/rob-curley-spokesman-review-newsroom-revolt/ Last updated: 2026-10-02T22:31:02.000Z *This report was produced in a collaboration between* [*InvestigateWest*](https://www.investigatewest.org/rob-curley-spokesman-review-ended-in-a-newsroom-revolt/?ref=rangemedia.co) *and RANGE.* When the Spokesman-Review announced plans to transfer Spokane’s 143-year-old, family-owned newspaper to a nonprofit founded by Executive Editor Rob Curley, it took over the front page. “The People’s Paper,” read the April 16, 2025, headline, saying ownership would transfer “to you, the community.” Key to the plan was Curley, the folksy self-proclaimed “journalism nerd” who burst into Spokane a decade ago, declaring a love for Gonzaga University basketball rivaled only by his love for Disney. The transition to Comma Community Journalism Lab was cast in media industry [publications](https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/a-new-blueprint-for-local-news,255529?ref=rangemedia.co) not only as a way to save Spokane’s daily newspaper, but as part of a growing movement to resurrect dying papers by making them less dependent on ads and corporate ownership and more on philanthropy and community partnerships. As proof of concept, the paper had already added several so-called “community-funded” journalists to its staff. But in the Spokesman-Review newsroom this summer, that hopeful vision ran into persistent concerns about Curley’s leadership. More than a dozen current and former employees, along with contemporaneous records reviewed by InvestigateWest and RANGE, reveal how the newsroom had raised concerns about Curley’s management for years, culminating in his suspension from the paper on Aug. 7 and a vote of no confidence from the union, the Spokane Editorial Society. He is currently on leave as the paper conducts an internal investigation. Employees said stories that may have angered powerful community figures or potential donors were killed or curtailed, and that they felt he retaliated against workers he viewed as disloyal. Staffers questioned his financial oversight of Comma, which hired his own son at a salary topping most reporters and recruited out-of-town executives to serve as top editors before Comma had met its fundraising goal. Current and former Spokesman-Review employees also described workplace complaints involving Curley and one of those editors, including allegations of inappropriate lewd and sexual comments around employees, including teenage interns. Curley declined to comment for this article. In a brief phone interview, Curley’s attorney, Patrick Kirby, who specializes in employment and wrongful termination cases, said, “It’s all inaccurate,” in reference to a list of claims InvestigateWest and RANGE provided to Curley prior to publication. Kirby hung up the call when a reporter pressed him on which claims specifically he believed were inaccurate. Tensions in the newsroom came to a head in the first week of August, as the paper rallied to cover the most destructive wildfires in Spokane’s history and the imminent ownership transfer approached at the end of the month. Some staffers were alarmed at the prospect of working for an organization Curley founded, with even fewer checks on his authority. “The terror had been building through advertising, circulation and this newsroom each day, getting closer to the day of knowing we would have to work for Rob without the filter of human resources and the publisher,” said one employee, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution. Reporters had grown increasingly frustrated with Comma editors meddling with stories, and Curley tried to fire a reporter who pushed back, employees say. But instead, when other Spokesman-Review editors backed the reporter, Publisher William “Stacey” Cowles suspended Curley, citing “[several personnel complaints](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/11/spokesman-review-editor-placed-on-leave-pending-in/?ref=rangemedia.co)” against him. It wasn’t until after Curley’s suspension that reporters were told news that called the Comma plan into question. In a meeting days after Curley had been kicked out of the building, Spokesman-Review management shared that despite public claims by Curley that several reporters were paid for by community donors — a source of optimism for the Comma plan — none of the paper’s reporting positions were currently community funded. There were “audible gasps,” according to several reporters in the room. The paper had been promoting its community-funded reporters online, removing paywalls for stories written by those journalists. One reporter remembered how at fundraising events, Curley would point to a journalist’s face on a big screen and tell donors that their money paid for journalists’ salaries. Even the reporters took pride in sharing the claim with readers. “I’ve been lying on his behalf without even knowing it,” one reporter said. Cowles, the publisher, said he had no comment on the claims about Curley until the conclusion of the internal investigation. He said the paper is targeting Oct. 30 to close the transaction with Comma. Bill Simer, Comma Community Journalism Lab board chair, did not comment for this article. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/spokesman.webp) The **Spokesman-Review* building in downtown Spokane. (**Photo by Yong-Yu Huang*) ### Saving local journalism Before joining the Spokesman-Review in 2016, Curley had been praised in some journalism circles as a leader in transitioning struggling newspapers away from print and into the digital world. In naming Curley as the Spokesman-Review’s new top editor, Cowles said Curley had “a proven record of delivering news that matters” and that his “innovative work” at previous newspapers helped them win top journalism awards “including a Pulitzer Prize,” the [announcement](https://media.spokesman.com/documents/2016/07/CurleyNewsRelease.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) said. But reporters at his previous gigs [viewed him differently](https://web.archive.org/web/20160613224949/http://www.ocweekly.com/news/why-is-new-oc-register-editor-rob-curley-already-so-loathed-in-the-newsroom-6476249): as a mercurial leader who hyped expensive, ineffective initiatives, sacrificing journalism ethics to keep up cozy relationships with powerful community institutions and politicians. The Orange County Register in Southern California was criticized for [favorable coverage of Disney](https://voiceofoc.org/2015/07/latino-advocate-alleges-oc-register-reporter-excluded-him-from-ticket-tax-coverage/?ref=rangemedia.co) under Curley, who served as the paper’s top editor between 2014 and 2016 and proudly said he wore a Mickey Mouse garment every day. He also faced backlash when he revised an article two months after it had been published at the request of a politician, despite police reports and other records that [didn’t support the change](https://voiceofoc.org/2016/03/how-the-oc-registers-editor-bowed-to-pressure-from-a-prominent-politician/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). Curley changed the story over the objections of the reporter and did not note the changes for the public with a correction or editor’s note — a decision journalism ethicists called an “unethical overreach.” Journalists from the Las Vegas Sun in Nevada had their own problems with him. After he left the Sun in 2012, they noticed that Curley kept getting credit for the paper’s Pulitzer Prize in 2009 — credit that Cowles repeated in the 2016 hiring announcement. Sun employees clarified to the Inlander, a Spokane alt-weekly, that Curley, in fact, [had nothing to do with the series](https://web.archive.org/web/20170908230732/https://www.inlander.com/Bloglander/archives/2017/09/08/no-the-spokesman-review-editor-didnt-win-a-pulitzer) that won the Pulitzer. Curley said he’d never told anyone he won a Pulitzer, blaming a series of misunderstandings for it showing up time and time again in his biography. Curley stuck around Spokane, undaunted by the controversies from his past. And with layoffs and buyouts [shrinking the newsroom](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokesman-review-offers-more-buyouts-to-shrink-size-of-newsroom-staff/article%5F3d628c7f-e4c2-54a8-8593-26ba54a564e3.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in a struggling industry, Curley two years ago began testing the Comma pitch among staff by signaling that it would save their jobs. Reporters said he told them privately that they’d receive big raises once the transfer happened. If Comma didn’t move forward, he said the Cowles family would likely lay off staff or maybe sell the locally owned paper to one of the hedge-fund-owned companies known for downsizing newsrooms, one current employee recalled. Reporters felt Curley had compromised editorial independence at the Spokesman as well. Staffers took issue with Curley altering an article in 2025 about a bond proposal from Spokane Public Schools. In the article, reporters wrote a passage explaining how the proposal could raise property taxes. The story had been cleared by the typical story editors, but late the night before the story was published, Curley had a copy editor change that passage “to be more in line with what the school district wanted us to be saying,” said Emry Dinman, one of the article’s two reporters. “My editors were all as outraged as I was.” Staffers knew Comma was trying to partner with the school district as part of the ownership transition, though Dinman said he didn’t want to speculate on the intentions behind the late-night edit. Current and former staffers also said Curley didn’t like articles that were critical of Gonzaga, a private university downtown most known for its basketball team that Curley frequently celebrated in his columns. Rebecca Hansen-White, a former reporter at the Spokesman-Review from 2018 to 2020, said that during the COVID-19 pandemic she wrote a story about Gonzaga's plans for an isolation facility, which included some light criticism from a local politician for the private university using government money to do so. But the story was never published. When Hansen-White asked what happened, she recalls an editor told her something to the effect of “that may have been one Rob didn’t want to run,” though she was never able to confirm if Curley spiked it himself. “That was very frustrating. I worked hard on this and I’m going out to the community and I’m getting in these tough conversations with sources,” she said. “And then I come back to the newsroom and find that my work has been changed or removed without an explanation.” Comma eventually set up shop on the Gonzaga campus [in 2024](https://www.inlander.com/news/more-on-the-spokesman-review-s-plans-to-go-nonprofit-including-maintaining-subscriptions-and-ads/article%5F85ab556b-1190-595d-8f8b-a00a83cb1b4c.html?ref=rangemedia.co). The two editors who Curley hired for Comma in fall 2025 did little to ease reporter concerns about outside interference. Donna Wares and Ron Sylvester had both worked with Curley at the Orange County Register, and when Curley brought them into the Spokesman-Review newsroom, an email sent to the staff described their roles until the transfer as “consultants” — Sylvester for “newsroom metrics and trust initiatives,” and Wares for “enterprise story assignment, editing and Northwest Passages author recruitment.” Northwest Passages is the nonprofit’s book club and event series. That distinction was crucial for Spokesman-Review staffers, who considered it a breach of journalistic integrity to have non-staffers weigh in on editorial decisions, even if it came from people who would one day be their editors. “We were told through the union that Comma editors would not be able to touch our stories until the transition happened,” said Emily White, a former reporter who left the Spokesman at the end of August. But that’s not what happened. “They were tampering with our stories with no permission,” White said. The union filed a grievance with the company, said Thomas Clouse, union president and longtime reporter. “Our understanding was that the publisher dealt with it,” he said. ### Newsroom altercation As Comma took longer than initially expected to reach its $2 million fundraising goal, the transition kept being delayed. The presence of Comma staff in the newsroom, meanwhile, grew louder. Comma had also hired one of Curley’s sons. Johnathan Curley made a salary of $62,400, according to a 2025 court document, topping the pay of almost every Spokesman-Review reporter. His title at Comma is “technical director,” and he handles video and audio equipment for Comma events. Previously, the 24-year-old worked as a part-time audio-visual technician for Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. Johnathan Curleydid not respond to requests for comment. Staffers questioned how much Sylvester and Wares were getting paid to be Comma editors before the transition, and they were concerned that Wares spent half her time in California, flying back and forth on Comma’s dime. Sylvester lingered in the newsroom, with staff increasingly unclear of his role. Employees described Sylvester as a disorganized and unproductive editor who often shopped online for magician supplies while in the office. He was tasked with managing the summer internship program, they said, but his involvement was so marginal that other staff had to pick up his slack. “If you ask what his job entailed, I wouldn’t be able to give you an answer,” one staffer said. Sylvester did not respond to requests for comment. In early August, with the planned transition to Comma just weeks away, the newsroom scrambled to cover wildfires that had caught national attention. The staff worked day and night, eventually breaking the news that one of the blazes was set by an arsonist. Courts reporter Alexandra Duggan, as it turned out, had been one of the [first people to see the alleged arsonist](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/08/i-was-one-of-the-first-reporters-on-spokanes-devas/?ref=rangemedia.co) near the flames. On Aug. 4, Sylvester told reporters they should change how they attribute documents in stories. Instead of citing “court documents,” he said they should cite “sworn affidavits.” Despite having no clear editorial role in the Spokesman-Review newsroom, Sylvester went into Duggan’s story that night and made a change reflecting his preference — except in that instance, the record was not in fact an affidavit. It introduced an error into the paper. Clouse, the union president, said he called a meeting with management to try to understand why Comma editors were meddling with stories again. “That never got resolved,” he said. Two days later, Duggan, who’d worked 13 straight days, was finishing up another story about the accused arsonist. Sylvester approached her and said, in a low voice, “you’re doing it again,” several employees who witnessed or learned of the altercation told InvestigateWest and RANGE. He’d been referring to her story saying “court documents.” Duggan walked away. But Sylvester followed, and the two shouted back and forth at each other until other editors stepped in to cool things down. “I wanted to make sure that our stories were truthful and honest and that they were not being edited without us knowing and without any communication,” Duggan said. “And I just wanted to keep the integrity of the paper.” Curley sided with Sylvester, telling Spokesman-Review Managing Editor Lindsey Treffry that night to fire Duggan. Treffry refused. The next morning, during a series of meetings with Cowles, Treffry and other editors shared complaints they had about Curley. Cowles decided to put Curley on administrative leave, revoking his keycard access to the paper’s offices. A few hours later, however, Curley got in the newsroom again by asking an unsuspecting intern for their keycard. He walked around asking where he could find Treffry, who, according to several staffers there that day, was hiding from Curley in the photo room with other editors. Duggan joined them, and it was there that Duggan learned Treffry saved her job. As they hid, Duggan texted White, who was not in the newsroom at the time. White shared the texts with InvestigateWest and RANGE that described how an HR employee escorted Curley out of the building. “They chased Rob out of the newsroom,” Duggan texted. “I can’t see because I’m hiding.” “I’m hysterical,” Duggan wrote, crumpled into a ball and crying. Duggan said she’d “ride or die for this paper.” She said Curley’s attempt to fire her “felt like a slap in the face — it felt like betrayal.” In an interview for this story, she said she’ll be grateful for the rest of her life that Treffry had her back. “She did save my job. And she protected the rest of us from something similar,” Duggan said. ### ‘Jessica Rabbit’ Former reporter Rachel Alexander, who worked at the Spokesman-Review from October 2014 to July 2018, recalled a pattern of “cronyism and ethics violations.” In a letter she sent to investigators after Curley’s suspension, Alexander described a departure of women on staff and in leadership roles during Curley’s first year; editors who left meetings with him looking “shaken, exhausted and at times afraid”; and how Curley didn’t keep promises to sponsor a former staff member’s work visa if he left the union. “Despite the meaningful journalism I was able to do and the presence of many talented colleagues who I greatly admire, I could not in good conscience continue working for a man who was willing to lie to a friend and jeopardize his ability to remain in the country,” Alexander wrote. “I made the decision to leave the Spokesman in 2018 primarily because of Mr. Curley’s behavior.” Before leaving, Alexander noticed that she was “nearly the only woman left on the desk,” according to her letter. She also told investigators that Curley seemed to primarily “take issue with or pick fights” with women in the newsroom. Instead of talking through concerns, he made “petty” decisions, like blocking reporters on Twitter, she wrote. In recent years, the paper has hosted high school interns as part of Curley’s effort to make Comma into a training ground for young journalists. But the behavior of Curley and Sylvester made some employees question whether they should be responsible for mentoring young journalists. One letter shared with internal investigators described how, during a 2024 barbecue for Spokesman-Review interns at Curley’s house, two teenage interns saw sexually explicit images of women on Curley’s iPad as he scrolled through his camera roll. Curley had been giving the high school girls a tour of his home and showing off his guitar collection. He was looking for song lyrics on his iPad when the inappropriate pictures flashed on his screen, according to employees who had heard of the incident from the interns. Several staff members also brought concerns to HR about inappropriate comments Sylvester made around interns who were in high school and college. In a conversation with another employee about the evolution of photography — and while sitting near an 18-year-old intern — Sylvester joked that if someone wanted to send a “dick pic” back in the day, they had to wait for it to develop, but today it can be done in an instant. On a different occasion, Sylvester told another employee to wait a few seconds before downloading porn, according to several employees. It was loud enough for other employees to hear the unprompted comment, including nearby interns. “It was very shocking to hear someone … who was supposed to be a mentor figure say that,” a staffer who witnessed the exchange said. “It’s just not appropriate for the workplace.” Current and former staff members also described a work environment where people perceived as being against Curley or who reported issues to HR were retaliated against. They felt Curley had favorites — including Sylvester and Wares — who would not face consequences for their actions. After an employee reported Sylvester to HR for his comment about dick pics, a letter to investigators said Curley appeared to retaliate against those he believed had made the report. Curley excluded one of the employees from important meetings and avoided another employee and gave them “distasteful looks.” Curley needed to make sure staff was “loyal” to him, employees said. One employee, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said Curley and his allies tried to get them to divulge whether certain Spokesman-Review employees were loyal or not. Staffers said Curley also dangled future “executive” positions to two young women in exchange for their loyalty. At least one former editorial assistant filed an HR complaint against Curley. After studying creative writing at Eastern Washington University, Brooke Lauerman, now 26, was hired in December 2024 to answer newsroom calls and emails and assist with other editorial tasks. She said Curley often treated editorial assistants “like houseplants.” “He would pretend we weren’t there. He’d have conversations leaning over our desk,” she said. One day about a year into the job, after most employees had left for the day, Curley told Lauerman he needed to talk to her, and brought her to an empty conference room and told her to shut the door. She thought she might be getting fired. Instead, for roughly an hour, Curley “begged” her to become his personal assistant, she recalled, saying that he needed help managing his life. He told Lauerman she was “special,” that she could be an “executive lady and make a lot of money,” and that he would be her mentor. He said he once had an assistant “like Jessica Rabbit, I could send her into a group of guys and they’d all say yes to her, and I want that again,” according to the complaint Lauerman filed. Lauerman felt like she was being manipulated, and she didn’t understand why Curley was flattering her so much to push her into a job that had never been discussed before. She made a report with HR, at the direction of her supervisor. Lauerman remembers the HR employee saying they’d “add it to my list” of complaints about Curley, and Lauerman requested that the complaint be kept quiet until she left the paper months later. She followed up with a letter detailing the experience in writing. Lauerman said Curley avoided her in the months that followed. In March 2026, as her last day of work at the Spokesman approached, he asked her out to lunch, which Lauerman declined. ### The Imagineer Shortly after Curley’s suspension was announced, the union held a vote of “no confidence” in Curley. Nearly 90% of the union’s 25 members participated, and all voted in favor of the measure, other than two who abstained. “He was threatening the jobs of \[union\] members, and we would strongly object if he were to come back to this newsroom,” Clouse said. Reporters said that since Curley’s suspension, they’ve been able to focus on journalism. The newsroom “has really felt more like home than it has for a long time,” Duggan said. Mathew Callaghan, a Comma reporter who contributes to the Spokesman-Review, echoed similar sentiments. He called the newsroom’s editors, reporters and those on the copy desk “some of the best, most hardworking people” he knows, but expressed some concerns over Curley. “The idea of Comma is a great idea, but I don’t trust Rob Curley to execute that idea,” he said. “I don’t think that he has the best interest of the journalists that he’s supposed to uplift. ... I don’t trust him and I question his ethics.” The publisher has told newsroom employees he will not release results of the investigation. The union believes it’s important for the community to know what the investigation found, Clouse said. It’s unclear what role Curley will continue to play at the Spokesman-Review or at Comma. The result of the pending investigation could decide his fate at the Spokesman-Review. But he may still remain the executive director of Comma, where employees may work for him again anyway. George Brunt, a Comma board member and in-house legal counsel, said that the board will honor the results of the investigation if it finds something indicating it is inappropriate for Curley to be in the newsroom, “with the caveat that the methodology was sound and not biased.” Brunt added that from what he’s seen so far, “I don’t think it was done in good faith.” Last week, Curley was set to host a Comma event featuring Joe Rohde, a former Disney Imagineer. When the event started, Wares was hosting instead, but shortly into the conversation, Wares invited Curley up to the stage to conduct the interview. “I’d like to invite the biggest Disney fan that I know, the person who is actually the chief Imagineer of Comma, to join me on stage. Please welcome Rob Curley,” she said. The audience inside the packed theater cheered, with about a dozen people sitting near the front giving him a standing ovation, including at least oneComma employee. Curley rushed onto the stage, with Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” booming through the Gonzaga auditorium. *Correction: This story was updated to correct a description of Rob Curley entering the Spokesman-Review newsroom after his suspension.* ### CANCELED: Oct. 4 Community Bike Ride URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-week-without-driving-2026/ Last updated: 2026-10-04T18:35:13.000Z 🚨 Update: Our fearless bike leader has food poisoning and will be unable to take us on our community bike ride! We hope to be able to reschedule it soon. Do you like bikes? Do you like when there’s new bike infrastructure to make riding safer? Join us October 4th at 2 pm for a fun ride where we’ll tour 11 recent and near-future pieces of infrastructure. Hosted in partnership with Spokane Reimagined for the Week Without Driving, I (Lauren) will be leading a party-pace, eight-mile ride with 11 stops, where we’ll discuss bike and pedestrian improvements that have recently been built or are soon-to-be-built. If you enjoyed RANGE’s [Urbanism ride during last year’s Bike Everywhere Month](https://www.rangemedia.co/bike-everywhere-month-events-meetup-urbanism/), you’re sure to enjoy this ride. Perhaps this time we won’t carry our bikes over sketchy railroad tracks like we did last time, but the adventurous spirit is very much the same. If you happened to miss that ride, but found this article’s title intriguing, you’ll probably enjoy this one too. First, we’ll meet at 620 W Boone — the parking lot on the north side of Boone, opposite the arena – at 2 pm, where our friends at Spokane Transit Authority will be bringing a bus for us to practice putting our bikes on. Then we’ll loop around downtown and the lower south hill, stopping to look at shared-use path projects, greenway projects, hardened bike lanes, asphalt art, and more. Lastly, we’ll end at Uprise Brewing Co, for optional socializing, food and drinks. Kids are welcome, but we recommend they be on an adult’s bike or in a trailer. We’ll be doing a small bit of climbing up the lower South Hill, but we’ll take it very slow and wait for everyone. If you’re at all interested in Spokane cycling becoming safer and more comfortable, we’d love to have you! ### UPDATED: ‘I’m hoping we hit him at least once each lol’: SPD texts from 2024 killing show lack of probable cause URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/im-hoping-we-hit-him-at-least-once-each-lol-spd-texts-from-2024-killing-show-lack-of-probable-cause/ Last updated: 2026-10-18T05:44:44.000Z UPDATE: RANGE published an October 1 story about text messages between Spokane police officers sent hours after they’d killed Joshua Musselman in 2024\. In the messages, one officer hoped they’d each hit Musselman with AR-15 rounds, admitted they’d lacked probable cause to shoot and called their boss, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall, “a pussy.” RANGE asked the department for comment on these texts before we published the story on October 1, but spokesperson Tricia Leming declined, saying Spokane police could not weigh in because the text messages were released as part of a lawsuit. But the following day, the Office of the Police Chief released a statement showing it had not been aware of the comments, screenshots of which were filed in Spokane County Superior Court on September 18, until RANGE asked the department about them. We’re publishing the department’s full statement in italics below. You can read our original report below the statement. *Several months after a use-of-force incident, the Spokane Police Department learned of text messages and off-duty conduct involving several department members. At the direction of the Office of the Chief of Police, the department promptly opened an internal affairs investigation. The process is governed by labor-management agreements, civilian oversight, and investigative protocols designed to ensure a fair and thorough review.* *While the administrative investigation process can seem unduly time-consuming, it must meet the rigorous expectations of the Office of the Ombud, the Chief’s Office, and our community.* *Late Thursday afternoon, SPD received information about additional texts that had not previously been shared with the agency. These new, and admittedly disturbing, texts by our members were immediately added to the administrative investigation and also shared with the County Prosecutor’s Office, as it was unclear whether County Prosecutor McCollam had been provided all of the text messages, or only some of them as the Office of the Chief had experienced.* *This incident and the ensuing text messages occurred nearly two years ago, and the Spokane Police Department believes that much has changed in that timeframe. While the investigative process may take longer than many would like, it will conclude with a finding that is defensible, fair, and just, based on the objective evidence that exists.* *“I understand that the community is angry, frustrated, and disappointed. So am I. My commitment to compassionate, constitutional, and professional behavior by all members of the Spokane Police Department remains steadfast, and we will continue to move the organization forward in that direction,” said Chief Kevin Hall. “Any culture is extremely resistant to change. But our commitment to this community demands that the change occurs as fast as possible.”* --- HERE'S THE ORIGINAL STORY The day after Officer Daniel Valencia and three other Spokane police officers shot and killed a man as he fled into his apartment, he texted one of the others, Officer Matthew Stewart. In the texts, the two strategized: They needed a shared story about why they [shot Joshua Musselman to death](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/) on December 29, 2024\. They gamed it out. “So what’s the crime we were investigating yesterday?” Valencia wrote to Stewart. “Unlawful discharge? Haha.” “Hahahahahahaha,” Stewart replied. “Being a douche lol.” Each officer involved — Valencia, Stewart, Garth Craigen and Will Mitchell — would have to write a report about their actions and what they saw that day, so it was important their stories matched. As members of one of the [deadliest police agencies](https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/cities?ref=rangemedia.co) in the US, which had just gotten a new boss in the form of Chief Kevin Hall — who was then working hard to restore community faith in the department — the snipers needed to make it clear they had a good reason for killing Musselman. “Right,” Valencia replied. “But for reals. For the report. What’s the crime at that point? Unlawful discharge or are we doing a welfare check? Lol. Cuz no one developed pc. Huh? Lol.” Stewart: “I would say unlawful discharge at this point.” “Pc” refers to probable cause, a legal standard established in the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution requiring law enforcement officers to have a strong rationale to make an arrest, search a property or seek a warrant. The cops, a SWAT team and a fleet of cruisers had responded that day to a 911 call from a neighbor who said Musselman had been firing a rifle into a nearby hill earlier in the afternoon. The four officers who shot Musselman had stationed themselves on the same hill about 120 feet northwest of Musselman’s apartment. It was a bad day for Musselman, who witnesses said seemed to be having a mental health crisis and was making his neighbors feel unsafe. According to official reports RANGE [described](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/) last year, when the police got there, Musselman was standing on the landing outside his third-floor front door. He wasn’t even holding his rifle — he was rolling a joint. As other police officers milled about in the parking lot below the apartment, Valencia, Stewart, Craigen and Mitchell watched Musselman from their hill for four minutes, according to the police reports written by Valencia and his colleagues. The documents said when Musselman finally saw them, he picked up what appeared to be a rifle. The snipers opened fire. But Stewart’s texts dispute the idea that Musselman was getting ready to shoot. Stewart wrote in one of his messages sent a week after the shooting that Musselman was running “so it’s a moving target at 40 yards. Not the best.” He told Valencia this to console him because, Valencia texted, he was “really pissed off … that the two of us shot 10 rounds each and the fucker only got shot four times.” Aside from what turned out to be an airsoft rifle, there were no other guns in the apartment. Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam [ruled the killing justified](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/sep/02/spokane-prosecutors-office-determines-8-members-of/?ref=rangemedia.co) in early September, in keeping with his office’s long-standing practice of exonerating law enforcement officers who kill civilians. McCollam, who was appointed to replace former prosecutor Larry Haskell last year and is seeking his first election to the office in November, did not return a request for comment. [PDFLegal filing showing text messages between officers after they'd shot Joshua Musselman to death.Thorp Amendment to Complaint - Text Messages.pdf30 MBdownload-circle](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/2026/10/Thorp-Amendment-to-Complaint---Text-Messages.pdf "Download") ### ‘Brothas for life now dogg’ The messages in which Valencia and Stewart strategized their reports were part of a longer string of texts that started one hour and 14 minutes after they’d killed Musselman. They were filed by Rondi Thorp, the attorney for Musselman’s family, which is suing the Spokane Police Department for the killing. “Glad to have you next to me on a gun battle,” Valencia texted the day of the shooting, even though the officers had Musselman — who never fired his airsoft rifle while police were on the scene — dramatically outgunned with their AR-15 assault rifles. “Fuck yeah brotha. Felt a lot better when you came with me.” Stewart: “Thanks homie. I’m glad you were there too! Makes me feel better.” Valencia told Stewart that the shooting had made them “Brothas for life now dogg,” according to the texts. “We’ll have to meet up and get a couple of beers now.” Stewart described the damage the shots did to Musselman. “At least one hit him in the chest, one in the pelvic girdle, and one in the shin. There were probably more but he was all bloody.” “I’m hoping that we hit him at least once each lol,” Valencia replied. “I ended up shooting 6 rounds,” Stewart told Valencia. Valencia replied, “I shot 4\. I hope our rounds hit him. I think mine might have hit the rails. I’m a little worried about that. Lol.” Stewart: “Bro me too.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-1ba04ffa-39d1-4ab6-b3a8-2d1aa476170a.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-49df72ee-2789-459c-b79e-88a103f2c121.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-208e5843-b4fd-4c4b-88cb-d0b86e150738.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-2b6642a3-657f-4daa-8999-c01d0c92cd9a.png) **Screenshots of text messages between Spokane police officers Daniel Valencia and Matthew Stewart after they'd shot Joshua Musselman to death in 2024\.* SPD spokesperson Tricia Leming said that because the messages are part of ongoing litigation, the department could not comment on them. She confirmed that each officer is still on active duty in the rank of officer. In a separate chain of text messages that night between Valencia and Sergeant Jeremy McVay, who was not involved in Musselman’s killing, Valencia said that he was "pissed" that some of the snipers’ rounds went into the apartment next door to Musselman’s. That’s where Alexis Stojsic and a friend had been hiding from the gunfire. Stojsic’s toddler son was not in the apartment. “A little kid and two females live there,” Valencia wrote. “Hopefully none of mine or stews \[presumably Stewart’s\] rounds” entered Stojsic’s apartment, he added. “Yeah that sucks,” said McVay, a SWAT team member who Hall awarded a [Medal of Valor](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/police/officer/awards/2025/presentation-letter-valor-mcvay.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) in May of last year. He consoled Valencia. “Don’t beat yourself up.” McVay asked Valencia if he’d made it home or was he “still being processed.” “Just got home,” said Valencia, who’d previously shot another Spokane man in 2022\. “It wasn’t too bad this time.” The messages suggest the two men and another friend drank beer that same night in a garage. Valencia, who was placed on administrative leave along with Musselman’s other killers after the incident, said in the messages that being benched would allow him to “get my liver ready for the Colombia trip at the end of January,” apparently a vacation he’d been planning. “Don’t tell them about your vacation they will fuck you on admin days :),” McVay replied, presumably referring to administrative leave. At 1:38 am the following morning, McVay texted a screenshot of an interview Chief Hall had apparently given about the shooting. “Our new chief is a pussy,” McVay said. Valencia: “Saw his interview. What a poos.” Wrapping the conversation up, Valencia described Musselman’s gun: “I guess it was a bb rifle. Lol.” McVay: “Oh shit!!! Doesn’t matter.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-4998f323-e4ce-412e-8e60-346b0136baff.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-b7423ce0-6094-487e-ba36-d18cc5ef99b2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-bee3a55b-8bff-4aa3-9b14-d4a884be0e3d.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-b6ac3d8b-4a33-478f-9836-181beb78d995.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-734e2ff2-520e-45ce-be20-d15c1e6854b7.png) **Screenshots of text messages between Spokane police Officer Daniel Valencia and Sergeant Matthew Stewart after Valencia and three other officers shot Joshua Musselman to death in 2024\.* ### AI slop is invading Spokane op-ed pages URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ai-slop-spokane-op-eds/ Last updated: 2026-10-03T06:22:55.000Z 🤖 This story is the first in a series we're calling \*CONTAINS ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS. For more on the series, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients). In a [guest column](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-ai-fits-in-with-humanity-is-an-urgent-question-that-a-jesuit-educational-institution/article%5Fce6b20ca-b0a1-4bf9-a1c7-aaca819d606a.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in *the Washington State Standard* and the *Inlander,* Gonzaga University president Katia Passerini had a lot to say about how “profoundly AI is reshaping higher education.” She wrote that Jesuit universities were “uniquely positioned” to meet the “AI-era,” about how the university’s role was “to prepare students not only to build AI systems, but to shape them responsibly.” “AI is not simply a new productivity tool,” she wrote. “It is a system of encoded human decisions.” But there was one thing that Passerini *didn’t* write in her column: that she used AI to help write it for her. According to Pangram, the [best](https://bfi.uchicago.edu/insights/artificial-writing-and-automated-detection/?ref=rangemedia.co) AI detection software on the market, the president of Spokane’s largest private university had submitted “[100%](https://www.pangram.com/history/ab91bffc-7a17-44db-ac94-3c40eea997c8?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co)” AI-infused writing as her own. If true, it’s a blatant violation of the *Washington State Standard*’s prohibition on “stories or commentaries generated by AI.” It’s not the first time Passerini had published an op-ed rife with AI signals this year: Pangram detected 86% AI writing in the *Spokesman-Review* column she co-wrote in January with Whitworth president Scott McQuilkin — and Whitworth said the AI didn’t come from them. Gonzaga declined an interview with RANGE. In a human-written [statement](https://gyazo.com/2510865bc206cba8bd5fcda480e48b99?ref=rangemedia.co), the University denied either column from Passerini — “a leader in this new era of AI” — was “AI generated” but acknowledged both were written with help from a “professional writer, who used modern communications tools, including AI tools” to help edit and organize the pieces. Pangram CEO Max Spero told RANGE in a social media reply that a 100% rating means you can fairly say the piece was “largely AI-generated" or, “if you want to be really lenient, ‘significantly AI-assisted’ or ‘contains significant amounts of AI-generated text.’” The tool isn’t perfect, of course. Once in every 10,000 cases, Pangram cautions, it might mistake fully human writing for AI writing. But it keeps improving. The company says the latest version has whittled that number down to one in every 24,000 cases. So, to be thorough, RANGE ran Passerini’s *State Standard* column through a slew of weaker AI detectors. [WinstonAI](https://app.gowinston.ai/share/01a0ab75-fefb-71c0-a3a8-34a9f7548484?ref=rangemedia.co), [HumaLingo](https://gyazo.com/de1d85ff9846b866f3a095a8e35004f6?ref=rangemedia.co), [OriginalityAI](https://gyazo.com/0339f8b125202a5513659523b2915b77?ref=rangemedia.co) and [GPTZero](https://gyazo.com/8fdeabf2c716dd9805f9f13c11b4213a?ref=rangemedia.co). Each detected sprawling amounts of AI prose. TurnItIn, the AI detector embedded into Gonzaga’s course management software, rated the column as over 84% AI. If she had turned it into one of Gonzaga’s classes as a student, it would have violated the university’s own [Academic Integrity Policy](https://www.gonzaga.edu/news-events/stories/ai-in-education?ref=rangemedia.co) against undisclosed AI use. The Gonzaga statement insists the university administration's AI use does not “diminish the human thought and creativity of our writers.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/Gonzaga.jpg) (Art by RANGE) Gonzaga is just part of a larger trend. This month, the Dartmouth student paper exposed a university provost for using the same kind of [AI ghostwriting](https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/09/schnell-ai-writing?ref=rangemedia.co) as Gonzaga’s president. On campus, this is quickly becoming an old kind of controversy. AI use has already ripped through academia, with some universities taking [drastic measures](https://www.wsj.com/business/chatgpt-ai-cheating-college-blue-books-5e3014a6?ref=rangemedia.co) to stop students from delegating every essay to ChatGPT, while others — like Gonzaga and even [Harvard](https://www.derekthompson.org/p/what-is-college-for?ref=rangemedia.co) — are eagerly embracing machine learning. Now, AI is rapidly encroaching on new territory: the op-ed page. The op-ed page has long been a place where guest writers are invited to express their opinions on the pages of daily newspapers. To understand AI writing’s incursion into everyday life, it’s a revealing place to start. Over the past two weeks, RANGE sent over a million words through Pangram — including every guest column in *The* *Spokesman-Review* since 2024 — tracking the rapid rise of AI-written rhetoric. The results are stark: In 2024, *The Spokesman’s* guest op-ed page was almost untouched by AI. Pangram only flagged two significant incidents of widespread AI use in a column. [One](https://www.pangram.com/history/cdb4328f-2d53-41dd-b2a8-04e3b1c3a441?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) of them was from Premera Blue Cross executive [David Condon](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/nov/19/david-condon-collaboration-can-help-youth-rural-ar/?ref=rangemedia.co), better known as the former mayor of Spokane. By 2025, the number of columns containing AI writing had risen to 34\. This year there have been 58, and we still have three months to go. As of September 20, roughly half of all *Spokesman* guest op-eds in the past two months have all shown signs of significant swaths of AI writing. ### **AI use has rapidly increased on the Spokesman-Review Op-Ed Page.** *Data is through September 20, 2026\. Columns that Pangram flagged as less than 20% human are categorized as “AI,” while columns between 20% and 80% human are labeled “mixed. Tap or mouseover each bar or search for a specific column to check which category it falls into. (Tableau interactive data visualization by Daniel Walters)* You can see every AI-assisted column we identified since January 2025 [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bARzvn2klQZWdFnslpFBAuYdia1SQZrbrcPT3nm5QTU/edit?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co). These were columns written under bylines of executives, psychologists, politicians, non-profit leaders, doctors and a former two-term mayor. These include AI-riddled columns praising [propane school buses](https://www.pangram.com/history/5fa1ff81-77ee-43f9-a7c9-c5d4ed4cd972?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), the Snake River [dams](https://www.pangram.com/history/405f31d1-63c9-498f-9554-ed69f341fee1?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), HVAC [reform](https://www.pangram.com/history/37d31b27-7ee1-48b2-883a-a30bafc9e9a3?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) and former Vice President [Mike Pence](https://www.pangram.com/history/8f061cdc-dc11-4b77-834f-3c82f5b731cf?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co). There were AI-infused columns arguing against moving a controversial [statue](https://www.pangram.com/history/ccf74790-f4ec-4ef8-ab4f-0a403436cef2?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), slashing [food stamps](https://www.pangram.com/history/6bd39d70-7eda-4b93-adfd-8928ebbb6da2?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), using high-potency 7-hydroxymitragynine [products](https://www.pangram.com/history/4511afe8-6e7c-4c3c-b70d-1ac94b020b17?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) and [killing sea lions](https://www.pangram.com/history/9b0b9673-a4f1-44a2-aca0-2743af507f59?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co). A triple-bylined op-ed announcing the completion of a report for Spokane’s Safe and Healthy Spokane Task Force was [rated](https://www.pangram.com/history/a375e46a-d239-473a-a022-10dd7037db00?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) as fully AI. When RANGE sent the report itself through Pangram, it came back [striped](https://www.pangram.com/history/8b198d6d-6e17-4ebb-bf22-cb046f93ca61?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) with dozens of apparently AI-written passages alternating with dozens of human-written passages. Three-quarters of the 15 columns written about the Spokane Complex Fires showed signs of being largely written by AI. So did every column with the word “AI” in the headline. The author of a column about why some women trust bears more than men apparently trusted AI enough to help write her column. And chances are, Pangram probably missed at least one AI-written column amid the pile RANGE fed through it: the company says its software incorrectly labels AI-written documents as human about once in every 300 times. Many of the authors RANGE contacted downplayed their AI use — sure they had used AI, but it wasn’t fair to call the column “AI-generated.” These were *their* ideas, after all, they said. The AI just *helped* them with the structure or the editing or the organization or the writing or the ideas. Some said they wrote the first draft and had AI spruce it up, while others said they had AI synthesize their thoughts and then tweaked the language. Some argued it was a way to level the playing field for disadvantaged writers. Nobody, however, denied that they had used AI at all. *The Spokesman*’scontributors hadn’t broken any official rules. Unlike the *State Standard*, *The Spokesman* lacks an explicit prohibition on AI-generated columns. Until this week, RANGE had no published standard either, and paid the price: After we ran the candidate questionnaire answers we published during the primary election through Pangram, we found multiple candidates had used AI to craft their answers. (Read our article on that [**here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-politicians-use-ai/).) Both the *Inlander* and *The* *Spokesman* said their own writers aren’t allowed to use text generated by AI, and each paper has been talking internally about putting those prohibitions officially in writing. *Spokesman* managing editor Lindsey Treffry said that they are looking at establishing AI rules to the guest opinion section as well. “We are happily considering an AI policy for our guest opinions section, especially after hearing the concerns that RANGE brought to our attention,” Treffry said. \*Contains Artifical Ingredients Read RANGE's newly-developed AI policy at the link below. [READ NOW ](https://www.rangemedia.co/range-artificial-intelligence-ai-policy/) From one angle, Pangram reveals just how deeply AI-written work has already penetrated into local discourse in Spokane. But for those worried about this trend, who want to believe that humans can’t — or shouldn’t — be replaced by AI columnists, Pangram offered a way to push back, Spero argued on the Plain English [podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-slop-is-breaking-the-internet-can-we-save-it/id1594471023?i=1000787161903&ref=rangemedia.co). “We are trying to save the written word,” Spero said. ### More machine, now, than man A few years ago, writers had to actively seek AI out if they wanted extra assistance. Now, temptation is embedded everywhere. AI features pop up in Microsoft Word and Gmail. Grammarly, a spelling and grammar checker, expanded to offer sweeping AI editing advice. A Google search automatically serves up results in AI prose, ready to be copy-and-pasted. Since late November of 2022, when ChatGPT was officially released, savvy readers began to notice signs of an emerging AI dialect slipping into pieces that had supposedly been written by humans. A flurry of “—” em-dashes: Countless sentences structured like “it’s not x, it’s y.” A strange fondness for the word “delve.” But since plenty of genuine human writers used “delve” and em-dashes, any accused writer could claim “it’s not AI — it’s my style,” and it was hard to disprove that. AI detector software was prone to making wild errors, like claiming documents written in, say, 1776, were AI-generated. But then came Pangram. Pangram weaponized AI against itself: It took a massive trove of text written by humans, and then prompted a slew of different AI programs to imitate those texts in their own computer-generated words. It allowed Pangram to delve into the infinite infinitesimal differences between human writing and AI — sentence length, structure, spacing and punctuation, and the frequency of certain words. Alone, no single indicator was absolute proof. But by combining all those subtle whispers together across hundreds of words, Pangram could predict, with startling accuracy, how thoroughly AI had been used to create a piece. To the delight of some and horror of others, the facade had been yanked away. It was a little like the kingdom from *The Emperor’s New Clothes* had just gotten a nudity detector. Pangram’s research revealed that over 40% of the long posts on LinkedIn had AI writing, and nearly half of all press releases. Authors, journalists and newspaper columnists were exposed as having put their name on work they didn’t write. When a column by billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller in *The* *Wall Street Journal* was revealed as AI, the billionaire was [unapologetic](https://x.com/maxwelltani/status/2092315324121014735?ref=rangemedia.co). "There's a reason I moved from an English major to being an economics major,” he said. The newspaper rose to his defense. “AI is a fact of modern life," *Wall Street Journal* opinion editor Paul Gigot wrote in a [statement](https://x.com/davidfolkenflik/status/2092336110181523482?ref=rangemedia.co). "The question for us is whether what we publish from contributors reflects an author's original argument, and if the author has the standing and credibility to make it." Yet many traditional reporters were aghast: National Public Radio media correspondent David Folkenflik argued that one way to ruin the *Journal’s* sterling reputation “pretty quickly is to suggest any piece could have been generated by the same algorithms that create unicorn pictures on WhatsApp's AI.” When a writer for *Semafor* ran the op-eds in prestigious publications like *The New York Times* and *The Washington Post* through Pangram, it flagged roughly 10% of the op-eds. But the percentages at a local paper like *The* *Spokesman* — which typically have fewer resources to scrutinize guest columnists than a large national paper —are likely to be far higher. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/Spreadsheets.jpg) **The Google sheet to rule them all.* (Art by the RANGE Team.) AI prose on *The* *Spokesman* op-ed page is two-and-a-half times more common this year than it was last year, and it keeps growing. The first four months of 2026 only had three columns with apparent AI assistance. The most recent four months had 25\. To Treffry, *The* *Spokesman’s* managing editor, that’s a problem. “The point of an opinion page is to get the opinions of people in our community,” she said. “If AI is producing an opinion for a member of our community, I don’t think that’s genuine.” Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon argued that a declaration that you’re not submitting columns written by artificial intelligence “has to be the norm for any newspaper in this country.” ChatGPT-written prose, he said, flattens distinctions between voices, leading to “much blander, less personal, detached content.” “If you are a subscriber to the Spokesman-Review and you're paying for those words, that's an issue,” Dillon said. ### Et tu, GPT? Dillon has a deep philosophical opposition to AI. “Every day we're under the deluge of some new warning about AI, some 25-year-old tech bro going, ‘it's actually worse than you think,’” Dillon said. “It's just overwhelming … this feeling of losing the grip on humanity.” As a former columnist himself, Dillon finds AI writing particularly offensive. “The idea of putting anything on paper that did not come directly from my heart, my brain, my hand” is a line he refuses to cross, he said. Plenty of Dillon’s political critics, however, appear to have embraced the tool. When he introduced an ordinance to mandate landlords provide “adequate cooling” to tenants, former Spokane City Council Member Steve Corker wrote a column that “an ordinance that shrinks housing availability does not protect vulnerable residents — it displaces them.” But AI [did most](https://www.pangram.com/history/1c140949-d0f3-44ee-8d50-238178720f28?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) of Corker’s writing, according to Pangram. Pangram came to a similar conclusion about another column critiquing the ordinance from Black Realty Management president Kim Sample and Downtown Spokane Partnership board chair Dana Harbaugh in *The* *Spokesman*: 94% of the piece contained AI writing, Pangram [concluded](https://www.pangram.com/history/774975e1-1772-456d-ac22-acceeb2f98a8?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co). And yet, Dillon’s own op-ed on the issue, co-written with Gonzaga environmental studies professor Brian Henning, was *also* [completely AI](https://www.pangram.com/history/6653c83a-43d7-4f04-9638-bd4a96623678?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), Pangram determined. Dillon swore up and down it wasn’t him, and provided the document editing history to prove it. The bulk of the column came from his co-author. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/Gonzaga--2-.jpg) (Art by the RANGE Team.) When he inspected the Microsoft Word file that Henning had sent him as the first draft, it showed that Henning had apparently started and finished his draft in only [six minutes](https://gyazo.com/bb6a211f13187a7d4c66e6eb64a8ff11?ref=rangemedia.co). “I asked him very directly if he used AI when he sent that column over to me. There was a long pause,” Dillon said. “And he said, ‘Yes, I did.’” Dillon said Henning confessed he’d had AI synthesize Henning’s previous writing with the cooling ordinance to generate the column, and apologized profusely. Henning, who teaches three courses on ethics at Gonzaga, did not respond to repeated interview requests from RANGE. “It’s a very unmoored feeling to catch a stray in this situation,” Dillon said. “Those words being questioned, reality itself being questioned, is really dystopian and depressing to me.” ### Impersonal Assistant Several of the columnists RANGE contacted suggested AI was used to level the playing field, that it allowed inexperienced writers or disadvantaged columnists to compete with everyone else. “I’m not a professional writer. Other people are,” said Dan Wilson, a back-country advocate who used [ChatGPT](https://www.pangram.com/history/a7ed00db-409d-4065-90e4-f51236876b90?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) to assist with his column advocating for protecting roadless wild spaces. “I don’t have a bevy of editors at my disposal to work on the writing.” Spokane chiropractor Barney Roca, who wrote a [column](https://www.pangram.com/history/f246ee1c-757f-4f0b-8858-d3aa27ac473b?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) about struggling family farms, said AI was important to compensate for his dyslexia. He uses Grammarly to help catch typos, ChatGPT to record interview notes and help him summarize, and the AI features on Apple’s Writing Tools to help with the prose. He scoffed at the notion of sanctimoniously rejecting a useful technology, comparing AI to a calculator or a spell check. “I could have used a pen and paper and scribbled something and sent it off to *The* *Spokesman* and hoped that it would be published, or I could use the tools that are available to me,” Roca said. And yet many — even most — of the AI-riddled columns RANGE identified weren’t from disadvantaged or neophyte writers. Many of them were from powerful people with decades of experience. Passerini is a PhD who published over 100 peer-reviewed articles before ChatGPT even existed. She’s perfectly capable of writing — her op-ed in the *State Standard* was partly based on a much longer piece she’d written without AI at her prior university. Mountain States Policy Center president Chris Cargill, meanwhile, spent a decade as a TV news producer, and has published opinion pieces for over 15 years. Yet Pangram [detected AI](https://www.pangram.com/history/ca40f600-531b-4d79-891f-e7b2f65dad53?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) prose infused throughout the bulk of his last three columns in *The* *Spokesman*. Premera Blue Cross, a health insurance company for over 2 million customers, has a professional comms team. But that team [used AI](https://www.pangram.com/history/8d00bc79-d184-4638-bdcf-519e58873390?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) to help the company’s chief medical officer Romilla Batra write a *Spokesman* op-ed. “Dr. Batra, she had a lot of opinions on the subject. What we used AI for was to bring all those ideas together, to not necessarily start with just a blank page,” said Premera spokesperson Eric Trott. “There’s a lot of complexity within healthcare and within the storytelling of healthcare. If we can get it to be clear and simple, then we can take advantage of that.” With similar reasoning, Zeke Smith, president of the Waters Meet Foundation, processed the draft of his *Spokesman* op-ed about “[Housing First](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/19/zeke-smith-bridging-the-ideals-of-housing-first-an/?ref=rangemedia.co)” through ChatGPT. He was trying to get it under the maximum word count. But also, in a way, he wanted to *remove* some of the humanity from it. “I wanted to make sure my emotions didn’t get in the way of what I was trying to say,” he said. But he, like several others we talked to, wondered if he should have divulged his use of AI to *The* *Spokesman*. “Would that be a place to say, ‘hey, I used AI writing this, and here's what I did?’” “We’re wrestling with this inside of our organization — how much are people using AI, and when is it important to disclose it?” he said. ### Like Humans Do Spokane psychiatrist Rebecca Burson has been thinking a lot about what it means to be human in the age of AI, about the kinds of connections and meaning that can’t be computer-generated. "I actually think that is the central question for the next decade," she told RANGE. She sat on a stool at The Grain Shed, as a live band played in the background, exactly the kind of art that she argues can’t be replaced by artificial intelligence. That’s why she wrote a *Spokesman* [op-ed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/23/rebecca-burson-ai-can-do-a-lot-what-it-cant-do-may/?ref=rangemedia.co) about the topic back in April. When RANGE told her that Pangram concluded that most of her editorial had been written with AI, she acknowledged she used it toward the end of the writing process. She talked about bouncing drafts back and forth between ChatGPT and Claude, about using the AI to refine her thoughts and make the writing faster. She said she didn’t want to look stupid. She felt AI could help her with the “syntax, pacing and word choice.” AI would help her say it better, more concisely. It helped her with what she called “the donkey work.” If it hadn’t been for AI, she said, it may have taken her five to seven hours longer — and that may have been the difference between publishing and not publishing. And yet, her husband felt the AI made the article worse. He knew what her writing was really like, she said, and felt the changes sucked away her voice. It’s exactly the kind of internal battle so many professionals are waging: what part of themselves will they give over to AI? Burson has her own hard lines, her own sacred spaces where she refuses to invite AI in. She would never want to recommend AI to help with mental health — she’s had too many patients who know parents who’ve lost their children to bots. She wouldn’t want to use AI to transcribe her sessions. "I feel like there's a sacred act, bearing witness to somebody's story,” Burson said. “To have AI be listening to that creeps me out." Maybe, if she could go back in time, and do the article all over again, she said, she wouldn’t have used AI. “If that was my artistic calling, I would want to only write for a place that wouldn't use AI,” she admitted. Still, she’s deeply proud of parts of what she did write. She said her yoga teacher sent her an email saying that one line in particular made her cry: a phrase about “durable tenderness that can hold pain without turning away.” The AI kept trying to get it to change it. But she held firm. The line was written by her, she said. A 100% human. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/100-Human-Contains-First-Issue.jpg) **Unlike all the columns we caught, this Daniel Walters original is 100% human written.* (Art by the RANGE Team.) \*CONTAINS ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS For more coverage of AI-generated content in your Spokane feeds, click the link below. [SLOP ME ](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients/) ### RANGE asked politicians questions — AI answered URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-politicians-use-ai/ Last updated: 2026-10-01T02:55:53.000Z 🤖 This story is the second in a series we're calling \*CONTAINS ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS. For more on the series, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients). Before the primary election in August, RANGE posed the candidates for the open seat in Washington’s Third Legislative District with a challenge: answer [these](https://www.rangemedia.co/12-questions-3rd-ld-elections-2026/) 12 questions, each with 200 words or less. The task was as much a test of work ethic as it was about policy: giving 12 thoughtful answers can take hours out of a candidate’s busy schedule. It was a preview for how much time they would take to address constituent concerns, for how responsive they would be to the press. To their credit, all four of the candidates filled out their responses, and even came in under word count. None of them had seen each other’s responses before submitting. And yet: many of their answers were strangely similar to each other. Not just the content, but the writing style. *"Washington’s tax system leans hardest on working people…"* Democratic candidate Luc Jasmin II began his answer on a question about the state's budget gap. *"Washington's tax system asks too much of working families…"* Democratic candidate Donovan DeLeon began in his answer. How do they feel about tax breaks for data centers? *“I would support rolling back tax preferences for large data centers,”* DeLeon wrote before citing concerns about energy and water consumption in his next sentence. “*I would roll back special tax exemptions for data centers,”* Republican candidate Natalie Poulson wrote, before citing concerns about energy and water consumption in her next sentence. If elected, would they use legislative privilege to dodge public records requests? *“No. I believe the public has a right to transparency and accountability from elected officials*,” Democratic candidate Pam Kohlmeier started, arguing that “may help regain the public's trust.” *“No. I believe government works best when it is transparent and accountable to the people it serves*,” DeLeon started, arguing that “strengthens public trust.” In theory, all these similarities could have just been a fascinating convergence of parallel thinking, a fluke amassment of four-way political cliché. But [Pangram](https://www.pangram.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), the best AI detection service on the market, offered another possibility: artificial intelligence. According to Pangram, Kohlmeier’s answers to our [questionnaire](https://www.rangemedia.co/12-questions-3rd-ld-elections-2026/) showed more than two-thirds of her answers exhibited heavy signs of AI-written prose — and Pangram concluded that the levels of AI use for the other three candidates in her race were even higher. Kohlmeier, for her part, acknowledged that she’d used ChatGPT at times when responding to RANGE’s questions, including revising some answers and by using the AI tool to look at the pros and cons for others. RANGE asked if she was aware of others using AI for campaigning. “Oh my god, yes,” Kohlmeier said. “Oh my.” This month, RANGE sent roughly a million words, including a slew of campaign statements, through Pangram. The results show that in the span of a little over two years, AI has begun to eat into our political rhetoric. It’s dominating campaign sites, seeping into candidate announcements and infecting social media. Pangram detected AI writing cropping up in other RANGE questionnaires for other candidates in other races, like Supreme Court Justice candidate Sharonda [Amamilo](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-supreme-court-candidates-questionnaire-election-2026/). Pangram concluded that Michael Cathcart [used](https://www.pangram.com/history/357e1f22-08bc-404e-8234-14cea70b5c0d?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) AI for about a third of the [text](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-auditor-questionnaire-election-2026/) he submitted, and that Callie Gee, his opponent, used AI for [all](https://www.pangram.com/history/6097fd09-a57d-4055-830b-1543e58f7c85?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) of hers. More limited signs of AI use were speckled throughout parts of answers from both 5th District Congressional candidate Carmela [Conroy](https://www.pangram.com/history/dc18bcff-87e8-4c18-ac55-2ea56de96465?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) and her opponent Michael [Baumgartner](https://www.pangram.com/history/6eee85ee-3f58-41d8-8f4e-04544d126f76?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co). And when we expanded the scope of our tests beyond the RANGE questionnaire, we found credible signs of AI-generated writing popping up everywhere: State Legislative District 6 candidate Isaiah Paine’s [op-ed](https://www.pangram.com/history/2e9a6a90-2e9a-425d-a41f-106fd61ab4a5?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) on fire recovery. [Two](https://www.pangram.com/history/46656d81-a98c-4220-8773-ca4873c2f65e?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) [columns](https://www.pangram.com/history/8af87ed1-3701-4423-b232-1b3ecd507267?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) from State Rep. Mike Volz. Select Facebook posts by 6th State Legislative District candidate Jonathan Bingle. [Half](https://www.pangram.com/history/0de1f57d-dcf4-4443-b641-0fd05bab6b84?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) of Cathcart’s fiery 10-page PDF blasting the Spokane County Republican Party’s [internal machinations](https://www.rangemedia.co/cathcart-whitaker-auditor-race-behind-the-scenes/). The vast majority of the [text](https://www.pangram.com/history/03747cb3-e5b0-4160-9391-2343635e2a76?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) of the Spokane County Republican Party’s [2026 resolutions](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-gop-deeply-divided/). Many, many, many campaign sites. Few politicians disclose using AI. But an increasing number are secretly using it. “This is a tool that is so powerful, and so tantalizing to use that there will be people who use it no matter what,” said Jack Gregory, a treasurer for multiple local Democratic campaigns. It’s a warning to every journalist willing to accept an email answer from a politician — it used to be that reporters didn’t know if it was a candidate responding in writing or a PR flack. Now, they don’t know if the response is even human. ### The Slippery Slop Slope As an AI detector, Pangram isn’t to be underestimated. When it comes to longer texts, the tool almost never mistakes fully human writing for AI writing. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect. It can’t tell whether a politician had the AI come up with the ideas or just significantly altered the style of the prose. Unsurprisingly, nobody told RANGE that they had AI do *all* their thinking for them. Plus, if a chunk of text is very, very short, then it can become vulnerable to being swung one way or another by small signals, including how the text is formatted. But RANGE didn’t just rely on a flag from a single questionnaire answer: Almost without fail, if Pangram flagged a candidate using AI in one place, we uncovered signs of them using it in plenty of others. Pangram didn’t just flag Amamilo, the supreme court candidate, as using AI in responding to RANGE’s questionnaire, it also concluded she’d used AI in answering questions from the [Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/voter-guides/contests/washington-supreme-court-5-2026-primary/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Sharonda%5FAmamilo?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Northwest Progressives](https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/07/meet-the-2026-candidates-for-the-washington-supreme-court-position-5-sharonda-amamilo.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Or check her LinkedIn: scroll past her Pangram-flagged LinkedIn post about the Johnny Cash museum “reinforced an enduring lesson: justice is strongest when responsibility is joined with humanity” and her Pangram-flagged Memorial Day message about freedom not being free, and eventually you’ll get to a post showing off her certification in ChatGPT training from Coursiv, a gamified app like Duolingo, but for AI. “I just completed the \*Introduction to AI Prompts\* training, and it was an incredible experience,” the February 2025 post read. She was endorsed by the *Seattle Times*, but was defeated in the primary. So far, AI writing hasn’t translated into obvious examples of persuasion. The people who used AI to help them write columns supporting a Liberty Lake town square [upgrade](https://www.pangram.com/history/c57d9850-24e3-4027-bc60-66b1643cf250?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), opposing the Spokane transit [levy](https://www.pangram.com/history/4d5b9cf6-fbc0-4964-b5d3-4fbfd00f4c58?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), and opposing a constitutional amendment [concerning](https://www.pangram.com/history/c57d9850-24e3-4027-bc60-66b1643cf250?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) long-term care funding all suffered defeat at the ballot box. Before being defeated by Jasmin and Poulson in the primary, DeLeon posted an illustration labeled “Artist’s Recreation of a Spokane Childhood” of a kid feeding garbage to the garbage-eating goat statue in Riverfront Park. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/In-Line-Art-Template-Story-De-Leon.jpg) **Fun new game: spot the AI hallucinations.* (Art by the RANGE team) Weirdness in the image abounded: The goat statue and the Clocktower are in the wrong locations, the stone backdrop where the real Garbage Goat stands has been removed, a fictional bridge has been inserted, and a beer can on the ground is covered in an unreadable alien script not associated with any known adult beverage brands. The artist wasn’t named. The artist didn’t exist. The OpenAI watermark shows that it was completely AI-generated. The artistic erasure was literal: DeLeon’s version removed the writing on the plaque crediting the sculpture to an actual human artist, Sister Paula Turnbull, replacing it with an inscription for the non-existent business, “Paper. Foundries Incorporated." Other times, the AI use is much more subtle. On Jasmin’s website, Pangram flagged the “In Luc’s Own Words,” section, ironically, as having a [significant amount](https://www.pangram.com/history/668dbbf8-a39d-4954-8d6f-355065f6e5b5?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) of AI-writing — though the tool’s confidence is more limited for shorter passages like those. “I would argue they are my words, if I’m the one feeding it,” Jasmin said of using AI writing assistance. In his view, improving the prose and checking for grammar was markedly different than simply saying, “Hey, write me this.” Yet it’s not clear how closely some candidates are even reading the text published under their own name. On one page of Poulson’s website, directly under her "plan for Washington State Representative," is a [paragraph](https://friendsofnatalie.com/post/Standing-against-agressive-taxes?ref=rangemedia.co) explaining that, "one of the most important aspects of starting a blog is establishing a connection with your potential customers." The paragraph appears to be left over from the default blog post template used by GoHighLevel, a Texas-based [AI-powered marketing firm](https://help.gohighlevel.com/support/solutions/articles/155000007201-create-blog-posts-with-ai?ref=rangemedia.co) — and it’s some of the only paragraphs on the page that Pangram *didn’t* conclude [showed](https://www.pangram.com/history/1da2e3bc-9a25-4004-ac5a-279d482b8c48?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) major signs of AI writing. Poulson said she hired someone to design her website, and didn’t think to ask him about using AI or not. But even though she told RANGE her campaign team made a decision not to use AI for their social media, Pangram flagged most of her posts on Facebook as [AI-generated](https://www.pangram.com/history/625e0042-8798-4076-bf94-8a9792321742?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co). Poulson said she uses ChatGPT for editing. “As a teacher, I’ve always ran everything I’ve ever written through someone,” she said. But for her 6th-grade students, she said, she has gone back to pencil and paper. “To get authentic answers I much prefer a journal and a pencil to a computer,” Poulson said. Whether you’re a student or a politician, the slope to slop is a slippery one. Gregory, the treasurer for several Democratic campaigns, was the campaign manager for Aaron Croft, a candidate who narrowly missed out on the top two spots in the primary against Bingle. At first, he said they just used Claude, an AI tool, to do some initial research, like combing through Bingle’s voting history. But when it came time to weigh in on issues that Croft was less familiar with, he said, they sometimes would use AI to whip up language that would connect with voters. "We knew what we wanted to say, but didn't want it to come across unprofessional," Gregory said. “What a lot of campaigns will do is they will take ideas that they want to bring to the general audience, and they will funnel it through AI.” Instead of paying $5,000 a month for some professional consultant, he said, the thinking goes, “why not just use Claude, which is like $20 a month, and get a very nice, well-refined message that connects with people much more than just some someone out in Seattle telling Spokaneites what they should think.” After all, the $5,000 a month consultant might be using ChatGPT to write the same thing anyway. Jeff Beaulac, a campaign consultant in Pierce County, said that some of the newer consultant firms appear to be using programs like ChatGPT to design campaign literature and websites "and as far as I know they aren't telling the candidate." Sometimes the candidates are the last to know. Kaylee Peterson, a perennial Democratic candidate for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, was concerned with the way that artificial intelligence is distorting the way that people process information. “Generations now, they're working longer than ever. They have less time. And so AI is such an easy resource to turn to,” she told RANGE. “But the fact is, it's not looking to be accurate... it's looking to confirm whoever it’s talking to.” If there’s anyone who doesn’t need AI to write, it’s Peterson. When it comes to persuasive rhetoric, she’s an old pro. She was managing a state representative campaign when she was 19, and has nine national titles in college speech and debate. And yet: Peterson’s [column](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/06/kaylee-peterson-when-the-wind-picks-up-what-decade/?fbclid=IwY2xjawUgYixwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVZ1SjRQZlZkNXd5QzNzRzhzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeUa8D05FjABlNZjhuyGpxfOGxdmcYPko91QYYPyUW%5F%5Fka9alTVyxd7wcnqbc%5Faem%5FtvFyK0oh5EaDwpUc0KlkYQ&ref=rangemedia.co) in the *Spokesman-Review* about the impact of firefighter staffing shortages was flagged as [fully ridden](https://www.pangram.com/history/222b4b0f-a08b-425a-b380-7bada70b2364?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) with AI. Peterson said she wasn’t aware. But when she checked with her staff she learned that they’d indeed used AI to help write it. She’d sent them a trove of her thoughts on the matter, and they used the tool to boil those thoughts down, revise paragraphs, fix formatting and get it under the word count limit. When Reps. Volz and Suzanne Schmidt wrote a joint guest [column](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/08/mike-volz-and-suzanne-schmidt-washingtons-no-incom/?ref=rangemedia.co) for *The Spokesman* on taxes, they tapped their shared comms staffer to write it. Pangram determined it was filled with AI-generated writing. "If it looks like he used AI on it, he used AI on it,” Volz said. Conroy’s campaign said they were feeding questionnaire answers through artificial intelligence to help keep their answers consistent with a database of previous questionnaire answers, “Then, we update and adjust the answer to be more exact,” her campaign wrote in a statement. In a text conversation, Baumgartner said he doesn’t believe his team used AI when answering the RANGE questionnaire, but said his staff sometimes [uses](https://www.pangram.com/history/7635da1e-494a-44d1-88b5-0b038bdc5de1?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) AI for editing to hit word count requirements for [newspaper op-eds](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/05/michael-baumgartner-america-can-win-the-ai-race-wi/?ref=rangemedia.co). He said his team responded to “something like 200,000 emails” last year and doesn’t know if they use AI in those responses. “I usually just give a high-level gist of an answer and leave them to it,” Baumgartner said. Maybe, Baumgartner muses in a text conversation, he should use AI to help write the book on “Insurgent Warfare & Football Strategy,” the class he used to teach at Washington State University with former WSU Football Coach Mike Leach. After all, ghost writers are nothing new. Statements from candidates are frequently written by their staff, not the candidates themselves. Political rhetoric gets massaged, focus-grouped and poll-tested, often in an effort to make it seem more “authentic.” But to some politicians, like Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon, that trend isn’t necessarily good either. “I think the heavier emphasis on communication staffing in politics has led to more spin and less authenticity, where there's more barriers between you and an elected,” Dillon said, “and that does not portend well for democracy.” And AI, he feels, just further puts more distance between the politicians and the constituents they are supposed to serve. ### Chat, find my conscience After Pangram caught Bingle [using AI](https://www.pangram.com/history/414e424f-4890-4699-b9e2-bd27af4d2228?utm%5Fsource=chrome%5Fextension&utm%5Fmedium=extension&utm%5Fcampaign=extension%5Fshare) to help write a [statement](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/statements/2025/07/02/statement-from-council-member-jonathan-bingle/?ref=rangemedia.co) last year condemning the city council’s watered down anti-camping ordinance, Bingle told RANGE he used tools like ChatGPT and "probably Grok at some point" for debate prep and for editing his writing. As an example of how he used AI, he texted RANGE a screenshot of a short Facebook [post](https://www.facebook.com/JonathanBinglePolitical/posts/pfbid02jPPuwPhnseJxZALZzXjQ8G9gSW4Gj1aD6mGtgmRPthq41HPxifjH7YhgJUBGBE8Kl?%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZgFeYGHQaJebqWYS7nN8vIyFrRrwnUUx4nAT%5F13x1w%5FbXqjV5jcDoy9MlYPU4UYrEZv3fNVmi04kp5KxnF%5FvmbmfHQ8bOizcDnOVValJ41I-yAqckS4VbXjS7s7JPN0pgB0vL3EDm0c-AQNXPTvALmcfTAJKhxgGUTBzBMb3REuNNz2oZzV-BPgH4w&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) about his response to the news of a man being shot by a school resource officer outside of Evergreen Middle School. “My ideas — or my exact words — placed into a format that is grammatically accurate and flows well,” Bingle wrote. Yet Pangram flagged his [post](https://www.pangram.com/history/66461ffa-4910-46e4-9801-7cb73ac6cb74?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) as AI writing. There was a way, of course, to directly prove to RANGE that the words were mostly his. Would he be willing to show us the prompt he used, to see how much of the response was his to begin with? Bingle half-dodged our request with a joke. “Chat: How do I say ‘no,’ nicely to a reporter’s question?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/DUPLIC.jpg) **Chat, write me a rejection text.* (Art by the RANGE Team) But a few days after that, Bingle called back. He wanted to discuss the thornier ethical aspects of the question. Should AI use be disclosed? Was it no different than using speechwriters or comms staffers? He said he hasn’t come to any firm conclusions yet, but cited Bible passages supporting both points of view. “There will probably be more as I meditate on this that will pop into my mind,” Bingle said. There are few rules against candidates using AI — at least few that are enforced. In Washington state, candidates are forced to disclose if they’ve used AI to create realistic but fake images of their opponents in political ads. But there are no such requirements, of course, for AI-generated text. OpenAI technically [forbids](https://www.whro.org/2024-01-19/politicians-lobbyists-are-banned-from-using-chatgpt-for-official-campaign-business?ref=rangemedia.co) campaigns from using ChatGPT for political campaigning, yet public elections data shows that multiple campaigns, including U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s re-election campaign, are on record as paying an OpenAI subscription. But the ethics of AI writing are still a muddy area. “I don’t think we’ve had that discussion as a community. I think that is a good conversation,” said Jasmin. “Maybe I do need to re-look at where I’m at. We should always be trying to improve and learn more.” To Rep. Volz, who submitted two *Spokesman* columns with AI prose, there’s a significant difference between using AI to suggest you have knowledge you don’t have — “using AI to create me an image that I’m an expert on brain surgery” — versus giving AI “my thoughts and knowledge to help clean it up.” Kohlmeier said she draws a hard line: no using AI for image generation. Creating AI art is far more energy-intensive, she said, and she wants to be a good steward of resources. “My take is we should limit the use of AI as much as possible when we’re trying to speak authentically,” Kohlmeier said. It’s not as if politicians were always transparent before the advent of AI, local journalism professor and longtime politics reporter Kip Hill pointed out. “Maybe it's the journalist in me that's always skeptical about ‘What are you trying to sell me?’” Hill said. “Whether it's a person or a machine selling me something, I'm still getting sold to.” ### Prompt Justice For some electeds, the stakes of using AI in their work are a lot more serious than just maintaining authenticity. “If I was elected,” Danny Tarkenton, the independent candidate for Spokane County Prosecutor, said to RANGE. “I would have a no-AI policy.” Setting aside the environmental issues, she sees big problems with the risk of “hallucinations” in legal filings — instances where AI [cites](https://www.msba.org/site/site/content/News-and-Publications/News/General-News/Massachusetts%5FLawyer-Sanctioned%5Ffor%5FAI%5FGenerated-Fictitious%5FCases.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) completely non-existent caselaw. Even entering confidential information into an app that sucks up user data can create huge problems. It’s one area where she’s similar to her opponent, sitting prosecutor Preston McCollam. Last September McCollam signed a policy banning Spokane prosecuting attorneys in his office from using AI tools to draft court filings, communicate with clients or review privileged communications. But there’s another similarity between the two: the writing style throughout much of their websites. “She doesn't just say she can manage an office,” the Danny For Prosecutor [website](https://prestonforprosecutor.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) says. “Her record shows it.” “The goal is not simply to manage the Prosecutor’s Office,” the Preston For Prosecutor [website](https://www.dannyforprosecutor.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) says. “It is to leave it stronger than he found it.” “Experienced. Accountable. Committed,” McCollum’s site says. “Adaptive. Proactive. Never Just Reactive,” Tarkenton's site says. Pangram flagged much of the writing on [both](https://www.pangram.com/history/f81333fb-d748-420f-a4f3-92e5725d1170?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) [sites](https://www.pangram.com/history/15aaeb7f-f049-46e5-a6b3-7c13f75be2e1?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) as AI-generated. Tarkenton pushed back hard against this. While she acknowledged that she’d used Grammarly to suggest minor edits, such as making the text more concise and converting some sentences to active voice, she said she didn’t do any more than that. She said she worked hours on the writing, trying to make it formal and straight-to-the-point. Notably, Pangram labeled most of the passages directly adapted from her military documents a decade ago as only edited lightly by AI, if at all. But it flagged [much of the rest of the page](https://www.pangram.com/history/33f5ce15-4232-4d66-ac8d-ea9be6ebe018?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) — with sentences like, “that's not leadership on paper. That's a track record of doing the job” — as AI-generated writing. That’s not AI, Tarkenton insisted. That’s just her style of writing. But RANGE ran the same page through four other AI detectors, and they all concluded that it was [mostly AI](https://app.gowinston.ai/share/01a0d4e6-9597-71c4-abe0-c508b680bf33?ref=rangemedia.co). For his site, McCollam didn’t deny it. In a statement, he wrote that he’d hired a firm to upgrade his website after the primary, and acknowledged that AI “was used to help proofread, refine, and condense language and content.” He opposes using AI to *make decisions.* He supports using it to become *more efficient*. “In fact I know many of my campaign team and friends do so on a daily basis,” McCollam said. Both sites, notably, were developed in part by using Squarespace, one of many long-running web design platforms that have become increasingly infused with AI assistance. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/Dave-The-Marmot.jpg) **Squarespace hard at work building RANGE's shell candidate "Dave the Marmot," a website.* (Art by the RANGE Team) Use Squarespace to start a new site, and the Squarespace AI Website Builder practically begs you to let it assist it with writing the web copy. It asks you to select the tone of your website’s writing, such as “Professional (Authoritative. Credible. Polished.)” “Playful (Fun. Light-hearted. Engaging.)” or “Innovative (Forward-thinking. Visionary. Pioneering.”) Then, for every text block, Squarespace offers to spit out a paragraph or blurb about any topic you want, using your selected style. Too long and wordy? Just hit the “Simpler” or “Shorter” button and it revises in seconds. “Squarespace really pushes that it can build the entire thing for you,” said Beaulac, the consultant from Pierce County. “It offers to pretty much build the entire thing with AI.” Candidates have to make the intentional choice *not* to take the quick and easy path. Spokane Valley Council Member Al Merkel said he used CoPilot to make very minor edits to some of the Spokane GOP resolutions this year, but says he uses AI less than he used to. It couldn’t capture his voice. Still, he said he has no problem with people using AI. “It gives more people the ability to meaningfully participate,” Merkel wrote in a text. He named someone who he said would get up before council and offer “pure undistilled AI slop, but I’m sure they are better than what he could come up with on his own.” Even for critics, Merkel suggested, it’s reasonable to fight AI by embracing it — at least for a bit. “I think it's fair to be extremely concerned about the use of AI, but still use AI for things,” he said. “It's like if I go to war and the other guy says, 'Well, I object to rifles’ and throws his down. Good luck." Even if you refuse to use AI, AI is already changing you. What we read seeps into what we write and how we speak. The more AI infects the writing we consume, the more it will subconsciously invade how we write: That’s not a prediction — that’s what’s already happening. And if that continues, the trend will be nearly impossible to escape. Shortly before sending his statement about his AI use to RANGE, McCollam finished a bowl of pho at a local restaurant and cracked open a fortune cookie. “AI is everywhere," the slip of paper said. "Yes, even inside your fortune cookie." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/Politics-end.jpg) **My fellow Americans, let me be clear: This AI-in-politics story was written by a human.* (Illustration by RANGE) \*CONTAINS ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS For more coverage of AI-generated content in your Spokane feeds, click the link below. [SLOP ME ](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients/) ### Why we sicced the world’s best AI detection tool on Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ai-investigation-methodology/ Last updated: 2026-09-29T23:46:45.000Z 🤖 This column explains the series we're calling \*CONTAINS ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS. For more on the series, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients). We’re already waist-deep in slop, but the garbage water just keeps rising. Human writing is, possibly for the first time in more than 5,000 years, facing a genuine threat. In less than a half-decade, generative AI has brought a Gutenberg-sized blow to the way that people write, read and even talk. Distinct voices are merging together into a kind of gray slurry: plodding and stodgy, phony and desperate. Universal ethical standards have yet to be settled. In the classroom or a newsroom, undisclosed AI writing might result in a flunking or a firing. In the boardroom, *failure* to use AI in your writing could get you in trouble. Hypocrisy abounds. Some who once righteously decried plagiarism now happily take credit for words they never wrote. Professors who punish students for cheating with AI writing now quietly submit op-eds using AI. Generative AI hit the mainstream over three years ago, but it’s just in the past year that the amount of AI-generated writing on some areas of the internet risks [surpassing the amount](https://www.pangram.com/blog/ai-press-releases?ref=rangemedia.co) written by humans. It’s not that people necessarily *want* to read AI writing: In one recent [survey](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/what-does-public-six-countries-think-generative-ai-news?ref=rangemedia.co) across six countries, only about a third of respondents said they’d be okay with AI-written newspaper articles. The trouble is, few people actually come straight out and admit that they’re using AI as a ghost writer or co-author. Enter Pangram: marketed as the best AI detector on the market. Pangram goes much deeper than counting an overuse of em-dashes or “it's not x, it's y” constructions. By ferreting out a whole myriad of subtle AI tells with style, word choice and formatting, it can tell the difference between the words of a human and AI writing. To really understand the ethics of AI writing, we had to understand how it was being used — and how pervasive it had become. So we put Spokane to the test: shoveling roughly a million words of op-eds, newspaper articles, campaign questionnaires and press releases into Pangram’s maw. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/PANGRAM-COLUMN-ART-1.jpg) **A very artistic rendition of our interactions with Pangram.* (Art by Daniel Walters) The results were startling. To start with: Pangram suggested that half of the *Spokesman-Review* guest columns in the past two months were infested with AI writing. It also revealed multiple political candidates appeared to have sent a slew of AI-assisted answers into a RANGE questionnaire — and even more were publishing AI-written paragraphs on their campaign websites. And that’s just the tip of a truly titanic iceberg. But whether that means anything, of course, depends on whether Pangram actually works. The company talks a big game. Pangram has long claimed that they mistake fully human work for AI once in every 10,000 documents. With their latest model, they upped that number to one in 24,000\. Independent research [backed up their claims](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/09/college-professors-ai-detectors-pangram/688727/?ref=rangemedia.co): A 2025 University of Chicago [study](https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/BFI%5FWP%5F2025-116.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), for example, found its accuracy was nearly perfect. Another found it was 97.5% accurate at detecting AI-written essays, with [zero false positives](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40979-026-00226-w?ref=rangemedia.co). In *The Atlantic,* a biology professor said that after he used Pangram to catch 60 AI-written student papers, every student but one eventually admitted to using AI. Most of the people RANGE contacted about Pangram flagging their AI use claimed they only used it for minor edits. We’re skeptical. In our experience, Pangram typically *doesn’t* label a light AI copy edit as AI at all. We tested the tool ourselves. We fed it plenty of our own writing — filled with exactly the kind of overreliance on em-dashes that might trip overly sensitive AI detectors — and we repeatedly came up as human. (For the record, our editors have accused us of overusing em-dashes long before AI was invented). At one moment, a piece by Aaron Hedge on the Spokane Police Department wearing masks set off Pangram’s AI alarm bells — but explicitly only the section that embedded an email from Kevin Hall, Spokane’s police chief. We then took a few pieces, like a column from RANGE columnist Lauren Pangborn, a recent investigation by Erin Sellers and a 2009-era Daniel Walters rough draft for the *Inlander’s* College Guide, and gave them AI surgery to see what happened to their Pangram ratings when we let AI mess with them. But the mild AI revisions, like fixing typos, cutting a few hundred words, or even light rewrites, only budged the detected AI percentage slightly. In some cases, it accurately concluded that part of the document was AI *edited*, but not “AI *generated*.” When we straight-up inserted several-hundred-word AI-written chunks into an article, it flagged the bulk of those chunks as written by AI, but decided the rest of the story was human-written. Finally, we asked ChatGPT to clean up and complete a messy, half-written version of this intro. It doubled the length, reorganized, rewrote numerous sentences, and added awful passages like “Pangram isn't detecting a magical substance called AI. It is detecting patterns." But even *then* Pangram only concluded that 60% of ChatGPT’s version of this piece was AI written. In order to get to a rating of 100% AI-generated writing, in other words, it’s likely that authors would have had to *start* with an AI-written draft or let AI do truly radical revisions to remove the humanity. "Many people who use AI to write … are utterly self-deluded about how much of the work is due to them, and how much to AI," Seth Lazar, leader of the Machine Intelligence and Normative Theory Lab at Johns Hopkins University, wrote [recently](https://x.com/sethlazar/status/2096989632558735816?ref=rangemedia.co) on social media. Pangram’s founder is confident enough in his product that he sometimes offers a bounty for false positives: if you can prove you did NOT use AI when Pangram says you did, he’ll pay you $100\. Now, we here at RANGE are [canonically opposed](https://www.rangemedia.co/outside-the-spokane-gop-convention/) to paying $100 if we don’t have to. But if you can prove you used no artificial intelligence for something we reported that Pangram flagged as fully AI-generated, Daniel Walters or Erin Sellers will give you something even more rare and precious: a written apology from a journalist (and an update to the story). So go ahead, show us your Google Docs version history. We promise to write our apology ourselves. No slop. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/tiny-robot.png) \* **One significant caveat**: Pangram relies a lot on the surrounding context, so it’s less reliable when it comes to short passages. If the passage is too short, you can occasionally get very strange results, where slight shifts in formatting, punctuation and even line breaks can spark inaccuracies. For example, if you check *exactly* the first two paragraphs — not [one](https://www.pangram.com/history/c57264b4-2a21-4601-959e-4d3ef39ff582?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co), not [three](https://www.pangram.com/history/7cbd5c89-2ed0-4269-983f-ab8d4f1ed257?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) — of *A Tale of Two Cities,* Pangram will incorrectly flag it as [*partly*](https://www.pangram.com/history/7891de32-ad5b-4593-88e0-8bed5a2717ac?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co)AI generated, but *only* if the text doesn’t include [spaces](https://www.pangram.com/history/1e67c3e6-58fc-485e-9e4f-99cd0eed8333?ucc=u6DCZbIkU1N&ref=rangemedia.co) between the em-dash. This kind of thing is rare, but it meant that we sought to test longer passages and, ideally, multiple passages from the same author, before jumping to any conclusions. \*CONTAINS ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS For more coverage of AI-generated content in your Spokane feeds, click the link below. [SLOP ME ](https://www.rangemedia.co/contains-artificial-ingredients/) ### Spokane city may join county in adding new law enforcement tax URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-may-join-county-in-adding-new-law-enforcement-tax/ Last updated: 2026-09-28T20:18:22.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - We’re still two weeks out from this vote, but the Spokane City Council is taking public comment on their plan to adopt a 0.1% public safety sales tax, as approved by the state, to “establish a Community Safety Campus” and more. - At Wednesday’s meeting, the Spokane City Council could vote to pass more emergency fire relief, and contracts to extend and expand sheltering and navigation center services through Jewels Helping Hands. - The Spokane Valley City Council will field a presentation by the city’s planning staff on a number of housing requirements mandated by revisions to state laws governing how local communities develop. - The Mead School Board will be considering a revision to its Transition to Kindergarten policy that would allow them to charge tuition or enrollment fees for its pre-K program. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Every Tuesday, the council meets to finalize the Wednesday agenda, which now includes items that won’t be up for a vote for the next two weeks, giving you more of a chance to comment on things before they’re up for a vote. Up for a vote next week: - An emergency ordinance to create a Temporary Disaster Housing Program for residents displaced by emergencies like wildfires or other natural disasters. - A contract amendment to spend an additional $100,000 on legal services to fight a lawsuit from the estate of Joshua Musselman, who was [shot and killed](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/) by the police in 2024\. If passed, this would bring the total spent fighting the suit to $250,000. - A resolution allowing the administration to enter into an up to $1 million contract with Catholic Charities and Jewels Helping Hands to operate shelter beds during inclement weather conditions. This will be paid for with 1590 funds. Details on the shelter beds can be found [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-hearing-alert-its-time-to-give-your-input-on-data-centers/). Up for a vote in two weeks: - A resolution to approve allocating unspent ARPA dollars to backfilling police and fire overtime costs - A resolution to support the Department of Natural Resources land exchange of the [Thorpe property](https://www.rangemedia.co/thorpe-parcel/) - An ordinance to penalize “nuisance properties” - A slate of ordinances to approve rate increases for waste- and storm-water services - An ordinance to establish equitable budgeting practices - An ordinance to implement an additional 0.1% sales tax through the state Public Safety Funding program. Money collected would go to “establish a Community Safety Campus, further integrate behavior health into public safety systems and improve emergency preparedness.” This is a separate sales tax from the one the Spokane County Commission is [considering](https://www.rangemedia.co/possible-new-sales-tax-for-county-law-enforcement/) for county law enforcement costs. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/review-agendas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 29 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Cars for cops, cash for cop cars After a deferral, the council could give the police permission to buy 18 cop cars (or rather, police vehicles, but aren’t all cars owned by the cops “cop cars?”) with a Spokane Investment Pool loan of about $1.5 million. The council asked the cops to buy hybrid vehicles when possible, and to get additional approval before each actual purchase. ### A helping hand A slate of contract amendments could officially add Jewels Helping Hands’ Aurora Shelter for LGBTQ+ people as a scattered homeless shelter site, extend the operating hours of the navigation center and add funding for a to-go meal service. It would also extend the contract term for the navigation center by three months, which is currently due to expire at the end of March, giving the city until the end of June to find new funding. ### Federal homelessness funding The city could vote to accept over $4 million in federal housing grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. There’s a lot of complicated acronyms in the breakdowns for how the money is getting divvied up, but the lion’s share is headed to the city’s [Community Development Block Grant program](https://my.spokanecity.org/chhs/programs/?ref=rangemedia.co). That program has three goals aligned with national objectives, “1) benefiting low and moderate-income persons (earning less than 80% area median income). Other ways to qualify projects include 2) activities which aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight and 3) activities designed to meet community development needs having particular urgency.” ### Commercial conversion The council could approve a conditional commercial building conversion contract with Nodo Spokane LLC to create 25 residential units on the property at 126 W Sinto Ave in the Emerson/Garfield neighborhood. At least 10% of these units, which comes out to 2.5 units, will be kept at affordable housing rates for at least 10 years after construction. ### Emergency fire relief (again) The council could pass an ordinance that would add flexibility into strict regulatory requirements to make rebuilding after the Spokane Complex fires easier. It would give the city’s planning director the authority to quickly approve residential rebuilds that are like the structures that burned down. It would also allow people to place an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) on properties that have no houses. Traditionally, ADUs are only permitted as additions to properties that have a primary structure — think putting a small mother-in-law suite in the backyard of a house. However, for some in the neighborhoods impacted by the fires, the primary structure was destroyed by fire. This would allow people to throw up an ADU structure to live in while undertaking the longer process of rebuilding the main dwelling. Finally, the ordinance would also exempt rebuilds from the general facilities charge, if they use the same water meter service size that they had before the fires. The council will also vote on an ordinance to extend permit fee deferrals for fire-related rebuilds. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 30 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, October 1 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 28 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### More than $1M in TIF/LIFT reimbursements for street improvements The county is on the hook to reimburse a private trailbuilding company, River Crossing, LLC, for $697,817.36 in improvements to the parking area at the Harvard Road Trailhead in Liberty Lake, which allows recreationists access to the natural areas near the Spokane River. The improvements created new accessibility for people with disabilities. Of that money, $488,472.17 would come from the state’s Local Infrastructure Financing Tool, which is a sales tax fund, and $209,345.21 from a Tax Increment Financing District, which is a public fund that encourages developers to build public amenities. Additionally, the same company is looking to recoup $321,899.11 from the same funds for street and water improvements along Indiana Avenue. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 29 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Board appointment The BOCC is set to appoint Bill Conley and Paul Weller to the Spokane County Water Conservancy Board. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 29 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Comp plan workshop The commission will host a workshop on the 20-year plan to develop the county. This conversation will not revolve around data centers, but the body will hold a public forum specifically on data centers on October 15. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 1 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Fees and tuition for transition to kinder program? The board will have a first reading of its revised Transition to Kindergarten Program policy. Some of the changes include removal of language that prevents the district from charging tuition or fees for enrollment from “state-funded eligible students,” according to the revised policy document. Instead, the revised policy states that the district could charge enrollment fees on a sliding scale except for students with disabilities and students who are eligible but haven’t placed in Head Start or the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 28 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 28 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Absorbing new state housing development regs City staff will present the council with information on new state housing development regulations that require local governments to incorporate specific kinds of housing into their zoning schedules. The changes are supposed to be part of governments’ comprehensive plans, the rules that govern the long-term development of communities. The new rules explicitly allow homeowners to build smaller dwellings on their properties in addition to larger single family homes, create new housing space in existing buildings, transitional housing in areas zoned for residential and hotel purposes, among many other allowances. Read more about those allowances and when they’ll be implemented in Spokane Valley [here](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=1680&meta%5Fid=110864&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 29 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Spokane-area data center proposals, explained URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-area-data-center-proposals-explained/ Last updated: 2026-09-26T14:43:06.000Z The debate over data centers in Spokane County [has heated up](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/) like an overloaded digital server rack buzzing — not with electricity, but with information and angst. Activists have been frantically gathering and analyzing that information, but it’s a lot for the average person to handle at one time. Storylines around several data center proposals are developing on social media seemingly at the same rate as the very technology that uses the data centers, which process and store every command we send into the internet. During the last three decades, eight data centers appeared in the Spokane area: small facilities that rent server space to businesses to store their information. But that small footprint might soon change. As officials in Spokane County and its municipalities are trying to figure out how they might regulate the energy-intensive facilities, some leaders are trying to attract data center developers here — and the proposals are orders of magnitude larger than the existing data centers. The largest existing facility in the county is a TierPoint data center in Liberty Lake that occupies 32,000 square feet, whereas the largest proposed new facility could be millions of square feet and consume as much energy as all of Spokane County. New records about the proposals are being revealed almost every day. City and county planning officials are drafting zoning regulations that could shape data center development in the region for the next decade. The political lines are shifting, as county commissioners consider their legacies during an election year. It’s a fast-moving story that’s unlikely to end even when local bans on data center approvals expire before the end of the year. So we wanted to create a digest of all the most important dynamics you need to understand about data centers, the developers who are looking to site their next projects in Spokane County, the politicians working with those companies and the activists fighting them. ### The pauses Both the City of Spokane and Spokane County have followed the lead of governments across the country by implementing pauses — [one year](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2026/06/23/spokane-city-council-passes-one-year-moratorium-on-data-centers/?ref=rangemedia.co) for the city and [four months](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-four-month-moratorium-data-center/) for the county — on approvals for new data center permits. The purpose is to give the governments breathing room to develop responsible rules for new data centers in each jurisdiction. The city’s moratorium took effect June 22 and will expire in June 2027; the county’s “pause” — which does the same legal task as a moratorium — was approved on August 18 and will expire December 15. The pause is a particularly touchy topic at the county level. Initially, commissioners Amber Waldref and Chris Jordan in July proposed a nine-month moratorium but were overruled by the conservative majority, which wanted instead to enshrine a slate of hastily compiled zoning restrictions without any weigh-in from constituents. Commissioners Al French, Josh Kerns and Mary Brooks were initially against any moratorium. Those conversations took place on July 21, just before the commission took a few weeks off from meetings. What they came back to on August 11 was a cacophony of activist voices demanding transparency from French about his [conversations](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) with data center developers and a proposal from county staff to halt data center approvals until December 15\. That pause would give planning officials time to come up with a zoning schedule for data centers and other energy-intensive developments. French noted that it was his job as a commissioner to encourage economic development and asserted a data center would provide sustainable jobs to the area, a common industry talking point that is [probably exaggerated](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-evidence-on-data-center-employment-effects/?ref=rangemedia.co), and boost local tax revenues. Still, he supported the pause. Jordan and Waldref each called for a longer pause, and Waldref noted that it can be extended. Kerns, who initially said the commission should move at the “speed of business” rather than government, told RANGE in a recent interview that he will vote to extend the pause if he is not satisfied with the zoning proposal by December 15\. Kerns is the only conservative on the commission who will likely run for reelection. ### How many and where? As news organizations in Spokane have been reporting for months, the current local conversation around data centers was initiated by a [legislative proposal](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/09/washington-lawmakers-consider-tax-break-for-two-da/?ref=rangemedia.co) by Representative Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane) to exempt new data centers in Spokane County from property taxes. It was designed to bring the county in line with King, Pierce and Snohomish counties and other counties inhabited by fewer than 800,000 people where large data centers were already exempted. French effusively supported that proposal in congressional hearings and in [a letter](https://www.thefrenchfiles.com/records/email/5b00e9353b8632f0a987f2d8?returnTo=%2F%23search-results&ref=rangemedia.co) to the legislature. He [offered](https://www.thefrenchfiles.com/records/email/085f6ab36c50946dc3a2fa26?ref=rangemedia.co) Sean Boyd, the CEO of a developer that wants to build a “hyperscale” data center on the West Plains, a chance to edit his letter before French sent it to the legislature on February 9. Though [no one knew](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) about French’s pre-publication-review offer, or his ongoing conversations with Boyd about building a data center in Spokane County, folks started wondering whether data center developers were eyeing the county. Their intuition was right. RANGE has found that various parties want to build at least four separate data centers in the county. At least two of those data centers would be so-called [“hyperscale” data centers](https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/hyperscale-data-center?ref=rangemedia.co) — the biggest facilities, which draw more than 100 megawatts of power and operate most often for massive tech companies like Microsoft, Meta and Amazon. Here they are: #### Apricus Energy Partners - Big Rock Data Center What we know: \- Company: [Apricus Energy Partners](https://www.apricusenergypartners.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- Type: hyperscale data center \- Location: potentially just west of the West Plains Park & Ride \- Acreage: 514 \- Electricity draw: 1,000 megawatts \- Water usage: between 250,000 and 1 million gallons per day This is the big one and the one we know the most about — but that second part is not by design. One reason we know what we know is because Spokanite Brittany Anderson dug up and published a tranche of documents showing French had been in conversations with Apricus’s Boyd about its proposed data center since at least August of 2024\. She and a group of fellow activists are constantly finding new information and updating two websites that serve as clearinghouses for their research, [nospokanedatacenter.com](http://nospokanedatacenter.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [thefrenchfiles.com](http://thefrenchfiles.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). Apricus Energy Partners, the company Boyd leads wants to build a hydrogen fuel plant on the West Plains, but funding for such projects is difficult to come by. To finance the plant, it wants to also build a lucrative data center called the Big Rock Data Center. But even as a project that seems somewhat ancillary to another, this data center would be a massive facility. Early documents uncovered by activists describe a 514-acre site for a data center that would eventually draw 1,000 megawatts — nearly as much as the rest of the county combined and 10-fold the size of a facility that would qualify as a hyperscale data center. Under initial proposals, its power usage would ramp up from 200 megawatts in 2027 to the full 1,000 after several years. Spokane County’s largest energy provider, Avista Corp., did a feasibility study for the proposed data center that found the utility would not be able to provide that much juice through existing infrastructure or planned expansion projects. This probably means Apricus would need to build its own new power infrastructure. A site where it may be located is at the address 11703 Medical Lake Road, which is located just west of the West Plains Park & Ride and sits directly atop a so-called “critical aquifer recharge area” and neighboring several residential properties, according to a [county map](https://docaccess.com/docviewer.html?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spokanecounty.gov%2FDocumentCenter%2FView%2F106&url%5Fhash=66b70c1d44079b6423b727b4453218aa4db0d54a646ab596f847a958c0829bfe&domain=spokanecounty.gov&site=77c5ed44-107e-459a-93fb-649b1aa308a6&found%5Fon=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spokanecounty.gov%2F5177%2FMaps&ref=rangemedia.co). (More on that in our section on proposed zoning regulations.) This project would be the first development Apricus has apparently overseen anywhere. Apricus has not filed an application to build a data center. It’s not clear how Apricus would finance such a large project. Investors are a hard sell on hyperscale data center financing unless a project has backing from a top-tier tech giant like Apple or Meta. The company has not applied for building permits. #### Avista’s mysterious ‘large-load’ customer What we know: \- Company: unknown \- Type: hyperscale data center \- Location: Possible northwest of Spokane proper near the old Kaiser aluminum mill \- Acreage: 203 \- Electricity draw: 500 megawatts \- Water usage: unknown On its first quarterly earnings call this spring, officials at [Avista told](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/) investors that it was talking to a data center developer to build a large data center near Spokane. Though only about half the size of the Apricus proposal, this 500-megawatt proposal would consume about two-thirds of the entire amount of power all of Spokane County uses at a given moment. City officials confirmed one potential site for this project would have been near the old Kaiser aluminum mill in Mead at a property commercial real estate company Daines Capital [had listed](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/#:~:text=A%20screenshot%20of%20the%20first%20page%20of%20the%20Daines%20Capital%20PDF.) as a “Heavy Industrial/Data Center Site.” But even though it was clear to investors about the nature of its potential customer, Avista did not tell ratepayers what it was doing until nearly a week after *The Spokesman-Review* [revealed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/03/avista-working-with-developer-to-provide-massive-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) in early June it had been in talks with what it was calling a “large-load” customer for the data center project. After protesters began showing up to the utility’s headquarters every Friday morning, [Avista paused](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/12/avista-puts-data-center-negotiations-on-pause/?ref=rangemedia.co) negotiations with its customer. This chain of events convinced the Spokane City Council to implement its moratorium. The identity of the customer has never been revealed. #### Tech hub What we know: \- Company: unknown \- Type: data center of unspecified size \- Location: unknown \- Acreage: unknown \- Electricity draw: unknown \- Water usage: unknown Much less is known about this potential data center than the previous two. The Spokane Aerospace Tech Hub, also known as the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center, is a heavily subsidized consortium of more than 50 companies that are developing and want to manufacture increasingly state-of-the-art airplane technology. The partners include a who’s who of defense contractors and tech behemoths — Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Blue Origin — that have linked arms with local governments, colleges and universities, labor unions and federal agencies to advance aerospace technology. It is headquartered in Airway Heights. When the Spokane City Council was getting ready to vote on its data center moratorium in June, Council Member Zack Zappone worried that the move would affect the tech hub because the project wanted to lease some of its land to a data center developer. Those comments are some of the sole public references to a data center at the tech hub, and it’s not clear where such a data center might be built or how big it would be. #### Sovereign Data Center What we know: \- Company: [Sovereign Data Centers](https://www.sovereigndatacenters.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) \- Type: data center of unspecified size \- Location: unknown \- Acreage: unknown \- Electricity draw: unknown \- Water usage: unknown As it came to light that Avista Corp. had been in talks with a data center developer, a small group of local activists started scouring the internet for information and dumping their findings into group chats. One stumbled across the website of a company called [Sovereign Data Centers](https://www.sovereigndatacenters.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), which listed several Native Tribes as partners in their project to bring data centers to Indigenous reservations. Partner #1: The Spokane Tribe of Indians. Shortly after a screenshot of that version of the website circulated in mass texts, the operator of the website removed its tribal partners. (See the screenshot below.) Sovereign Data Centers’ slogan reads: “Partnering with Tribes to invest in the future with high-density cloud compute & AI hyperscale infrastructure, built on sovereign land, powered by sustainable energy.” It says it wants to develop six total tribal data centers that would collectively use 17.5 gigawatts — equivalent to the amount consumed by 5.1 million American homes — by 2033, eventually bringing in $31.5 billion in revenue. But its website does not describe any active projects or past accomplishments. It has a contact email, but no one returned two requests for comment to confirm more detailed information. The Administrative Division of the Spokane Tribe did not return a request for comment. Like the tech hub data center, there is very little public information about this potential project. The website does not clarify where the data centers would be built. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/data-src-image-9cf8063f-fd97-4d3c-9226-ec75f1be8941.png) ### How large data centers may affect public health Data centers operate all the time, day and night, to meet the needs of proliferating internet, cloud storage and AI usage. Because they can never shut down, they never stop emitting noise or consuming electricity or water. If a power source fails, data centers use diesel and natural gas generators to fill the gap. They tend to occupy large campuses with little vegetation. That, combined with high levels of energy use, increases temperatures around them. Here is how existing data centers affect the health of surrounding communities: #### Air pollution The Massachusetts Institute of Technology [reported](https://news.mit.edu/2025/responding-to-generative-ai-climate-impact-0930?ref=rangemedia.co) last year that about 60% of new data center electricity consumption over the next decade will come from fossil fuels, including diesel and natural gas. This amount would be the equivalent of about 220 million gas-powered cars driving 5,000 miles. Apricus has already started sourcing natural gas generators for the facility it has proposed on the West Plains. Particulate matter from these generators has the potential to worsen respiratory problems for people who live near a facility. *The New York Times* [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/climate/ai-data-centers-air-pollution-health.html?ref=rangemedia.co) this month that emissions from data centers could contribute to 600,000 asthma cases by 2028\. #### Water pollution The latest data center technology is touted as protecting the environment from some of the toxic chemicals the facilities use and keep onsite. But across the country, data centers have been found to leak harmful chemicals into water supplies. As *The Guardian* [reported](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/08/us-datacenters-wastewater-pollution?ref=rangemedia.co) this month, data center developments have sucked water out of different systems, and when they discharge that water into the public sphere, it has been found to contain harmful bacteria, heavy metals, forever chemicals. Data center cycles also #### Noise & infrasound The use of electric and cooling equipment at data centers, coupled with the intermittent testing and use of the diesel generators, creates a constant low hum that over time can have significant health effects for people who live nearby. [This is different](https://www.stlpr.org/health-science-environment/2026-09-24/st-louis-scientist-data-center-noise-pollution?ref=rangemedia.co) from the normal traffic noise that can fluctuate with work schedules and doesn’t constantly harangue people who experience it. This constancy is thought to cause higher rates of stress, sleep disruption, high blood pressure and depression. Perhaps more insidious, infrasound is a kind of sound emitted by data centers that is not detectable by human ears. Because of its low frequency, below 20 hertz, it can travel long distances. But its quietness shouldn’t fool anyone: [infrasound can](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8411947/?ref=rangemedia.co) disrupt sleep, increase anxiety and cause fatigue and psychological distress, especially when experienced over prolonged periods of time. #### Heat Finally, data centers heat up an already warming world. A [recent study](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2603.20897?ref=rangemedia.co) by researchers at Cambridge University found that once operations start at data centers, the temperature in the surrounding areas increases by between 3.6 degrees and 16.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The researchers said this “urban heat island” effect is currently impacting hundreds of millions of people globally. ### What are the water sources and how are they threatened? Listening to conversations about water protection in Spokane County, one often hears the phrase “the aquifer.” An aquifer is essentially an underground river that filters itself through subterranean gravels, creating a cold and clean water source for people and societies to drill wells into. In Spokane County, “the aquifer” likely refers to the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, by far the biggest in the region. But there are other, separate aquifers to Spokane’s west that also need to be considered. Though no proposal has mentioned tapping directly into the local aquifers, data centers could use the aquifers to cool their equipment, which carries an environmental cost. Larger facilities can use anywhere between 300,000 to 5 million gallons each day. So how might that affect *our* local water supplies? #### SVRP aquifer Half a million people in Eastern Washington and many in North Idaho poke their straws into the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which flows through the porous cobble laid down by the Bretz Floods thousands of years ago and feeds the Spokane River. It’s an essential resource with many exploiters and a few vocal protectors, like the Riverkeeper and local governments that tax constituents in an “[aquifer protection district](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1530/Aquifer-Protection-Area?ref=rangemedia.co)” to pay for programs that preserve the health of the water source. It isn’t clear whether any proposed data center would be located over this aquifer. #### West Plains aquifers But there’s another and completely separate aquifer — really, a complex of aquifers — that flows under the West Plains and, until 2017, provided drinking water to municipal water users in Airway Heights. That year, the two airports in Airway Heights [discovered](https://www.rangemedia.co/poisoning-wells-pfas-west-plains-forever-chemicals-spokane-county/) they had contaminated these aquifers with fire-fighting foam containing “forever chemicals” that are linked to some deadly forms of cancer and other serious diseases, a saga people who use the aquifer for drinking water have been grappling with ever since. If Apricus were to build on the site currently identified on Medical Lake Road, it would sit right above the land where those aquifers are recharged by natural water cycles. This worries West Plains water activists. They say that because data centers use forever chemicals to cool their equipment, to fight fires and as an ingredient in their components, a new data center development could further endanger an already contaminated water source. West Plains aquifers do not benefit from an aquifer protection district like the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer does. The Apricus proposal says that it wants to use reclaimed water from Airway Heights and potable water from Spokane for coolant. ### What is being proposed in the zoning rules? What is not? When it established its pause on data center approvals, the commission tasked the county’s planning and legal staff to compile a proposed slate of zoning regulations that would restrict the ways data centers can impact the surrounding community. The department, working from a framework of existing regulations proposed by national organizations, is soliciting community feedback that will be incorporated into its proposal for the County Commission, Planning Director Scott Chesney told RANGE. According to a September 17 presentation Chesney gave to the Spokane County Planning Commission, which will give the official recommendations to the county commission, those community recommendations include requiring data center developers to: - Conduct water feasibility studies, follow restrictions on data center water use during droughts, limit normal water use and use systems that don’t leak contaminants into the environment - Not rely on public wastewater systems or groundwater or local water supplies for cooling resources, and remove any contaminants from used water before returning it to any ecosystem - Not use forever chemicals or other hazardous substances as coolant and test the groundwater for such pollutants - Maintain wildlife corridors and avoid (rather than fix) impacts on habitats - Use 100% renewable energy - Be the first line for power cuts in the case of electricity blackouts - Not locate a data center within five miles of a critical aquifer recharge area (this provision would effectively bar the Apricus project as proposed) - Follow a community benefit agreement These are only a few of the zoning proposals advanced through citizen feedback. You can watch Chesney’s full presentation (and get a little flavor of the anti-data center activism) [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8j5SLSItig&ref=rangemedia.co). ### How are the political lines shaping up around data centers? As pretty much every national news outlet has reported recently, data centers have become a clarion call in the run-up to the November 3 midterm elections, as candidates have staked out their ground on the controversial projects. Tech moguls suddenly [warned](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14dpgm0rg4o?ref=rangemedia.co) the public last week that the artificial intelligence that data centers power has the potential to kill off humanity within the decade. In the fallout, politicians who’ve supported data centers have tried to backtrack. Generally, conservatives who favor more freedom for developers to build seem slightly more in favor of data centers. One of the clearest calls to support data centers came from President Donald Trump, who in August [told opponents](https://abcnews.com/Politics/data-reign-trump-stands-firmly-controversial-data-centers/story?id=136092127&ref=rangemedia.co) of the facilities that “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.” But the centers have emerged as one of the few topics over which people across the political spectrum can agree. Candidates for office — mainly conservatives — [are disavowing](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/23/us/politics/data-centers-midterm-elections.html?ref=rangemedia.co) the facilities across the country after being criticized for cozying up to Big Tech. Locally, six of seven Spokane City Council members voted for the city moratorium, the county commission voted unanimously for its pause, and county Planning Director Scott Chesney told the commission about 90% of the thousands of citizen comments on data centers the department has recently received said, “Don’t do it.” Still, the issue carries nuance in conservative circles in Spokane County. While the county GOP approved a [resolution](https://spokanegop.com/hubfs/2026%20Caucus%20and%20Convention/Convention/Resolutions/Final%20Packages/2026%20Spokane%20County%20GOP%20Resolutions%5FAdopted%20Aug-22-2026.pdf?hsLang=en&ref=rangemedia.co) at its August convention calling for a moratorium of unspecified length, some of the most prominent Republicans representing our region at various levels of government seem to want to open the door — if a developer can commit to not harming the environment and not impacting electricity rates in the county. Meanwhile, a candidate for the seat Commissioner Mary Brooks will vacate in January is campaigning explicitly to exclude data centers from the county. Here is where they’ve stood: #### Michael Baumgartner As the US representative for the 5th District, Baumgartner [introduced](https://baumgartner.house.gov/2026/07/05/op-ed-america-can-win-the-ai-race-without-sending-the-bill-to-working-families/?ref=rangemedia.co) a data center bill that would require developers to foot the bill for their power footprints and not pass costs along to ratepayers, but he emphasizes that the US needs to stay ahead of China in the “AI race”. #### Al French Probably the most vocal advocate for data centers in Spokane County, the commissioner has been in talks for years with data center center developers — some of which he claims to have had already rejected — to bring a data center to the West Plains, which lay in his district. When Jordan and Waldref introduced their moratorium proposal to the commission, French suggested data center opponents are “anti-American.” After he was confronted at a later meeting by data center opponents who’d served in the military, he defended himself partly by saying it was part of his central duty as a commissioner to bring data centers into the county. “It’s what I do,” he said. French told newspapers during his 2024 reelection campaign that this will be his last term. #### Mary Brooks Brooks, who chairs the commission and is also retiring at the end of her term early next year, has been the most mercurial voice in the data center debate. She opposed Waldref’s and Jordan’s initial moratorium proposal, saying the term signals to developers that the county “is closed for business.” But she emphasized that the commission should move forward on data centers in a responsible way. #### Josh Kerns Commissioner Kerns, who entered the debate over regulating data centers by saying the commission should “move at the speed of business” rather than government, seems to have slowed down. As the only conservative on the commission who will seek reelection, he said he told RANGE he will vote to extend the county’s pause on data center approvals if he is not satisfied by the proposed zoning restrictions by December 15. #### The libs Commissioners Jordan and Waldref have both said they want a longer moratorium on data centers than the four months afforded by the one currently in place and have been vocal about the large volume of emails they get from constituents opposing data centers. #### Open seat When Brooks’s seat opens up, she will be replaced by one of two women: state Representative Suzanne Schmidt, R-Spokane Valley, who is leaving the legislature, or Rachelle Miller, an independent who won enough write-in votes in the primary to qualify her for the midterm ballot. Miller is primarily running in opposition to data centers and told RANGE she doesn’t think a new data center is appropriate for Spokane County. Schmidt, for her part, told RANGE she is open to data centers if they don’t harm ratepayers or the environment. \*\*\* **That’s it**, folks. We want this to be a living document we can add to. As this story develops, we’ll update to include new information. If you think we missed something, email us [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/about/#:~:text=Email%20us%C2%A0at%C2%A0team%40rangemedia.co). ### A new far-right church in Spokane, plus, a journey out of faith URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/a-new-far-right-church-in-spokane-plus-a-journey-out-of-faith/ Last updated: 2026-09-29T20:52:58.000Z RANGEr Aaron Hedge talks with Hayden Tank, host of the Bible Lore Podcast, about Zeal, a recently planted church in downtown Spokane that has caused some controversy for revoking the lease of a homeless outreach ministry, and for its anti-LGBT doctrinal positions. Then, Hayden talks about his own journey out of Evangelicalism and why he still loves the Bible. Read Aaron's reporting on Zeal here: [Prophecy, spiritual warfare and controversyZeal Church claims it is saving souls on the streets of downtown Spokane, but it kicked out a ministry that fed the unhoused and split with another that affirmed queer people. Who is this new church?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-f645b262-51ec-47d7-ab73-1020adcd93f9.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Jeremiah-Johnson-ef96b305-fa44-42c3-ac78-4d801de4f159.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/prophecy-spiritual-warfare-and-controversy/) And check out [The Bible Lore Podcast](https://patreon.com/biblelorepodcast?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Possible new sales tax for county law enforcement URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/possible-new-sales-tax-for-county-law-enforcement/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T19:06:15.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane County Commission is announcing a public hearing on October 13 for a new .1% sales tax to pay for policing and law enforcement costs, which takes up nearly three-quarters of the general fund budget. - The city of Spokane could pass a special budget ordinance to allow unplanned spending to repair damage at the Northside Landfill caused by the Spokane Complex fires. - Your waste disposal bill could be going up by about $3 a month as the city’s Waste-to-Energy plant prepares to bid on carbon offset credits under the Climate Commitment Act, up for discussion at the Finance and Administration Committee. - The Spokane (city) Plan Commission will discuss development in the Wildland-Urban Interface — the areas where the city meets wildland, which often have increased wildfire risk. - The Spokane Regional Health District board could cut about $1.7 million in planned spending for opioid treatment, after they received $1,600,000 less than expected in Medicare and Medicaid fees this year. - As the data center conversation heats up at the Spokane County Planning Commission, the Spokane County Commission will appoint a new person to the body. - Spokane Valley will hold a public hearing on its budget for next year, which emphasizes fiscal responsibility while pushing for $6 million in new cop funding. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Every Tuesday, the council meets to finalize the Wednesday agenda, which now includes items that won’t be up for a vote for the next two weeks, giving you more of a chance to comment on things before they’re up for a vote. Up for a vote next week: - A resolution to authorize 2027-2028 residential street maintenance projects funded through the Transportation Benefit District fund. Those projects include a slate of chip seal, grind and overlay and sidewalk repairs throughout the city. - A resolution to officially add the Aurora Center shelter, which serves LGBTQ+ people, to the scatter site shelter network. - Approval for the police to purchase 18 police vehicles using a Spokane Investment Pool (SIP) loan of about $1.5 million. An amendment filed by Council Member Kate Telis would state the council’s desire for those vehicles to be hybrid and state that pre-purchase approval from the council is necessary. - Approval of a conditional commercial building conversion contract with Nodo Spokane LLC to create 25 residential units on the property at 126 W Sinto Ave in the Emerson/Garfield neighborhood. At least 10% of these units, which comes out to 2.5 units, will be kept at affordable housing rates for at least 10 years after construction. - A special budget ordinance to use opioid settlement dollars to pay for a three-month extension to the contract paying Jewels Helping Hands to operate the housing navigation center, which is currently due to expire at the end of March. The contract extension would give the city until the end of June to find new funding. Up for a vote in two weeks: - An up to $1 million contract with Catholic Charities and Jewels Helping Hands to operate shelter beds during inclement weather conditions. This will be paid for with 1590 funds. Details on the shelter beds can be found [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-hearing-alert-its-time-to-give-your-input-on-data-centers/). - A resolution to express the city’s support for transit oriented development on the Division Street corridor. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/review-agendas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 22 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** **Up for a vote this week:** - Police accountability activist Jim Leighty is set to be appointed to the Police Ombuds Commission. - The council could pass a special budget ordinance that would allow unplanned spending to repair damage at the Northside Landfill caused by the Spokane Complex fires. The repair work is necessary for “site stabilization, environmental protection, infrastructure repair, erosion control, revegetation, debris-response equipment, and restoration of critical landfill systems,” and must begin this year to keep the landfill in regulatory compliance. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, September 23 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, September 24 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### More fire relief The Finance and Administration Committee will be discussing two measures to aid in recovery efforts from the Spokane Complex fires. The first is an ordinance that would give the city the authority to create a Temporary Disaster Housing program for Spokane residents displaced by local and state-declared emergencies — not just the Spokane Complex fires. If approved by the council in a few weeks, it would provide a “a temporary, expedited, and coordinated process for the safe placement and occupancy of Temporary Disaster Housing for residents displaced from their primary residences,” and removing “unnecessary regulatory barriers while preserving minimum requirements for site safety, fire access, potable water, wastewater disposal, electrical safety, weather protection, and protection of neighboring properties.” The second is an approval to contract with qualified contractors for asbestos surveys of properties impacted by the fires. There are no approved contractors or cost estimates currently included in the agenda. ### Climate Commitment compliance costs Your waste bill could be going up $2.75 a month, or $9 a month for your business, specifically to purchase carbon allowances. In 2026, the WA State Legislature [passed a bill](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/mar/26/ferguson-signs-bill-to-give-energy-generating-tras/?ref=rangemedia.co) supporting the city’s [Waste to Energy plant](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/apr/30/does-spokanes-waste-to-energy-plant-fit-into-the-c/?ref=rangemedia.co) by reducing the costs for the facility to comply with the Climate Commitment Act by about $14 million over the next four years. However, it wasn’t a complete exemption from fees — Spokane will still have to pay about $3 million a year for 2027 and 2028 to bid on offset credits. To pay for that, the Spokane Public Works Division is proposing the new fee. ### ARPA dollars?? Again?? Did you think you were done hearing about American Rescue Plan Act dollars? So did we — all of it was supposed to be allocated by the end of 2024\. However, December 31, 2026 is the final deadline to actually spend those allocated dollars, and the city has about $170,000 in unspent ARPA funds. All of the currently unspent dollars — formerly allocated to homelessness services, capital spending in West Central, language access, a Wildland-Urban Interface fire contract, multicultural centers, residential street lighting and scattered site shelters — will now be spent on backfilling fire/police overtime bills from 2024 to the end of 2026. ### Thorpe Road Property Instead of being developed into housing, a parcel of wildland on Thorpe Road could be turned into a public conservation area. The Spokane City Council will discuss a resolution to request inclusion of the property, which has been appraised at $3.9 million, in Governor Bob Ferguson’s 2027-2029 biennial budget proposal, and request that the parcel be transferred to Spokane Parks as part of the 2027 Capital Budget. Related: you can read Yong-Yu’s story on the Thorpe Road property [here](https://thorpe.rangemedia.co/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Equitable budgeting City Council Member Sarah Dixit’s equitable budgeting [proposal](https://www.rangemedia.co/wildfire-recovery-efforts-continue-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=probably%20going%20up.%C2%A0-,Equitable%20budgeting,-City%20Council%20Member) is back before the committee for discussion. If passed, it would “expand the authority of the Office of Civil Rights Equity and Inclusion (OCREI), require every department to assess and report equity impacts, mandates training, and establish a multi-year planning and reporting structure to reduce disparities and improve outcomes for historically underserved communities.” A section has been added to the ordinance that would transition the budget from a line-item budget to one that includes performance metrics in an effort to increase accountability and efficiency. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 22 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Land Use and Wildfire The Spokane Plan Commission will continue a discussion on “WUI/Fire Policy.” For anyone who isn’t absolutely mired in land use terminology, “WUI” stands for Wildland-Urban Interface, and it’s the acronym for “the line, area or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels,” according to the US Fire Administration. Essentially, it’s where wildland meets developed city land — like the areas most impacted by the Spokane Complex fires. How that land should be developed is a critical conversation as fires and fire severity worsens. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 23 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Dump fees increasing The BOCC is considering increasing fees for certain types of waste delivered to waste transfer stations in Spokane County. Under the fee increase proposal, municipal solid waste, the type of trash generated by normal household and business activity, will cost people 3% more; organic waste 5%. Currently, a ton of municipal solid waste costs $135.63 to deliver; the new fee would be $139.70\. For organics, one ton costs $73.31 per ton; the new fee would be $76.98. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 22 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### New sales tax for cops Last year, the state legislature began allowing local governments to tax goods at .1% to pay for policing, and Spokane County is looking to take advantage of that. The BOCC will host a public hearing October 13 on implementing that tax in Spokane County. The agenda item emphasizes that a vast majority — between 70% and 75% — of the county’s general fund budget goes to law enforcement. Unlike a ballot item on which voters would weigh in, the commission can simply impose this tax. ### As planning commish agonizes over data centers, BOCC to appoint new member The county Planning Commission has for months been overseeing the long-term plan that will govern business, transportation and housing development for the next 20 years. Late last month, the BOCC threw a new, very stressful big task onto its already overloaded plate: figure out how to responsibly regulate hyperscale data centers and other large industrial facilities — and do it by December 15\. Against that backdrop, Planning Commissioner Wayne Brokaw resigned, opening a position on the seven-member board. The BOCC is considering five applicants to replace Brokaw during this high-profile time for the board. They are not named in the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 22 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, September 24 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Cutting opioid treatment spending The Spokane Regional Health District received $1,600,000 less than expected in Medicare and Medicaid fees this year, and $150,000 less than expected in Public Health Fees/Permits. To align their actual expenses and revenue in their 2026 budget, the health board is proposing a budget amendment to cut $1,750,000 from the budget of the Treatment Services division, which treats people for opioid addictions. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 24 at 1:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Collective bargaining for staff There’s no additional details on this item, but the East Valley School Board is set to, “aApprove the language changes in the collective bargaining agreement between the Public School Employees Association and the East Valley School District.” This agreement would cover custodians, paraeducators, secretaries and clerks, and workers in food service, maintenance, transportation, security, health services and the district’s preschool. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 22 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Schools targeted for improvement Washington state's Office of System and School Improvement (OSSI) has identified three schools within the district that need “intensified support” for several student groups. Spokane Valley High School was identified as having a low graduation rate and will receive $50,000 from the office to support its improvement [plan](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/pfiles/DXZQ8267FE14/$file/2026-2027%20SVH%20School%20Improvement%20Plan.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). Centennial Middle School was identified as struggling with low-income and disabled students and will receive $20,000 in funding for its [plan](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/pfiles/DXZQ84680297/$file/CMS%20OSSI%20SIP%20.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). The state also found that West Valley City School was struggling to support Hispanic and disabled students and will also receive $20,000 for its [plan](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/pfiles/DXZQ876805FB/$file/City%20School%20OSSI%20Plan%20Highlights%202026-27.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). The school board [is set to](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/pfiles/DY2NZV62699D/$file/WVSD%20OSSI%20Board%20Highlights%202026%5F2027.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) approve the funding Wednesday. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, September 23 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Special Meetings The SPS board will be meeting a lot this week to conduct interviews for the student advisor position for this school year. Additionally, at the Wednesday special meeting, they’ll be going into executive session to discuss potential real estate acquisitions for purchase or lease. (There are no additional details on that item). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, September 23 at 6 pm (regular meeting)* > *September 21, 22, and 23 at 4 pm (special meetings)* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Budget public hearing The council will host a public hearing on the city budget for 2027, which could total $148 million, depending on police spending. City Council members, including Jessica Yaeger and Laura Padden, have emphasized that the city wants to continue “prioritizing low taxes and efficient government.” In a [press release](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/751?ref=rangemedia.co) the city published during the budget workshopping process earlier this summer, the city noted that it has not taken advantage of state laws allowing it to increase property taxes since 2009\. Neither the press release nor the agenda item mention 2025’s voter-approved a .1% sales tax to increase funding for city police that will allow the city to spend $6 million on new police officers. That measure pays to hire more police officers, some of whom the city will share with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department, under which the Spokane Valley Police Department is organized. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 22 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### WA high court tosses natural gas measure approved by voters URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-high-court-tosses-natural-gas-measure-approved-by-voters/ Last updated: 2026-09-17T21:21:10.000Z The state Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated a ballot measure approved by voters in 2024 that sought to slow Washington’s shift from natural gas toward technology like electric heat pumps. In a[ 6-3 decision](https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/1042400.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), the justices affirmed a lower court ruling, finding Initiative 2066 “unconstitutional in its entirety” because it runs afoul of a provision limiting citizen initiatives to no more than one subject. Because the measure includes “several provisions with markedly distinct purposes and regulatory effects, embracing four distinct subjects. It is not possible by judicial construction to sever and save any of the separate provisions and therefore I-2066 is unconstitutional in its entirety,” Chief Justice Debra Stephens wrote for the majority. Justice Sal Mungia wrote a dissent that Justices Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Charles Johnson joined. He argued he would find the initiative constitutional after removing three sections that “silently amend the law” in a way that voters could not understand their impact. “Courts are required to construe initiatives in favor of constitutionality when possible,” he wrote. “This court can uphold much of I-2066 as constitutional and should do so.” The initiative was 21 pages and broken into more than a dozen sections. It aimed to unwind [changes to the state energy code](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/03/08/judge-rejects-attempt-to-delay-building-code-update-that-includes-new-heat-pump-rules/?ref=rangemedia.co) that offer builders incentives in the permitting process for choosing electric heat pumps – which provide both heating and cooling in the same unit – instead of natural gas furnaces. And it sought to repeal provisions in a 2024 [state law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1589&Year=2023&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) intended to accelerate Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas. The measure also would have prevented approval of utility rate plans that would end or restrict access to natural gas, or make it too costly. The Building Industry Association of Washington drew up the measure and enlisted Let’s Go Washington, a conservative political committee, to gather signatures to get it on the ballot. Nearly 52% of voters [approved it](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/11/08/washington-voters-approve-pro-natural-gas-measure/?ref=rangemedia.co) as it [passed in 34 of Washington’s 39 counties](https://results.vote.wa.gov/results/20241105/initiative-measure-no-2066%5Fbycounty.html?ref=rangemedia.co) including Snohomish and Pierce. A coalition including Climate Solutions, Washington Conservation Action, Front and Centered, King County and the city of Seattle filed its suit [within days of the election’s certification](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/12/11/washingtons-voter-approved-natural-gas-measure-snared-in-two-lawsuits/?ref=rangemedia.co). Its attorneys [argued in a court filing](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65565b1bdfa204c7e86303ad/67d35aa25901eb693e6a4ecc%5F1.21.25%20Plaintiffs%20MSJ.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the measure’s “most obvious constitutional infirmity” was that it violated a prohibition on what is known as “logrolling.” This is a practice in which an unpopular policy is attached to a popular one to increase its likelihood of enactment. The measure, opponents argued, contained several distinct policy choices and required voters to enact all or none of them. The state of Washington is the primary defendant. The Building Industry Association of Washington was allowed to intervene to defend the measure. Greg Lane, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington, repeatedly said in the course of the legal fight 2024 that “every single section” addressed the broader policy of protecting consumers’ choice to access and use natural gas. The case known as Climate Solutions vs. State of Washington/Building Industry Association was argued on Jan. 22. *This is a developing story.* [Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor for questions: [info@washingtonstatestandard.com](mailto:info@washingtonstatestandard.com). [Initiative 2066: Married to Fossil Gas? – RANGE MediaVoters will decide in November whether Washington governments will be able to move away from fossil gas, a potent contributor to climate change, when they vote on Initiative 2066\. Voters will decide in November whether Washington governments will be able to move away from fossil gas, a potent contributor to climate change, when they vote on Initiative 2066.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-a7ae67ec-a72d-48d2-a265-317d788c96c7.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/initiatives-election-2024-4-c9afcfac-bea4-4bf2-a124-e4fbc7f24599.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2066-fossil-gas/) ### Local educators say lagging test scores don’t tell the full story URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/local-educators-say-lagging-test-scores-dont-tell-the-full-story/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T19:17:52.000Z Last year, an eighth-grader at Garry Middle School sat in principal Adam Oakley’s office and said he wanted to change. He’d spent the last couple of years grappling with chronic absences and behavioral issues, but he didn’t want to be “the bad kid” anymore, he told Oakley. He meant it. Over the course of the school year, he became a team leader in sports. He didn’t have a single behavioral incident. The student had a “phenomenal” year, Oakley said. Then came the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) — one of the state’s primary tools, along with the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS), for measuring whether students are meeting grade-level standards. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) released the latest round of school-by-school results last week, offering a look at how Spokane-area students performed during the 2025-26 school year. After the SBA, the student came up to Oakley and asked how he had done. Oakley didn’t know yet. Results for individual students, schools, districts and the state are released by September, according to the OSPI’s website, but schools can see student scores sooner. When Oakley received student scores, he realized the student had tested at Level 1, the lowest of four proficiency levels. But the student had grown about 240 points since his last assessment — one of the largest improvements Oakley had seen. The SBA is scored on a continuous scale from approximately 2,000 to 3,000 points, increasing by grade level. The student was devastated regardless, Oakley said. “We had to stop and show him: ‘Look at where you were in third, fourth, fifth, sixth. Look at where you are now,’” Oakley said. “What I’m nervous (about is) that score gets mailed home and there’s no understanding of that growth.” **Beneath the numbers** Washington’s state assessments sort student performance into four levels: Levels 1 and 2 mean that they did not meet grade-level expectations, while Levels 3 and 4 mean that they met or exceeded expectations. For this analysis, Level 3 and 4 count as proficient or on-grade level. Garry lies within a school district that has trailed both Spokane County and the state on every subject tested, every year, for at least the last five years. The Spokane School District at large scored more than four percentage points below the state average in English Language Arts (ELA) and more than three points below in math and nearly three points below in science, according to a RANGE analysis of data from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Math ELA Science *Caption: See where each Spokane County school district ranks by clicking the dropdown.* Overall, the number of students scoring at Level 3 or Level 4 proficiency for English has dropped slightly since 2021 from about 50% to about 47%. Meanwhile, roughly six in 10 students district-wide has tested below grade level in math each year since 2021 Math ELA Science *Caption: See where each Spokane School District school ranks by clicking the dropdown.* By the state’s measures, the numbers for Garry are stark. Across the district, low-income students trail the overall student population by 13 to 14 percentage points, students with disabilities by 24 to 30 points, and English language learners by 27 to 40 points, depending on the subject. Math ELA Science *Caption: See details about each Spokane School District school by clicking the dropdown.* Garry serves a high-need population in the Northtown Mall area. As of last school year, more than 80% of Gary’s 430 students are low-income. Nearly 19% are English language learners, and more than a quarter are students with disabilities. In the 2025-26 school year, just 26% of Garry students who tested scored at grade level in ELA, and 21% of students scored at grade level in math. Just four out of 65 English language learner students tested at grade level proficiency for math. “When the state comes out with this number and it’s widely reported, ‘X number of kids met standard in Spokane Public Schools in math,’ that is such a small piece of the story that it can be frustrating,” Oakley said. **The growth factor** For some educators, the state assessments fail to capture a student’s real progress, even if they are below grade level. “On paper, state report — yes, he’s nowhere near eighth grade standard,” Oakley said of last year’s student. “But man, that trajectory changed. And that’s such a part of the story.” Melissa Fredekind, a math teacher at Garry Middle School, said she doesn’t see state test scores until her students are already in their freshman year of high school. These scores also don’t provide much for teachers to understand their students’ grasp on the material they’re learning, according to Fredekind. “There’s nothing I can do with it in the moment. I can just kind of see a trajectory of what it looks like, and then hope that they can make some growth on that number by the time they leave my classroom,” she said. Garry — like some other schools — uses a different tool to try and measure progress during the year: Measures of Academic Progress testing (MAP), given three times a year in fall, winter and after spring break. Unlike the state assessment, MAP scores are available almost immediately. “We can see the data of what kind of questions they're doing and get the placement correctly right away. The state testing doesn't provide me that opportunity,” Fredekind said. Students don’t react the same way when the score is disconnected from a student’s more incremental progress, according to Oakley. “When you walk through hallways and have sixth, seventh and eight graders walk up to you and say, ‘Mr. Oakley, I went up four points’ — they’re excited about assessment,” Oakley said. “So we’re pro-accountability. We’re pro-assessment.” But even with testing options, Garry’s teachers — and educators across the district — face other problems. Fredekind said she teaches classes of about 30 students, which makes it difficult to “touch base with everybody.” Large class sizes compound with other issues too. For example, chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — affected more than 30% of Garry’s students last year. Oakley said he’s personally bought students alarm clocks to help get them to school. “You're constantly playing catch up, and you're constantly trying to identify: ‘How can I pull this group of students to catch them up while not dragging the rest of them back?’” Oakley said of absent students. He wants growth to be more of a factor in how schools and students are judged. When just 30% of students are proficient coming in, and the school expects that they make at least one year’s growth, Oakley said that he shoots for ending the year at 30% proficiency as well. Spokane Public Schools superintendent Adam Swinyard said there are some schools where every student comes in at grade level proficiency, but there are also high poverty neighborhoods where just a small percentage of students are kindergarten-ready. If every child starts behind, measuring by proficiency fails to tell the real story, Swinyard said. “That’s not fair to our teachers. It’s not fair to our kids,” Swinyard said. “If they’re growing more than a year’s growth, they certainly are not failing as students, and we shouldn’t be telling their families that their kids and their teachers aren’t doing well.” ### Prophecy, spiritual warfare and controversy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/prophecy-spiritual-warfare-and-controversy/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T15:47:47.000Z *This story was reported in partnership with FāVS News, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* The moment the prophet on stage singled him out, a man in a jean jacket with graying, slicked-back hair wept. He stood in the pews of Zeal Church with his wife, his legs shaking, lips trembling. He knelt. Tears streamed down the man’s face and his partner’s. A string of clear mucus connected his nose with the pew in front of him. They’d never been to Zeal before, they said, but it was clear to them that God had called them to the sanctuary for a reason. “The Lord says, ‘You will not just be a guy that hangs out, that watches,” said Jeremiah Johnson, a celebrity prophet who founded [a nonprofit ministry](https://www.thealtarglobal.com/about?ref=rangemedia.co) that establishes “apostolic” churches around the world and brings in about $1 million annually, according to tax filings. “You're gonna be hardworking. You're going to be confident. The Lord says, ‘I’m breaking cycles in your life today. You are graduated today into manhood. … You are going to be a success.’” Johnson, who was there to deliver a guest sermon, predicted another man and his son who stood at the front of the pews would “become a dynamic duo” that would model healthy father-son relationships for other men and their children. He said another man would overcome the troubles of his past to become a great leader of a family. As he prophesied, he instructed the congregation to stretch their hand toward the person he was speaking over. All who Johnson prophesied over wept. As they are with the predictions of many mediums and psychics, Johnson’s prophecies were vague enough that the recipient could find any turn of luck might fulfill them, while if they don’t come true, they might see it as their own fault for not following God closely enough. It was not clear whether the congregation knew about [allegations](https://jakekail.com/why-i-no-longer-endorse-the-ministry-of-jeremiah-johnson/?ref=rangemedia.co) leveled against Johnson by a former colleague and Christian minister named Jake Kail, saying Johnson has historically used deceptive practices when prophesying and promoting himself in prophetic circles. Most notably, Johnson in 2015 issued public prophecies saying God would “use” Donald Trump but didn’t specify that Trump would become president. Years later, Johnson [publicly said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBUwSNh-r0w&ref=rangemedia.co) he *had* prophesied Trump would be president. But that didn’t seem to cast a shadow on the congregation of a church that seems to … well, zealously believe in the spiritual truths in Johnson’s words. Zeal Church seems to fit squarely into the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a movement of charismatic churches that subscribe to a nondenominational governance structure, opposes legal abortion and queer rights, uses the tactics of “spiritual warfare” to minister and has seized real estate in some of the highest echelons of American power. Zeal Church officials declined an interview request and did not respond to a detailed list of questions. ### Going to spiritual war in Spokane A plant of the Fort Worth, Texas, megachurch Mercy Culture, Zeal bought the New Community Church building downtown in May for $900,000\. It made a splash by decorating the elegant 1906 gothic building in large black signs with large all-caps text and [cancelling the lease](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/19/shalom-ministries-to-serve-its-last-breakfast-thur/?ref=rangemedia.co) for Shalom Ministries, a church that served tens of thousands of hot meals to unhoused and poor people each year. Valdez said people affiliated with Shalom were openly using drugs on church property. The building towers above Third Avenue between Howard and Stevens streets. It’s a tech-savvy operation for the historic church with high cathedral ceilings and stained glass windows. Rather than using the classic organ that occupies the northeast corner of the sanctuary behind the pulpit, a projector screen covers it, displaying worship lyrics, a QR code to a site where congregants can tithe digitally or bass-heavy commercials advertising future events. It sells a line of Zeal-branded T-shirts for $35\. There are always a couple of church photographers walking through the pews during services. Before Pastor Ray Valdez, a Washingtonian who spent a stint at Mercy Culture, bought the building, it housed the New Community Church, which welcomed and affirmed people in LGBTQIA+ communities. Valdez talked at length with RANGE/FāVS after a recent service, but he would not give an interview on the record. During three recent services, the church seemed to show many of the hallmarks of the NAR movement. It subscribes to the “five-fold ministry,” a church structure that places an apostle and a prophet at the top who carry out god’s will. In contrast to its predecessor in the building, it is staunchly anti-queer, dedicating part of its belief statement to “biblical marriage,” meaning the only legitimate marriages are between one man and one woman. Many NAR churches engage in so-called “spiritual warfare” — public worship aimed at vanquishing perceived demons from public institutions and lawmakers. One way they do this is by “speaking in tongues,” a practice of voicing speech-like sounds ostensibly derived from ancient or lost languages. At the August 30 service, the worship team led the entire congregation in an otherworldly chant in a foreign tongue. The church frames its work in Spokane with language that evokes spiritual warfare, telling its congregants to “war with your worship.” Next year, the church will host a concert by the Sons of Thunder, a Christian metal band whose slogan is “This is war music.” In the NAR, the idea is that praising the Lord in ostentatious, public ways will repel evil forces some Christians believe have taken over American society, with some of its biggest targets being legal abortion and queer rights. Zeal did not respond to questions about church demographics, but during the recent services, there were about 50 people in the sanctuary at any given time and an unknown number of children in the upstairs youth spaces. On September 13, at least four parents swayed to the pop worship music with infants swaddled in their arms. Some of the congregants moved here from other states, including Texas and Arizona, to be involved in Zeal Church. As a “family church” of Mercy Culture, Valdez’s apostle — and spiritual leader — is Landon Schott, the lead pastor of the Texas megachurch. Schott has hosted events featuring another NAR-coded pastor, Russell Johnson, who recently [planted a church](https://www.rangemedia.co/persecution-inc/) in Browne’s Addition. When Johnson planted that church, he ran into community opposition from neighbors who were concerned about the armed guards surrounding the property and didn’t like that Johnson tore out the community garden. Zeal is facing similar community skepticism from people who criticize it for kicking out Shalom. But like Johnson, Valdez said he was there to carry out God’s will, rather than that of the community. ### ‘Food does not cast out devils from people’ It’s something of a practice in the NAR community to control the message, meaning they rarely give interviews to journalists and tend to address controversy only from an environment the pastor controls. Johnson and Matt Shea, the two other prominent NAR pastors in Spokane, routinely do not return requests for comment. (It’s not a hard-and-fast practice: Johnson did do a recent interview with the Central Washington journalist Dominick Bonny, but he generally does not give interviews and has said on social media, “You don’t hate the media enough.”) In the wake of Shalom’s lease cancellation, journalists across the community requested interviews with Valdez. He took the same tack as the other pastors. “We felt we would address the situation not from their platform but from our platform,” he said during a service. “We refuse to allow our property to be used as illegal demonic activity,” he said, referring to drug use in the parking lot behind the church and other nearby areas. “Food does not cast out devils from people,” said Valdez from the pulpit, who emphasized Spokane needs Jesus rather than sustenance. Dexter Phillips, chair of Shalom’s governing board, disagreed with Valdez. “It needs both (food and Christ),” he told RANGE. “If you're not alive, you can't get the word, and Jesus said, ‘Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked.’” Phillips said people, including some who actively used drugs, found community and structure at Shalom’s breakfast service. Some drug users would serve the meals, and that gave them a place to be. “They would stay even after the meals, and they would do cleanup, and they'd do prep for the next day, and they got showers, and they got bathrooms, and they got warm places to be, and they served, but they were still campers,” Phillips said. But the experience with the new church wasn’t entirely negative. Phillips, who attends a church he said was similar to Zeal, said he liked Valdez on a personal level. And while the split was painful for Shalom, it would provide the homeless ministry an opportunity to restructure after 32 years of feeding the hungry in the church building. Phillips said that by December, Shalom would start serving meals again, possibly at sites across the city. ### Public hearing alert: It’s time to give your input on data centers URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/public-hearing-alert-its-time-to-give-your-input-on-data-centers/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T18:47:56.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council could approve a lot of cash for cops, including a loan for $1.5 million for 18 new cars. - At an important Urban Experience Committee meeting, the council members will discuss regulatory relief for fire rebuilds, transit oriented development on Division Street and shelter contracts for 2027. - The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees will vote on their budget for 2027 amid warnings of a budget shortfall. - Get out your bikes, because the Bicycle Advisory Board has a rolling meeting! You can also join Spokane Reimagined and the Bicycle Advisory Board for a Bike Buddy Ride, where they’ll show you safe routes from a variety of locations in the city to downtown. - The Spokane Transit Authority board will discuss two big proposals: adding actual bus riders to the board, and giving free bus passes to people with Spokane Chiefs hockey tickets. - The Spokane County Board of Commissioners will host the first of two public hearings on data center regulations after it was revealed in July that County Commissioner Al French had been secretly courting a data center developer. This will be one of the biggest opportunities for people to give input. - The county Planning Commission will host a work session on new regulations for data centers, as the county has paused approvals for new facilities until mid-December. ## Bike Buddies In preparation for the Week Without Driving in early October, Spokane Reimagined, in partnership with the Bicycle Advisory Board, is hosting a Bike Buddy Ride on Tuesday, September 15\. Groups led by local cyclists will depart from four different destinations between 5:30 and 6:15 pm, with the end destination of Spokane City Hall, to show bike beginners safe routes to get downtown. There will be free ice cream at City Hall at the end of the event. For more information and to find the departure location closest to you, click [here](https://spokanereimagined.org/week-without-driving/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Up for a vote next week: - Police accountability activist Jim Leighty is set to be appointed to the Police Ombuds Commission. - The council could pass a special budget ordinance that would allow unplanned spending to repair damage at the Northside Landfill caused by the Spokane Complex fires. The repair work is necessary for “site stabilization, environmental protection, infrastructure repair, erosion control, revegetation, debris-response equipment, and restoration of critical landfill systems,” and must begin this year to keep the landfill in regulatory compliance. - An ordinance designed to impose harsher penalties on the owners of “chronic nuisance properties” who fail to address chronic public safety concerns. Up for a vote in two weeks: - A resolution to authorize 2027-2028 residential street maintenance projects funded through the Transportation Benefit District fund. Those projects include a slate of chip seal, grind and overlay and sidewalk repairs throughout the city. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/review-agendas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Tuesday, September 15 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Cash for cops The Spokane Police Department is asking the council to authorize taking out a loan to spend $1.5 million on 18 new police vehicles. The council could also approve an interlocal agreement with the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, who are paying Spokane up to $1.15 million for the expansion of the Spokane police academy, which is getting a new building to train officers from across the [region](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-secures-funding-for-new-regional-law-enforcement-training-facility/article%5Fd69b2097-57b1-48d3-aa82-141ef6c6a2f2.html?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 16 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, September 17 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Regulatory relief for fire rebuilds The council will discuss an ordinance that would add flexibility into strict regulatory requirements to make rebuilding after the Spokane Complex fires easier. It would give the city’s planning director the authority to quickly approve residential rebuilds that are like the structures that burned down. It would also allow people to place an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) on properties that have no houses. Traditionally, ADUs are only permitted as additions to properties that have a primary structure — think putting a small mother-in-law suite in the backyard of a house. However, for some in the neighborhoods impacted by the fires, the primary structure was destroyed by fire. This would allow people to throw up an ADU structure to live in while undertaking the longer process of rebuilding the main dwelling. Finally, the ordinance would also exempt rebuilds from the general facilities charge, if they use the same water meter service size that they had before the fires. Later in the meeting, the council will also discuss an ordinance to extend permit fee deferrals for fire-related rebuilds. ### The TOD! The Division Street Transit Oriented Development (TOD) plan to develop along the Division Street corridor in conjunction with the addition of a bus rapid transit line on the street will be discussed at the committee meeting. The city is contributing $10,000 in funding for this plan, with the lion’s share of current money for it coming from a $405,000 grant award. What’s up for discussion is a resolution, so it wouldn’t really do anything yet, but would cement the city’s intention to move forward with supporting the TOD! ### Out of the cold There’s a chill in the air as summer ends, and the city is thinking about shelter operators for keeping our unhoused neighbors out of the worst inclement weather conditions. The council will discuss a resolution to approve Catholic Charities and Jewels Helping Hands — the only two organizations who applied for the responsibility — as inclement weather shelter operators for 2027\. The inclement weather beds will be funded by 1590 funds with $1 million available for services throughout next year. Here’s the bed breakdown: - Up to 35 beds per night for single men at the House of Charity Shelter - Up to 13 beds per night for families with children at St. Margaret’s Shelter - Up to 20 beds per night for adult women at the Morning Star Shelter. The council will also discuss an amendment to the existing scattered site shelter operations contract with Jewels Helping Hands that would add funding for the Aurora Center for LGBTQ+ adults through the 2027 fiscal year, providing 16 regular shelter beds designed to serve queer and transgender adults. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Budget for books? The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees has been warning of a potential budget shortfall and asking the Spokane City Council to step out of their normal annual budget process to guarantee funding that would prevent hour and staffing cuts. However, in the wake of the fires, the library board released a statement acknowledging that they’re “unlikely to receive a final budget number for next year until late fall 2026,” — which is during the regular annual budget process. “Because of this budget uncertainty, paired with the devastating fires that affected our community, we know that this is not the time to cut library hours, staff, or services,” the statement says. “Therefore, the Board of Trustees has decided that until we have more information from City of Spokane leadership on a target budget number, we do not feel we can make a responsible decision to reduce hours or staff. As our community recovers from the fires, we will do everything we can to maintain library hours, staffing, and services.” At their monthly meeting this week, the board will vote on their 2027 budget adoption. It’s interesting timing, given they won’t know what dollar amount they’re getting from the city until November or December. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanelibrary.org/about/administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 4:30 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed here*. ## Bicycle Advisory Board (special meeting) 🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲**/5 bikes** ### Rolling through the agenda The Bicycle Advisory Board is having one of their special rolling meetings where they bike through the streets of Spokane while discussing bike infrastructure. This meeting starts at City Hall, has a midpoint stop at 7 pm at the intersection of Cincinnati Street and Desmet Avenue, and finishes at 7:30 pm back at City Hall. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 6:15 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Slashing inspection fees for rebuilding after fires The county is looking to cut inspection fees by 50% for building permits for Spokane Complex fires victims who are trying to rebuild their homes. The fees are calculated by the square footage of the project and can run hundreds of dollars. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public hearing for data center regulation The board will host the first of two public hearings on proposed data center regulations. The hearing will take place against the backdrop of a loud and at times angry [advocacy campaign](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/) among county residents demanding transparency from public officials about data center proposals. Some folks want the commission to ban data centers altogether. Over the last few months, people in Spokane County learned Avista Corp. and County Commissioner Al French had been holding secretive discussions to bring the controversial facilities into Spokane County. The second public hearing will be hosted by the county Planning Commission next month. ### New software system on table for SCRAPS The Spokane County Animal Protection Service, which provides animal protection and welfare services in Spokane County, is looking for BOCC approval to buy a new software system called Chameleon. The system would cost $86,240 to set up. A slide presentation from a previous meeting says the agency’s current software system, Shelter Buddy, is plagued with “accuracy concerns,” “slow vendor response” and long animal processing times. The efficiencies achieved by Chameleon would offset the software’s annual operating costs, the presentation says. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Zoning for ‘large-load’ facilities The commission is hosting a work session on “Large Electrical Load Facility Zoning Code,” likely referring to a developing policy to regulate data centers. Last month, the county Board of Commissioners paused approvals for new data centers until December 15 so that Planning Department staff could create a zoning code for the facilities, which can use massive amounts of electricity and water. The decision came after constituents demanded the board do something about data centers, which developers have been trying to locate in Spokane County. The Planning Commission will host a public forum on the regulations next month. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 17 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/**5 peppers** ### Rider rep In 2025, the State Legislature passed a law allowing transit riders to be appointed to the boards that govern transit agencies — perhaps a no-brainer, given that many of the elected leaders on these boards don’t actually use the transit services they’re making decisions about. Until now, the Spokane Transit Authority has taken no official action to add transit riders to the board, since the law didn’t actually mandate it. But in the agenda for this week’s meeting, we noticed CEO Karl Otterstrom will be presenting on “board composition.” During a Board Operations Committee meeting three months ago, members discussed potentially seating up to two non-elected transit riders to the STA board. The full board will be discussing this potential option this week. The next steps would likely be holding “a future Board workshop that focuses on board composition and transit rider involvement in decision-making at STA,” so we’re still a ways out from having riders on the board, but it’s cool they’re at least talking about involving the actual users in decision-making. ### Bus passes to the boy aquarium Are you a longtime fan of hockey? Did you newly discover it after the romance novel craze introduced *Heated Rivalry* readers to “the boy aquarium?” Do you love the bus? Spokane Transit Authority has a new partnership that may be of interest to you — for the 2026-2027 hockey season, you will be able to get free STA rides to any home game with the purchase of a game ticket. “Ridership would be tracked, and the Spokane Chiefs Hockey Club would reimburse STA for $1 for each ride up to $10,000,” the agenda reads. “STA would also engage in a sponsorship with the Spokane Chiefs Hockey Club through this partnership, at $10,000\. This sponsorship would enable marketing opportunities of STA services at Spokane Chiefs games and through their social media.” This is the first pilot program coming from the Connect 2035 to address the initiative of integrating transit passes into cultural and sporting event tickets, and could lead to a long-term partnership with the Public Facilities District. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 17 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, September 16 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors (work session) 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 14 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 14 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 15 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### ¿Dónde puede encontrar pan colombiano? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pan-colombiano-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T19:02:12.000Z [Colombian baked goods just like ‘back home’How a Colombian vendor built a small business making baked goods you won’t find anywhere else in Spokane.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-4c450315-835f-4b5f-a942-94aa6a118e10.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/marmot-emails--1--4bd3d784-f025-4a9d-9ac5-79933ec0216b.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/p/668c9c5c-8d43-4f39-9984-75e24a61bd7a/) Bajo las tenues luces fluorescentes de una cocina comercial de Spokane, Diana Alejandra Sanders cubrió un roscón relleno de guayaba con huevo batido. Lo hizo hasta que las tres grandes bandejas de pan estuvieran cubiertas y listas para el horno, donde el glaseado les daría un acabado dorado. Este pan, ligeramente dulce, es un producto típico de Colombia y está disponible en algunos mercados de la zona de Spokane, junto con otras elaboraciones de Sanders. “En Colombia comemos mucho pan, digamos, para el desayuno o para la cena. La gente lo toma mucho con café o chocolate caliente cuando hace frío, por ejemplo. Hasta con gaseosa, como le decimos nosotros a la Coca Cola”, le dijo a RANGE. Sanders, una contadora, comenzó a vender panes y postres colombianos alrededor del verano de 2023 en El Mercadito, un mercado mensual al aire libre organizado por Latinos en Spokane. Utiliza la cocina comercial de la organización en la oficina ubicada en Monroe Street para hornear sus productos. Este año, se expandió y trajo[ C&C Bakery-USA](https://www.instagram.com/usacycbakery/?ref=rangemedia.co)a un mercado semanal en el distrito de Garland. Sanders ofrece productos colombianos que no se pueden encontrar en ningún otro lugar de Spokane, como los roscones, unos panecillos esponjosos conocidos como mojicones ypan agridulce, que es un poco dulce y salado. ****¿Dónde encontrarla?**: ****Instagram** - C&C Bakery - USA ****El Mercadito** - Último sábado de cada mes, 1502 N Monroe St, Spokane, WA ****Scale House Market** - Todos los sábados hasta mediados de octubre, 4422 E 8th Ave, Spokane Valley, WA ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/mojicon-1.jpg) Una bandeja de mojicones recién salidos del horno (Foto de Daisy Zavala Magaña) “La gente como que aprecia bastante el producto y… aprecian el hecho de poderlo tener acá”, dijo Sanders sobre sus interacciones con algunos clientes. “Muchas personas me han dicho cuando lo prueban como ‘ay, me sentí como estando en mi casa en Colombia’”. Las recetas provienen directamente de Colombia, específicamente de su hermano, David Alberto Calderón Castelblanco, propietario de una panadería allí, quien se las enseñó durante una visita que tuvo el mismo verano en que ella empezó a vender los productos. En el inicio, la idea de establecer un negocio de panadería era intimidante para Sanders: se sentía poco preparada y no estaba familiarizada con el proceso de iniciar un negocio en los Estados Unidos. Dijo que Latinos en Spokane fue de gran ayuda para conseguir los permisos y acceso a una cocina comercial económica. Pero el mayor desafío se produjo cuando a su hermano, quien vive en Colombia y planeaba regresar para ayudarla, se le negó la entrada a Estados Unidos. **Un obstáculo en el camino** Sanders dijo que nada habría sido posible sin su hermano, quien compartiera con ella su talento y conocimientos. Él tenía previsto regresar a Estados Unidos en 2024. Castelblanco afirmó que le negaron la entrada porque lo acusaron de trabajar, algo que su visa prohibía. Sin embargo, lo negó y dijo que simplemente la estaba ayudando y enseñando. “Y ni siquiera venía a eso. Fue como algo que se dio como: ‘¿Venga, y por qué no le enseño?’ Y yo: ‘No, yo igual no me voy a dedicar a esto’ y yo como ‘no’. Entonces, ‘ah, bueno, hagámosle’ como por hacer algo chévere con él acá”, dijo Sanders. “Sí, pero luego resultó en algo más”. Sanders dijo que la experiencia “injusta” la hizo parar por un tiempo. Pero ante las preguntas de la gente sobre el negocio y la sensación de compromiso que tenía, decidió seguir adelante con el emprendimiento. Los hermanos comenzaron a comunicarse por videollamada, acortando la distancia de casi 4.000 millas que separa Neiva, Colombia, de Spokane, Washington. Castelblanco siguió compartiendo sus conocimientos culinarios con su hermana. “Enseñar por videollamada no es algo muy exacto”, dijo Castelblanco, haciendo referencia al proceso táctil de trabajar con masa. “No hay como ella hacer la masa y yo tocarla y ver que esté en el punto perfecto.” Pero Sanders aprende rápido y es muy meticulosa, dijo, señalando que siguió las recetas al pie de la letra. Castelblanco dijo sentirse orgulloso de su hermana y también tenía “mucha alegría y mucha satisfacción” por haber podido ayudarla a iniciar su negocio en Spokane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/ale2-1.jpg) Diana Alejandra Sanders rodeada de sus productos horneados en un mercado en el distrito de Garland (Foto de Daisy Zavala Magaña) **Raíces colombianas** El origen fundacional de la panadería realmente comienza en Bucaramanga, una ciudad del noreste de Colombia que se distingue por sus extensos espacios verdes. Alrededor del 2015, Sanders trabajaba allí como contadora mientras su hermano estudiaba artes culinarias.Él empezó a hacer pasteles y conseguía clientes por recomendación. Como el trabajo de Sanders era flexible, ella podía ayudarle con la contabilidad y con cosas como la decoración de pasteles y cupcakes. “Nosotros siempre hemos sido muy unidos, como somos dos nomás, somos dos hermanos”, dijo Castelblanco. A medida que el negocio crecía, se preguntaban cómo lo llamarían, dijo Sanders. Finalmente, se decidieron por C&C Bakery, tomando como referencia los apellidos de sus padres: Calderón y Castelblanco. Posteriormente, él regresó a su ciudad natal, Neiva, un centro urbano en el centro-sur de Colombia conocido como la capital bambuquera de América. Allí conoció a su esposa y abrió un local físico para C&C Bakery, dijo. Sanders luego viajó a Estados Unidos para visitar a su familia y practicar su inglés. Tras conocer a su esposo, decidió quedarse y se mudó a Spokane en el año 2021. **Encontrando su equilibrio** Sanders tuvo una curva de aprendizaje pronunciada: no solo era nueva en los fundamentos de hacer panes, sino que también tenía que tener en cuenta factores como la diferente altitud y el clima en Spokane, cosas que pueden cambiar cómo salen los panes y pasteles. Por ejemplo, esa diferencia puede hacer que un mojicón salga seco o un roscón se colapse. “Al principio, yo quedaba superadolorida, como que hubiera ido al gimnasio”, dijo Sanders, recordando trabajar con grandes cantidades de masa por primera vez. Sanders recuerda haber entrado a la oficina de Latinos en Spokane con su hermano, que estaba de visita con su familia en 2023, con la intención de obtener información sobre cómo podría vender aretes hechos a mano. Después de hablar sobre sus experiencias de repostería, los empleados los animaron a considerar también la posibilidad de vender los productos en El Mercadito. La organización sin fines de lucro ha ofrecido diversos servicios por medio del Emprendete Business Center para ayudar a pequeños empresarios y emprendedores, como asistencia con licencias comerciales y marketing. Según su página web, también es posible alquilar la cocina comercial, un camión de comida y equipamiento para puestos temporales. “Estás en otro país, hay otro idioma, nuevas reglas, nuevas cosas… Estás perdido totalmente. Entonces estás como: ‘No, yo no voy a poder lograr eso’”, dijo Sanders. “Ellos ayudaron”. Luego estaba la cuestión de su clientela. Dado que los productos que ofrece son fáciles de conseguir en Colombia, Sanders dijo que le preocupaba que la gente esperara los mismos precios en Spokane. El costo de producir roscones y otros panes colombianos en Estados Unidos es más elevado. Un pequeño vendedor artesanal no puede competir con los precios que las empresas más grandes, con menores costos de producción, pueden ofrecer a los consumidores. Pero la gente me ha apoyado, dijo. Sanders sigue dividiendo su tiempo entre su pequeño negocio y su trabajo como contadora. Espera expandirse gradualmente y, con el tiempo, poder dedicarse a ello a tiempo completo. A medida que su negocio crece, siente una gran satisfacción personal por haber superado las dificultades de los inicios. También le llena de alegría ver que la gente disfruta de sus productos horneados, al igual si los prueban por primera vez o no. “Es algo que yo no pensé en mi vida que lo iba a poder hacer sola”, dijo. “Entonces es como ver que sí soy capaz de hacer algo que realmente es bien difícil”. ### Colombian baked goods just like ‘back home’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/colombian-baked-goods/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:01:57.000Z [¿Dónde puede encontrar pan colombiano?Cómo una colombiana creó un pequeño negocio elaborando pan que no encontrarás en ningún otro lugar de Spokane.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-5ccce7ae-7179-4cc5-883f-1ef237052485.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/marmot-emails--1--1f7d7c70-c66e-496a-b202-2140ee3c5a87.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/p/4aa0dd67-0ce3-4e2f-afdc-9c78bd8052af/) Under the dim fluorescent lights of a Spokane commercial kitchen, Diana Alejandra Sanders coated a guava-filled ring-shaped bread known as a *roscón* with egg wash. She did this until all three large trays of breads were coated and ready for the oven where the glaze would give the rings a golden-brown finish. The lightly sweet rings are a staple in Colombia and will make their way to Spokane area markets, alongside other goods Sanders bakes. “In Colombia, we eat a lot of bread — let’s say, for breakfast or dinner. People often have it with coffee or hot chocolate in cold weather, for example. Even with soda,” she told RANGE in Spanish. An accountant by trade, Sanders began selling Colombian breads and pastries around the summer of 2023 at El Mercadito, which is a monthly outdoor market organized by Latinos en Spokane. She uses the organization’s commercial kitchen at its Monroe Street office to bake her goods. This year, she expanded and brought [C&C Bakery-USA](https://www.instagram.com/usacycbakery/?ref=rangemedia.co)to the weekly Global Food and Art Market in the Garland District. Sanders bakes Colombian goods that can’t be found anywhere else in Spokane, like the *roscones*, fluffy bread rolls known as *mojicones* anda sweet and savory cheesy bread called *pan agridulce.* ****Where to find her**: ***Instagram** - C&C Bakery- USA ****El Mercadito** - Last Saturday of every month, 1502 N Monroe St, Spokane, WA ****Scale House Market** - Every Saturday until mid-October, 4422 E 8th Ave, Spokane Valley, WA ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/mojicon.jpg) A tray of mojicones straight out of the oven. (Photo by Daisy Zavala Magaña) “People really seem to appreciate the product and… they appreciate that they can get it here,” Sanders said of her interactions with some clients. “Many people have told me when they try it, ‘Oh, I felt like I was back home in Colombia.’” The recipes come straight from Colombia, specifically from her brother, David Alberto Calderon Castelblanco, who owns a bakery there and taught them to her while he was visiting the same summer she started selling the baked goods. In the early days, the prospect of establishing a baking business was daunting for Sanders: she felt underequipped and wasn’t familiar with the process of starting a food business in the US. She said Latinos en Spokane was immensely helpful in helping her get permits and access to an affordable commercial kitchen. But the biggest challenge came when her brother — who lives in Colombia and was supposed to return to help her — was denied entry into the US. **A bump in the road** She told RANGE that nothing would have been possible without her brother sharing his talent and knowledge with her. He had planned to return to the US in 2024. Speaking in Spanish, Castelblanco said that he was denied entry because he was accused of working — something his visa prohibited. But he disputed that, telling RANGE he was just helping and teaching her. “And he wasn’t even here for that. It just sort of happened— like, ‘Hey, why don't I teach you?’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to make a career out of this anyway.’ So it was just, ‘oh well, let’s just do it– just to do something cool while he’s here,” Sanders said. “But then it turned into something more.” For a bit, the “unjust” experience set Sanders back and she stopped for a bit, she said. But after people continued to ask her about the business and feeling a sense of commitment, she decided she would keep pushing forward. The siblings began video calling, bridging the nearly 4,000-mile distance between Neiva, Colombia and Spokane, Washington. Castelblanco continued to share his culinary knowledge with his sister. “Teaching through video call isn't very precise,” Castelblanco said, noting the tactile process of working with dough. “There’s nothing like her making the dough and me being able to touch it to make sure it’s at the perfect consistency.” But Sanders is a quick learner as much as she is meticulous, he said, noting she followed the recipes to a T. Castelblanco said he felt proud of his sister and also felt “great joy and great satisfaction” to have been able to help his sister start her business in Spokane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/ale2.jpg) Diana Alejandra Sanders surrounded by baked goods at the Global Food and Art Market in the Garland District. (Photo by Daisy Zavala Magaña) **Colombian roots** The bakery’s foundational origin really begins in Bucaramanga, a city in northeastern Colombia that distinguishes itself for its sprawling green spaces. Around 2015, Sanders was working there as an accountant while her brother studied culinary arts.He began making cakes and would get clients through word-of-mouth. Because Sanders’ work was flexible, she was able to help him with accounting and with things like decorating cakes and cupcakes. “We’ve always been very close since it’s just the two of us, we’re two siblings,” Castelblanco said. As the business grew, they wondered what they would call it, Sanders said. They settled on C&C Bakery, drawing from their parents’ surnames: Calderon and Castelblanco. He later moved back to his home city of Neiva, an urban center in south-central Colombia known as the Bambuquera capital of America. It’s where he met his wife and opened a brick-and-mortar space for C&C Bakery, he said. Sanders would eventually leave to the US to visit family and practice her English. After meeting her now husband, she decided to stay and moved to Spokane in 2021. **Finding her footing** Sanders had a steep learning curve: Not only was she new to the nuts and bolts of baking, she also had to accommodate for factors like the different elevation and climate in Spokane — things that can change the way breads and pastries bake, like making a *mojicón* dry or a *roscón* collapse. “At first, I was incredibly sore, like I’d been to the gym,” she recalled of working with large amounts of dough. Sanders remembers walking into the Latinos en Spokane office with her brother, who was visiting family in 2023, with the intent to get information about how she could sell handmade earrings. After talking to staff about their baking backgrounds, the staff members encouraged them to also consider selling the baked goods at El Mercadito. The local nonprofit’s [Emprendete Business Center](https://www.latinosenspokane.org/emprendete?ref=rangemedia.co) has offered various services to help small business owners and entrepreneurs, such as assisting with business licenses and marketing. According to their webpage, people can also rent the commercial kitchen, a food truck and vendor equipment for pop-ups. “You're in another country, there’s a different language, new rules, new things — you're completely lost. You feel like, ‘No, I won't be able to pull this off.’” Sanders said. “But they helped.” Then there was the question of her customer base. Because the products she offers are affordable and readily available in Colombia, Sanders said she worried that people would expect that same pricing in Spokane. The cost to make roscones and other Colombian breads in the US is higher. A small vendor making artisanal goods can’t compete with the prices that larger businesses with lower production costs can afford to offer consumers. But people have been supportive, she said. Sanders still splits her time between running her small business and her job as an accountant. She hopes to expand gradually and eventually be able to do that full-time. As she grows her business, she finds herself filled with a sense of personal satisfaction at having overcome the difficulties of the early days. She said she also finds joy when people enjoy the baked goods she makes — whether it’s their first time trying them or not. “It’s something I never thought in my life I’d be able to do on my own,” she said. “So, it’s like seeing that I really am capable of doing something that is really quite difficult." ### No more data centers? No, more data centers! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/data-center-latah-valley-airway-heights/ Last updated: 2026-09-11T21:13:14.000Z RANGE reporter Aaron Hedge joins Val to discuss a proposed AI data center in Airway Heights, and then housing development and conservation efforts in Latah Valley along Highway 195. Articles discussed in this episode: [Spokane County residents mobilize as data centers eye regionLocal people are behind a dramatic social media and public protest campaign demanding a halt on the facilities. Will it be enough to keep the county safe from potential harm?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-db8ee553-b831-463a-8791-21b27e5aeddd.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/data-center-art-9299041a-916c-49de-95ab-9baf1988ebb8.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/) [A win for the Thorpe parcel, but Latah Valley’s bigger problems remain![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-53889abc-4d85-4c3c-8849-0fd4a478a72c.png)Yong-Yu Huang | RANGE Media![](https://www.rangemedia.co/thorpe-parcel/lambert.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/thorpe-parcel/) [Spokane evacuees faced gridlock fleeing Indian TrailResidents fleeing the August wildfires in neighborhoods with limited road access spent hours stuck in traffic, a danger that has been building for years.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-a3cd2283-81a3-48fc-a833-03376dbfb24f.png)RANGE MediaYong-Yu Huang![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A4267-1-4e622186-14cb-4b8c-9dbf-6ba63fdf6618.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/fire-evacuees-face-gridlock/) Listen to our last episode on data center mobilization efforts: [The POD: Mobilizing for data center pauseA heated national issue has come to Spokane; this is what one activist is doing about it![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-f3703848-fc1c-49a2-868b-3f88113dae53.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Podcast-generic--1600-x-1200-px---2--91b7dcaa-8736-4262-b845-71786d0423a5.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/mobilizing-for-data-center-pause/) ### The Thorpe parcel may be saved. Critics say Latah Valley’s bigger problems remain URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/thorpe-parcel/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T19:48:30.000Z There is no bus from downtown Spokane to the Latah Valley. The only way to the homes nestled in sun-bleached grass just southwest of downtown is by car, funneled along the arterial US 195\. The roads to the area are winding, then lattice out into developments like Eagle Ridge and the neighborhoods of Latah/Hangman and Grandview/Thorpe, the latter of which sits on the bluff above the valley. There is no school, so the children must be bused to Cheney or the South Hill. And yet, developers have eyed the area for years, unveiling new housing projects for more than a thousand new homes. On average, a single-family home in the neighborhood is [valued at almost $560,000](https://www.zillow.com/home-values/271899/latah-valley-spokane-wa/?ref=rangemedia.co), almost 38% more than the city as a whole, according to Zillow. On September 1, the Washington State Board of Natural Resources approved a priority list of six land parcels that they will recommend for $30 million in total legislative funding — the highest amount allowed by state law — that would fully fund five of them, with partial funding for the sixth. The Thorpe property slotted in at fifth place — putting it on track for the state’s Trust Land Transfer Program, which allows the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect valuable public land while also improving the trust land portfolio’s financial performance. Transferring the property to the city would preserve rare plant ecosystems and provide park services in the neighborhood, where residents have long criticized the lack of infrastructure. But Latah Valley’s community advocates say that the area’s core issues remain unsolved. Just over a year ago, the valley’s Thorpe Natural Area, home to ponderosa pines and mule deer, seemed destined for the hands of Redmond-based Blue Fern Development. The morning after the Trust Land Transfer announcement, community members and officials gathered to celebrate a major step toward preserving the parcel. Residents who have spent years pushing back against more development in the valley say this is only a start for resolving the valley’s deeper problems. “The opportunity to do something positive, to contribute to the rebuilding of this city at a time when other parks and open spaces have been burned and damaged, to bring a positive vision to the city at this moment in time, I think, is more important than ever,” Washington state Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said September 2 to a crowd of a couple dozen people. The state-funded Trust Land Transfer Program allows the DNR to protect valuable public land while also improving the trust land portfolio’s financial performance. Although the DNR normally manages trust lands to earn revenue for public beneficiaries through activities like timber harvest, agriculture or leasing, the program can transfer a parcel with limited earning potential to another public agency. If the legislature votes to fund the proposal in 2027, the parcel would benefit the Common School Trust, a DNR-managed public land trust that funds public school construction. “There’s no done-deal. So just as a reminder, this will be put forward for consideration, and the legislature is the trustee,” state Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane) said. Though the state faces a budget deficit of almost $500 million in the upcoming biennium, this program is funded by the capital budget — and not the [operating or transportation budgets](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/06/06/wa-governors-office-warns-agencies-to-prepare-for-significant-budget-shortfalls/?ref=rangemedia.co) most impacted by the shortfall. The real question is how far down the list the state legislature would fund, according to Riccelli. “The only caveat there is with huge budget holes — if they occur, there have been times in the past where capital budget dollars have gotten swept to help fund operating,” Riccelli told RANGE. “So there needs to be advocacy at the community level.” **Continued development in the area** Tom Uniack, executive director for conservation organization Washington Wild, said DNR’s decision puts the Thorpe parcel back on the path advocates have long pushed for: allowing the state legislature to fund a trust land transfer rather than pursuing a separate exchange with a private developer. This comes after years of local advocates calling for — and getting — a pause in development in the Latah Valley, citing infrastructure concerns and the fire risks associated with building into the wildland urban interface (WUI). These concerns are not without merit. Molly Marshall, the cofounder of Citizen Action for Latah Valley, said her neighborhood had their first evacuation order during the Russell Road fire in August 2023\. In the chaos, she recalled a kid riding his skateboard around, telling people to leave. But even as evacuees were told to go south, there was no way out in that direction for her neighborhood, she said. According to Marshall, this is an example of the egress issues that residents continue to wrestle with. Since then, the city has hosted two evacuation drills in Latah Valley — for the Grandview/Thorpe area in May 2025 and in the Latah/Hangman and Eagle Ridge areas in April. A report [published](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/emergencymanagement/reports/latah-hangman-eagle-ridge-wildfire-evac-drill-aar.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) after the April drill identified five main egress routes. The route from East Meadowlane Road to US 195, both northbound and southbound, experienced “consistent” congestion, with queue lengths of up to 50 vehicles at peak times throughout the exercise. Internal neighborhood intersections also showed congestion, according to the report. “These findings demonstrate that while multiple egress routes exist, evacuation performance is heavily influenced by a small number of critical corridors,” the report reads. In part to curb these concerns, the Washington State Department of Transportation has requested development moratoriums for Latah Valley in the past. In response, the city approved a six-month stintin September 2022 and a one-year pause in May 2024\. The city pledged to come up with solutions to these problems in the meantime. However, more than 1,500 homes have been approved since the first moratorium. Construction for The Marshall Creek estates, with 425 homes, was approved in October 2024 as its application had been submitted before the first moratorium. In November 2025 after the second moratorium expired, 142 homes were approved for the Latah Glen development. The nearby 997-lot Victory Heights project, backed by Blue Fern Development, was also already in the development pipeline and approved in May 2025\. The first three phases of the Victory Heights plat are approved for construction, according to city spokesperson Erin Hut. These phases include the installation of infrastructure like utilities, streets, sidewalks and shared pathways. Those components must be in place — or the developer must post a bond guaranteeing they will be — before any final approval of lots and homes, she wrote. The development became intertwined with the fate of the Thorpe parcel when the DNR, under former Washington state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, tried to simultaneously pursue a land exchange that would have transferred the property to Blue Fern Development in exchange for a commercial parcel with a grocery store and parking lot in Bellingham. At the time, Blue Fern did not own the property, according to the [DNR’s proposed exchange document](https://dnr.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/amp%5Fthorpe%5Fproject%5Fsummary.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). “There’s one way to deal with this underproducing asset, which is trust land transfer, and then there’s another option, which is mutually exclusive… is to do a transfer like in this case with the developer,” Uniack said. Blue Fern wanted the Thorpe parcel to “significantly expand” their plot, City Council Member Paul Dillon told RANGE. In July 2025, the exchange was [canceled](https://dnr.wa.gov/news/2025/dnr-and-blue-fern-agree-cancel-thorpe-land-exchange?ref=rangemedia.co), keeping the Victory Heights project at its already-approved size. “I would hope that this land being preserved does, in fact, again send a message,” Dillon said of the recent recommendation. He credited local advocates like Friends of the Bluff’s president Jeff Lambert and volunteers for claiming the region as a conservation area. Uniack slammed the previous DNR administration for pursuing both tracks, which he said was “strange” and “unheard of.” The Thorpe parcel had already gone through the Trust Land Transfer process when the agency began moving toward the exchange, he said. On September 2, local conservationist group Lambert questioned why that exchange was considered at all, describing the situation as a “freight train let loose.” “This is an opportunity for us to really take a look at the way our planning department works with developers and make sure that we can limit this kind of thing from happening in the future,” Lambert said. Yet, prospective homeowners continue flocking toward the Latah Valley. Keri McCombs, a member of Spokane REALTOR’s executive board, said the area boasts easy freeway access that makes it attractive for commuters, including military personnel and airline employees. “It feels like its own community that is far from Spokane, but yet it’s such a close commute to downtown Spokane,” McCombs said. In particular, people enjoy neighborhood amenities like walking trails, community activities and public spaces in the Qualchan and Eagle Ridge areas, she noted. She said egress issues are a concern countywide, not just in the Latah Valley, but there are consumers who don’t view that as a major concern. McCombs pointed to Indian Trail and Five Mile as an example. Before the Spokane Complex fires this August, she said, most residents there probably would not have thought evacuation a concern. Additionally, buyer concerns about a specific risk often fade within a year or two of the last disaster, according to McCombs. There’s also been support for more development because it increases the area’s property taxes, which could provide funding for “more amenities to protect consumers,” she said. Latah Valley accounted for roughly 3% of homes sold in Spokane County last year — 207 out of 6,820 total, according to Spokane REALTORS. “The Latah Valley has continued to suffer over the years simply because there isn’t agreement, and there isn’t a common discussion had,” McCombs said. “There’s just a lot of arguing about what shouldn't happen.” **Infrastructural woes continue** To some, the Latah Valley’s infrastructural issues are far from over. Even just concentrating on Thorpe Road, “band-aid solutions” allow development to progress while failing to address longstanding concerns, Marshall said. “That’s what’s very disheartening for so many — just keep building, adding more people — but we’re looking at it just through the lens of that development, not as development as a whole in the area,” Marshall said. “That’s where you see the safety issue.” These concerns span both emergency response and traffic infrastructure alike, from century-old railroad tunnels too narrow for two-lane emergency traffic to a fire station operating out of a converted house. The century-old Thorpe Road tunnels remain an issue for concerned residents, Marshall said. Converted from railroad tunnels, the two passageways — the main way in and out of the Thorpe neighborhood — are too narrow to support two-lane emergency traffic, meaning a fire truck couldn’t pass through if needed, she said. WSDOT has flagged these tunnels as a concern [since the 1990s](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/17/wsdot-again-warns-it-may-close-local-access-to-us-/?ref=rangemedia.co). According to Hut, retrofitting the Thorpe tunnels to modern safety standards would cost an estimated $55 million to $60 million. Spokane Audubon Society member Brian Muegge said that scaled-backed development could also change the scope and cost of fixing the Thorpe tunnels. Rather than engineering for thousands of additional residents, reduced growth could end up being cheaper for retrofitting, he proposed. Additionally, the Victory Heights development includes a three-legged roundabout on Thorpe Road, which Marshall criticized for its potential to block traffic flow in the event of an emergency. In a written statement to RANGE, Hut said that the approved roundabout design review included “consideration for the ability to redirect traffic westward if operational conditions at the tunnels reach unacceptable levels in the future.” Dillon pointed to the highway as another infrastructural concern — one out of the city’s purview. He said he hopes that WSDOT will lower the speed limit to 40 miles an hour. However, he said that there’s been a lack of interest from the department, as it would slow freight traffic along the US 195 corridor. “The missing part of this conversation is how 195 is very dangerous,” Dillon told RANGE. “We need a real vision with the growth that is going to continue happening in so many parts of Latah.” Though there’s been some improvements such as J-turns designed to reduce risky left-hand crossings from Thorpe Road onto the highway, he said those are only stopgaps. Dillon also wants more “placemaking” that will make the area feel more like a neighborhood, especially considering the amount of development that will be coming in. According to Parks and Recreation department director Garrett Jones, an analysis of the city park system identified the Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood as having one of the worst accesses to public parks — with 44% of residents in the area lacking access to a park or open space within a 10-minute walk. The area lacks a real fire station too. The current building serving the area, Fire Station 5, is a repurposed single-family house. Though the city already owns a property off of Cheney-Spokane Road, a lack of funding stands in the way of providing the area a suitable fire response center, according to Dillon. He estimated that it would cost about $8 million, of which Riccelli has already acquired $500,000 from the state. Fire impact fees on new developments could help fund that gap, Dillon said. In 2023, the city approved an ordinance to charge developers more for new water and wastewater hookups — with steeper fees for properties at higher elevations, like those in the Latah Valley area. To Muegge, the conversation surrounding the Thorpe parcel is the “ground zero” of the kind of conversations that communities building into wooded areas need to have. His key question remains: “Should we continue to incentivize development in these WUI areas, or should we work to preserve open space?” ### Empowering youth through the lens of storytelling: URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-photo-camp/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T19:48:50.000Z Photography has always played a huge role in my life. It’s been a career goal, a hobby, a therapeutic outlet and a conversation starter. It’s a tool I’ve used for visual documentation, a method of communication and a way to connect with myself and others. Time and time again, photography has taught me what it means to tell my story, and how my story is woven into the larger stories of my community. So when Lillian Hochleutner, the Co-Executive Director of Community Voice from [Asians for Collective Liberation in Spokane](https://aclspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (ACL) reached out to invite me to do a story on Spokane’s first National Geographic Photo Camp, I felt honored. The Spokane Photo Camp, one of eight statewide camps, took place from June 26 to 30, as a collaboration between ACL, the [National Geographic Society](https://www.nationalgeographic.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Allen Family Philanthropies](https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Not only did students get to learn from National Geographic Explorers [Dominic Bracco II](https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/dominic-michael-bracco-ii?ref=rangemedia.co)​​​​‌ ‍ ​‍​‍‌‍ ‌ ​‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌ ‌‍‍‌‌‍ ‍​‍​‍​ ‍‍​‍​‍‌ ​ ‌‍​‌‌‍ ‍‌‍‍‌‌ ‌​‌ ‍‌​‍ ‍‌‍‍‌‌‍ ​‍​‍​‍ ​​‍​‍‌‍‍​‌ ​‍‌‍‌‌‌‍‌‍​‍​‍​ ‍‍​‍​‍‌‍‍​‌ ‌​‌ ‌​‌ ​​‌ ​ ​ ‍‍​‍ ​‍ ‌‍ ‍‌‍‌‌‌ ‌ ‌ ​ ​‍ ‌‌‍​ ‌‍ ‌‌ ​ ​‍ ‍‌‍ ‍‌‍​‌‌ ‌​‌‍‍‌‌‍ ‌‍ ‍‌‍​‌‌‍ ​‌‍‌ ‌‍‌‌‌‍ ‌‍‌ ‌ ​‍‌‍​‌‌ ​​‌‍‍​‌‍‍‌‌‍​ ​‍ ‍‌‍ ‌ ​‍‌‍‌ ​‍ ‌‍‍‌‌‍ ‍‌ ‌​‌‍‌‌‌‍ ‍‌ ‌​​‍ ‌‍‌‌‌‍‌​‌‍‍‌‌ ‌​​‍ ‌‍ ‌‌‍ ‌‍‌​‌‍‌‌​ ‌‌ ​​‌ ​‍‌‍‌‌‌ ​ ‌‍‌‌‌‍ ‍‌ ‌​‌‍​‌‌ ‌​‌‍‍‌‌‍ ‌‍ ‍​ ‍ ‌‍‍‌‌‍‌​​ ‌​ ‌ ​ ‍​​ ‌‍​ ‍‌‌‍‌​‌‍‌​‌‍​ ​ ‌ ​‍ ‌‌‍​‍​ ‌‍‌‍​‍​ ‌​​‍ ‌​ ‌​‌‍​‍​ ‍​​ ‌​​‍ ‌‌‍​‍​ ‌‍​ ‍‌​ ​‌​‍ ‌‌‍​‌‌‍​ ​ ‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​‍​ ​ ​ ‌ ​ ​‍​ ‌‍​ ‍‌‌‍‌​​ ‍ ‌ ‌​‌ ‍‌‌ ​​‌‍‌‌​ ‌‌‍ ‍‌‍‌‌‌ ‌ ‌ ​ ‌‌ ‌‍​‌‌ ​‍‌ ‌​‌‍‍‌‌‍​ ‌‍ ​‌‍‌‌​ ‍ ‌ ​​‌‍​‌‌ ‌​‌‍‍​​ ‌‌‍ ‌‌‍‌‌‌ ​ ‌ ​ ‌‍​‌‌‍‌ ‌‍‌‌‌​​‍‌‍ ‌‍‌​‌ ‍‌​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​​‍‌‌ ‌‍‍ ‌‍‌‌‌ ‍‌​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​ ‌​‌‍​ ​ ‌ ‌‍‌‍​ ‌ ​ ‌​​ ​​​ ​‌​ ‌​​ ‍​‌‍​‌​ ​ ​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​‌​​‍ ‍‌‍​ ‌‍‍​‌‍‍‌‌‍ ​‌‍‌​‌ ​‍‌‍‌‌‌‍ ‍​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​​‍‌‌ ‌‍‍ ‌‍‌‌‌ ‍‌​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​ ‌‌‌‍‌‍​ ‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍​ ‌‍​‌​ ​‌​ ​‌​ ‌​​ ‌ ​ ‌‌‌‍‌‍​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​‌​​‍ ‍‌ ‌​‌‍‌‌‌ ‍​‌ ‌​​ ‌‍​‍‌‍​‌‌ ​ ‌‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ ​‍‌‍ ​​ ‌‌‍‍​‌ ‌​‌ ‌​‌ ​​‌ ​ ​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​​‌​‍‌‌​ ​‍‌​‌‍​‍‌‌​ ​‍‌​‌‍‌‍ ‍‌‍‌‌‌ ‌ ‌ ​ ​‍ ‌‌‍​ ‌‍ ‌‌ ​ ​‍ ‍‌‍ ‍‌‍​‌‌ ‌​‌‍‍‌‌‍ ‌‍ ‍‌‍​‌‌‍ ​‌‍‌ ‌‍‌‌‌‍ ‌‍‌ ‌ ​‍‌‍​‌‌ ​​‌‍‍​‌‍‍‌‌‍​ ​‍ ‍‌‍ ‌ ​‍‌‍‌ ​‍‌‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌​​ ‌​ ‌ ​ ‍​​ ‌‍​ ‍‌‌‍‌​‌‍‌​‌‍​ ​ ‌ ​‍ ‌‌‍​‍​ ‌‍‌‍​‍​ ‌​​‍ ‌​ ‌​‌‍​‍​ ‍​​ ‌​​‍ ‌‌‍​‍​ ‌‍​ ‍‌​ ​‌​‍ ‌‌‍​‌‌‍​ ​ ‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​‍​ ​ ​ ‌ ​ ​‍​ ‌‍​ ‍‌‌‍‌​​‍‌‍‌ ‌​‌ ‍‌‌ ​​‌‍‌‌​ ‌‌‍ ‍‌‍‌‌‌ ‌ ‌ ​ ‌‌ ‌‍​‌‌ ​‍‌ ‌​‌‍‍‌‌‍​ ‌‍ ​‌‍‌‌​‍‌‍‌ ​​‌‍​‌‌ ‌​‌‍‍​​ ‌‌‍ ‌‌‍‌‌‌ ​ ‌ ​ ‌‍​‌‌‍‌ ‌‍‌‌‌​​‍‌‍ ‌‍‌​‌ ‍‌​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​​‍‌‌ ‌‍‍ ‌‍‌‌‌ ‍‌​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​ ‌​‌‍​ ​ ‌ ‌‍‌‍​ ‌ ​ ‌​​ ​​​ ​‌​ ‌​​ ‍​‌‍​‌​ ​ ​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​‌​​‍ ‍‌‍​ ‌‍‍​‌‍‍‌‌‍ ​‌‍‌​‌ ​‍‌‍‌‌‌‍ ‍​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​​‍‌‌ ‌‍‍ ‌‍‌‌‌ ‍‌​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​ ‌​‌​​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​ ‌‌‌‍‌‍​ ‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍​ ‌‍​‌​ ​‌​ ​‌​ ‌​​ ‌ ​ ‌‌‌‍‌‍​‍‌‌​ ​‍​ ​‍​‍‌‌​ ‌‌‌​‌​​‍ ‍‌ ‌​‌‍‌‌‌ ‍​‌ ‌​​‍‌‍‌ ​​‌‍‌‌‌ ​‍‌ ​ ‌ ​​‌‍‌‌‌‍​ ‌ ‌​‌‍‍‌‌ ‌‍‌‍‌‌​ ‌‌ ​​‌ ‌‌‌‍​‍‌‍ ​‌‍‍‌‌ ​ ‌‍‍​‌‍‌‌‌‍‌​​‍​‍‌ ‌, [Kiliii Yuyan](https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/kiliii-yuyan?ref=rangemedia.co), [Gab Mejia](https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/gab-mejia?ref=rangemedia.co), and [Vishal Subramanyan](https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/vishal-subramanyan?ref=rangemedia.co), they also got to learn from local artists and organizers in our community. Just like the larger international program it’s part of, the Spokane Photo Camp was designed to empower youth through photography and storytelling, deepen their connections in their own communities and learn from National Geographic Explorers and other camp staff. ### Photography as a common language For Eugenia Quintero, a student at North Central High School, participating in the Photo Camp was a big deal for her and her family. Her grandfather, who was a big fan of National Geographic, would get their magazines consistently. Quintero added that she appreciates the variety of photos that National Geographic features like wildlife, nature and society. She gained valuable technical skills from the classes, like how to use light and composition while taking photos. But some of her favorite moments from the Photo Camp were the connections and new friendships she made, and listening to a classmate play the piano every day and getting to “goof off.” Sadaf and Yalda Sarabi, two sisters who attend Lewis and Clark High School, reflected on photography being a conduit that can help connect people, help understand other perspectives and document valuable moments within people’s lives. These sentiments weren’t just felt by students. Frances Grace Mortel, one of the Photo Camp team leaders, reflected on how everyone in her group spoke different native languages: English, Spanish, Dari and Tagalog — and how this actually brought her team closer together. “Instead of English actually becoming the common language, the common language became photography,” Mortel said. Mortel described how storytelling is crucial to activism and movement building, and how arts and culture can become creative pathways for young people to tell their stories. “I noticed that photography as a storytelling tool became this thread that weaved a lot of things that we couldn't say in words,” Mortel said. “It just transforms into this kind of language that we can share somehow.” Another team leader, Margaret Albaugh, described feeling inspired not only by the Explorers, but also by the Photo Camp students and witnessing their excitement about life despite the hardships they’ve faced. It reminded her why she does advocacy work. “This is why we do this, right?” Albaugh said, “It’s because these generations are so meaningful and you just hope that they can keep doing these silly, joyous, beautiful things in the future.” ### ‘Out in the world, exploring their own communities’ One of the camp’s photography sessions was held the same Saturday as basketball lovers gathered for Hoopfest. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/data-src-image-2c822f8c-8f0b-4177-a7dd-05d31ad30d60.jpeg) A basketball game during the 2026 Hoopfest. (**Photo by Meredith Levandowski, taken during the National Geographic Photo Camp in Spokane.*) Among the crowds of people that lined downtown Spokane sidewalks, spilling into the streets in front of makeshift basketball courts, were myself and the Photo Camp group. While the other mentors and students split off into small groups to walk around, I spoke with Bracco, one of the National Geographic Explorers. We weaved through crowds of loud spectators as he told me about the Photo Camp program’s recruitment process in places with established community organizations. “It is better when we’re working with organizations that have an existing relationship,” Bracco told me. “There's a trust there between the student and their families and that organization.” As the local partnering organization for the Spokane Photo Camp, ACL took the lead on recruiting the 14 local participants. Focusing their outreach on young people between the ages of 16 and 20 from immigrant and refugee communities, ACL tapped partner organizations and local community leaders – such as school teachers – who could directly recommend individuals to participate in the Photo Camp. Bracco said the program does more than teach photography skills. “Having \[the students\] out in the world, taking pictures and exploring their own community… It does something to their ability to feel like there's more possibilities out there for them, you know?” he said. ### ‘This little story of Spokane’ Yuyan, one of the National Geographic Explorers, spoke about the growth he’s seen within the students, from their confidence to ask strangers if they can take their photos to them building up their friendships with each other. By the end of the program, the students had taken about 15,000 photos. Mejia, another National Geographic Explorer, said it had been amazing to see the students’ progress, development and the images they took. Speaking to a room full of the Photo Camp students and their family and friends, Mejia explained that they had visited different places like Waikiki Springs and the downtown area. “I hope you enjoy this little piece, this little story of Spokane,” Mejia said. And with that, two videos were shown: the first being a final photo slideshow and the second being a “behind the scenes” video. During the first video, some students nudged their peers when specific photos popped up, while others watched silently. A couple people in the audience cried, demonstrating just how much the program had impacted them. The “behind the scenes” video elicited laughter from people. Once both videos were over, Bracco thanked the Photo Camp students and shared words of encouragement, before handing out certificates. “I really hope that y’all stay in touch with each other and that you continue this kindness that y’all were able to build here with you as you move onto the rest of your lives,” Bracco said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_2480.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_2494.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/09/IMG_2498-1.jpg) Photos taken during the Final Showcase. (**Photos by Pascal Bostic.*) 📸 To learn more about ACL Spokane and their work, click [here](https://aclspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). To learn more about the National Geographic Photo Camp program, click [here](https://www.nationalgeographic.org/explore/programs/photo-camp?ref=rangemedia.co). You can also listen to an interview by Spokane Public Radio about the Photo Camp [here](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2026-08-30/spokane-students-learn-about-photography-from-natgeo?ref=rangemedia.co). *Editor's note: Pascal previously was employed by ACL and continues to be involved on a community level.* ### Renter emergency protections forever or only now? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/renter-emergency-protections-forever-or-only-now/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T18:53:26.000Z Welcome to **mini-abbreviated** CIVICS, where we give you a little preview week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. We had yesterday off due to Labor Day weekend, so here’s a brief look at the biggest items on the docket and a list of meetings you can attend if you came back refreshed and wanting to get civically involved. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review At the Spokane City Council Agenda Review today at 11 am, the city council discussed a slate of potential amendments to an ordinance intended to give renters eviction protections during emergencies. The amendment submitted by Council President Betsy Wilkerson would limit the protections solely to tenants impacted by the Spokane Complex fires, along with other technical changes. An amendment by Council Member Paul Dillon, who filed the original ordinance with Council Members Sarah Dixit and Kitty Klitzke, primarily adds additional ways tenants can prove their income was negatively affected by emergencies, and makes some technical changes. Like the original ordinance, their amendment does notrestrict the ordinance to solely Spokane Complex fire victims and states this will go into effect for any civil emergency, natural disaster or other event resulting in the declaration of an emergency by the mayor. These amendments delayed the vote on this ordinance, so it won’t be voted on at tomorrow’s meeting like originally planned. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Tuesday, September 8 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** Up for a vote this week: - A contract to address a lack of culturally responsive treatment services for the opioid crisis — i.e. services specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of marginalized communities. The city council could contract with four organizations: Center for Growth and Empowerment through Compassionate Addiction Treatment, The Native Project, Nuestras Raices and Washington State University with Spokane Tribal Network. The total cost of these services is under $500,000, which was already approved in the 2026 budget. - An ordinance that would create a process for vacant and underutilized commercial spaces to be temporarily activated. That means spaces like, say, the former Rite Aid downtown, could be more easily transformed for temporary commercial events like, say, the [Punk Rock Flea Market](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/07/spokanes-first-punk-rock-flea-market-will-rock-on-/?ref=rangemedia.co). - Our Urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn is set to be appointed to the Spokane Plan Commission. *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Wednesday, September 9 at 6 pm* *Council Chambers* *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 🫑**/5 peppers** Pretty quiet meeting, but city Transportation and Sustainability director Jon Snyder will give his monthly report on what his department has been up to, so if you’re an urbanist or climate conscious, this might be a meeting to watch. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 8 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** The Plan Commission will be discussing regulatory options to make rebuilding from the Spokane Complex fires easier, including allowing additional dwelling units to be built on properties without primary dwelling units. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 9 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 8 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 8 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 10 at 1 pm* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 10 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, September 10 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 8 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 9 at 8:00 am* > *Spokane Valley High School* > *2011 N. Hutchinson Road, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🌶️**/5 peppers** During the regular meeting: - The board might take a vote on adopting a new policy to allow video cameras on school buses across the district. We mentioned that policy in a [previous version of civics](https://www.rangemedia.co/wildfire-recovery-efforts-continue-at-spokane-city-council/) in late August. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 9 at 4:30 pm (special meeting) and 6 pm (regular meeting)* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 10 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 10 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The law that isn’t enforced URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-law-not-enforced/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T17:48:18.000Z On this week’s episode, Erin Sellers interviewed fellow RANGE reporter Daisy Zavala Magaña about her recent (and upcoming) reporting. In the first half of the show, the two of them talked about Daisy’s recent stories on a state-wide law enforcement mask ban. This mask ban was passed by the Washington State Legislature to keep ICE agents from wearing masks in our communities when they do immigration enforcement. Despite this, there’s been an increase of masked ICE officers making arrests. In the second half of the show, Erin and Daisy talked about an upcoming story she’s working on about a local Colombian baker. Find relevant articles below: [‘Who is not enforcing this?’: ICE officers continue to mask up despite state banAs the Yakima Valley sees a dramatic surge in immigration arrests, the state law meant to hold ICE officers accountable puts the burden of enforcement on the people getting deported.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-75f4d350-b0e4-468e-93a8-4fbc02a3668e.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/dsc_8872_1024-e9fa3be3-b7be-4d25-a56f-a7b9d99c438c.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-officers-mask-ban/) [Los oficiales de ICE continúan usando máscaras a pesar de la prohibición estatalMientras el Valle de Yakima ve un aumento drástico en los arrestos de inmigrantes, la ley estatal pone la responsabilidad de la aplicación de la ley en las manos de las personas que están siendo deportadas.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-4dbd547f-eda1-45cf-b834-be95324fa36f.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/dsc_8872_1024-1-3e37428a-efa0-4300-bd58-48c519f07937.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-continua-usando-mascaras/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### The Other Way People Are Losing Their Homes In The Fires URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-fires-evictions/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T00:17:26.000Z Hannah Swenson needs more time. A tenants’ rights lawyer, she’s well put together, her hair tied back in a neat bun and her suit jacket unwrinkled. But the exhaustion of 16-hour days is starting to creep into her voice. It’s been a little over two weeks since the most destructive wildfires in Washington’s history began roaring along the northwest edge of Spokane. By Monday, August 17, the fires were [mostly contained](https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/spokane-wildfires-contained?ref=rangemedia.co), but for Swenson, the crisis is just beginning. If this were an average week, Judge Candie Dibble’s unlawful detainer docket would receive around 40 eviction filings. But this week, 138 eviction cases are set to be heard in her courtroom. The sharp increase in hearings is a direct result of the Spokane Complex fires, causing hearings slated for the worst days of the fires to be automatically rescheduled for the third week of August. The cases will just keep piling up, Swenson said. “ There's no moratorium on filing new evictions, and there's no change in timeline as far as how quickly they could be heard by the court. It's just all getting smashed in.” She will be in court every morning this week, providing free eviction defense services to low-income tenants on behalf of the King County Bar Association Housing Justice Project — one of two law firms in Spokane offering this assistance. It’s a protection granted to tenants by [Washington’s right-to-counsel law](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/07/washingtons-right-to-counsel-law-alters-the-evicti/?ref=rangemedia.co) — [the first in the nation](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/). They can’t screen people to check if they qualify for assistance quickly enough — instead, representatives from the two firms that provide free legal help set up a screening process just outside the courtroom, hoping to find any tenant who made it to court without a lawyer. Calls to her law firm were coming in so fast the firm had to launch a hotline just for tenants impacted by the fires. There are people slipping through the cracks. Swenson is already overworked, but she tries to find them, checking addresses on the eviction docket against evacuation zones and sending letters to tenants she thinks may be about to miss their eviction hearing. Each morning in the courtroom, she’s poised as she stands before the judge repeatedly. Dozens of the tenants originally scheduled to appear before Dibble that week are packed in with those added to the docket at the last minute. Over and over again, Swenson asks for just one thing: more time. Swenson is overwhelmed. The system is overwhelmed. The tenants who faced down fires and potential evictions in the span of less than two weeks are overwhelmed. It’s only going to get worse. The loss of more than [800 homes](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/21/spokane-fire-damages-will-exceed-1-billion/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the blaze collided with Spokane’s [already-stressed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/10/wildfires-threaten-to-further-strain-spokane-areas/?ref=rangemedia.co) [housing market](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-complex-fires-impact-rental-real-estate-market/293-88591f6c-70e9-46da-8fb8-95fc23f1f422?ref=rangemedia.co). The city administration says that at least 11 rental properties have been confirmed as damaged or destroyed, and estimates the full total of rental units impacted could be nearly 90\. A RANGE analysis found 43 units listed on the city’s long-term rental registry fell within the burn area. Even more structures have been damaged or [rendered toxic](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/14/a-false-sense-of-security-residents-return-to-unda/?ref=rangemedia.co) by lead, asbestos and soot. The number of pre-eviction notices served on tenants throughout Spokane County in August is triple the average. Renters balancing on tightrope budgets may stumble, unable to make September payments due to unexpected evacuation costs. Governor Bob Ferguson tried to address the potential stress on the rental market, including provisions in an emergency order that “eviction-related actions” should be prohibited until August 24 — a move that stopped the sheriff from evicting people for a few weeks. The Spokane City Council is working on an ordinance that would allow renters who lost income due to emergencies like the fires to use that as a legal defense in eviction proceedings. But Ferguson’s order failed to stop eviction proceedings from piling up in the courts, and the city council didn’t move quickly enough for the tenants with hearings scheduled in August. “A new wave of evictions is coming,” Swenson said. ### ‘ Bizarro times’ From August 17 to August 20, RANGE watched the full week of the unlawful detainer docket, where lawyers from the King County Bar Association Housing Justice Project and Northwest Justice Project took turns representing clients in eviction proceedings. It’s Monday, and Judge Dibble has 53 eviction cases scheduled that morning. “I know it’s been bizarro times,” Dibble says. In order to speed up proceedings, she’s signed all the proposed orders that have no opposition, she adds. They barrel through cases. Tenants, some a little rumpled, some dressed in their Sunday best, are sent to the hallway to complete a screening to see if they qualify for free legal representation. In most cases, they do, and their cases are deferred a week or two to give their new lawyers time to prepare. One woman waits patiently. When her name hasn’t been called by the end of the two-hour docket, she raises her hand. Her original court hearing was postponed due to the fires, and the order she got from her landlord told her it had been rescheduled “to the week of August 17 at 10 am.” The judge tells the woman to come back later that week. “It's better that you showed up early than show up late,” Dibble says. “ We will see you back here on Thursday at 10 am.” Twenty-two hours later, court is back in session. On Tuesday, August 18, there are 33 eviction cases to churn through. Six of those are for tenants who live in evacuation zones. One man, wild-eyed on the video call screen, only learned he had an eviction hearing scheduled through one of the frantic letters sent by Swenson’s firm. He has late rent that’s been accruing since December of 2025, but this is the first he’s learned of his right to legal representation. His case is deferred so he can get counsel. Another set of tenants, a couple, also learned of their hearing from one of Swenson’s letters. They haven’t completed an intake yet, but they came to court, mail in hand. They’re given more time, too. A renter from the evacuation zone with back rent he couldn’t pay due to a health scare and medical bills asks for an interpreter — he doesn’t understand the legal paperwork he’s been given. His case is continued until they can schedule an interpreter fluent in Sudanese Arabic. Some tenants don’t show up. Swenson worries some of them may not have even known their hearings were rescheduled for this week. Most are automatically evicted, a default judgement entered in favor of their landlords. On Wednesday, there are 26 cases to be heard. Things move fast. There’s one moment of tension — lawyers for the different landlords claim none of the rentals were located in an evacuation zone, which was supposed to require personal services of notices. Swenson disagrees. She’s mapped the rental addresses on the docket against the evacuation zones. Two of the tenants that morning who were given default evictions because they didn’t come to court were evacuated, Swenson says. Dibble promises to double-check the addresses before she actually signs the eviction orders. At the close of court, they call the names of those who missed their court time. One is the woman who mistakenly came on Monday. She isn’t here; Dibble had told her to come back Thursday. Unfortunately, her actual court date was the day before. It takes less than a half-hour to hear the 26 cases scheduled for Thursday morning. It would have finished faster, but one woman has questions for the court. The late rent is her fault, she says, but she has the money to pay for it now. If she does that, do eviction proceedings stop? Dibble tells her she would need to reach an official agreement with her landlord, and that she should sit down for a screening in the hallway to see if she qualifies for legal assistance. Another eviction is delayed a week — the tenant qualifies for rental assistance, and it just hasn’t been distributed yet. A few tenants didn’t know they could get free legal help; Dibble continues their cases out too, giving them time to connect with lawyers. Every day, people were evicted for failing to show up to court. Every day, tenants showed up to court solely because they’d received the last-ditch effort letters Swenson's firm sent out. “\[This\] showed that people displaced were not getting their mail, that there needed to be extra protections and assistance in place for them to be able to appear and not have the fires result in their evictions just purely by lack of notice given during the emergency,” Swenson said. “That was pretty telling for me.” All of the tenants the court saw in the week we watched court had ongoing proceedings, evictions initiated before the fires began. The backlog of cases and continuances has continued to push into September. Meanwhile, new cases are coming, Swenson warned. ### ‘One thing after another’ The fires created unplanned emergency expenses for people living in razor-thin margins. Spending extra gas money to evacuate or dropping a couple hundred dollars to secure a hotel could mean the difference between being able to make rent or not. One tenant told Swenson they’d spent their rent money on a U-Haul to evacuate their grandparents. “If your bottom line is so tight, you’re spending money on helping your grandparents escape instead of paying your rent by the fifth,” Swenson said. “ Secondarily, we're seeing a lot of tenants are required to pay rent to property management offices through certified funds. Banks weren't open, roads were closed. There's all of these barriers to timely payment while our community was literally on fire, and those are things that we are seeing people have accrued late fees for.” Those cases are already starting to cross her desk as more tenants receive the 30-day pay-or-vacate notices mandatory in Washington state. When RANGE met with Katelyn outside of a coffee shop on a Friday morning, she shook slightly throughout the interview, a tremor wracking her shoulders every so often. It was chilly out, but she was “shaken up” and scared, she said. Katelyn, who asked to only use her first name to avoid damaging her ability to get housing in the future, is staring down the barrel of an eviction, hoping Swenson’s firm can help her family. The mother of a baby and a medically-fragile four-year-old, Katelyn can’t work. Because of her son’s asthma, allergies and autism, she stays home to care for him while her husband is the sole breadwinner. Before the fires, they were a little behind on rent and were given a 30-day notice to pay July’s rent or leave their North Spokane apartment. Her husband worked extra hours, and they’d qualified for rental assistance through Catholic Charities, Katelyn said, and they had the money to pay for both July and August’s rents. With the fires came smoke, and her son’s asthma worsened. They weren’t in the evacuation zone yet, but to stave off a hospital visit, they fled the smog, heading to camp in a family member’s yard 36 miles away in Sprague. When the smoke followed them there, too, they drove 50 miles Newport and stayed with her uncle. “ I just kind of assumed, ‘Okay, we're gonna be out maybe two days worth of food. I can go donate plasma. It'll be okay.’” Katelyn said. “That was not the case at all.” On top of the unexpected food and gas costs, they came back to smoke damage in the apartment. They had to flush the water lines and replace their air filter, which “was black with soot,” Katelyn said. Their utility bill from Avista was $200 higher than usual. Then, their landlord wouldn’t accept the rental assistance payment, she said. “ I just feel like it's one thing after another this month,” Katelyn said. “I'm trying to get my kid ready so he can go to preschool this year, but I just don't know where I'm supposed to go from there.” Swenson’s firm is trying to negotiate a repayment plan for Katelyn’s family, to give them some breathing room to catch up while they still have a roof over their heads. “I just don't know what I'm gonna do moving forward if I can't continue to stay. We're gonna end up homeless, and I really fear that for my kid, especially with his medical issues,” Katelyn said. “ If I do get an eviction, no one's gonna rent to me. No one's gonna rent to my family. I just... I don't know what that means for us.” ### ‘Ash and soot and chemicals’ Many families returned to houses still standing and bank balances that weathered the initial storm. They were lucky: they had emergency savings to lean on and homes untouched by the blaze. No eviction court notices were left taped to their doors. And yet, they’re calling Swenson too. When Steph and her husband left their rented townhouse in North Spokane, they could see the flames out their window, creeping ever closer to their cozy subdivision. Their kids and pets had evacuated earlier, picked up by Steph’s mom, but she stayed as long as possible, trying to save what she could from their home. Steph, who asked to use her first name only because she fears retaliation from her landlord, was hopeful when she returned home for the first time after the evacuation orders lifted. But when she opened the door to her house, there was ash in the windows. The curtains were coated with soot. Particulates clung to the porch and the outside of the frames. The fences outside had been melted by the heat. Steph refused to bring her family back inside — both of her daughters were born premature and have underdeveloped lungs. She worried the air quality and smoke damage in the property could harm them. An independent restoration company Steph hired to analyze the property said there was over $60,000 worth of damage. Insulation and carpet needed to be replaced. Soft goods needed to be thrown out. The water in the house needed to be extracted and remediated. Her family moved into a place in Liberty Lake that had a move-in deal that included three months of free rent, and she ferries her children to and from their schools in Mead every day. It’s cost her over $18,000 so far, but they replaced bedding, clothing and furniture, using their savings and hoping to be reimbursed by their renter’s insurance. Washington law says that landlords cannot charge rent for periods in which a unit is unlivable. Steph asked for a rent credit and to be released from her lease, which has another eight months left. But despite the smoke damage, she’s still being charged rent at their North Spokane unit. Her townhome was managed by Greystar, the largest landlord in the nation, who recently [agreed to stop using](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/dec/04/spokane-joins-cities-banning-use-of-price-fixing-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) algorithmic price-fixing software as part of a $7 million [lawsuit settlement](https://www.propublica.org/article/greystar-realpage-doj-settlement-landlords-apartments-software?ref=rangemedia.co). Representatives from Greystar told Steph that her home was habitable, per an assessment from a restoration company they hired, and that she just needed to run a hydroxyl generator to “address any persistent odors that may not dissipate,” according to emails reviewed by RANGE. “Based on the inspection and investigation by qualified professionals, we have no reason to believe the unit is uninhabitable, unsafe, or unreasonably unsanitary,” the [email](https://gyazo.com/d0717795b6cd0c144f0900a43d77ec09?ref=rangemedia.co) continued. “Therefore, we are unable to release you from your tenancy or provide you with a rent credit.” Steph, a social worker with two jobs, thinks renters like her family are being taken advantage of, forced to live in unsafe environments and pay for repairs that are a landlord’s responsibility. “ You either have to sit in this ash and soot and chemicals and live that way and just deal with the consequences for your health forever, or you have to fight them,” Steph said. “I just think it's really sickening to do to people. I think they're absolute monsters.” Hoping to push back, she called the Tenants Union of Washington, who connected her with Swenson’s firm. Steph’s case was the first of its kind to cross Swenson’s desk but “other people with that same set of facts are rolling in,” she said. In a short follow-up interview the first week of September, Swenson said her firm is “trying to prioritize all of this new representation for fire victims. They’re not in court being evicted, but their rights are being violated and they’re displaced and not safely back in their homes.” She’d hosted multiple pop-up legal clinics to help tenants impacted by the fires understand their rights. She’s personally representing 18 clients — seven with fire-related cases. On top of her regular legal work, she’d been spending nearly 30 hours a week doing policy work to advocate for tenant protections at the city level. Dealing with the aftermath of the crisis is both a marathon and a sprint, as the cases pile up and the potential Spokane City Council ordinance for emergencies faces opposition from landlords as it inches closer to passage. “It's gonna be an interesting test of the support of our most vulnerable in our community. I'm concerned about the narrative that's being pushed, that this crisis only affected homeowners,” Swenson said. “There are lots of tenants who deserve just as much help, who have been just as dramatically affected, and often are populations that have no safety net and their lives are gonna be changed and at risk.” In our last interview on Wednesday, September 2, there was a ragged edge to Swenson’s voice. She’d just left eviction court again. She would be back the next morning. ### Local artists partner with Spokane Tribe on music festival for fire victims URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/music-festival-for-fire-victims/ Last updated: 2026-09-16T20:37:21.000Z Wildfires have burned over [700,000 acres across the state](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/08/19/cost-to-battle-20-wildfires-in-wa-has-topped-200m/?ref=rangemedia.co), and the Spokane Complex fires alone have destroyed over 830 homes, displacing [thousands of people](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-spokane-complex-fires/). With the damage expected to exceed [$1 billion](https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2026/08/28/washington-wildfires-851000-acres-spokane-fires?ref=rangemedia.co), the idea of rebuilding can be daunting for communities. In an effort to raise money for wildfire relief, nonprofit Spokane Artists For Change and the [Spokane Tribe](https://www.spokanetribe.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) will partner for a two-day music festival that will be held Friday and Saturday at the Spokane Tribe Casino, which the tribe donated the use of. “It’s a unique situation in that these fires have affected our homelands and how we’ve been given this chance to help those in need,” said Triston Andrews, Marketing Director for the Spokane Tribe. “We’re happy to be a part of this.” All ticket sales and vendor fees for the [Spokane Strong Music Fest](https://spokanetribecasino.com/spokane-live-events/spokane-strong-music-fest/?ref=rangemedia.co) will go toward wildfire relief for the Spokane Complex fires and the [Modrite Fire](https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/level-3-go-now-evacuations-place-modrite-fire-burning-near-inchelium/7SZQN4YA2ZGQ5EW3RKUVLVSNZU/?ref=rangemedia.co) on the Inchelium Reservation in Ferry County. Shaun Jones, director of [Spokane Artists For Change, ](https://www.facebook.com/people/Spokane-Artists-For-Change/61592817540542/)described the "heartbreaking" sight of driving through the damage on Rifle Club Road and Indian Trail. Jones, who is also a fixture of Spokane’s music scene, lives in Nine Mile Falls. His area was under a level two evacuation, meaning he had to get set to leave. “I was lucky, but so many others weren’t. You drive past the Bowl and Pitcher at Riverside and it looks like a war zone,” he said. Jones’s family lost their house to arson when he was seven years old, so he knows what it’s like to have a home suddenly and violently taken away. Jones said so many artists volunteered to perform at the festival that organizers had to "unfortunately turn people away.” “Maybe we should have made it three days,” Jones said. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get everyone on stage, but knowing so many people wanted to give their time and talent is wonderful to see.” Approximately [50 local and regional artists](https://linktr.ee/SpokaneStrongMusicFest?ref=rangemedia.co) will perform, including [Jaeda](https://www.instagram.com/jaedamusic/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Fire From Ashes](https://www.facebook.com/FFABAND509/), [Zack Pass](https://zackpass.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Skellee](https://www.instagram.com/belleesway/?ref=rangemedia.co), Jones as [GrandMixer GMS](https://www.facebook.com/OnKFOXNightbeat) and more. A $20 ticket grants entry to both days and the fee for vendors to set up is $25\. Jaeda, a rapper, producer, pop artist and active community organizer in Spokane for over 20 years, had her own close call with the [Bradeen Hill Fire](https://www.khq.com/fires/bradeen-hill-fire-in-stevens-county-burns-more-than-4-000-acres-reaches-92-containment/article%5Fbd1aaef2-80ba-4090-8c83-5170469ca1df.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in Stevens County last month. The inferno almost burned down her family home in Gifford, but firefighters were able to save the house. “It’s a wake up call on how we should be putting each other and our planet first,” she said of Washington’s early and costly [wildfire season.](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/08/19/cost-to-battle-20-wildfires-in-wa-has-topped-200m/?ref=rangemedia.co) “My house is still standing and I’m okay, but there are so many throughout our region that have lost everything. Whether people want to recognize it or not, that’s our community, our neighbors and I feel like we have to do something in whatever capacity we are able to.” The Spokane Strong Kickoff Party will be at the casino and feature local hip hop and EDM artists from 7 to 11 pm Friday night. The Spokane Strong Main Event featuring local musicians, DJs, vendor booths, food trucks and family-friendly activities is Saturday from 11 am to 11 pm. If you’re interested in volunteering or being a vendor at Spokane Strong Music Fest, email [spokaneartistsforchange@gmail.com](mailto:spokaneartistsforchange@gmail.com) and put Attn: Volunteer or Attn: Vendor in the subject line. > *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### 'One way out': Spokane fire evacuees fled and faced gridlock URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/fire-evacuees-face-gridlock/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T06:50:54.000Z The fire moved fast. By the time Kendall Steinhardt and her husband evacuated their six children in three cars, the power transformers had already started blowing up in their Indian Trail neighborhood. But as smoke billowed up to heights of about 80 or 100 feet, she estimated, the family realized they were surrounded by bumper-to-bumper traffic in a sea of cars as far as the eye could see. Steinhardt recalled her husband “bawling,” afraid for their lives. “You can look in your rearview mirrors. You can look behind you. All you see is cars driving in, or backed up into the smoke, and then everybody’s at a standstill,” Steinhardt said. “You can see the blue skies, but everybody’s just stopped there as far as you can see.” When the evacuation order came on August 1, residents fleeing the Indian Trail area didn’t get far before finding themselves trapped — some were stopped within a block of their own driveway by their neighbors’ vehicles. It took the Steinhardts four and a half hours from the time they left their home to get to Post Falls, Idaho — just 25 miles away — to regroup. Most of that time was spent stuck on Nine Mile Road, Steinhardt recalled. Planes dropped bright pink fire retardant around them, as evacuees’ cars sat in clouds of smoke. She described it simply: “Just panic.” “It’s almost like a scene from a movie,” she said. “We were scared that we were going to die there for a moment.” ### **Growing pains** Some critics say that after years of population growth, the Indian Trail road network in northwest Spokane hasn’t caught up with how many people now depend on it. The population of the North Indian Trail and Balboa/South Indian Trail neighborhoods has increased an estimated 19% from 2010 to 2015, from roughly 15,700 residents to nearly 18,800, according to a RANGE analysis of state population estimates. That's roughly one and a half times the growth rate of the city of Spokane as a whole over the same period. There are nearly 7,000 households in the area, almost all of which have vehicles, according to the 2024 American Community Survey. About three-quarters of those households own two or more vehicles. When the evacuation order went out on August 1, some households — including the Steinhardts — left in multiple cars. Lisa Yank’s family didn’t wait to see how bad the fire would get. When the emergency alert hit Level 2, they started packing. Once the city declared her home in the Indian Trail neighborhood a Level 3 evacuation zone, Yank, her husband, their 19-year-old son and his friend loaded into the car — along with a dog and a cat — in about 10 minutes. But traffic soon halted their escape on Comanche Drive, several blocks from Indian Trail Road. They tried to take a side street, hoping to find a gap, but instead discovered it funneled into the same jam. They had to reverse back into line, where they sat, barely moving, for close to two hours. During that time, Yank said she wondered if they ought to return to their house. “But then again, you look to your right and you see the smoke is growing and coming closer,” Yank said. At several points, she felt that if they had to sit any longer, they’d have to get out of the car and walk. A police officer finally arrived after two hours, she said, and within 15 minutes, traffic began to move. It took another hour after that for Yank’s family to reach her mother’s house near Rogers High School — just over three hours total to travel a few miles. University of Utah professor Thomas Cova, who has spent nearly three decades studying wildfire evacuations, said that development often outpaces road networks. “If you just watch all these woody communities over decades, the same evacuation 30 years ago might have been a couple hundred homes,” he said. “Now it’s a couple thousand, and the exits are the same.” The worst example he’s seen, Cova said, was a community near Conifer, Colorado, where just one exit served roughly 2,000 homes. When he sees a situation like that, he said his focus shifts from evacuation altogether to asking about backup plans instead: ponds, clearings, parking lots or anywhere that could function as a refuge. The same imbalance is visible in the Indian Trail area, where the population has grown roughly one and a half times faster than the city as a whole. There’s little economic incentive to stop or slow increased development, according to Cova. “The list of parties that make money when a house is built is in the thousands — from every screw and every drywaller and every title company,” he said. “The list of people that make money if a house isn’t built is zero.” ### **Clearing a way out** Field officers, deputies and leadership saw “traffic flow concerns” during evacuations, Spokane Police Department spokesperson Tricia Leming said. They communicated with incident command, which assigned additional resources “without delay” to address the problem while evacuations continued, according to Leming. Spokane police captain Shawn Kendall, who served as the incident commander during the response, said the department shifted into what he called “hasty evac mode” as the fire closed in, deploying more than 120 personnel in teams of four to go door to door and confirm people were leaving. Officers also found themselves fighting traffic in the other direction. Residents tried to drive back into evacuation zones, even as law enforcement tried to direct people out and allow first responder vehicles in, he said. “A lot of folks were trying to come home to get pets, loved ones, understandably, medications or valuables, that type of thing,” Kendall said. Kendall said the police decided to shut down northbound and westbound traffic and just create two lanes heading out of the evacuation zones. Field leadership also worked traffic lights on Francis Avenue, he said, since backups there were affecting flow further upstream. Ultimately, it worked — though it still took time to evacuate over 60,000 people across the fires burning throughout Spokane that day, there were no casualties, Kendall said. According to him, preplanning for a scenario like this is nearly impossible, since something as small as a shift in wind direction “can change the whole scenario.” In these situations, simplicity and flexibility are “the name of the game," he emphasized. If this ever happens again, Kendall said he now has strategies that law enforcement can implement earlier in an emergency. The department becomes involved at the request of law enforcement, which is typically Washington State Patrol, according to Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Nicole LaGoo. The department cooperated with local emergency response to set up 11 barricades — on Swenson Road, Assembly Street, Rutter Parkway and Suncrest Drive, she said. "WSP would be the agency responsible for requesting that we do anything like closing roads, diverting traffic, whatever that may be, for the safety of the public," LaGoo said. The department will also be conducting an internal debriefing on September 2, LaGoo added. The city, meanwhile, has been working on ways to identify evacuation bottlenecks before another emergency occurs. The August 1 evacuation was unusual because residents went directly from no evacuation notice to a Level 3 order, rather than first receiving Level 1 and Level 2 warnings, city spokesperson Erin Hut wrote in a statement to RANGE. “The City’s Emergency Management Department has been working with a modeling software to assess bottlenecks and areas of delay in North Indian Trail,” Hut wrote, adding that they hoped to develop the data into a fire department resource. The city’s emergency management has also spent the last year conducting evacuation drills with neighborhoods and first responders, according to Hut. North Indian Trail would have been set for a drill in the spring. ### **Old concerns revisited** Congestion concerns on Indian Trail aren’t new. Spokane City Council member Zack Zappone grew up in North Indian Trail and said he’s seen growth in the neighborhood since his childhood — and has heard the concerns about evacuations. He said he has friends and family who evacuated from the area, and has heard stories from people as they were taking “three, four hours trying to get out of Indian Trail or Five Mile.” In 2024, the City Council approved a Comprehensive Plan Amendment including an Excelsior Wellness development that would see a mixed-use campus of housing, health care and commercial space come to Indian Trail. However, some residents in the area warned the city that more development on Indian Trail Road could pose traffic congestion concerns. In an email from 2025 — made public as part of the council’s legislative [agenda](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/citycouncil/legislative-agendas/2026/08/city-council-legislative-agenda-2026-08-26.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) for the August 26 session — Norberto Leute not only pointed out the "significant risk of fires" but also wrote: “How is traffic congestion going to be handled? There is a very spotty history of poor traffic planning.” On Wednesday night, the council voted unanimously to approve a Development Agreement for five parcels in the Balboa/South Indian Trail neighborhood owned by Excelsior. A North Indian Trail resident since the 1980s, former journalist Trish Mack spoke in support of the resolution during the legislative session and said that she’s been through two fire evacuations in her neighborhood. “I have covered many stories — then witnessed them — about the ongoing pleas from us residents to widen the road, along with former Fire Chief(s) Bobby Williams and Brian Schaeffer asking the same,” she said. She criticized a [1997 lawsuit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/sep/04/road-widening-project-temporarily-halted-by/?ref=rangemedia.co) from late developer Harlan Douglass that she said delayed a widening project for the road. To Mack, the Excelsior development is part of the fix for public safety in the area, and she hopes it will “drop our crime and arson rates,” but the road still needs to be widened. Zappone also voiced his support for Excelsior’s development. In his opinion, stopping a development doesn’t change existing concerns around evacuation, and he said Excelsior has participated in discussions about infrastructure concerns on Indian Trail and has “shown up trying to offer solutions on how to address speeding and safety and evacuation.” He’s heard that police resources were tied up in evacuation efforts, he said. “There’s also a lot of adult family homes in these neighborhoods, and police officers were literally carrying people from them,” Zappone told RANGE. According to him, the police, fire and street departments are all doing “internal reflections” about the event. Zappone said he’s asked for those after-action reports to be made public. Steinhardt and Yank aren’t alone in their families’ stories. Evacuees have filled social media with similar stories, photos and videos of evacuation gridlock in the weeks since. When Yank went to bed at her mother’s house on the night of August 1, Yank did not know if her house was still standing. She said she’d heard about the Indian Trail neighborhood’s reputation — “one way in and one way out” — without ever really absorbing what that meant. “That had never really crossed my mind until we got into that situation,” she said. > *Methodology Note: Population figures are drawn from Washington Office of Financial Management estimates for four Census tracts covering roughly 97% of the North Indian Trail and Balboa/South Indian Trail areas. Because Census tract and neighborhood boundaries do not align exactly, totals are approximate. Vehicle-ownership figures come from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates for the same tracts.* ### The sky’s the limit for downtown buildings URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/downtown-building-height-restrictions-cellebrite/ Last updated: 2026-08-31T19:23:42.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council could extend the interim moratorium on height limits downtown, which is government jargon to say — developers can continue to build really tall buildings downtown, if they want to. - At the Public Safety & Community Health Committee meeting, the city council members will also discuss a new ordinance designed to penalize the owners of “chronic nuisance properties” who fail to properly handle, well, chronic nuisances. - Spokane Police Department wants to spend an additional $45,000 on Cellebrite, the software that was used to secretly extract data from protesters’ phones, and they’ll be asking the council for permission at that same Public Safety & Community Health Committee meeting. - Spokane County is facing a $30 million structural budget deficit — that could mean higher taxes in our futures. - Spokane Valley is talking about the Urban Growth Area, the boundary restricting costly suburban sprawl. But there’s always a balance to be struck: housing restrictions in the past have helped drive up housing costs and increase homelessness. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Up for a vote next week: - A contract to address a lack of culturally responsive treatment services for the opioid crisis — i.e. services specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of marginalized communities. The city council could contract with four organizations: Center for Growth and Empowerment through Compassionate Addiction Treatment, The Native Project, Nuestras Raices and Washington State University with Spokane Tribal Network. The total cost of these services is under $500,000, which was already approved in the 2026 budget. - An ordinance that would create a process for vacant and underutilized commercial spaces to be temporarily activated. That means spaces like, say, the former Rite Aid downtown, could be more easily transformed for temporary commercial events like, say, the [Punk Rock Flea Market](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/07/spokanes-first-punk-rock-flea-market-will-rock-on-/?ref=rangemedia.co). - Our Urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn is set to be appointed to the Spokane Plan Commission. - An emergency ordinance to ensure tenant protections for those impacted by the wildfires. Read the details [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/wildfire-recovery-efforts-continue-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Emergency%20tenant%20protections). Up for a vote in two weeks: - A procedural ordinance to modernize how the city’s financial funds are referenced in municipal code by removing budget codes that are no longer active, updating references in the fund structure and codifying funds that should have already been codified. Even if these items are a week or two out, if you’re passionate about them, you can testify at the Wednesday city council meetings. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Tuesday, August 25 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** It’s a slower night at Spokane City Council but there are a few interesting items up for a vote, including: - A contract to give Liberty Lake-based Frank Family Investments an 8-year Multifamily Housing tax exemption for the creation of 200 housing units in the Kendall Yards neighborhood. - An ordinance to allow existing funds to be used to expand access to cooling, heating and weatherization services to individuals who meet the criteria established by the HEART Fund. - An ordinance that would get rid of a city requirement for charitable organizations to obtain a free “charitable solicitation” license. Because this duplicates state requirements, Spokane could cut this requirement at the city level. - An extension on the interim zoning ordinance that temporarily removed height limits on new buildings downtown, making it so tall building construction downtown is allowed for at least another six months. This extension is set to expire March 24, 2027, after which there may be permanent code changes that nix the height restrictions. And a reminder — with the new format of council meetings, you can also sign up to testify on items that are one or two weeks out from a vote, which we preview in our Agenda Review section. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 2 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, September 3 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Consequences for chronic nuisances Last week, [*The Spokesman* reported](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/23/7-eleven-on-division-street-declared-a-chronic-nui/?ref=rangemedia.co) that city officials had declared the 7-Eleven downtown a “chronic nuisance” back in July, and were still struggling with the property. “This business is making a profit off vulnerable people, and at a minimum, should use a portion of that profit to secure the property and prevent these recurring problems,” Brown told *The Spokesman*. “They are using our police department as their own personal security service, which takes away critical capacity to respond to other emergent needs.” The city was aware of 125 reports involving drugs and loitering in the two months before it was declared a chronic nuisance, and the intersection of Second and Division that it’s on has [long been a target](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-2nd-division-intersection-woodward-police-overtime/) of politicians wanting to crack down on visible homelessness. Now, City Council Member Paul Dillon has proposed an ordinance that enhances the penalties for property owners of plats deemed chronic nuisances — designed to “give such property owners additional incentives to address the problems that their property is creating.” It would give the city the power to impose fines, charge abatement expenses, order landlords to pay relocation assistance to impacted tenants and in extreme circumstances, order the property into receivership, where a neutral third party is appointed to take control of it. Chronic nuisance would be defined as a property where nuisance activity is observed three or more times during a 60-day period, or seven or more times during a 12-month period, or a property where drug-related activity has been identified two or more times pursuant to a valid search warrant or any abandoned property where nuisance activity exists. If passed in a few weeks, the ordinance would be effective starting January 1, 2027. ### More money for Cellebrite The city could spend an additional unplanned $45,000 on Cellebrite “​​due to an unanticipated increase in contract renewal cost.” Cellebrite is a software that [helps cops hack phones](https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/19/cellebrite-asks-cops-to-keep-its-phone-hacking-tech-hush-hush/?ref=rangemedia.co), like in the Spokane 3 case, where the FBI [secretly extracted data](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/06/cellebrite-phone-protest-ice-dhs-spokane-fbi-conspiracy-surveillance-privacy/?ref=rangemedia.co) from at least 13 phones originally seized by the Spokane Police Department. The funding comes from the Forfeitures & Contributions chunk of the police budget. ### Getting grants The city received — and needs to accept — a bunch of grants, including: - A $200,000 grant from the WA State Department of Commerce to fund a partnership project with the YWCA. This annual award, renewed through 2030, will pay for intimate partner violence threat assessment training and software and staff overtime to address domestic violence. - A $10,000 grant from Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund (which, disclosure: also supports RANGE) to support the city’s therapeutic court programs, providing basic need supplies for court participants, like hygiene products, clothing, shoes, snacks, water, backpacks and warming and cooling specific items. - A $209,679 grant from WA Traffic Safety Commission to train SPD officers in identifying and successfully investigating impaired drivers. The funding will go to ensuring all SPD officers below the rank of Sergeant receive training. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 1 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** The County Commission will get over 2.5 hours of briefings on issues they’ll later vote on, including a public works building that was paved over to cap environmental contaminants, a revenue-sharing plan between the state and Waste Management, and an agreement for the sheriff’s department to get reimbursed by the US Capitol Police for unspecified services. But that’s all prelude for discussion of the Sword of Damocles hanging over the County’s head: a $30 million structural budget gap. The choice is stark: Cut spending or raise taxes. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2220/files/agenda/2585?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 1 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** First, back in 1992, the state let counties charge a 1% tax on rental cars to help fund sports stadiums or other athletic facilities. But this year, the state legislature decided that perhaps criminal justice was just as important as tossing around the ol’ pigskin: so now, the county can use those funds, if they so choose, for criminal justice purposes. The county commission will vote on whether to change the county’s law language to do just that. Next, Spokane County has been suing the state Department of Ecology over the regulation of toxic PCBs (or “polychlorinated biphenyls,” as the kids call them). The commission will be asked to potentially settle the case. All this, plus: a whopping $1,000 traffic safety award from the Washington Association of Sheriffs, an $80,000 contract for ballistic vests for the Sheriff's department and the approval of a state government affairs consultant. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 1 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council (special meeting) **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** Okay, no regular 6 pm meeting today – but there *will* be a 5 pm Very Special Meeting on the Valley’s UGA plan. The UGA (or “Ugh-Uh,” as it isn’t pronounced) is short for the “Urban Growth Area,” the boundaries where state law allows dense development to spread in Spokane County. Make the UGA too wide, and you get budget-busting sprawl and potentially put more homes in the path of wildfires. But make it too tight, and you choke off the supply of housing, sending housing costs soaring and increasing homelessness. So the long-term stakes are surprisingly high. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 1 at 5 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** A member of the Liberty Lake Community Engagement Commission is facing removal, a consequence for playing hooky for four meetings. The president of Visit Spokane is giving their 2025 Economic Impact Report — which says that 2025 saw a slight uptick in visitors to Spokane County compared with 2024\. And with hopes to increase that economic impact further, the council plans to vote on investing $11,000 in their annual contribution to Greater Spokane Incorporated, the regional chamber of commerce. Finally, they’re looking at approving a $40,000 agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources for three years of streetscape maintenance… conducted by prisoners. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 1 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Spokane County residents mobilize as data centers eye region URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-residents-mobilize-as-data-centers-eye-region/ Last updated: 2026-08-31T00:19:02.000Z *Editor's note: Kara Odegard, who is quoted in this story and provided a courtesy photo, is a board member of the Spokane Workers Cooperative, of which RANGE is a business member. Per our policies on editorial independence, Spokane Workers Cooperative has no knowledge of or influence on our editorial coverage.* Jeremiah Harding was not done with the Spokane County Commission by the end of its August 25 meeting. Other folks trickled out of the room, but Harding, dressed in a red flannel and a T-shirt splattered with paint from his day job as a laborer and holding a smart phone on a selfie stick in hand, approached the commissioners as they shuffled their papers and prepared to leave. Commissioner Al French quickly gathered his things and walked out. Everyone else stayed to see what Harding wanted. “Are any of you gonna answer Brittany’s question?” he said. Harding was referencing Brittany Anderson, the Spokanite who [released](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14fwhQbRDHA/) a trove of documents in July that showed French had been in high-level secret discussions with a data center developer to build a facility on the West Plains — for months. Anderson’s research has since sparked a series of protests demanding transparency around data centers. During the Tuesday morning meeting, she had asked the commissioners whether a data center developer had “vested” in Spokane County, which means, in part, to apply for building permits. The commissioners had evaded her question; Harding noticed the evasion, and didn’t want to let it slide even if the meeting was over. He kept asking questions: “Nothing moving toward land use for a data center?” “I’m not aware of any building permits being turned into our building department,” Commissioner Josh Kerns replied. The meeting had adjourned a few minutes earlier, so none of Harding’s questions were on the official record, but county attorney Matt Folsom later emailed Anderson to say: “The county has not received any complete land use applications for a data center.” Spokane County residents have loudly expressed their feelings about a possible data center in the last few weeks — including at the August 27 Planning Commission meeting, where commissioners workshopped a slate of new data center regulations. Folks have [protested data centers](https://www.kxly.com/news/protesters-gather-at-avista-hq-to-oppose-data-center-development/article%5F67af0942-e74a-4b63-acd4-3ea3a8e81617.html?ref=rangemedia.co) outside the Avista Corp. headquarters in the wake of revelations that data center developers had been courting the power utility. Dozens have railed against the idea at [Planning Commission](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fHRPKa2c4M&ref=rangemedia.co) meetings and at the [County Commission](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ZQ0PYOhZE&t=2621s&ref=rangemedia.co), the top lawmaking body in the county, itself. They want county leaders to disclose any meetings they’ve had with developers *before* someone like Anderson — an average Spokanite with a civic streak —- has to file a records request. They want strong zoning restrictions on data centers. They want local officials to take their time making those regulations. Some, including Harding, a self-identified “conspiracy theorist,” and anarchist activist, want to ban data centers altogether in Spokane County. Others want voters to be able to weigh in on them. In the last month and a half, hundreds of Spokane County residents have sent emails to lawmakers, attended public meetings, filed requests for public records and educated themselves about the impacts of large data centers. They’ve moved the needle. The backlash against data center development — and the perceived secrecy surrounding data center planning — pushed the commission to do something its majority had previously said it would not: [approve a moratorium](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-four-month-moratorium-data-center/). ### A simmer becomes a boil Washington state lawmakers are trying to more rigorously regulate data centers, but have so far [been unsuccessful](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/03/02/its-lights-out-for-wa-legislatures-effort-to-regulate-data-centers/?ref=rangemedia.co). State Representative Beth Doglio (D-Olympia) introduced a bill at the beginning of the last legislative session that would require data centers to fund the full cost of their potential to draw massive amounts of energy. It’s an important topic: the developer French is courting wants to build a facility that would consume 1,000 megawatts at any given time — about the same amount of electricity currently consumed by all of Spokane County. State Representative Timm Ormsby (D-Spokane) attached an amendment to that bill that would exempt data center developers from sales and use taxes in Spokane County. Commissioner French, who noted in a recent public meeting that part of his duty is to encourage development, supported that amendment in a public hearing. In February, that bill died in committee. But French’s testimony at the state legislature on Ormsby’s amendment caused a buzz. People around the county began murmuring about the prospect of a large data center coming to the region. But it was not clear where or when or how such a project would happen until local news organizations, [including RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/), reported in June that Avista had entertained a proposal for months from a data center developer to build a 500 megawatt facility near Spokane. Harding and about 30 other activists protested outside the Avista headquarters on June 29, and the utility quickly stopped its conversations with the developer. The Spokane City Council immediately began considering a year-long moratorium on new data centers, [approving one](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/22/spokane-city-council-approves-yearlong-moratorium-/?ref=rangemedia.co) in late June. Watching this unfold, community organizer Michael Doyle roped about 100 people — Indigenous people, members of the Spokane Democratic Socialists of America and the Communist Party of Eastern Washington, union representatives, water commissioners — into an encrypted Signal chat. The goal of the participants was to demand transparency from city and county officials about their conversations with data center developers and persuade them to heavily regulate potential data centers — or even flat out ban them. They hit the ground running, planning rallies and public actions. They set up an [informational website](https://nospokanedatacenter.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) containing much of Anderson’s research. They discussed [French’s stocks](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-french-pledges-to-sell-chemical-stocks/) in companies that make chemicals and devices for the data center industry. They commiserated about being disgusted by the commissioner’s secrecy around his conversations with developers. Anderson, who is on the Signal chat, had been watching news about large data centers going up in places as far-flung as Argentina. On June 12, she requested records showing commissioners’ activities regarding data center developers. At the commission’s June 21 legislative briefing session — meetings where policies are only discussed and not voted on — Jordan and Waldref introduced their proposal for a nine-month moratorium in the county. In response, French and his fellow conservative Commissioner Josh Kerns rushed to [introduce](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) their own resolution that would have created some zoning restrictions for data centers — and, crucially, a road map for approving data center applications. The move was meant to circumvent the moratorium, and French and Kerns advocated that the county approve the resolution without any public input. “We shouldn't be moving at the speed of government,” Kerns said. “We need to move at the speed of business and quite frankly get this taken care of by the end of August.” On July 22, Anderson got her records back. They showed French had met with Apricus Energy Partners CEO Sean Boyd about developing a hydrogen facility and data center on the West Plains. He’d also met with Avista and the Kalispel Tribe about the proposal. She took screenshots of many of the documents, which RANGE has reviewed, and published them on Facebook. After that July session, the commissioners went on a scheduled break until August 11\. More than 100 people showed up to the regular commission meeting that day, standing in the aisles waiting to speak. Commission Chair Mary Brooks allowed a few dozen attendees to speak for a minute each. Many singled out French directly. Some demanded an apology for an off-hand comment the commissioner had made at a previous meeting suggesting data center opponents are “anti-American.” The county legal and planning staff spent that scheduled break preparing a proposal for how the commission could move forward. They advised the commission to pause data center approvals for four months and had drafted a zoning regulation proposal that will be the subject of two public hearings in the coming months. Until December 15, no data centers will be approved. ### A short window The commission’s moratorium on data center development, which it calls a “pause,” will bar anyone from drawing permits to build a data center until December 15\. This timeline puts Spokane far ahead of many communities across the country, where people have [only learned of](https://apnews.com/article/data-centers-artificial-intelligence-technology-amazon-google-56b84cbb94942039754282afb076a87b?ref=rangemedia.co) new data centers when they’ve already popped up in their backyards. The effort to pause data center approvals has seemed urgent. Minority liberal commissioners Chris Jordan and Amber Waldref [proposed](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/#:~:text=Commissioners%20Amber%20Waldref%20and%20Chris%20Jordan%2C%20who%20are%20seeking%20to%20impose%20a%20nine%2Dmonth%20moratorium%20on%20approvals%20for%20data%20center%20permit%20applications) a much longer nine-month moratorium in July. At the July 21 meeting, [Jordan warned](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/#:~:text=Commissioners%20Amber%20Waldref%20and%20Chris%20Jordan%2C%20who%20are%20seeking%20to%20impose%20a%20nine%2Dmonth%20moratorium%20on%20approvals%20for%20data%20center%20permit%20applications) that if a developer filed a permit application before the county had imposed zoning regulations, there would be few rules to make sure it didn’t damage the local environment or economy. A four-month pause was still a victory for those who oppose data centers. “The community really does come together,” said state Representative Suzanne Schmidt (R-Spokane Valley). “We want economic development, but we don't want it at the expense of our families, our resources. I applaud the community for staying on top of it.” But she clarified several times in an interview that she does not support data centers if they have significant environmental, economic or social costs. Whatever the case for data centers, the pause has a short horizon, and most who oppose data centers say it’s not nearly enough time to come up with effective zoning regulations. County planners and the commission now have just months to regulate an industry whose technology is evolving at breakneck speed. *The New York Times* recently [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/07/29/technology/ai-chips-data-center-boom.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that if current trends continue, the 20 million AI chips in existing data centers will become 200 million by the end of 2028, as hundreds of new facilities are built around the world. Spokane County’s four-month pause can be extended if the commission feels it hasn’t achieved adequate restrictions. But the Spokane Environmental Policy Coalition, an advocacy group, says the pause is too short and the rules too lenient to guarantee safe data center development. Schmidt is leaving her seat in the state House of Representatives to run for the county commission seat that Commissioner Mary Brooks will vacate at the end of her term. Schmidt will face an opponent, Rachelle Miller, who won enough write-in votes during the August primary and will kick off her campaign the evening of September 1 on an anti-data center platform. "People on all sides of the political spectrum are sending a resounding NO to data centers, but they are largely ignored by politicians,” Miller said in a press release announcing her campaign. “Our campaign is about giving the people in Spokane County an independent voice, not handouts for tech billionaires." In an interview, Schmidt acknowledged the angst over data centers but pointed to a range of economic benefits she said they can bring to communities. “There is big support from the unions to see these \[data centers\] move forward because it puts people to work, and it provides opportunity for apprenticeship,” she said. “Throughout my whole career, I've been involved in workforce development.” A Brookings Institute [analysis](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-evidence-on-data-center-employment-effects/?ref=rangemedia.co) of 1,500 data centers says: “Data centers do create local jobs, though fewer than industry advocates claim. Naive estimates that fail to account for preexisting growth trends overstate the effect.” Schmidt’s rhetoric would be unlikely to surprise Harding, the Spokanite who challenged the commission at the August meeting. Harding said the “pause” may represent only a temporary hiccup in larger designs to build the facilities. “They've temporarily made this a forestallment on the inevitable,” he said, noting that the four-month pause might be just enough to quiet the protesters, giving the county a chance to bring in a data center. “If we the people actually do stand up, maybe we could do something about it. I just don't envision that happening.” ### What’s next? The proposed county resolution to regulate data centers, which the Planning Commission workshopped for the first time August 27, will go through at least two rounds of public comment at planning and county commission meetings before the commissioners vote on it. [SCC 14.830 Data Center Zoning DRAFTSCC 14.830 Data Center Zoning DRAFT.pdf290 KBdownload-circle](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/2026/08/SCC-14.830-Data-Center-Zoning-DRAFT.pdf "Download") It identifies a series of rules, among other requirements, for data centers, requiring developers to: - Map any nearby aquifers, demonstrate they can and will pay for their own water and electricity resources and minimize the disruption of radio, phone and similar signals - Locate any new power infrastructure on the site of the data center or adjacent to it - Only discharge “minimal” amounts of water into the public domain, after they treat it - Comply with national fire safety standards for energy storage technology - Site electric infrastructure in safe, grounded housing - Have an accessible water truck at the site of any construction or welding operations - Give staff cell or wired telephones for fast communication with fire crews - Build their facilities no closer than 1,000 feet (about three city blocks) from residentially- or commercially-zoned property lines - Keep all structures shorter than 60 feet in height - Create a 25-foot landscape buffer with native plant species, including at least one shade tree every 75 feet and one flowering tree every 50 feet, among other plants - Keep noise no louder than 50 decibels at the nearest property line When the proposed resolution was made public earlier this month, Kara Odegard, chair of the Spokane Environmental Policy Coalition, sent a letter to the commission asking it to expand the scope of the effort to regulate data centers. She asked it to extend the moratorium to May 16, 2027, when the state legislative session will end, giving the commission the chance to harmonize its regulations with any proposed state-level law. She also asked it to expand the regulations to a broader range of facilities that can use large amounts of water. “Let's show Spokane that you're taking this seriously, getting the right people in the room, having the conversations in a forum that allows a back and forth, that allows a thought process and a problem-solving process all in one,” Odegard said in an interview with RANGE. Meanwhile, many activists are asking the commission to allow voters to weigh in on data centers. Doyle is exploring whether the county could create a ballot measure to allow voters to say whether they want a data center in the county at all. But it’s a long-shot under current state law. To pose such a ballot initiative, the county would have to become a home rule jurisdiction, meaning it would have more flexibility over zoning for local industries — a long and fraught process that could have implications for county compliance with state development rules. ### CONVENTIONal wisdom URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/conventional-wisdom/ Last updated: 2026-08-28T13:00:06.000Z On this week’s episode, Val Osier interviewed Daniel Walters about his recent stories from the 2026 Spokane GOP convention. They talked about what happened at the convention, Daniel’s experiences while sitting outside of it, and more. Find relevant articles below: [The Spokane GOP is deeply divided on whether the party is more unified than everParty leadership went to war with their own candidates — and set the stage for future conflicts.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-956e4a4d-24dc-434e-bded-1311168c92c7.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Copy-of-Copy-of-civics-2026-6-349f0729-2ec2-4416-8e76-bf9f54026e78.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-gop-deeply-divided/) [We reported directly outside of the 2026 Spokane GOP convention because we didn’t want to pay $100Never underestimate the stubborn frugality of a journalist.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-879f436f-a2a2-484f-8220-e49d6f914b6f.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Copy-of-Copy-of-civics-2026-5-3015913c-cad0-4cfc-9aa7-4abf698de31d.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/outside-the-spokane-gop-convention/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### The Spokane GOP is deeply divided on whether the party is more unified than ever URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-gop-deeply-divided/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T00:23:03.000Z 💡 Read about RANGE’s experience covering the conference — which had a mandatory $100 entrance fee for journalists — [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/outside-the-spokane-gop-convention/). On the dais of the Spokane Valley City Council, Al Merkel — brash and boisterous — is something of a pariah. He’s been [sued](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/24/spokane-valley-councilman-al-merkel-to-lead-county/?ref=rangemedia.co) for defying records laws, [investigated](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/CivicSend/ViewMessage/message/230304?ref=rangemedia.co) for disrespectful behavior toward city staff and called an “[asshole](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/30/come-and-get-me-higgins-merkel-have-verbal-alterca/?ref=rangemedia.co)” at a meeting by a fellow councilmember. But at the Spokane County Republican Party convention on Saturday morning, Merkel was steering the course of the dominant political party of a county of over a half million. As the head of the resolutions committee, he’d help hammer out a sprawling packet of declarations on policy: 20 resolutions stretched across 53 pages and more than 180 “be it resolved” clauses, weighing in on everything from “geoengineering” to freezing legal immigration. But taken as a whole, the resolutions went beyond declaring positions: they set out tight new standards for denying future Republican candidates the party’s endorsement. And before lunchtime hit, the majority of the crowd of over 170 convention delegates had approved the whole thick packet. “I think we are more united than we ever have been," Merkel told RANGE. “Today, we fought the issues on the floor and that brought unity to the party.” And yet, there’s little doubt: on the question of unity, the party is deeply divided. ### **Eating their own** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-14b60731-0639-491c-8637-b88b5af72f0e.jpeg) **Local Republicans are divided about the leadership of Spokane County Republican Party chair Rob Linebarger, seen here at the podium of the Spokane GOP convention.* (Photo by Daniel Walters) Throughout the convention, phones of delegates were buzzing with text messages sent en masse from an anonymous number. The target: Republican county auditor candidate Michael Cathcart. “Don’t be fooled,” one message said. “Republicans deserve better than a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” During the primary, Cathcart had been accused of all sorts of heresies against Republican orthodoxy, including wearing COVID masks, supporting mail-in voting and getting endorsed by Democrats. Even as many of the county’s elected Republicans lined up to support Cathcart, most of the leadership of the party’s central committee [had aligned](https://www.rangemedia.co/cathcart-whitaker-auditor-race-behind-the-scenes/) behind Cathcart’s rival, Dale Whitaker. The primary was over. Cathcart beat Whitaker and was the sole Republican remaining. Yet on August 12, the party’s candidate committee was still refusing to back him. “We’ve always had a split in this county, but this one has gotten worse,” Cecily Wright, former board chair, told RANGE. Former state committeeman Matt Hawkins shared similar concerns about polarization in the party. “They're being consumed in power politics internally, and the reality of it is, if you get consumed by power politics, you actually start cannibalizing yourself,” Hawkins said. In fact, just three days before the convention, the leadership of the Spokane County Republicans released a fiery [open letter](https://gyazo.com/53632b41b47db62244aafa089a6a222a?ref=rangemedia.co) acknowledging “division within the Republican Party,” and blaming Tony Kiepe, the Republican candidate for the 3rd Legislative District, and their own state committeeman, for “doing nothing to heal those divisions” or reduce “infighting.” Kiepe’s crime? He had gone rogue by recommending that the state party endorse Cathcart. Party leadership accused Kiepe of forfeiting trust, asked for his resignation as state committeeman and removed Kiepe from the slate of recommended endorsements. “It was his last opportunity to be at the state committee meeting … and yet he elected to spend his last meeting trying to divide Spokane County,” delegate Morna Gilbert said of Kiepe during the convention. But Gretchen McDevitt, a longtime Republican activist, countered that Kiepe "has been a faithful Republican" but that because he "did something people don't like … now they want to banish him." Ultimately, the convention delegates defied the party leadership recommendations: they added both Kiepe and Cathcart to the party’s endorsement slate. “In the future, they won't even be able to do that," lamented Brian Steele, another former party chair. Embedded within the packet of resolutions touted by Merkel were new endorsement standards that could cause the party to more easily deny even long-time members of the party endorsements. ### **Who’s the purest of them all?** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-0b593932-20a0-424c-a0fa-6a15da94eaf2.jpeg) **Spokane Valley City Council Member Al Merkel has been a major force in championing a series of resolutions that could restrict how the GOP endorses in the future.* (Photo by Daniel Walters) From the convention floor, Merkel acknowledged that the Republican Party was in conflict. But his solution was simple: more tightly define who could call themselves “Republican.” “That infighting exists in large part because we have allowed the meaning of the word ‘Republican’ to grow weak and unclear,” Merkel said. “We gave up our power to define our own party.” And so one resolution — “affirming American Exceptionalism, Patriotism and Civic Education” — goes far beyond simply asserting that America is great and patriotism is cool. It demands that candidates endorsed by the party not accept endorsements from Democratic officials or candidates until the Democratic Party officially condemns the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a movement that, the resolution claims, hates America and wishes to see its downfall. The threat of the radicalism of the DSA was so profound, Merkel argued, that accepting support from even mainstream Democratic officials was taboo. “We can't associate with them as long as they're willing to associate with that evil,” Merkel argued. “We can't stand with them, and we can't accept their endorsements.” To allies of Michael Cathcart, the resolution’s intent seemed clear. Cathcart had been condemned for accepting the endorsements of Democratic officials like the current county auditor and the Spokane City Council president. This resolution would give the party official grounds to punish this kind of bipartisan appeal in the future. There were other new standards too. Another resolution stated that candidates who’d voted to increase the tax burden without “extraordinary justification” might be denied the party’s endorsement. Much of the opposition came from officials who were currently serving in office. Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam expressed concern that the tax restriction could penalize officials who voted for a new jail, fire bond or school bond. But he had broader objections as well. “I very much have conservative and Republican values and ideals, but taking a loyalty oath towards a party is something that I have an issue with,” McCollam told RANGE. “We’re not beholden to the GOP board. We’re beholden to the people who elect us.” Jessica Yaeger, who serves with Merkel on the Spokane Valley City Council, argued that the “purity tests” in the resolution were “actually quite divisive.” “We need to bring people into the party rather than drive them away,” said Spokane Valley Mayor Laura Padden. “Ronald Reagan and President Trump all had Democrat support, and that's how they got into office.” In fact, in many ways, Trump rose to power a decade ago in part by defying the Republican purity tests at the time — he attacked the Iraq war, promised not to cut Medicaid or Social Security, and bucked the party’s commitment to free trade. It’s not entirely clear that Trump would pass the new tests posed by the Spokane GOP’s standards. As RANGE pressed Merkel on whether Trump’s passionate support of tariffs — a tax on imports — would conform to the party’s resolution on taxes, a woman listening nearby couldn’t stand this line of inquiry. "Why is it always about Trump?” she said. “Who *gives a shit*." Indeed, during the speeches at this convention, Trump’s name was mentioned relatively rarely. In at least one instance during 6th Legislative District candidate Jonathan Bingle’s keynote, it was with criticism. "I’ve got to say this: As much as I love President Trump, I want him to stop getting involved in the economy in ways that he is, because he's perverting the marketplace and it needs to stop," Bingle said. It’s a small sign, perhaps, that the president’s grip on the party may be weakening. The fights in conventions like these may represent early stages of the upcoming fight to define “Republican” if Trumpism fades. The resolutions spotlight not just the positions that the party declares verboten, but the topics the party is willing to embrace. One resolution proposes to ban legal immigration for five years “to evaluate national security considerations and the economic impacts of artificial intelligence.” Another is filled with just-asking-questions forays into a slate of conspiracy theories, from geoengineering to “unusual fire behavior” to chemtrails, the unfounded idea that vapor trails from jet planes are actually part of a sinister plot. Delegate Greg Laxton, a longtime pilot, expressed deep embarrassment by that resolution, calling it “wackadoo,” comparing it to “supporting Bigfoot,” calling conspiracy theories about chemtrails “fabricated nonsense" that makes the party “look silly.” "I've flown jets for 35 years,” he told the crowd. “This is not a thing.” But the next delegate countered Laxton’s three decades of aviation experience by describing how he had looked up into the sky, and seen the sky grow cloudy a half hour after a bunch of airplanes crossed it. Some in this crowd aren’t the type to be persuaded by the claims of professional experts. "We may look crazy, but we're not,” another delegate **said, weighing in** on the chemtrails theory. “We were told we were crazy when we didn’t take the vaccine, and who was right? We were right … Do we really know what is being sprayed on us, and why?" Laxton and the other critics of the resolution failed to convince the room. The full packet of resolutions, including the “geoengineering” resolution, passed. And so, in Spokane, the definition of “Republican” shifted, ever so slightly. ### We reported directly outside of the 2026 Spokane GOP convention because we didn’t want to pay $100 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/outside-the-spokane-gop-convention/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T04:25:52.000Z 💡 Read about the nitty-gritty details of the convention and the future of the local Republican party in a story from RANGE [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-gop-deeply-divided/). Experiencing the pulse-pounding thrill of watching local Republican precinct committee officers attempt procedural maneuvers through Robert’s Rules of Order doesn’t come cheap. For a general admission ticket to Saturday’s local Republican convention, candidates were charged $50\. Delegates were charged $50\. Guests were charged $50\. Ah, but for journalists — that noble profession singled out for protection by the Founding Fathers in the very first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America — the Spokane County Republican Party named a [different price](https://event.auctria.com/765f5e1e-737f-4355-be6b-559735df28f9/a809178051b511ea91bae14d12592328?ref=rangemedia.co): $100\. It created a sneaking suspicion that, perhaps, this party did not love practitioners of the craft of journalism as deeply as I did. In prior years, journalists just walked in, flashed a press pass like an FBI badge and started reporting, free of charge. At the national level, this idea isn’t entirely new. In 2015, the [Republican National Committee announced](https://rollcall.com/2015/11/30/democrats-wont-charge-press-for-2016-convention-seats/?ref=rangemedia.co) they’d charge journalists $150 a pop for press stand access at the upcoming national convention, sparking print media organizations to object that the "proposed fee smacks of forcing the press to pay for news gathering." But even then, journalists who didn’t need the press stand weren’t charged for simply walking through the doors. It could, of course, have been worse: for the state GOP convention in Idaho, instead of being able to watch [convention meetings](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/06/13/journalists-barred-from-observing-first-day-of-idaho-republican-state-convention/?ref=rangemedia.co) at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, journalists were made to sit in a windowless corner and think about what they did. Any plan to charge journalists, however, runs into a problem: you can’t nickel and dime people who don’t have nickels. We may be wise in the ways of Grocery Outlet coupons and the day-old pastry discounts, but we are not a people of means. These days, the most viable business strategy for funding journalism involves copper wiring and unguarded building sites. *Spokesman-Review* reporter Emry Dinman tells me the *Spokesman* considered buying a general admission ticket, but couldn’t justify just handing money to a political party. Even at a badass publication like RANGE, where journalists docool and rebellious things like get tattoos and use contractions, we have ethical codes too: and one of them is, don’t donate to a political party we’re covering. Among other issues, we wouldn’t want to feed conspiracy theories that RANGE was entirely staffed by secret cryptoconservatives. But even if we at RANGE wanted to shell out money to establish Republican bona fides, think of how much Republican-y merchandise we could have purchased with that $100\. Nearly [600 miniature American flags](https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9.html?subj=goods-un&%5Fbg%5Ffs=1&%5Fp%5Fjump%5Fid=894&%5Fx%5Fvst%5Fscene=adg&goods%5Fid=601099808132193&sku%5Fid=17593393597675&adg%5Fctx=a-e76981a7~c-af45f018~f-1a8cb722&%5Fx%5Fads%5Fsub%5Fchannel=shopping&%5Fp%5Frfs=1&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fprz%5Ftype=-1&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fsku%5Fid=17593393597675&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fgid=601099808132193&mrk%5Frec=1&%5Fx%5Fads%5Fchannel=google&%5Fx%5Fgmc%5Faccount=5347809690&%5Fx%5Flogin%5Ftype=Google&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fgg%5Flnk%5Ftype=adr&%5Fx%5Fads%5Faccount=7917063364&%5Fx%5Fads%5Fset=23243524751&%5Fx%5Fads%5Fid=188053421749&%5Fx%5Fads%5Fcreative%5Fid=783164733738&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fsource=g&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fgclid=CjwKCAjwtKrUBhAhEiwAr77Zojv7%5FzZtDTh3OCbOiY6QyImRVsIk3xsj-sOgqf-UMfXcFNO1v0dBzRoCA0kQAvD%5FBwE&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fplacement=&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fmatch%5Ftype=&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fad%5Fposition=&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fproduct%5Fid=5347809690-c0oj20-17593393597675&%5Fx%5Fns%5Ftarget=&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fdevicemodel=&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fwbraid=CkAKCAjwkaXUBhBJEjAAOcdPCVWdGaKX0ObQmbESkrl%5Fz9FkVBypgwqq2HAcy01ZsxFxo2gtgmIy9rkRP6oaAkcg&%5Fx%5Fns%5Fgbraid=0AAAAAo4mICF2GfzR7SSyLB2js5X1vFm8D&%5Fx%5Fns%5Ftargetid=pla-2451301708024&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=23243524751&gbraid=0AAAAAo4mICF2GfzR7SSyLB2js5X1vFm8D&gclid=CjwKCAjwtKrUBhAhEiwAr77Zojv7%5FzZtDTh3OCbOiY6QyImRVsIk3xsj-sOgqf-UMfXcFNO1v0dBzRoCA0kQAvD%5FBwE&ref=rangemedia.co) from Temu. Two George W. Bush “[Mission Accomplished](https://www.ebay.com/itm/385597831452?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=385597831452&targetid=2450249296795&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9190552&poi=&campaignid=21214315381&mkgroupid=188184246123&rlsatarget=pla-2450249296795&abcId=9407526&merchantid=6296724&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=21214315381&gbraid=0AAAAAD%5FQDh-jlgtgENqd197il38iaF2qH&gclid=CjwKCAjwtKrUBhAhEiwAr77Zote06tZHLHn5LgzgqDrolID6qD8H9e14gD7CjTNI-9yhdA6foafWkBoCNLsQAvD%5FBwE&ref=rangemedia.co)” Flight Suit Action Figures on eBay. Six t-shirts declaring the media the “[Enemy of the People](https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/59024096-mainstream-media-enemy-of-the-people-political?countrycode=US&utm%5Fsource=google&utm%5Fmedium=shopping&utm%5Fcampaign=%5BG%5D+%5BG.NAM%5D+%5BL.ENG%5D+%5BGEN%5D+%5BC.TShirts%5D+%5BPLF%5D&utm%5Fid=notset&utm%5Fcontent=donald%20trump&utm%5Fsource=google&utm%5Fmedium=cpc&utm%5Fcampaignid=20400420646&utm%5Fcampaign=%5BG%5D+%5BG.USA%5D+%5BL.ENG%5D+%5BGEN%5D+%5BC.TShirts%5D+%5BPMAX%5D&utm%5Fadgroupid=&utm%5Fadgroup=&utm%5Fterm=&utm%5Fcontent=TShirts%5FEvergreen&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=19663900695&gbraid=0AAAAACKgNehlPVR%5FnVkEPRzagEt5E8fRj&gclid=CjwKCAjwtKrUBhAhEiwAr77Zovuu49t7IgivpJExoQSzdB%5FmTM%5FyteQcIJfz6fG8jz9emjDKBHTeOhoCEMMQAvD%5FBwE#321P59024096D1V).” Almost three-quarters of a full tank of gas for a Ford F-150\. One gold-foil embossed Donald J. Trump Presidential Edition copy of the [God Bless the USA](https://godblesstheusa.com/collections/books/products/presidential-edition-bible?ref=rangemedia.co) Holy Bible, before tax. Either way, we couldn’t just skip covering it: Considering the Spokane County Republican Party had [gone to war against one of its own candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-gop-deeply-divided/), the potential for juicy drama was, in sober journalistic terms, just too delicious. Maybe I could duck in unnoticed, clad in the robes of a simple beggar. Maybe, inspired by President Trump, I could sneak in by stuffing myself inside a [catering cart](https://nypost.com/2026/08/10/us-news/trump-snuck-off-air-force-one-in-catering-truck-departed-turkey-on-secret-military-flight-amid-iran-threat-report/?ref=rangemedia.co)? Or maybe, through my overinflated sense of my own charm and animal magnetism, I could “[*rizz*](https://corp.oup.com/news/rizz-crowned-oxford-word-of-the-year-2023/?ref=rangemedia.co)*”* my way in. ### **On the outside looking in** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-775cbf12-fe53-4efa-8c01-f095c2adfc6e.jpeg) **A clip from the History Channel original miniseries* Sons of Liberty **the way it was meant to be seen*: **through a telescopic lens pointing through a window in the doors of a Republican convention.* (Photo by Daniel Walters) I walk into the lobby at the Mead Union Center convention site at about 8:45 am, sporting a *Washington Post* t-shirt — I’ve never written for the *Post* but hope the t-shirt just shows how serious I am about journalism — and my bright yellow RANGE press badge. Secretary John Scherling asks if I have a ticket. I roll the dice, admit I’m a reporter, but fail the Charisma check. I wouldn’t be getting in without paying, he said. Why were journalists being billed a higher price? I ask. Why charge the fourth estate as much as the second and third estates combined? "Committee decided that," Scherling says. He doesn’t say which committee. Why? “I dunno,” Scherling elaborates. Fortunately, the doors into the convention’s main room had one weakness: windows. I walk up to the doors and stare plaintively through the doors’ windows, like a shivering Victorian orphan waif standing in the snow, watching a happy family celebrate Christmas indoors. But I had one thing that those freezing paupers didn’t: a 500mm Nikon telephoto zoom lens. I dig into my oversized backpack and hoist out my behemoth of a lens — the sort paparazzi use to get pictures of heartbroken Ben Affleck getting Dunkin door-dashed, but I use to get disturbingly close pictures of marmots — and point it through the glass to see what I could see. There: I could see Spokane City Councilman Michael Cathcart looking intensely at his phone. There: I could see 6th District state legislative candidate Jonathan Bingle standing in front of the convention audience, stripping off his red polo shirt before replacing it with a “Faith, Family, Freedom” shirt with a Christian cross set against an American flag. (Thankfully/tragically, depending on your political orientation, Bingle had an undershirt on.) There: I could see, projected on the wall, a clip of the miniseries *Sons of Liberty* showing Sam Adams (Ben Barnes, *The Punisher*) waxing eloquent on the eve of American independence. Freedom isn’t free, but at $8.99 a month for Amazon Prime Video, you can stream *Sons of Liberty* for $91 less than the GOP charges for press access. Every so often, the door would open and I would catch a brief clip of sound. “...does the government work for us, or do we work for the government?...” or “...with businesses like mine…” or — of course, of course — “USA! USA! USA!” ### **Lobby lobbying** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-bde5fbe2-1571-4d0e-98f9-7d9c17451d16.jpeg) **NO REPORTERZ ALLOWED.* (Photo By Daniel Walters) At one moment, the Spokane GOP staffers managing the front desk in the lobby try to get me kicked out of the building entirely. “You're taking pictures of our event, and you're not even supposed to be in here,” they chide. Someone in the party overrules them, striking a compromise. I would be allowed to stay in the lobby, so long as I didn’t cross the threshold into the main room. That meant I could hit up convention-goers for comment if they left the safety of their sanctuary. Representative Rob Chase (R-Spokane Valley) doesn’t want to be interviewed. He’s upset about a “hit piece” he says I wrote, though he doesn’t remember exactly what it was about, or if it was me who wrote it. Either way, he doesn't want to speak with “‘Grange’ or whatever.” But there are plenty of others who are happy to talk. Bingle walks out the door, flashes one of those sparkling politician smiles that practically comes with an audible *\*ding\** and walks up to shake my hand. He says he was unfamiliar with the elevated price for press credentials. "This is the first time I'm hearing of that," Bingle says. Shucks, if it was up to him, Bingle jokes, he would have charged me *10* times the normal price. He grins. *\*Ding.\** I catch former state committeeman Matt Hawkins on the way out, and he’s eager to discuss his thoughts on how the Washington legislature should elect its senators differently, to give rural areas a bigger advantage. Though he didn’t end up staying for the convention, as a guest of Rob Linebarger, the party chair, he said he wasn’t being charged anything to enter. “They should let you in!” Hawkins says. “Just say, ‘it sounds like you’re willing to let Hawkins be a guest. Why can’t I be a guest?” I find an unexpected ally: former Spokane GOP chair Cecily Wright. I haven’t gone [easy on Wright](https://www.inlander.com/news/sheriff-ozzie-on-gop-chair-who-hosted-white-supremacist-told-ya/article%5F5bb18038-dfe0-5b5a-9ba4-ca4531218882.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in the past, but she trusts that I’m true to my word. And she’s certainly not a fan of how the party is being run now, arguing the party is "in pretty deep doo-doo." She tips me off that she’d prop the door open to the event hall so I could hear, but I’ve got to be subtle. Somehow, standing directly outside the open door staring down the room through my giant telephoto lens, wasn’t quite stealthy enough. The door is soon shut by Spokane GOP Sergeant at Arms Tracy O’Donnal, a man wearing a “Washington [Molon Labe](https://www.thetrace.org/2015/10/oregon-sheriff-molon-labe-sandy-hook/?ref=rangemedia.co)” polo shirt and a name tag identifying himself as an executive officer of the 63rd Battalion of the Washington Lightfoot militia. I textextremism expert Devin Burghart, the director of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, and he texts back that he considers this militia to be a “far-right” group. You may be relieved to know, however, that the militia website states that they do *not* promote “the overthrow of any government, whether local, state or national.” Still, I opt not to attempt to get into an intense argument with this gentleman about press access. Yet any time a journalist is denied any kind of information, he wants nothing more than to find it out. What amazing or horrible things were unfolding, secreted behind these doors? Were they calling the question? Raising points of order? *Seconding motions*? The imagination boggles. Would I, for the rest of my life, be haunted by what I missed witnessing? But then my phone buzzes with a link: Caleb Collier, a former Spokane Valley Councilman, *had* paid the $100 media fee and was streaming the whole thing on video on his “Church and State” podcast. So I sit on the sweltering concrete steps outside the Mead Union Center, crack open my laptop, and begin to take notes on the video stream of the event happening 10 feet to my left. Meanwhile, Dinman, the *Spokesman* reporter, watches the same stream from the much more pragmatic, air-conditioned comfort of his own living room. When I listen to the whole stream from the beginning, I hear Bingle deliver his keynote address. "Is there any media in the room? Any media in the room?" Bingle asked during his keynote. "Okay, Church and State's in the room." But Bingle knew very well, of course, there is another media, one just outside the wall, wanting in, but too stubborn to pay the price. But maybe that’s the real test: maybe a real journalist never wants to be in a room that wants him there. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-2f6cf5d6-6b1d-40c2-a3ef-e04a06f846fe.jpeg) **6th District candidate Jonathan Bingle, visiting us humble commonfolk outside the castle walls.* (Photo by Daniel Walters) ### Spokane arson suspect competent for trial, but evaluator flags ongoing violent thoughts URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/farinacci-competent-for-trial-but-evaluator-flags-ongoing-violent-thoughts/ Last updated: 2026-08-27T02:07:53.000Z **Content warning:* This story contains references to suicide and may be distressing for some readers.* Aaron Farinacci, who confessed to starting the Old Trails fire, believes Spokane has already made up its mind about him, a court document says. “Spokane has gotten in their head that I am a monster,” the accused arsonist told a forensic psychologist — one of several details from a newly released psychological evaluation that paint a fuller picture of the man charged with setting the Old Trails fire on August 1. The evaluation, completed last week and made public Monday evening, found Farinacci legally competent to stand trial — meaning he understands the proceedings against him and can assist in his defense. The 37-year-old suspect is charged with five counts of first-degree arson, including setting the Old Trails fire that tore through hundreds of homes in a matter of hours — one of three blazes that comprised the Spokane Complex fires. He confessed to starting 25 other fires and faces four additional arson counts tied to fires from his accounts that investigators say they’ve since corroborated with their own records. Psychologist Robert Cosby evaluated Farinacci in a session that lasted about 150 minutes, according to the report. He diagnosed Farinacci with major depressive disorder with anxious distress and recommended a follow-up evaluation by a designated crisis responder — a mental-health exam used to determine whether emergency intervention is needed. **A continued threat** Cosby's report documents ongoing violent ideation. “While he reported no identifiable target or plan, he linked his violent ideation to his current legal circumstances and identified ‘anyone’ as a potential target,” the report states, though it notes women and children were “off the table.” “I don’t or wouldn’t care if I killed somebody because of these charges. They each carry a life sentence, and if I get a life sentence I wouldn’t care if I killed anyone cause what more could the judge do to me,” Farinacci told Cosby. Farinacci also expressed doubt in receiving a fair trial locally. He said he believed he’d be treated “more fairly” in another county or state given his criminal history, the current allegations and media coverage, according to the report. On August 4, Farinacci compared his emotional state to “a big, black hole,” and reported feeling “awful, just terrible.” The report states that he was eager to speak with mental-health staff and appreciated receiving a Bible. He's leaned on his religious beliefs — “belief in a higher power, a heavenly power” — for support since his arrest. Following his August 6 arraignment, he appeared “calm, cooperative and tearful,” the report says. A note dated August 7 indicated that Farinacci engaged easily with the clinician despite continuing to show a depressed affect and feelings of hopelessness. He discussed biblical material at length and read a passage he believed reflected his current emotional state, the report notes. Though he described wanting to die, he did not describe a specific plan. In that same August 7 contact, he discussed the pending competency evaluation and reported that his attorney might seek a change of venue if the case went to trial, citing difficulty finding an unbiased jury in Spokane County. He also discussed his fear that his girlfriend Stephanie Ghostenstein might end their relationship and his desire to maintain contact with his son, records show. Ghostenstein has since ended the relationship after his arrest, according to the report. The two had been together roughly four years and share a son. In the weeks before his arrest, Farinacci said, the two had been arguing over ordinary household matters — dishes, laundry and his limited help around the house. **Past treatment and records** Cosby’s evaluation drew on records from Beyond Behavioral Health, Frontier Behavioral Health, Spokane County Jail and Washington’s Behavioral Health Reporting System database. He also attempted to refer to Maricopa County Forensic Records and the Arizona Department of Corrections’ mental-health division, but did not receive them. Maricopa County told Cosby it had no records of any forensic mental-health evaluation for Farinacci — a discrepancy, since Arizona court records indicate a judge there found him competent following an exam years earlier, with Farinacci needing to stay on an unspecified medication regimen to remain so. Prior providers had diagnosed Farinacci with obsessive-compulsive disorder and considered a PTSD diagnosis. However, Cosby found insufficient support for either, consistent with an earlier Frontier evaluation that reached the same conclusion. Farinacci previously spent roughly a decade incarcerated after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 2010 death of his father in Arizona. Farinacci said the killing, which happened due to a dispute over dishes, followed years of physical abuse by his father — an account mental-health providers have referenced since at least 2022\. While in prison, he reportedly developed obsessive handwashing and toothbrushing habits as a coping mechanism. In an early evaluation during his current arrest, Farinacci called himself “a planner” and described having contemplated killing another incarcerated person with a shovel during his Arizona sentence. After relocating to Washington under an interstate compact that allows people on parole to move states, Farinacci found employment in the Liberty Lake area within about a month and worked there for several months. Ghostenstein told [*The Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/25/i-was-shocked-aaron-farinaccis-girlfriend-says-she/?ref=rangemedia.co)that Farinacci moved to be closer to his brother*.* He hasn’t maintained steady employment since, citing difficulty finding work with a felony record, the report says. Substance abuse was not a factor in the fires he’s been accused of setting, the documents state, though it notes some self-reported alcohol and drug use scattered throughout the years since he has been out of prison. It also notes that he said he hasn't had alcohol since 2023. **What the records show** Farinacci has experienced multiple episodes of suicidal behavior. Immediately after his father’s killing, he reported one of the most serious episodes, where he shot himself in the chest “with intention of striking his heart.” Early this year on February 14, Farinacci had intended to take his life, according to Frontier records based on a phone call that a friend had made the next day. Farinacci later explained that when he saw his son he “decided that he wanted to remain alive for him,” according to the report. His brother has been a steady source of support, Farinacci told Cosby, even though the two haven’t always communicated regularly, the report says. His brother “responded immediately" when Farinacci expressed suicidal ideation in February, driving over to talk, and has reportedly reached out daily since Farinacci’s arrest. A February 17 note says Farinacci agreed to start outpatient counseling through Frontier and that he denied having current suicidal and homicidal thoughts. On February 19, Farinacci underwent an intake evaluation with a Frontier clinician who diagnosed an unspecified trauma-and stressor-related disorder. Farinacci denied any current suicide plan and began outpatient therapy on February 24, identifying his son as his strongest protective factor. He continued sessions through the spring, addressing emotional regulation and his relationship — with no documented signs of psychosis or significant impairment — before being transferred to a new clinician on July 14\. In that session, he described intermittent suicidal thoughts arising during arguments with his girlfriend, including thoughts of provoking “suicide by cop,” as well as separate thoughts of killing people — though his mental status exam that day still showed largely intact mental function, the report says. On July 30, Farinacci arrived at a Frontier appointment with Ghostenstein. He was punctual and appropriately dressed, in what the clinician described as an optimistic mood. He described having been verbally harassed the previous day, which prompted a “temptation to burn stuff,” according to the report. The clinician completed a risk assessment, the document says, but did not identify a significant imminent risk and concluded that there was no necessary duty to warn or need for further safety measures. He did not appear for a scheduled August 7 session, having been arrested on August 3\. **What’s next** The federal government is exploring potential charges against Farinacci in connection to the Old Trails fire, [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/24/feds-exploring-charges-against-suspected-spokane-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) has reported. Farinacci is currently being held at Spokane County Jail on a $2 million bond, having attended both his first appearance in court and arraignment hearing remotely. He is scheduled for a September 4 stay hearing, where a judge will decide whether the criminal case can proceed or should remain paused. ### ‘Who is not enforcing this?’: ICE officers continue to mask up despite state ban URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-officers-mask-ban/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T01:46:12.000Z [Los oficiales de ICE continúan usando máscaras a pesar de la prohibición estatalMientras el Valle de Yakima ve un aumento drástico en los arrestos de inmigrantes, la ley estatal pone la responsabilidad de la aplicación de la ley en las manos de las personas que están siendo deportadas.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-8a4363b0-4e52-4b69-aa91-f431a8b7514b.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/dsc_8872_1024-1-4438830d-c17b-4df0-85be-100cfb41cc62.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-continua-usando-mascaras/) A man being handcuffed on a sidewalk by two men in gaiter masks and green tactical vests near a gas station in Wapato. Two masked men with just their eyes exposed under black hats surrounding a driver on the side of a Washington road. And a squad of men in black gaiters arresting a person in the parking lot of the Yakima Home Depot. These are some of the images and videos people have shared across watchdog groups on Facebook, months after Washington passed a law prohibiting law enforcement — including federal immigration officers— from hiding behind masks. “What happened to them not being able to wear those masks? Who is not enforcing this?” one person wrote under a Facebook post about masked ICE officers arresting street vendors in Kent. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/Masked-ICE-arrests-1.jpg) Screenshots of some of the alleged ICE arrests shared on public Facebook groups after Washington's mask ban took effect. (RANGE Media) Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5855 into law on March 19\. It immediately took effect to ban law enforcement at all levels [from wearing facial coverings](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-signs-bills-prohibiting-individuals-using-false-law-enforcement-identification?ref=rangemedia.co) like gaiters, tactical masks, ski masks and balaclavas while carrying out their official duties. Bill sponsor state Sen. Javier Valdez (D-Seattle) said in a statement at the time that masked enforcement had sown "fear, terror and distrust" within communities and that the new law would ensure accountability and visibility of people exercising power over others. "Transparency is not optional, and justice should never hide behind a mask," he said. So where is this law falling short when it comes to federal officers? That answer isn’t linear, according to [Michael Cecil](https://www.gonzaga.edu/academics/faculty-listing/detail/michael-s-cecil-jd-llm-52339427?ref=rangemedia.co), an assistant professor of law at Gonzaga University whose expertise spans constitutional law, legislation and immigration, who described the law as “ineffective.” That’s due to a number of reasons, Cecil explained. For one, the state isn’t responsible for enforcing the law. Instead, that burden falls on the person who was harmed by ICE or CBP having to take legal action alleging that a federal officer violated the state law, he said. This effectively leaves undocumented immigrants who could be languishing in detention centers or placed in fast-track deportation responsible for filing a civil suit to seek accountability. “It wouldn't be the state government,” Cecil said. “It couldn't be a bystander or something like this… unfortunately, it places a big onus on immigrant communities.” There’s also the lingering question of whether the law itself is even constitutional, he added. “We have this kind of tense federal/state structure where states are trying to push back — I think thoughtfully so — against overreach by the federal government in immigration enforcement,” Cecil said. “But there's only a certain number of avenues in which they can pursue those efforts.” **A surge in arrests** ICE arrests throughout the Yakima Valley nearly tripled from June to July — from 20 people the Yakima Immigrant Response Network helped that month to 55 in July — according to David Morales, a volunteer with the Yakima Immigrant Response network. He said arrests hovered around three to four people a day in July, and that the heightened pace had continued as of August 11. But even those numbers could be undercounts, Morales said. The network’s monthly totals have sometimes climbed after cross-checking its data with the University of Washington and the Washington Immigration Solidarity Network, he said. Data-sharing for civil immigration enforcement directly violates the Keep Washington Working Act, passed in 2019 to keep local and state resources from being used for that purpose. Despite calls to close the loopholes that allow it, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights has [reported that this data sharing continues](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/07/27/dol-data-sharing-continues-july-2026-update/?ref=rangemedia.co). The center has also noted the Act lacks strong enforcement mechanisms. Morales said most of the arrests have been made in the parking lots of stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. He said it seemed ICE officers were scanning license plates to identify people who are undocumented through the International Justice and Public Safety Network system, which gives ICE and CBP access to Washington's Department of Licensing database. He added advocates also suspect that federal officers have been using [Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock/) to search for and track immigrants. “They are operating at a very high tempo,” Morales said of ICE. “What I can say for certain is… that our rapid response team is responding to getting called out at what feels like twice the rate.” He estimated that 20% of the arrests in July were made by masked ICE officers. By the first two weeks of August, most of the arrests in the Yakima Valley had been made by masked officers, he said. Yet, the organization has not heard of any lawsuit filed against masked officers for violating the state law. The picture statewide is less clear. Mike Faulk, deputy communications director for the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, told RANGE that because of the way the law was written, they are not “empowered” to enforce it. Still, some people have reached out alleging violations. “But they are few and we don’t have comprehensive info on how many times this may have happened in Washington since the bill became law,” he said. Faulk said he had not heard of any plans for the Attorney General’s Office to collect that information and make it accessible to the public. The Governor’s Office did not return RANGE’S request for comment about whether any other state agency would. A spokesperson with the [Washington Immigration Solidarity Network](https://waisn.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), which runs the “only statewide hotline” for deportation reports, said that the organization could not accommodate RANGE’s requests for comment on the law in April or immigration arrests statewide in July. **A symbolic stand?** When the mask ban passed, hopes seemed to run high that the law would prevent ICE officers from operating anonymously as they carry out the Trump administration’s increasingly violent and deadly immigration crackdown. In Spokane, community leaders and members gathered for a watch party to see Ferguson sign the bill into law. In a statement to RANGE, Jazmyn Clark, the ACLU’s Smart Justice policy program director, encouraged people to reach out if they’ve witnessed unlawful behavior from ICE. “With the law and its enforcement mechanism being somewhat novel, it remains to be seen how enforcement will play out,” Clark said. “Our organization is committed to holding ICE and other law enforcement accountable to the constitution.” Because there is no federal law or regulation that dictates whether an ICE officer can or cannot wear a mask, the state law meant to fill in that gap, Gonzaga law professor Cecil explained. Washington’s mask ban allows people that were detained by masked officers to sue them in their official capacity, including federal officers. He noted the law focuses on providing civil remedies — like financial compensation or through court orders — rather than criminal enforcement. “A state could literally pass a law saying we can arrest federal officers, but that's not going to be constitutional, right? So there's a difference between what a state can pass and what a state can enforce,” Cecil said. But it would be “very unlikely” that a private claim would succeed against an ICE agent, Cecil said. If someone filed a suit alleging that a federal officer violated the state law, the US Attorney – which represents federal officers being sued in their official capacity – is likely going to file a motion to dismiss the case due to Sovereign Immunity, a legal doctrine that says the US has to consent to being sued and one that only Congress can override, he added. “\[W\]e’re really in this low ebb of state power \[in relation to\] federal immigration enforcement, for the very fact that it’s just a historically federal area of law,” Cecil said. The Trump administration legally challenged California’s No Vigilantes Act that would require federal immigration agents to identify themselves as unconstitutional. In April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — which encompasses Washington — [blocked a section of](https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/04/immigration-mask-ban-9th-circuit/?ref=rangemedia.co) the law as the litigation continues. The three-judge panel, composed of two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee, [unanimously found](https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/no-vigilantes-act-opinion.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) the legislation likely violated the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which bars states from directly regulating federal operations even when the law applies equally to state operations. The Supreme Court has previously held that the federal government holds exclusive power over immigration law. Cecil noted that while the Court hasn’t specifically addressed the topic of state restrictions on masked federal officers, past rulings have limited direct state regulation of federal operations. **‘Doesn’t mean anything’** Some laws the state legislature have passed, like the mask ban, do more to show where politicians stand than to actually have a meaningful impact on the ground, Morales said. For instance, people have continued to report ICE arrests outside courthouses to the Attorney General’s Office despite a state law protecting against warrantless civil immigration arrests there, but there hasn't been an enforcement response, he said. “The laws are kind of unenforceable or \[go\] through such unuseful systems that very few or no people actually get relief from these laws,” he said. “The legislation could go much further than they choose to go.” The mask ban carves out certain exceptions that raise even more questions about its efficacy. For instance, it says that an officer is not liable if they’re [“reasonably identifiable”](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/5855-S%20SBR%20FBR%2026.pdf?q=20260415171215&ref=rangemedia.co) under a separate state law — meaning their name is clearly displayed or other identifying information is visible to the public. Officers on undercover operations are also exempt. Carlene Brusca, who attends weekly protests outside Spokane’s ICE holding facility on Cataldo Avenue, told RANGE in late April that she has sent letters to local and state government officials telling them that ICE officers have continued to wear masks outside the building. To Brusca, the law seems designed to “appease people.” “They're making the people go ‘yay, governor’ when in fact, what he's doing doesn't mean anything,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/dsc_8850_1024-1.jpg) A protester in Spokane holds a sign outside the immigration holding facility on Cataldo Avenue in Spokane. (Photo by Sandra Rivera) Brusca said protesters have contacted the Spokane Police Department, who sent out an officer to talk to them. “It was a back and forth about what the law is, and why the police can't enforce it, and why we think they should at least go through the motions,” she said. SPD Assistant Chief Steve Wohl told RANGE that local law enforcement won’t be arresting federal agents. He said the agency did not want to put its own officers in a situation where they would be obstructing a potentially lawful federal action. Wohl said local police could respond to situations to keep the peace. But when it comes to someone being arrested by a masked officer, the affected person should instead look into filing a suit, as that’s what the statute affords. “There’s civil remedies for that, \[it’s\] not something that \[local\] law enforcement is going to enforce,” Wohl said. “We’re not the police of the federal law enforcement agencies.” In those situations, he said, local law enforcement faces restrictions under the Supremacy Clause, given that federal law prevails over a conflicting state law. Although Cecil called Washington’s relatively new mask law a “good effort” to try and push back against an aggressive executive branch, he said the state’s energy might be better spent strengthening laws that limit state and local coordination with federal immigration officers and shoring up protections around public buildings like schools. “There's a difference between obstructing federal enforcement and simply not cooperating,” Cecil said. “States have the capacity to enter into arrangements with the federal government to sort of coordinate on this, but no state is required to.” ### Los oficiales de ICE continúan usando máscaras a pesar de la prohibición estatal URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-continua-usando-mascaras/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T01:54:06.000Z [‘Who is not enforcing this?’: ICE officers continue to mask up despite state banAs the Yakima Valley sees a dramatic surge in immigration arrests, the state law meant to hold ICE officers accountable puts the burden of enforcement on the people getting deported.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-4350fe93-b638-4f47-9fc9-0dacedf59c6e.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/dsc_8872_1024-c783c97e-0e11-4896-a6f3-a47ff39470fe.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-officers-mask-ban/) Un hombre es esposado en una banqueta por dos hombres con bragas de cuello y chalecos tácticos verdes cerca de una gasolinera en Wapato. Dos hombres enmascarados, con solo los ojos al descubierto bajo sombreros negros, rodean a un conductor al costado de una carretera en Washington. Y un grupo de hombres con bragas de cuello negras arrestando a una persona en el estacionamiento del Home Depot de Yakima. Estas son algunas de las imágenes y vídeos que la gente ha compartido en grupos de vigilancia en Facebook, meses después de que Washington aprobara una ley que prohíbe a las fuerzas del orden, incluidos los funcionarios federales de inmigración, esconderse tras máscaras. “¿Qué pasó con eso de que no podían usar esas máscaras? ¿Quién no está haciendo cumplir esto?”, escribió una persona debajo de una publicación de Facebook sobre oficiales de ICE enmascarados que arrestaban a vendedores en Kent. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/Masked-ICE-arrests-1.jpg) Capturas de pantalla de algunas de las presuntas detenciones del ICE compartidas en grupos públicos de Facebook después de que entrara en vigor la prohibición de usar mascarillas en Washington. (RANGE Media) El gobernador Bob Ferguson promulgó la Ley del Senado 5855 el 19 de marzo. Tomó efecto de inmediato para prohibir que las fuerzas del orden en todos los niveles usen c[ubiertas faciales](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-signs-bills-prohibiting-individuals-using-false-law-enforcement-identification?ref=rangemedia.co) como bragas de cuello, máscaras tácticas, pasamontañas mientras desempeñan sus funciones oficiales. El senador estatal Javier Valdez, promotor del proyecto de ley, declaró que el uso de máscaras había sembrado “miedo, terror y desconfianza” en las comunidades y que la nueva ley garantizaría la rendición de cuentas y la visibilidad de las personas que ejercen poder sobre otras. “La transparencia no es opcional, y la justicia nunca debe esconderse tras una máscara”, afirmó. Entonces, ¿en qué aspectos se queda corta esta ley con respecto a los oficiales federales? Esa respuesta no es simple, según[ Michael Cecil](https://www.gonzaga.edu/academics/faculty-listing/detail/michael-s-cecil-jd-llm-52339427?ref=rangemedia.co), profesor adjunto de derecho en Gonzaga University**,** cuya experiencia abarca el derecho constitucional, la legislación y la inmigración, quien describió la ley como “ineficaz”. Eso se debe a varias razones, explicó Cecil. En primer lugar, el Estado no es responsable de hacer cumplir la ley. En cambio, esa responsabilidad cae sobre la persona perjudicada por ICE o CBP, quien debe tomar acciones legales alegando que un oficial federal violó la ley estatal, afirmó. Esto, en la práctica, obliga a los inmigrantes indocumentados que podrían estar en centros de detención o ya sometidos a un proceso de deportación acelerada a presentar una demanda civil para exigir responsabilidades. “No sería el gobierno estatal”, dijo Cecil. “No podría ser un espectador ni nada por el estilo… lamentablemente, esto impone una gran responsabilidad a las comunidades inmigrantes”. También queda la cuestión pendiente de si la ley en sí misma es constitucional, añadió Cecil. “Tenemos una estructura federal/estatal tensa en la que los estados intentan oponerse —creo que con razón— a los excesos del gobierno federal en materia de control migratorio”, dijo Cecil. “Pero solo hay un número limitado de vías para llevar a cabo esos esfuerzos”. **Un aumento repentino de los arrestos** Según David Morales, voluntario de Yakima Immigrant Response Network, una red que ayuda a inmigrantes, las detenciones del ICE en todo el valle de Yakima casi se triplicaron entre junio y julio: ese aumento fue de 20 personas a las que la red ayudó en junio a las 55 en julio. Morales indicó que las detenciones eran de tres o cuatro personas al día en julio, y que el ritmo acelerado se había mantenido hasta el 11 de agosto. Pero incluso esas cifras podrían ser más altas, dijo Morales. Los totales mensuales de la red a veces han aumentado tras comparar sus datos con los de la Universidad de Washington y la organización estatal Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, explicó. La compartición de datos para la aplicación de la ley de inmigración civil viola directamente la ley Keep Washington Working, aprobada en 2019 para evitar que los recursos locales y estatales se utilicen para ese fin. A pesar de llamadas para cerrar las lagunas legales que lo permiten, el Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Washington [informó que este intercambio de datos continúa](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/07/27/dol-data-sharing-continues-july-2026-update/?ref=rangemedia.co). El centro también ha señalado que la ley carece de mecanismos de aplicación eficaces. Morales dijo que la mayoría de los arrestos se han hecho en los estacionamientos de tiendas como Wal-Mart y Home Depot. Dijo que parecía que los oficiales de ICE estaban escaneando placas de vehículos para identificar a personas indocumentadas a través del sistema de International Justice and Public Safety Network. Este sistema da a ICE y CBP acceso a la base de datos delDepartamento de Licencias de Washington. Añadió que los defensores también sospechan que los oficiales federales han estado utilizando c[ámaras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock/) de Flock Safety para buscar y rastrear inmigrantes. “Están operando a un ritmo muy elevado”, dijo Morales refiriéndose al ICE. “Lo que puedo afirmar con certeza es que nuestro equipo de respuesta rápida está recibiendo llamadas al doble de frecuencia”. El 20% de las detenciones en julio fueron hechas por oficiales enmascarados de ICE, según sus estimaciones. Añadió que oficiales enmascarados habían hecho la mayoría de las detenciones en el valle de Yakima durante las dos primeras semanas de agosto. Sin embargo, la organización no tiene conocimiento de ninguna demanda presentada contra oficiales enmascarados por violar la ley estatal. La situación a nivel estatal es menos clara. Mike Faulk, subdirector de comunicaciones de la Oficina del Procurador General del Estado de Washington**,** le dijo a RANGE que, debido a la redacción de la ley, no tienen la facultad de hacerla cumplir. Sin embargo, algunas personas se han puesto en contacto con ellos denunciando infracciones. “Pero son pocos y no tenemos información completa sobre cuántas veces esto puede haber sucedido en Washington desde que la ley entró en vigor”, dijo. Faulk afirmó no tener conocimiento de ningún plan por parte de la Oficina del Procurador General para recopilar esa información y hacerla accesible al público. LaOficina del Gobernador no respondió a la solicitud de comentario de RANGE sobre si alguna otra agencia estatal lo haría. Una portavoz de la [Washington Immigration Solidarity Network](https://waisn.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), que gestiona la "única línea directa estatal" para denuncias de deportación, dijo que la organización no podía atender las solicitudes de comentarios de RANGE sobre la ley en abril o sobre las detenciones de inmigrantes en todo el estado en julio. **¿Una postura simbólica?** Cuando se aprobó la prohibición del uso de máscaras, parecía que había grandes esperanzas de que la ley impidiera que los oficiales del ICE operaran de forma anónima mientras llevaban a cabo la represión migratoria cada vez más violenta y letal del gobierno de Trump. En Spokane, líderes y miembros de la comunidad se reunieron para ver cómo Ferguson promulgaba la ley. En una declaración a RANGE, Jazmyn Clark, directora del programa de políticas Smart Justice de la ACLU, animó a las personas a ponerse en contacto con la organización si han presenciado algún comportamiento ilegal por parte del ICE. “Dado que la ley y su mecanismo de aplicación son relativamente nuevos, aún está por verse cómo se llevará a cabo su cumplimiento”, dijo Clark. “Nuestra organización está comprometida a exigir que el ICE y otros organismos encargados de hacer cumplir la ley rindan cuentas ante la Constitución”. Como no existe ninguna ley o reglamento federal que dicte si un oficial del ICE puede o no usar máscaras, la ley estatal tenía como objetivo llenar ese vacío, explicó Cecil, profesor de derecho de Gonzaga. La ley estatal permite que las personas que fueron detenidas por oficiales enmascarados los demanden en su capacidad oficial, incluso a los oficiales federales. Dijo que la ley se centra en proporcionar recursos civiles, como compensaciones económicas o mediante órdenes judiciales, en lugar de la aplicación de la ley en materia penal. “Un estado podría aprobar una ley que diga que podemos arrestar a oficiales federales, pero eso no sería constitucional, ¿verdad? Así que hay una diferencia entre lo que un estado puede aprobar y lo que un estado puede hacer cumplir”, dijo Cecil. Pero sería "muy improbable" que una demanda privada prosperara contra un agente del ICE, dijo. Si alguien presentara una demanda alegando que un oficial federal infringió la ley estatal, lo más probable es que el Fiscal de los Estados Unidos —quien representa a los oficiales federales demandados en su capacidad oficial— solicitara la desestimación del caso invocando la inmunidad soberana; se trata de una doctrina jurídica según la cual el Estado debe dar su consentimiento para ser demandado, y cuya aplicación solo puede ser anulada por el Congreso, añadió. “(R)ealmente nos encontramos en un momento de baja competencia estatal (en relación con) la aplicación de las leyes federales de inmigración, precisamente porque se trata de un área del derecho que históricamente ha sido federal”, añadió Cecil. La administración Trump desafió legalmente la Ley de No Vigilantes de California, que exigiría a los agentes federales de inmigración identificarse, llamándola inconstitucional. En abril, el Tribunal de Apelaciones del Noveno Circuito —que abarca Washington—[bloqueó una sección de](https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/04/immigration-mask-ban-9th-circuit/?ref=rangemedia.co) la ley mientras continúa el litigio. El panel de tres jueces, compuesto por dos designados por Trump y uno designado por Obama, [encontró por unanimidad](https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/no-vigilantes-act-opinion.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) que es probable que la legislación violara la Cláusula de Supremacía de la Constitución, que prohíbe a los estados regular directamente las operaciones federales incluso cuando la ley se aplica por igual a las operaciones estatales. La Corte Suprema ha determinado anteriormente que el gobierno federal posee competencia exclusiva en materia de leyes de inmigración. Cecil señaló que, si bien el Tribunal no ha abordado específicamente la cuestión de las restricciones estatales a los oficiales federales que utilizan máscaras, fallos anteriores han limitado la regulación estatal directa de las operaciones federales. **‘No significa nada’** Según Morales, algunas leyes aprobadas por la legislatura estatal, como la prohibición del uso de máscaras, sirven más para mostrar la postura de los políticos que para tener un impacto real. Por ejemplo, la gente ha seguido denunciando las detenciones del ICE frente a los juzgados ante la Oficina del Procurador General a pesar de que existe una ley estatal que protege contra las detenciones civiles por motivos de inmigración sin orden judicial en ese lugar, pero no ha habido ninguna respuesta para aplicar la ley, dijo. “Las leyes son prácticamente inaplicables o (se tramitan) a través de sistemas tan ineficientes que muy pocas personas, o ninguna, obtienen alivio alguno gracias a ellas”, afirmó. “La legislación podría ir mucho más allá de lo que se propone”. La prohibición de las cubiertas faciales tiene ciertas excepciones que plantean aún más dudas sobre su eficacia. Por ejemplo, dice que un oficial no es responsable si no lleva máscara y estaba [“razonablemente identificable](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/5855-S%20SBR%20FBR%2026.pdf?q=20260415171215&ref=rangemedia.co)” bajo otra ley estatal. Esto significa que el nombre del oficial debe estar visible o debe tener otra identificación visible para el público. Los oficiales que participan en operaciones encubiertas también están exentos. Carlene Brusca, quien participa en protestas semanales frente al centro de detención de ICE en Spokane, ubicado en la avenida Cataldo, dijo a RANGE a finales de abril que ha enviado cartas a funcionarios del gobierno local y estatal informándoles que los oficiales de ICE han continuado usando máscara fuera del edificio. Para Brusca, la ley parece diseñada para "apaciguar a la gente". “Están haciendo que la gente grite ‘¡Bravo, gobernador!’ cuando, en realidad, lo que está haciendo no significa nada”, dijo. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/dsc_8850_1024-1.jpg) Un manifestante sostiene un cartel frente al centro de detención de inmigrantes en la avenida Cataldo, en Spokane. (Foto de Sandra Rivera) Brusca dijo que los manifestantes se pusieron en contacto con el Departamento de Policía de Spokane, que envió a un oficial para hablar con ellos. “Fue un intercambio de ideas sobre cuál es la ley, por qué la policía no puede hacerla cumplir y por qué creemos que al menos deberían cumplir con las formalidades”, dijo. El subjefe del Departamento de Policía de Spokane, Steve Wohl, declaró a RANGE que la fuerza policial local no arrestará a agentes federales. Explicó que la agencia no quería poner a sus propios oficiales en una situación en la que pudieran obstaculizar una acción federal potencialmente legal. Wohl afirmó que la policía local podría intervenir en situaciones que impliquen mantener el orden público. Sin embargo, en caso de que alguien sea arrestado por un oficial enmascarado, la persona afectada debería considerar presentar una demanda, ya que eso es lo que permite la ley. “Existen recursos legales civiles para eso, no es algo que las fuerzas policiales (locales) vayan a hacer cumplir”, dijo Wohl. “No somos la policía de las agencias federales de aplicación de la ley”. En esas situaciones, explicó, las fuerzas policiales locales se enfrentan a restricciones en virtud de la Cláusula de Supremacía, dado que la ley federal prevalece sobre una ley estatal contradictoria. Aunque Cecil describió la relativamente nueva ley de Washington que prohíbe máscaras como un "buen esfuerzo" para intentar contrarrestar la agresividad del poder ejecutivo, dijo que la energía del estado podría emplearse mejor fortaleciendo las leyes que limitan la coordinación estatal y local con los oficiales federales de inmigración y reforzando las protecciones en torno a edificios públicos como las escuelas. “Hay una diferencia entre obstaculizar la aplicación de la ley federal y simplemente no cooperar”, dijo Cecil. “Los estados tienen la capacidad de llegar a acuerdos con el gobierno federal para coordinarse en este tema, pero ningún estado está obligado a hacerlo”. ### Abortion pills forever? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/abortion-access-telehealth-washington/ Last updated: 2026-08-25T16:35:55.000Z This article is published in collaboration with [Chum News, a worker-owned, subscriber-supported newsroom based in Seattle](https://www.chum.news/chum-news-range-media?ref=rangemedia.co). Their support made this reporting possible. Even before the US Supreme Court overturned *Roe v. Wade*, abortion pills dominated the discourse, [framed](https://newrepublic.com/article/164904/abortion-pills-roe-v-wade?ref=rangemedia.co) by activists in Washington State and beyond as a seamless way to maintain access should state-level policies jeopardize care. Since *Roe*’s reversal in 2022, abortion pills have become central to preserving abortion access nationwide, with licensed clinicians prescribing the drugs remotely for patients in states with active abortion bans. Recent data shows that [63 percent](https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/medication-abortion-accounted-63-all-us-abortions-2023-increase-53-2020?ref=rangemedia.co) of abortions are medication abortions, and the pills have unsurprisingly become a [major target](https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2024/06/supreme-court-abortion-pill-ruling-not-likely-impact-washington/?ref=rangemedia.co) for right-wing lawsuits. But a [new study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2852274?resultClick=3&ref=rangemedia.co) from University of Washington researchers, published in *JAMA Network Open*, shows telehealth pill protocols are not exactly frictionless for folks living in states that have banned access to abortion, meaning in-person procedural abortions in states like Washington will likely always be needed to meet the rising demand for care. The UW survey focused on 37 people who traveled across state lines to Kansas, a destination for reproductive health care, to get abortions. Like Washington, Kansas has upheld access to abortion, making it a sanctuary for care since *Roe* was overturned. Among the 37 people surveyed, 11 found out about medication abortion via telehealth only after they’d traveled to get a procedural abortion. Twenty-six study participants were aware that they could obtain pills through the mail, but didn’t consider it. And the seven who thought about ordering pills were dissuaded by worries about legality and privacy, discouragement from others, or efforts to connect with online services that were not reciprocated. Some did not fully understand that they could obtain remote medication abortion from licensed providers. Even beyond concerns about legality and legitimacy of pills purchased online, patients sometimes just preferred to get care in person. “For some people who knew about telehealth or getting abortion pills in the mail, they still wanted an in-clinic experience because they wanted human interaction as part of their as part of their treatment,” lead researcher Anna Fiastro told *CHUM News*. These findings could have major implications for abortion providers across Washington State, who routinely provide care to patients traveling for treatment. For years, out-of-state patients have relied on Washington providers for abortion care, a dynamic that predates *Roe*’s reversal but has been entrenched by the proliferation of anti-abortion policies across the country in recent years. Fiastro’s findings suggest this outsized dependence on Washington abortion providers is unlikely to be reduced by the rise of telehealth. \~\~\~ The results of the study didn’t come as a surprise to Mercedes Sanchez, executive director of [Cedar River Clinics](https://cedarriverclinics.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), which provides abortions and other reproductive health care across the state. It’s served out-of-state patients for years, including out of its brick-and-mortar locations in Renton, Tacoma, and Yakima. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, Sanchez said, Cedar River launched a telehealth program allowing patients to obtain abortion pills through the mail; they were one of the first clinics to do this. But patients also had the option to pick up pills in person, and even as health care moved broadly online, Sanchez was surprised to find patients often preferred to make the trip to the clinic. “I think being able to interact with a person just makes it more personal, and I think it also makes patients feel more seen and heard, and gives them the opportunity to ask questions, which helps relieve any anxiety they might have,” she said. This preference for in-person, in-clinic treatment is part of a pattern Sanchez has observed anecdotally at her clinics, one that echoes the UW study’s findings: While medication abortions were growing in popularity even before *Roe* was overturned, in-person options are more popular than news reports on the rise of medication abortion and influencers in the reproductive health space might have you think. “Throughout our long history, we have found that a good number of patients, when they come in for a medication abortion, during the consent process — when they learn that a procedural abortion is basically quicker and it’s over in a day, and doesn’t require taking pills and going through the whole process of expelling the tissue at home — they often change to a procedural abortion,” she said. “They’re here and it’s completed.” In-person care is also essential in certain medical situations, said Sanchez: whether that’s a fetal anomaly in a wanted pregnancy, a threat to the health of the patient, or the cumulative impact of abortion bans and restrictions delaying care, leading to a stage of pregnancy that precludes medication abortion (about 10-11 weeks’ gestation). \~\~\~ There is also a need for clear information on the potential legal consequences of obtaining abortion pills in ban states, which wasn’t always obvious to patients seeking abortion, the study found, reflecting what Sanchez described as “a public awareness education gap that is concerning.” That gap has been fueled by ongoing confusion as laws change rapidly, according to Sara Ainsworth, chief legal and policy director of [If/When/How](https://ifwhenhow.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a reproductive rights legal advocacy group. Misinformation also plays a role, one borne out by the UW research itself: At least one study participant had planned to take pills sent by mail, but reported being dissuaded by a woman at a pregnancy resource center, who, according to the study, warned the patient that “you never know what somebody could be sending you.” Reputable sites dispense FDA-approved medication prescribed by licensed clinicians, but pregnancy resource centers, while they resemble abortion clinics, have an agenda that doesn’t align with this reality. Often operated by groups with ties to fundamentalist Christianity and the anti-abortion movement, these centers typically offer free pregnancy tests and counseling that [employs](https://www.thestranger.com/features/a-six-pregnancy-tests-in-one-week-6782526/?ref=rangemedia.co) junk science on abortion and scare tactics to coerce people into remaining pregnant. They thrive on the [misinformation](https://southseattleemerald.org/voices/2023/06/29/opinion-south-sound-reproductive-health-activists-debunk-false-promises-of-crisis-pregnancy-centers?ref=rangemedia.co) that feeds what the UW study characterized as “the gap between the convenience of remote access and the credibility of brick-and-mortar clinics.” It’s a gap familiar to Ainsworth of If/When/How. If/When/How operates a repro legal helpline, which fields calls daily from people seeking advice on obtaining abortion care. “People do not know their rights right now,” she said. “Their rights are changing on a dime. They’re afraid, and they’re navigating all the things that come along in your personal life.” Advance provision of abortion pills has been suggested as a solution to access — activist Jessica Valenti has [called](https://jessica.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-just-in-case-abortion) it “so exciting!” — but the reality, said Fiastro, is that while it’s “a great tool,” it’s also “a challenge,” as most people they talk to “aren’t planning on having an abortion in the next few years.” And when they do, said Ainsworth, they’re navigating a unique set of circumstances that dictate whether telehealth or medication abortion are practical. If someone is a minor or undocumented, travel may not be an option. In domestic violence situations, she said, clandestine travel may be easier to conceal than pills taken at home. “We also get calls from people who don’t know if abortion is available in states where it is,” said Ainsworth, speaking of state-level restrictions on abortion and other reproductive health care. “So people are very, very confused, and it is intentional on the part of abortion opponents.” Amid this confusion, it’s not surprising that telehealth abortion isn’t a slam dunk for patients in states with active bans. But it means that in-person care in states like Washington will continue to be critical in the coming years. Though, despite the media and activists’ emphasis on abortion pills alone, that may not be a problem in and of itself. “It isn’t always bad for someone to choose to leave the state to get their care,” said Ainsworth. “That’s not always the bad option. That may in fact be the better option for someone, and it’s really their call. But what I think the study showed is that they might be making that call without all the information about what’s available to them.” Abortion pills are “a huge help,” said Sanchez, “but there will always be a need for clinics.” \~\~\~ Since the reversal of *Roe*, medication abortion and telehealth have been powerful tools for patients seeking abortions in states with abortion-hostile policies, a way to safely self-manage abortion care at home. But the UW study shows access to pills remains far from universal, or universally understood. Interestingly, six study participants expressed a retroactive interest in medication abortion by mail and telehealth. They found out about remote options after they’d already traveled to receive in-person care. They would have chosen telehealth if they’d known they could. Ainsworth said knowledge gaps like these could be addressed through broader education campaigns, to spread the word that there are safe channels through which patients can access pills online, and receive remote counseling from licensed clinicians and FDA-approved medication. If that information can reach patients in ban states before they need to travel, it might lessen the burden of care on clinics in states like Washington, and make the experience less stressful for patients. “I didn’t know that was an option,” said one participant of telehealth abortion services, “or I would have done that… I wouldn’t have traveled at all.” ### Spokane 3 protesters ask judge to overturn their convictions. Here’s what comes next. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-protesters-ask-judge-to-overturn-their-convictions-heres-what-comes-next/ Last updated: 2026-08-24T21:13:14.000Z Nearly three months ago, an Eastern Washington jury found three Spokane protesters guilty of federal conspiracy charges for their roles in a protest last summer. Now, all three will soon be headed back to court as their lawyers have filed a slate of legal motions requesting the verdicts be overturned. Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II were convicted of the federal felony “conspiracy to impede or injure officers” for protesting against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) [detainment of two young Venezuelan asylum seekers](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) on June 11, 2025\. The charge carries a potential maximum sentence of six years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine or both. Nine people were [originally arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/) on federal conspiracy charges, but six [took plea deals](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/), leaving the trio often called the “Spokane 3” to stand trial. For the Spokane 3, the guilty verdict was not the end of a nearly yearlong legal process. It marked the beginning of an even more arduous one. Immediately after the verdict, Judge Rebecca Pennell ruled that the three defendants would be released on their own recognizance as their legal teams worked on post-trial motions, including legal filings to request the judge overturn the conviction based on insufficient evidence from the government. All three have spent the summer free but in legal limbo. Archer [spoke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxm3RQZqKvQ&ref=rangemedia.co) at the monthly local NAACP meeting about their case and has continued to [work](https://www.scarspokane.org/spokane-community-against-racism-stands-in-solidarity-with-the-spokane-3/?ref=rangemedia.co) for Spokane Community Against Racism, now as its policy advisor. Forral held a second “While I’m Out” comedy show. Mavalwalla II appeared on the campaign trail with his father, Bajun Mavalwalla, who was running to represent Washington’s 5th Congressional District. There has also been movement behind the scenes. Three lawyers from Lowell and Associates — the firm founded by [prominent Washington DC lawyer Abbe Lowell](https://abcnews.com/video/125076735/?ref=rangemedia.co) to defend high-profile clients [targeted](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/lawyer-abbe-lowell-hires-first-partner-firm-defending-trump-targets-2026-03-16/?ref=rangemedia.co) by President Donald Trump — joined Archer’s legal team. While the original deadline for post-trial motions was [July 2](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-protesters-federal-conspiracy-political-prosecution/), it was repeatedly extended to give the court time to finalize and share the transcriptions of the trial with the legal teams, according to court filings. Mavalwalla’s lawyers had already submitted his post-trial motions. On Friday night, just before the court’s final deadline, lawyers for Archer and Forral filed a slate of motions. The federal government has a standard two weeks to respond to the filings — though they can request more time — and once they submit responses, the defendants will have another two weeks to respond. Pennell will review the filings and is expected to schedule a hearing at which lawyers can present arguments before she rules. Archer’s legal team has requested a hearing for November 18, 2026, at 10 am. ### The filings All three defendants filed motions under Rules 29 and 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. A Rule 29 motion asks the court to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case based on insufficient evidence, while a Rule 33 motion requests a new trial entirely — should the court not dismiss the case. Though the defendants were tried together, each is making a slightly different case about why their verdict should be overturned or a new trial granted. #### Jac Archer Archer was convicted of knowingly agreeing to use force, threat or intimidation to injure federal property, but their Rule 29 motion argues both that Archer’s conduct was First Amendment-protected speech and that, even if it was not, the government presented insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction. As they did in closing arguments, lawyers for Archer’s case highlighted what they called the “long and proud history of civil disobedience” in the United States. Like Henry David Thoreau refusing to pay taxes that might support slavery, Susan B. Anthony voting when it was illegal for women to do so and Martin Luther King Jr. protesting segregation despite official orders, Archer made a decision to peacefully risk arrest to stand against something immoral, their Rule 29 motion argues. If their conviction stands, “the tradition of civil disobedience that has shaped U.S. history will be irreparably chilled,” the motion states. Because conspiracy is essentially a thought crime — one that requires the government to prove a defendant’s intent, rather than actions — Archer’s lawyers also argued that there was insufficient evidence to prove they intended to use force, threat or intimidation at the protest. Rather, Archer advocated the opposite, repeatedly telling people to stay calm and stay nonviolent, they say. “Archer’s conduct never threatened or resulted in violence,” the motion reads. “Even if the government could have proved that some demonstrators agreed to use ‘force, intimidation, or threats,’ it still failed to prove that Archer knowingly joined any such agreement, let alone that they intended to do so. … The government’s theories of ‘force’ lack merit and would transform virtually any form of civil disobedience — physical or otherwise — into force.” Should this request for acquittal fail, Archer has also submitted a Rule 33 motion, which asks the court for a new trial. This motion points directly to Pennell’s order that neither party could mention politics, stating that pre-trial rulings limiting Archer’s speech deprived them of their right to present a complete legal defense. Defendants were also not allowed to challenge whether ICE agents were engaged in the lawful scope of their duties, which “tacitly assume that ICE officers needed to engage in pushing and other tactics to discharge their duties,” the motion reads. The motion also argues that there were other errors in the trial, including improper First Amendment jury instructions and misstatements of law and fact made by the government in their closing statements. If Pennell rules in favor of the Rule 33 motion, Archer would receive a new trial entirely. #### Justice Forral Forral received the broadest guilty verdict of the three defendants. The jury found Forral guilty of conspiring to prevent a federal officer from performing their duty, conspiring to injure a federal officer’s property because of that duty, conspiring to injure a federal officer’s property to impede that duty and aiding and abetting a conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers. In a sweeping, 78-page omnibus motion, Forral’s lawyers ask Pennell to acquit Forral under Rule 29, grant a new trial under Rule 33 or dismiss the case under a statute that bans political prosecutions The request for acquittal makes arguments similar to Archer’s: that a guilty verdict with the evidence presented would violate Forral’s First Amendment rights, and that the government failed to present enough evidence of conspiracy to begin with. “The government’s case has a fatal evidentiary gap: it contains no evidence whatsoever of any agreement to use force, intimidation, or threats — or to injure federal property. That’s because there was no such evidence,” the motion reads, accusing the government of prosecuting those who “made the most noise.” Forral’s lawyers argue that prosecutors’ arguments relied on protected political speech, like Forral calling ICE agents “Nazis” and sending what the defense characterized as “standard-issue, nonviolent calls to protest” over Signal. Using this as evidence of a conspiracy is infringing upon Forral’s First Amendment rights, the motion argues. “There is an ocean’s difference between civil disobedience and a violent conspiracy against federal power,” it reads. “What happened at Cataldo is a paradigmatic example of the former.” The filing also challenges the government’s use of videos and still images that appear to show Forral letting air out of the tires of a transport bus. Because the bus was owned by federal contractor GEO Group and not the federal government, this act [should not](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-jury-deliberation-verdict/#:~:text=This%20was%20met%20with%20an%20abrupt%20objection%20from%20prosecutors%2C%20but%20Pennell%20ruled%20in%20George%E2%80%99s%20favor.%C2%A0) have been considered evidence that Forral conspired to injure the property of federal officers; the property they injured was not owned or used by federal officers, just civilian contractors. If Pennell declines to grant an acquittal, Forral’s lawyers argue that a new trial should be granted under Rule 33, citing insufficient evidence, prosecutorial misconduct and what they call “a grave risk that the verdict rests on constitutionally-impermissible grounds.” The motion argues that the conspiracy statute was “meant to protect against treason and \[Ku Klux\] Klan terrorism” and that the court should not let the government use it to “cow like-minded citizens into submission.” Finally, Forral’s lawyers argue that the case should be dismissed with prejudice — which would prevent it from being retried later. They point to a statement released after the verdict by former US Attorney Richard Barker, who [resigned](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/28/former-leader-of-federal-prosecutors-in-spokane-cr/?ref=rangemedia.co) rather than prosecute the Spokane 3\. Barker said the charges were brought “to punish members of the Spokane community who stood up for two young men who were unlawfully detained by ICE.” Forral’s motion characterizes this as “a direct acknowledgment that the decision to prosecute was based on impermissible factors,” and argues that the case itself should be dismissed with prejudice. #### Bajun Mavalwalla II Mavalwalla, who didn’t know anyone at the protest before attending, was convicted solely of “aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure an officer.” This means the jury found that the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mavalwalla himself had been a part of a conspiracy, but that he had knowingly assisted people who *were* part of a conspiracy. Mavalwalla’s lawyers filed their motions in June, shortly before the original deadline. They argue that Mavalwalla should be acquitted under Rule 29 due to insufficient evidence. How could he have knowingly participated in a conspiracy, the motion argues, if he had no prior communications with anyone else at the protest? The motion also dissects evidence used against Mavalwalla in the trial, wading into the minutiae of the case. It made essentially the same arguments as the other defendants’ motions, claiming things like linking arms or running to stand in front of a specific gate of the ICE facility are protected speech, not evidence of a conspiracy. His lawyers also object to prosecutors attributing statements heard in videos to Mavalwalla when the speaker cannot be clearly identified — things like “the police isn’t coming to help you,” and “block the exits.” Those statements should have been stricken from the record, the motion argues. The motion further challenges the aiding-and-abetting theory under which Mavalwalla was convicted, noting that it was not included in the indictment or early drafts of the jury instructions. His lawyers argue that the final instruction did not make sufficiently clear that prosecutors had to prove Mavalwalla knew a conspiracy existed before he could be convicted of aiding and abetting it. “The verdict itself makes no sense,” the motion reads. “The jury obviously believed that the Defendant had not directly conspired with anyone and the evidence indicated that he caused no force, threat, or harm to be used or assisted anyone else to employ such tactics.” Mavalwalla’s lawyers also accuse the prosecution of acting in bad faith, both during the trial and in the grand jury indictment. They reference a grand jury transcript RANGE has not been able to independently obtain or verify, alleging that Mavalwalla is not mentioned until page 24 of the transcript, in which an agent incorrectly claims Mavalwalla entered ICE property and pushed an agent. The motion also accuses the prosecution of misquoting Mavalwalla’s Reddit posts during the trial. Finally, his lawyers also filed a Rule 33 motion for a new trial, if Pennell rules against their motion for acquittal. “This prosecution and the ultimate verdict were political,” the motion reads. “The smell of unethical conduct permeates the whole case, including its presentation.” ### The thirteenth juror The Biden-appointed Pennell holds all the cards. In some cases when a jury’s guilty verdict is contrary to the law or the evidence provided, it [allows the court to act](https://calawyers.org/criminal-law/understanding-the-critical-safeguard-of-the-13th-juror/?ref=rangemedia.co), deciding if the evidence presented was actually sufficient to prove each required element of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Functionally, Pennell becomes a “thirteenth juror” — a [legal term](https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3129&context=faculty%5Fpublications&ref=rangemedia.co) often used to refer to a judge’s responsibility to address “manifest injustice” in the courtroom — and is able to create a deadlock that overturns the conviction. This is the equivalent of a hung jury, which means defendants could still be retried on the same charges without violating double jeopardy laws. Ruling in favor of either the Rule 29 or 33 motions would be a way of exercising this power and overturning the jury’s verdict. Before the trial began, Pennell [signaled](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-pretrial-motions-1st-amendment-explainer/) that she knew she would have critical rulings to make in this case after the jury returned a verdict. Perhaps the most significant is on the First Amendment question. The federal government petitioned Pennell to bar defendants from saying things like “I wanted to exercise my First Amendment rights” during trial, stating that what is and is not First Amendment-protected speech is up to the court to decide, not the jury. At the time, Pennell agreed in part. Defendants and witnesses were permitted to testify about their intentions — for example, that they intended to attend a protest or did not intend to intimidate anyone — but could not characterize their own conduct as constitutionally protected. She said this was to keep the jury from being confused about the complex legal question of whether or not their conduct at a protest was constitutionally protected or not. Now those legal questions return to Pennell. She has the power to decide whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to sustain the convictions, as well as the arguments that the prosecution was politically motivated and that the trial was botched — arguments that the jury itself were also not permitted to hear. She also has the jurisdiction to rule on whether defendants’ conduct was protected by the First Amendment. If she leaves the convictions intact the legal teams are prepared to appeal their convictions, lawyers have told RANGE. If she sides with the three protesters on the Rule 29 motion to overturn, the federal government may have appellate options of its own. If she grants a Rule 33 motion for a new trial, prosecutors could seek to retry the defendants before a new jury. Pennell could also reach different conclusions for each defendant, leaving some convictions intact while overturning others. There is national precedent for judges acting as that thirteenth juror to overturn a jury’s verdict, but there is also local precedent, upheld by the 9th Circuit of Appeals. In July of 1993, right here in Spokane, a man named John Hunter was [convicted](https://spokane-public.idm.oclc.org/login?url=s?url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpwashingtoncollection/newspapers/july-17-1993-page-19-66/docview/2365618741/sem-2?accountid=308&ref=rangemedia.co) of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine. Court records show Spokane Police Department SWAT team officers claimed they found “a baseball-sized bundle of crack cocaine,” in his jacket pocket in a second search after he was booked in jail, even though an earlier strip search found only $460 cash and a small bag of marijuana. Hunter said that the cocaine was not his, was not found in his jacket and had instead been brought in by an officer later. About a year after his conviction, the 9th Circuit upheld the trial judge’s decision to grant Hunter a new trial. That court is where the Spokane 3 case will be heard if Pennell upholds the conviction. The ruling in Hunter’s case states that “\[t\]he task of safeguarding the rights of criminal defendants ultimately rests with the experienced men and women who preside in our district courts.” It also states a court may grant a new trial if “the evidence preponderates sufficiently heavy against the verdict that a serious miscarriage of justice may have occurred.” ### Wildfire recovery efforts continue at Spokane City Council URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wildfire-recovery-efforts-continue-at-spokane-city-council/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T17:09:32.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council will vote on a number of items related to wildfire recovery, including an emergency ordinance to cut demolition fees and a contract with the Washington State Department of Commerce to direct $1 million in state funds to residents impacted by the Spokane Complex Fire. - At the council’s Finance and Administration Committee meeting, they’ll consider an emergency ordinance to implement eviction protections for renters who lost income due to the fires — protections that would also be available to people impacted by future emergencies. - Spokane City’s Plan Commission will be discussing a policy to allow accessory dwelling units on properties with no primary dwelling unit — a technical way of letting people who are rebuilding in the wake of the fires start smaller, with a tiny home or other structure to get them back in stable housing even as full home rebuilds take more time. - The Spokane County Planning Commission will host its first workshop on slate of data center zoning regulations the County Commission made way for last week. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Up for a vote next week: - A contract to give Liberty Lake-based Frank Family Investments an 8-year Multifamily Housing tax exemption for the creation of 200 housing units in the Kendall Yards neighborhood. - An ordinance to allow existing funds to be used to expand access to cooling, heating and weatherization services to individuals who meet the criteria established by the HEART Fund - An ordinance that would get rid of a city requirement for charitable organizations to obtain a free “charitable solicitation” license. Because this duplicates state requirements, Spokane could cut this requirement at the city level. - An extension on the interim zoning ordinance that [temporarily removed height limits](https://www.rangemedia.co/downtown-spokane-city-council-zoning-ordinance-height-restriction/) on new buildings downtown Up for a vote in two weeks: - A contract to address a lack of culturally responsive treatment services for the opioid crisis — i.e. services specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of marginalized communities. The city council could contract with four organizations: Center for Growth and Empowerment through Compassionate Addiction Treatment, The Native Project, Nuestras Raices and Washington State University with Spokane Tribal Network. The total cost of these services is under $500,000, which was already approved in the 2026 budget. - An ordinance that would create a process for vacant and underutilized commercial spaces to be temporarily activated. That means spaces like, say, the former Rite Aid downtown, could be more easily transformed for temporary commercial events like, say, the [Punk Rock Flea Market](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/07/spokanes-first-punk-rock-flea-market-will-rock-on-/?ref=rangemedia.co). If you want to provide public comment on any of these items, you can do so at the city council meeting on Wednesday! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Tuesday, August 25 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** Wildfire recovery is still top of the list for the Spokane City Council, which is set to approve a slate of contracts and policies aimed at helping Spokanites rebuild. The most urgent is an emergency ordinance — which requires five of the seven votes to pass — that would cut demolition fees for structures damaged by the Spokane Complex Fire to just $28.50, with no processing or technology fees added. They’ll also likely give Mayor Lisa Brown approval to contract with the Washington State Department of Commerce for its Wildfire Housing Assistance Fund. This comes with [$1 million](https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-wildfire-victims-can-now-apply-for-housing-assistance/article%5F75083f07-1f2d-44bf-89ce-356e0d27af7c.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in assistance that impacted residents can apply for, distributed through subgrantee Goodwill Industries, which already runs the city’s Housing and Essential Needs [program](https://discovergoodwill.org/housing-and-essential-needs/?ref=rangemedia.co), and services for veteran families. The council is also likely to approve paying a back-dated emergency contract with Blessings and Beyond for providing three meals a day for up to 450 residents sheltering at the convention center after the Spokane Complex Fire from August 3 through August 10\. The contract was not to exceed $90,562.50 — a daily rate of up to $12,937.50 — and the city will know the actual costs when Blessing and Beyond bills for reimbursement. The council will also consider approving a bunch of contracts for legal fees to fight ongoing lawsuits, including: - an additional $100,000 to fight a lawsuit from the ACLU-WA and Jewels Helping Hands alleging the city violates the constitutional rights of unhoused people, bringing the total costs to $250,000. - an additional $25,000 to fight a lawsuit from the former owner of the [Wall Street Apartments](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/sep/12/back-to-where-i-started-dozens-of-tenants-forced-o/?ref=rangemedia.co), who alleges the city violated his rights by issuing a do not occupy order related to poor conditions. This would bring the total costs to $75,000. - an additional $100,000 to fight a federal [lawsuit](https://www.khq.com/news/family-of-kerry-jones-hilburg-files-50m-claim-against-spokane-police-over-deadly-shooting/article%5F350573a2-cd55-11ef-b6a0-3b4cddf4ade8.html?ref=rangemedia.co) from the estate of Kerry Jones-Hilburg, who was [shot and killed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/dec/08/court-documents-man-killed-by-police-at-walmart-ha/?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Spokane Police Department inside of a local Walmart in 2023\. This would bring the total costs to $150,000 > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 26 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, August 27 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### HOME Starts Here pivot In response to the fire crisis, the city mobilized to accept donations for a wildfire relief effort to provide direct assistance to the people impacted by the Spokane Complex Fires. These donations were accepted through the HOME Starts Here fund, which is typically used to support efforts addressing homelessness. Now, the city is doing the procedural, paper-trail documentation necessary to support this quick pivot. The council will get a briefing on a special budget ordinance from the mayor’s administration on the accounting changes necessary to recognize the additional donation revenue and distribute it to eligible families. ### Utility Rate setting The council is preparing to set water utility rates for 2027 and 2028\. What exactly will those rates be? Well, it’s not listed in the agenda. Instead, the agenda states that there were discussions held at the Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee on July 14, the Finance & Administration Committee on July 28 and the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board meeting that was held on August 13\. If you haven’t watched one or all of those meetings, you would have no idea from the agenda documents what the proposed rates for the next two years are. We haven’t had a chance to review these meetings yet, but we’re willing to make a bet: utility rates are probably going up. ### Equitable budgeting City Council Member Sarah Dixit has proposed an ordinance that would formally embed equity as a pillar of Spokane’s budgeting and policy processes. If passed, it would “expand the authority of the Office of Civil Rights, Equity and Inclusion, require every department to assess and report equity impacts, mandate training and establish a multi-year planning and reporting structure to reduce disparities and improve outcomes for historically underserved communities.” ### Emergency tenant protections As thousands of residents have been displaced due to the Spokane Complex Fires, the city is looking to establish tenant protections that would apply both in the wake of these fires and in future emergencies, as declared by the mayor. As displaced households within the city add pressure to the rental housing market, “it is critical that the City protect residents from unwarranted eviction and displacement during such emergencies,” the agenda sheet reads. “This is especially true given that residential tenants often are in danger of eviction for nonpayment of rent in the wake of the Spokane Complex Fires and similar emergencies, and least able to weather the impact of job loss or reduction in income.” The emergency ordinance, sponsored by City Council Members Paul Dillon, Sarah Dixit and Kitty Klitzke would allow tenants to use financial hardship due to emergency as a defense to eviction action, giving them up to a year to repay rent. In order to qualify for this, a tenant would have to be able to prove that they lost at least 10% of their average monthly household income, and that the civil emergency or natural disaster rendered their business or place of employment uninhabitable, resulted in their layoff or reduction of pay or caused them a demonstrable loss of business clients from the geographic area impacted by the emergency. For example, if you’re a landscaper who primarily made your money by tending to yards in the burn area of the fire, and lost those clients due to the fires, or if you were an employee of a grocery store in the evacuation zones that was shut down for a week and you lost enough hours to qualify, you could use this defense in eviction court proceedings. Because the ordinance itself is an emergency ordinance, it will move at a quicker pace and require a vote of five council members to pass when it comes before the body. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 25 at 1 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### ADU who? The Spokane Plan Commission will discuss another avenue to make things easier for people to rebuild in the wake of the fires: making it legal to place an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) on properties that have no houses. Traditionally, ADUs are only permitted as additions to properties that have a primary structure — think putting a small mother-in-law suite in the backyard of a house. However, for some in the neighborhoods impacted by the fires, the primary structure was destroyed by fire. The Plan Commission is proposing changing the code to allow people to put ADUs on the property to “gain a foothold back into stable housing and then shift to building the primary house.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 26 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### SCRAPS wants a new software system The Spokane County Animal Protection Service, which provides animal protection and welfare services in Spokane County, is looking for BOCC approval to buy a new software system called Chameleon. A slide presentation says the system would cost $123,518 for the first year. The buy would be funded by “citizen endowment.” A slide presentation says the agency’s current software system, Shelter Buddy, is plagued with “accuracy concerns,” “slow vendor response” and long animal processing times. Chameleon would offset annual operating costs, the presentation says. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 25 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 25 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Front and (data) center As Spokane County’s Planning Department is neck deep in figuring out how to govern growth for the next two decades — an onerous state-mandated process called “comprehensive planning” — the County Commission has thrown on a massive side-task. Last week, the commission [paused](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-four-month-moratorium-data-center/) application approvals for new data centers until December 15, a couple of weeks before it must supply a finalized comprehensive plan to the state. The pause is meant to give the county time to regulate the building and operation of any potential data center facilities, so the Planning Commission scrambled to schedule a workshop on proposed zoning rules meant to mitigate the environmental and social impacts, which you can read [here](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/73290/SCC-14830-Data-Center-Zoning-DRAFT?bidId=&ref=rangemedia.co). The commission will host a public hearing on the data center regulations next month. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, August 27 at 4:30 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, August 27 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### New school year, new budget The board will hold public comment and then vote on a resolution to adopt the district’s 2026-2027 budget, which totals roughly $228.8 million. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 24 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Money talks Members of the board are expected to discuss a resolution to create a “financial parameter guide” to show the district’s commitment that it won’t raise the levy rate higher than the current maximum, even if future legislation allows for it, according to the agenda. The current maximum rate is $2.50 per $1,000 assessed property value. This resolution follows discussions over replacing the district’s Educational Programs and Operations levy set to expire at the end of 2027\. Last month, the board approved a resolution to send a three-year levy to voters on the November 3 ballot. The board is expected to take a vote on the commitment resolution during its September 14 meeting. ### Paying for transportation The board will vote on a resolution that will move $150,000 from the General Fund to the Transportation Vehicle Fund. This transfer will offset a loss in state funding, according to the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 24 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center at 2218 N Molter Road* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑/**5 peppers** ### Pending investment The board is expected to take a vote on a resolution to redirect up to $250,000 in unused Career and Technical Education funds to the Capital Projects Fund. This money would be for making improvements to the culinary arts facility, according to the agenda. This item was [previously placed](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-commissioners-to-consider-data-center-moratorium/) on the July 22 agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 26 at 3:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Approving the budget During its regular meeting, the board is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on a resolution to adopt the 2026-2027 school year budget, totaling about $805.9 million. The public can also expect to hear a presentation on the district’s upcoming priority strategies. ### Cameras on buses? The board is expected to discuss and possibly take a vote on adopting a new policy that would allow the installation of video cameras on school buses, according to the agenda. “The reason for recording the school bus environment is to provide school officials, drivers, parents, guardians, and custodial parents with documentation when addressing inappropriate behaviors and/or other concerns that impact the safety and welfare of students and drivers,” the policy reads. The Superintendent would be responsible for preparing the procedure for how the video equipment will be used, how videos are reviewed and disposed of. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 26 at 5 pm (special meeting) and 6 pm (regular meeting)* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 25 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Grieving mom settles for $3 million in ‘Bowdish Bump’ lawsuit — but still hopes for a memorial for her son URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/bowdish-bump-settlement-memorial-spokane-valley/ Last updated: 2026-08-22T18:55:15.000Z 🛣️ This story is part of a series we're calling "Accident by Design." For more on the series, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/accident-by-design/). After almost three years of legal battles, the city of Spokane Valley struck a deal: the council agreed on Tuesday night to pay over $3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Sakeleanna Adame, whose 18-year-old son Bryce [was killed](https://www.rangemedia.co/grieving-mom-wishes-spokane-valley-fixed-citys-worst-intersection-before-it-killed-her-son/) in a 2022 car crash. By any measure, it’s a massive sum — it’s nearly double the amount the city of Spokane once paid to a grieving family after the death of [Otto Zehm](https://www.khq.com/news/in-depth-coverage-zehm-family-settles-for-1-67m-and-an-apology/article%5F89fabdee-5409-53d5-8fd1-5c2906272a16.html?ref=rangemedia.co), a mentally disabled janitor who was beaten so badly the cop swinging the ironwood baton was sent to prison. Yet for Adame, it’s little solace. “It’s never going to feel like a win for me,” Adame said. “It was never about the money. There's no amount of money in the world that can make me feel better about this.” In a [press release](https://spokanevalleywa.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/786?ref=rangemedia.co), the city of Spokane Valley emphasized that they did not admit to any of the blame for the accident, but that liability standards in Washington state put the city at so much risk that it made sense to settle. “Bryce Adame’s death was a terrible tragedy, and the City extends its deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones,” the statement said. And yet Spokane Valley didn’t offer one concession she had been hoping for: a memorial at the intersection where her son was killed. “I wanted the memorial,” Adame said. “That's what I really wanted.” Adame argues that Spokane Valley’s approach during the lawsuit backfired. As attorneys on both sides started debating what her son’s life was worth — judging what his lifetime earnings would have been by school records and the people he hung out with — Adame said it made her want to extract as high a price as possible. “I was going to fight them to the moon!” she told RANGE. “Because that's my son, and it's not right. You can't put a value on somebody's life. Nobody." Ultimately, the agreed-upon settlement totaled $3.2 million, with $3 million to be paid to Adame, $100,000 to Bryce’s brother and $100,000 in an annuity that would be paid out to a younger family member as she grows older. Yet when Adame filed the lawsuit, she said she had two goals, neither of them financial: make the intersection where Bryce died safer and create a memorial there for her son. Adame knows that Bryce’s friend — the young man whose hands were on the steering wheel and foot was on the gas pedal — bears much of the blame for the accident that killed her son. She knows he will carry the burden of Bryce’s death for the rest of his life. But maybe, she thinks, if the street itself had been different — if the stop sign were more visible, if the road had been smoother and better maintained — the car Bryce was in wouldn’t have hit the infamous “Bowdish bump” at such speeds; it wouldn’t have bottomed out and been sent into an uncontrollable spin; it wouldn’t have launched 100 yards, tumbled over landscape boulders, or crashed into a pine tree. She wouldn’t have had to see her son die as she held his hand in the hospital that night. RANGE’s [review](https://www.rangemedia.co/grieving-mom-wishes-spokane-valley-fixed-citys-worst-intersection-before-it-killed-her-son/) of social media posts, neighbor interviews and public records showed that long before Adame was killed, the area around Bowdish Road and 16th Avenue was infamous for collisions, including several instances where speeding cars lost control and ended up in the front yards of the neighbors. In a deposition, the city’s traffic engineer program manager said no other intersection they’d examined had a higher per-vehicle accident rate. Today, after a lengthy [redesign and funding process](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-valley-roundabout-gets-third-upgrade-to-address-safety-concerns/article%5F430c26fe-3677-4421-a4a9-d89a10224629.html?ref=rangemedia.co), the intersection has been completely renovated, complete with a very visible roundabout. But her second goal was simple: she was hoping for a memorial for her son. While she’s thinking about using part of the settlement money to, say, help fund a scholarship for Central Valley High School students who share some of her son’s traits, she deeply wants to have a memorial at the site of his death. It could be as simple as a plaque that reads “In loving memory of Bryce Prince Adame. 09.23.2003 - 01.23.2022,” paired with a street sign that says “drive with caution.” During one of the mediation sessions, she said, one of Spokane Valley’s attorneys had mentioned the possibility of such a memorial, something that wouldn’t cost more than a few hundred dollars. But when the final settlement was offered, the memorial wasn’t part of the deal. She said she didn’t want to trade away part of the settlement in exchange for a memorial, either, because that felt like she was discounting her son’s value. And she didn’t want to simply use the money to buy a piece of property somewhere else to put up her own memorial — she wanted it to be at the site of his death. In an email to RANGE, Spokane Valley’s communications manager Jill Smith said there is an existing process where a Valley resident can apply to pay to install a community sign, which includes buying a $600 permit and going through a 45-day review process. “I don't understand why they couldn't have told me this,” Adame said to RANGE. Among Spokane Valley leadership, there is at least some openness to the idea of putting up an official city-sponsored memorial. Though Spokane Valley Council Member Al Merkel remains skeptical of the changes recently made to improve safety at the intersection, he said that he was very much in favor of a memorial. “I really do think we should do it,” Merkel said. “She had a terrible and profound loss. We should recognize that. What else is a city for?” He said he’s even asked for information about the process of creating such a memorial. Merkel, however, couldn’t speak for the rest of the council, a body he has often [intensely clashed with](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/30/come-and-get-me-higgins-merkel-have-verbal-alterca/?ref=rangemedia.co). The final paperwork on the settlement has yet to be completed, and some other Spokane Valley officials are cautious about weighing in until then. Adame said the lack of a promised memorial almost caused her to reject the settlement offer. "I was like: I can't sign this,” Adame said. “I don't want to go to trial, but I'll go to trial.” But ultimately, her surviving son convinced her that she could allow herself to settle. “My son Logahn came up to me, and he said, 'Mom, it's *okay*.'" Adame shared. "He said, 'I'm so proud of you.’ He said, 'My brother Bryce would be so proud of you, Mom. You fought so hard and you did so good.' He said, 'You can rest now. You can be done.'" Logahn hugged her, and tears came streaming down — the tears that came from feeling a heavy weight carried for a long, long time get lifted. “Is it enough?” she asked her son. “They said his life isn't worth anything. Is it enough?” “It's enough, Mom,” she remembers her son telling her. “It's enough." Is there infrastructure in your neighborhood or on your route that creates “accidents?” Where are the most dangerous places to drive, walk or bike in the Inland Northwest? Email [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co) with the subject line “Accident by Design,” or badger reporter Daniel Walters on Signal at 509-720-8388. *Editor's Note:* This story has been updated to more accurately reflect Adame's view on the role her son's friend had in his death. ### Mobilizing for data center pause URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/mobilizing-for-data-center-pause/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T13:00:41.000Z On this week’s episode, we’re bringing you a pre-recorded interview between RANGE reporter Aaron Hedge and Brittany Anderson, a local activist who’s calling for governmental transparency about officials’ conversations with data center developers. The two of them talked about: - what brought Brittany into this work and why it’s important to her, - the information she learned from her public records requests and what it led her to, - the moratorium on data center development at both the Spokane County and City levels and what they mean, - and the continuing fight for transparency from the local government about data center development. Find relevant articles below: [Spokane County approves four-month data center pauseAfter public criticism, county commissioners unanimously approve a short moratorium on data center development.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-e4c75071-240b-42db-891f-afdcb2cb4ab7.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Copy-of-Copy-of-civics-2026-3-a06cbebd-ef1c-4f16-92d2-4ba3383bc468.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-four-month-moratorium-data-center/) [Commissioner Al French on data centers: ‘Spokane County is not closed for business’Developers are eyeing Spokane County for new places to plant; French has been quietly tilling the field.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-16d0faf8-74cb-4a27-b18c-c2fd1b313c8d.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/al-french-data-centerfr-dcf6ee36-5839-43ef-889c-17bf3fbc656b.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) [Who? Where? We don’t know, but Avista is entertaining a large data centerAfter the utility was slow to tell the community about the project, local leaders are formally calling for a moratorium on data centers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-ab97b5c3-0d33-4512-bd61-7095471c53a3.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/data-center-7d69e761-b677-49e0-a32f-2e457aa7d4cb.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Election turnout dropped in Spokane County’s evacuation zones, data shows URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/election-turnout-dropped-in-spokane-evacuation-zones/ Last updated: 2026-10-10T16:12:52.000Z Greg Haker usually votes. He, his wife and mother-in-law had intended to vote in the August 4 primary. Their ballots were sitting on the counter of their Five Mile home when they evacuated on August 1\. In the rush, Haker said, the family grabbed important documents and some clothes. They forgot some of his mother-in-law’s medication. They forgot the ballots, too. The family would remain away from home for eight days. When Haker finally remembered the primary election on August 4, he said, the deadline was hours away — and the family still had other things to deal with. “By the time we realized we could have voted by printing out (ballots), we didn’t have time to go,” Haker said. None of the three voted. Across the county, voters living in areas affected by the Spokane Complex fires appear to have participated in this year’s primary at lower rates than they did in 2022\. More than 39% of ballots from 375,433 registered voters in Spokane County were returned in this year’s primary, compared with more than 40% turnout in 2022\. But that relatively small change obscures larger declines in some fire-affected areas. RANGE’s analysis of Spokane County election data estimates that turnout in areas covered by Level 2 or Level 3 evacuation notices on August 4 fell from about 45% in the 2022 primary to about 37% this year. The analysis estimated turnout based on the share of each precinct's land area inside evacuation zones. Outside those areas, turnout fell by less than half a percentage point. Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton said the 2022 primary provides the closest comparison to this year’s election because both included state legislative and county commissioner races and had relatively similar precincts. The analysis shows how turnout changed in areas affected by evacuation orders compared with the rest of the county, but it does not establish that the evacuations caused the decline. Legislative District 6 — which includes the Rifle Club Road and Indian Trail areas affected by the Old Trails Fire, as well as areas affected by the Autumn Lane Fire — saw turnout decline by about four percentage points. ### **How RANGE analyzed turnout** Spokane County Auditor’s Office elections manager Ryan Dosch explained that between the August 2022 and August 2026 primaries, voting precincts changed because of Spokane City Council redistricting, a Deer Park annexation and precinct splits caused by voter population limits. To compare the elections, RANGE estimated 2022 turnout using the 2026 precinct map. The analysis assumes an even distribution of registered voters and ballots throughout each precinct. Where a former precinct overlapped multiple current precincts, RANGE divided registered voters and ballots among them, based on the share of the former precinct's land area falling within each current precinct, and then combined them to calculate turnout for current precincts. RANGE used the same approach to compare turnout inside and outside of Level 2 and Level 3 evacuation zones as of August 4\. For regions partly within evacuation zones, the analysis divided registered voters and ballots based on the share of the precinct’s land area inside a zone. The analysis estimates that the evacuation areas represented the equivalent of about 46,000 registered voters and 17,000 ballots cast in 2026, compared with about 43,000 registered voters and 20,000 ballots cast in the same areas in 2022. According to county data, precinct 6312, which encompasses Rifle Club Road, just under 37% of registered voters cast ballots this year — nearly 12 percentage points below the estimated 2022 turnout. Precinct 6022, near the Autumn Lane Fire in the Charles Road area, saw turnout fall by about 13 percentage points to 37%. Bothprecincts were in the burn area. Precinct 6316, which includes the Indian Trail branch of Spokane Public Library, saw turnout decline by about 10 percentage points, with 34% of registered voters participating in this year’s primary. “For those areas that were evacuated, there’s still a pretty significant impact,” Dalton said. ### **Voting during the evacuations** Nearly 58% of Spokane County voters who returned ballots this year used ballot drop boxes, while about 42% voted by mail, according to the Washington Secretary of State. But evacuation orders and road closures complicated options for residents in fire-affected neighborhoods. For voters in Indian Trail, one usual voting option was also closed earlier than usual. The drop box at the Indian Trail Library was inside a Level 3 evacuation zone, and Dalton said elections staff emptied and locked it on the morning of August 3\. Nine Mile resident Laura Wood and her husband ordinarily use a drop box near their home. But after the Autumn Lane Fire put their neighborhood under a Level 3 evacuation order, they never returned their ballots. Wood and her family evacuated Saturday before returning home that night. Even after they returned, she said road closures made getting around difficult. Their usual route was blocked near Swenson Road and state Route 291, forcing residents to take a lengthy detour to leave the area. “It was kind of a chaotic time,” Wood said. “It just was not top of mind.” She and her husband never submitted their ballots. Wood said she knew officials were encouraging residents to vote and offering alternatives, but the disruption of the fire changed their priorities. Because they remained under a Level 3 evacuation notice, they stayed close to home in case the fire shifted toward their house, she added. “This has never happened in the whole time we’ve lived here,” she said. “So it was a little unsettling to say the least.” Conrad Kurrle took a different route to voting. When Kurrle left his Indian Trail home for a business trip on the morning of Friday, July 31, he left his empty ballot, voter guide and pen sitting on his dining room table. He planned to vote when he returned to Spokane the following Monday. The next day, his home was placed under a Level 3 evacuation order. As Kurrle spent the weekend checking the Watch Duty disaster monitoring app and Reddit for updates on the fires, returning home for his ballot seemed increasingly unlikely. “If the evacuation levels dropped at all, then I knew that would be one of the things I would grab,” he said. “I would go home and I would grab and make sure that it was filled out and put in the mailer before 8 pm on Tuesday.” When evacuation levels did not appear likely to drop in time, Kurrle saw on the Spokane subreddit that the elections office would be open. After returning to Spokane and staying with a friend, he stopped at the elections office when it opened at 7 am on Tuesday, received a replacement ballot, voted and left within 15 minutes, he said. The county issued 4,208 replacement ballots this year. Spokane County Auditor’s Office elections manager Ryan Dosch said that was roughly in line with what the office expected and that the office did not see a large influx of people calling or seeking replacement ballots. “If you were evacuated due to a fire, and if you hadn’t voted yet, probably the top of your list was not to get your ballot in,” Dosch said. Dosch said ballot returns countywide tracked closely with 2022 throughout much of the election. A large spike in ballots processed the day after Election Day did not necessarily represent a surge of voters casting ballots after the fires began. Changes in US Postal Service processing meant the elections office received fewer mailed ballots on Tuesday and a larger batch Wednesday, Dosch said. Wednesday was also when elections workers processed ballots collected from drop boxes at 8 pm on Election Day. Dalton said some residents who remained inside evacuation zones even passed ballots across evacuation lines. “They could hand stuff back and forth to each other, and that included ballots,” she said. Many Spokane County voters had already cast their ballots before the fires began. Ballots were mailed between July 15 and 17, giving voters more than two weeks to return them before evacuations began on August 1\. Returned ballots had to be postmarked by Election Day to be counted. Kurrle said watching how the community and local government responded to the fires reinforced for him the importance of voting. “When we’re faced with something like disaster, the choices that we make with our elected officials, they in fact determine how often these disasters may happen, and how we respond and then recover from them,” Kurrle said. Haker, meanwhile, said an extension of the voting deadline might have helped people like his family, though he acknowledged that changing an election deadline during an emergency would have been complicated. “It would have been nice to have a little extension,” he said. “But I understand the logistics of that would be difficult.” When Haker and his family finally returned home, their ballots were still on the counter. ### Spokane County reverses course, approving four-month data center pause URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-four-month-moratorium-data-center/ Last updated: 2026-08-19T07:29:42.000Z After weeks of relentless criticism from constituents accusing county officials of secrecy, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners reversed course on [data center development](https://www.rangemedia.co/county-commission-wants-to-create-zoning-for-data-centers-as-constituents-ask-for-a-moratorium/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) Tuesday, unanimously approving a four-month pause on new permits for the centers. County legal and planning staff had developed the proposal for the shorter pause after commissioners split 3-2 along party lines last month on a nine-month moratorium on approvals for new data centers. The facilities can be resource-intensive, housing computing equipment used to store and process digital information, including for artificial intelligence applications. Conservative commissioners Mary Brooks, Josh Kerns and Al French joined liberal commissioners Chris Jordan and Amber Waldref in approving the pause, though French had previously suggested data center critics are “anti-American.” Brooks told public commenters before the vote that they couldn’t weigh in on data centers because the proposal was part of the board’s consent agenda — but attendees did so anyway. “What has been proposed with this project is hydrogen plants that will take our water and turn it into hydrogen, attached to a data center that will take our water and heat up our environment,” said Spokane resident Spencer Lambdin, referring to discussions French held with data center developer [Apricus Energy Partners](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/02/company-proposing-massive-west-plains-data-center-/?ref=rangemedia.co). Lambdin called for French to be held accountable. “What part of public works is that?” he said. “It is corruption. It is malfeasance.” Spokane County residents have leveled similar accusations at French, a developer and one of the most powerful politicians in the county, since late July when a Spokane woman [published documents](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/24/spokane-county-leaders-held-unknown-discussions-wi/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=She%20has%20been%20reading%20about%20data%20centers%2C%20and%20their%20impacts%2C%20and%20wanted%20to%20get%20involved.%20Then%20a%20friend%20suggested%20she%20put%20in%20a%20records%20request%20with%20the%20county.) obtained through a public records request describing his activities. French remained silent aside from an “aye” affirming his vote. But last week, after a similarly scathing round of public comment, he defended his conduct, saying his calendar is a public record. He also said it was his responsibility as a commissioner to foster development. The pause follows weeks of work by county staff prompted by Jordan’s and Waldref’s initial moratorium proposal, which they announced in mid-July. The four-month moratorium can be extended and is intended to give commissioners time to develop zoning regulations for data centers, according to city planners and lawyers. Four months “is not enough,” said county resident Alexandra Biggs, who was gathering petition signatures in support of the pause outside the Public Works Building as the board prepared to meet. Jordan echoed that concern but voted for the pause. “I would like to see it longer … when we’re talking about facilities that could consume the same energy as one half of the entirety of Spokane County,” Jordan said. Brooks, often considered the swing vote on the commission, is not seeking reelection this year, which means her replacement will take office just as the moratorium expires Republican state Rep. Suzanne Schmidt is running for the commission seat Brooks currently holds, and her vote could alter how the county approaches data center developers. While Schmidt originally did not face an opponent, write-in candidate Rachelle Miller — who’s running on an anti-data-center platform — received enough votes in the primary to appear on the general ballot and is now campaigning in earnest. *Editor's note: this story has been corrected to attribute a quotation to County Commissioner Chris Jordan rather than Commissioner Amber Waldref.* ### County Commission wants to create zoning for data centers as constituents ask for a moratorium URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/county-commission-wants-to-create-zoning-for-data-centers-as-constituents-ask-for-a-moratorium/ Last updated: 2026-08-17T18:23:49.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The BOCC will review a resolution that would establish a zoning schedule for data centers in the county, one of the most controversial conversations at the county level this year. It will also formally consider a moratorium on data centers. - The Spokane City Council, back from vacation, is looking to move quickly on wildfire relief, including approving the Mayor’s emergency declaration and taking next steps on ordinances to accept state grant funding, reduce demolition fees and pay contracts that gave wildfire survivors free meals while they sheltered at the convention center. - At the Urban Experience Committee, the Spokane City Council members will discuss contracts for $500,000 worth of culturally responsive treatment services for folks dealing with opioid addiction, and a separate ordinance that could breathe new life into vacant commercial spaces. - The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees will discuss their 2027 budget, amid uncertainties related to the current projected gap, which board members warn could lead to drastic service cuts. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Up for a vote in two weeks: - An ordinance to extend the interim zoning ordinance that temporarily removed height limits on new buildings downtown - An ordinance to allow existing funds to be used to expand access to cooling, heating, and weatherization services to individuals who meet the criteria established by the HEART Fund - An ordinance that would get rid of a city requirement for charitable organizations to get a free “charitable solicitation” license. Because this duplicates state requirements, Spokane could cut this requirement at the city level. Up for a vote next week: - an emergency contract with Blessings and Beyond for providing three meals a day for up to 450 residents sheltering at the convention center after the Spokane Complex Fire. The time outlined in the contract has already passed, as service was from August 3 through August 10\. The contract was not to exceed $90,562.50 — a daily rate of up to $12,937.50 — and council will be updated soon on the actual costs - an emergency ordinance to reduce the demolition fees for structures damaged by the Spokane Complex Fire to just $28.50, with no processing or technology fees added - a contract with the Washington State Department of Commerce, who will be granting Spokane households rapid financial support through the Wildfire Housing Assistance Fund AND: a bunch of contracts for legal fees to fight ongoing lawsuits, including: - an additional $100,000 to fight a lawsuit from the ACLU-WA and Jewels Helping Hands alleging the city violates the constitutional rights of unhoused people, bringing the total costs to $250,000 - an additional $25,000 to fight a lawsuit from the former owner of the [Wall Street Apartments](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/sep/12/back-to-where-i-started-dozens-of-tenants-forced-o/?ref=rangemedia.co), who alleges the city violated his rights by issuing a do not occupy order related to poor conditions. This would bring the total costs to $75,000. - an additional $100,000 to fight a federal [lawsuit](https://www.khq.com/news/family-of-kerry-jones-hilburg-files-50m-claim-against-spokane-police-over-deadly-shooting/article%5F350573a2-cd55-11ef-b6a0-3b4cddf4ade8.html?ref=rangemedia.co) from the estate of Kerry Jones-Hilburg, who was [shot and killed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/dec/08/court-documents-man-killed-by-police-at-walmart-ha/?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Spokane Police Department inside of a local Walmart in 2023\. This would bring the total costs to $150,000 If you want to provide public comment on any of these items, you can do so at the city council meeting on Wednesday! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Tuesday, August 18 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** Like this reporter, the Spokane City Council has been on a planned vacation for the last two weeks — though many of them were working, individually, throughout the Spokane wildfires — which means there has been no council meetings. Tonight, the biggest item on the agenda for their first meeting back is to approve Mayor Lisa Brown’s emergency declarations from the first week of August. The declarations of emergency allow the mayor’s office to move quickly on contracts to address the needs of wildfire survivors, without needing to go through the usual, more lengthy council approval process. If council approves the mayor’s declarations tonight, Brown’s office will be able to sign contracts and procure resources quickly through October 1, 2026, when the state of emergency would expire. Any contracts signed during the emergency could not obligate the city to spend money beyond October 1, unless approved through the normal council process. Brown is also required to give regular reporting to the council on projected expenses and recovering the costs from the state or federal grants. She is scheduled to present to council during the August 18 Agenda Review meeting, the September 22 Finance and Administration committee and the October 13 PIES committee. Council Member Michael Cathcart submitted an amendment to the resolution that would require even more communication from the mayor’s office, obligating the administration to notify the council in advance of “its intent to enter into emergency-related contracts of $50,000 or more.” Other items likely up for a vote include: - Reappointing Brian Falteisek and youth member Santiago Cruz to the Bicycle Advisory Board through August 2028 - Approving the Spokane Airport’s request to purchase two properties near the airport - Passing the $34,425 contract to reserve three shelter beds per night at the House of Charity for folks contacted by the police or the fire department — at a rate of $75 per bed, per night > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 19 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Update on the Spokane Complex Fires Mayor Lisa Brown will be providing a 20 minute overview on the city’s response to the Spokane Complex Fires. No other information is included in the agenda, so you’ll have to tune in and find out for yourself what the city has been doing to address emergent needs after the crisis. ### Wildfire Housing Assistance The Washington State Department of Commerce will be granting the city money through its Wildfire Housing Assistance Fund to help households impacted by the wildfires. The purpose of the funding is to “provide rapid support to households that have been temporarily or permanently displaced from their residence due to wildfires and need assistance with housing-related expenses.” At the committee meeting, the city will discuss the grant. ### Culturally responsive services The city of Spokane identified a lack of culturally responsive treatment services — i.e. services specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of marginalized communities — as a gap in the response to the opioid crisis. To address the gap, the city is contracting with four organizations to provide culturally responsive services: Center for Growth and Empowerment through Compassionate Addiction Treatment, The Native Project, Nuestras Raices and Washington State University and Spokane Tribal Network. The total cost of these services is under $500,000, which was already approved in the 2026 budget. ### Commercial activation The mayor’s administration will brief the council on an ordinance that would create a process for vacant and underutilized commercial spaces to be temporarily activated. That means spaces like, say, the former Rite Aid downtown, could be more easily transformed for temporary commercial events like, say, the [Punk Rock Flea Market](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/07/spokanes-first-punk-rock-flea-market-will-rock-on-/?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 18 at 1 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Budget discussions The library budget and [projected shortfall](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/17/spokane-public-library-facing-25-million-negative-/?ref=rangemedia.co), has been an ongoing cause for strife as library staff [warn](https://www.kxly.com/news/budget-shortfall-could-force-spokane-public-library-to-cut-hours-and-staff/article%5F4b2c1395-9d2c-4a4e-b33b-0ea567382394.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of service cuts and hour reduction. At this week’s Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees meeting, the board will discuss a 2027 preliminary budget. The agenda also includes minutes from a previous meeting, where they discussed the ramifications of the gap, if the city doesn’t approve more funding for them in the 2027 budget. With a gap of $400,000 to $500,000, potential service cuts would include: - Closing all locations on Sundays - Closing the Central Library on Mondays, which would impact the [therapeutic courts](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokanes-community-court-handles-most-nonviolent-offenses-downtown-while-arrests-increase-founders-say-improving-quality/article%5F884fb93c-08b6-5a97-a45b-c7d09c64d522.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that currently operate out of the library on Mondays - Cutting 3.5 full time positions - Reducing library outreach, advertising and collection resources. If the budget gap is larger than that, cuts could be even more drastic, the board warned. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanelibrary.org/about/administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 18 at 4:30 pm* > *South Hill Library,* > *3324 S. Perry St, WA, Events Room* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.youtube.com/@SpokanePublicLibrary1891/featured?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Yes, data centers? The board will discuss a new zoning schedule that would pave the way for developers to build data centers in Spokane County. The proposal is championed by conservative county commissioners Al French and Josh Kerns, [who scrambled](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%27s%20been%20suggested,July%2021%20meeting.) last month to put together a last-minute resolution after liberal commissioners Chris Jordan and Amber Waldref proposed to pause data center approvals for nine months. The BOCC will formally consider a moratorium resolution at the regular legislative meeting later in the day. The discussion comes against the backdrop of backroom conversations French held over the last year with data center developers to construct a facility that would [consume the same](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/02/company-proposing-massive-west-plains-data-center-/?ref=rangemedia.co) amount of electricity as most of Spokane County. Those activities were revealed when a Spokane woman published [documents](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RhGGendhG7p5uoWRUcUjy38HpnDn%5FBCh?fbclid=IwY2xjawTwKp5wZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVEycUhZY2JuckpqOEtmd1RzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeYXI7hvfIa1aUCeOIycRCjQ%5FDi-xhEY4I8z2Dy5TQuUnQWFigQGjiHNHIEdo%5Faem%5F13OLAWwHz8wHT7l0-HdENw&ref=rangemedia.co) describing them on Facebook last month. Last week, French fielded withering criticism from a slate of people who spoke at the regular board meeting, accusing him of being secretive about the discussions and asking him to apologize for implying data center opponents are not patriotic at public meetings. In lengthy remarks after the public comment session, French defended himself, saying his calendar is public record and that he never said data center opponents are not patriotic. You can see his defense of his activities [here](https://www.youtube.com/live/i1ZQ0PYOhZE?si=N8PdBqvqU1QZV2p5&t=2621&ref=rangemedia.co) and read his comments about opponents [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%27s%20been%20suggested,July%2021%20meeting.). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 17 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### No, data centers? Last month, liberal Spokane County commissioners Amber Waldref and Chris Jordan — following the steps of other governments including the city of Spokane and Kootenai County — proposed the BOCC pause any approvals of new data centers in the county for six months. The commissioners will formally consider that proposal this week, but it’s likely doomed: their three fellow commissioners Mary Brooks, Al French and Josh Kerns, all conservatives, vowed to oppose such a moratorium at the body’s agenda review on July 21. Brooks said she wanted to move quicker than the original nine months the proposed moratorium would be in place. Kerns said, “We shouldn't be moving at the speed of government. We need to move at the speed of business.” And French suggested opponents of data centers are not patriotic. (See above for how that was received). Meanwhile, the commission has been getting in earful from constituent opponents in public comments and in emails. They say the moratorium should be at least a year, like the city of Spokane. Some even say large data centers should not be allowed in the county at all. Data center developers have been courting French for more than a year, and since those discussions [were revealed](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RhGGendhG7p5uoWRUcUjy38HpnDn%5FBCh?fbclid=IwY2xjawTwKp5wZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMVEycUhZY2JuckpqOEtmd1RzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeYXI7hvfIa1aUCeOIycRCjQ%5FDi-xhEY4I8z2Dy5TQuUnQWFigQGjiHNHIEdo%5Faem%5F13OLAWwHz8wHT7l0-HdENw&ref=rangemedia.co) late last month, he has vociferously defended his actions and data centers as facilities that drive economic growth. You can read more about the saga [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 17 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, August 20 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors ?/**5 peppers** The agenda for Thursday’s meeting had not been uploaded as of Monday morning. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, August 20 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### What about the budget? The board of directors is expected to open the meeting with a budget hearing. No details were shared on the agenda about what elements of the budget will be discussed. Later in the meeting, the board is slated to take a vote to adopt the 2026-2027 budget, which totals about $84.5 million, as well as the district’s “four-year plan budget summary.” Details of the upcoming school year’s budget can be [seen here](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/pfiles/DWAPG76482A2/$file/F195%5F26-27%5Fw%5FASB.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). ### ‘Obsolete’ books for elementary students The consent agenda includes a list of books deemed “obsolete” as instructional materials for the East Farms Elementary School. According to the agenda, the board will take a vote on whether to approve the following books as “surplus”: - Second Steps (grade 5) Violence Prevention Curriculum Kit - Talking About Touching (age 4-6) Curriculum Kit - Character is Cool Curriculum Bag - Youth for Human Rights Curriculum Kit - Bully Proofing Curriculum Kit - KNOW HIV/AIDS Curriculum - Botvin Life Skills Training Level One - Botvin Life Skills Training Level Two - Self Esteem in the Classroom School officials did not give the public a reason through the agenda for why the books would be on a surplus list and deemed “obsolete.” ### Leave-sharing policy The board is expected to take a vote on making updates to the district’s leave-sharing policy, which extends leave benefits. One of the changes is to include employees who have suffered a hate crime under the list of eligible employees under this policy. The updated policy would also cover absent employees if they, a relative or household member are involved in an immigration enforcement action. The policy does not define what that involvement would be. A copy of the current policy can be seen [here](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=AWZNM65E7A39&ref=rangemedia.co). The updated policy is attached to the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 18 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Revised legislative agenda The City Council will formally adopt small changes to Spokane Valley’s legislative agenda, the series of requests it’ll make of the state legislature in 2027\. One conspicuous item is a request that Washington “mitigate cities’ sales tax losses as a result of passing” the new 9.9% state tax on income that exceeds $1 million per year. The agenda item does not describe why that tax would impact local sales taxes. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 18 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 18 at 6 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The Spokane Complex Fires URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-spokane-complex-fires/ Last updated: 2026-08-14T13:30:47.000Z On this week’s episode, RANGE staff Aaron Hedge, Pascal Bostic, and Yong-Yu Huang went on the air to talk about the Spokane Complex Fires, its impact on our communities, and other recent news. Read the stories mentioned at the links below: [Last week, the Spokesman-Review benched its top editor. Now, its union has voted no confidenceFor a decade, Rob Curley has told Spokane he knows how to save journalism. After last Friday, it’s unclear if he can save his job.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-ebe001d0-0fee-44d9-bb5a-85e5a552fc83.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A4293-920a734f-ae32-4f25-ab0b-faa99445dffa.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/after-a-newsroom-altercation-the-spokesman-review-benched-its-top-editor/) [Spokane evacuees spend thousands on housingFamilies displaced by the Spokane Complex fires describe a scramble for hotels and Airbnbs.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-18eedd79-b19f-4601-aeb2-7d046582fe2b.png)RANGE MediaYong-Yu Huang![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A4222-cb9fff01-9119-4965-9a8e-fee696888105.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/as-spokane-evacuations-ease-some-have-already-spent-thousands-seeking-shelter/) [Spokane evacuees spend thousands on housingFamilies displaced by the Spokane Complex fires describe a scramble for hotels and Airbnbs.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-e7b7c904-366e-407b-b871-29e6d6e753af.png)RANGE MediaYong-Yu Huang![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A4222-6d24779d-699c-4e96-89d0-fef72fda63e4.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/as-spokane-evacuations-ease-some-have-already-spent-thousands-seeking-shelter/) [Owner of pets lost after flames: ‘God knows where they are’Across the city, residents have evacuated their animals from the flames. But people fear for the ones left behind.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-a6797fe8-05a4-478c-970c-ee89a2b63e5c.png)RANGE MediaYong-Yu Huang![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Sandra-horse-6f72002f-56d3-4384-a06d-0e3dacac749d.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/owner-of-pets-lost-after-flames-god-knows-where-they-are/) [Four more arson counts added for Spokane arson suspectOn Thursday, a Spokane County judge found probable cause to add counts to the arson charge for fires since July 2025, given new information.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-df3e1a1b-8763-4fb7-92ef-237a46d67586.png)RANGE MediaYong-Yu Huang![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A4153-11db2765-2bc0-4dbc-a798-752b47d13e0a.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/alleged-spokane-arsonist-farinaccis-bond-upped-to-2-million-four-more-charges-added/) [Tragedy vulturesFrom chem trails to data centers, conspiracy theories are distracting from the real stakes of what’s happening in our community.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-d404afe6-c167-4c46-a22d-dc6a7ad5746b.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/river-e111574e-646e-4a41-a114-34df0c6b6020.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/tragedy-vultures/) [If the Old Trails Fire was arson, climate change was its accompliceBecause of arson arrest, online pundits are mocking former Gov. Inslee’s argument that fires show danger of climate change.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-676b670d-82f3-4e16-b1e7-e6be20e5d5ba.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot-2026-08-04-at-4.22.30---PM-fd7e90d2-cbca-498d-afce-3eeb099549da.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/if-the-old-trails-fire-was-arson-climate-change-was-its-accomplice/) [Former Spokane Zephyr players say club ‘cut corners,’ undercounted hoursAs women’s soccer pay disputes have become rallying points, these athletes can’t even file for unemployment benefits.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-7552c7b6-eadb-4e7b-9944-6dea9c8e0bb3.png)RANGE MediaYong-Yu Huang![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/638A3742-1-941c0f0c-6afc-4a51-8544-62029227a161.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/former-spokane-zephyr-players-say-club-cut-corners-undercounted-hours/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Last week, the Spokesman-Review benched its top editor. Now, its union has voted no confidence URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/after-a-newsroom-altercation-the-spokesman-review-benched-its-top-editor/ Last updated: 2026-10-02T22:01:23.000Z 📰 Read our most up-to-date coverage on the investigation into Curley [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/rob-curley-spokesman-review-newsroom-revolt/), published in partnership with InvestigateWest. *Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Spokane Editorial Society, a union for the Spokesman-Review’s newsroom and editorial staff, a statement from Spokesman publisher Stacey Cowles and a statement from The Black Lens to clarify its relationship with the Spokesman.* Rob Curley, the long-time executive editor of *the Spokesman-Review*, has been placed on administrative leave following the paper’s comprehensive coverage of the Spokane Complex wildfires. The leave stemmed from “several personnel complaints,” according to a statement from publisher Stacey Cowles shared Tuesday night after RANGE initially published this story. The newspaper has commissioned an independent investigation into his conduct, according to Bill Simer, the board chair of the Comma Community Journalism Lab, which Curley established to help convert for-profit news outlets into nonprofits. Curley’s leave was imposed after a verbal altercation in the newsroom Friday, August 7, over coverage of the fires, said Simer, a retired accountant. He described it as an “investigation into a potential human personnel issue.” Curley declined to speak to RANGE. Simer said Curley asked him to call RANGE, but added that he could not offer further details on the dispute because he wasn’t in the room that Friday to witness the conflict. The working relationship between an editor and a reporter is “a hard relationship,” Simer said. “I do think it was a situation where professional conflict was high,” Simer said of the fire coverage, though he could not offer details about the nature of any conflict in the newsroom. But he did say, “I’d heard of people who had worked three days with very little sleep.” In the past week, two *Spokesman* reporters wrote highly personal articles about the devastating fires. Thomas Clouse [tracked down](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/09/firefighters-ride-out-old-trails-inferno-in-spokan/?ref=rangemedia.co) the firefighter who saved Clouse’s neighbor’s house. Alexandra Duggan turned in a lengthy [first-person narrative](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/08/i-was-one-of-the-first-reporters-on-spokanes-devas/?ref=rangemedia.co) about her experience during the fire, including references to her faith. It’s unclear if these articles had anything to do with the altercation. In text messages with RANGE, Duggan referred all questions about Curley to the *Spokesman* publisher Stacey Cowles. Cowles — president of the Cowles Company’s media division, part of one of the most powerful businesses in the history of Spokane — has been Curley’s boss for many years. Cowles did not return an interview request sent Monday evening from RANGE. Clouse is the current president of the Spokane Editorial Society, the union that represents the rank-and-file newsroom employees. He told RANGE on Monday night that the union was preparing a statement, but did not share it with RANGE until after publication. Simer said that after the dispute in the newsroom, Curley left the *Spokesman*’s facilities located downtown at 999 W Riverside Ave and later could not get back in, said Simer, who praised the team’s extensive coverage of the fire. On Monday night, the union approved a vote of no confidence for Curley, according to the statement. “While we acknowledge the results of the no confidence vote, the circumstances behind it are part of an ongoing personnel matter,” Clouse wrote in the release. “Out of respect to those processes, we cannot comment further at this time.” The release also clarified that the vote does not reflect the union’s relationship with the Cowles Publishing Company or Comma — effectively saying the no-confidence vote extends to Curley’s leadership and not the larger project of making the *Spokesman* a non-profit. Cowles’ statement came after the union’s statement the same day, confirming that members of Comma staff were also “involved in complaints” and had been asked to work outside the office. In the meantime, news operations at the *Spokesman* will be led by Managing Editor Lindsey Treffry, Cowles wrote. “I want to assure readers, donors and partners that these events have no bearing on our transaction with Comma,” he said in the release. Curley launched Comma, which sports a leadership staff of 10, in 2022 to run several programs, from the local journalism the *Spokesman* produces to community labs in partnerships with local universities. In 2025, the Cowles family announced it would donate the *Spokesman* to Comma to operate as the lab’s flagship paper — with Curley serving as Comma’s president. Comma also helped relaunch the Black Lens, a newspaper serving Black readers across the region. The transfer was contingent on Comma raising a $2 million community match, which it met in May 2026\. In a Wednesday evening release after this article’s initial publication, the Black Lens clarified that while it has received “infrastructural and operational support” from both Comma and the *Spokesman*, it is an independent nonprofit organization and publication. Right now, the *Spokesman* and Comma are in a transition period. The exact nature of that transition has been messy, and from the outside, it’s not entirely clear to RANGE who has authority over what in the newsroom. What *is* clear is that there are some number of staffers officially working for Comma, while others work for the Spokesman. Curley became the *Spokesman’s* editor in 2016, after [being ousted](https://voiceofoc.org/2016/12/holding-the-powerful-accountable-in-2016/?ref=rangemedia.co) from the *Orange County Register*, another prominent regional paper. The year after he arrived, Spokane’s daily saw a round of staff buyouts, followed by another round the next year. In 2020, it suspended the print run of its Saturday paper. He [drew criticism in 2021](https://www.inlander.com/news/for-weeks-rep-mcmorris-rodgers-has-refused-to-talk-to-reporters-yet-invited-the-spokesman/article%5F11c181d2-83e6-5191-84f4-c37942c492b7.html?ref=rangemedia.co) after accepting an invitation from US Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to be her guest at President Joe Biden’s inauguration — even as she was refusing interview requests from the *Spokesman*’s reporters. Still, at a time when newspapers have lost relevance in many cities, Curley sought to uplift the *Spokesman* as an outlet that deeply engaged with its community. At the *Spokesman*, Curley started the Northwest Passages events series, which hosts community conversations with authors, and a paid high school internship program. Curley has touted Comma as an important part of saving local journalism, though, in its 2024 tax filings, Comma ended its year with net negative assets and a deficit of over $118,000. Simer said he spoke with Cowles Tuesday morning, and the publisher told him the *Spokesman* is committed to the relationship it’s starting to form with Comma and to becoming a community nonprofit newspaper. **We will update this story if more information becomes available.** ### A detox team from California flew in to try to treat ailing Spokane firefighters URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/a-detox-team-from-california-flew-in-to-try-to-treat-ailing-spokane-firefighters/ Last updated: 2026-08-11T16:50:05.000Z Nearly a week after the fires roared through northwest Spokane on August 1, Justin De Ruyter’s lungs still hurt. Every time he comes back from fighting the Spokane fires, his eyes water. His clothes stink. His skin and hair are caked in an oily residue. “I'm sweating profusely every night, like waking up five, six times,” said De Ruyter, “I can't sleep because these toxins are just flushing.” De Ruyter, the public information officer for the Spokane Fire Department, was one of many local firefighters trying to stop the Spokane Complex fires from spreading last week. “I've never been in a situation where I had hours and hours of having to think about survival and work at the same time,” De Ruyter said. "These kind of fires that we had Saturday, you know, less than 1% of firefighters will ever experience an event like that. I don't need another one. I am good. If I never see another one again, I am so fucking good." Fighting forest fires is one thing. When the woods burn, it’s *wood* that burns. But when a fire sweeps through neighborhoods, devouring houses, the smoke is “so much fucking worse than just a forest fire,” De Ruyter said. “What's in there? Who knows what's in there, dude?” De Ruyter said. “We don't even know all the gases that are in there.” Homes are covered with plastic siding and filled with heavy metals. Their garages may have electric cars with lithium batteries. All these materials give off horrible gases when they burn. And even after the smoke is gone, the “nasty, nasty” dust remains. “If we could test it and show people under a microscope what's in there, like, you wouldn't go in there without a hazmat suit,” De Ruyter said. De Ruyter is proud of his part in saving part of his city. But he also knows he might be paying the cost for a very long time. Firefighters are significantly [more likely](https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/bulletin/2017/firefighter-cancer.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to die of cancer. “I just watched a bunch of my buddies die of cancer and battle cancer,” De Ruyter said. “Young guys too.” But a shot at treatment arrived on Sunday, intended to try to dull the impact of carcinogenic toxins and reduce cancer risk. That morning, the air remained thick and acrid outside the Spokane Complex Fire Command center in the Spokane fairgrounds. Amid the hundreds of tents providing shelter for hundreds of firefighters, a white medical tent houses a California-based crew with the Volunteer Firefighter Foundation and the Integrative Healing Action Network. Inside, De Ruyter was breathing a potential treatment through a nebulizer, a device that looks like a medical version of a hookah. The treatment starts with acupuncture, before moving onto a nebulization of glutathione, a chemical naturally produced by the liver that protects blood cells and flushes out toxins. The nebulization targets the lungs, while the firefighters get IV injections of glutathione to treat the rest of the body. There remains debate over how well this works — even staunch advocates readily say that their “groundbreaking” treatment needs more clinical research to prove its effectiveness — but firefighters like De Ruyter are eager to try anything with a decent shot at making them feel better. “I feel hijacked,” De Ruyter said. “I want it out. I want this out. I want it out of my system so bad.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-1ec0920a-47b4-4fd6-b660-31b647831e54.jpeg) Justin De Ruyter inhales a glutathione nebulization at a detox clinic for firefighters at the Spokane county fairgrounds. **(Photo by Daniel Walters)* **Forged in fire** To some on the California Interagency Incident Management Team, the national squad of federal, state and firefighters who have been leading the battle against Spokane’s fires, this kind of detox protocol isn’t new. Jaqui Jorgensen, the director of the Volunteer Firefighter Foundation, says they’ve treated both the medical lead and the incident commander in the wake of the California fires in Pasadena and Santa Rosa. “They saw their brothers and sisters out there getting treated and feeling better,” Jorgensen said. “For them, it's like, ‘it's a no-brainer.’" The Volunteer Firefighter Foundation and the Integrative Healers Action Network formed in response to the series of fires that swept through Sonoma County in California between 2017 and 2020\. "Tragedy has this sneaky way of galvanizing people," Jorgensen said. Naturopathic oncologist Chris Holder, director of research at Integrative Healers, said they “had a fire rip through our town, thousands of houses burning, very similar to this one,” and showed up to help provide a wide variety of treatments. Their organization got two years of funding through the Red Cross, Holder said, to continue treating people in the community. In Spokane, they’re focusing first on getting glutathione injections and nebulizations for the front-line firefighters who were exposed to the nastiest stuff. “We believe that the faster we get this into them and not have \[toxins from the fire\] settle in their fat for a long time, we can mitigate some of the cancer risk,” said Holder. “Obviously, one treatment or two treatments is not enough with fire this size. .. but the earlier we intervene the better.” Spokane Fire Chief Tom Williams was among the crop of firefighters breathing in glutathione Sunday morning. He isn’t requiring anyone to participate — and is leaving big decisions around it to the fire union. But he said he wanted to demonstrate that he was willing to try it. “I hope it helps our folks get healthy. I honestly don't know much about it,” Williams told RANGE. “But leaving this stuff in your system has been proven to not be good." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-02337b13-a16a-4203-ae5c-d3d0cc344e1b.jpeg) A number of supplements donated to Integrative Healers are intended to help with everything from sleep to cortisol regulation. (**Photo by Daniel Walters*) **Further study needed** But there’s a lingering question: does it work? “I know there's some resistance with some in the International Association of Firefighters,” said Williams. “Some of that might be because it’s new.” Firefighters can be skeptical when it comes to medical procedures. In 2021, 25 Spokane firefighters were fired for refusing to get a COVID vaccine. On the one hand, the kind of procedure that De Ruyter and Williams got has been used by naturopaths for decades. There’s plenty of [research](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18317545/?ref=rangemedia.co) that suggests promise for this protocol to treat conditions like farmer's lung and cigarette smoking. Jorgensen said their own internal study produced incredible results, with “significant decreases in every category of toxins.” But it wasn’t the kind of robust scientific study that compared people who did get the treatment with people who didn’t. “We don't have the millions of dollars it costs to even do a phase one clinical trial,” Jorgensen said. “For us to be able to create real change and a new standard of care for firefighters, clinical research with a university research partner is non-negotiable.” She says their team hopes to get a partnership to pull off that kind of study. The additional evidence could mean a world of difference: it would mean that glutathione treatments would be covered by more insurance companies and firefighter worker comp plans. In California, at least, firefighters have fought tooth and nail against proposed pharmacy regulations that would have cut off affordable access to glutathione treatments, arguing that it was vital for their health. When Mandy Rosenbach, De Ruyter’s wife, learned that the detox team was coming to Spokane, she reached out specifically to make sure they could fit in her husband. “It’s like you know when an oil spill happens and they come in with the Dove soap and clean the birds,” Rosenbach said. Watching her husband get treated is a “total relief,” she said. She noted that a healthy long term-care strategy includes mental health support. “Trauma is a big buzzword in the culture today, but this is truly life and death," Rosenbach said. “One \[fire\] alone can be traumatic, but seeing it on this level, your brain almost can't comprehend it.” ### As evacuation zones shrink, some have already spent thousands seeking shelter URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/as-spokane-evacuations-ease-some-have-already-spent-thousands-seeking-shelter/ Last updated: 2026-08-12T15:06:31.000Z In three weeks, Sefina Tauala will start her junior year at Shadle Park High School, where she plays on the school’s varsity volleyball team. But on Saturday, she had a much different experience at the school. She sat in the cafeteria waiting for her parents, who were going through the resource fair at the Disaster Assistance Center. Dozens of booths, staffed by nonprofits, insurance companies, and county and city resources, offered help with everything from insurance claims to debris removal permits and emergency housing. The center opened at noon on Thursday, and will extend its run until Wednesday, August 12\. The Spokane Complex Fires have burned more than 900 structures, leaving little more than ashes and rubble for families to return to, and forced more than 60,000 people to evacuate. Over the last few days, families have described an expensive scramble for hotels and Airbnbs. On Sunday, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced that a large portion of Level 3 evacuations in the area has been downgraded, allowing some to begin making their way home. But the city’s own guidance for returning residents — wearing N95 masks, watching for toxic ash, not attempting to restore water on their own — makes it clear that many are heading into the unknown, not back to normal. The Taulalas live just off Nine Mile Road, and like many others in Spokane, evacuated last Saturday. A week earlier, they had watched smoke flood the air and tint their backyard orange. Neighbors packed their belongings into cars. But the family hadn’t heard about any notifications yet, Sefina Taulala said. When they finally received the evacuation order, the family rushed to gather things and left for her grandmother’s house. She brought along some clothes, toiletries, blankets and a stuffed pink pony she’d had since childhood. “We were hoping it would calm down,” Sefina Tauala said. But then the flames kept spreading, with how windy it was that day. “We’ve just been making it from there, trying to find living situations, because our area right now is full of smoke and ash, and we can’t really go back.” They had to leave her grandmother’s on Monday because there wasn’t enough room. The family spent time at a hotel and are now living at an Airbnb. On Sunday afternoon, they were still looking for a next stop once their Airbnb reservation ends on Tuesday. “Trying to find another one to get into is next to impossible,” she said. “In fact, I’ve been checking it all day, every day.” The family had burned through $2,200 in the past week on housing alone, Sefina Tauala’s mother, Angelique Tauala, said. That’s not factoring in food or other necessities. Angelique Tauala said the family’s mainly been looking for assistance with finding temporary housing at the center. They’ve tried the 211 hotline, Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and city resources. She said she wishes Airbnb would flag listings in an evacuation zone. At one point, Angelique Tauala found a place to stay only to have her hopes dashed. She’d used an Airbnb voucher Catholic Charities gave her and some of her own money to book a non-refundable stay, only to be given the address and discover that it was in a Level 3 evacuation zone. She spent nearly three hours on the phone negotiating to get her money back. She’s since seen other available listings in evacuation zones, figuring out their locations after contacting the hosts, which she now makes sure to do before she books. “When these things are popping up, I’m sure people are jumping on them, thinking they have to find a place for their family to go the same way I did,” Angelique Tauala said. “And then come to find out it’s not, and you can’t even get your money back.” Kerri Rodkey, a volunteer with [Thrive International](https://www.rangemedia.co/thrive-international-debt-refugee-housing/), a nonprofit that houses refugees and immigrants, spent her Saturday afternoon helping those displaced people by the fire with housing options. Thrive is making rooms available to fire evacuees, with rooms for two to three people running for $40 a night and rooms that can house up to seven people for $65, she said. Rodkey said she’s heard from people who are concerned about the affordability of hotel rooms and Airbnbs. There are people living paycheck to paycheck and others on Social Security who can barely afford to cover their current expenses, she added. “A lot of people who have come by have gotten short-term emergency help from other resources, but it’s only gonna last for a week or two,” Rodkey said. “What are we gonna do when that’s over, and they can’t afford the cost of a hotel room?” ### ‘I don’t like to be a burden’ The Taualas are not alone in their struggle to find housing. The first fire Willi Bessette heard about last Saturday wasn’t anywhere near his house. It was out in Omak, Washington, two and a half hours away, and his friends and family needed help evacuating. He bolted out the door, leaving his phone behind. A Colville tribal member, Bessette was still out there when word reached him: everything back in Spokane was on fire, too. By the time he got back, the flames had swallowed his home, leaving nothing but “bare ground,” he said. His phone burned along with everything else. He stayed with friends through the first few days, Bessette said. “I don’t like to be a burden,” he said. He doesn’t like to ask for help, either, he added. So for the last few nights, Bessette has been sleeping in his car. He’s waiting for his insurance to kick in. He needs new shoes, he said. The electric blue socks and hot pink slides he wore Saturday were the brightest thing in the cafeteria. It was his first day at the center. “I heard about it, so I’m here to see what they have to offer,” Bessette said. ### More than 1,000 calls for housing assistance Housing is by far the most common request 211 is fielding right now, said Kelli Miller, CEO of Frontier Behavioral Health, which serves as Eastern Washington’s 211 provider. Miller said Washington 211 and Airbnb.org, Airbnb's nonprofit arm, are partnering to provide “free temporary housing credit” for people displaced by wildfires. The length of that free stay varies by family, as voucher size depends on household needs like how big a family is, which can impact how much space it needs. Between August 4 and 8, the hotline received more than 1,200 calls related to wildfires, with almost nine of 10 calls seeking temporary housing. The vast majority were successfully connected to assistance, according to Miller. “What we are hearing most commonly is people are able to secure a voucher for several nights’ stay,” Miller said. “Resources are changing all the time, so we encourage people to call, see where you’re eligible.” Like the Taualas, Joel and Princess Francisco are burning through cash for a place to stay. The Franciscos know their house is still standing. But when they were first evacuated, they had to drive all the way to Colfax, Washington, about 60 miles south of Spokane, to find an Airbnb. “We can’t find any hotels available in the Spokane area,” Joel Francisco said. “We went to Cheney, Medical Lake, we called Idaho, we called Spokane Valley — (they were) fully booked. That’s the only thing that we can find.” They’ve stayed at three different hotels in Spokane because they weren’t able to book more than a couple of nights at each place. Since August 1, Princess Francisco estimates that the family has spent around $5,000 on housing alone. She said they’d received a $1,600 Airbnb voucher toward that stay, but had also paid an additional $4,000 out of pocket. As of Saturday, they were staying at the Courtyard by Marriott downtown, and said they’d arranged an eight-day stay at another Airbnb through 211 for after they checkout on Sunday. In the almost three decades that he’s lived in Spokane, Joel Francisco’s never seen anything like this, he said. “Be focused on trying to save money while you can,” he said. “Because you don’t know what’s going to happen.” ### Still waiting Next month, Sefina Tauala will take the court for the volleyball team in the same gym where the community is seeking help. Her mother had ordered her new shoes and equipment ahead of the season, which were sent back because of the evacuation, she said. Her birthday is coming up too, though she said she's already decided to push back celebrations. "It's the least of our worries," she said. Despite Sunday's evacuation zone updates, the Taualas still can’t go home — they live in an area that remains under Level 3\. They also haven’t managed to book another Airbnb yet, but Angelique Tauala said she hoped that more listings would open up as the county downgrades evacuation levels in other areas. “I’m so glad to hear that a lot of people are able to return and have utilities and power and gas,” she said. “But to still be in a Level 3 is hard to hear.” ### County Commissioners to address taxes, fees and repair grants for fire victims URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/county-commissioners-to-address-taxes-fees-and-repair-grants-for-fire-victims/ Last updated: 2026-08-10T05:01:36.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us include, well, what happened last week. The wildfires that devastated parts of Spokane and the coming recovery efforts certainly overshadow the government meetings this week. So before we bullet out our (short) list of CIVICS happenings, we wanted to point you to our [resource guide](https://www.rangemedia.co/where-wildfire-victims-can-find-resources-how-neighbors-can-help/) and encourage you to read [our coverage](https://www.rangemedia.co/) alongside the [crucial reporting](https://www.spokesman.com/sections/2026-wildfire-season/?ref=rangemedia.co) Alexandra Duggan and her colleagues at *The Spokesman* are doing. That said, here just a couple of meeting highlights: - The Spokane County Commissioners will get an update on the broader impacts of the Spokane Complex wildfires, including how property taxes will be assessed, limiting demolition fees and possible grant funding for repairs of homes damaged (but not destroyed) by the fires. - Spokane County will distribute nearly $30 million to a number of contractors to provide mental health and disability care. - The FLUM — that is, the Future Land Use Map for the city of Spokane — is ready for the public’s input, so check out how your neighborhood might look in the coming years and share your thoughts. - The Spokane City Council isn’t meeting this week. ## Spokane Housing Authority Board special meeting ​​🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### New executive director presentation The board will host a presentation forum and Q&A session for candidates for the board’s executive director position. Pamela Parr, the current executive director, is [set to retire](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-housing-authority-retirement-executive-director/293-e1d75b35-42c6-4570-b799-b8787469e4f9?ref=rangemedia.co) in April 2027 after 13 years in the role. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 10 at 2:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### City building capital improvement plans As part of the long-term plan the city of Spokane will submit to the state of Washington at the end of the year, it must map out how it will develop infrastructure and plan land use, like if an area is designated for residential or industrial use, in increments of six years. City planners are saying part of that plan, the Future Land Use Map, was complicated by “current circumstances,” presumably the wildfires that consumed much of the city last week. You can see that map and leave your comments [here](https://spokane.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/reporter/index.html?appid=bf51947dedcf4a0b9040e1069651960a&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 12 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Strategic Planning Meeting 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Wildfire updates Officials from across the county will provide information on several areas of wildfire response. The presentations will include information on tax assessments for lost property, reducing fees for people who need to destroy their homes and rebuild them, and Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners funding for repairs that cost up to $25,000, among other programs. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2371/files/agenda/2566?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 10 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Conference Room* > *1116 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 11 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Nearly $30M for disability and mental health contractors The county will likely approve a slate of contracts to about three dozen companies to provide mental health and disability care to clients in Spokane County. The money will come from both state and county coffers. See details about the disability service [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2271/files/attachment/23340?ref=rangemedia.co) and the mental health services [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2271/files/attachment/23405?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 11 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Building, building, building The board’s engineering committee is looking to approve contracts for a number of construction projects, including repaving Flightline Boulevard and new heating, cooling and ventilation of the first station. The agenda does include applicants or dollar figures for these projects, but the money would come from airport revenue rather than taxes. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 12 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 10 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 10 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Talking Spokane fires Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis will update the council on the status of the disaster response to the Spokane Complex fires. ### Reduced speed limits? The city is eyeing speed limit reductions from 35 to 30 miles per hour on portions of Broadway Avenue and Pines and Park road. You can see details about the proposal [here](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=637&meta%5Fid=109418&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 11 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Tragedy vultures URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/tragedy-vultures/ Last updated: 2026-08-13T19:41:17.000Z It happens like clockwork: a disaster devastates a community. People lose homes. They lose cars, workplaces, loved ones. They need somewhere to turn — and after that, they need a scapegoat. And people in powerful places sometimes suggest there’s a convenient person or thing to blame for the suffering. It happened this week in Spokane. After the wildfires, people from across the political spectrum — some weighing in from places as far-flung as Washington DC — asserted with no evidence there was more to the wildfires that devastated our county than a wayward man with a match and a hot, dry climate. “The trees around the properties are fine,” said the YouTuber @HustleBitch in [a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnoPwVhjJVE&ref=rangemedia.co) he posted on YouTube. “The street signs are untouched. But the cars in the driveways are completely melted, and the homes themselves have just vanished.” It didn’t seem to make sense to him how one thing could burn when another didn’t. He used this information to insinuate that someone purposefully set fires to clear ground for a data center in Spokane County, a project some of the most powerful [politicians](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) and [institutions](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/) in the area have recently advocated for. “Who?” he asked. “Who would benefit from this? Well, let me tell you something. A Spokane County Commissioner who was reportedly having secret discussions with a company to build a massive data center in the area.” He was referring to Commissioner Al French, who’s been [in high-level talks](https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/) with a data center developer that wants to build a facility on the West Plains. But @HustleBitch didn’t prove his case. Instead, he played footage showing people grappling with the crisis. “We don’t know how it started,” said a woman he’d cribbed video from; she had been filming the smoke from High Drive. “No one’s telling us shit.” It’s true that powerful lawmakers want a data center in Spokane County. But the villain in the case of the Old Trails wildfire was not motivated by development; he is a [troubled arsonist](https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/06/spokane-wildfire-suspect-aaron-farinacci-court-arraignment/?ref=rangemedia.co) who has admitted to having set the rural areas west of Spokane ablaze. [He’d been](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/06/detectives-say-spokane-fire-suspect-confessed-plan/?ref=rangemedia.co) planning it for weeks, *The Spokesman-Review* reported. He [was abetted](https://www.rangemedia.co/if-the-old-trails-fire-was-arson-climate-change-was-its-accomplice/) by climate change. But details about the arsonist didn’t start to come out until much of the informational damage was done. The data center conspiracy theory is not too far afield from a video that former Spokane County GOP chair MJ Bolt [shared](https://x.com/mjlifeisgood/status/2085771462062092324?s=46&ref=rangemedia.co), suggesting cars melt more readily these days because of chem trails, the conspiracy theory that airplanes are spreading biological or chemical agents. Big ideas, unproven claims. This kind of stuff [is everywhere](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5646574/?ref=rangemedia.co) after a disaster. Kate Bitz, a program manager with the Western States Center, a nonprofit that advocates for democracy in the Pacific Northwest, told me that such conspiracy theories take our eye off the ball of maintaining a healthy society. “Conspiracy theories tell us the lie that all-powerful forces are behind the devastation our communities face,” Bitz wrote in an email. “They distract us from focusing on the truth, whether that is the impact of climate change, the danger that a single act can have in fire-prone conditions or the reality that in a democracy we can all organize to have a say in our future.” We live in a world that throws the victims of natural disasters like the wildfires that ate parts of our community last week to the unreliable whims of insurance companies, lawyers, media — the systems that sustain our way of life but are too often disinterested in actual, individual wellbeing. This week, anti-LGBTQ+ right-wing groups — like that of the far-right worship pastor Sean Feucht — began to mobilize around the fires. Feucht called for prayer and said he was “planning a response,” though he didn’t offer details. Lewis Arthur, founder of the right-wing militia group Veterans On Patrol, advanced the notion of a data center conspiracy on the social media platform Telegram. We also saw conspiracy theories crop up when community leaders, like Bolt, spread unsubstantiated theories about the relationship between recent push to bring large data centers into Spokane County and the fires. There is a lot of angst. That angst — intuitive as it is about power structures — feeds bad actors. Two years ago, I spent [three days](https://www.rangemedia.co/lewis-arthur-spokane-council-dox/) with Arthur, whose organization made a name for itself by dismantling watering stations for immigrants near the US border with Mexico. He’d been on the lam in Spokane, running from Arizona authorities, and had spent days falsely asserting that Fairchild Air Force Base pilots were spraying toxic chemicals over Spokane and city leaders were enabling sex traffickers. It was a weird experience. He hugged me after our final interview, but when I published a story saying he’d doxxed the city council, he threatened to come to my workplace with protesters. He’s now back in town, making the same claims on Telegram as the data center conspiracy theorists. Arthur, a poor, unhoused man, exerts power through his connections to far-right movements — he showed up at the [standoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation%5Fof%5Fthe%5FMalheur%5FNational%5FWildlife%5FRefuge?ref=rangemedia.co) between militias and the federal government at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 — and by exploiting people’s willingness to believe in things they can’t prove. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/Arthur-1.jpeg) **(Courtesy of Kate Bitz.)* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/Arthur-2.png) **(Courtesy of Kate Bitz.)* “It dovetails remarkably well with VOP’s goals of mobilizing people around outlandish claims, fundraising to support their own activities and building their audience,” Bitz wrote in her email about the man. She pointed out that this is Arthur’s MO, noting that he [did the same](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/10/23/how-conspiracy-fueled-militia-got-foothold-this-hurricane-battered-town/?ref=rangemedia.co) with Hurricane Helene, [as did Sean Feucht](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/god-or-deep-state-christian-nationalists-cant-decide-who-to-blame-for-hurricane-helene/?ref=rangemedia.co) and other groups who want to take the US out of the hands of voters and give it to Jesus Christ. “Again and again, we see opponents of democracy exploiting disasters and tragedies to spread conspiracy theories,” Bitz wrote to me. “They do this to advance their own goals, whether they are building political power, spreading bigotry, or furthering their personal grift.” As far as we can tell, a man with a history of violence set the Old Trails fire on purpose. But he is not the only person preying on our community. “This Spokane fire is insane right now!!” [Feucht](https://www.facebook.com/sean.feucht/posts/this-spokane-fire-is-insane-right-now-please-pray-maybe-its-time-for-another-wor/1617476316405568/), who led a worship concert in Spokane almost exactly three years ago at which prayer leaders denounced earlier fires and queer people in the same breath, [wrote](https://www.facebook.com/sean.feucht/posts/this-spokane-fire-is-insane-right-now-please-pray-maybe-its-time-for-another-wor/1617476316405568/) on social media. Feucht has a thick history in Spokane, and has said he might come back. “Please pray! Maybe it’s time for another worship night there to pray and stand with the community!” But Bitz expressed hope that Spokane can dispense with the conspiracy theories and come together around the fire. “Conspiracy theories … tell us that our communities don’t have any power,” Bitz wrote. “What Spokanites are showing as we organize to care for evacuees and first responders is that we do have the power to take action and have each other’s backs.” The Spokane Complex fires destroyed homes of conservatives and liberals alike. They cleared the ground neither for a data center nor a Christian revival. The Christian nationalists who want to invade Spokane, like the people advancing data center conspiracies, don’t want to destroy the public sector. They’re just opportunists. The data center opponents seem to have their hearts in the right place — they just don’t want a massive, potentially environmentally toxic facility to be dropped in their backyard. Though the two groups have different motivations, the conspiracy theories about this fire are all harmful. They distract from the truth of our community response. Let’s tell ourselves a true story. ### Alleged Spokane arsonist Farinacci’s bond upped to $2 million, four more counts added URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/alleged-spokane-arsonist-farinaccis-bond-upped-to-2-million-four-more-charges-added/ Last updated: 2026-08-10T06:32:25.000Z The Old Trails fire was not the first time accused arsonist Aaron Farinacci sought to set Spokane aflame. Court documents say Farinacci admitted to setting 25 different fires since July 2025 — four of which a Spokane County Sheriff’s detective has been able to corroborate. “He feels fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” Det. Michael Drapeau wrote in a document. With this information, Spokane County Judge Jeremy Schmidt found probable cause during a Thursday arraignment to add four additional counts of first-degree arson against Farinacci. Farinacci, dressed in a pale green uniform, appeared via video from Spokane County Jail. Sitting next to him was his attorney Colin Charbonneau, the director of the Spokane County Public Defender’s Office. Farinacci is accused of starting the Old Trails fire, one of three fires since Saturday that have ravaged the Spokane area. Altogether, they have displaced over 67,000 people and destroyed an estimated 800 structures. The four additional arson counts are for the Aubrey White fire and Copper River, Meenach fire in July 2025, and the Equestrian fire in August 2025\. As recently as July 24, Farinacci told investigators, he started [a fire](https://www.khq.com/news/brush-fire-reported-at-riverside-state-park-in-spokane-county/article%5F9cb8d354-f505-4eda-af92-42c124db93c2.html?ref=rangemedia.co) on Indian Bluff. Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam, who sat next to Charbonneau, asked the court to increase Farinacci’s bond to $2 million, “given the gravity of these charges, given the addition of four separate arson counts.” Charbonneau did not object. “The court does find that there is a significant risk to community safety, as well as the potential for a violent offense and future failure to appear,” Schmidt said, concluding that the amount requested was “appropriate.” While being interviewed in custody, Farinacci said he always carried marijuana or cigarettes as an alibi for having a lighter or matches, court documents say. He had also researched a serial arsonist named John Leonard Orr — an [arson investigator](https://www.aetv.com/articles/why-did-john-leonard-orr-become-a-firebug?ref=rangemedia.co) who secretly set as many as 2,000 fires until getting caught in 1991 — and learned to make a “time-delay device” for starting a wildland fire, according to documents. Farinacci was arrested Monday evening on suspicion of first-degree arson. Charbonneau requested a competency evaluation for Farinacci, which would determine if the defendant is legally competent to stand trial. Schmidt said he expects to approve the evaluation, which would pause the case while it’s conducted. But if that isn’t signed, court rules would require the case to come back for arraignment within 24 hours. “We’ll have those documents to you this afternoon,” Charbonneau told Schmidt. ### Spokane area homeowners could lose insurance, adding insult to injury URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-area-homeowners-could-lose-insurance-adding-insult-to-injury-2/ Last updated: 2026-08-08T04:44:08.000Z Karen Rawlins pulled up outside the Spokane Convention Center Tuesday and popped open her car trunk. It was filled with pillows for the displaced residents —including her elderly mother — of Devoted Care, an adult group home near Indian Trails that burned in the Spokane wildfires over the weekend. Rawlins lived through the [Oregon Fire](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/aug/19/30-structures-reported-lost-in-oregion-fire-in-nor/?ref=rangemedia.co) north of Spokane three years ago, and she remembers it all too well. She said she relived “the pain and the trauma” this week. Homes spared by past Spokane-area wildfires haven’t always been spared by their insurers. Cancellations and nonrenewal rates in fire-affected ZIP codes have climbed after the smoke from previous fires cleared, regardless of whether any given house actually burned. As firefighters continue to battle [the worst wildfires in state history](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spokane-washingtons-wildfires-are-a-warning-for-the-entire-u-s/?ref=rangemedia.co), with over 800 structures reported destroyed as of Wednesday afternoon, some Spokanites fear history will repeat itself. After the fire in 2023, her insurance provider dropped several of her neighbors in Elk from their policies, Rawlins said. Their homes — like her own — were not even burned. Rawlins told RANGE she was scared that her insurance plan would also suffer. Luckily for her, the dreaded notice never came. She still doesn’t understand what made her situation different from that of her neighbors. In Elk’s ZIP code, 99009, the combined rate of insurer-initiated nonrenewals and cancellations reached 5.7% in 2025 — more than triple the 2023 rate and over four times the current statewide average of 1.3%, according to data from the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. On August 3, State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued [an emergency order](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-08/wsr-26-16-059.pdf?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) temporarily barring insurers from canceling or not renewing property and auto policies across all Washington ZIP codes affected by wildfire damage or evacuation orders, through September 30\. Additionally, insurers now have to provide 120 days’ notice before a cancellation or nonrenewal, double the usual 60-day notice. They must also wait at least 45 days after a missed premium payment before they drop coverage. But some fear that may not be enough to solve long-term concerns. “My concern for these people — because I’ve been through it — is getting permits to rebuild and getting insurance,” Rawlins said. “Who will reinsure them once they do rebuild?” ### Calculating risk Braving the noon heat, Maika Steele and her daughter walked their dog Radar on the lawn outside of the Spokane Convention Center on Tuesday. After evacuating their home by Nine Mile Falls over the weekend, the family — with four kids and two dogs — is now “bouncing around,” Steele said. They’re staying at The DoubleTree downtown. Steele said her house survived, but the area between their home, toward Bowl and Pitcher, wasn’t so lucky. In recent years, Steele said she’s seen people in her former home state of California driven out when homeowners insurance providers hiked prices after wildfires — or simply refused to write them coverage. “‘I’m not gonna rebuild. This is ridiculous,’” Steele recalled them saying. “So they just move out of state. It’s crazy. That is not even their fault. This is a disaster, a natural disaster.” Insurance companies don’t calculate wildfire risk themselves, according to Aaron VanTuyl, a spokesperson for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. He said they typically purchase wildfire risk management metrics from third-party companies like Moody’s Analytics, which combine data from weather patterns and satellite imagery, among other sources, into a score unique to each property. Insurance providers then use that score to help decide whether to offer coverage — and at what price. “The issue is that there’s nothing that compels insurance companies to disclose those risk scores,” VanTuyl said. “Since they’re part of their underwriting, they’re protected from public disclosure.” Victoria O’Banion learned that firsthand. Her home near Medical Lake sat nowhere near the Gray Fire, she said, which burned over 10,000 acres and destroyed 259 structures in August 2023\. But in 2024, Farmers Insurance — her provider since she and her husband bought the house in 2021 — declined to renew her policy weeks before it was set to expire. She said the company told her the decision was made based on FireLine — a tool insurers use to assess wildfire risk that is also not publicly available. O’Banion scrambled to find an alternative, she said, “running into roadblocks, running into denials,” before finally switching to Allstate in August 2024\. She worries that insurers are “self-selecting” the areas they’ll cover. “I think it’s easy to assume, ‘Oh, I have really nice houses around me — my house is going to be protected,’” O’Banion said. “But the reality is that no home is protected from wildfire.” In Medical Lake — ZIP code 99022 — insurers canceled or declined to renew 3.9% of policies in 2024, up from 2.2% in 2023\. When private insurers won’t cover a home, homeowners in Washington have one last option: the state’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, an insurer of last resort funded by companies doing business in the state. Homeowners insurance is required for almost all mortgages, so going without is not only risky, but nearly impossible. According to VanTuyl, 394 homes are now enrolled across the state, up from fewer than 100 in 2022. “It’s basically so nobody loses their house over not being able to find an insurance plan,” he said. “This is not great coverage, but it is coverage.” Most stay on the plan for around two to three months and are then able to find other coverage, as different companies score risk differently, Kuderer said. When people apply for the FAIR Plan, they have to present a reason. Last year, 35% of applicants cited loss of coverage due to wildfire risk. Previously, that number had peaked at 16%. This pattern echoes California, where enrollment in the state’s FAIR Plan surged 43% between September 2024 and December 2025 as insurers retreated from wildfire-prone areas, according to [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-15/california-insurance-crisis-hits-even-homes-facing-lower-wildfire-risk?ref=rangemedia.co). ### The cost of staying insured Greg Presley purchased a home in Grandview, perched in the hills above the Latah Valley in 2004\. He rented it out for a decade and a half before moving in himself in 2020\. He’d been using Farmers Insurance for roughly 30 years when, in October 2024, he received a form letter saying his policy on the Grandview property wouldn’t be renewed. When he called the office to ask why, he said he was told that the company was no longer writing policies in the 99224 ZIP code. Presley found a workaround through an insurance broker, landing a policy with American Modern — although he said the coverage is more expensive and isn’t quite as good as his previous plan. Residents in the Latah Valley have repeatedly [voiced concern](https://www.kxly.com/news/latah-valley-housing-development-approved-despite-infrastructure-concerns/article%5F2bdf6f37-18d3-4b19-8c7a-3d3f67a2f9db.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that infrastructure has failed to keep pace with residential development in the area. For example, the area’s limited road access may prove to be a bottleneck in the event of an evacuation, according to Molly Marshall, co-founder of Citizen Action for Latah Valley. “What would happen if we had a fire like they had on Saturday?” Marshall demanded. During O’Banion’s second year with Allstate, the company asked her to do remediation work to keep her coverage. They informed her in October 2024, detailed what needed to be fixed and gave them until August 2025 to make the changes. She cleared tree branches less than four feet above ground and showed there were no trees within six feet of her home. She dug down to demonstrate 12 inches of concrete foundation around the property. “We were able to do that because we’re two able-bodied people with income that can withstand unexpected expenses like that,” O’Banion said. However, she pointed out, that kind of work might not be possible for households with disabled or elderly residents or those experiencing financial strain. Although there are resources like the Spokane Conservation District’s [Firewise program](https://spokanecd.org/pages/firewise?ref=rangemedia.co) that conducts free risk assessments for people’s homes, O’Banion said, there is currently no program to financially support those who need to make changes to their property. Allison Ranusch, a forestry technician at the conservation district, said the organization doesn’t work with insurance companies directly. But when homeowners receive a notice demanding they clear vegetation or lose coverage, she’ll walk the property with them and provide informational resources. Since the weekend’s fires, the district has also fielded a new wave of outreach. Ranusch said roughly a dozen people have contacted the organization either requesting a Firewise risk assessment or asking for help evaluating whether their scorched trees are likely to survive. Ranusch encouraged wildfire victims to contact the conservation district directly, saying that a higher volume of inquiries strengthens the organization’s case when it seeks funding from outside agencies. ## **Longer-term,** legislation**\-based** Kuderer acknowledged that her moratorium is a temporary fix. Once it expires, insurers remain free to cancel policies in high-risk areas. Her office’s longer-term plan is legislation-based, Kuderer told RANGE. She wants to reintroduce a bill next year in the state legislature that would require insurers to disclose a homeowner’s wildfire risk score, along with steps residents can take to lower it. A [previous bill](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/about-us/current-initiatives/wildfire-risk-and-your-insurance/wildfire-risk-score-transparency?ref=rangemedia.co), sponsored by state Sen. Judy Warnick (R-Moses Lake), failed to pass last session. The bill would also require insurers to submit their proprietary catastrophic modeling maps to Kuderer’s office. That data wouldn’t be publicly available, she said, but it would let the state see what companies are weighing in their coverage decisions. “We’ll be able to see it in real time, which will help us target our mitigation efforts more effectively,” Kuderer said. A second bill would create a wildfire mitigation grant program, aimed specifically at homeowners in “pockets of nonrenewals and cancelations,” Kuderer said. State Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane) sponsored [its last iteration](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/about-us/news/2026/state-senate-passes-wildfire-grant-program-bill?ref=rangemedia.co). Both bills passed the state Senate with bipartisan support last session but died before they could make it to the House floor. Kuderer said Riccelli plans to bring the mitigation grant bill back, while the transparency bill will need a new sponsor — as Warnick is set to retire at the end of her term next January — but is also expected to return. Overall, Kuderer said she’d like to see a “more competitive market” for Washington insurance providers. To her, that means working to reduce the perception of a home being “susceptible” to wildfire. “We do that by investing in mitigation upfront,” she said. “That’s where we’re at in our nation’s history because we’ve kicked that climate change can down the road for so many decades.” Kuderer said her office is sending more personnel to Spokane to help those impacted by fires, having postponed a town hall originally scheduled for Wednesday evening. They'll be at the Disaster Assistance Center at Shadle Park High School this week, she said. For Rawlins, who lived through the Elk Fire, the road ahead for Spokane looks familiar. “One of the biggest things that people are going to find — it’s actually very frightening going forward — is getting insurance,” Rawlins said. “A lot of insurance companies are folding and they’re pulling out… I want to call it a racket.” Meanwhile, others warn that Spokane homeowners may find they don’t have enough insurance to actually cover their losses. In an email statement to RANGE, NW Insurance Council president Kenton Brine wrote that this week should be an “a-ha moment” for Spokane homeowners who may be underinsured. Brine pointed to a few ways people can end up in that situation without realizing it: some policies factor in depreciation, while others may cap how much they’ll pay for valuables. And some policies won’t cover the full cost of rebuilding a home from scratch, leaving homeowners on the hook for the difference, he explained. “These are avoidable ‘bad surprises,’” Brine wrote in the email. “But you can only know what your policy covers, what it doesn't cover, and what you can do about any possible coverage gaps if you talk with your insurance company or agent before there is a loss.” But right now, many homeowners are too busy surviving the first disaster to worry about what might come next. Steele said she isn’t immediately worried about her own insurance, with the issue seems less immediate considering everything else she’s dealing with this week. Her provider GEICO has been reliable in the past with a car accident, she said, so she's not too concerned about any claims she might have to make — especially since she knows her home survived. But Steele doesn’t know what her coverage or premium will look like next year. “I guess we’ll just get there when we get there,” she said. ### The landscaping that burns down neighborhoods URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-landscaping-that-burns-down-neighborhoods/ Last updated: 2026-08-05T22:14:01.000Z As Spokane watched its northwest go up in wildfire flames, Jim Walsh, head of the Washington state Republican Party,[posted a message](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid0TJiQyYb6TYEv8gpgsvALMhQ52gCTEDBQtyL7xYiSMzw2QUi6FuPcwsk8xshRqnzTl&id=100052932638292&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZaKdRRqcL6OmaXiRxEVGeJM3JPEBj7UDWFDRopQDfcoEFr5ZNflq8XH7EwVZq54i8AQ0BGIVLF0%5Fz0JX20IBFqYVG4RTEnxb2TjVawEzVa5CHFpPyigfMpUSBuTOrVu0-5yGKZI4Z-ovZiV-caiLUa2n1jhy2BIoPxNb2eCz8kzpRQCa0EPtrZhi3lvSUSJYd4&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) from a frustrated local resident who argued progressive policies had contributed to the severity of the blaze. “The City of Spokane was put under summer water restrictions on June 1, \[then\] went to level 2, limiting water to 2 days a week, on July 24,” the man wrote. “Not great timing since embers on dry lawns, fields and wooded areas start more spot fires.” The argument proposed a sickeningly ironic framing: *city takes measures to save water, dooms neighborhoods to fire.* There are two problems with that theory: First, limiting lawn watering to two days a week doesn’t necessarily result in dry lawns. In fact, lawncare experts argue watering daily is one of the *worst* things you can do for your lawn. “Many people assume that because it’s hot, the lawn needs water every day,” [writes](https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1778618922180?ref=rangemedia.co) Eric DeBoer, assistant professor of Turfgrass Management at Louisiana State University. “However, shallow watering encourages short, weak root systems and creates constantly wet conditions that favor disease development and weed seed germination.” Instead, he writes, the *best* practice for a healthy lawn is “deep and infrequent watering,” two to three times a week. Second, when we reached out to Spokane Fire Department spokesperson Justin De Ruyter, he said dry lawns weren’t driving with the spread of the fire. “That wasn’t really a factor,” De Ruyter said. “Lawns, if they’re mowed down and managed, it’s not really a problem.” Even a very dry mowed lawn, he said, will “just kinda smolder.” But, he said, there *is* a landscaping choice that makes a house dramatically more vulnerable to fire risks: arborvitae. Arborvitae are bushes that can rapidly grow as big as a tree. They’re popular landscaping choices for a [number of reasons](https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-pros-cons/arborvitae-pros-and-cons?ref=rangemedia.co): They’re easy to care for. They grow very quickly and easily. They’re bushy enough to make a decent privacy screen. You can easily trim them into hedges. But they dry out very quickly during drought conditions. Their needles are oily, and the plant tends to accumulate dry material in the center. Washington State University refers to them as “plant torches.” “It’s like a can of gasoline,” De Ruyter said. “They put out a shit ton of embers.” Worse, a lot of people like to grow their arborvitae right smack up against the side of their houses, almost ensuring that a plant fire becomes a house fire. “It’s kind of like a campfire during the July 4th weekend, but it’s your house,” the Spokane Valley Fire Department Fire Commissioner Rick Freier said during a [demonstration](https://youtu.be/v1QR8xOzqEA?si=CdwA0oXa%5F-3iZo7x&t=123&ref=rangemedia.co) posted to YouTube in 2020\. “And that’s not a good thing, right?” Wildfire experts recommend creating “defensible space” around your house, a no-plant’s-land free from foliage or debris. This not only reduces the risk that an errant ember will spread the fire to your house; it makes it easier for firefighters or emergency personnel to access. WSU recommends planting alternatives to arborvitae, like a Japanese barberry, an Oregon boxwood, a cherry laurel or a nice azalea. Of course, during a fire like last week’s, many people who’ve done absolutely everything right have lost their homes, too. It’s in moments like these, city communications director Erin Hut argued in an email to RANGE, that water conservation measures like the sprinkler restrictions are crucial. “The City’s Water Department has been able to maintain water within fire response levels in its tanks and reservoirs and throughout the system, even in the most impacted areas within the wildfire’s path,” Hut wrote in an email. “Every little bit of system efficiency has made this possible.” Regulation or not, it’s not like the city is shy about using sprinklers: As the *Inlander* [reported](https://www.inlander.com/news/the-region-s-love-affair-with-lush-lawns-comes-with-a-cost-and-a-growing/article%5Fcb5daed9-67fc-4d94-aaa1-0338fb27afea.html?ref=rangemedia.co) last month, the city of Spokane ranks higher in average residential water use than 98 percent of the country. ### If the Old Trails Fire was arson, climate change was its accomplice URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/if-the-old-trails-fire-was-arson-climate-change-was-its-accomplice/ Last updated: 2026-08-05T01:20:04.000Z After law enforcement [arrested 37-year-old Aaron Farinacci](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/03/suspected-old-trails-arsonist-aaron-farinacci-cont/?ref=rangemedia.co) on suspicion of setting the Old Trails Fire, the crowing from right-of-center pundits became a full chorus. Former Gov. Jay Inslee, long despised by the right in Washington state, had stoked its fury Sunday when he’d posted [on social media](https://x.com/JayInslee/status/2083989102874202311?ref=rangemedia.co) that “Climate change isn’t some faraway threat. It’s happening right now, to our neighbors and friends. We have to fight for them.” To some conservatives, this kind of commentary was wildly insensitive. “Jay Inslee thinks this is the time to peddle his political talking points from hundreds of miles away,” 6th Legislative District Candidate Isaiah Paine [posted](https://www.facebook.com/61576973153356/posts/the-fires-are-still-burning-our-community-is-hurting-and-first-responders-are-st/122177395478899105/). “Sit this one out, Jay. Now is not the time.” With the news that one of the fires in Spokane may have been caused by an arsonist, mockery of Inslee’s argument reached a fever pitch. “Ah ha,” [wrote](https://x.com/1BethDutton/status/2084596200402292796?ref=rangemedia.co) Beth Dutton, a pundit on X with over 51,000 followers. So the 65k acre Spokane fire wasn't climate change. We all knew this.” “Leftists have been blaming "CLIMATE CHANGE" for several days now, but once again, it was ARSON. [NOTHING natural about it](https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2084691038342402317?ref=rangemedia.co),” wrote alternative media personality Nick Sortor, who brags in his profile that he is “covering stories MSM won’t.” (“MSM” is conservative, pejorative shorthand for “Main Stream Media.”) “Climate change. Arson. Same thing. 🙃” right-wing journalist Jonathan Choe sarcastically [wrote](https://x.com/choeshow/status/2084553366781513740?ref=rangemedia.co) on Twitter. “This is the face of the ‘climate change’ which is responsible for the Washington fires,” [snarked](https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2084717498969051363?ref=rangemedia.co) the Libs of TikTok account, which is maintained by the former real estate agent-turned-right-wing commentator [Chaya Raichik](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/19/libs-of-tiktok-right-wing-media/?ref=rangemedia.co), above a picture of Farinacci. But Inslee’s and others’ argument was never that climate change itself started the fire — no more than climate change causes lightning. The issue, experts say, is that climate change is literally adding fuel to the fire. “We’re on our fourth year of significant drought, which is obviously having an impact on the health of trees and the health of the natural environment,” said Michael Kelly, communications director with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. “When you’re combining really dangerous weather conditions with a drought that is drying up fuels, it’s a really combustible situation.” Farinacci, of course, makes a better villain than the collective emissions of greenhouse gasses. He’s a man who [killed his father](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/man-charged-with-setting-largest-spokane-wildfire-went-to-prison-for-killing-father?ref=rangemedia.co) for asking him to do dishes. By contrast, climate change — as anyone who saw the truly [terrible](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/day%5Fafter%5Ftomorrow?ref=rangemedia.co) 2004 movie *The Day After Tomorrow* can attest to — makes for a boring villain. It’s not. It is the accrual of trillions of actions by billions of people over hundreds of years. Instead of coming from simple malice or greed, much of climate change has been caused by people just living their lives, driving to work, eating meat and heating their homes. Climate change, in part, is the result of societies pulling themselves out of poverty, trading starvation for industrialization. As with any one natural disaster, it’s hard to completely say it wouldn’t have happened if not for climate change. Big fires have happened throughout human history. But researchers have shown that climate change makes many of these disasters more likely and more deadly. Over a little more than two decades, [the number of extreme wildfires fires have doubled](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/explore/wildfires-and-climate-change/?ref=rangemedia.co). In parts of the Western US, one study [found](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8537?ref=rangemedia.co), fire seasons are lasting a month longer than they did 35 years earlier. Hot temperatures, low snowfall and droughts that span years have turned our terrain into a tinder box. Now add the final factor: dry weather with massive winds and low humidity. Farinacci, to be clear, has only been accused of starting *one* of the several fires that have converged to form the Spokane Complex Fires. The disaster *can’t* just have been caused by one element — even if it’s something as impactful as climate change — because it’s not just one fire. Complex fires — blazes that come together sparked by multiple and often many origins — tend to be the worst fire disasters not only because they increase the landscape of damage but also because they stretch firefighting capacity thin. One of the most salient cases of this dynamic in the Inland Northwest took place before climate change was part of the zeitgeist. In 1910, a [massive conflagration](https://www.railstotrails.org/trailblog/the-big-burn/?ref=rangemedia.co) spread across the entire American Northwest. That combined as many as *3,000* individual fires — including fires started by lightning, campfires and even embers from coal locomotives. The reason it grew so big is because conditions were very similar to how they were on Saturday: strong winds, a weak snowpack and a long period of drought. And, thanks in part to greenhouse gases, the conditions every year keep imitating the worst of 1910\. The case for climate change’s impact on the frequency and severity of wildfires isn’t about one week of bad weather. It’s about year after year of bad weather. There are plenty of fights to be had about forest management, homeless encampments and punishing arsonists. But all these debates take place in a different world than they did 20 years ago. If those scoffing on social media about the notion that climate change is a factor in the Spokane fires had grown up in Spokane, they might strike a different tone. They’d know how rarely summer plans had once been choked out by wildfire smoke, or the air had turned toxic, or the sun had gone red — even 10 years ago. They’d know that what was once extraordinary — like the [1991 firestorm ](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/oct/16/25-years-later-lessons-from-1991-firestorm-make-a-/?ref=rangemedia.co)— has practically become rote in the West. You can’t fix that simply by jailing more arsonists, shutting down more homeless encampments or putting out more Smokey the Bear PSAs. Anybody with malice and a match can start a fire. It takes a lot more to make a blaze what it was this week in Spokane. ### Where wildfire victims can find resources, how neighbors can help URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/where-wildfire-victims-can-find-resources-how-neighbors-can-help/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T18:08:58.000Z The Spokane Complex fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands of people in our city. In typical Spokane fashion, our communities are jumping in to help. Here are some resources for those affected, and for those who want to help. Updated information about the evacuation boundaries is [here](https://srec911.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=337af083184c474d9d9181bb44f957b0&fbclid=IwY2xjawTeE09leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFJSW5qSnVkMFphZ3ZMTEdtc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjQZyrZeDORN9YHqDpN5bZ8MaJrAh4MFHdsYDFnzqf8KOJvGmckLl7wMyF2X%5Faem%5FFSjuLvPvO-aipUE8R%5FWOJw&ref=rangemedia.co). Please email any resources we missed (and we’re sure we’ve missed some) at [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co). ### Food, supplies, clothing and general resources If you need access to things that will keep you alive and well: - The Spokane NAACP has a fairly comprehensive visual digest of resources for wildfire victims, which you can access [here](https://www.facebook.com/groups/spokaneisanamazingplacetolive/posts/1661216065734038/). - The [Partners INW](https://partnersinw.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) Food Bank’s mobile truck will be providing food, clothing, diapers and hygiene products at Northwood Middle School on Tuesday, August 4, from 11 am to 1 pm. Its Spokane Valley location at 10814 E Broadway is also open weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm. - [2nd Harvest Food Bank](https://2-harvest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) maintains a [Food Finder Map](https://foodfinder.2-harvest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and is making its services available to wildfire victims. - RANGE has a [comprehensive guide](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-food-snap-help/) to local pantries and free food programs originally published in response to the lapse in SNAP benefits that occurred last year. - [Great Harvest Spokane](https://www.greatharvest.com/local-bakery-information?ref=rangemedia.co), part of [the coop](https://spokane.coop/?ref=rangemedia.co) that owns RANGE, continues its Food for Friends program. You can just go to the counter, and they’ll hook you up with two sandwiches and a loaf of bread, all [for free](https://www.instagram.com/p/DblU-LUB3CI/?ref=rangemedia.co). - [Feast World Kitchen](https://www.feastworldkitchen.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) is serving free meals to wildfire victims and others who need them every day from 11 am to 2 pm and from 4 to 8 pm until the need dies down - The church Victory Faith Spokane [will distribute](https://victoryfaith.org/?sapurl=LysydG13L2xiL2NhLytwbWJ2d2hjP2VtYmVkJmJyYW5kaW5n&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=1048165651&gbraid=0AAAAADMXbFomCJppG%5FhFjqdQ%5FzkHEiqHG&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-MDTBhCgARIsAKAkdlQwdVva59CntQsJJ6k4UjjinC2PdNcKCeAb3cbiHsem6T%5FNq2MjIgMaAh&ref=rangemedia.co) hygiene products, baby supplies, ready-to-eat food, bottled water and other necessities. They’ll operate at 2024 Argonne Road from Wednesday to Friday from 10 am to 3 pm. - Nuestras Raices [will operate](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbjMeF1Eqk9/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==) a clothing bank and a center for community meals at 1214 E. Sprague Avenue after 3:30 pm. The next hours are on Tuesday. - Gonzaga University has a [list of resources](https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/offices-services/emergency-management/zagready/eastern-washington-wildfire-resources?ref=rangemedia.co) for people affected by the fires who are involved with the university. - Eastern Washington University has a similar resource bank. Access it [here](https://www.ewu.edu/news/spokane-complex-fire-updates-for-the-ewu-community/?ref=rangemedia.co). - Seven U-Haul locations around the Spokane area are offering 30 days of free storage for wildfire victims. Find more details [here](https://www.uhaul.com/Articles/About/Spokane-Fires-U-Haul-Offers-Relief-To-Evacuees-And-Impacted-Residents-41852/?utm%5Fcampaign=uhaulsm&utm%5Fsource=facebook&utm%5Fmedium=pr&utm%5Fcontent=20260803-DisasterReliefspokanefires&fbclid=IwY2xjawTe8lJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFLTlRMeFFzcktBZGxHQ0tpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoO%5FbEpur2jTEDIfIB-bCaLp0xMMTsSgnvVJTIG5yvROOx2H9hd1yf0kXMmN%5Faem%5FOmkZ0mZUb-QjpZ9Uw7I1uw). - Spokane Public Schools is hosting a [Free Kids Day Camp](https://www.spokaneschools.org/article/3055231?ref=rangemedia.co) at Shadle High School at 4327 N Ash Street from 11 am to 3 pm through Friday, August 7. ### Drone flight restrictions *The* *Spokesman* is reporting that citizen drone flights have hampered aerial wildfire response. Don't fly your drones in the way of planes fighting the fires. The FAA maintains a map of temporary flight restrictions in place during the fires [here](https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail%5F6%5F0894&ref=rangemedia.co). ### Finding shelter [The Red Cross](https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2026/spokane-wildfires-force-thousands-to-evacuate.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqUDNof0bC8ururhMvNKS9sZuZzqT9HKW-G73XL0ACwYGChNc9Q&ref=rangemedia.co) has [three shelters](https://www.redcross.org/get-help/disaster-relief-and-recovery-services/find-an-open-shelter.html?ref=rangemedia.co), including at the Spokane Convention Center, open to fire victims. Call its hotline at 800-733-2767 or find a list of shelters [here](http://redcross.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). You can also use the [Red Cross Emergency App](https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/mobile-apps.html?ref=rangemedia.co). The organization offers shelter, hot meals and charging stations for devices. ### Dealing with losing your home #### Financial If you lost your home or business, there are things you can do to make sure you don’t lose more than you already have. Below are some state-level guides and resources for navigating the fallout from a financial, tax and insurance standpoint. - The Spokane Regional Health Department has a list of things you can do to cope with losing property; it’s available [here](https://srhd.org/health-topics/environmental-health/wildfire-smoke/after-a-wildfire?ref=rangemedia.co). - The Washington Department of Revenue [explains](https://dor.wa.gov/about/news-releases/2023/wildfire-tax-relief-resources?ref=rangemedia.co) how to apply with the County Assessor to reduce the taxable value of your property. - The Special Districts Association of Oregon has [a guide](https://www.sdao.com/after-the-fire-dealing-with-your-insurance-company?ref=rangemedia.co) on tactics to deal with your insurance company just after losing a structure. And Quilcene Fire Rescue has [a guide](https://www.quilcenefirerescue.org/insurance-fire-insurance-information-for-washington-homeowners?ref=rangemedia.co) for exactly what agencies you need to engage with in Washington. - Washington’s Insurance Commissioner has [a guide](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/insurance-resources/home-insurance/home-insurance-claims/filing-homeowner-insurance-claim?ref=rangemedia.co) for how to file an insurance claim. - The same office has a [form and a hotline](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/ask-insurance-expert?ref=rangemedia.co) to ask an expert any questions you might have about your specific property. #### Psychological Losing a home or business you’ve poured resources into is an incredible tragedy. Here are some resources to help you cope. - Spokane’s Healing Collective has an active hotline dedicated specifically to people dealing with loss from the wildfires. You can find it [here](https://the-healing-collective.org/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTd9KZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFURWlsS0hWczhaMTZxSVNpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnQBtp-lac0%5FFnjXA--U6MltDm1Msp8GwDjpYhB8EM1PApE5uyhieY57dQiP%5Faem%5F0D9-SVdAdQ9B8fImU6YrHg&ref=rangemedia.co). - The nonprofit After the Fire Washington lists a number of mental health resources (among resources for dealing with other parts of recovery), which you can access [here](https://afterthefirewa.org/personal-family-recovery/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Recovering%20Emotionally%20After,Deposit%20Insurance%20Corporation). Scroll to the Mental and Emotional Support section. - The federal Department of Veterans Affairs has a [detailed guide](https://www.ptsd.va.gov/disaster%5Fevents/for%5Feveryone/fires%5Fhelp.asp?ref=rangemedia.co) to coping with the mental health fallout of loss after wildfire. ### Caring for or finding your pets Several organizations are dedicating resources to people who need help with animal care: - [SpokAnimal](https://spokanimal.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) is taking in pets displaced by the wildfire. They also need help. You can volunteer to foster displaced animals, donate pet food, blankets, towels, funds or buy something on their Chewy wishlist. You can find more info [here](https://linktr.ee/spokanimal?utm%5Fsource=ig&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcontent=link%5Fin%5Fbio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGn4DQBsKs9qOFYni6XKsKNJXucNowMVS%5FYEke2qScnLYFA27cY36ObAuMgxIU%5Faem%5Fl31DoujNrLY8qMOaQRyMmQ). - The Humane Evacuation Animal Rescue Team is housing people who have animals, including the really big ones like livestock and horses, at the stables at the Spokane County Fair & Expo grounds at 404 North Havana Street. They’ll be there until the fires are under control. Read our story about the response [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/owner-of-pets-lost-after-flames-god-knows-where-they-are/). - The organization 4 Paws Palace Sanctuary is driving around trying to rescue pets lost after the wildfires. Find more information [here](https://www.facebook.com/4pawspalace/posts/pfbid02X9q2GfhCAdnRrGWEahY4NbedVQfR4cS7HUUBZC4uX8jemc9bxYESrUHLJ2984UwNl). - Spider's Web and Serpent's coil is offering free housing for people with displaced reptiles. Find details [here](https://www.facebook.com/groups/239306387012277/posts/2173638056912424/). ### How to help Here are some of the organizations collecting money and goods: - The city of Spokane’s H.O.M.E. Starts Here Initiative is being repurposed to accept funding intended to help wildfire victims. You can donate at this [link](https://my.spokanecity.org/endinghomelessness/donations/?ref=rangemedia.co). - The Red Cross is accepting donations [here](https://www.redcross.org/donate/dr/washington-wildfires-2026.html/?ref=rangemedia.co). - The Innovia Foundation has created a wildfire response fund dedicated to helping wildfire victims through grant programming. You can donate to that [here](https://innovia.org/wildfire-response/?ref=rangemedia.co). - [Project Beauty Share](https://projectbeautyshare.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) is seeking donations of unopened hygiene products for wildfire victims. You can find details [here](https://www.facebook.com/ProjectBeautyShare/posts/pfbid0ake56dHYUtsfSb9mNb8Swx3RUBz1v8wrcijRkcjkWokEWHyf46P7jFz7re4UVC8Yl). - Global Neighborhood Thrift and Vintage [will begin](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HY8PuJ5Fp/) collecting clothing donations Tuesday for fire victims. - The Splat CoOp [will host](https://splatspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) a fundraiser for wildfire victims at its regular First Friday event on August 7 from 5 to 8 pm at 319 Cedar Street. (Click on “Events.”) All proceeds will go to wildfire victims. - The Chameleon will hold a fundraiser for fire victims at 1801 West Sunset Boulevard on Friday at 6 pm. More information [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/DbmOJyCumJa/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Former Spokane Zephyr players say club ‘cut corners,’ undercounted hours URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/former-spokane-zephyr-players-say-club-cut-corners-undercounted-hours/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T22:08:07.000Z This was supposed to be Spokane’s summer of soccer. But just as the global spotlight of the World Cup passed briefly over Spokane — with crowds gathering at watch parties and the Egyptian national team training for the World Cup at Gonzaga University’s Luger Field — the lights had already gone out on the city’s own professional women’s soccer team. In May, Spokane Zephyr FC announced it would not return for another season. The team, owned by Aequus Sports — which also runs the Division III men’s team Spokane Velocity FC — had played its inaugural match less than two years earlier in Aug. 2024\. The Zephyr wrapped up their regular season on May 16 against Brooklyn FC, falling one point short of making a postseason appearance. In a locker room meeting on May 18, the Monday after that final game, club co-owners Ryan and Katie Harnetiaux informed players that the club was ceasing operations. They read from a piece of paper, players recalled, and when the team asked them to answer questions, the owners declined and left to meet with the men’s team over breakfast. Five former Zephyr players told RANGE that the club failed its athletes, from undercounting their hours to providing inadequate resources for staffing and medical needs. One player, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said she flew across the country for two games in February. But her club’s records claim she worked a total of just 16 hours for the two weeks during which she traveled. She said that number falls drastically short of what she actually worked. With prior professional league experience, she’s now signed with another club in the USL Super League — officially known as the Gainbridge Super League — the newest Division I professional women’s soccer league in the country. Reflecting on her time in Spokane, the now-signed player said many aspects of the program “weren’t up to par for professional women’s soccer.” In an email to RANGE, Aequus Sports co-owner Ryan Harnetiaux declined to comment on the Zephyr’s closure and did not respond to a follow-up request about the hours dispute. ### Misreported hours Washington requires workers to have logged at least 680 hours over the first four of the previous five calendar quarters to qualify for unemployment benefits. Connor Tobin, executive director of the USL Players Association — the union representing professional soccer players in the league — said the organization requested records from the club after learning players were having trouble filing for unemployment. The union found that [no Zephyr player topped 321 hours](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dai5Zkqj8Ch/?hl=en&img%5Findex=3&ref=rangemedia.co) for the entire season. That’s less than half the state’s threshold. “To give you a sense of how potentially far off this is, most players’ average hours worked per pay cycle run, which would be a biweekly period, is somewhere between the range of 11 and 15 hours. That’s over a two-week period,” Tobin said, calling the reported numbers “highly dubious.” Players were paid their full salaries during the season regardless of how their hours were logged. But this discrepancy matters because of Washington’s minimum hours worked requirement to file for unemployment benefits. Former Zephyr defender Madelyn Desiano said this situation shows how many people at the club “failed the players,” regardless of whether they knew the program was shutting down. Desiano, who always intended to retire from professional soccer once her contract ended this season, is now an assistant coach at Pepperdine University. She said she at least understood the decision to fold the team, as ”business is business.” “I would rather have that go down than another year of questions and doubts and non-answers and ghosting and lack of resources,” she said. “I’d rather have them just be upfront and honest.” But Desiano felt the club could have been more transparent along the way, slamming the lack of communication to players. The hours had to be approved by a series of different people, she said, questioning why those involved weren’t being “held accountable.” The now-signed player said she received a sheet of paper that suggested she should apply for unemployment, only to call the state and learn that she was ineligible. She said the club’s records showed she had worked fewer than 300 hours in the last 18 months. “I was like, ‘What? No I haven’t. There’s no way,’” the player said. “That’s when we found out that it was being recorded like that.” According to club records, the player logged just 16 hours from Feb. 1 to Feb. 14, 2026 — a period that included cross-country travel for two away games at Sporting Club Jacksonville on Feb. 11 and Carolina Ascent on Feb. 14. She sent RANGE screenshots of her calendar, featuring event titles like “BEAT Sporting Jacksonville!” The team reported to the club at 7:30 am on Feb. 10, then left for Spokane International Airport at 10:30 that morning. From there, the team flew three hours to Denver and connected to a five-hour flight to Jacksonville, Florida, finally arriving at their hotel around 12 hours after their day began. The next day’s schedule featured a 9 am breakfast, followed by a meeting, a walk and treatment before leaving for the stadium at 5 pm. They took the field at 7 pm and they didn’t return to the hotel until 10 pm. On Feb. 12, the players continued to work — attending treatment and recovery sessions, training and another flight, this time a shorter hop to Charlotte, North Carolina, where the team reached its hotel at around 6 pm. The following day, the team had breakfast and training in the afternoon. On Feb. 14, the team played: a pre-match meal, a team meeting, a 2 pm kickoff with Carolina Ascent and a post-match meal. The team left for the airport just after 5 am the next morning to return to Spokane. The player estimated she worked around 70 hours over those two weeks, including travel time — more than four times what the club’s records show. She said she didn’t ultimately file for unemployment since she had signed with a new team. But she knew teammates who did not have a professional next step yet, and she wanted to understand the process so she could help them. According to the [U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/22-flsa-hours-worked?ref=rangemedia.co), travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight generally counts as work time when it overlaps with the employee’s normal working hours. Hope Hisey, a two-time Super League Goalkeeper of the Year, set a single-season save record with 86 stops during her second year with the Zephyr. In a pay stub obtained by RANGE, the club also only logged 16 hours for Hisey across those same two weeks in February. She said the hours logged throughout the season were “clearly flubbed.” “There’s days where we’re clearly on the field more than that's being reported, and that doesn’t even account for all the other things that we did,” Hisey said. Another player who hasn’t found a new team is working three jobs back home — coaching youth soccer and two others tied to her degree — while she looks for her next club. She also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. She told RANGE that, during the season, she could survive on her player's salary and a remote part-time job. After the team folded, she had to take more hours at the remote gig and find two more, all while training and looking for another team. This schedule has been “incredibly stressful,” she wrote in an email. The club recorded fewer than 280 hours for her over the course of a year. She wrote that she sat on the phone with the state unemployment office for three hours, but her application was still denied for insufficient hours worked. She detailed a daily schedule that included mandatory report time an hour before the first team activity, team meetings, training and mandatory weightlifting. She estimated an average of six mandatory working hours on a training day, excluding recovery, showering and equipment care. On home game days, the player with three jobs estimated players worked a minimum of four and a half to five hours, and travel added significantly more. On average, she estimated players worked six days a week. “Some of us were thrust into a situation where we were out of a job, housing, and financial stability indefinitely, all in the blink of an eye, and without any support,” she wrote in an email to RANGE. Another player, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, is training with a new team but remains uncontracted. She had several years of prior professional experience, both domestic and international, before coming to Spokane. After the team folded, she filed for unemployment benefits in mid-July, hoping to receive around $1,200 in total benefits but was denied. She’s now planning on appealing the decision. In a screenshot obtained by RANGE, the uncontracted player texted Carrie Taylor, the club’s vice president of soccer operations, asking for the hours to be fixed. Taylor thanked her for reaching out but asked her to go through the Players Association instead — “just want to follow the proper channels,” Taylor wrote. “But if you have the power to adjust those hours, that is the correct thing to do,” the player wrote in her response. Taylor did not respond to RANGE’s interview request. Employers generally push back on unemployment claims because payouts can raise their unemployment tax rate, Gonzaga law professor Dallan Flake said. Unlike factory workers who clock in and out, athletes rarely have a formal system for tracking hours, he added. “What about travel time and all of the different things that go into being a professional athlete outside of practice and actual game time?” Flake said. “Unfortunately, there’s a ton of gray when it comes to what hours the athlete worked for you.” That uncertainty includes activities like reviewing game film alone at home or showing up to a “voluntary” workout that might not really be optional, he said. ### ‘Spokane is not a market’ Hisey has since started the next chapter of her career at another Super League team, Carolina Ascent FC. She credited the “robustness” of Carolina’s technical and business staff as a step up from Spokane. Her new team is treated “like a business with potential,” she said. Hisey was one of 11-year-old Izzy Tolley’s favorite players. Izzy Tolley owns two Zephyr jerseys, one in neon pink and one in lilac. Hisey signed both. When the young fan heard the team was shutting down, she was surprised. “It was also really sad because this is our first ladies team on this level, and that’s just kind of important to me,” she said. Her father, Community Assembly administration chair Luke Tolley, said watching Zephyr became a bonding ritual for the two of them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-9b46a561-758d-47ac-8097-5e4103747b5c.jpeg) **Izzy and Luke Tolley attended a Zephyr match against Fort Lauderdale United FC on May 31, 2025.* (**Photo courtesy of Luke Tolley.)* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-9f7e0543-dfe7-49c5-9bbc-9e844adc51c8.jpeg) **Izzy Tolley met Hope Hisey after a Zephyr match against DC Power FC on May 9, 2026\. (Photo courtesy of Luke Tolley.*) They started watching in the fall of 2024, drawn to a team that "really put their nose to the grindstone.” Before the end of the 2025-26 season, the Tolley family brought home a haul of Zephyr merch — a flag, stickers, jerseys and even a hat for their baby son. Luke Tolley said the team would spend time individually with fans on the sidelines post-game, commending players’ kindness and generosity. Those moments made his daughter “glow,” he said. To him, the worst part of the closure was that team ownership blamed the community. “That’s not how this works. You have to actively promote and get out in the community and let people know who you are and work with your fans to amplify that,” Luke Tolley said. According to independent soccer outlet [*Backheeled*](https://www.backheeled.com/usl-attendance/?ref=rangemedia.co), the Zephyr’s second season averaged a little over 1,500 attendees per game in a stadium that seats approximately 5,000 — a nearly 40% decrease from its inaugural season’s average of 2,500 fans. There was some marketing during Spokane’s first year in the form of billboards and Instagram ads, the now-signed player recalled. But by the second year, the player said she no longer saw that kind of promotion. To her, that was “the biggest sign” that club ownership didn’t have a plan. “The day we were told that the team was folding, the owners had blamed the community and said, ‘Spokane is not a market for a DI professional women’s soccer team,’” she said. That was frustrating to hear, the now-signed player said, given that Spokane was expecting a World Cup team over the summer. ### Short-staffed, lacking resources Players said the club ran the Division I program with scant staffing. The team churned through three head coaches in two seasons: Jo Johnson, then interim head coach Josh McAllister, then Nicole Lukic. The Zephyr went without a goalkeeper coach for roughly the first half of its second season, Hisey said, which she called a “standard” staff member for a professional team. The club split an equipment manager with the Velocity for the entire second season, Hisey added. Three players said that the manager was allegedly fired this spring for working too many hours. She also said that the team had just one full-time trainer, and one split with the men’s team, neither of whom were given the resources to provide sufficient care. She pointed out the roster racked up five ACL injuries across its two seasons, a pattern of injuries she attributed to “mismanagement of player load.” Johnson declined to comment on this story. Neither Lukic nor McAllister replied to requests for comment. The uncontracted player said the club seemed invested in the team her first year, bringing in experienced soccer staff. But by the second year, that energy appeared to drop off. “That was when I feel like all the other clubs in the league took two steps forward and made things better,” she said. “Our club was kind of the only one who took three steps back.” She said that the club lacked support for rehabilitating athletes into play post-injury and that the physical therapy clinic affiliated with the club provided insufficient care, prompting players to seek treatment elsewhere. At first, the club only allowed players to visit the outside clinic twice a week — the maximum covered under Washington’s Labor and Industries program, she said. Otherwise, the club would have to pay. After players spent around two months pushing back against the state, that increased to three visits a week. “3x isn’t enough,” the uncontracted player wrote to RANGE in a text message. “It should be every day.” Because the Velocity’s season started earlier, the men’s team got priority scheduling for the shared field and medical resources, Hisey said, despite being Division III to the women’s Division I. Similarly, she said although the women’s team was fed two or three times a week — as often as the men — other Division I women’s teams are fed every day with a training session or a game. “Treating us equal to a Division III men’s team is actually not equitable, even if on the surface it’s equal,” Hisey said. “It’s like comparing apples to oranges.” The Zephyr also lacked equipment that Hisey said was standard elsewhere, like a machine to drain swelling and a portable ultrasound for muscle strains. If players wanted to be properly diagnosed for an injury, they had to make an appointment with the team doctor, a process Hisey said the club treated reluctantly, which she believed was due to cost. To Hisey, these issues stemmed from “incompetence and misunderstanding” at the ownership level of what professional athletes needed. “In Spokane, they hired the least amount of people possible to do multiple jobs,” Hisey said. “Yet their competency didn’t even rise to the level of one of the jobs that they were given.” ### Stuck in limbo Desiano criticized the club’s limited communication with players prior to the closure. Unlike leagues with formal transfer windows, Super League players are generally free to negotiate with new clubs once they become free agents, Desiano said. But according to Desiano, players on “option” contracts — where the club decides whether to retain them each season — aren’t permitted to actively seek out other teams without the club’s permission. Desiano said that many of Spokane’s former players were on such contracts and received no communication from the club in the months before the closure, leaving them unable to explore other teams even as the season wound down. “You can make a decision that's best for the league and best for the players involved,” Desiano said. “But then you also have to support the players and make sure that they're going to find new homes.” Hisey said teammates were left confused when the club didn’t offer players with expiring contracts new ones. According to Hisey, the head coach emailed ownership several weeks before the closure, urging them to start signing players to new deals. “What they told her was, ‘We have a good relationship with those players, so we’re not worried about it,’” Hisey said. By that point, Hisey added, the club ownership already knew the team wouldn’t continue for the following season. She said she later discovered that word reached personnel at other clubs about a week before Spokane’s own players found out. Up until that locker room meeting, she knew teammates who were still “holding out” for new contracts, Hisey said. The uncontracted player said she had known she did not want to stay at the club since the beginning of the year. But with Spokane gone and the league down to eight teams, she doesn’t expect to land a new contract this year because most squads are already set. To her, one fewer team means less opportunity overall in the US, pushing her to look toward other fields in Mexico, Canada or Europe. “I am someone who deserves to keep playing,” she said. “We want to keep playing. We love the game. This is all we have done for years, and we can’t find anything.” ### Left to figure it out For some, distance from Spokane has brought clarity to players’ perspectives as they reflect on their time with the Zephyr — some in new jobs, some still searching for their next step. Hisey said the experience taught her and her teammates to expect more from the environments they play in now. What seems like “rays of sunshine” at their new clubs should be the norm, she said. Nobody from the league’s office reached out to players after the closure, Desiano said. She said she contacted league president Amanda Vandervort directly and did not hear back. The league’s lack of response felt especially “disheartening” to Desiano, given the current era of women’s sports. Support after the club’s closure mostly came from teammates, players said — organizing group chats to share information on next steps, particularly for younger athletes who might not know their rights. In late July, the Players Association and the league reached a tentative agreement on key terms for the first collective bargaining agreement for the league, which would include minimum $37,200 salaries, two athletic trainers per team and leave protocols. In the wake of the Zephyr’s closure, Desiano said she wants people to celebrate what she and her teammates have achieved, despite the club’s failures. Many of her teammates have managed to find new teams or new careers, she said, and their resilience deserved recognition too. “This shitty thing happened to us," Desiano said. “And despite having no support from the league, no support from the people that signed us and paid us, no support from the state of Washington because of this whole unemployment thing, we were still able to do X, Y and Z.” ### Owner of pets lost after flames: ‘God knows where they are’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/owner-of-pets-lost-after-flames-god-knows-where-they-are/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T20:21:26.000Z Dozens of horses newly housed at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center pawed at the ground Saturday night. They whinnied and called “to each other,” according to a volunteer. They were trying to understand the situation their caretakers — who work as horse trainers for the Pleasant Valley Stables, a prominent stable northeast of Spokane — had dragged them into. They seemed to sense the danger and to not know what would be next. Flames had engulfed some of the facilities they'd called home. Their nickers, snorts and neighs echoed across Broadway just outside the fairgrounds’ stables and barns, where people with animals of every sort — from livestock to household pets — asked volunteers with a local animal respite provider where they could hole up. Some felt safe enough to return home Saturday evening, but dozens remained in limbo. The folks who stuck around slept in the barn area; others sought solace in the gravel parking lot outside the gates. People filled out lengthy animal intake forms and caught naps behind their wheels as their dogs and cats paced nervously in the backseat. Others took turns walking the horses in the stables. Lu Hill was one of them. She’d never planned to be in this situation, but the sister of Spokane state Representative Natasha Hill evacuated her property just before 2 am. She loaded her horses, Bubbles and Lola, as the flames moved closer. She managed to grab hay and feed on the way out, something many owners didn't have time to do. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-43ac291d-f2cf-4007-a6ea-ad3a81b16ddf.jpeg) **Lu Hill walks her evacuated horse at the stables at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Sunday. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Outside the barns, Hill led Bubbles by a rope, letting him graze and stretch after spending the night confined in an unfamiliar stall. Hill’s phone number was written in Sharpie on Bubbles’s hoof “in case we have to let them go,” Hill said. Allison Zimmerman, an incident commander with the Humane Evacuation Animal Rescue Team, a nonprofit that works with the county to extract animals from dangerous situations, said the animals could stay at the fairgrounds until the fires were no longer a threat. After that, HEART would start trying to find homes for the creatures that had lost them. Climate scientists and community planners have long warned drier conditions and more building in rural areas increased the risk of wildfire harming people and their pets in Spokane. This fire — encroaching even into well-established residential areas and burning down homes — seemed to show those scientists' worries apply to more urban areas, too; the natural disaster is actively affecting people who live well within the city limits. ### ‘I bolted my way through everybody to get home’ Not everyone at the fairgrounds Saturday night or Sunday were able to get their pets to safety. Some still didn’t know where their beloved animal companions were. Sharon Livengood’s experience started Saturday afternoon when, as the flames took hold of the brush and jumped the Spokane River into the city, a police officer took her arm and told her they both had to run for their lives. She couldn’t see much up her long driveway, other than flames, given how bad the smoke was. She certainly couldn’t see her pets in her home of 54 years. And she still doesn't know if they made it out. On Sunday, as Livengood drove to the fairgrounds hoping to find news about her two pet dogs and cat, along with a barn full of feral cats she had cared for. “God only knows where they are,” she said. Jill Carding, a spokesperson with HEART, said the fairground had handled around 100 horses as of noon on Sunday, along with 50 dogs and chickens, sheep and goats. At least one pig was among the fleeing animals. But Livengood’s animals were not with her. Livengood had woken up on Saturday morning planning to celebrate her 79th birthday with friends at The Chalet Restaurant on the South Hill. The power went out during lunch. She drove home to Rifle Club Road immediately, intent on getting to her dogs, Sonny and Nicky, and cat, Jellicle. “I bolted my way through everybody to get home,” she said. After the police officer ordered her to leave, she had to abandon her car and get in an ambulance out of the evacuation area. Livengood is now staying with family in Spokane. On Sunday morning, a friend stopped by her place and sent her a photo of the property. “There’s nothing left,” Livengood told RANGE. That same day, her brother John Richards didn’t know if his sister was still in her house — not realizing she’d already left by ambulance. He called 911 and dispatchers sent a second officer to the area to check on her and broke into her house through the front door. The next day, an officer called Livengood to tell her that when he had broken in, he had not heard the dogs bark. The fire had singed the officer’s car and vest, Richards said. “He said he worried about her all night,” Richards said of the officer. Livengood still does not know where her dogs are, although her brother told RANGE he feared the worst. Sonny is a black tricolor Sheltie, and Nicky is an apricot-colored miniature poodle, she said, while Jellicle is black and white, Livengood said. “I don’t know if they got loose out of the house or they died in there. I’m just devastated,” Livengood said. ### ‘It’s all gone’ At one point, a man walked into the barn, looking at the phone in his hand. The three volunteers talking over a donut break went silent. "It's all gone," the man said. No one asked what he meant, but the volunteers said he was part of the man’s “horse family” — the tight-knit communities made up of people who own horses. They didn’t have time to mourn; they just got back to work but not before weeping, embracing one another and quietly returning to cleaning out stalls. The man walked to his horse, Ella, reaching through the stall bars to stroke her face. Twice, as if trying to convince himself it was true, he repeated: "You're my only source of income now, Ella." The barn fell silent except for the shifting of horses against the straw. ### ‘They could tell the stress’ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-3a6718ee-5bc0-4db6-8c17-339df0c852a7.jpeg) **Chloe Hynek shows Chick every year at the Spokane County Fair. On Sunday, Hynek evacuated Chick from the wildfire to familiar stomping grounds. Photo by Yong-Yu Huang.* Chloe Hynek lives and works at [LOA Youth Ranch](https://loayouthranch.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), an equine boarding facility and nonprofit Christian youth ministry in Colbert. When the ranch started evacuating Saturday night, Hynek said, they could see smoke and “a red ominous glow over the hill.” They have 21 horses. Six are their own — Hynek shows one every year at the Spokane County Fair — and the rest are hosted there for a fee. Hynek said getting all of them out was “a struggle” as some of the horses were afraid of the trailer. “A lot of them could tell the pressure, they could tell the stress, they could tell the anxiety,” Hynek said. “A lot of them still feel it now,” she said. They managed to get to the fairgrounds at around 1 or 2 am Sunday, Hynek said. The Hynek family evacuated this morning, as soon as they learned their area had become a Level 3 evacuation zone. They left behind the chickens, but were able to get all their horses, dogs, cats, goats and pigs out. Now, Hynek said she frets about where her family and the animals will end up after this. Carding said HEART is more in need of financial donations than supplies, so the organization is able to buy what they need, instead of receiving things they can’t use. She emphasized that people who bring their animals in should also try to bring the animals' food, if possible. ### Not just cats and dogs ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-ebe149d2-15cf-48e3-88d2-2fe10b31fa43.jpeg) **Wasabi, an emu displaced by the wildfires. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Andria McAdams and her daughter Joy initially brought only the basics to the fairgrounds for their 8-year-old emu, Wasabi, but they’re trying to make another trip back home to make sure he has enough all-flock, a more appropriate food for him. They decided to bring Wasabi over before they'd even gathered their belongings from their home, which sits just a street away from where a Level 3 evacuation zone was issued a “Go Now” order. They did so because they feared a situation where they’d have to just open the fence and let Wasabi go. “For us, it’s much easier to be safe than sorry because it’s a big thing moving everybody out,” Andria McAdams said. Once they situated the bird, they’d evacuate their home, which they share with Andria’s disabled brother and three dogs, and stay with family and friends. Andria McAdams said she learned about the sanctuary at the fairgrounds from Facebook posts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/08/data-src-image-5c82d216-ccb0-44d3-a303-757e0e498157.jpeg) **Joy McAdams holds Wasabi in his stall at the fairgrounds. Photo by Yong-Yu Huang.* Carding said she’s seen plenty of community members offering to assist, but the organization has had to turn volunteer help down — not because they don’t want it but because HEART itself is contracted by Spokane County’s Department of Emergency Management, Carding explained. Because of this, it has to vet and train its volunteers to handle the different animals — so people looking to help are better off giving money and donating food than offering labor. HEART also has volunteers helping to evacuate animals throughout the city, Carding said. That task, however, is more difficult today. “It’s taking a lot longer because of the road closures and traffic issues,” Carding said. “That’s our big worry — that if people really need us to help, it might take us a while to get there.” ### Conversations on CONNORSversations URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/conversations-on-connorsversations/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T23:15:48.000Z For this week’s episode, we’re bringing you a pre-recorded interview between RANGE editor Luke Baumgarten and Riley Connors, the host of [CONNORSversations](https://www.connorsversations.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). [According to the show’s website](https://www.connorsversations.com/about?ref=rangemedia.co), CONNORSversations “is a live show, with a live studio audience, filmed on location at The Chameleon, the only venue crazy enough to give this thing a chance.” Listen on for a full conversation about CONNORSversations! Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Commissioner Al French on data centers: ‘Spokane County is not closed for business’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/commissioner-al-french-on-data-centers-spokane-county-is-not-closed-for-business/ Last updated: 2026-07-31T18:21:03.000Z If the data center industry has a friend in the Inland Northwest, it’s Al French, the county commissioner who’s spent decades building a reputation as a shrewd broker of big business development deals — and is arguably the most powerful politician in the county. “The word ‘moratorium’ … says ‘we are closed for business, thank you very much,’” French said during a Spokane County Board of Commissioners briefing on July 21, referring to a proposal to halt new permitting for data centers so officials can learn how to best regulate them. Like many jurisdictions in the US, the county lacks even basic zoning regulations for the facilities. “Spokane County is not closed for business,” he said. His remarks were in response to a proposal by Commissioners Amber Waldref and Chris Jordan, who are seeking to impose a nine-month moratorium on approvals for data center permit applications as big tech developers are trying to establish themselves the Inland Northwest. And French has been working for months to accommodate them. As early as February 2026, French launched into a series of meetings with the Kalispel Tribe, officials from a local data center developer and power utility Avista Corp. to figure out the best way to bring a massive data center to the West Plains. He said he’d also been approached by other developers. At the same time, he’s worked alongside Commissioner Josh Kerns — a fellow conservative — to begin developing a zoning framework for data centers, which would give the county an official pathway to welcome them. “It's been suggested that to be against data centers is to be anti-American, because we know and the FBI is currently engaged in investigations where China and Russia have engaged in activities to oppose data centers, because they do not want the United States to take a lead from an economic standpoint with regard to data center development,” French said during the July 21 meeting. The data center French wants to bring to the West Plains would be built by Apricus Energy Partners, a Spokane-based clean energy developer focused on clean hydrogen, power development “from traditional sources like natural gas while decarbonizing through hydrogen blending and carbon capture” and “data center development that incorporate energy and water efficiency through sustainable sourcing while ensuring energy resilience," according to the company’s [website](https://www.apricusenergypartners.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). It would be huge, using 1,000 megawatts of electricity, about two-thirds of Avista’s entire generating capacity. It would require new ways to generate and transmit that power. Avista conducted a feasibility study for the proposal and concluded that was too big a facility for its infrastructure to accommodate. According to emails obtained by a community member, Inland Power & Light will also conduct a study. Apricus may have to build its own infrastructure. While the project is in early stages and is not yet permitted, Apricus is hard at work diversifying its supply chains to make sure it has all the needed equipment at hand — just in case. In responses to questions from the Kalispel Tribe, Apricus said it was considering lead times to purchase [Siemens SGT 800](https://www.siemens-energy.com/global/en/home/products-services/product/sgt-800.html?ref=rangemedia.co#/), [Mainspring Energy](https://www.mainspringenergy.com/product?ref=rangemedia.co) and [GE Vernova](https://www.gevernova.com/gas-power/products/generators?ref=rangemedia.co) linear generators to produce power for the facility. Government officials across the country have responded to feedback from constituents who fear large data centers may mean higher electricity bills, power cuts and damage to the environment, and in many cases are imposing permitting pauses for the development of those facilities. And those [are](https://qz.com/cascading-outages-data-centers-grid-load-shedding-risk-051326?ref=rangemedia.co) just a few of the known [problems](https://futurism.com/science-energy/town-power-data-centers?ref=rangemedia.co) [some](https://www.wri.org/insights/us-data-center-growth-impacts?ref=rangemedia.co) data centers have caused throughout the US. The boom in data center construction nationwide has left some federal, state and local legislators scrambling to address regulatory measures to allay constituents’ concerns — or to smooth their development. After Jordan and Waldref added their moratorium proposal to the agenda of the July 21 meeting, Kerns and French felt pressure to bring their own measure forward. Kerns, who like French did not respond to a request for comment on this story, said during the meeting that he and French scrambled to finalize a draft ordinance that could regulate data centers in Spokane County so they could avoid a moratorium. Kerns was clear that he and French were trying to fast-track the proposal in light of what they see as the draft moratorium’s threat to the data center. “We shouldn't be moving at the speed of government,” Kerns said. “We need to move at the speed of business and quite frankly get this taken care of by the end of August.” The regulations proposed by Kerns and French — which are only a draft — include: - Water use by data centers would be regulated by the water district where the center is located or by the Washington Department of Ecology; - Data centers would not be located within 300 feet of a residence or 100 feet of a property line; - Noise generated by a data center would not be allowed to exceed 65 decibels, about the volume of a normal conversation in a busy room, at the data center’s property line; - The cost for electricity would be regulated by Washington State Utility Commission or an agreement between the data center developer, the power utility and the county; and - Construction would have to comply with state environmental review requirements. These regulations were all drawn from existing zoning requirements for other kinds of industrial facilities, such as the airport. Kerns and French called for the regulations to be developed into a formal declaration by August 31. However, the moratorium fronted by Waldref and Jordan would allow time for Spokane County residents to weigh in on regulations. Planning Director Scott Chesney noted during the meeting that Kerns’ and French’s proposal to proceed at a much faster pace would not require a public hearing, as it would technically be an “interim ordinance.” Speaking to RANGE after attending the National Association of Counties conference July 17 through 20, Waldref said the consensus among other counties considering similar moratorium legislation was to establish a pause of between six months and a year. “You just have to have a lot of community input, and there's a lot of research,” Waldref said. “And when you don't have a best practice out there, you kinda have to build it yourself, which takes time.” Waldref and Jordan each said they’d received more than 1,000 emails from constituents, the vast majority either expressing concern about data centers and wanting the commission to be cautious, or to oppose to data centers altogether. The emails were generated from a model text, which is a common way of organizing political letter-writing campaigns; but, after *The Spokesman* [reported](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/24/spokane-county-leaders-held-unknown-discussions-wi/?ref=rangemedia.co) on French’s activities last week, Waldref told RANGE that she began receiving about 30 uniquely written messages a day. “My assistant was laughing yesterday because one of the emails was from an individual, and it just said, ‘Data center: No,’” Waldref told RANGE. But the tone among the majority of the commission suggested members are more interested in serving large data center developers rather than constituents. “The business community outside of Spokane County, when they're looking for places to go, it's like if they're willing to put a moratorium in for that, what else are they doing?” said Mary Brooks, who is the third member of the conservative bloc including Kerns and French on the commission, implying that moratoria make businesses worry about regulation. “So I'm not in favor of a moratorium,” she said. She also did not respond to a request for comment. ### Season of the data center Each time you Google something, outsource your term paper to ChatGPT or ask Claude what the internet knows about your darkest secrets, electronic signals are generated and stored in a data center, which takes up physical space, consumes electricity and generates heat. The South and the Midwest regions of the US lead the country in the number of planned and new data centers, seeing a 62% and 64% increase in the facilities, respectively, according to the Pew Research Center. Virginia and Texas are home to the largest number of existing and planned data centers. Washington currently houses 114 data centers, [according to](https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/washington/?ref=rangemedia.co) the Data Center Map. In Richland Parish, Louisiana, Meta has secured rights to build a six-square-mile facility. According to a [recent report](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/technology/meta-data-center-louisiana.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The New York Times*, Meta convinced lawmakers to codify tax breaks and favorable lease conditions through secretive relationships with state and local officials. If constructed, it would use more juice than the entire city of New Orleans, *The* *Times* reported. In other places, large data centers have consumed so much power that utilities have hiked rates and even cut off power to their other customers. Data centers also [create](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/30/climate/data-centers-are-having-an-underrported?ref=rangemedia.co) “heat islands,” raising temperatures in the areas around them nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit. As data centers proliferate, developers are looking more frequently toward rural areas — like Eastern Washington — rather than cities to expand. As Pew reported, most existing data centers are located in urban places, while most proposed ones would be located in rural regions, such as the areas outside Airway Heights or Medical Lake. Data centers currently have a much smaller footprint in Spokane County. There are at least five such facilities in the county, but they are all relatively small compared to the ones proposed to French and Avista. The project is far from the only proposed data center in the county. As of October, Avista Corp. was fielding requests for 17 “large load” projects — the type of power development AI data centers fit into, according to company documents. And the utility inked an agreement in June to continue conversations with an unnamed developer that wanted to build a [500-MW data center](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/) before pausing those talks in response to community outcry. ### A moratorium or a wing and a prayer The specter of a Spokane County data center has loomed large in local political circles since Representative Tim Ormsby, D-Spokane, proposed a tax exemption for new data centers in Spokane during the most recent legislative session. (Part of a larger package of data center regulations, it died in committee in February.) Ormsby told RANGE he supports governments taking more time to learn about how they should regulate data centers before they allow them in their communities. “I think a lot of people are concerned about it just being a Wild West situation, and \[developers\] would queue up to access the opportunity,” said Ormsby, who added that he supports the moratoria other governments in Washington have recently implemented, including in Seattle and Spokane. Spokane County could go the way of Jordan and Waldref or the way of Kerns and French: taking time to learn more about the way data centers work in order to better regulate them, or hastily enacting some basic rules based on existing zoning restrictions. The deciding vote on either proposal will be Commissioner Mary Brooks, who opposed the moratorium. If conversations on social media and public advocacy surrounding the data center are any measure, the public is at odds with the BOCC’s conservative majority. Though they have not had a chance to weigh in on Kerns’ and French’s proposed regulations, residents of Spokane County protested Avista’s negotiations with an unnamed customer outside its headquarters late last month. And dozens of people spoke against the project at the July 30 meeting of the Spokane County Planning Commission. Not one member of the public who testified supported inviting a data center into the county without more information and regulation. Many called for a moratorium and some said the county should not permit a data center at all. Brittany Anderson, the Spokane resident who obtained and published on Facebook many documents that revealed French’s under-the-radar conversations with developers, was one of the people who spoke to the Planning Commission. “Residents should not have needed a public records request to discover the meetings and communications involving county officials of Avista, Inland Power, possibly tribal power and project-related parties that were already happening,”Anderson said. “I am asking for a moratorium longer than nine months because I feel like nine months is not long enough — \[we need\] at least a year.” ### ‘Woke-maxxing,’ and ‘rightfully pissed’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/gen-z-wa-congressional-district-5/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T20:18:07.000Z "I don't know what's wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" So began the viral meme that would become a trending TikTok sound and a cornerstone of then-presidential hopeful Kamala Harris’s digital campaign to win over youth voters: her memory of a quote from her mother. Official account KamalaHQ posted viral memes proclaiming “[Kamala is Brat”](https://hrbmagazine.org/articles/these-kamala-harris-memes-are-so-confusing-girl-by-helena-bruzdziak/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Kamala%20is%20brat%E2%80%99,-On%20June%207) in the iconic Charli-XCX-[Brat-summer](https://www.today.com/popculture/music/what-is-brat-summer-charli-xcx-rcna163061?ref=rangemedia.co)\-green-and-black and reposting musical remixes of the coconut tree line. Harris’s running mate Tim Walz leaned into the camo and neon aesthetics of another pop star, the Midwest Princess herself, Chappell Roan. It was all part of a calculated effort to reach Gen-Z in their native habitat: the digital world. Politicians have always hungered for young votes: Bill Clinton played the [sax](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LhgGs4TrYA&t=13&ref=rangemedia.co) on the *Arsenio Hall Show*. Richard Nixon made a cameo on the variety show, *Laugh In*, delivering a [bewildered version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmOqkG99Wkg&ref=rangemedia.co) of the show’s “sock it to me” catchphrase. Hillary Clinton tapped into a hot mobile game trend by calling for young voters to "[*Pokémon Go*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt6riM2aDLk&ref=rangemedia.co)to the polls.” And yet, despite Harris’s success at tapping into algorithmic virality, she underperformed with the youth: She won the majority of Gen-Z[ votes](https://www.thecivicscenter.org/blog/youth-voting-in-2024-election?ref=rangemedia.co), but turned out [fewer young voters](https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/new-data-nearly-half-youth-voted-2024?ref=rangemedia.co) than former President Joe Biden in his 2020 campaign. Washington was no exception to the trend; voter participation among those aged 18 to 24 [dropped](https://www.governing.com/politics/washington-election-turnout-drops-especially-among-young-voters?ref=rangemedia.co) 8.5% from 2020 to 2024\. Conventional wisdom is that while the younger generation might be politically engaged online, that rarely translates to votes. In Washington’s Fifth Congressional District, people under the age of 35 make up more than a quarter of the electorate — and [less than 20%](https://wacommunityalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-Primary-Election-Report.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) of them voted in the 2024 primaries. But despite the long odds, local campaigns aren’t giving up entirely on winning the IRL support of Gen-Z voters in the race for the House seat currently held by incumbent Congressman Michael Baumgartner. Democrat Richard Freudenberg posts frequently on [Tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/@freudenberg4congress?ref=rangemedia.co). Fellow Dem Bajun Mavalwalla posted a [video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWN952sACev/?igsh=OHBhZnpkeWJna3l3&ref=rangemedia.co) riding through District 5 on the electric scooters teens whip around downtown. Baumgartner sent [Gen-Z volunteers](https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GBRFgHdUY/?mibextid=wwXIfr) to Spokane’s Hoopfest wearing basketball hoop costumes and letting constituents dunk on them. A few campaigns, seeking untapped voters who could give them any edge in a crowded primary, have gone even further. Cringe or not? You decide: ### Carmela Conroy Jacob Skeim may be just 22 but he’s already glossed with the porcelain charm of a longtime party insider — the [Jennifer Barkley](https://parksandrecreation.fandom.com/wiki/Jennifer%5FBarkley?ref=rangemedia.co) of college kids. He’s also a field organizer for congressional candidate Carmela Conroy, and at the time we spoke, one of the young men behind the Instagram account GenZ for Conroy. The account has caught flak from [opponents](https://ibb.co/W4GFyj7p?ref=rangemedia.co), a [super-PAC](https://www.reddit.com/r/Spokane/s/kB267VjhD1?ref=rangemedia.co) and [anonymous Redditors](https://www.reddit.com/r/Spokane/s/kB267VjhD1?ref=rangemedia.co) who called the posts “cringe,” “misguided,” and speculated it was a product of letting someone’s young relative have the social media login. But the two actual Gen-Zs behind the keyboard beg to differ. Videos of a crudely photoshopped Conroy bare-knuckle bear-fighting and moody-lighting Conroy posing in front of stained glass windows while a song proclaimed her “honorable” were engineered at the behest of Skeim and an even-younger volunteer — high school student Gabriel Linares. It’s part of their strategy to get her elected: show their fellow young people the Conroy they know. They described a woman who is kind, generous with her expertise and “very hip.” A woman who will go to late-night Pride after parties after a long day of canvassing, and enthusiastically pose for pictures with a person wearing a “Kill Your Local Pedophile” shirt. A woman who went out of her way to help local students. A woman who calls what’s happening in Gaza genocide (though she declined to say that in a RANGE [questionnaire](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-wa-5th-congressional-district-2026-elections/)) and who changed her mind about wanting a two-state solution when presented with new information. Skeim jokes that she has been “woke-[maxxing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-maxxing?ref=rangemedia.co).” She’s genuine, Linares said, and wants to increase civic education and break out of political polarization — two of the biggest issues facing the youth, according to Linares. “ \[Baumgartner\] sat on party lines and voted only with Speaker Mike Johnson, like a hundred percent of the time, which was to me very frustrating,” Linares said. “I saw \[in Conroy\] someone who genuinely wants to represent Eastern Washington, someone who isn't gonna sit on her party line, get to Congress and then just leave Eastern Washington behind.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-5cff5bcb-35ac-4204-bcd6-30c76d42b906.png) **Skeim, right, poses with Conroy, middle, at Neighborfest. Photo from Conroy’s Instagram.* When Skeim met Conroy, he was trying to revive the Eastern Washington University Student Democrats, which he characterized as a “failing” student political club, with no money and lapsed paperwork. Conroy was tabling at the university’s Neighborfest in September of 2025, and was kind enough to let the student Democrat club hand out promotional materials at her table, Skeim said, because they hadn’t been able to get registered due to paperwork issues. She gave advice on how to organize the club out of dysfunction — perhaps from her personal experience trying to [rebuild](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/feb/28/spokane-county-democrats-elect-former-diplomat-dep/?ref=rangemedia.co) the Spokane County Democrats, when she was the chair between two turbulent periods. It made an impression on Skeim, who now spends roughly 20 hours a week phone banking and knocking doors for Conroy’s campaign. Linares, the 17-year-old intern visionary behind much of the video content, has been in politics since before Conroy ran for Congress the first time in 2024\. He has been lobbying the state legislature since he was 14, and worked in the lieutenant governor’s office as a member of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council for Washington State. He wanted to find ways to help Conroy “really speak to Gen Z” and showcase that “she’s also kind of cool.” While Internet commenters criticized one of Conroy’s digital attempts to reach the youth through trends and memes, when we met in early August, Skeim said it shows that Conroy listens to young voters and their opinions. They met to film the “honorable” video, which apes a viral trend of videos of, say, [finance bros](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZN5Njzo-Yh/?ref=rangemedia.co) or a [bull semen salesman](https://www.tiktok.com/@grimmius.bulls/video/7654574789050273054?ref=rangemedia.co) flexing over-the-top swagger, backed by a bass-thumping sample of [*We On Go*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4r7GGXAvw&ref=rangemedia.co)by BIA. But in Conroy’s case, the videographer kept trying to suggest deviations from the format. “Carmela was just like ‘Trust the youth on this one,’ and it turned out fantastic,” Skeim said. It made him feel the hype for Conroy’s campaign. There’s a section where it pans to a clip of Baumgartner taken from [a town hall](https://www.rangemedia.co/baumgartner-town-hall-spokane/). “He’s just like ‘I know no one in this room voted for me,’ and I’m like ‘Yeah, and they’re not going to vote for you again, bitch,” Skeim said. There were big things coming for the GenZ for Conroy account, both Skeim and Linares told me: scripts in the works, a video on political polarization in Eastern WA and more “focused Gen-Z-prioritized content coming out in the next few days,” Linares said. Instead, the account unceremoniously disappeared. Posters online theorized that perhaps the Conroy campaign themselves took it down after the criticism, but Skeim proved otherwise: the account was pulled down by Instagram. He suspects another candidate reported the account. Now, they’re trying to recover the account, which is asking for ID verification. “Still not up but we’re fighting it,” he wrote in a text Wednesday. ### Kevin Fagan Democrat Kevin Fagan doesn’t have a separate digital presence to connect with the youth. He doesn’t need one. The ruddy-cheeked first-time candidate is 27 himself, an elder Gen-Z. There’s no need to market test messages to the young — he’s just speaking to his peers. When Fagan decided to jump into the race — fueled by frustration with the Trump administration’s funding cuts to climate change research in the region — he was the only Democrat candidate under the age of 60\. Even as the race filled with candidates, Fagan remained one of just three under the age of 50, and the sole Democrat. “ I wanted to have a very policy-first campaign that prioritized things that people in my generation want to see from their elected leaders, such as Medicare for All and universal childcare,” Fagan said. “ With that in mind, there was this niche to carve out a voice for a younger generation that was mainly a voice for change.” His signs are painted in shades of orange and blue only slightly less vibrant than the colors that made Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral campaign iconic. In Mamdani-style walk-and-talk vertical videos showcasing Fagan on the streets of downtown Spokane, it’s easy to see what kind of image Fagan is trying to project: He’s young, he’s in touch with the political zeitgeist, and more importantly, he’s in touch with what Gen-Z voters are looking for. His policy positions are unabashedly progressive and buzzword-heavy: “Abolish ICE,” “Climate Crisis” and “Putting the 5th First.” He’s spent some of his limited time campaigning for federal office advocating against the state ballot measure to ban trans girls from playing girls’ sports, and for the local ballot measure to renew the 2/10ths of 1% sales tax to support the region’s public bus network. This is the plan, Fagan says, for how he will do what none of the older Democrats, even those with young volunteers, can: turn out his generation and win it all. “ It's fighting for policies that we are hearing from the community,” he said. “That could be standing up for trans rights, or it could be recognizing our healthcare system is broken and unapologetically fighting for Medicare for All.” Fagan is #notlikeotherDems, voicing frustration with what he sees as the party’s failure to fight genocide in Gaza and leverage limited minority-party power to fight the Trump administration. He’s inspired by candidates like Zohran Mamdani and Pramila Jayapal, who lead with progressive policy. “ I look up and I see people in Congress with decades of experience as a congressional representative, and they absolutely fail to serve their people,” Fagan said. “I see that they just take corporate money and pass laws that their lobbyists tell them to.” He hopes this frustration will resonate with young voters who are “rightfully pissed,” — even if it doesn’t resonate with the typical Democrat donors. His campaign had raised just under $27k by late July. “There's not a significant amount of disposable income amongst the group that we are getting out to vote, to donate,” Fagan said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-932751ce-df3e-408d-9098-28aa4ec66f1f.png) **Fagan and a group of young canvassers, including City Council Member Sarah Dixit, County Clerk candidate Elliot Robison and Fagan’s wife and campaign manager Mercedes Bischoff. Photo from Fagan’s Instagram.* Still, he doesn’t think he should be counted out of the race just because he’s financially strapped. Many of his potential future constituents are too. He’s running a grassroots, door-knocking campaign that relies on other young voters who feel passionately. His new wife — who he married while taking a brief break from the campaign trail — is his campaign manager. About 50% of his campaign volunteers are Gen-Z. And, he’s endorsed by someone who ran a door-knocking campaign with less cash than her opponent — albeit in a much smaller region — and won: Spokane City Council Member Sarah Dixit, whose campaign Fagan says he’s inspired by. “I believe a lot of Democrats in the county party are still trying to hold on to the past rather than being willing to usher in the next generation of leadership,” Fagan said. “ There's a coldness and a ‘You need to wait your turn in order to participate’ coming from a group of people within the county party, a group of older establishment Democrats. I think the Young Democrats are a great voice in countering that, that say, like, ‘We're here already. This is our future that we're fighting for.’" ### Andrew Bartleson 19-year-old Ava Bartleson is worried about climate change, rampant AI usage and data centers using too much water. 47-year-old Andrew Bartleson is worried about the world his generation is going to leave behind, the problems his daughter and her generation will inherit. Family conversations about these fears and encouragement from Ava inspired the elder Bartleson’s run for Congress. “ We've always had good conversations and talked about these things, and he goes on rants about it, and I've always been telling him, "We need to do something about it, you need to get out there and do something,’” Ava said. “ I've always known he could do it. He's very smart in all the things we talk about, and so I'm just really glad that he finally put himself out there.” So Bartleson made Ava his unofficial campaign manager: Running as an Independent and advised by Ava, he’s got a different sort of campaign. Onstage at forums, he speaks naturally, with none of the polished charm of a lifelong politician and all of the charm of a man who genuinely believes what he’s saying. Ava takes videos of his responses, clipping them and posting them to Instagram, where — despite having no declared fundraising — Bartleson has found organic engagement, his progressive policies and authentic way of speaking about them resonating with viewers. He has quickly garnered over 1500 followers, more than any other candidate in the race save Nate Powell, and seen some viral success, with one video finding 58,000 viewers and another 51,000\. They’re scrappy in other ways, too. Where other candidates have yard signs, the Bartlesons hand out free black t-shirts bearing the red text “Bartleson for Congress” and iron-on decals of family photos: the family dog, Bartleson with a mullet and a Speedo spraying a hose, Ava and her dad wearing their own black shirts with the Speedo photo, Bartleson throwing a thumbs up sign while pressing his face to his wife’s pregnant stomach — Ava incubating inside. When Powell sent out a mailer that included a picture of the elder Bartleson shaking his hand, looking like a proud constituent, Bartleson responded by posting memes on the internet, including one where he edited his own face over Powell’s and another with Powell bearing a money decal on his shirt and the words “PAC Man” behind his head. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-ae86880e-3e09-47f5-a306-313d192c5dbe.jpeg) **Ava and her dad pose in their matching t-shirts. Courtesy of the Bartleson campaign.* Ava has encouraged her dad to be himself on the campaign trail; she thinks his authenticity will resonate with voters, especially young ones. When he submitted a picture of himself wearing a blue suit as his candidate headshot to the [*Spokesman Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/09/andrew-bartleson-rejects-blue-suits-in-his-indepen/?ref=rangemedia.co) *—* at the guidance of his wife — Ava told him he needed to wear the fun t-shirts. When he changed his profile picture on Instagram to something more serious, Ava told him to change it back. “ I was like, ‘No, no, no, you gotta go back — The people like that one.’ I've had a lot of my friends tell me how much they like that one,” she said. “ I get a lot of input from my friends, and so more people my age … A lot of them haven't been able to make it to the events even though they want to, and they're like, ‘Can I at least get a shirt still if I can't go?’” Her dad takes her feedback seriously, implementing it into his campaign. “ She made me my best self, and she always makes me better,” Bartleson said. He knows a victory is unlikely — “ If I win, they'll make a Disney movie about me,” he said — but the long hours on the campaign trail have all been worth it because of their time together. It made his daughter proud of him. “ The fact that it was a long shot and he did it anyways,” Ava said. “ He's been himself this entire time, and people love him for it or they don't like him for it, and either way, he's fine with that because you can't just get up there and do something that's not you.” Where Bartleson is loud, Ava is quiet, where Bartleson is bold, Ava is shy. But through the campaign, he’s seen her make connections and speak out about what she cares about. “ That's made me so happy,’ Bartleson said. “Just seeing her just really blossom into the woman I always knew she would be.” He wants to lead with the same love he has for Ava: “ Everybody's got hugs from us. We're getting thousands of hugs. We mean it, you know? We don't fake the funk on our nasty dunk.” ### ‘A Night of Resistance’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/a-night-of-resistance/ Last updated: 2026-07-28T22:52:22.000Z Justice Forral is handed a mic and stares into a crowd of supporters. They ask, “Do you want to hear comedy or a more serious talk today?” The crowd cheers for both, but chooses the lighter option. Today is about healing. Nearly 200 people gathered Sunday evening for "A Night of Resistance," a fundraiser featuring local musicians, community organizers, and speeches by Forral, Jac Archer and Bajun Mavalwalla II, the three protesters who [were convicted](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-verdict-jury-guilty-innocent/) in May on federal conspiracy charges. While the legal battle continues through post-trial motions and possible appeals, the event shifted the focus away from the courtroom and toward the community that has remained alongside them. Opening the program, Forral reminded attendees that while the verdict marked the end of the trial on May 28, it did not mark the end of community activism against government abuses of power. "Being here is a fundamental fight against authoritarianism," Forral said. "The only thing that's going to be successful in pushing back on this … is each other and ourselves." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/DSC_2113.jpg) Spokane community members clap along to a song performed by Brenda Divine about immigration. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.) Performances by Peter Baird, Liz Rognes, the Raging Grannies, Stanton Cobb, Brenda Divine, Jazzin' Ry, Luisa Orellana and Singing Resistance transformed the fundraiser into something more reminiscent of a concert and a church service. Baird, a musician who traveled from Sacramento, California, performed songs drawn from decades of social justice organizing. Before taking the stage, he reflected on the role music plays in sustaining movements. "Coming together for music and song is also a form of resistance," Baird said. "It can't be the only one we do, and it's a critical one." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000026384.jpg) Peter Baird shares his call-to-action journey from California to perform at the Community Center. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.) During various performances, Archer sat discreetly in a corner throughout the first half of the event, writing their speech. When called up, Archer made their way from the back of the room to the stage, blue notebook in hand. “I’m not funny like Justice,” Archer warned the crowd. “I refused to believe in love at the expense of others. I refuse to believe it in my heart.” Archer said. “Because it’s true that empathy is not weakness. It is probably my foolish instinct. Instead, community is about everyone; all of this is." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000026361.jpg) Jac Archer reminds the crowd that they are a teacher, and not a comedian, before starting their speech. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.) Archer talked about raising their family and an optimistic future. They reminded Spokane’s community that the city was never perfect even before their arrest last year. "As much as I wanted to change, I didn't actually want to go back to the way things were,” They said. “I want something better." That message carried through the evening as audience members joined in familiar songs like “Lean on Me” and “Blowin' in the Wind,” while Singing Resistance debuted an original piece written by Liz Rognes in honor of the Spokane 3. > We stand with the Spokane 3 > Community is not conspiracy > We have love, courage, integrity > Just like the Spokane 3 > We stand with Jac and Bajun > We stand with Justice Forral > We sing with love and rage and > Three of us are three of all “I want to make sure to say that the phrase ‘community is not conspiracy’ is a phrase that others had already been using around this case,” Rognes said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000026399.jpg) Spokane’s Singing Resistance, led by Liz Rognes, leads a crowd in chants through a song dedicated to the Spokane 3 protesters. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.) The phrase has become a popular chant in recent months — often used to show support for the protestors at PJALS events. Mavalwalla II finished the event, speaking candidly about the months since the trial and the encouragement he continues to receive from supporters. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000026364.jpg) Bajun Mavalwalla II addresses his surprise to hear his name used in song lyrics. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.) "I am so grateful for this community," Mavalwalla said. “I never thought I would hear my name in a song.” The crowd laughed. "People ask me how I am doing,” he said. “The truth is – it's hard. But the amount of support I get from everyone makes it easier to say yes. I’m doing better." Throughout the evening, the smells of cooking meats filled Nuesta Raíces’s Community Center from the food tent outside. Supporters ate together while linking arms during songs and rose repeatedly for standing ovations. By night's end, a woven donation basket was full. Supporters carried away “Support the Spokane 3” T-shirts and stickers. The three protesters lingered after the program ended, talking with attendees who had stood beside them throughout the trial. Lots of hugs. Some quickly wiped away tears. > Editor's note: We have updated this story to reflect the correct spelling of Jac Archer's first name. ### The behavioral health team that responds to naked dancing in the street URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-behavioral-response-unit-expands/ Last updated: 2026-07-29T06:21:33.000Z The traffic cone came out of nowhere, tumbling into the lane just a couple of cars in front of the Spokane Fire Department’s Behavioral Response Unit as the team made its way toward an emergency call. The woman who kicked it walked back to the roadside, unfazed by the honking. Less than half an hour later, she would once again stroll into oncoming traffic, prompting an emergency call to be made about her as well. By the time the response unit returned to help her, a car had already clipped her and disappeared. She was still standing, wandering, yelling, with road rash and swelling across her leg. For paramedic Haley Karnitz and mental health professional Joshua Griffin, this is nothing out of the ordinary. They are part of the [BRU, a joint program between the fire department and Frontier Behavioral Health](https://www.rangemedia.co/ridealong-overdose-withdrawals-bru/) dispatched only through 911 to handle behavioral or overdose calls. On July 20, RANGE rode along for their 12-hour shift. By the day’s end, the team would respond to five calls — with two ending in involuntary transports to the hospital. ### **A new kind of first responder** Growing up, all Karnitz ever wanted to be was a paramedic. She realized that dream in 2010 when she started working with Spokane’s American Medical Response. But by this year, she said, she was feeling burnt out in a traditional paramedic role and had seen the need for specialists in the city. In June, Karnitz became one of the first two paramedics in the fire department hired solely for behavioral health response, which covers everything from mental health crises to substance use disorders. Although she’s technically still on her probationary period, Karnitz is far from new to the game, coming in with over 15 years of first-responder experience. “These are medical crises for psychiatric patients, and so sometimes they require a lot more attention to detail — and a lot more patience and a lot more time,” Karnitz said. Griffin, her partner on shift, hopes to eventually become a licensed therapist for first responders, and sees his time on the response unit as preparation for that. He said calls are roughly split between overdoses and behavioral health crises — although lately, he’s seen more of the latter. The fire department announced an expansion of their joint Behavioral Response Unit program on July 7, adding a mental health professional and the two dedicated paramedics. According to the press release, the expansion is funded by Spokane County’s mental health sales tax. In 2025, the response unit significantly increased its hours of operation and responded to 979 calls for service. The unit has grown from operating for ten hours five days a week, to now operating six days a week, Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 9 pm. The unit sees anywhere from six to eight calls a day on average, lasting around half an hour to 45 minutes, Karnitz said, with the eventual goal being 24/7 coverage. Spokane County Health Officer Francisco Velazquez said the program’s goal of providing other treatment pathways helps alleviate pressure on emergency rooms. Spokane has seen “a significant increase” in the [number of overdoses](https://countyhealthinsights.org/county/spokane/dashboard/opioid-dashboard/?ref=rangemedia.co) and emergency medical responses to mental health crises and substance-related disorders, he added. On the dashboard of the response unit truck, a Big Boy bobblehead nods along with the road. Behind it sits a chart littered with orange stickers, tracking the number of diversions from the emergency room credited to the program. As of that morning, the program’s lifetime total stood at 884\. Prior to the creation of this unit, most of these cases wound up in the emergency room, Velazquez said. However, that was less than ideal, given that there was “no direct tie-in into long-term services” like substance use disorder facilities and other social services. Diversion placements are smaller facilities, Griffin said, such as Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services or the Spokane Regional Stabilization Center. Diversion placements can mean more individualized attention — other times, it can just be a better environment for a patient, given the sometimes “overwhelming” nature of a hospital setting, he said. “Especially if someone's already struggling with some mental health or substance use stuff, it has the potential to just really change the experience,” Griffin said. “It can just make them a little bit more receptive to help in the future.” In Griffin’s opinion, it can change “the overall trajectory of their future.” ### **How the system decides** If a patient is of sound mind, they have the right to refuse care, Karnitz said. However, that’s not always the case. “If they are not of sound judgment, are not capable of making a decision for themselves, then we go ahead and make the decision for them,” she said. “And usually, if they can’t make a decision for themselves, the hospital is the right choice because there’s obviously something else going on.” That authority comes from Washington’s [Involuntary Treatment Act](https://fbhwa.org/programs/crisis-response/crisis-outreach-and-involuntary-treatment-act-ita-evaluations?ref=rangemedia.co). The law which allows designated crisis responders to detain someone for involuntary treatment if a mental health or substance use disorder makes them a likelihood of harm to themselves, to others or to property — or leaves them “gravely disabled” and unable or unwilling to accept a less restrictive alternative. “With certain things, law enforcement can issue a transport order, which just means they're required to go to the hospital,” Griffin said. “The hospital then does an in-depth assessment to determine if there's enough there to keep them involuntarily.” Two of the five calls that the unit tackled on Monday ended that way. ### **Opening up the truck** Alongside standard medical equipment, the response unit vehicle carries an assortment of unexpected items for patients, including snacks, undergarments and an envelope containing $100 in cash for patients in need. That money can be used to pay for a patient’s ride somewhere, gas or groceries. The BRU is one of two teams in the city authorized to give out Suboxone — a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone used to treat opioid addiction — as a strip that goes under the tongue. To Griffin’s knowledge, only the BRU and one other unit in the fire department carry Suboxone, as they need specialized training to administer it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-c3a072af-e9aa-4807-bca2-d608d894a73a.jpeg) Karnitz highlights the medical supplies in the trunk. **Photo by Yong-Yu Huang.* After overdose patients are given Narcan, a drug reversing the effects of an opioid emergency, they often go into withdrawal. “They usually want to do anything possible to feel better and get the help that they need, so we will offer the Suboxone,” Karnitz said. “What it does is it takes away some of the feelings of the withdrawal because it still has a little bit of that opiate in it, but it also binds closer to those receptors, so it keeps them from overdosing.” Fire department battalion chief Anne Raven emphasized that the use of Suboxone is not just for post-overdose. If a person has an opioid disorder and is trying to quit or a patient is suffering withdrawal symptoms with no opioids available to them, the BRU remains a resource. “They can reach out to 911, and the BRU will come out to treat them for that and will give them the Suboxone," Raven said. In the time Karnitz has spent at the fire department, she has given out Suboxone twice. Griffin said he has administered it eight times since he joined in late 2025. ### **Call and response** The first call of the day found a young woman lingering outside a Safeway in a black hoodie, a cut roughly two inches across her cheek and another on her arm. She had given the store her mother’s number. Her mother then called Frontier, who told her to dial 911 for a faster response, Griffin said. The response unit relieved a fire crew already on scene. The woman declined further help. She told Griffin she had her own plan to meet a Frontier team in the afternoon at the downtown library. Later in the day, Griffin learned that the patient showed up as promised. Because there’s only one Behavioral Response Unit in the fire department to serve the entire city, it isn’t always first on scene. However, its goal is to relieve other crews so they can get back into service. As the unit sat down to family-style lunch at the station with firefighters, utensils halfway to their mouths, the alert sounded again. They didn’t sit back down to their now-cold bowls of chicken and rice until three hours later, after three back-to-back calls. This time, it was a man dancing, naked. Paramedics and a police officer were already on scene by the time the response unit made it there. When asked his name, the man shouted obscenities instead of answering and was taken to Sacred Heart. It was on the response unit’s way to this case that it passed the woman throwing a traffic cone, who was eventually involuntarily transported to Deaconess Hospital, given the state of her leg. She resisted cooperating with paramedics, as well as the police, requiring them to handcuff and secure her to an ambulance cot. Karnitz accompanied the patient in the ambulance because the patient seemed to be willing to develop a rapport and communicate with Karnitz, Griffin noted. The reason they were able to involuntarily transport her, he explained, was because her mental health was precluding her from going and seeking care. “Not to mention, she’s kind of an imminent danger to herself because she’s running out into the street and seemed like she was doing it intentionally,” Griffin said. “So between those two concerns, they’re able to involuntarily make her go up to the hospital.” Before the unit headed back to the fire station, it responded to one more call — a young man at an adult group home. The response unit had crossed paths with this patient before. The week prior, he had called 911 for himself for a heart issue and had thrown his phone at a fire department vehicle hard enough to crack the windshield. The Fire Department requested the BRU after his behavior escalated. This time, the staff at the group home had called for him, and the BRU was added to the call just in case. Eventually, he was voluntarily transported to the hospital by a fire crew already on scene. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-d752c991-728c-4f37-8bed-32923351d04f.jpeg) Griffin and Karnitz head back to the vehicle. **Photo by Yong-Yu Huang.* Shortly after, another call came in — an overdose near Shadle Park. En route, they learned that an off-duty police officer was already on scene and had administered Narcan. The call was canceled. That most likely meant the patient was refusing further or alternative treatment, or was already being taken to a hospital, Griffin said. Raven said a key contribution of the Behavioral Response Unit is the ability to keep firefighters and ambulances in service for responding to more typical 911 emergencies. Additionally, the response unit can set patients up with more long-term care, as their training enables them to better address specific behavioral situations. In her 30 years of being a paramedic, Raven said, she hadn’t realized how long these kinds of calls take, or the amount of conversation and rapport-building that’s involved — unusual for the situations firefighters or paramedics are typically trained to respond to. “We’re used to moving quickly and making decisions really quickly, and that’s not what these calls need,” Raven said. ### **A familiar case** The last call of the day, Griffin recognized as soon as he heard the description — his sixth time responding to this particular woman, he estimated. She has a history of self-harm and suicidal ideation documented by Frontier, he said. Just two days earlier, on Saturday, she had threatened suicide by overdose and self-inflicted stabbing. By the time the BRU reached the food court at River Park North, a paramedic was waiting at the top of the escalator, unable to locate her. Griffin told Karnitz he would be able to spot her in five seconds. He found her in less. Griffin immediately spotted the patient in a booth. She had taken a larger dose of her anxiety medication than prescribed, then called Frontier, who dialed 911 for her. She was soon voluntarily transported to the hospital, as she was having trouble staying awake. The most difficult kind of calls to deal with, Griffin said, are the ones where it’s hard to determine whether the patient actually wants the help. Cases involving children or those who’ve been through treatment services before and are “scared to go through it and have bad experiences again” stand out to him in particular. “When you see someone again and again and again, but then you maybe run out of other options to try, sometimes you’re stuck with doing the same thing and things aren’t necessarily changing,” he said. “It’s a question of: Is it us? Is it them? What needs to change for them to actually improve?” ### Spokane Army veteran alleges sexual assault while in immigration detention URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-veteran-alleges-sexual-assault-in-detention/ Last updated: 2026-07-27T23:44:41.000Z For nearly a year, U.S. Army veteran Garnet Smith lived under the harrowing conditions of the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. According to advocates, Smith was given inedible food, foul drinking water and was subjected to mistreatment, including delayed medical care for a broken arm and an alleged sexual assault during a pat-down. On Tuesday night, July 21, he was able to return home to his fiancée in Spokane. “It makes me feel a lot of emotions ... I actually signed up to die for this country," Smith said in a video [shared on social media](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DbGoTBbseMA/?ref=rangemedia.co) after his release. "And then to be told that I was going to get deported made me feel like, ‘So what did I sign \[up for?\] — what was I defending?’" Smith, now 44, came to the U.S. at 17 under a visa in 1998\. He became a green card holder the year after, according to a court document. He joined the Army at 17 and was honorably discharged in 2002. He filed an application for citizenship, which is pending. About 14 armed ICE officers arrested Smith last October from the Spokane car dealership where he was working and was taken to the detention center in Tacoma, said Aran Myracle, a veteran and advocate with About Face: Veterans Against the War who’s been in contact with Smith. Under U.S. law, immigrants with legal residency can be placed in deportation proceedings if they are convicted of certain crimes. In Smith’s case, those were three previous domestic violence criminal convictions from about two decades ago, according to a court document. Smith was released from immigration detention after the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a second habeas court petition on July 20 that attorneys filed on his behalf. They had argued that Smith’s due process rights had been denied and that his detention, which at that point had reached about 10 months, was unlawful. But his fight is not over. Smith continues to fight a deportation order to Jamaica, his country of origin. At the same time, advocates like Myracle are calling for accountability and an investigation into the alleged sexual assault. The Tacoma Police Department closed the investigation into the alleged assault, finding no investigative leads or factors warranting a deeper investigation, spokesperson Shelbie Boyd told RANGE. GEO Group, the private company the federal government contracts with to run the Tacoma detention center, reportedly investigated the incident and found no wrongdoing, Myracle said. Neither ICE nor GEO responded to RANGE’s requests for comment. Myracle said About Face and the Defend Migrants Alliance reported the incident to the Tacoma Police Department in early July. “Garnet felt like he was really dismissed,” Myracle said of Smith’s interaction with police after the alleged assault. “It was very clear that he was incredibly traumatized … like his whole worldview has been shattered by this experience.” Smith’s claim is just one of many abuse allegations made by detainees at the Tacoma ICE facility. The University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights has documented more than 229 reports of sexual abuse or assault over a decade at the facility. The [study](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/05/05/scrapping-the-standards/?ref=rangemedia.co), published earlier this year, detailed how internal investigations ignored key evidence, failed to report crimes to law enforcement and neglected to adopt policies to prevent future assaults. In addition to Smith’s claims of abuse, Myracle told RANGE that ICE refused to return Smith’s driver’s license and veteran ID when they released him under the rationale that Smith wasn’t “entitled” to the documents because he had an open immigration case. But when Smith’s attorneys asked ICE for the IDs, Myracle said, ICE changed its story, saying Smith must have accidentally dropped the items and they could be returned to him. ### The alleged assault On July 7, after Smith was denied release on bond and as he waited for the court to rule on his second habeas corpus petition, Myracle received a distressing message. Smith told him he’d been sexually harassed by a guard and pleaded from inside the Tacoma facility for Myracle to contact his attorney or police. Smith’s message read: “They embarrassed me, sexually harassed me, and made me feel so violated … just please help me.” Myracle said that Smith was headed to the library with members of his unit when they were stopped for a pat-down.A Geo Group officer reportedly aggressively grabbed Smith’s penis and testicles during the inspection, and when Smith told him to stop and informed the captain and others of what had happened, he was taken to be strip-searched. The Tacoma police officer who responded described Smith as “visibly upset,” according to the police report. The officer also reviewed video of the pat search on site, but noted it was not audible. According to the report, the guard put his hands on Smith’s left leg during the pat down and did an up-and-down sweep at which point Smith suddenly moved and could be seen saying something to the guards before being put in handcuffs and taken away. The police report obtained by RANGE said that detention center staff patted down Smith and the other men because they were looking for a flash drive that had gone missing. But the report also said Smith wasn’t given a reason for the search — that “someone was hiding something” — until afterward. In concluding his report, the officer told Smith that the guard who patted him down had done it in a reasonable manner, so there was no probable cause for any crime. “Police in general are not especially known for handling sexual assault well under the best of conditions, and then when you've got people that society is saying are not worth the same level of protection — like they're in cages and they're being treated as subhuman already — the police are not taking these complaints seriously at all,” Myracle said. Smith spoke with a doctor in the detention center who told him the incident prompted the filing of a Prison Rape Elimination Act report, Myracle added. ### An ongoing problem Another study from the University of Washington’s [Center for Human Rights published ](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/04/24/conditions-at-the-nwdc-patterns-of-neglect-in-tpd-response-to-abuse-and-assault/?ref=rangemedia.co)in 2025 looked at the Tacoma Police Department’s pattern of neglect when it came to responding to crimes at the detention center, including sexual abuse. In fact, the department only prosecuted two of the 157 reports it received over the course of a decade. The victims in those two cases worked at the detention center. The study also found that not only did police routinely ignore crimes reported by immigrants in detention, but when they did follow up on those cases, it was through an investigative process that was “so cursory” they didn’t contact the victims at all. The detention center has also been criticized for other abuses, up to and including inhumane living conditions. Myracle told RANGE that when Smith went to the detention center medical facility for treatment of a broken hand, the doctor rudely dismissed him. After about a month without treatment and persistent requests for medical attention, Myracle said that Smith was finally given an X-ray, a temporary splint and taken to St. Joseph's a couple of weeks later to get a cast. “He's \[suffered the\] entire time he \[was\] there from a variety of things in addition to the horrible conditions for everybody — like the food, the water” Myracle said. “The lights are on 24 hours a day. There’s never any silence.” ### Fighting deportation & detention On April 2, after about six months into his detention, Smith filed a Habeas Corpus petition to challenge the legality of his detention. About a month later, District Judge Jamal Whitehead ruled that Smith’s detention was “unreasonably prolonged” and ordered ICE to give him a bond hearing, according to the court order. Then immigration Judge John Odell denied Smith’s release on bond, saying that he was a danger to the community and a flight risk, according to a court document. Smith challenged this through a second Habeas Corpus petition. Whitehead ruled on July 20 that Smith’s continued detention violated his due process rights and ordered his immediate release, granting Smith’s second petition. Odell’s decision was an “abuse of discretion,” Whitehead wrote and did “not rationally apply the governing legal standard.” Odell never should have classified Smith a danger or a flight risk, Whitehead ruled, pointing out that eight of the nine factors used to determine the outcome of a bond actually favored Smith. For example, Whitehead made note of Garnet’s strong ties particularly in Spokane — including his fiancée and five children ranging in age from 5 to 21 years — and his nearly three decades of residency in the U.S. Though Whitehead noted that Smith’s criminal history included convictions for assault and harassment, most of that record was more than a decade old and not severe enough to deem him a danger to the community. Whitehead’s ruling noted that Smith’s appeal of the deportation order filed against him is expected to be a lengthy process. Myracle said Smith was injured in the military and left disabled. He now suffers from chronic pain and mental conditions. If Smith were to be deported, not only would he lose access to Veterans Affairs health care, but he would not be able to get the spinal surgery he needs. When Smith enlisted, he thought he’d automatically receive citizenship. But that’s not granted automatically and can still be a lengthy administrative process, Myracle said. “There are thousands and thousands of people who've served who do not have citizenship, many of whom don't realize they don't have citizenship, and all it takes is one mistake and they can be deported,” Myracle added. Many veterans leave the military with substance use or mental health issues that might lead them to make bad choices, Myracle said. A veteran who holds citizenship and is convicted of the same crime as a noncitizen might face different consequences, like deportation. “Ultimately, we want to see an end to the policy of detention and deportation of our neighbors, particularly for veterans like Garnet,” Myracle said. “Nobody who served this country and who was willing to die for this country should be put in a cage and then kicked out of the country that they swore an oath to die for.” ### Voting is hot. So is our candidate forum. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/voting-is-hot-so-is-our-candidate-forum/ Last updated: 2026-07-27T18:22:36.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Ballots have been sent and our [Elections Guide](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) is live! Read up on the races and cast your ballot by August 4th. - Candidate Survivor: Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum is taking over Overbluff Cellars this Thursday from 6 to 9 pm, door open at 5 pm. Tickets are still available [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2292562?ref=rangemedia.co). - Spokane City Council could finally pass the Right to Cooling ordinance this week, or they could adopt an amendment that would push the earliest possible adoption back to August 19. - At the Finance and Administration Committee, the Spokane City Council will discuss council staffing, and an ordinance that could make firing of staff members a more transparent process after cuts of two initiative managers. - The Spokane County Board of Commissioners meeting is canceled this week. - The Spokane and East Valley school district boards are looking to replace existing property tax levies, one of which funds educational programming the state doesn’t provide for and another for new building projects. - Spokane Valley will award a nearly $3.3 million contract to the Inland Asphalt Company to preserve and improve the section of Sullivan Road from the Union Pacific Railroad bridge to Kiernan Avenue. - The Central Valley School District Board of Directors will hold a board discussion on AI usage in the district, student screentime and cameras on school buses. # Elections Ballots have been sent out for the 2026 Primary Elections! The RANGE elections page is paywall-free and live, with stories, candidate questionnaires and more. Read up [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2026/) before you cast your ballot! Other handy links: - Register to vote [here](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/voter-registration/register-vote-washington?ref=rangemedia.co). - Read the Spokane County Voters Guide [here](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/72507/August-4-2026-Primary-Election-Voters-Pamphlet-PDF?ref=rangemedia.co). - Get a replacement ballot [here](https://www.spokanecounty.org/307/Replacement-Ballots-Envelopes?ref=rangemedia.co) if yours didn’t come or got damaged - Find your nearest ballot drop box [here](https://www.spokanecounty.org/187/Ballot-Drop-Box-Locations?ref=rangemedia.co). # Candidate Survivor: Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** We’ve partnered with the Washington Bus Education Fund, Hogwash Whiskey Den and KSPS to bring you a candidate forum like no other. Candidate Survivor: Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum will see RANGE’s Erin Sellers terrorizing candidates from five political races in the region with spicy wings and even spicier questions. You can reserve your tickets for the event [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2292562?ref=rangemedia.co), and don’t forget to turn in your ballot to a ballot box by 8 pm on next Tuesday! [BUY TIX HERE!](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2292562?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** We’re staying experimental as we figure out exactly how to best cover Spokane City Council with their new schedule and format. Reminder that they don’t finalize their agendas until after the Tuesday Agenda Review, but here’s what’s currently listed on the docket: ### Up for a vote this week - The council could vote to accept almost $300,000 in state grant funding from the Connecting Housing to Infrastructure program, and spend it on utilities upgrades for affordable housing projects. - They could also accept a grant from the Department of Justice to purchase two freezers for the police department, which will be used to store sexual assault kits as part of an effort to solve sexual assault cases. - The council could finally pass the Right to Cooling ordinance, as amended on July 13\. However, Council President Betsy Wilkerson has proposed another amendment, which would set the vote back to August 19 if passed. The Wilkerson amendment would change the amount that tenants could deduct from their rent for purchasing a cooling device $500 plus an additional $5 every year, capping out at no more than $550\. As currently written, tenants can deduct $500 plus an additional amount as determined by a city index that factors in inflation, with no cap-out. ### Up for a vote next week - The council could approve spending about $35,000 over the next four months on reserving three beds per night at the House of Charity for Spokane police or fire to refer people in need to during contacts. - The city continues to prepare to launch their own emergency call management services, this time with emergency special budget ordinances to create new positions to support the Spokane United 911 Network. ### Up for a vote in two weeks - The council is set to appoint Megan Duvall as the Director of Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Office, [reestablished](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-arts-office-new-director-mayor-lisa-brown/293-f9e82e16-350e-4fc3-8acf-b13c72537909?ref=rangemedia.co) by Mayor Lisa Brown earlier this year. Duvall is a longtime historic preservation officer. - After budget debates last year, the council voted to fully fund staff only through July 1, and hired a consultant to look at their staffing plan. In two weeks, the council could approve a new staffing plan that could cut legislative assistants from one per council member to one per district, and no longer includes initiative managers at all. Two initiative managers — Nicolette Ocheltree, the housing and homelessness policy initiative manager, and Alex Gibilisco, the Manager of Equity and Inclusion Initiatives — were already [notified](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article%5F621ce43f-1858-4c42-a942-442631e85726.html?ref=rangemedia.co) they would not have jobs by the end of August. The council could also pass a resolution moving funding in their office around to fund salaries for those still on staff through the end of the year. - The council could also pass the extension to the interim ordinance allowing childcare centers to operate in all residential and commercial zones in the city. NOTE: Council is on summer break next week, and so are we! RANGE staff will be taking a week away from the news, their phones, their laptops and their email accounts to destress. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 29 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** At this week’s Finance and Administration Committee, the council will discuss: - Those city council staffing plan changes covered above, plus funding needs that will likely be up for a vote in two weeks. - An ordinance from Council Member Paul Dillon that would create more transparency around staffing increases and reductions, making the firing of staff for any reason besides ethical standards or conduct violations require a majority vote of the city council. Currently, it is under the sole purview of the Council President, who decided to cut Ocheltree and Gibilisco without a public majority vote. - Setting utility rates for 2027 and 2028 (Spoiler: they usually go up.) - An ordinance that would get rid of a city requirement for charitable organizations to get a free “charitable solicitation” license. Because this duplicates state requirements, Spokane could cut this requirement at the city level. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 28 at 1 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🌶️​​🌶️​​🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** The Housing Authority Board will discuss draft revisions to the Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plan, which can be reviewed [here](https://www.spokanehousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DRAFT-AdminPlan06112026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 27 at 2:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## No BOCC this week ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Workshop on 20-year development plan The commission will host a workshop on a draft of its comprehensive plan that will govern development in Spokane County from the end of this year to 2046\. You can learn more about the plan, including its draft chapters, [here](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/5381/2046-Comprehensive-Plan?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 30 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 30 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 27 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑/**5 peppers** ### A sign of the times The Central Valley School District Board of Directors are having a discussion on AI use in the district, student screen time, technology’s role in academic intervention and school bus cameras. For parents or students with concerns about AI and/or surveillance tech, this might be a meeting to tune into. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 27 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### District asking voters to approve replacement tax for capital projects The board plans to ask voters on November 3 to approve a property tax levy to fund new building projects in the district. It would raise nearly $13.8 million in 2027 and 2028\. The measure would reup an existing tax of just less than .1%, meaning taxpayers would not notice a change in this levy. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 28 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special meeting) 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### For & against committees for replacement levy The board is set to appoint one person each to the “for” and “against” committees that will describe the respective arguments surrounding a ballot initiative to reup an expiring .25% property tax that pays for education expenses the state of Washington does not cover. If it is approved, that means taxpayers in the district would see no change to this part of their property taxes. The replacement would allow the district to bring in $333 million in revenue from 2028 to 2030\. The proposed committee members are Carol Wendle, for the “for” committee and Russell Neff for the “against.” The measure will appear on the November 3 ballot. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 29 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $3M+ for improvements to Sullivan Rd The city is set to distribute nearly $3.3 million to the Inland Asphalt Company to preserve and improve the section of Sullivan Road from the Union Pacific Railroad bridge to Kiernan Avenue. The project will build stormwater infrastructure and improve accessibility for disabled people. $1.5 million of the cost will come from a federal grant; the rest will come from local sales tax revenue and stormwater and aquifer protection funding. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 28 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Driving voter turnout among the youth URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/driving-voter-turnout-among-the-youth/ Last updated: 2026-07-24T13:30:05.000Z On this week’s episode, RANGE reporter Erin Sellers was joined by Haydon Ramirez, the Eastern Washington Organizer from [The Washington Bus](https://www.washingtonbus.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). The Washington Bus is a youth-led organization that works to build civic engagement through leadership development, education, organizing, and voter mobilization. Erin and Haydon talked about their experiences with politics, how The Washington Bus builds up the youth’s civic engagement through their programs, and their recent policy priorities. They also talked about [Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum](https://www.rangemedia.co/candidate-survivor-spokanes-spiciest-candidate-forum/), which we’re partnering with The Washington Bus to put on! The candidate forum will be on Thursday, July 30, 2026 from 5-8pm at the Overbluff Cellars in the Washington Cracker Building (304 W Pacific Ave). (Psst: you can get your tickets [here](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2292562?ref=rangemedia.co)!) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Prep for fire season URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/prep-for-fire-season/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T21:52:27.000Z Wildfire season is back with a vengeance. Spokane County has had 268 reported wildfires from 2025 up to July 2026, according to the [Washington Department of Natural Resources](https://dnr.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co). Washington’s 2025 fire season saw a surge in lightning strikes in the late summer and regional drought. The state recorded nearly 1,900 wildfire starts, but fire crews successfully contained 94% of fires on DNR lands under 10 acres. In June, the Upriver Fire in June burned approximately 213 acres and destroyed or damaged 15 homes, [killing](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-county-medical-examiner-identity-person-found-dead-upriver-fire/293-d7ae7262-c1d6-4eef-9347-3b00929b2608?ref=rangemedia.co) one person. The latest as of this article’s publishing was a brush fire south of Liberty Lake reported July 19 that burned 11 acres. No structures were lost, though Level 3 (GO NOW!) evacuations were issued in the area at the time. In April, the [Washington Department of Ecology](https://ecology.wa.gov/water-shorelines/water-supply/water-availability/statewide-conditions/drought-response?ref=rangemedia.co) declared a drought for all watersheds in the state, “due to low snowpack and multiple years of precipitation deficits.” This is the state’s fourth drought declaration in a row with lack of snowpack and precipitation making for drier conditions that result in more natural fuel for wildfires. The [Spokane County Wildfire Mitigation Coalition](https://my.spokanecity.org/fire/prevention/wildfires/?ref=rangemedia.co) tries to prepare for these newly dry conditions, which are becoming more frequent because of climate change, by thinning trees and removing excess brush and tinder to reduce wildfire risk. “Grant money dictates what projects we are able to take on, but we try to get done as much as we can before July,” said Nick Jeffries, a wildland resource planner with the city of Spokane. “By July and August it’s usually too hot to work in the forest and areas with heavy vegetation. Too much risk of equipment starting a fire and doing more harm than good.” The Coalition is composed of various organizations, including, but not limited to the Spokane City and Spokane Valley fire departments, the Spokane County Conservation District, Spokane County Parks, all 10 Spokane County fire districts, Inland Power & Light, Avista and the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “We’ve got all sorts of good players in there,” Jeffries said. “Membership is on a voluntary basis and we all share resources.” The Coalition also offers homeowners in Spokane County assistance through Home Ignition Zone assessments, [Firewise programs](https://spokanecd.org/pages/firewise?ref=rangemedia.co) and [landowner referrals](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/5444/Wildfire-Resources?ref=rangemedia.co). “A Home Ignition Zone is the area around a home and its surroundings, going out up to 200 feet,” Jeffries said. “Do you have a lot of brush and trees around your house? Are your gutters clean? Do you keep flammable objects like building supplies and hay for your animals close by? Taking those things out further from your home can really reduce your home's vulnerability to radiant heat and falling embers during a wildfire.” In 2026 the Spokane Conservation District was awarded a $9.2 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, specifically through the [Community Wildfire Defense Grant](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/25/two-local-organizations-receive-millions-in-federa/?ref=rangemedia.co) program. The money has yet to be received so those funds were not able to be applied to prevention projects before the 2026 wildfire season, Jefries said. The coalition cleared brush in three areas this year: [Eagle Ridge HOA](https://www.eagleridge-hoa.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Overlook at Qualchan](https://wpispo.com/overlook-at-qualchan?ref=rangemedia.co) and 10 acres near the River Run community. Assistance was also lent to a private thinning operation on 22 acres on the South Hill. These projects were either fully or partially funded by DNR, with some residents contributing private funds, Jeffries said. Though clearing and thinning projects are over for the coalition this fire season, Jeffries stressed that it’s never too late for property owners to do home ignition zone work. He recalled the summer of 2023, which he referred to as, “One of the worst fire seasons ever in Spokane County.” The two biggest fires in Eastern Washington that year, the Gray and Oregon fires, [destroyed 369 homes and damaged another 447](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WAGOV/2023/10/04/file%5Fattachments/2637406/Spokane%20County%20Fires%20Major%20Disaster%20Declaration%20Request%2010.04.2023.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), burning more homes than any wildfire in Washington state history, according to a [letter from former Governor Jay Inslee](https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WAGOV/2023/10/04/file%5Fattachments/2637406/Spokane%20County%20Fires%20Major%20Disaster%20Declaration%20Request%2010.04.2023.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) to former President Joe Biden. The two fires, which spread from August 18 to August 25, killed two people. “It’s a hard fact that there is no amount of firefighting resources that will save your home if it is in the path of a catastrophic wildfire,” said Fire Chief Shane Stocking, of the [South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue District](https://www.spofr.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). “It’s unfortunate, but it’s something of a given now that these wildfires aren’t just an incident, they are a season. The best thing people can do is prepare their home.” Located in southern Pend Oreille County, the district responded to the Gray and Oregon fires because of the shared border with Spokane County. The district often shares mutual aid with [Spokane County Fire District 4](https://scfd4.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). “If you’re not sure what to do, call your local fire district, call us, and we’ll point you in the right direction,” Jeffries said. > Learn more about wildfire prevention at home and recreating [here.](https://dnr.wa.gov/wildfire-resources/wildfire-prevention?ref=rangemedia.co) To find your fire department/district in Spokane County, go [here.](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/936/Fire-Safety?ref=rangemedia.co) To get public alerts and warning notifications including wildfires for Spokane County, sign up [here.](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/3007/Alert-Spokane?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Season of fire Though the fire season has not intensified in Priest Lake, Bonner County, like it has in other places, it’s become an unsettling neighbor. The Upper Smith Fire that started in bordering Boundary County after a lightning strike July 8 has grown to over 1,000 acres on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest as of Thursday, July 23, and was reported at zero containment according to [InciWeb](https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co). Smoke and ash from that fire and the Turner Hill Fire, also in Boundary County, have poured over into Bonner County. “This is definitely the time of year when we keep the conversation going about emergency preparedness,” said Cameron LaCombe, Bonner County Emergency Management Preparedness Coordinator. US Forest Service planes and helicopters were actively scooping water from Priest Lake and other waterways to drop on the Upper Smith Fire for several days. As of this publishing, there have only been two wildfires reported in Bonner County and both have been relatively small and were put out quickly, LaCombe said. One was in Oldtown, Idaho earlier this month when a man was using a Sawzall to cut car parts at his home and the sparks from the saw ignited a grassfire. LaCombe said the man’s neighbors noticed the smoke and called 911 and [West Pend Oreille Fire District](https://priestriver-id.gov/west-pend-oreille-fire-district?ref=rangemedia.co) responded, quickly putting out the fire. [Idaho Department of Lands](https://priestriver-id.gov/west-pend-oreille-fire-district?ref=rangemedia.co) responded to a small wildfire on Sundance Mountain and Soldier Creek near Priest Lake July 18, but it was quickly extinguished. The worst wildfire to hit Bonner County since the [Big Blowup of 1910](https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/famous-fires/the-1910-fires/?ref=rangemedia.co) was almost 59 years ago. The [Sundance Fire](https://www.nwcg.gov/6mfs/day-in-history/sundance-fire-idaho-september-1-1967?ref=rangemedia.co) left scorched earth and two firefighters dead near Priest Lake September 1967\. Caused by lightning strikes, the fire burned over 55,910 acres in nine hours, generating winds of 60 mph with gusts between 95-120 mph, according to news reports at the time. The blaze overtook firefighters Luther Rodarte and Lee Collins who died as they constructed a dozer line. Priest Lake and the greater Bonner County area have had plenty of wildfires since then, but nothing on that scale. “We have had no major wildfires in our county or district so far this year, and since I’m not sitting near any wood I’ll knock on my plastic chair,” said Tom Renzi, East Priest Lake Fire Protection District chief. There are four primary fire districts protecting the Priest Lake area: [West Priest Lake Fire District](https://priestlake.org/directory/west-priest-lake-fire-department/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Coolin-Cavanaugh Bay Fire Protection District](https://coolinfire.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), [North of the Narrows Fire District](https://northofthenarrowsfire.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), and [East Priest Lake Fire Protection District](https://eastpriestlakefire.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Including the lake and the area surrounding it, there are tens of thousands of acres, not counting the 523,000 acres of forested public lands. The US Census Bureau estimates about 2,700 total households in the immediate area with a population of 6,913\. The lake is a popular tourist destination in the summer. While there is no public data tracking the exact number of Spokane residents who own properties in Priest Lake, regional news reports indicate that a majority of the lake’s non-resident cabin and second home owners come from the Inland Northwest, especially Spokane. “Priest Lake is a beautiful area, though on the flip side, if there is a significant fire event, and your home or vacation spot takes you north on Highway 57 to the east or west side of the lake, that’s your only way in and out,” LaCombe said. “Roads get narrow, cell service can be a challenge. If there’s ever a need for evacuation, that can be a concern.” Echoing Jeffries’ viewpoint, West Priest Lake Fire District Chief Troy Gilbert said it’s never too late for people to prepare their homes for fire season and be prepared for possible [evacuation.](https://idahofirewise.org/evacuation/?ref=rangemedia.co) “The thought can feel overwhelming, but if you’re unsure, the best thing you can do is call your fire district and let them help you find out where to start,” Gilbert said. “That’s the reason we’re here.” Idaho residents looking for more information on wildfire prevention and preparedness, go [here](https://www.idl.idaho.gov/fire-management/?ref=rangemedia.co) and check out the [Bonner County Emergency Management](https://www.bonnercountyid.gov/departments/EmergencyManagement?ref=rangemedia.co) page. > *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### A crowded primary field of candidates jostles to represent Congressional District 5 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/5th-congressional-primary-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T17:54:01.000Z Eleven candidates hope to survive a crowded primary and challenge incumbent Congressman Michael Baumgartner in the race to represent the roughly 800,000 people living in Washington’s 5th Congressional District. The district stretches across the eastern edge of the state, spanning 16,053 square miles and encompassing 10 of the most rural counties in the state. Major cities include Spokane, Pullman and Walla Walla, but a large part of this district is agricultural land. It’s been a safely conservative seat for at least the past two decades, held by Republican former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers from 2005 to 2025\. In 2024, McMorris Rodgers retired and [endorsed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/sep/03/mcmorris-rodgers-backs-baumgartner-in-bid-to-repla/?ref=rangemedia.co) Baumgartner as her heir, who won the seat by a hefty margin. In the past two years, the region has felt the impacts of Donald Trump’s presidential administration. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency [claimed](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/doge-cuts-by-city-state-and-congressional-district/?ref=rangemedia.co) tens of millions dollars in savings for cancelling federal grants to universities and state and local governments. The value of federal contracts in the region shrank by 37% since 2024, according to [statistics](https://www.usaspending.gov/download%5Fcenter/award%5Fdata%5Farchive?ref=rangemedia.co) from the government website [USASpending.gov](http://usaspending.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co). Washington farmers are struggling, too, due to [tariffs harming export markets](https://capitalpress.com/2026/02/05/wsu-economist-addresses-long-term-tariff-impacts-on-trade/?ref=rangemedia.co) and[ rising fuel costs](https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/record-fuel-prices-tariffs-washington-farmers-running-on-empty/281-201ae6d0-7e5f-4269-aa57-f54baacb0a2c?ref=rangemedia.co) tied to Trump’s war on Iran. In Spokane, federal workers researching safety for hard-rock miners and other high-risk occupations were abruptly fired, then [re-hired](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/25/after-9-months-of-uncertainty-federal-workplace-sa/?ref=rangemedia.co) nine months later. A dozen workers at the local Veterans Affair hospital were[ fired by DOGE, then paid not to work](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/they-were-fired-in-the-name-of-efficiency-now-the-vas-paying-them-not-to-work/?ref=rangemedia.co). One hundred thirty-seven vacant positions at the same hospital [were cut](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/dec/19/department-of-veterans-affairs-eliminates-137-vaca/?ref=rangemedia.co), accounting for roughly 8% of the hospital’s jobs. These material conditions, and a nationwide focus on the political [message](https://newrepublic.com/article/208912/affordability-replaced-abundance-democratic-buzzword?ref=rangemedia.co) of [affordability](https://economicsecurityproject.org/news/why-everyone-is-talking-about-affordability-now/?ref=rangemedia.co), have drawn a full slate of Democrat and Independent political challengers, each of whom seek to claw their way to the top of crowded primary field to challenge incumbent Baumgartner in the November general election. In 2024, the field was completely open, with six Republicans and five Democrats vying for the seat. In the general, Baumgartner won with 60.57% of the vote, and Democrat challenger Carmela Conroy took 39.29%. It wasn’t just that the region voted red across the board — Baumgartner enjoyed a nearly 7-point advantage over Trump, who beat Kamala Harris by a margin of 53.9% to her 43.2% in the district. Even banking on a “blue wave” spurred by dissatisfaction with the president — and therefore, Baumgartner, who largely voted in alignment with Trump’s priorities — to make up some of the ground from 2024, the race is an uphill one for candidates left of center. ## The challengers At candidate forums, on billboards and t-shirts, and in interviews, 11 candidates have sought to make the case that not only are they the person who can best represent the district, but also that if they clear the primary, they’ll be able to defeat Baumgartner in November. #### Andrew Bartleson Independent Andrew Bartleson is just a “[regular person](https://www.blacklensnews.com/stories/2026/jul/05/candidate-qa-andrew-bartleson/?ref=rangemedia.co).” An auditor for the state Department of Labor & Industries, Bartleson said he is running for office to create a better world for his 19-year-old daughter, who has been hitting the campaign trail with him as his unofficial manager. Though he’s registered as an Independent, Bartleson has articulated some of the most progressive policy stances at campaign events: federal support for trans rights, taxing billionaires out of existence, redirecting corporate welfare to funding for schools and college tuition, using farm subsidies for small independent farms and abolishing ICE. He [also](https://www.bartlesonforcongress.com/platform?ref=rangemedia.co) wants to prioritize AI regulation and keeping data centers off the power grid. You won’t see a yard sign or a billboard for Bartleson, who has yet to report any donations to the FEC. But you might see folks wearing the striking “Bartleson for Congress” merch: black t-shirts he gives out for free, printed with images ranging from family photos to a cute pic of his dog to a picture of a shirtless Bartleson rocking a pandemic-era mullet. #### Carmela Conroy Topping the list in fundraising with over $387,000 is Conroy, who [lost to Baumgartner](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-congress-representative-d5-carmela-conroy-michael-baumgartner/) in 2024\. Despite fairing worse than McMorris Rodger’s 2022 opponent Natasha Hill, who received 40.3% of the vote, and Lisa Brown, who lost to McMorris Rodgers in 2018 with 45.24% of the vote, Conroy [declared](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/nov/05/michael-baumgartner-will-be-eastern-washingtons-ne/?ref=rangemedia.co) her candidacy for 2026 about as quickly as her 2024 loss was announced. Conroy’s background in foreign service as a diplomat and her two years as chair of the local party Democrats has led to fuller coffers and a headstart on the campaign trail. She has emphasized affordability, healthcare access and her foreign policy experience. This year, much of her [platform](https://conroy4congress.com/priorities/?ref=rangemedia.co) centers on addressing Trump’s impacts on the region: restoring Medicare and Medicaid funding, defunding detention center construction and operation, ending tariffs and directing the U.S. Department of Justice to take action against Epstein collaborators. She received endorsements from the Walla Walla Democrats and the Washington State Stonewall Democrats and was one of five candidates to receive the endorsement of the Spokane County Democrats. #### Ann Marie Danimus Though she previously ran for this same seat in 2024 and 2022 as a Democrat, this year, small business owner Ann Marie Danimus is campaigning as an Independent. Though Danimus has not performed particularly well in either of her past elections, receiving 10.25% of the primary ballots in 2022 and 5.56% in 2024, she still has faith she’s the best candidate for the job. She’s a fairly progressive Independent. Her [platform](https://vote4annmarie.com/issues/?ref=rangemedia.co) highlights codifying abortion access, creating universal healthcare and protecting the environment as key issues. Danimus has also voiced strong support for federal support of trans rights at candidate forums, though she faced criticism for saying that if Congress lacks the power to stop ICE detention centers from being built entirely, they should locate them closer to home for oversight purposes. Danimus’ notable [endorsements](https://vote4annmarie.com/endorsements/?ref=rangemedia.co) include the 9th Legislative District Democrats, the 4th Legislative District Democrats and Spokane Valley City Council Member Tim Hattenburg. She’s raised $16,223 during this campaign, and has campaign debt of somewhere between $8,000 and $14,000, according to reporting from [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/10/ann-marie-danimus-hopes-third-time-is-the-charm-in/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* #### Kevin Fagan Kevin Fagan, a young progressive who graduated from Gonzaga University in 2021, lives in downtown Spokane and serves on the City of Spokane's Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board. The youngest candidate in a race where just two other people are younger than 50, Fagan is running a grassroots campaign relying on volunteers, doorknocking and social media to connect with voters. Though it’s a conservative district, Fagan has been unafraid to take not just leftist economic positions, but leftist social positions as well, advocating for a free Palestine, federal protections for trans people, abolishing ICE and, most recently, an independent Puerto Rico. Fagan’s [platform](https://kevinfaganforcongress.com/issues?ref=rangemedia.co) also includes universal healthcare, banning stock trading for members of Congress and ensuring farmers have the right to repair their own equipment. Fagan has been endorsed by the Spokane County Democrats, the Spokane Young Democrats and local politicians Zack Zappone and Sarah Dixit. He has raised just $26,912 for his campaign. #### Richard Freudenberg Air Force veteran and military lawyer Richard Freudenberg joined the race right after he retired, hoping to stand up for working families in rural Washington. Though he entered late — unable to register until after his retirement, due to Trump-era regulations — Freudenberg has raised $32,637 in just a few months. Freudenberg supports Medicare for All, removing most tariffs and using Congressional powers to reign in presidential misconduct. His [platform](https://www.votefreudenberg.com/issues?ref=rangemedia.co) also includes a work requirement under a public works program to receive unemployment, immigration reform and a living wage. His notable endorsements include the Spokane County Democrats and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers. #### Mathew Hayes An Air Force veteran, retired physician and recent Gonzaga Law School graduate, Matthew Hayes is running as an Independent free of party influence and corporate donors. His grassroots campaign is nontraditional — the only campaign merch available is a white t-shirt without his name or logo, just the slogan “We the People Must Vote.” His [platform](https://matthewhayesforcongress.com/Issues?ref=rangemedia.co) highlights the importance of increasing voter turnout, prioritizing patients over profit in the healthcare system, curbing disinformation and preventing war, using it only as an absolute last resort. Hayes has logged $4,770 in donations so far. #### Nate Powell Nate Powell — a firefighter and Marine veteran recruited and endorsed by the [Working Class Heroes Fund](https://www.workingclassheroes.fund/about?ref=rangemedia.co) — exploded into the race as an Independent laser-focused on class issues. Though he doesn’t have party backing like Baumgartner or Conroy, he quickly raised more than $322,000, putting him third on the leaderboard. Powell’s [platform](https://natepowellforcongress.com/priorities/?ref=rangemedia.co) includes supporting Medicare for all, banning stock trading for members of Congress, breaking up corporate monopolies to protect family farms and stopping AI data centers from harming neighborhoods and the environment. He’s a strong economic progressive, but his stances on social issues are more moderate, courting rural voters that make up the majority of the district. He received Fuse Washington’s endorsement in their Progressive Voter’s Guide. This proved to be a controversial choice, with Powell’s opponents pointing to his comments at a candidate forum where said trans rights should be [a states’ rights issue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro%5F9KjR83KU&t=1s&ref=rangemedia.co), and he didn’t see it as the federal government’s role to protect trans people. #### Bajun Mavalwalla The father of Bajun Mavalwalla II — who was [recently convicted](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-protesters-federal-conspiracy-political-prosecution/) of federal conspiracy charges after protesting ICE in Spokane — Mavalwalla the senior is an Army veteran who hopes to court rural voters who feel betrayed by the Trump administration. Mavalwalla, a passionate man who was in court nearly every day supporting his son during the two-week trial, is not as [traditional](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/16/for-bajun-mavalwalla-running-for-congress-is-perso/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=B-,ut%20neither%20does%20Mavalwalla%20always%20g,-et) a Democrat as others in the race. His [platform](https://www.votebajun.com/policies?ref=rangemedia.co) includes support for the 2nd Amendment (moderated by some gun reforms), completely dismantling Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as an agency, taxing billionaires and support for veterans, LGBTQ+ people and workers. Mavalwalla, who worked on Dr. Bernadine Bank’s campaign for this same office in 2024, was also endorsed by the Spokane County Democrats and the Walla Walla Democrats. He has raised just under $100,000 so far. #### Michael McGarr Former *Spokesman Review* copy editor Michael McGarr, who had a failed run as a Republican for a California State Assembly seat in the 1990s, is running as a Democrat this time. McGarr has railed against the political pendulum, and describes himself as a candidate who can find the middle lane and work across the aisle. He [told](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/19/michael-mcgarr-doesnt-know-how-to-get-to-congress-/?ref=rangemedia.co) the *Spokesman* he doesn’t watch *Star Trek* anymore because of gay Klingons. Still, McGarr thinks the Trump administration and the modern Republican Party have gone too far, abandoning their responsibility to the people. His [platform](https://mcgarr4congress.com/issues?ref=rangemedia.co) includes simplifying worker visas, putting term limits on U.S. Supreme Court justices, supporting Medicare for All and weaning off of fossil fuels. McGarr has also yet to report fundraising to the Federal Election Commission, and his website states he won’t be looking for funding unless he makes it to the general election. He was also endorsed by the Spokane County Democrats. #### Kyle Usrey Attorney and self-described “cowboy poet” Kyle Usrey is running as an Independent. He sees himself as a moderate who has been alienated from the Republican Party by Trump-era extremism, but he doesn’t align with what he sees as the socialist wing of the Democratic Party. Usrey’s campaign [platform](https://www.usreyforus.com/platform?ref=rangemedia.co) includes fighting for Palouse farmers to get tariff refunds, reforming ICE and banning its agents from reservation land without explicit tribal permission, eliminating the Electoral College in favor of direct popular vote for President and adopting a two-tiered healthcare system like Australia. Usrey has raised $30,125.17, though $25,000 of that was a donation to his own campaign, according to FEC reports. #### David Womack Walla Walla-based Air Force veteran and retired healthcare worker David Womack, who led a rural hospital in Colfax, is a longtime party Democrat. Womack has raised $125,796 so far, roughly a third of Conroy’s total. Womack highlights his experience in the military and protecting healthcare access for rural areas, which could allow him to connect with conservative voters in the region who have seen the impacts of the Trump administration on healthcare access. His [priorities](https://davidwomackforcongress.com/priorities.html?ref=rangemedia.co) include making childcare and eldercare more affordable, “Medicare for all who want it” and supporting the agricultural industry in the region. He has also been endorsed by the Spokane County Democrats and Walla Walla Democrats. ## The incumbent As the incumbent and lone Republican in the race, Congressman Michael Baumgartner has a different race to run. He has entirely avoided candidate forums and debates during the primary, and with no challengers from the right to split the vote, he’s all but assured to take one of the two slots in the general. He has raised just over $1.7 million for his reelection campaign and spent about half of that. His largest single donor is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC. As a solidly red district, some might say it’s his race to lose. But he’s not without vulnerabilities, as his opponents have laid the effects of Trump’s policies at Baumgartner’s feat. Though Baumgartner [expressed support ](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-congress-representative-d5-carmela-conroy-michael-baumgartner/)for farmers in his 2024 campaign, warning volatile trade markets or tensions in oil-producing regions could negatively impact the agricultural sector crucial to his district, he has largely backed the Trump administration. He has supported Trump’s war in Iran, and voiced opposition to Trump’s tariffs, while voting against the House resolution to overturn them. Baumgartner has voted with the Republican Party 99% of the time, according to vote tracker [LegisLetter](https://legisletter.org/legislator/michael-baumgartner-B001322/votes?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). He voted in favor of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” [calling](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/was-members-of-congress-react-to-passage-of-trumps-big-beautiful-bill/?ref=rangemedia.co) it “a bold, serious step toward getting our economy back on track,” [backed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/09/despite-national-debt-concerns-baumgartner-backs-t/?ref=rangemedia.co) Trump’s $1.5 trillion military spending bill regardless of national debt concerns and publicly [supported](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/12/the-save-america-act-has-brought-congress-to-a-hal/?ref=rangemedia.co) the SAVE Act to overhaul the election identification process. Baumgartner sits on three House committees: Education and Workforce, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs. He is also the chair of Congressional College Sports Caucus, where he has sponsored five bills related to college sports — more than a third of all bills he’s sponsored. His election [website](https://www.votebaumgartner.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) lists his wins for the region: securing $4 Million to rebuild the Sullivan & Trent interchange, delivering $1.5 million to Airway Heights to consolidate police, fire and municipal court operations and securing $1.7 million in Adams County for local jail renovations. “During my first term in Congress, I have worked hard to represent the people of Eastern Washington and reduce taxes, secure the border and protect election integrity,” his website states. “It stands in stark contrast to the actions of some Far Left politicians in Olympia who continue to raise taxes, mandate ‘sanctuary’ cities, and reject election safeguards.” While in office, he has also called for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to [resign](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/28/baumgartner-calls-on-zelenskyy-to-resign-hours-aft/?ref=rangemedia.co), after Trump described Zelenskyy as “ungrateful,” [honored](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/aug/17/baumgartner-paints-it-red-with-re-election-fundrai/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=and) a cisgender runner who got second place to a trans girl in a high school track race as the ‘rightful winner,” and argued for a peaceful [annexation](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/11/how-members-of-congress-in-the-northwest-feel-abou?ref=rangemedia.co) of Greenland. According to his campaign website, his platform is border security, protecting dams on the Palouse from being removed, supporting service members, curbing violent crime, keeping America strong and the economy. ### Campaign Finance Basics *Note: Numbers up to date as of July 23, 2026.* *Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include an additional data visualization focused on Independent Expenditures.* ### Three candidates compete for Position 2 in 6th Legislative District URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/three-candidates-compete-for-position-2-in-6th-legislative-district/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T00:38:23.000Z Voters will decide which two of the three candidates for the 6th Legislative District, Position 2 will advance from the [primary](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/178/Current-Election?ref=rangemedia.co) to the general election, choosing between Republican [Jonathan Bingle](https://www.jonathanbingle.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), Independent [Aaron Croft](https://www.croft4wa.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) and Democrat [Julia Payne](https://www.facebook.com/people/Julia-Payne-for-Office/61570997821621/). Each candidate claims a differing perspective on what makes them best qualified to represent the district, which encompasses communities on the West Plains and areas of northwest Spokane County. Outgoing state [Rep. Jenny Graham](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/jenny-graham?ref=rangemedia.co), a Republican, announced earlier this year she would not seek re-election. Croft, a retired Air Force veteran, highlighted his many years in military service. “I've been in charge of budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and have led teams from people of all walks of life,” he wrote in his [RANGE questionnaire.](https://www.rangemedia.co/6th-legislative-district-questionnaire-2026-election/) In her [questionnaire](https://www.rangemedia.co/6th-legislative-district-questionnaire-2026-election/), Payne wrote that she is “not a professional politician.” She said her experience in the workforce and living below the poverty line makes her more empathetic to the challenges of the working class. While Bingle did not respond to the questionnaire, many Spokane citizens know him as a former District 1 Spokane City Council Member. He lost his bid for [re-election](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-1-spokane-city-council-candidates/) last November to progressive Sarah Dixit. His website says he opposes all forms of income tax, including new taxes on capital gains income. He says on his website that, if elected, he will try to advance “zero-based budgeting”, a financial strategy that requires justification of every expense at the start of each new budget cycle, instead of adding a percentage to previous year's funding. Bingle would also push for strong performance audits. Croft, who initially filed to run for Congress before pivoting to the state House, said properly funding the [Washington Public Disclosure Commission](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co), the state agency that regulates political spending and lobbying, would be one of his priorities. The agency has been historically [underfunded](https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/Starved-Public-Disclosure-Commission-did-meaty-11042337.php?ref=rangemedia.co), with some complaints taking years to investigate due to lack of staff and updated technology. “I will push for increased funding and stronger investigative authority so disclosure requirements have real teeth,” Croft said on his website. Payne called for strengthening wildfire prevention and support resources for the region. “Wildfires do not respect district boundaries; making sure that the whole of our state is protected and on guard to avoid major wildfire incidents is the only way to protect all of us,” Payne wrote in her questionnaire. “Additionally, we need to make sure that our firefighters are equipped and trained and properly compensated at all times.” All three candidates have addressed [homelessness](https://my.spokanecity.org/endinghomelessness/about/faqs/?ref=rangemedia.co) in Spokane as a key issue. Bingle has supported replacing Housing First mandates with treatment-first models, meaning people would have to go through treatment before they have access to public housing, auditing statewide homelessness spending and results, supporting recovery-focused programs, “with accountability built in.” “I have been a long-time fan of the Spokane based charity [‘Family Promise,](https://www.familypromiseofspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)’ a non-profit focused on getting homeless families and kids into stable living conditions so they can start rebuilding their life,” Croft wrote in his questionnaire. “Our state government should be aiding these projects that have a direct benefit to our lives across the state.” Payne said multi-focus programs are “the only solution to homelessness.” “Some people need treatment-first approaches to their situation, some need housing first approaches,” Payne wrote. “The programs that have the best success rates come from a place of encouraging self advocacy.” Bingle’s endorsements include U.S. Rep. [Michael Baumgartner](https://baumgartner.house.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) (WA-5th Dist.), former U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, outgoing state Reps. Jenny Graham and [Mike Volz](https://mikevolz.houserepublicans.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co), and several Spokane County officials. Bingle’s campaign has raised [$126,312](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391257?ref=rangemedia.co) as of July 22\. Some of the contributors include [Puget Sound Energy](https://www.pse.com/en?ref=rangemedia.co), [A.I.S. Inc.](https://www.expresspros.com/us-washington-spokane?ref=rangemedia.co), [Washington Association of Realtors](https://www.expresspros.com/us-washington-spokane?ref=rangemedia.co), [Build East Pac](https://www.nwagc.org/political-action-committees/?ref=rangemedia.co), and [Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs](https://wacops.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Croft’s endorsements include Fuse WA’s Progressive Voter’s Guide, Spokane City Council Members Zack Zappone, Kate Telis and Paul Dillon, and state Sen. Marcus Riccelli. He has raised [$29,872](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391016?ref=rangemedia.co) for his campaign. Some of the top contributors are [Washington Machinists Council](https://www.iam751.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), West 117 LLC, and his own campaign fundraising. Some of Payne’s endorsements are [Washington's 6th Legislative District Democrats](https://wadems.org/local/district-6/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Spokane County Democrats](https://www.spokanedemocrats.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), and the Washington State Democrats Veterans and Military Families Caucus. Her campaign has raised [$1,134](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3392641?ref=rangemedia.co). Most of her contributions come from herself. *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Six candidates vie for open seat in the Sixth URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sixth-legislative-race-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T21:17:13.000Z As the Republican incumbent leaves to run for county office, six hopefuls have filed to take over his position in the 6th Legislative District of the state House of Representatives in the first open race for the seat since 2018. The district runs mostly rural, encompassing large areas west and north of Spokane, including places experiencing fast-moving development and water contamination. It also contains Airway Heights — home to the international airport and an Air Force base — and Medical Lake, home to a mental health hospital and the site of a devastating wildfire in the summer of 2023. [Mike Volz](https://mikevolz.houserepublicans.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co), the incumbent, cites high levels of homelessness, fentanyl use and a higher cost of living as the largest issues in the district. He says one of the best ways to fight these problems is to “improve the business climate,” which he argues will allow the government to relax taxes and drive job growth. He is leaving the seat this year to pursue a position as the Spokane County treasurer. Four Republicans, Sueann Davis, Jennifer Morton, Alan Nolan and Isaiah Paine, and two Democrats, Michaela Kelso and Nicolette Ocheltree, are fighting to make it through to the general election. If the seat flipped, it would be the first time a Democrat has held it since 2009.Broadly, Republicans aim to improve people’s living conditions through eliminating what they describe as onerous government restrictions on businesses and improving the rate of homeownership — mostly through making it cheaper to build — and halting new taxes. Paine promoted his ties to the real estate industry as evidence he is laser-focused on increasing homeownership. “I’ve been working the last five years on housing policy, really championing home ownership,” he told a crowd of voters recently gathered at [The Pursuit Church](https://www.rangemedia.co/persecution-inc/) in Browne’s Addition. “We talked about property rights, and really homeownership is a big part of that. It's a gateway to the middle class. All sorts of socioeconomic indicators go up with homeownership.” On his website, Paine says fees and regulations represent much of the cost of home-building and proposes to change that, rather than embracing more European-coded housing policies like building denser housing in urban centers. Nolan, the runner-up to Paine in raising campaign cash, has emphasized opposing a ballot initiative to renew a sales and use tax that supports public transit. “Who here is tired of taxes?” Nolan asked at the same Pursuit event. “This is an opportunity for us to get a small win. We go there and we start reforming government agencies, and this is how we do it by going out to our neighbors and telling them, ‘You need to know about this, and you need to vote against it.’” The Democrats instead have emphasized enshrining rights to housing and employment protections. Kelso, a German immigrant and US Army veteran, agreed with her Republican opponents that more housing needs to be built — but with a caveat.“We need to build the right way, and corporations will only do the right thing if they are forced to do it,” Kelso told the crowd at a recent nonpartisan race forum. “Clean water was only possible because of regulation, and it's going to be the same with housing.” Ocheltree, a Spokane city council staffer, highlighted her experience fighting for labor rights and government transparency while working at the city. “You should Google the [RANGE article](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-budget-meetings-inaccessible/) about me, where I had to take a day off to know what my government was doing because I was kicked out of an open public meeting as an employee,” Ocheltree told the same candidate forum. “So I went up, took the day off, came back downstairs as a private citizen, and watched what my government was doing. Another issue that has surfaced in the race is the Growth Management Act (GMA), the state law that regulates how local communities develop infrastructure in order to manage a growing population. *The Urbanist*, a publication that writes about how cities develop, [recently noted](https://www.theurbanist.org/the-good-the-bad-and-the-uga-ly-as-wa-growth-management-act-turns-35/?ref=rangemedia.co) that Washington used less land to absorb an increase of 2.2 million people than Colorado — which does not have a law like the GMA — did for its increase of 1.7 million people over the past quarter-century. Still, Morton said she’d repeal the GMA, and Nolan said he’d reform it. “You hear EPA,” said Morton, who sits on the Airway Heights City Council. “You hear SEPA, NEPA, you hear the GMA, all these terms, and I would say … remove some of the restrictive laws inhibiting building building and land restrictions that the state has passed.” If fundraising indicates which two candidates might face off after the August 4 primary, Paine has a [significant advantage](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3348294?ref=rangemedia.co#contributions). He’s brought in $31,156 in cash contributions, including large donations from the Washington Affordable Housing Council, Washington Association of Realtors Political Affairs Council and the Max J. Kuney Co., a prominent general contractor. Nolan is behind Paine, but far ahead of everyone else, having brought in $19,135.09 in cash contributions. Between them, the other four candidates raised $6,950, though Morton reported $3,598.05 in in-kind donations, which amount to the value of goods and services rather than cash. Some of Nolan’s large donors: an executive at the real estate firm Windemere, Nathan Parrenoud, a roofing contractor who [skirted](https://www.inlander.com/news/after-inlander-story-on-inspection-ignoring-roofing-contractor-city-adds-teeth-to-inspection-requirement/article%5F36d132e9-75bb-5496-bb1a-60d65e7c0b06.html?ref=rangemedia.co) city inspection rules on more than 1,000 projects, and Vitaliy Maksimov, an immigrant engineer [who was](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/oct/26/gun-rights-activist-bosworth-guilty-of-disobeying-/?ref=rangemedia.co) a vocal defender of Anthony Bosworth, who was convicted in 2015 of refusing to leave a courthouse after he was kicked out for carrying guns. *Yong-Yu Huang contributed reporting.* ### Majority of seats on WA Supreme Court are up for election this year URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-state-supreme-court-election-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T21:03:18.000Z Five of the nine seats on the Washington state Supreme Court are up for election this November. It’s a crucial time on the state’s highest court in the lead-up to a number of key legal disputes. Democrats have discussed protecting the court’s progressive majority, as Republicans also [discussed the importance of the justices](https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/state-politics/democrats-republicans-state-supreme-court-races-november-election/281-7dc56acf-648e-4272-b4ba-66ee96becb4b?ref=rangemedia.co) in deciding the outcome of highly consequential issues such as the state’s new tax on millionaires. Other crucial decisions involve criminal matters, constitutionality, civil rights, voting rights and worker rights. The court is also [in charge of adopting](https://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20Documents/Supreme%20Court%20Info%20Sheet.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) court rules and ensuring equal access to justice in addition to its other administrative responsibilities. Supreme Court justice Positions 1, 3, 5 and 7 will go [before voters](https://www.washingtonsupremecourt.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the Aug. 4 primary. Just two candidates are vying for Position 4, so that race is headed straight to the Nov. 3 general election. These positions are nonpartisan and the elected Justices will serve six-year terms. The Code of Judicial Conduct restricts what candidates can promise or commit to when it comes to specific issues. But endorsements and campaign contributions can help shed light on which way these candidates may lean. **Position 1 candidates** Colleen Melody was [appointed](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/washingtons-newest-supreme-court-justice-is-sworn-in/?ref=rangemedia.co) as the 100th Justice of the Washington Supreme Court on Jan. 1 by Gov. Bob Ferguson. Prior to her term, Melody worked for 11 years as [Chief of the Civil Rights Division ](https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate%5Ftrial%5Fcourts/supreme/bios/?fa=scbios.display%5Ffile&fileID=melody&ref=rangemedia.co)in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, where she helped spearhead challenges to the federal government’s Muslim travel ban, transgender military service ban and attempt to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Raised in Spokane, Melody worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Ronald M. Gould of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. “As a Supreme Court Justice, Colleen is already making an impact — working to ensure that courts are safe and accessible to all, and advocating for the use of technology to improve court access, particularly in Eastern Washington,” her website states. Some of her endorsements include Ferguson, Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, former Gov. Jay Inslee and Position 5 incumbent Justice Theodore J. Angelis. See a complete list of endorsements [here.](https://melodyforjustice.com/endorsements?ref=rangemedia.co) As of July 17, her campaign raised $209,522.90\. See a list of campaign contributions [here.](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391023?ref=rangemedia.co#contributions) Snohomish County Court Commissioner pro temand family law attorney [Laura Christensen Colberg](https://laura4position1.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) is a native of Wenatchee. She was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1996\. For the past decade she’s also been a court-appointed arbitrator. If elected, she says she would be the first Supreme Court justice since Justice Faith Ireland (1999-2005) who has any family law practice in her background. “Family Law is the area the average Washington citizen is most likely to brush up against the court system,” Colberg’s website reads. “It’s relatable, accessible, and for Justices who have not practiced it as an attorney, …these are perspectives I can bring that might not otherwise be part of the discussion.” She has raised [$39,849](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3393509?ref=rangemedia.co) for her campaign as of July 17\. Colberg has been recommended by the [Washington State Republican Party](https://wagop.org/wagop-renders-additional-recommendations-for-wa-state-supreme-court-races/?ref=rangemedia.co), but has no listed endorsements on her website. Longtime tax and constitutional law attorney Scott Edwards has worked with the Ballard Spahr law firm in Seattle for about 30 years, mostly focusing on state tax and constitutional law.He’s also been an adjunct professor at the University of Washington School of Law since 2002\. His campaign slogan is “Take politics out of the courtroom.” “An independent court protects constitutional rights, ensures equal justice, and serves as a final and balanced check within our system of government,” reads Edwards’ statement in the [voters’ guide.](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&c=99&%5Fgl=1%2Aynjsci%2A%5Fga%2AMTE5MzUzOTE1My4xNzc5ODM4OTU0%2A%5Fga%5F7B08VE04WV%2AczE3ODQzMjk3MzAkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODQzMjk3MzkkajUxJGwwJGgw%2A%5Fga%5FX6SDF160YQ%2AczE3ODQzMjk3MzAkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODQzMjk3MzkkajUxJGwwJGgw&ref=rangemedia.co#/) “The role of the Supreme Court is to apply the constitution and laws as written, not rewrite them.” Like Colberg, Edwards has also received the support of the Washington State Republican Party. He is endorsed by[ National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)](https://www.nfib.com/news/press-release/small-business-pac-announces-primary-election-endorsements/?ref=rangemedia.co) and Gil Brewer, Former Senior Assistant Director of Tax Policy, Washington State Department of Revenue. Edwards has raised [$62,534](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391385?ref=rangemedia.co). A few of his contributors include former state Sen. Dino Rossi and non-profit [Full Court Press](https://www.fullcourtpresswa.org/?ref=rangemedia.co#who-we-are)**,** a conservative advocacy group that works to recruit and train judicial candidates, of which Congressman Michael Baumgartner is a board member. **Position 3 candidates** Washington state Court of Appeals Judge [J. Michael Diaz](https://www.diazforjustice.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) immigrated from Peru to Seattle as an infant. Diaz spent a decade as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington where he founded the office’s civil rights program. Diaz served as a King County Superior Court Judge from January 2018 until his appointment to the Court of Appeals in 2022\. “Throughout his career, Judge Diaz has worked to expand access to justice — particularly for communities that have historically faced barriers — and continues to serve in leadership roles that promote fairness, accountability, and public trust,” Diaz’s website states. Some of Diaz’s endorsements include former Govs. Gary Locke, Christine Gregoire and Jay Inslee and Washington Supreme Court Justices Raquel Montoya-Lewis and Sheryl Gordon McCloud. See the full list of endorsements [here.](https://www.diazforjustice.com/endorsements?ref=rangemedia.co) Diaz has raised [$246,037](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391093?ref=rangemedia.co) for his campaign. His contributors include the [WA Federation of State Employees](https://wfse.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [WA Education Association PAC](https://www.washingtonea.org/advocacy/wea-pac/?ref=rangemedia.co). King County Superior Court Judge [Jaime Hawk](https://www.judgehawk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)’s legal career started with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. Currently a Federal Way resident, she worked in trial litigation as a juvenile public defender in Grant County, and in Spokane as a federal public defender for Eastern Washington and Idaho. She also worked at the ACLU of Washington as Legal Strategy Director for its Smart Justice campaign in 2015 and clerked in Yakima for a federal judge before being appointed to superior court by Inslee. “Judge Hawk believes individual rights and equal protection are not abstract concepts,” her website states. “They are what courts exist to defend. … Washington needs a justice who has spent her career protecting them.” Hawk was chosen by the American Bar Association to observe military commission proceedings at Guantánamo Bay and later assist families separated at the Texas border under Trump-era federal immigration policies. Endorsements include Gov. Ferguson, Justice Helen Whitener and Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown. See the full list of endorsements [here.](https://www.judgehawk.com/endorsements?ref=rangemedia.co) Her campaign has raised [$191,917](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391607?ref=rangemedia.co) Some donors include [SEIU 775 Quality Care Committee](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=SEIU+775+Quality+Care+Committee&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&ref=rangemedia.co) and Thorp Law Group, PS of Spokane. [Judge David Stevens](https://www.judgestevensforwa.com/about-1?ref=rangemedia.co) has worked in trial, federal and international courts for about 25 years. A U.S. Navy veteran, Stevens served as a Spokane County deputy prosecutor working property and fraud cases as the office’s repeat-offender prosecutor from 2001-2010\. In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully for Spokane County prosecutor, but was elected to the Mason County Superior Court in November 2023\. Stevens also worked as a European Union prosecutor in Kosovo, a U.S. State Department justice adviser in Afghanistan and was a public defense director for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Stevens said judgments focused on the outcomes put justices in a role the constitution does not allow for. “My philosophy is you follow the state constitution, and you don’t take into consideration the practical consequences,” Stevens said in an interview on [Seattle Red 770 AM.](https://seattlered.com/politics/dave-stevens-wa-supreme-court-position-3-primary/4119438?ref=rangemedia.co) Stevens has been recommended by the Washington State Republican Party, but he has no endorsements listed on his page. His campaign funds totaled [$31,926](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391236?ref=rangemedia.co) as of July 17\. Contributors include the [Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs.](https://wacops.org/government-relations/?ref=rangemedia.co) **Position 5 candidates** Gov. Ferguson appointed Theo Angelis in March to replace retiring state Supreme Court Justice Barbara Madsen. With more than [25 years of legal experience](https://justiceangelis.com/about/?ref=rangemedia.co), Angelis said he has worked to support vulnerable communities including by representing asylum seekers and children. “I sued the federal government when they forced children — as young as 4 years old — to appear without lawyers in immigration court. The federal government eventually agreed to pay for lawyers, and the ACLU gave me the Humanitarian Award,” he said in a [statement.](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/186441/1593479) Before his appointment, Angelis[ litigated appellate](https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate%5Ftrial%5Fcourts/supreme/bios/?fa=scbios.display%5Ffile&fileID=angelis&ref=rangemedia.co) and intellectual property cases at the K&L Gates Seattle office. He also served as co-chair of the Law Enforcement Committee of the state Attorney General's Youth Internet Safety Task Force that helped make it easier to prosecute online crimes against children in Washington. He has secured several endorsements, including from Ferguson, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, the Washington State Labor Council, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates and the Spokane County Democrats. As of July 17, his campaign [had raised $309,191.](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391361?ref=rangemedia.co) Sharonda Amamilo, a U.S. Army veteran, was elected to the Thurston County Superior Court in 2020 and has since presided over both criminal and civil cases. She said she has also worked as a public defender and in a private practice [on behalf of workers](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/186441/1593539), small businesses, families and children in foster care. “Throughout my career, I have worked closely with families and individuals facing some of life’s most difficult challenges. Those experiences taught me that court decisions can change the course of a person’s life and shaped my commitment to applying the law thoughtfully, carefully, and fairly,” she wrote in [a statement.](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/186441/1593539) She has also served on the Washington Court of Appeals as a [judge pro tempore](https://www.sharondaforjustice.org/?ref=rangemedia.co#MEETSHARONDA). Before being elected to court, she spent 12 years as a public defense attorney in Thurston County. On her campaign site, she listed two priorities: bolstering access across Washington’s courts and protecting children and families in the foster care system. Her endorsements include the Spokane Regional Labor Council, the Washington State Labor Council, the Washington Education Association PAC, the National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington and FairVote Washington. Her campaign[ had raised $54,322](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391132?ref=rangemedia.co#overview) as of July 17. Attorney Greg Miller has 40 years of experience practicing law and arguing appeals in Washington’s courts including the Supreme Court. He said he has also [helped improve healthcare access](https://millerforjustice.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) in Washington jails through satellite healthcare systems. “Appeals safeguard the fundamental fairness of our courts. They are usually the only way to correct a court’s error,” he wrote [in a statement.](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/186441/1599186) “I’ve helped courts get decisions right for clients of all backgrounds. … I’ve won unpaid wages, defended protection orders, and ensured fairness in family disputes, health care, business deals, and trial procedures.” His experience, according to his website, includes having worked as a clerk for the Washington Court of Appeals, as staff counsel for the Washington Health Committee during the 1990 legislative session, and as a Seattle Municipal Court judge pro tempore. He describes himself as an independent candidate and has no listed endorsements. Miller’s campaign [had raised $24,490](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3394415?ref=rangemedia.co#overview) as of July 17\. Dave Larson has 41 years of legal experience as a trial lawyer, and as presiding judge of Federal Way Municipal Court. Larson wrote on [his website](https://larsonforjustice.com/why-dave/?ref=rangemedia.co) he is running with a goal to “restore the standard that comes from a justice with no ideological score to settle — only a commitment to constitutional principles applied consistently.” Larson has appeared on The Jason Rantz Show, a conservative talk show, where he expressed concerns over a proposal that would make it difficult to issue an arrest warrant for someone who does not appear in court and his philosophy of focusing attention to help people escape a cycle of crime or conflict. “I run a repair shop, not a junkyard,” Larson said on the show. “The idea is to make sure people’s lives are better when they leave and so you don’t make courts this ominous thing that you’re afraid to come to, or you don’t want to come to. You make it something that, hey, I did, I made a mistake, and I have an opportunity to fix it.” He’s been recommended by the Washington State Republican Party and endorsed by the Washington Farm Bureau PAC and the Small Business PAC. As of July 17, his campaign [had raised $268,091.](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3391234?ref=rangemedia.co) Former Washington Senator Mike Padden is among his contributors. **Position 7 candidates** Justice Debra Stephens, who was born in Spokane, has served in the state’s Supreme Court since 2008\. Her [2026 re-election campaign](https://justicestephens.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) highlights her efforts to advocate for access to justice, commitment to fairness and an independent judiciary. “In an era of growing attempts to politicize the judiciary, I work every day to maintain the integrity and independence of our courts and safeguard access to justice for every person,” she said [in a statement](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/171290/1594054). “I have a proven record of expanding access to justice, improving efficiency and transparency, addressing the evolving challenges facing our legal system, and protecting individual rights.” She previously practiced law in Spokane, [starting out as a law clerk](https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate%5Ftrial%5Fcourts/coa50/index.cfm?fa=home.COADebraStephens&ref=rangemedia.co) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. She also worked as an appellate attorney, a Gonzaga University constitutional law professor and school board director, according to her website. Stephen’s endorsements include the Washington State Labor Council, the Spokane Regional Labor Council, the Spokane County Democrats, the Washington Education Association PAC and the National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington. As of July 17, her campaign [had raised $109,401.](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/93052?ref=rangemedia.co#overview) Todd Bloom, who served in the Navy from 2002 to 2013, has over two decades of experience in [providing legal services ](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/171290/1600089)to companies and families in Washington. He also worked as an arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for about two decades. “This year's election is a choice — whether to retain the current justices or to give someone new your vote. I believe I represent meaningful new perspective, experience, and common sense which will bring balance to the court,” he wrote [in a statement.](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/171290/1600089) Bloom is recommended by the Washington State Republican Party. As of July 17, his campaign [had raised $5,553\. ](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3395177?ref=rangemedia.co#overview) Attorney Karim Merchant spent 15 years as a public defender in King County before opening his own legal practice in 2023, K. Merchant Law. In a statement, Merchant noted that he has [never represented corporations](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/171290/1600202) or the government. He was born in Ohio to an immigrant working class family and was raised in Washington after they moved in 1987 according to his website. “I have represented working families, small business owners, veterans, parents, and individuals facing the full weight of government power. Those experiences have reinforced a simple truth: constitutional rights matter most when they are tested,” Merchant [wrote on his website.](https://karim4wa.com/karims-vision?ref=rangemedia.co) Merchant has no listed endorsements. As of July 17, his campaign [had raised $17,198](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3395477?ref=rangemedia.co#overview). David Shelvey, a U.S. Army veteran, owns his own [law practice](http://www.rockcraft.org/practice-areas-1.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in Sumner where he works as an attorney. He has 11 years of experience with civil litigation, family law, personal injury and other legal areas, according to his campaign website. [In a statement,](https://voter.votewa.gov/genericvoterguide.aspx?e=898&ref=rangemedia.co#/candidates/171290/1600523) Shelvey expressed his opposition to having a state income tax and being “soft” on crime. He also highlighted his intention to look for economic ways to address heavy caseloads burdening prosecutors and public defenders. “I’m not promising a tariff stimulus rebate check (I’ll watch for a meteorite to hit Mt. Rainier first), but I will promise to stand with American small business and workers,” he [wrote.](https://davidshelvey.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) Shelvey has no listed endorsements. Unlike the rest of the candidates, he opted to be exempt from filing contribution and expenditure reports to the [Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3377725?ref=rangemedia.co#overview) This option is available to candidates that agree to raise, spend and receive money under certain thresholds. 🔗 For more on these races, read up on candidates' answers to our questionnaires [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-supreme-court-candidates-questionnaire-election-2026/). ### After 23 years, four candidates vie to replace Ormsby as state rep URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-third-legislative-election-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-23T07:10:29.000Z Four candidates have stepped forward to compete for the state legislative district representing the heart of the City of Spokane after longtime state Rep. Timm Ormsby recently announced his retirement, leaving his House seat open for the first time in more than two decades. Vying to succeed him are paratransit driver Donovan DeLeon, Haitian community leader Luc Jasmin III, physician Pam Kohlmeier — all Democrats — and special education teacher Natalie Poulson, the sole Republican candidate. Ormsby, who has held the position since 2003, announced in April that he would not be running for re-election to the state’s 3rd Legislative District seat. Ormsby told RANGE that his replacement will face numerous challenges on cost of living disparities, housing affordability and healthcare accessibility, as well as state-level conflicts with the Trump administration. “Federal overreach is a real big concern of mine,” he said. “I hear it regularly from constituents — whether it’s on immigration, voting rules and mail-in ballots on the voting side, as well as reductions in food assistance.” **The everyday math** All four candidates have highlighted the cost of living and housing as a central concern. Data from the 2024-25 American Community Survey shows the legislative district has an annual median household income of $71,749 — three-quarters of the state average — and nearly 35% of households made less than $50,000\. Poulson, who previously challenged Ormsby in 2022 and lost by nearly 20%, said she wants to roll back state mandates that she argues drive up housing costs. For example, she referenced natural gas restrictions in new construction as one offender. “They want to make sure there’s no natural gas in new builds, and that immediately drives up cost — I’ve talked to multiple contractors — by at least $10,000, if not more, just on the initial build,” Poulson said. Jasmin has spent four years as the governor's representative in Eastern Washington after running for Spokane City Council in 2021 and falling short by two votes. He said he backs higher taxes for the wealthy, continuing property tax relief for seniors and expanded down-payment assistance, pointing to the climbing average age of first-time homebuyers — 40, as of 2020, per the National Association of Realtors. “The biggest thing is wages haven’t kept up with expenses, and to me, that’s a no-brainer,” Jasmin said. “When we’re funding education and pathways to skilled jobs — whether that’s skilled labor or that’s another specialty field — that safeguards people more.” Kohlmeier described housing as integral to what she terms “the social determinants of health,” which also includes education and air quality. She said she wants affordable housing addressed “at all price points,” such as transitional options like tiny homes. “Making sure people have access to housing and food and healthcare helps decrease long-term costs because right now, when people don't have appropriate housing, then they end up more likely to be in our jails,” Kohlmeier said. “And jails are very expensive.” DeLeon — who said his job has taken him to “every nook and cranny” in Spokane, giving him a street-level view of problems — framed the city as a “border town” that struggles to compete against Idaho prices while under the thumb of western Washington policies. He said tax exemptions would improve the region’s affordability. “There’s a lot of businesses that are in Spokane that complain that they’re having a hard time,” he said, “And legitimately so, because they’re competing with a different tax structure and economy just across the state line.” **Healthcare at risk** Ormsby noted his replacement would also have to tackle the state of Apple Health, following the federal [passage of H.R. 1 in July 2025](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/09/why-washington-faces-huge-fallout-from-the-medicaid-cuts-in-trumps-megabill/?ref=rangemedia.co) — which could threaten Washington residents’ eligibility for Medicaid benefits. Kohlmeier, who unsuccessfully ran against a longtime incumbent for a 9th Legislative District seat in 2024, said she would leverage her 15-year medical career as well as her law degree to seek realistic solutions. She also backs moving toward a universal, state-run health insurance program. “Healthcare funding and access is very complex,” she said. “There are few people that understand the complexity of it, and we have not had a physician in our state legislature since 2013.” As a mother who has lost a child to suicide, Kohlmeier said she’s especially focused on mental health resources. Kohlmeier said she serves on the boards of three behavioral health organizations and now leads suicide prevention trainings across Spokane. Jasmin also voiced support for more behavioral health funding, noting that this ties into the lack of funding for K-12 education. “A lot of our families — especially our students — they’re coming to us from all different walks of life, and we need to be able to meet them where they’re at,” he said. “Behavioral health support is one of those ways, because you’re not only helping that kid, but you're helping out everybody else in that classroom, right?” DeLeon argued that housing and healthcare are more connected than people realize. When these issues leave someone unhoused, he said it can end up costing taxpayers $30,000 to $50,000 through emergency room visits, since crises that go untreated for lack of shelter eventually become ER cases. “If there's some guy on the street throwing up, sleeping in his vomit, there's somebody doing drugs, there's crime on the street, I’ve got to walk past it. I’ve got to be there,” DeLeon said. Poulson emphasized the importance of recovery services to break the cycle of addiction. She criticized how homelessness and addiction and mental health crises tend to be grouped together, advocating for a treatment-first approach to addiction instead of housing-first solutions. “We’ve got to also start talking about prevention,” Poulson said, “and that really comes down to schools and education.” Poulson was put on administrative leave from Spokane Public Schools and later terminated after she was escorted from Finch Elementary for refusing to comply with the mask mandate in Nov 2021\. She has since worked at private Christian schools. She said she believes in a return to “limited government and local control.” “I stood against the mask mandate for our children when nobody else would, and I lost my career,” Poulson said at a candidate event at The Pursuit Church on July 10. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/unnamed-6.jpg) LD-3 candidates Luc Jasmin III, Pam Kohlmeier and Natalie Poulson sit on a panel at the Spokane People’s Calendar forum on July 12\. Photo by Yong-Yu Huang **Where the race stands** Former state Sen. Andy Billig, who represented the district for over a decade, said the region’s top priority is electing someone who can “deliver results on Day One.” “As a district and as a region, our legislative delegation has lost a lot of seniority, through retirements on both the Democratic and the Republican side,” Billig said. As the primary approaches, Ormsby has declined to endorse a successor, but Billig endorsed Jasmin’s campaign — along with Ferguson and the district’s other current state representative Natasha Hill. U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner has endorsed Poulson, who is also backed by Spokane County Commissioner Al French and state Rep. Suzanne Schmidt (LD-4). Kohlmeier has racked up support from Spokane County Democrats — a shared endorsement with Jasmin — and former Spokane City Council President Joe Shogan. DeLeon has also been endorsed by Spokane County Democrats. As of July 15, Jasmin led candidates with over $68,000 in campaign contributions. Poulson has pledged to raise less than $7,000 for the primary and has thus reported no contributions. Primary voting begins Aug. 4, with the top two finishers advancing to the general election on Nov. 3. 🔗 For more on this race, read up on candidates' answers to our questionnaires [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/12-questions-3rd-ld-elections-2026/) ### Auditing the Auditor Race URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-auditor-race-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T23:54:06.000Z ### What’s a county auditor anyway? Kids these days may not believe it, but county auditor races used to be *boring*. The auditor’s role was largely bureaucratic. The auditor double-checked county finances. The auditor issued licenses for cars, boats and marriages. The auditor oversaw elections. And *there’s* the rub. The oversight of elections has itself become a more partisan issue ever since Trump began crying “voter fraud” in 2020\. GOP opposition to mail-in voting has intensified, and conspiracy theories abound. And suddenly, the “Democrat” next to longtime auditor Vicky Dalton’s name had become a liability. Dalton has been regularly elected to her auditor role for 28 years, but last time, in 2022, she won by less than half a percentage point. With Dalton retiring, it opens the field for a dramatic shakeup. ### Who’s running? To start with, there’s Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart, currently the sole conservative on a left-leaning council. He’s long been involved in politics, having served as head of the conservative Better Spokane PAC and director of government affairs for the Spokane Home Builders Association. Next, we have Callie Gee, a WSU accounting graduate working at a firm specializing in tax preparation — the sole Democrat in the race. She also once created the private label for her family’s coffee business. Finally, there’s Dale Whitaker, a local accountant and Republican who ran for Secretary of State in 2024\. While he was crushed in the statewide contest, he carried Spokane County. Whitaker is also the author of *The Gold Grift: Secrets of the American Gold IRA Scam*, a critique of the shady world of gold investment. ### What’s their pitch for your vote? Cathcart showcases his record on the city council where he managed to attract bipartisan support for measures to improve governmental transparency, restrict gerrymandering, and push back against unsustainable spending. "I think it's a no-brainer: I want to run the office in a way that advances transparency, that advances credibility, that builds confidence across the electorate, and that serves every single person,” he tells RANGE. “I don't want to use it as a partisan battering ram.” Whitaker has focused on his qualifications: he touts his experience as an IRS enrolled agent and his 18 years as an accountant. He also points to his decision to blow the whistle on his former employer, Augusta Precious Metals, a gold company he accused of fraud. “I chose transparency over a paycheck, and I’d do it again,” he said on his website. “No questions asked.” He also appeared on Tucker Carlson Network’s documentary, “The Great Gold Scam” to discuss it. At a time when elections are under intense criticism, Gee said she will be able to oppose inappropriate political interference. “It’s really important that we have someone with backbone in there that's going to stand up to the GOP if they try to come for Spokane County,” Gee said. She also said that she believed she was the “only person with the accounting experience and the character that we need in a leader.” ### What’s the critique against them? Cathcart has gotten hit with a slew of negative ads, including a website from the mayor of Yakima, attempting to argue that he’s not truly conservative, pointing to, among other things, his willingness to accept endorsements from Democrats and to wear a mask in City Hall when it was legally mandated. The more potent attacks were on his qualifications: For all Cathcart’s experience scrutinizing city budgets, he doesn’t have an accounting background. The biggest controversy around Whitaker centers on what he left out of his GOP vetting questionnaires: his 2015 strangulation of his girlfriend, including an admission to police that he yelled at his girlfriend’s son to "get your mom before I fucking hit her.” Whitaker’s allies say that he deeply regrets what he did, and has become a better person in the decade since. In a statement to the *Spokesman-Review,* he accused Cathcart of deciding to “drag my wife into this race” and focusing “on things that have been behind my family for well over a decade.” Cathcart also said Whitaker offered not to run if Cathcart [promised him a job](https://www.rangemedia.co/cathcart-whitaker-auditor-race-behind-the-scenes/) in the auditor’s office, a deal that both Cathcart and Gee say would have been unethical to take. Whitaker disputes this account. For now, Gee has been spared fire as the battle rages between Cathcart and Whitaker. But Gee is by far the youngest in the field, just two years out of college. And it’s generally hard for a Democrat with little name recognition to win in the general election in a conservative county. ### Who’s endorsing them? State Rep. Mike Volz, who is running uncontested for county treasurer, has endorsed Whitaker. “I want a Republican in there, and I want the most qualified Republican in there,” Volz said. “If I take the names off of the resumes, Dale Whitaker has the stronger resume.” Volz is joined by Rep. Rob Chase and Spokane Valley Council Member Al Merkel. Whitaker also has a slew of endorsements from some right-wing folks on the west side: Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank, Rep. Jim Walsh and Rep. Matt Marshall, founder of the Washington Three Percenters, a Patriot movement organization that Marshall insisted was “[not a paramilitary](https://www.npr.org/2020/02/14/805949683/-not-a-paramilitary-inside-a-washington-militias-efforts-to-go-mainstream?ref=rangemedia.co).” Cathcart has much of the Republican establishment behind him, including U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, several Republican legislators, the Republican county commissioners, the county clerk, the county assessor, the sheriff and outgoing auditor Dalton. Dalton argues that, today, it's more important whether the person can manage a large office rather than handling accounting directly. “It's really going to be more managerial than somebody who can do the tasks of service that the staff do,” Dalton said. Gee has the support of the Young Democrats of Washington, and several local Democrats, including Commissioner Amber Waldref, City Council Member Paul Dillon, and Rep. Marcus Riccelli. She’s also supported by independent prosecutor candidate Danny Tarkenton. ### Who’s giving them money? Dale Whitaker has raised over $60,000, though nearly two-thirds of that comes from one generous contributor: Dale Whitaker. Some of his other big donors include Michael Blevins, a political consultant from Maryland, video game marketing artist Vincent Auriemmo, and Ben Platt (the Spokane divorce attorney, not the Ben Platt who played the titular Broadway role in *Dear Evan Hansen*.) Cathcart’s raised a little over $25,000, with big contributions from the Spokane Association of Realtors, Avista and Commissioner Mary Brooks. Gee is close behind Cathcart, with $20,000\. The Washington State Democratic Central Committee gave her a big bump, while other donors included 3rd Legislative District candidate Pam Kohlmeier and cardiologist Stephen Thew. 🔗 For more on this race, read up on candidates' answers to our questionnaires [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-auditor-questionnaire-election-2026/), and on behind-the-scenes drama [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/cathcart-whitaker-auditor-race-behind-the-scenes/). *Editor's Note:* The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Dale Whitaker was a certified public accountant. ### 20 Questions with WA Congressional District 5 Candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-wa-5th-congressional-district-2026-elections/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T00:34:38.000Z Washington’s Fifth Congressional District stretches across the eastern edge of the state, spanning more than 15,000 square miles and encompassing 10 of the most rural counties in the state. Twelve candidates, including incumbent Congressman Michael Baumgartner, are currently running to represent the roughly 800,000 who call the district home. We asked all twelve candidates to give us brief, clear answers to 20 questions about some of the key issues for voters this year, like: should individual ICE agents be held accountable for their actions? Should the US continue funding the Israeli military? What regulations should be placed on AI usage and data center citing at the federal level? All that and more in the handy chart below, and if this isn’t enough to help you make your choice, don’t worry — we’ll be posting stories on the race, linking to candidate forums and sharing coverage by other outlets that you can use to become the most informed voter in Spokane. Nine of the twelve candidates responded to our questionnaire, and their answers are included verbatim below. Note: for some questions, candidates were asked to choose solely yes, no or other. Select a topic below to see their questions and answers. What is one policy you would introduce or support to address the cost of living for working-class Americans? What do you plan to do to help constituents on SNAP, Medicare or Medicaid? What’s your stance on the Dignity Act, which would provide some workers legal residency, including Washington’s undocumented farmworkers? Should members of Congress be prohibited from trading stocks? Please explain your answer on why Congress should or should not be banned from trading stocks. Do you take corporate PAC dollars? What, if any, reforms would you like to see imposed on political donations? Do you support expanding the Supreme Court? Are there other reforms you would like to see implemented regarding the court? What regulations should be placed on AI usage and data center citing at the federal level? Should Congress take any additional steps to protect the First Amendment rights of protesters or press? What should accountability look like for ICE? What should the federal government’s role be, if any, in regulating trans peoples’ public lives and medical decisions? Name one policy you plan to introduce or implement that would better the lives specifically of rural constituents. Do you believe Eastern WA has gotten shut out of funding opportunities by Trump policies? If Eastern WA has been shut out of funding, how would you fight for the region? Do you have concerns about surveillance tech? If so, how would you address them? Is there a genocide happening in Gaza? Do you support continuing to fund the Israeli military? Why are you the best person to take on the current challenges facing this district? ### 10 questions with two candidates for Washington’s Sixth Legislative District URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/6th-legislative-district-questionnaire-2026-election/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T00:34:25.000Z Voters in the Sixth Legislative District will have the chance to elect an entirely new pair of representatives after both respective incumbents — Mike Volz and Jenny Graham — decided not to run for reelection. Three candidates are vying to fill the open seat representing the rural region: Republican Jonathan Bingle, who was endorsed by the outgoing Graham, Democrat Julia Payne and Independent Aaron Croft. We invited all three candidates to respond to our questionnaire. Payne responded to every question, Croft responded to most and Bingle to none. You can find their answers linked below, and if this isn’t enough to help you make your decision, there’s more to come: we’ll be posting stories on the race, linking to candidate forums and sharing coverage by other outlets that you can use to become the most informed voter in Spokane. Select a topic to see the question and their answer. Qualifications Agricultural support Public safety Mental health provider support Affordable childcare. Wildfire prevention Housing costs Homelessness Legislative committee goals Continued advocacy ### 10 questions with candidates for four of the Washington State Supreme Court seats URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-supreme-court-candidates-questionnaire-election-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T00:33:42.000Z If you know details about the Washington State Supreme Court races, you probably aced your high school civics class. These nonpartisan races are some of the more obscure challenges on your ballot this August, but with a majority of the seats on the nine-person court up for election, it’s actually a crucial time to pay attention. While there are five seats up for election, one is an uncontested primary, which means both candidates will advance to the November ballot. We asked candidates running for the four contested seats a series of questions to help you decide who to vote for. None of the candidates running for position 7 responded to the questionnaire we sent out or subsequent emails. You can find answers from the candidates who did answer linked below, and if this isn’t enough to help you make your decision, there’s more to come: we’ll be posting stories on the race, linking to candidate forums and sharing coverage by other outlets that you can use to become the most informed voter in Spokane. Select a topic to see the question and their answer. What are some important responsibilities of this court that some people may not be aware of? How would you describe your judicial temperament? What do you see as the Washington State Supreme Court's role amid wavering trust in the federal Supreme Court? How would you ensure fairness from the bench for people of all backgrounds? How do you plan to maintain impartiality and independence from donors and the executive branch? Are there specific judicial reforms that you support? The Code of Judicial Conduct restricts what candidates can promise or commit to regarding specific issues. What are some changes you think our state justice system needs? How will you approach constitutional challenges to state statutes that regulate police conduct and use of force like HB 5974 or facial coverings like SB 5855? What key issues or concerns would you expect to determine the constitutionality of Washington’s new millionaire’s tax? How would you describe your philosophy on government transparency and balancing access to public records? What are some important responsibilities of this court that some people may not be aware of? How would you describe your judicial temperament? What do you see as the Washington State Supreme Court's role amid wavering trust in the federal Supreme Court? How would you ensure fairness from the bench for people of all backgrounds? How do you plan to maintain impartiality and independence from donors and the executive branch? Are there specific judicial reforms that you support? The Code of Judicial Conduct restricts what candidates can promise or commit to regarding specific issues. What are some changes you think our state justice system needs? How will you approach constitutional challenges to state statutes that regulate police conduct and use of force like HB 5974 or facial coverings like SB 5855? What key issues or concerns would you expect to determine the constitutionality of Washington’s new millionaire’s tax? How would you describe your philosophy on government transparency and balancing access to public records? What are some important responsibilities of this court that some people may not be aware of? How would you describe your judicial temperament? What do you see as the Washington State Supreme Court's role amid wavering trust in the federal Supreme Court? How would you ensure fairness from the bench for people of all backgrounds? How do you plan to maintain impartiality and independence from donors and the executive branch? Are there specific judicial reforms that you support? The Code of Judicial Conduct restricts what candidates can promise or commit to regarding specific issues. What are some changes you think our state justice system needs? How will you approach constitutional challenges to state statutes that regulate police conduct and use of force like HB 5974 or facial coverings like SB 5855? What key issues or concerns would you expect to determine the constitutionality of Washington’s new millionaire’s tax? How would you describe your philosophy on government transparency and balancing access to public records? What are some important responsibilities of this court that some people may not be aware of? How would you describe your judicial temperament? What do you see as the Washington State Supreme Court's role amid wavering trust in the federal Supreme Court? How would you ensure fairness from the bench for people of all backgrounds? How do you plan to maintain impartiality and independence from donors and the executive branch? Are there specific judicial reforms that you support? The Code of Judicial Conduct restricts what candidates can promise or commit to regarding specific issues. What are some changes you think our state justice system needs? How will you approach constitutional challenges to state statutes that regulate police conduct and use of force like HB 5974 or facial coverings like SB 5855? What key issues or concerns would you expect to determine the constitutionality of Washington’s new millionaire’s tax? How would you describe your philosophy on government transparency and balancing access to public records? ### Ten Questions With (Two Out Of) The Three County Auditor Candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-auditor-questionnaire-election-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T19:47:19.000Z The Spokane County Auditor race is not a particularly glitzy position: It’s a basic county services position that includes handling vehicle and marriage licenses, safeguarding county finances, and overseeing elections. We emailed all three candidates and asked them to give us 200-word-max answers to 10 of our most pressing questions, like, was the 2020 election stolen? What should we do to stop our ballot boxes from getting firebombed? And how do we improve voter turnout? Two of the three candidates gave us their answers. Setting the specific questions aside, this was a test of work ethic: which candidates would take time out of their incredibly busy campaign schedule to answer a long list of community questions? And who, given the opportunity to outline some of their policy views, would take it? Finally, given a 200-word limit, who would, like certain unnamed journalists in this town, blow past that restriction and write way too much? Select a topic to see the question and their answer. Partisan auditor races Stopping ballot firebombings Voter system redesign Stolen elections Local election legitimacy Signature verification alternatives Auditor’s office staffing changes Election security improvements Administration improvements Voter access and turnout ### 10 questions with candidates for Washington’s Sixth Legislative District URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/10-questions-6th-ld-elections-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T00:32:42.000Z One of the more crowded elections in our region is the race for the first legislator position in Washington’s Sixth Legislative District, left vacant by incumbent Mike Volz who is running unopposed for the Spokane County treasurer position. The district is a rural region, encompassing the large areas west and north of Spokane city proper, but is also home to smaller cities experiencing fast-moving development and water contamination. It’s a fairly safe Republican district, but with four Republican candidates and two Democrats splitting votes, primary results are anybody’s guess. We invited all six candidates to respond to our questionnaire — only one did. Republican candidate Alan Nolan’s responses can be found in the chart below. If this isn’t enough to help you make your decision, there’s more to come: we’ll be posting stories on the race, linking to candidate forums and sharing coverage by other outlets that you can use to become the most informed voter in Spokane. Select a topic to see their questions and answers. Why run? Top goal Inflation and public assistance Growth management Housing crisis Rural hospitals Forever chemicals Public disclosure and legislative privilege Religion and government Beer of choice ### 12 questions with candidates for Washington’s Third Legislative District URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/12-questions-3rd-ld-elections-2026/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T00:32:52.000Z With Rep. Timm Ormsby retiring after over two decades representing Washington’s Third Legislative District in the state legislature, four candidates are competing to fill the wide open seat — three Democrats and one Republican. The district, which encompasses most of the city of Spokane, leans liberal, consistently sending Democrats to Olympia. The top two vote-getters from the August primary will move forward to face each other in November. We asked all four of them to give us concise answers to 12 questions about some of the biggest issues facing voters, like: what specific policies will they fight for to address housing costs? What state-level AI regulations do they support? What is their stance on the state’s current laws protecting gender-affirming care? All four candidates responded to those questions and more. Their answers have been included verbatim in the interactive chart below. If this isn’t enough to help you make your decision, there’s more to come: we’ll be posting stories on the race, linking to candidate forums and sharing coverage by other outlets that you can use to become the most informed voter in Spokane. Select a topic to see their questions and answers. Single biggest issue Tax policy Medicaid Federal actions and state reactions Housing and cost of living Universal Basic Exemption tax structure AI regulation Gender-affirming care Abortion rights Drug use Public disclosure and legislative privilege ### Michael vs. The Machine URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/cathcart-whitaker-auditor-race-behind-the-scenes/ Last updated: 2026-07-21T00:19:14.000Z Republican Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart and Republican accountant Dale Whitaker are currently locked in a bitter battle over who gets to be County Auditor. It’s not a particularly sexy job: It’s about conducting local elections, issuing vehicle and marriage licenses, and scrutinizing county finances. But a year ago, during a summer drink at the Garland Drinkery, Cathcart said Whitaker presented him with a proposition: Promise to hire him as deputy auditor if Cathcart won the auditor election. It’s a nice job: the chief deputy auditor’s salary starts at $93,000 and can eventually hit as high as $130,000\. It’s the sole decision of the elected auditor to decide who gets that job. According to Cathcart, Whitaker outlined a deal. “He offered that he would not run against me if I were to hire him,” Cathcart said. “I told him my ethics would not allow that to take place.” He said he did not want one of the most important early decisions he would make in leading “a trust-based office” to be “a political decision.” Cathcart said that Whitaker followed up a few weeks later, in a conversation with another proposal: promise him the county elections director position. Cathcart said he refused that one too. “I had others encouraging me to just do it to get over the politics of it,” Cathcart said. “I have zero interest in compromising my ethics and my values to win a political race. … If I lose this primary to him, at least I am losing it with my ethics intact.” Whitaker declined RANGE’s interview request, writing in a text message he was so focused on meeting voters he wouldn’t have “time to sit down for a conversation.” “Michael offered me a job last year if I stayed out of the race,” he wrote in a text message, saying that he decided to run anyway because “Michael isn’t qualified for the position.” “He is absolutely lying,” Cathcart said. It’s just one taste of the behind-the-scenes tension that has turned a race for a position that rarely makes headlines into one of the ugliest primaries in the county. Cathcart has said he doesn’t want to make the race about his opponent, preferring to focus on his own platform of fiscal discipline and governmental transparency. But as the animosity between the two Republican candidates has deepened, the drama behind the curtain has spilled out into center stage. The Spokane County GOP has charged into the fray on Whitaker’s side — discouraging discussion of Whitaker’s vacated criminal past, challenging Cathcart to prove his bona fides, and even considering new rules to prevent endorsing him. **Spoils sport** Only two people — Cathcart and Whitaker — know exactly what went down at the Garland Drinkery last summer, and their stories contradict. Republican Rep. Mike Volz, who considers Whitaker the more qualified auditor candidate, said he knew Whitaker had wanted to be hired by Cathcart. “Dale reached out to me and said he was interested, and then that kind of went away,” Volz said. "I suggested to Cathcart to talk to Dale and if you guys could work together and run one candidate instead of two, we could avoid some of these problems.” Cathcart said he felt Volz was nudging him to hire Whitaker. “I’m not going to just blindly hire somebody who I don't know anything about and who may not have the necessary skills or character, frankly, to fill that role,” Cathcart said. But Volz said he wasn’t trying to push Cathcart to make that kind of explicit deal. "I've never encouraged anybody to do that, whether it's legal or not," Volz said. "I think that's poor form. I've never done it. Would never advocate for it." County Commissioner Josh Kerns said he spoke with both Cathcart and Whitaker about their conversation before Whitaker had filed for auditor. Kerns said Whitaker told him that Cathcart had initially agreed to hire him, but that, during a second meeting, Cathcart made it clear that he couldn’t promise anything. Kerns portrayed Whitaker as irritated. "Dale felt, ‘That's a total 180! First he told me he would hire me, then he told me couldn't!’” Kerns recalled. By June, rumors of Whitaker’s would-be deal with Cathcart had reached the ears of their Democratic opponent. “That is very unethical, and I know that that happened,” Democratic auditor candidate Callie Gee told RANGE after we asked her if she would have agreed to a deal giving a potential opponent a job if they’d drop out. “I know that Dale went to Michael and said that. That is unacceptable.” The rumors stretched across the state. Rep. Jim Walsh, chairman of the Washington state Republican Party, told RANGE he heard the inverse: that *Whitaker* had tried offering *Cathcart* a job. For his part, Cathcart has worked much harder than Whitaker to bring RANGE evidence supporting his account: he sent over a screenshot of a Facebook Messenger conversation in May where he talked to a supporter about pressure for one Republican Auditor candidate or another to drop out of the race. “You could offer Dale a job, like he asked for months ago …,” the supporter wrote. “I have my ethics,” Cathcart replied in the screenshot. “He wanted to be deputy auditor or elections director. I’m not making a political hire for either one of those.” Whitaker told RANGE he stands by his account, and that “Michael will do everything he can to make this campaign about anything other than his qualifications, or lack thereof, for this position.” Promising jobs in exchange for political favors used to just be the way American politics worked. In the 19th-Century era of powerful party machines run by guys like [William “Boss” Tweed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William%5FM.%5FTweed?ref=rangemedia.co), elections ran on the “spoils system” — as in “to the victors belong the spoils.” But by the turn of the century, political reformers had tarred this kind of patronage as a major source of corruption. Today, there are laws against promising employment for positions at the federal level in exchange for political activity. In some states, there are precedents for prosecution: In 1978, a New York legislator was found guilty of state charges of corruption and “fraudulently and wrongfully affecting the result of a primary election” for offering a lucrative no-show job to a competitor in an attempt to [stop him](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/25/archives/bronx-legislator-reports-he-is-indicted-in-bribe-bid-assemblyman-is.html?ref=rangemedia.co) from running for his seat. While local city and county governments in Washington state contain many “[civil service](https://www.inlander.com/news/binders-full-of-women/article%5F0d12ba77-4b33-595e-9e52-5bbb8e705b73.html?ref=rangemedia.co)” positions that are legally protected from the whims of political hires, there are no such restrictions on the deputy chief auditor position, said Vicky Dalton, the current auditor, If a candidate gets elected and rewards one of their campaign workers by “giving them the chief deputy position, there’s nothing that prohibits that,” she said. In the general sense, behind-the-scenes maneuvering and horse-trading over who is going to run for what is extremely common in the run-up to election filing. Walsh, the state GOP chair, said he generally doesn’t have a problem with that sort of thing as long as it happens before the candidates have entered the race. “We’re always trying to preemptively resolve primaries,” said Walsh, another Whitaker supporter. “That didn’t happen this time.” Instead, the race became an object lesson for just how messy a Republican-on-Republican battle during a three-way primary can become. **Deep convictions** The conservative political leadership in Spokane is sharply divided. Cathcart has the support of much of the elected political establishment from Spokane, including Congressman Michael Baumgartner, former Spokane City Council Member Jonathan Bingle, state Sen. Jeff Holy and all three Republican county commissioners. Rep. Volz, meanwhile, has endorsed Whitaker, arguing Whitaker’s accounting experience makes him the most qualified candidate. And Whitaker also has the key support of the Spokane County Republican Party central committee leadership. Earlier this year, he was removed as the local party’s state committeeman for missing too many meetings.Yet the party’s official newsletters promote opportunities to door-knock on behalf of Whitaker, but not Cathcart. On June 15, the Spokane County Republican Party put up a context-free “public service” Facebook post deceptively warning that a person publicly disclosing an “expunged” criminal conviction "may face legal issues." The post ended with a [wholly invented](https://www.google.com/search?q=%3A+%22Smear+campaigns+are+the+last+refuge+of+those+who+have+no+legitimate+argument.%22&rlz=1C1VDKB%5FenUS1133US1133&oq=%3A+%22Smear+campaigns+are+the+last+refuge+of+those+who+have+no+legitimate+argument.%22&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAjIHCAIQIRiPAtIBBzc3NWowajeoAgiwAgHxBQFtLBczpI0k8QUBbSwXM6SNJA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ref=rangemedia.co) quote falsely attributed to Winston Churchill: "Smear campaigns are the last refuge of those who have no legitimate argument." Any journalist who entered “Whitaker, Dale” into the Spokane County Court Viewer could figure out exactly which criminal conviction the post was alluding to. A dispute in 2015 that began with Whitaker arguing with his girlfriend’s uncles on Facebook ended with Whitaker strangling his girlfriend on the floor. This wasn’t some case of “he said/she said.” According to police records from the arrest, Whitaker himself told police that he grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and pushed her to the ground. He also told police that his girlfriend’s Black uncles were “racist pigs” and “fucking race baiters” and that he yelled at his girlfriend’s son to "get your mom before I fucking hit her.” He demanded his girlfriend be arrested too, saying that she hit him in the back of the head and sometimes goes "fucking crazy" because of her period. Police say Whitaker kicked the living room couch as he was being escorted out and that they identified "speckled abrasions" on both sides of his girlfriend’s neck below the jaw line and "dried blood" behind her right ear. He was initially charged with felony second-degree assault, but his plea deal got that downgraded to misdemeanor fourth-degree non-domestic violence assault. He married his girlfriend that same year. They are still together today. “They worked it out. She stuck with him. Their minister was involved," said Volz, who said he’s spoken to both Whitaker and his wife. He said Whitaker regretted the assault “horribly since.” In a 2022 interview, Whitaker claimed that after he became a Christian in his mid-20s, he began to process the roots of his anger, which he blamed on his parents' divorce. But both his opponents, Gee and Cathcart, believe the assault raises relevant questions about Whitaker’s character. To Cathcart, there’s also the issue of whether Whitaker tells the whole truth: while being vetted by the GOP, Cathcart said, Whitaker denied he had had any criminal convictions. Cathcart said he did the same thing while running for Secretary of State in 2024\. In a legal sense, Whitaker has the right to say he was never convicted: As part of his plea, his criminal conviction was vacated after two years without reoffending. But to Cathcart, not revealing the full truth put the party and the integrity of the office at risk. Domestic violence accusations can sometimes mean the end of political [hopes](https://www.inlander.com/news/community-leader-phil-tyler-calls-for-men-to-stand-up-for-women---but/article%5F78cc7390-a592-5cfa-9707-b754e58e1d59.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in local politics. Whitaker has condemned efforts to dredge up the past, calling them irrelevant smears. In 2022 and 2023, Whitaker was director of [We Believe, We Vote](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/oct/24/should-voters-care-what-spokanes-mayor-thinks-abou/?ref=rangemedia.co), a local organization that assesses candidates’ adherence to Christian (and Republican Party) values. In that role, Whitaker argued that a candidate’s personal beliefs represented crucial information for voters, telling the Spokesman-Review “we want to raise up candidates that align with our values.” The Spokane GOP’s efforts to squelch discussion of the assault may have backfired on Whitaker: It turned what might have been a story on a decade-old crime into a story about a heated political battle between two of their own. To Cathcart, the Spokane GOP’s approach to defending Whitaker was a wild contrast from the way that the party leadership handled the anonymous [AI-edited attack ad brochure](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/12/likely-illegal-ai-generated-attack-ad-depicts-repu/?ref=rangemedia.co) that an unknown party sent out attacking Cathcart. Along with accusing him of wearing a government-mandated mask in City Hall during the COVID pandemic, the ad pointed to Cathcart’s decision to accept the endorsement of two Democrats: Dalton and City Council President Becky Wilkerson. While Spokane GOP Chair Rob Linebarger disavowed the ad, he hammered Cathcart in an official GOP email last month for being willing to accept an endorsement of a Democrat, writing that “a commander or leader should never accept aid and comfort from the enemy while engaged in battle …” To Linebarger, the stakes went far beyond a primary for a county-level election’s position. “We are on the right side of the spiritual war that we find ourselves in,” he wrote, “and we can win without favor from those we are working to defeat.” **Purity test** As the campaign has continued, the Spokane GOP leaders have continued to scrutinize Cathcart. On June 30, John Scherling, the chair of the Spokane County Republican Party’s Candidate Committee, sent Cathcart an email demanding he answer a battery of questions: Does he actually agree with the Spokane Republican Party platform’s opposition to vote-by-mail? Did he tell the Spokesman-Review about Whitaker’s 2015 assault? Was he at a Democratic fundraiser for Danny Tarkenton, the candidate looking to unseat the Republican prosecutor? “By what manner was it a good idea as a prominent ‘Republican Candidate’ to present yourself at this event?” Scherling wrote. The letter ended with a hard deadline to respond in writing by 5 pm the next day because the committee would be holding an emergency meeting. “I will respond directly,” Cathcart began in his reply, “but I want to start by saying plainly that I find this entire process deeply disingenuous.” Cathcart was reluctant to share his full response with RANGE — arguing the dispute wasn’t what he wanted the race to be about — but did so after we pointed to his rhetoric about transparency. His 10-page PDF of a response ranged from indignant to outraged, condemning what he saw as a joke of a process that “raises serious moral concerns, not to mention practical electoral concerns.” Cathcart wrote that he supported the local GOP platform he helped write in 2014 — including support for more in-person voting and Voter ID — but did not support the current platform that called for “single day in-person voting” without any specified exceptions, decrying its impact on military voters, disabled voters and “basic limited-government principles.” And no, he wrote, he hadn’t been part of a Democratic fundraiser. (Tarkenton, running as an independent, confirmed he had never attended one of her fundraising events.) He attached screenshots showing that a person spreading those rumors had helped run Democratic County Commissioner Chris Jordan’s campaign. Instead, Cathcart appeared with Gee at a “Donkey Club” event where all the auditor candidates were invited to speak. Cathcart noted he had advanced conservative policy for years, including as a minority Republican on a city council dominated by Democrats. “I have done real work in difficult rooms, not just performed purity for friendly audiences,” Cathcart wrote. And by treating Whitaker’s vacated assault conviction as “merely as a paperwork problem” when it became “politically inconvenient,” Carthcart wrote, party leaders were squandering their credibility on “public trust, moral accountability, and family values.” “If the Spokane GOP wants to hold candidates to honesty, transparency, and public trust, I welcome that standard,” he concluded. “But standards only mean something when they are applied equally.” Reached by phone, Scherling asked how RANGE got the “private letter” and said the emergency meeting ultimately never took place. “I'm not going to discuss anything further,” Scherling said. By last Thursday, a salvo of new attacks was hammering Cathcart. Yakima Mayor Matt Brown — chair of the Yakima County Republican Party — launched his own website dedicated to attacking Cathcart. Echoing the same bullet points from the anonymous AI attack ad, the site accuses Cathcart of not being an authentic Republican. And on Saturday, the Spokane County Republican Party introduced a [resolution](https://spokanegop.com/hubfs/2026%20CAUCUS/Platform%5FResolutions/4%5FResolution%20on%20American%20Exceptionalism.pdf?hsLang=en&ref=rangemedia.co) for consideration at their August convention. The resolution calls for defaulting to denying endorsements to any Republican who accepts an endorsement from a Democratic official, writing that their party had a “right not to associate with those who hate America and wish to see its downfall.” Local political parties often choose leaders more radical than their rank-and-file — those willing to volunteer hundreds of hours working on politics tend to be die-hard in their positions. Cathcart knows that well. At one time he was one of the party radicals, a Republican who pushed the party to rally behind the most libertarian Republican presidential candidate in 2012\. "He was a hardcore Ron Paul-er," Volz recalled, saying Michael has evolved since then. There’s a cycle to these things: In Republican politics, you either die a radical or live long enough to become a “RINO” — a “Republican in Name Only.” “A RINO is a Republican who gets elected,” Walsh likes to joke. Cathcart said he’s still conservative — he and Whitaker have identical We Believe We Vote scores — but he says that he has become more pragmatic over time. “I’ve demonstrated that I can work across political lines to get something done,” he said. “I’ve learned how things work, how you actually get things across the finish line.” By contrast, he argues that us-vs-them rhetoric portraying the other side as the “enemy” is worth condemning, not just for moral reasons, but for practical ones. “Treating a primary like a war is how you lose the general election,” Cathcart wrote in his letter to local GOP leadership. *Editor's Note:* This story has been updated to clarify the Spokane GOP's 2024 platform's mail-in voting stance. ### The region’s transit authority is asking voters to renew 2/10ths of 1% sales tax URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-regions-transit-authority-is-asking-voters-to-renew-2-10ths-of-1-sales-tax/ Last updated: 2026-07-20T22:27:38.000Z The Spokane Transit Authority in recent years launched its first Bus Rapid Transit service, built three new transit centers, grew services by over 35% and brought more than $130 million in state and federal funding to the region — expansion funded in large part by a two-tenths of 1% sales tax approved by voters a decade ago. In the Aug. 4 primary election, voters who live within the STA’s [public transportation benefit area](https://www.spokanetransit.com/files/content/ptba%5Ftax%5F2018a%5FWeb.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), which includes all of Spokane City, but also includes unincorporated parts of the county and other, more conservative towns and cities like Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, will decide whether to renew that tax to continue service expansion in the region. Voters approved the initial tax in 2016 by 55.4%, with the transit authority promising to deliver 27 key projects over the next decade to expand services, improve service frequency and maintain the bus fleet. The tax was [set to expire](https://stamovingforward.com/plans/proposition-1/?ref=rangemedia.co) “no lat­er than Decem­ber 31, 2028 unless renewed by voters.” The transit authority board [voted in April 2026](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transit-authority-will-ask-voters-to-renew-0-02-sales-tax-in-august/) to send the renewal to voters on this August ballot, earlier than the 2028 deadline, hoping to secure over $80 million in federal grant funds and avoid competition with a potential future public safety tax. If renewed, voters would not see an increase to their taxes, as the ballot measure continues an existing sales tax of 2 cents for every $10 spent (excluding groceries and prescription drugs), with an expiration date at the end of 2048\. STA spokesperson Carly Cortright said the agency estimates this would cost the average household $50 per year, based on current household median income. Because the transit authority has already completed 26 of the 27 projects promised when voters initially approved the tax, the renewal would pay for the continuation of the services that grew under the initial tax — a 35% overall growth, and 62% growth in weekend service hours. If renewed, the tax would also contribute to the costs of improvements planned under its [newest 10-year plan](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-connect-2035-strategic-plan/). Some of the projects approved in the [Connect 2035 10-year-plan](https://staconnect2035.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) include a reduced fare pilot program for low-income riders, a Mobility-on-Demand pilot program tailored for older adults and people with disabilities and the creation of a second bus rapid transit line in Spokane stretching up Division Street, following the success of the City Line running east to west. If the tax is not approved, more than $12 million per year in annual state grant funding would be lost and STA [board members](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transit-authority-will-ask-voters-to-renew-0-02-sales-tax-in-august/) have said the agency would struggle to guarantee matching funding for $82 million in federal grants for adding bus rapid transit to Division Street. A simple majority of more than half of votes cast is required to approve the tax renewal. ### ‘Yes for Buses!’ Proponents of renewing the tax — officially named Yes for Buses, the same name the campaign carried in 2016 — argue that supporting the measure will not add to voters’ tax burden, while allowing the transit authority to continue enhanced service and build upon increasing ridership numbers. Erik Lowe, co-executive director of local transit advocacy group Spokane Reimagined, and former state Sen. Andy Billig, who is also a co-owner of the Spokane Indians minor league baseball team, wrote in favor of the renewal in the official [Washington Voters’ Guide](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=898&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/). “Renewal of this vital funding will allow STA to continue its strong track record of delivering major projects on time and under budget,” Billig and Lowe wrote. “In this period of highly volatile gas prices, STA offers affordable access to schools, jobs, healthcare, and recreation. A ‘Yes’ vote is a vote for a strong local economy, vibrant cities and towns, and the future of our region.” They pointed to statistics showing 80 million total rides since 2016, and an average of 34,000 trips every weekday in 2025 — the agency’s highest ridership in over a decade. Statistics from the transit authority show a marked annual increase in ridership every year since 2021, as the agency continues to recover from extremely low bus usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2025, over 10 million rides were logged across the bus network, a 2.6% increase from 2024\. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-b6982811-1691-4773-8019-c4d44a69b281.png) Ridership statistics courtesy of Spokane Transit Authority. The transit authority has also been a crucial accessibility network for people with disabilities in Spokane, providing more than [1,000 Paratransit trips per day](https://staconnect2035.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/STA-Strategic-Plan.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) for those unable to use fixed-route buses, and for youth, who ride for free. The Yes for Buses campaign has been endorsed by organizations like CHAS Health, Disability Rights Washington, Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium and the Spokane Regional Labor Council, and by prominent local politicians including Spokane City Council Member (and STA board member) Sarah Dixit, Medical Lake City Council Member (and STA board chair) Lance Speirs and three Cheney City Council Members. Political candidates Kevin Fagan, who is running for the 5th Congressional District, and Luc Jasmin III, who is running for the 3rd Legislative District, also signed on. Yes for Buses has raised about $60,000, with half coming from businesses and the rest from individuals, unions and other organizations, according to data from the Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC). They have spent about $30,000 of their total war chest on mailers, and another significant chunk on staff time, leaving them with $10,000 in the bank to spend as the election approaches. ### Broken promises? Opponents of the tax renewal argue that voting no is actually more “pro-transit,” than continuing the funding for the transit authority. Former Spokane City Council Member [Mike Allen](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/dec/27/qa-with-departing-city-council-member-mike-allen/?ref=rangemedia.co) wrote in the Voters’ Guide that the transit authority’s $270 million in reserves shows that public transportation does not need additional funding. “STA already has steady tax revenue and substantial reserves. The case for more taxes has not been made,” Allen wrote. “Sunset provisions exist for a reason. They give voters a built-in checkpoint, a chance to review results, reassess priorities, and decide if a tax is still needed before it continues.” A vocal contingent of Spokane’s wealthiest business owners have also advocated against the tax renewal. A political action committee formed in early June has raised more than $140,000 to oppose the tax renewal — enough to pay for more than 70,000 $2-a-ride STA bus passes. It has already spent over $50,000 paying canvassers to campaign against the tax renewal. The PAC, called the Citizens for Responsible Transit committee, received the lion’s share of its donations from construction company owner [Bill Bouten](https://www.inlander.com/news/breaking-down-the-4-6-million-in-spokane-campaign-spending-this-season/article%5Ffff2d92b-ff85-573d-915a-d0411c7ba1e3.html?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Services.-,Builder%20Bill%20Bouten%20has%20als,-o) ($10,000), Washington Trust Bank ($25,000), developer and downtown business owner Gerry Dicker’s Dicker Family Trust ($50,000) and conservative megadonor Larry Stone ($50,000). Stone has donated more than half a million dollars to conservative political candidates and PACs since 2022, according to records from the PDC, and funded the *Curing Spokane* video campaign, which called on leaders to sell the STA Plaza and move the bus station underground. He has also strongly advocated against “road-dieting” on Division Street by adding a dedicated bus lane — a project that would be on the chopping block should the tax renewal fail. [Gavin Cooley](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/), the chief financial officer for Spokane under conservative mayor David Condon, has been using his position as leader of Stone’s [Spokane Business Association](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/) — which lists Bouten’s construction company, Dicker’s Ruby Hospitality and Washington Trust Bank as members — to oppose the tax. Using an AI-generated image that also included the phrase “gonorn their pont buttte,” Cooley claimed the transit authority had broken promises to Spokane. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-e4ce3698-d753-405b-8126-3f73bd9fb57e.jpeg) AI-generated image with garbled text taken from the SBA email. “In 2016, STA promised its $300 million tax was temporary. This August, it’s back — as a NEW $1 billion tax running to 2048,” Cooley wrote. “STA’s own filings show excessive financial resources, including $274 million in reserves and a continuing permanent tax worth $3 billion over those same years.” According to STA meeting minutes from 2016 and an [article](https://spokane-public.idm.oclc.org/login?url=s?url=https://www.proquest.com/hnpwashingtoncollection/newspapers/september-11-2016-page-b10/docview/2045645288/sem-2?accountid=308&ref=rangemedia.co) published by *The Spokesman Review* on April 22, 2016, though, the tax was never marketed or promised as temporary. Instead, the 10-year expiration on the tax was included as an accountability measure. Supporters of the tax renewal [argue](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=898&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/7212) that the reserves Cooley sees as “excessive” are actually a display of “careful stewardship of public funds” — because the transit authority is committed to operating with zero debt, $170 million of the reserves is [already earmarked](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jul/13/getting-there-sta-says-tax-is-essential-to-maintai/?ref=rangemedia.co) for specific capital improvement projects outlined in the 10-year strategic plan. ### How this will appear on your ballot *The Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors passed Resolution No. 856-26 concerning reauthorizing sales and use tax funding for public transportation services.* *This proposition reauthorizes a voter-approved sales tax of up to 2/10th of 1% (0.2%) to provide public transportation, effective January 1, 2029 and expiring no later than December 31, 2048\. Proceeds would be used to maintain and enhance the existing transit system, improve and expand public transportation through new modes and programs, and provide for essential transit support facilities. This tax, approved in 2016, is set to expire on December 31, 2028, unless renewed.* *Should this proposition be approved?* *Yes or No?* ### Spokane County commissioners to consider data center moratorium URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-commissioners-to-consider-data-center-moratorium/ Last updated: 2026-07-20T19:03:41.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - It’s week two of the Spokane City Council’s new meeting schedule. We will continue to remind you — no Monday council meeting tonight! - On Wednesday, the Spokane City Council could pass an ordinance allowing money in a rental mitigation fund to be used for eviction prevention. - The Urban Experience Committee is discussing an extension of the interim zoning ordinance that allowed childcare centers to be operated in all residential and commercial zones across the city. - The Bicycle Advisory Board is getting a presentation from urbanist advocacy group Spokane Reimagined on partnering for the Week Without Driving event. - The BOCC is considering a data center moratorium that would nix much real estate from the potential for a new data center in the next nine months. ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Full disclosure: We’re *also* still getting used to the new Spokane City Council format and thinking through how we can restructure CIVICS to best capture what’s going to be on the docket for the new Wednesday council meeting. Now, the council posts a draft agenda of items that are going to be discussed, debated and potentially amended on Tuesday, with the final draft of the agenda for Wednesday coming out after that. Part of the reasoning behind this new format was to give people more time to testify on items that won’t be voted on for another two weeks, so here’s a little trial of a new format — a list of items that **won’t** be up for a vote on Wednesday, but are on the city council’s to-pass list for July 29: - Accepting a grant of more than $550,000 to support the city’s Therapeutic Court, a diversionary program that diverts people into programs other than jail. - Accepting a grant of almost $300,000 from the Dept. of Commerce Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program. - Passing the right-to-cooling ordinance, which was moved back a step in the new process after an [amendment](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-shifts-to-new-council-schedule-with-legislative-meetings-on-wednesdays/#:~:text=its%20approval.%20The-,amendment,-%2C%20submitted%20by%20Council) approved at the last agenda review session. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Tuesday, July 21 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** Technically, none of this is set in stone, as the final agenda will come out after the Tuesday Agenda Review, but here’s what’s likely to get a vote this week: - A contract amendment to spend an additional $200,000 on legal services to fight suits by firefighters who say the Spokane Fire Department violated their rights by requiring them to be vaccinated against COVID-19\. This brings the total amount fighting the suit to $885,000. - A $105,000 settlement with Larry Pond for unspecified reasons (the agenda just says “an incident on or about July 8, 2025.”) - A $250,000 settlement with Cheryl Bulldis for “a trip and fall incident on or about October 7th, 2024.” - A resolution officially supporting the Spokane Transit Authority tax renewal - An ordinance allowing money from the Residential Rental Mitigation Fund to support the [eviction prevention program](https://www.rangemedia.co/eviction-prevention-spokane/) created earlier this year - An ordinance sponsored by Council Members Zack Zappone and Kitty Klitzke that would allow the city to designate sections of streets as “shared streets.” This would allow the city to set a speed limit of 10 miles an hour on said shared street, as well as giving the right of way to pedestrians, bicyclists and scooter riders. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 22 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Guaranteed beds When members of the Spokane Police or Fire Departments respond to calls for unhoused people, they’re supposed to offer services to those individuals. For example: shelter beds. But knowing which programs individuals qualify for, or which shelters have open beds, can be complicated for first responders, and if immediate aid isn’t available or convenient, it often leads to people declining help they might otherwise take. Spokane has tried to address this through their Behavioral Health Unit, which specializes in helping people navigate the system and goes out to mental health and overdose calls. Another tool in the city’s kit is contracting specific beds at shelters around town that are reserved for referrals from the police and fire departments and available 24/7\. At the Urban Experience Committee, the city will discuss extending one of those contracts, which reserves three shelter beds per night at the House of Charity, at a rate of $75 per bed, per night. The current contract was from February 1 to July 31, with a cost cap of $40,725\. If approved, this extension would contract the beds out from August 1 to December 31, with total costs not to exceed $34,425\. These beds are specifically for single men, who make up the largest percentage of people currently unsheltered in Spokane, according to city data, the agenda states. ### Childcare in your neighborhood Last September, the Spokane City Council passed an interim zoning ordinance that allowed daycare and childcare centers to be permitted and placed in all residential and commercial zones across the city. This was a temporary, one-year suspension of regulations that made it harder for neighborhoods to get convenient, close-by childcare services. The council is discussing a six-month extension to the ordinance, and is working with a consultant to prepare new code that could make this change permanent. If passed in a few weeks, the extension would mean the interim ordinance would not expire until March 22, 2027\. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 21 at 1 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🚲🚲🚲**/5 bikes** ### Week without Driving This year, Spokane Reimagined is coordinating a series of events for the Week Without Driving — a grassroots event started by Disability Rights Washington to draw attention to the needs of non-drivers — and they’ll be presenting to the Bicycle Advisory Board with opportunities for partnership. The goals of the weeklong commitment, scheduled for the first week of October, are to celebrate modes of transit like biking, walking or bussing, and to encourage the development of accessible transit infrastructure. Last year, Spokane Reimagined painted and delivered [handmade benches](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/29/getting-there-a-spokane-group-argues-sta-should-in/?ref=rangemedia.co) to bus stops around town. Some potential projects the group will discuss with the BAB for this year’s celebration include: - “Identifying spots around town that would be good candidates for art (like painted bike lanes) - Facilitating bike audits (securing cameras, developing easy forms for folks to fill out and submit) - Soliciting volunteers for events during WWD (like bike corrals) - Organizing bike-busses-for-grownups in the weeks leading up to WWD so folks who don’t cycle regularly can feel more empowered during WWD.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 21 at 6 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 22 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Hockey hook-up If you’re a fan of hockey — specifically the Spokane Chiefs — this might be the public facilities district meeting for you. The Public Facilities District board will receive a [very fancy presentation](https://ddeck.io/6a2c672b694c431f4169cd77?ref=rangemedia.co) on how the season went, including attendance statistics, honors and sales at the arena. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 24 at 12:30 pm* > *Board Room, 720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Countywide data center moratorium? Last month, the Spokane City Council [said](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/22/spokane-city-council-approves-yearlong-moratorium-/https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/22/spokane-city-council-approves-yearlong-moratorium-/?ref=rangemedia.co) it wouldn’t approve new data center proposals for at least a year. The move came after news broke that the power utility Avista was considering a deal with an unnamed “large load customer” to build a large data center … somewhere in its service territory. But the city’s moratorium didn’t mean much. The mysterious entity that wanted the data center — which would process and store massive amounts of electronic data, possibly at tremendous cost to the local environment — probably wouldn’t have been located in the city limits. Now, the BOCC is considering its own nine-month moratorium. That would significantly limit the opportunities to build a data center anywhere around here. As [we reported](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/#:~:text=northeast%20of%20town.-,Daines%20Capital,-%2C%20a%20realty%20firm) last month, the commercial real estate firm Daines Capital had a property up for sale that would have accommodated such a facility. It was not in the city but the county. That’s why the county’s proposal, which is sponsored by Chris Jordan and Amber Waldref, the two liberal commissioners on the five-member board, is a bigger deal. But to pass it, one of the three conservatives on the commission will need to vote in favor. Governments across the county, including hyper-conservative Kootenai County, Idaho; very liberal Snohomish County, Wash.; and the state of New York have implemented data center moratoria, citing concerns about the massive amount of energy they consume — sometimes at the expense of individual ratepayers — and potential water contamination, among other problems. The moratorium would not mean no new data centers; it would only mean no new data centers *for now*. The idea is to give governments more time to figure out how to regulate them. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 21 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### New funding for public defense? The BOCC is set to vote on a proposed contract with the Washington state Office of Public Defense to distribute $941,297 for “improving the quality of public defense” in Spokane County. The county was recently sued in Pend Oreille County Court for allegedly not providing enough resources to public defenders. The money could be allocated to the following goals, taken verbatim from [the contract](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2314/files/attachment/22153?ref=rangemedia.co). - Creating or expanding a county or regional public defense agency - Funding an attorney coordinator to manage public defense attorney contracts - Adding attorneys to reduce public defense caseloads - Adding investigator services - Adding expert services - Increasing public defense attorney compensation - Providing public defense services at preliminary appearance calendars - Providing social work or sentencing mitigation as part of public defense representation - Providing interpreter services for attorney-client interviews and communications - Reimbursement of training costs - Investment in technological solutions (like case management systems) - Paying membership dues to organizations that support public defense training, practice, or advocacy - Increase support staff to reduce attorney workloads - Professional evaluation of public defense system performance by a public defense expert ### Almost $13M to developmental disability service providers Nearly two dozen providers of developmental disability service providers may see a large new influx in cash from the county in the amount of $12,883,940\. The largest single disbursements would go to: - True North Employment, $1,572,000 - Ability Employment Services, $1,811,412 - Northwest Center, $1,087,000 ### Committee appointments The BOCC is set to appoint: - Brian Muegge to the Spokane County Parks and Recreation Committee. - Ben Wick, Tim Hattenburg and Gregg Tenner to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee - Nathan Breazile and Betsy Cowles to the Essential Public Facilities Committee > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 21 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑/**5 peppers** ### New levy? The board will gather for a work session to begin planning discussions to renew its Educational Programs & Operations levy set to expire in 2027\. This levy supports 16% of the district’s yearly operating expenses, including educational programs, staffing, student activities and support, according to an agenda item. District officials are looking into keeping the same rate of $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the agenda. That means an average homeowner with a property of an assessed value of $410,000 would pay $85.42 a month or $1,025 a year. Under the proposal, the district would collect $48.9 million in 2028, roughly $50.5 million in 2029 and $52.4 in 2030. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 20 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Improving culinary arts facility The board will take a vote on a resolution to transfer $250,000 in unused funds from the Career and Technical Education program into the Capital Projects Fund to pay for future improvements to the culinary arts facility and capital projects. ### Sending levies to voters The board will also take a vote on a resolution to send over its Educational Programs and Operations Replacement Levy to voters in a special election held alongside the Nov. 3 general election. The current three-year levy is set to expire in 2027. The proposed levy would also be collected over three years at an estimated tax rate of $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the resolution. The district would collect approximately $10.5 million in 2028, about $10.8 million in 2029 and about $10.95 million in 2030\. This three-year levy would pay for educational programs and operations. The board will also take a vote on sending a second levy to voters. With its current three-year Capital Projects Fund tax levy set to expire in 2027, the district will ask voters to approve a two-year levy that would fund safety, security and infrastructure improvements across the district, according to an agenda item. The district would collect roughly $4.1 million in 2028 and about $4.3 million in 2029, according to the resolution. The tax levy rate is estimated at $1.00 per $1,000 of assessed property value ### Upcoming school year’s budget Keeping in line with its meeting packed with resolutions, the board will also take a vote on a resolution adopting its 2026-2027 budget after a hearing on the upcoming school year’s budget. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 22 at 3:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### More than $11M in road construction The stretch of Pines Road between 32nd and 40th avenues and Barker Road between Sprague and 8th avenues could get a makeover if the Spokane Valley City Council approves $11,026,000 million in funding. Most of the funding, $7,593,258, would come from grants, and $1,697,000 would come from the Washington Transportation Improvement Board funding. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 21 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### $900K for improvements to Mission Ave The council is set to award Seland Construction a $900,000 contract to rebuild a section of the Mission Avenue frontage road between Selkirk Middle School and Aladdin Road. It will install sidewalks accessible to people who use wheelchairs and drainage swales. The bid is hundreds of thousands of dollars less than the $1,493,975 the city had budgeted for the projects. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 21 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Students paint public art for overdose prevention URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/students-paint-public-art-for-overdose-prevention/ Last updated: 2026-07-17T21:10:25.000Z On Track Academy senior Dove Bradshay knows he wants to pursue art in college. Paintbrush in hand, Bradshay touched up the grass by a pair of bright yellow shoes on the wall of a Post Street alley in downtown Spokane. He’s one of six students from West Valley High School and On Track spending the summer as part of the Hillyard Mural Apprenticeship. Run by the Hillyard Creative District, the apprenticeship pairs high schoolers with professional artists for hands-on training in public art. On Tuesday, Bradshay and the other youth artists gathered to paint a mural spreading overdose prevention awareness. Splashed across the back of the Crescent Building, the mural depicts friends sharing food and conversation, with a container of naloxone — the drug used to revive people actively overdosing — in the center. The drug is more often known by its brand name, Narcan. The setting, with its grass and squirrels, is meant to capture Spokane. Visual artist and West Valley High School art teacher Rose Honey, who runs the program, led students as they painted a mural designed by Washington-based social impact agency DH. “Our whole goal is to bridge a gap between student artists and public art,” Honey said. “How do we get into the entry level and learn these techniques and meet these muralists and learn these skills to not only paint, but to draw up the design, to meet with business owners, to pitch your art, to learn communication skills?” The[ apprenticeship’s pilot model](https://www.hillyardspokane.org/mural-apprenticeship?ref=rangemedia.co) is supported by a $50,000 grant from the Washington State Arts Commission, with a $25,000 match from the American Rescue Plan Act. While the program has largely been focused on the Hillyard neighborhood, this Downtown Spokane opportunity proved too perfect to ignore, Honey said. This community aspect of the program has especially resonated with Bradshay. “I get to work with people who feel like they don’t really have artistic ability to help them express themselves and to help them grow their businesses and get more traction,” Bradshay said. “I like the feeling of being able to get other people going.” This particular mural is part of “Friends for Life,” an existing campaign from marketing agency DH in collaboration with the Washington State Healthcare Authority, that aims to combat opioid overdoses. The Healthcare Authority is funding the project. DH art director Hannah Bottino serves as the creative director for the campaign and has been working on the mural since the beginning of the year before reaching out to the program to bring youth artists on board. The design’s goal, Bottino said, is to normalize keeping naloxone on hand — because if you don’t have it, you can’t use it, she added. “There is a stigma around Narcan and naloxone historically, and we’ve seen a trend as that’s improved,” Bottino said. “But the more we show it as a normal thing for people to have around with them, the more normal and less weird it feels for people to carry it.” According to the Spokane Regional Health District, more than 80% of Spokane County overdose deaths were opioid-related in 2024\. Passersby walking near the alley throughout the day stopped to talk to the artists. One such passerby was Brandon Diamond — who said he had just been released from American Behavioral Health Systems that morning. According to Diamond, he had been clean for seven years before relapsing last year. He said he remembered hearing about at least five overdoses in the downtown area in a single day last year. “I think it’s good that they're doing prevention and trying to do something to help it, because it's sad,” Diamond said. Looking at the artists working on the mural, Diamond said he hopes to see the community come together and do more to prevent fentanyl usage — especially, he said, given what he’s recently heard about [nitazenes, a group of synthetic opioids](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/08/health/illegal-labs-potent-drugs.html?ref=rangemedia.co) also called “Frankenstein.” Reaching audiences like youth and people in vulnerable housing situations, DH creative director Linda Jones said, means turning to non-traditional methods. Jones added that they wanted to avoid using “fear-based messaging,” having learned over the years that scare tactics often fail to work. “We recognize that there's a lot of youth in the community that are being introduced to fentanyl,” Jones said. “They're being used to different types of illicit drugs or alcohol, and this is like the age where we can reach them as they're starting to be introduced to these types of things.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-a0312171-ace7-47d1-9cf7-c4d309136a63.jpeg) **A student in the apprenticeship program adds detail to the mural and touches up paint. Photo by Yong-Yu Huang.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-9d567a50-21a4-4a09-ad5a-d2173a13fbe8.jpeg) **A student in the apprenticeship program adds detail to the mural and touches up paint. Photo by Yong-Yu Huang.* Bradshay said he appreciated the people who stopped by as the students worked. This program has allowed him to understand more about why people pursue art — and how it brings joy to different people. Bradshay isn’t the only student finding personal meaning in the work. West Valley sophomore Kensley Hyde heard about this opportunity through Honey, who was her art teacher this past year. Hyde said working on this mural has offered her time for reflection and allowed her to reconnect with art. She emphasized the importance of the mural’s message as part of how she can contribute to the community. “I think that it’s great for people to know that they always have the help and support that they need, even if they don’t have anyone very close to them,” Hyde said. The students started painting windows in June before moving to community murals in July, Honey said. On Aug. 1, the group will lead a public mural in Hillyard and then close out the summer with individual capstone murals in the Hillyard neighborhood. “It's really important that people see on a regular basis that there are people who care about our community, and there are people who are actively trying to make things better because it’s really easy to see all of the negative stuff and to latch onto that,” Bradshay said. ### The CHUMs are back together! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-chums-are-back-together/ Last updated: 2026-07-16T23:30:29.000Z This week's episode features a pre-recorded conversation between reporters from the Seattle-based outlet, [CHUM News](https://www.chum.news/?ref=rangemedia.co), and some of the RANGE team! RANGE reporters Daisy, Luke, and Erin gathered at a park in Wenatchee with worker-owners Adam Willems and Meron Menghistab from CHUM to swap stories from respective hometowns, talk about news items that had statewide significance, and dive into a couple of news stories that folks said they would be interested in hearing about. Find the preview episode and information on the project here: [The POD: Best of CHUMsA preview of our Midstate Meet-up with Seattle’s own CHUM News next week!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-8ce94b82-0012-4107-8f40-bd0ba403ceb1.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Podcast-generic--1600-x-1200-px---2--64ff25a8-1d4e-4351-9208-b9ac3d1bb519.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/best-of-chums/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Spokane police to reform ‘temperament codes’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-police-to-reform-temperament-codes/ Last updated: 2026-07-16T22:28:40.000Z Justice Forral was walking downtown on their way to Spokane’s Pride parade last year when they heard their name in what sounded like police radio chatter. They looked back and saw three Spokane police officers tailing them and their partner on the other side of the street. “ I say, ‘Hey, why are you following us?’” Forral told RANGE. “And then they start looking up into the sky, pretending like they're not \[following us\].” Forral said they couldn’t tell how many officers were talking about them on the radio but that “it just felt like the entire police department.” The officers kept following Forral, eventually [arresting them](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) on the north side of the Spokane Convention Center, just yards from where hundreds of parade participants and thousands of parade-goers had gathered. Forral, who was wearing a knee-length floral dress and black boots on their way to celebrate queer communities at the time of the arrest, cooperated. The arrest served a warrant issued by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office alleging Forral had assaulted a law enforcement officer during a [protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) the week before at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Cataldo Avenue. Forral, an outspoken advocate for Spokane’s BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, suspects they were targeted for reasons that went well beyond their participation in that particular protest. As fellow activist Jim Leighty learned from a police report he obtained from a public records request, Forral may have been right. The police report Leighty had requested, dated June 20, 2021, made it clear that Forral had been flagged with what’s known among regional police as a “T3” code. When officers respond to a call involving someone with this designation, the code alerts them to pay extra attention to their personal safety, said Tricia Leming, a Spokane police spokesperson. “This does not change how officers respond, other than that dispatch may sometimes dispatch an additional officer or an officer may request backup when contacting someone with a T3 alert,” Leming wrote in an email. The T3 flag is part of a broader set of “temperament codes,” or “T codes,” that warn police in Eastern Washington of potentially dangerous conditions at the site of calls to which they respond. But some say the codes allow police to unfairly target activists, like Forral, or others who don’t deserve heightened police scrutiny. Forral is a known face in local activist circles, but the closest they’ve ever come to being accused of violence was for knocking off the hat of a sheriff’s deputy during the June 11 protest. Yet they said the T code applied to their record may have dogged their activism for years now. Their arrest was another chapter in [an ongoing series of incidents](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) pitting activists against local, regional and federal law enforcement that has captivated Spokane for more than a year now. But the nuances of Forral’s run-ins with police illustrate an entrenched aspect of local law enforcement that new Spokane police leaders are trying to change. Forral was convicted in May along with two other June 11 protesters on federal conspiracy charges related to the protests that day. Their T code may not have been a factor in the conviction itself, but it does explain one way police keep tabs on folks who come into contact with police, sometimes through criminal activity but other times through working in publicly visible activist communities. ### People and places T codes are described in the Spokane Police Department’s [policy manual](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/police/accountability/police-policy-manual-2026-03-30.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) according to the following schedule: - T3: Officer Safety - T4: Gang - T7: Deceased - T8: Universal Precaution Warning - T9: Armed and Dangerous T8 was once used to warn officers of people who were known to have HIV/AIDS, but Leming said it hasn’t been used that way for years. T codes are different from “[Ten codes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-code?ref=rangemedia.co),” a communication practice first responders and CB operators use to briefly communicate important details over radio transmissions. The codes aren’t new, and they aren’t unique to Spokane. Police departments across the country use similar systems, and other forces in Spokane County — including the [sheriff’s office](https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Spokane%5FCounty%5F%28WA%29?ref=rangemedia.co#Temperament%5FStatus%5F.28T%5FCodes.29:~:text=Mentally%20Ill%20Subject-,Temperament%20Status%20%28T%20Codes%29,-T3%20Officer%20Caution) — use them as well, Leming said. “Like other T codes, it is a safety indicator that provides relevant information to officers quickly as they assess risk in any given interaction,” Leming said. Leming said she could not provide a list of people who have a T code applied to their file; and, responding to a records request from RANGE, the department said it doesn’t keep a list at all. ### A dated system Spokane police will reform the T code system this fall when the department replaces its records management software, Leming said. Though Leming didn’t address specific stories like Forral’s, she said the reform would help keep police accountable when interacting with the public. “The current process for assigning a T code is that a staff member in the department requests it based on an interaction or series of interactions where concerning behavior is observed or documented,” Leming said. “It can be a patrol-level officer.” The report Leighty obtained from the police does not identify the reason for Forral’s T code or when or by whom it was requested; it simply states the activist has one. But the changes Leming described will force Spokane police officers to document the reasons they request a T code. Leming said the new system will help “ensure our practices and policy reflect modern police best practices in accountability and fairness while still maintaining the importance of safety for the officer and public.” She outlined a list of differences between the current system and the one that will take effect later this year. First, whereas the old system allowed officers to request a T code for people based on their subjective judgment of an interaction in the street, the new one will require “a defined source of truth (court order, case number, or documented supervisor review).” Leming also said any request to create a T code dealing with safety will require a supervisor to review it. In Spokane’s current system, a T code stays on a person’s record for 100 years. Under the new system, all flags will expire after three years. Part of the reason the reforms are being proposed, said Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall, is because police officers are not qualified to make some of the judgment calls that would justify a T code. “I don’t want the officers making psychological or medical diagnoses,” said Hall, who Mayor Lisa Brown hired at the end of 2024. He also said he hoped the reforms he’s implementing at the department will build public trust with the police. “It’s my job to bring that divide closer together,” he said. The coming reform to the T code system is a good thing, said Leighty, who is a police accountability activist, in that it reflects a shifting culture in the Spokane Police Department, which has been one of the most deadly police departments in the country, [according to](https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/cities?ref=rangemedia.co) the organization Mapping Police Violence. Leighty also said the police department’s willingness to reevaluate the T code policy and other new programs like protest [dialogue teams](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/20/spokane-police-officers-at-the-no-kings-protest-we/?ref=rangemedia.co), is a sign for hope. “It shows that SPD is actually trying to make changes for the better,” he said. ### ‘True partnership’ results in new hiking trail URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/true-partnership-results-in-new-hiking-trail/ Last updated: 2026-07-16T22:28:30.000Z In 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [began requiring](https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/RecreationDevelopmentatLicensedHydropowerProjects.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) power utilities with licensed hydroelectric projects to create recreational opportunities near the projects. As part of that requirement, the utility [Seattle City Light](https://www.seattle.gov/city-light?ref=rangemedia.co) paid to construct a new trail that emphasizes Kalispel tribal history. The [Salmo Passage Trail (słqqax̣s č̓ čax̣íwłkʷ)](https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/colville/recreation/trails/salmo-passage-trail-538?ref=rangemedia.co) was opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, June 24, at the Peewee Falls Overlook in the Newport-Sullivan Lake Ranger District. The event featured representatives from the three organizations that created the trail: the [Kalispel Tribe of Indians](https://kalispeltribe.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Seattle City Light ](https://www.seattle.gov/city-light?ref=rangemedia.co)and the [Colville National Forest](https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/colville?ref=rangemedia.co). “When I was coming up here today, talking with my son, we were talking about partnerships and working with people,” said J.R. Bluff, director of language and culture for the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. “And this \[trail project\] was really a partnership. It wasn't just a check mark. ... It was a true partnership where they listened, we discussed, we kicked ideas around.” Completed in 2025, the 9.6-mile trail connects the northern Peewee Falls Overlook in North Pend Oreille County to the southern Riverside Canyon Overlook and provides panoramic views of the Pend Oreille River. Seattle City Light, a large Washington power utility, paid for the Salmo Passage project to satisfy the federal mandates, whose goal is to mitigate the impact of the nearby Boundary Dam, which SCL built in 1967, by investing in regional recreation and habitat. The trail cost about $1.1 million to build, a project entailing trail building, bridge design, geotechnical engineering, procurement, and installation, trail structures and rock excavation. The new trail touches a portion of the journey the Kalispel people took form present day Cusick, Washington to reach the Salmo River, a culturally significant site located just over the current US-Canada border in British Columbia. For thousands of years the Kalispels traveled to the Salmo, the far northwestern boundary of the tribe’s 200-square-mile ancestral homelands, to establish seasonal fish camps. Later, European trappers, settlers and miners used parts of the same route to travel along the Pend Oreille River. “It’s hard to describe how much this land and river meant to our people and still does,” Bluff said. “Not just the Kalispels but the Colville Tribes, too. And it still holds deep meaning for all of us here today, Native and white alike.” The Kalispels lost access to their traditional salmon runs in the early to mid-20th century when the hydroelectric dams subject to the federal regulations were built without fish passage facilities on the Columbia and Pend Oreille rivers. The biggest is Grand Coulee Dam, which was built in 1941\. “We’re glad to be able to provide more recreational opportunities for people in the community and those who enjoy the forest,” said Rob Santoff, Interim General Manager and CEO of Seattle City Light. “We’re privileged to be able to have the guidance and input of the Tribe that helped make it happen.” Including Tribal governments, other cooperating entities include conservation and recreation organizations, and other federal, state, and local agencies. “It was agreed that the overlooks at Peewee Falls and Riverside Canyon along with a trail connecting them would be excellent enhancements to enable the public to enjoy recreational opportunities along the Boundary reach of the Pend Oreille River,” Colville National Forest Service Spokesperson Megan Bush said. In 2013, the projects were included in Seattle City Light’s new 42-year operating license issued by the Commission. Working with Colville National Forest, the Tribe and other partners, a location and design of the trail was decided in a process that spanned several years. Because of the challenging topography and geology, trail layout experts from other National Forests in the region provided support. Newport-Sullivan Lake District Ranger Carin Vadala added, “Our partnerships have offered the varying and diverse perspectives, historical knowledge and creativity required to highlight the beauty and cultural relevance of the Pend Oreille River Valley.” The Salmo Passage Trail is now open for public use. Questions about it can be directed to the [Newport-Sullivan Lake District](https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/colville/recreation/newport-sullivan-lake-ranger-district?ref=rangemedia.co) at 509-447-7300\. *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Doctors in rural WA reject faith pledge URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/doctors-in-rural-wa-reject-faith-pledge/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T21:38:38.000Z In May, Newport Hospital District inked an agreement with an anti-abortion nonprofit that would allow some of its doctors to provide reproductive health care through the nonprofit’s pregnancy services center in Sandpoint, across the border in Idaho. The agreement would have partly filled a hole in the healthcare landscape in North Idaho, which OB-GYNs — doctors who provide a range of reproductive health services — have essentially abandoned because of the state’s anti-abortion law that came into effect in August, 2022. But on June 2, the day services were supposed to start, Kevin McNamee, the Newport Hospital and Health Services doctor assigned to the shift, was presented with what the district says was a surprise. The 7B Health Clinic, part of a “nonprofit ministry committed to seeing every mother, father, child, and family healthy and thriving in Christ,” wanted him to sign a statement professing "sexual purity," not being in a gay marriage and a relationship with “Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior." [StatementStatement.pdf90 KBdownload-circle](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/2026/07/Statement.pdf "Download") McNamee, who declined to comment on this story, refused, and the district canceled the agreement the next day. The district’s CEO Kim Manus said in a report to the Newport hospital's administration and board of commissioners she learned of the statement of faith the same day McNamee did. “The District was not informed during negotiations that its providers would be required to individually subscribe to religious doctrines, ministry principles, or additional conditions of participation as a prerequisite to providing services,” Chief Financial Officer Justin Peters wrote in a letter to 7B Care Clinic terminating the PSA dated June 3. In a letter to the district’s board on June 10, 7B Care Clinic Executive Director Janine Shepard disputed this. [Clinic letter to districtClinic letter to district.pdf1 MBdownload-circle](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/2026/07/Clinic-letter-to-district.pdf "Download") “We were surprised by the assertion that the Statement of Faith and Statement of Principle were not disclosed prior to execution of the agreement or that their existence was concealed during negotiations.” The nonprofit that runs the center, Shepard asserted, “has always operated as a Christian, faith-based ministry.” That nonprofit is called Life Choices Pregnancy Center, and its mission statement suggests that it refuses employment generally to gay people and people who are not married and having sex. Shepard did not return a request for comment on this story. The 7B clientele has [grown](https://19thnews.org/2026/05/idaho-anti-abortion-pregnancy-center-obstetricians-maternity-care/?ref=rangemedia.co) since Bonner General Hospital [closed its labor and delivery unit](https://abcnews.com/Health/idaho-hospital-ending-labor-delivery-services-amid-political/story?id=98038409&ref=rangemedia.co) and its [OB-GYNs moved out of state](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/after-idahos-strict-abortion-ban-ob-gyns-stage-a-quick-exodus/?ref=rangemedia.co) three years ago, when Idaho enacted laws to punish doctors for abortion care. According to news reports, the closure left a hole in reproductive health services in Sandpoint and surrounding rural communities. “The intent of the collaboration was to provide access to maternity care and safe deliveries,” said Newport Hospital spokesperson Jenny Smith in an email. Under the agreement, the district would have made services available one day every other week, depending on physicians’ availability. All providers must be licensed to practice medicine in Washington and Idaho. The clinic would pay $200 per hour for the services. Law professor Richard Seamon of the University of Idaho said the collapse of the agreement represents two different sides of the same coin. He cited the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, which prevents the government from interfering with someone’s religion. “In this example, the governmental entity would be the hospital, and they could not target a contractor based on their religious beliefs,” Seamon said. “However, the idea of requiring a provider to sign a Statement of Faith they don’t subscribe to infers a different constitutional doctrine called compelled speech, which in this case means Life Choices cannot force others to support viewpoints they don’t agree with.” In the document, Life Choices Pregnancy Center, which quotes scripture on the [home page](https://www.lifechoicespc.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) of its website, outlines its mission, vision and statement of faith. The statement asserts that the center provides clients information about prenatal development and potential abortion risks, but that the clinic will not recommend abortion or abortion-causing drugs. Neither will they recommend contraceptives for unmarried women. “Married women and their husbands seeking this information are urged to counsel with their pastor and physician,” the document reads. “We are committed to presenting the Gospel of our Lord to women and men faced with unplanned pregnancies, both in word and deed,” the statement says. It goes on to say pregnancy center staff, board members, directors and volunteers are “expected to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and to conduct their lives in accordance with Biblical principles." “Thus, each person who is single must be committed to sexual purity and those married must be in a heterosexual marriage consisting of one biological man and one biological woman,” the statement says. Physicians working for the hospital district and providing services at 7B Care Clinic would be required by the pregnancy center to sign the statement under the words, “I have read and agree fully with the above statements.” Manus said the district severed the agreement the day after she learned of the statement. Shepard goes on to say in her letter that during the negotiation process, she raised the issue of our Statement of Faith and asked whether participating providers would be willing to sign it. Shepard said that one of the Newport doctors said that all of the providers listed were Christian and, “It would not be a problem.” Additionally, she said that copies of the Statement of Faith were provided to district CFO Peters at a meeting held at Newport Hospital on April 29, and that Peters distributed the copies to those in attendance. “Had we been informed at that time that the Statement of Faith presented a concern or conflict for the District or its providers, we would have welcomed the opportunity to discuss the issue further before significant time and resources were invested by either party,” Shepard said. Spokesperson Smith denied that any district staff were aware of the statement of faith beforehand. “The doctor Shephard mentions had not seen the statement of faith, nor anyone else from \[the hospital\] during the process of the agreement,” Smith said. While the agreement's description of services does require that doctors will not discuss abortion or birth control with 7B Care Clinic clients, Manus maintains in her report that at no point was the statement of faith brought up in negotiations. “I personally attended the meeting; a copy of this document was not handed out,” Manus said. Seamon said legal action based on the hospital’s decision to reject the agreement was unlikely. “It’s hard to imagine this resulting in any kind of lawsuit, just sour feelings and much-needed services not happening,” Seamon said. “If I was talking to my students about this particular incident, I would encourage a third party coming in and mitigating between Life Choices and the hospital district because the ultimate goal would be to get the two entities to work out their differences so clients can be helped.” *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Candidate Survivor: Spokane's Spiciest Candidate Forum URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/candidate-survivor-spokanes-spiciest-candidate-forum/ Last updated: 2026-07-21T21:49:25.000Z Last year, we spiced up the Spokane City Council election season with a [forum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBsp2NvysdI&ref=rangemedia.co) unlike any other, forcing local candidates to eat spicy wings and answer even spicier questions. It was a smashing success — thanks in no small part to so many amazing people in the community.This election season, we’re dreaming even bigger. We’re partnering with Washington’s premier youth-led civic engagement organization The Washington Bus Education Fund to marry two strong flavors: their focus on young voters, and our spice. On July 30 at Overbluff Cellars from 5 to 9 pm, we’ll be hosting Candidate Survivor: Spokane's Spiciest Candidate Forum. So mark your calendars for July 30 and [get your tickets here while they last](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2292562?ref=rangemedia.co). Still need to hear more? A discerning reader! We’ve invited candidates running for Washington’s 5th Congressional District, 3rd Legislative District and 6th Legislative District to get onstage and face the fire. Why is it so important to us to put these candidates on the hot seat? Sadism? Schadenfreude? If we said yes to either, would you blame us? Much more importantly, though: At RANGE, we believe engagement in local politics should be accessible to voters. We want to remove barriers standing between you and being an informed community member and voter — whether that’s by demystifying complicated policies or making civic engagement feel fun. We do this because we believe everyone should have the tools to hold politicians’ feet to the fire, wherever you, or they, fall on the political spectrum. But last year confirmed what we suspected: politicians have more body parts than just feet, and there’s nothing more fun than holding their mouths to the fire as well. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-5bc2c79d-a068-4130-b16e-cf5302f5d864.jpeg) Sellers looks down at her hot wings in dismay. Photo by Sandra Rivera. The evening will kick off with an informal social hour at 5 pm. From 6 to 8 pm, State legislative candidates from districts 3 and 6 will answer individualized questions handcrafted by RANGE reporter Erin Sellers. Then, they’ll go head-to-head against other candidates in their race, “buzzing in” by eating spicy hot wings from a local chef if they want to answer a question. At 8 pm, six candidates running to represent Washington’s 5th District in Congress will take the stage, where they will answer questions in rounds. After each round, the audience (yes, you!) will be given the power to vote a candidate “off the island,” so to speak, until just two candidates are left onstage. Then, they will go head-to-head, eating hot wings and answering spicy questions tailored to their campaigns. Join us at the end of the month for some of the sweatiest democracy you’ll ever see, and don’t forget — civic engagement is hot, and if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the candidacy! Tickets are available on a sliding scale ranging from completely free for those experiencing economic hardship to $30, with an optional food add-on if you want dinner! We want to keep all our election content to be as accessible as possible so everyone can be an informed voter, but transparently, we’ve also got food and venue rental costs to cover here, so: pick the price that feels doable for you, and if you’ve got extra in your pocket this month, you can take a $30 ticket to cover costs for someone who needs a free ticket! Get em now 👇 [Click here to buy tickets](https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rangemedia/2292562?ref=rangemedia.co) ### PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES\* #### Congressional District 5 Andrew Bartleson Carmela Conroy Kevin Fagan Richard Freudenberg Bajun Mavalwalla David Womack #### Legislative District 3, position 1 Natasha Hill Tony Kiepe #### Legislative District 3, position 2 Luc Jasmin III Pam Kohlmeier Natalie Poulson #### Legislative District 6, position 1 Alan Nolan Nicolette Ocheltree Michaela Kelso #### Legislative District 6, position 2 Jonathan Bingle Aaron Croft Julia Payne The following candidates received invitations but did not respond by the deadline: Congressman Michael Baumgartner, John Kness (L3, position 1) and Isaiah Paine (L6, position 1). Nate Powell (Congressional district 5) initially confirmed, then cancelled to attend a donor fundraiser. ### Spokane city shifts to new council schedule with legislative meetings on Wednesdays URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-shifts-to-new-council-schedule-with-legislative-meetings-on-wednesdays/ Last updated: 2026-07-13T23:34:55.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - You might have noticed the “On Wednesdays we go to council meetings,” marketing campaign from the Spokane City Council, but if you didn’t, here’s your reminder: legislative meetings have officially switched to Wednesdays. - At the new WEDNESDAY meeting, the city council could approve a grant to help safely store sexual assault kits, appoint ten members to the newly formed Spokane Urban Native Advisory Council and appoint former city council director Giacobbe Byrd to a new position: City Clerk. - It’s not just legislative meetings that have found new days: Spokane City Council’s Agenda Review meetings (where they finalize the agenda for the following legislative meeting) and committee meetings have moved to Tuesdays. - The Spokane Transit Authority is meeting this week and will discuss financial health indicators, including numbers showing they’re both under budget on expenses and bringing in more revenue than expected — truly a sign of a healthy transit agency. - The BOCC will weigh a proposed contract with the Washington state Office of Public Defense to distribute $941,297 for “improving the quality of public defense” in Spokane County. - The Spokane Valley City Council may spend nearly $200,000 in marketing for the auto dealerships along Sprague Avenue, which staffers identified as an important sales tax revenue source for the city. - The Spokane Airport board is warning us all that parking will be much more complicated this summer as it consolidates two lots. ## Spokane City Council **??/5 peppers** ### Mondays are out. Wednesdays are in. This is the week that the Spokane City Council moves to their new schedule, which means we all have a lot of new things to get used to. First — there’s no meeting tonight! Instead, the council will hold their legislative meeting on Wednesday at 6 pm. Another new thing to get used to is that there’s no official agenda online for review. Instead, we can see the agenda for the council’s agenda review session — which takes place on Tuesday — where they will finalize the Wednesday agenda. The final agenda will presumably be posted after that meeting. ### Testimony changes The other major change to the city council meetings is the format of testimony, which is designed to frontload testimony on items when they’re in their first and second readings and can be more easily changed, rather than when they’re up for a final vote. You can now sign up for: - Express Testimony: allows you to speak at the beginning of the meeting for three total minutes on any items on the council agenda, including ordinances and resolutions. If you sign up for this time, you won’t be able to speak again unless it’s for Hearings and Open Forum at the end of the meeting. Express testimony was created to allow people who can’t stay for the whole meeting to speak to the council. - Final Hearing Testimony: allows you to testify for three minutes on each final hearing. - Proposed Legislative Testimony: allows you to testify for two minutes on the proposed legislative section as a whole (as opposed to two minutes per item) which is made up of items that are getting their first reading. - Pending Legislative Testimony: allows you to testify for two minutes on each individual item in the pending legislative section, which is made up of items getting their second reading, typically scheduled for a third and final reading plus vote the following week. - Final Legislative Testimony: allows you to testify for two minutes on the final legislative section as a whole, which is all items that will be voted on that night. - Open Forum: allows you to testify for two minutes total on affairs of the city, other than what’s on the legislative agenda. This is held at the end of the meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > **WEDNESDAY, July 15 at 6 pm** > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Agenda Review Session Starting tomorrow: Tuesdays at 11 am is when the final city council agendas will be finalized. This will allow council members to make additions, subtractions or amendments to the agenda while giving the public more notice that something has changed. Gone are the days when you show up to testify, only to learn that the item you felt passionately about was deferred at the agenda review meeting just a few hours earlier. Now, there will be at least 24 hours and an agenda posted after this meeting that actually accurately reflects what’s happening at legislative sessions. Here are some important things likely to show up on the final agenda for Wednesday. The council could: - Hold a second read of a resolution officially stating their support for Proposition 1, the Spokane Transit Authority ballot measure to renew an existing 0.2% sales tax that funds public transportation services. - Vote to appoint [10 people to the newly formed Spokane Urban Native Advisory Council](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2026/05/28/city-to-establish-spokane-urban-native-advisory-council/?ref=rangemedia.co), including Spokane School Board President Jenny Slagle, The NATIVE Project CEO [Toni Lodge](https://www.inlander.com/healthandhome/health/three-decades-in-toni-lodge-continues-building-community-for-future-generations-through-the-native-project/article%5F13229049-d3ee-5779-9698-15f4a7d39b92.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and Yoyot Sp'q'n'i executive director Angel Tomeo Sam. - Vote to accept a $72,500 from the Department of Justice to purchase two evidence refrigerators for the Spokane Police Department, as part of [an initiative](https://wasaki.atg.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) to process and test sexual assault kits. - Vote to confirm previous city council director Giacobbe Byrd as the new city clerk, a move that would place him in the mayor’s office and which council members have equally congratulated him for and bemoaned. Some reporters feel compelled to do the same: As council members say, we’re going to take a “point of privilege,” and thank Byrd for his work, which included telling this reporter how to correctly spell the names of people who signed up testify, answering urgent agenda-related questions and getting a power strip installed at the media desk so reporter laptops could charge and survive marathon meetings. - Vote on an ordinance to create the “right to cooling” for renters — although this has a proposed amendment on the table, which could delay its approval. The amendment, submitted by Council Members Paul Dillon, Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis, would define cooling equipment as “central air conditioning, an evaporative cooler, or a portable cooling device.” It removes any kind of temperature requirement and instead requires adequate cooling in at least one room in the unit effective immediately, regardless of temperature, allowing tenants to purchase their own cooling unit and deduct up to $500 from rent if the landlord doesn’t rectify it in a timely fashion. By 2032, all bedrooms in a unit will be required to have adequate cooling. There is also a path for other remedies, like allowing tenants to get out of their leases if landlords do not comply. If the amendment is adopted on Tuesday, the ordinance will need two more readings, with the earliest date for a vote being July 29th, unless the council declares an emergency. - Hold first and second reads on a whole bunch of other stuff! Read the full proposed agenda at the link below. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/review-agendas/?ref=rangemedia.co) > **TUESDAY, June 14 at 11 am** > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee The days for committee meetings are changing too, and so are the times! The council committees will now be held Tuesdays at 1 pm. There’s not a ton of wildly interesting stuff on the list for PIES this week, but we did get a nearly $300,000 grant to pay for utility improvements for the Spokane Rise Apartments, an affordable housing project in Northeast Spokane. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > **TUESDAY, July 14 at 1 pm** > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### New funding for public defense? The BOCC will weigh a proposed contract with the Washington state Office of Public Defense to distribute $941,297 for “improving the quality of public defense” in Spokane County. The county was recently sued in Pend Oreille County Court for allegedly not providing enough resources to public defenders. The money could be allocated to the following goals, taken verbatim from [the contract](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2314/files/attachment/22153?ref=rangemedia.co). - Creating or expanding a county or regional public defense agency - Funding an attorney coordinator to manage public defense attorney contracts - Adding attorneys to reduce public defense caseloads - Adding investigator services - Adding expert services - Increasing public defense attorney compensation - Providing public defense services at preliminary appearance calendars - Providing social work or sentencing mitigation as part of public defense representation - Providing interpreter services for attorney-client interviews and communications - Reimbursement of training costs - Investment in technological solutions (like case management systems) - Paying membership dues to organizations that support public defense training, practice, or advocacy - Increase support staff to reduce attorney workloads - Professional evaluation of public defense system performance by a public defense expert ### Another round of appliance assistance on the docket Spokane County’s Housing & Community Development Department is asking the board to accept $630,000 in state funding to reimburse homes for installing more efficient electric appliances. The money would be focused on low-income households. Last year, the same program served more than 100 homes. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 14 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### County may relax demolition fees for Upriver fire victims The BOCC could reduce the fee required for permission to demolish a building for people whose homes were damaged in the Upriver fire that burned at least 15 homes and killed at least one person last month. The normal fee to destroy a building is $45 per 1,000 square feet. The county Building and Planning Department wants to reduce it to $27.12. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 14 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Hearing on Critical Areas Ordinance change A public hearing on [changes](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/71853/PC-Workshop-Draft%5FSpokane-CAO%5Fredline%5F2026-05-20?bidId=&ref=rangemedia.co) to the Critical Areas Ordinance, which defines and designates physical environments that should be protected and focuses on flooding, will be held. Those changes include revisions to categories of wetland that will exclude “aspen-dominant forested wetlands larger than one-quarter acre” from the most protected category. There are large aspen-dominated forests in the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, which the US Fish & Wildlife Department manages; in The Hangman Creek watershed; and the Dishman Hills Conservation Area among other areas in the county. The state Department of Ecology [objected](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/71203/AgencyComm%5FDeptOfEcology%5FCAO%5F20260429?ref=rangemedia.co) to this change in April. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 16 at 4:30 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Financial Health We love a financially healthy transit agency, and according to data to be presented at the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors meeting this Thursday, it looks like we have one. In 2026 so far, STA has both spent less money than they predicted and made more money than they expected. Grants, ridership revenue and sales tax have all come in better than expected for the agency, putting them nearly $5 million above predictions on revenue, and expenses about $4 million under expected. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 16 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Contract for parking consolidation The Spokane International Airport is embarking on a [$48 million construction project](https://des.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-03/2026-02-26-Spokane-International-Airport-parking-garage-expansion-DB-presentation.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) to consolidate its economy and C Concourse parking lots. The project is expected to complicate summer travel, and the airport [is advising](https://spokaneairports.net/parking-info?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=arrive%20at%20the%20Airport%20at%20least%20two%20hours) travelers to arrive two hours before flights. The board is set to award the contract for the project at its Thursday meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, July 16 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Proposal for marketing campaign for car sales Spokane Valley’s economic development team wants to spend $184,533 on a marketing and relationship-building campaign to support its “[Auto Row District](https://discoverspokanevalley.com/auto-row/?utm%5Fsource=116%26West&utm%5Fmedium=GooglePaidSearch&utm%5Fcampaign=AutoRow&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=23802592783&gbraid=0AAAAAqWkgOVsu6Ea-kUKYbqeDKAga-IVr&gclid=CjwKCAjwmdLSBhANEiwAkREMN4ePQ14gEuIzBTThvZHpQVUqxvE8tSuJK-RHqO7UXM33D3xX87H40RoCumYQAvD%5FBwE),” a two-mile stretch of Sprague Avenue that contains at least 10 large car dealerships. The city considers the district the Inland Northwest’s largest car sales hub and one of the most important generators of sales tax revenue. By the average sticker price of a new Ameican car and the less-than-1% sales tax set by Spokane Valley, dealers would have to sell 442 cars to pay off the spend. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 14 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Six bikes, a set of wheels, and a seat URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/bikes-wheels-and-a-seat/ Last updated: 2026-07-10T14:00:48.000Z On this week’s episode, RANGE reporters Erin Sellers and Daniel Walters were joined by Lauren Pangborn to talk about all things urbanism, bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects, and how different infrastructure projects have been approached over the years. Lauren is RANGE’s Urbanism Columnist, serves as the Chairperson of Spokane’s [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co), and a member of the [Transportation Commission](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/transportation-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co). You can reach Lauren at [bikeroutehelp@rangemedia.co](mailto:bikeroutehelp@rangemedia.co). The trio also analyzed the data of Daniel’s stolen bikes and bike parts, which you can find in Erin's story below: [It’s been two years. You still can’t use the bike lockers at City HallAmidst a dedicated push to lower traffic fatalities and increase bicycle ridership, one promise has gone unfulfilled: public bike lockers downtown.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-abb66be6-0d40-4582-8fb7-6a73de78e729.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Web-photo-4-26fe64d4-a258-403f-9449-9022518cf7e4.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/bike-lockers-spokane-city-hall-urbanism/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### For a Yakima Valley farmworker, Trump’s immigration crackdown prompts a wrenching decision to self-deport URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/yakima-valley-farmworker-self-deports/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T23:05:32.000Z [Para una trabajadora agrícola del valle de Yakima, la represión migratoria de Trump provoca la dolorosa decisión de autodeportarseUna innovadora en los huertos de manzanas se separa de su familia para regresar a México. Un proyecto de ley bipartidista que podría legalizar a muchos trabajadores indocumentados tiene dificultades para conseguir una audiencia en el congreso.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-d7036924-dd0b-46d9-88d2-7b87b8e89457.png)RANGE MediaHal Bernton![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/flor2-1-8987e18a-2926-480e-bfae-e66082f43cf4.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/trabajadora-agricola-autodeportacion/) In early January, Flor Sánchez departed from her Yakima Valley home in Sunnyside, leaving behind her husband and then six-year-old son — both U.S. citizens — to self-deport to Sinaloa, Mexico. For 12 years, she worked in the fruit orchards of central Washington, one of thousands of undocumented men and women who remain a vital part of the labor force in a region that produces most of the nation’s apples. Sánchez, 41, had hoped to gain legal residency in the United States. But after speaking with attorneys she learned that was unlikely due to two illegal border crossings she made into the United States that created a big hurdle under federal immigration law. Last fall, the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown spread through central Washington. Some farmworkers who were arrested in central Washington languished for months at a Tacoma detention center where the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights has [documented](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/projects/immigrant-rights-observatory/conditions-at-the-northwest-detention-center/?ref=rangemedia.co) medical neglect, unsafe food and other abuses. Fearing a similar fate, Sánchez made the wrenching decision to go on her own terms. She would depart Sunnyside on a bus destined for Tijuana along with her eldest son – even though that meant splitting up her family. “They never came after me. But they came after people close to me. People who I knew at work, whose family members were deported.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Flor--family-1.jpg) The first photo shows Flor Sánchez celebrating her 40th birthday with her family before leaving. The second photo is of her and her eldest son, Seth Jesus (photos courtesy of Flor Sánchez). Sánchez is part of a broader wave of immigrant workers who have self-deported from Washington and other states during the second year of the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown. In the Yakima Valley, this difficult-to-quantify exodus appears to be on the rise as federal immigration agents — after a brief winter dip in enforcement efforts — have picked up the pace of detentions. Those who have self-deported include immigrants who want to avoid arrest as well as family members of detained immigrants who have agreed to return to their home countries. “They’re trying to scare people into leaving, and it’s working,” said Danielle Surkatty, a volunteer with the Yakima Immigrant Response Network, who keeps a collection of donated suitcases in her basement that she increasingly has handed out to people opting to self-deport. ### ‘Come out of the shadows’ The pressures facing these undocumented immigrants are unlikely to ease anytime soon. When seeking reelection, Donald Trump [called](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biSErUpOfBc&ref=rangemedia.co) for the “largest deportation operation in U.S. history.” Since moving into the White House, his Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, Stephen Miller, has repeatedly pushed for wide-ranging enforcement efforts now bankrolled through a nearly $70 billion, three-year funding bill signed into law June 10 that includes more money for detention centers. But the administration’s immigration policies also have faced increased pushback. Some Republicans have called for a more narrow focus on undocumented immigrants with criminal records rather than widespread sweeps such as those conducted by the Department of Homeland Security during the winter surge of federal agents into Minnesota. That surge triggered widespread community resistance, which intensified as federal agents fatally shot two protesters. During a March Senate hearing, Sen. Tom Tillis, R-North Carolina , [lashed out ](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5764905-tillis-slams-noem-leadership/?ref=rangemedia.co)against arrest quotas that federal agents had been under pressure to meet. He lectured then Department Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that the total number of arrests doesn’t matter. “Quality matters. Not quantity – quality,” Tillis declared. Other Republicans support more wide-ranging immigration reform. They have backed House legislation that would offer legal residency, but not citizenship, to undocumented workers who have been in the U.S. for at least five years and have no criminal record. The [Dignidad (Dignity) Act](https://salazar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/salazar.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-dignity-act-2025.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) is championed by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami who introduced the legislation last July along with Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, Texas. The bill attempts to seek bipartisan compromise that includes provisions to streamline – and dramatically speed up – the processing of asylum applicants and require employers to use E-Verify, a federal online service that can confirm whether a new hire is eligible to work in the U.S. Salazar has repeatedly [called on Congress](https://salazar.house.gov/dignity-act?ref=rangemedia.co) to pass this bill and enable undocumented workers to “come out of the shadows,” and keep working jobs — such as harvesting crops — that are vital to the U.S. economy. She has talked about the importance of keeping families together, and has included provisions to ease the hurdles faced by more than 4 million undocumented immigrants, such as Flor Sánchez, who are married to U.S. citizens. The bill has gained 19 other Republican co-sponsors, including outgoing Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse, whose family operates a 850-acre farm in Sunnyside that relies on immigrant labor to help cultivate hops. So far, 20 Democrats also have backed the bill. But the bill faces formidable opposition and, nearly a year after being introduced, has yet to even gain a hearing in the House. Some House Democrats have balked at the terms of the compromise that offers only legal residency. Fifty, including Washington Reps. Adam Smith and Pramila Jayspal have opted to co-sponsor alternative legislation proposed by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, that would offer immigrants over time the opportunity to become a citizen over time. Meanwhile, many congressional Republicans deride the bill as unjustified amnesty for those that have broken immigration laws. This group has a powerful White House ally in Miller, the deputy chief of staff who is a longtime opponent of offering any legal status to undocumented immigrants. But Salazar’s bill has gained the backing of dozens of industry trade associations, chambers of commerce and faith organizations. And she has repeatedly maintained that Trump, who in June 2025 told reporters that farmers [have “very good workers”](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/us/politics/trump-farmers-hotels-immigration.html?ref=rangemedia.co) who should not be sent back to their home countries, will eventually emerge as the “the Abraham Lincoln” of immigration reform and rally around her bill. "We still have over 10 million people or more working in construction, hospitality, agriculture, dairies, fisheries and slaughterhouses who are undocumented but are not criminals — human beings invisible to the average American, but without them, we will not have food by Friday," Salazar said when she introduced the bill last year. "Yes, they broke the law, but someone gave them a job because they needed those workers." ### An orchard innovator Sánchez, before she left her Sunnyside home, was one of the immigrants who filled the need for labor in Central Washington, where agricultural workers have been in [chronically short suppl](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/washingtons-farmworkers-are-disappearing/?ref=rangemedia.co)y amid a 21st century expansion of orchards and vineyards. Growers increasingly have turned to employing foreign workers brought into the region under H-2A temporary visas. But many growers still rely — either in part or entirely — on a local resident workforce, which draws heavily from the ranks of some 32,000 Yakima County men and women who lack legal status, according to a 2023 report by the [Migration Policy Institute](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/US?ref=rangemedia.co). These workers, who often are only able to work with the aid of false documentation, are largely from Mexico, according to the institute’s reports that estimated the total number of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the United States at 5.5 million. Sánchez was raised in the southwestern state of Guerrero, where poverty and violence linked to drug trafficking prompted many to immigrate to the United States during the last two decades. She first left in 2013, making a treacherous border crossing on foot.Later, she moved to central Washington, where she found ample orchard work as growers expanded acreage and shifted to higher-density tree plantings. She rose before dawn to pick cherries in the early morning hours when cool temperatures minimize the risk of fruit bruising and spent the late summer and fall picking apples. In an industry where men still claim most of the leadership roles, her formidable stamina and skills helped her to gain a job as a crew boss, supervising some 24 or 30 workers this past fall. Sánchez also was an innovator, developing a new hand tool — a long pole with a fork-like snipper — to assist in thinning excess blooms and young fruit overlooked by her crew. For seven months, she consulted with Oregon State University engineering students to refine and improve the device. The collaboration was chronicled [in a 2025 video ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0aaxn-AqE&ref=rangemedia.co)made by Semillero de Ideas (Hotbed of Ideas), an organization that assists farmworkers in sharing their knowledge about how to improve their jobs. In the video Sánchez was asked what she wanted for her community of farmworkers. “First, I would want recognition that the work we do in the fields should not be undervalued, “ Sánchez responded . “Here in the fields, there are so many people with potential ... there are many ideas here.“ In 2016, Sánchez returned to Mexico to spend time with her ailing father. She cared for him, then hoped to obtain permission to enter the United States legally by requesting asylum at a port of entry. She cited the violence in Guerrero as the reason. However, a federal official told her that violence was present everywhere, and her request was denied, she said in an interview with RANGE. Frustrated by the rejection and lacking an understanding of the immigration system's complexities, she decided to once again cross the border on foot without authorization in 2017. She met her husband, Robert Ramos in the summer of 2017, when they were both working in a fruit orchard. Sánchez and her son, Seth Jesus, settled with Ramos in a modest apartment in Sunnyside, a Yakima County town of 16,000 that is more than 80% Latino and a major hub of the farmworker community. In 2019, their family expanded with the birth of their son, Emanuel. Ramos had legally immigrated to the United States under a visa program, and later was able to become a naturalized citizen. He hoped that his wife would be able to gain legal residency. But when they consulted immigration attorneys during the Biden Administration, they were told that that was unlikely. A [1996 law](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/illegal-immigration-reform-and-immigrant-responsibility-act-1996-iiraira?ref=rangemedia.co) created a major hurdle, barring undocumented immigrants with two illegal entries from gaining residency even if they were married to a U.S. citizen. That law required Sánchez to leave the United States for 10 years before applying for legal status. “That’s when I started crying,” Sánchez recalls. Ramos was angry, blaming the Biden Administration. He was a U.S. citizen, and still his wife could not be assured of a life in this country even as -– under Biden — [more than 5.8 million](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-immigration-legacy?ref=rangemedia.co) immigrants entered to apply for asylum or under programs such as humanitarian parole that granted temporary legal status. In the 2024 election, he cast his ballot for Trump. “I was just really angry at the time,” Ramos said. ### A renewed sense of dread Sánchez’s second border crossing after visiting her sick father was a perilous one: a densely foggy day, sirens blaring somewhere close by, likely from border patrol. She was alone, with a coyote smuggler on the other end of her cell phone guiding her and telling her to run straight, because she couldn’t see around her. “This was terrifying,” she recalled. She felt a renewed sense of dread last fall as the Department of Homeland Security ramped up enforcement efforts in Yakima County. Agents circulated through communities, detaining people as they shopped, bought gas or commuted to work. By the end of 2025, federal agents operating in Yakima County had taken 477 people into custody. This represented the highest 2025 arrest rate per capita of any county in Oregon or Washington, according to a [University of Washington analysis](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/03/11/new-data-on-pnw-immigration-enforcement-reveal-powerful-surge-in-late-2025/?ref=rangemedia.co) of data from the Department of Homeland Security. “As I watched the raids increase in intensity, it increased my desire to leave,” Sánchez said. By the end of December, she was planning her departure. She would go with her eldest son, Seth Jesus, who was 12 at the time and—like his younger brother—had been born in the United States. They would first return to Guerrero to visit her family, then settle in central Sinaloa in the unfinished house that her husband had been slowly building as a retirement home. The Trump Administration has offered what the Department of Homeland Security bills as a “historic opportunity” for illegal immigrants who opt to self-deport. They can reportedly receive a free flight home as well as a [$2,600 “exit bonus”](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/18/us/dhs-self-deport-project-homecoming-invs?ref=rangemedia.co) paid by U.S. taxpayers. Sánchez said she was not aware of the federal aid. But her mistrust of the Trump Administration is so profound that, even if she had known, she says she would not have contacted the Department of Homeland Security. “Was it just being used as bait, and then they would throw you into a detention center?” she asked. ### Adapting to changes In Sunnyside, Sánchez’s husband Ramos is trying to adjust to life as a single parent. Before the summer break, he shuttled their younger son, now 7, to and from elementary school. He was also recovering from a foot operation and had been unable to work in recent months, but he hopes to save up enough money to visit his wife in the fall. In the meantime, Flor’s absence looms large. Ramos says his son is like him, able to adapt to changing circumstances. But one night, several months after his mother’s departure, he teared up when Emanuel started hugging a plushie, pretending it was his mom. Sánchez, who now lives in a Sinaloan community of about 800 people, has begun what she views as a kind of decade-long exile that she hopes will allow her to one day reunite her family back in the United State As of mid-June, she was still searching for work. Though the cost of living is lower in Sinaloa, the pay is also drastically lower – with a laborer often earning less than $25 a day there compared to wages of more than $150 a day in Yakima. Sánchez said she is wary of going to work in the often-fierce heat of the fruit and vegetable fields, recounting a heat stroke she suffered in the Yakima County orchards. So, she is considering a warehouse job but she lacks a car to visit potential job sites. Her eldest son, Seth Jesus, graduated 6th grade in July as he also navigates the massive changes to his entire life and his family. Sánchez said he would be returning to Sunnyside. She is relieved to be free of the threat of incarceration by immigration agents. But the separation of her family is a deep and enduring pain. Every day, she video calls to Sunnyside and yearns for the day she will reunite with her youngest, Emanuel. “I only ask God to give me patience until the time my husband can bring him to me,” she said. “It has been a tremendous sacrifice we are going through.” ### Para una trabajadora agrícola del valle de Yakima, la represión migratoria de Trump provoca la dolorosa decisión de autodeportarse URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trabajadora-agricola-autodeportacion/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T23:06:05.000Z [For a Yakima Valley farmworker, Trump’s immigration crackdown prompts a wrenching decision to self-deportAn innovator in the apple orchards separates from her family to return to Mexico. In Congress, a bi-partisan bill to legalize many undocumented workers struggles to gain a hearing.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-ce6c2eb4-66e0-4259-b357-7ccc9aec1938.png)RANGE MediaHal Bernton![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/flor2-39586ad3-5a87-4fd0-9b1f-0b5e3e618ab3.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/yakima-valley-farmworker-self-deports/) A principios de enero, Flor Sánchez se fue de su casa en Sunnyside, en el valle de Yakima, dejando atrás a su marido y a su hijo, quien entonces tenía seis años —ambos ciudadanos estadounidenses— para deportarse voluntariamente a Sinaloa, México. Durante 12 años, Sánchez trabajó en los huertos de frutas del centro de Washington, como una de las miles de personas indocumentadas que siguen siendo una parte vital de la fuerza laboral en una región que produce la mayor parte de las manzanas del país. Sánchez, de 41 años, esperaba obtener la residencia legal en Estados Unidos. Pero después de hablar con abogados, se enteró de que era poco probable debido a dos cruces fronterizos ilegales que realizó para ingresar a los Estados Unidos, lo que creó un gran obstáculo bajo la ley federal de inmigración. El otoño pasado, la represión migratoria de la Administración Trump se extendió por el centro de Washington. Algunos trabajadores agrícolas que fueron arrestados en el centro de Washington sufrieron durante meses en un centro de detención de Tacoma donde el Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Washington ha documentado negligencia médica, alimentos inseguros y otros abusos. Temiendo un destino similar, Sánchez tomó la dolorosa decisión de irse en sus propios términos. Ella partiría de Sunnyside en un autobús con destino a Tijuana junto con su hijo mayor, aunque eso significaba un separo para su familia. “Nunca vinieron a por mí. Pero sí vinieron a por gente cercana a mí. Gente que conocía en el trabajo, sus familiares fueron deportados.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Flor--family.jpg) La primera foto muestra a Flor Sánchez celebrando su cumpleaños con su familia antes de marcharse. La segunda foto es de ella y su hijo mayor, Seth Jesus (fotos cortesía de Flor Sánchez). Sánchez forma parte de una oleada más amplia de trabajadores inmigrantes que se han deportado voluntariamente de Washington y otros estados durante el segundo año de la represión migratoria de la administración Trump. En el valle de Yakima, este éxodo, difícil de cuantificar, parece ir en aumento, ya que los agentes federales de inmigración, tras una breve disminución en las medidas de control durante el invierno, han intensificado las detenciones. Entre quienes se han autodeportado se encuentran inmigrantes que desean evitar ser arrestados, así como familiares de inmigrantes detenidos que han accedido a regresar a sus países de origen. “Están intentando asustar a la gente para que se vaya, y lo están consiguiendo”, dijo Danielle Surkatty, voluntaria de la Red de Respuesta a Inmigrantes de Yakima. En su sótano, Surkatty guarda maletas donadas que cada vez reparte más a personas que optan por la autodeportación. ### ‘Salgan de las sombras’ Es poco probable que las presiones a las que se enfrentan estos inmigrantes indocumentados disminuyan en un futuro próximo. Al buscar la reelección, Donald Trump [prometió](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biSErUpOfBc&ref=rangemedia.co) la “mayor operación de deportación en la historia de Estados Unidos”. Desde que llegó a la Casa Blanca, su subjefe de gabinete para políticas, Stephen Miller, ha presionado repetidamente para que se implementen amplias medidas de control, financiadas ahora a través de un proyecto de ley de casi 70 mil millones de dólares a través de tres años, promulgado el 10 de junio, que incluye más dinero para centros de detención. Sin embargo, las políticas de inmigración de la administración también han enfrentado una creciente oposición. Algunos republicanos piden que se centren más en los inmigrantes indocumentados con antecedentes penales en lugar de realizar redadas generalizadas como las que el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional llevó a cabo durante el despliegue de agentes federales en Minnesota en el invierno. Dicho despliegue provocó una amplia resistencia comunitaria, la cual se intensificó cuando agentes federales abatieron a tiros a dos manifestantes. Durante una audiencia en el Senado en marzo, el senador republicano de Carolina del Norte, Tom Tillis, criticó duramente las cuotas de detención que los agentes federales estaban presionados a cumplir. Tillis reprendió a la entonces secretaria de Seguridad Nacional, Kristi Noem, señalando que el número total de detenciones carece de importancia. “Lo que importa es la calidad. No la cantidad, sino la calidad”, declaró Tillis. Otros republicanos apoyan una reforma migratoria más amplia. Han respaldado un proyecto de ley de la Cámara de Representantes que ofrecería residencia legal, pero no la ciudadanía, a los trabajadores indocumentados que hayan estado en Estados Unidos durante al menos cinco años y no tengan antecedentes penales. La iniciativa conocida como [Dignidad Act](https://salazar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/salazar.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-dignity-act-2025.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) es impulsada por la representante Maria Elvira Salazar, una republicana cubanoamericana de Miami que presentó la legislación en julio pasado junto con la representante Veronica Escobar, una demócrata de El Paso, Texas. El proyecto de ley busca un compromiso bipartidista que incluya disposiciones para simplificar y acelerar drásticamente la tramitación de las solicitudes de asilo y exigir a los empleadores que utilicen E-Verify, un servicio federal en línea que puede confirmar si un nuevo empleado es elegible para trabajar en los Estados Unidos. Salazar ha pedido repetidamente[ que el Congreso](https://salazar.house.gov/dignity-act?ref=rangemedia.co) apruebe este proyecto de ley para permitir que los trabajadores indocumentados “salgan de las sombras” y sigan trabajando en empleos —como la cosecha— que son vitales para la economía estadounidense. Ha hablado sobre la importancia de mantener a las familias unidas y ha incluido disposiciones para facilitar la superación de los obstáculos que enfrentan más de 4 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados, como Flor Sánchez, que están casados ​​con ciudadanos estadounidenses. El proyecto de ley ha conseguido el apoyo de otros 19 copatrocinadores republicanos, entre ellos el representante saliente de Washington, Dan Newhouse, cuya familia gestiona una granja de 850 acres en Sunnyside que depende de la mano de obra inmigrante para el cultivo del lúpulo. Hasta el momento, 20 demócratas también han respaldado el proyecto de ley. Pero el proyecto de ley enfrenta una oposición formidable y, casi un año después de su presentación, aún no ha sido debatido en la Cámara de Representantes. Algunos demócratas de la Cámara se han opuesto a los términos del acuerdo, que solo ofrece la residencia legal. Cincuenta legisladores —entre ellos los representantes de Washington Adam Smith y Pramila Jayapal— han decidido copatrocinar una legislación alternativa propuesta por la representante Zoe Lofgren, demócrata de California, la cual ofrecería a los inmigrantes la oportunidad de convertirse en ciudadanos con el paso del tiempo. Mientras tanto, muchos republicanos del Congreso critican ese proyecto de ley, calificándolo como amnistía injustificada para quienes han infringido las leyes de inmigración. Y este grupo cuenta con un poderoso aliado en la Casa Blanca: Miller, el subjefe de gabinete, quien se ha opuesto durante mucho tiempo a otorgar cualquier estatus legal a los inmigrantes indocumentados. Pero el proyecto de ley impulsado por Salazar ha obtenido el respaldo de decenas de asociaciones comerciales, cámaras de comercio y organizaciones religiosas. Y Salazar ha sostenido que Trump, quien en junio de 2025 dijo a los periodistas que los agricultores tienen “muy buenos trabajadores” que no deberían ser enviados de regreso a sus países de origen, eventualmente se convertirá en el "Abraham Lincoln" de la reforma migratoria y se movilizarán en torno a su proyecto de ley. “Todavía tenemos a más de 10 millones de personas trabajando en la construcción, la hostelería, la agricultura, las lecherías, la pesca y los mataderos que no tienen documentos, pero no son delincuentes; seres humanos invisibles para el estadounidense promedio, pero sin ellos, no tendremos comida para el viernes”, dijo Salazar cuando presentó el proyecto de ley el año pasado. “Sí, rompieron la ley, pero alguien les dio trabajo porque necesitaban a esos trabajadores”. ### Una innovadora en los huertos Sánchez, antes de irse de su hogar en Sunnyside, era una de las inmigrantes que cubrían la demanda de mano de obra en el centro de Washington, donde ha habido una escasez crónica de trabajadores agrícolas en medio de la expansión de huertos y viñedos durante el siglo XXI. Los productores han recurrido cada vez más a la contratación de trabajadores extranjeros bajo visas ​​temporales conocidas como H-2A. Pero muchos productores aún dependen, ya sea en parte o en su totalidad, de una mano de obra local, que se nutre en gran medida de las filas de unos 32,000 hombres y mujeres del condado de Yakima que carecen de estatus legal, según un informe de 2023 del [Instituto de Política Migratoria](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/US?ref=rangemedia.co). Estos trabajadores, que a menudo solo pueden trabajar con la ayuda de documentación falsa, proceden en su mayoría de México, según los informes del instituto, que estiman que el número total de inmigrantes mexicanos indocumentados en Estados Unidos es 5.5 millones. Sánchez se crió en el estado suroccidental de Guerrero, donde la pobreza y la violencia vinculadas al narcotráfico impulsaron a muchos a emigrar a Estados Unidos durante las últimas dos décadas. Se marchó por primera vez en 2013, realizando una peligrosa travesía fronteriza a pie.Más tarde, se mudó al centro de Washington, donde encontró abundante trabajo en los huertos, ya que los agricultores ampliaron sus cultivos y optaron por plantar árboles en mayor densidad. Se levantaba antes del amanecer para piscar cerezas en las primeras horas de la mañana, cuando las temperaturas frescas minimizan el riesgo de que la fruta se dañe, y pasó el final del verano y el otoño cosechando manzanas. En una industria donde los hombres aún ocupan la mayoría de los puestos de liderazgo, su formidable resistencia y habilidades la ayudaron a conseguir un trabajo como jefa de equipo, supervisando a unos 24 o 30 trabajadores el otoño pasado. Sánchez también fue una innovadora, desarrollando una nueva herramienta manual —un palo largo con unas tijeras en forma de horquilla— para ayudar a descuatar el exceso de flores y frutos jóvenes que su equipo pasaba por alto. Durante siete meses, consultó con estudiantes de ingeniería de la Universidad Estatal de Oregón para refinar y mejorar la herramienta. La colaboración fue documentada [en un video de 2025](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0aaxn-AqE&ref=rangemedia.co) por Semillero de Ideas, una organización que ayuda a los trabajadores agrícolas a compartir sus conocimientos sobre cómo mejorar sus empleos. En el video le preguntaron a Flor que quería para su comunidad de trabajadores agrícolas. “Pues primero que nada es el reconocimiento de que el trabajo del field no sea menospreciado”, ella respondió. “Hay mucha gente aquí en el field que tiene mucho futuro … aquí hay muchas ideas”. En el 2016, Sánchez regresó a México para visitar a su padre enfermo y cuidar de él. Después, Sánchez esperaba obtener permiso para entrar legalmente a Estados Unidos mediante una solicitud de asilo en un puerto de entrada. Citó la violencia en Guerrero como motivo. Sin embargo, un funcionario federal le dijo que la violencia estaba presente en todas partes y le su solicitud fue negada, según recordó en una entrevista con RANGE. Frustrada por el rechazo y al no entender la complejidad del sistema inmigratorio, decidió cruzar la frontera por segunda vez sin autorización, a pie en el 2017. En el verano del 2017, mientras descuataban, conoció a su esposo, Roberto Ramos. Sánchez y su hijo, Seth Jesus, se mudaron con Ramos a un modesto apartamento en Sunnyside, un pueblo del condado de Yakima con 16.000 habitantes, donde más del 80% de la población es latina y que constituye un importante centro de la comunidad de trabajadores agrícolas. En 2019, su familia creció con el nacimiento de su hijo, Emanuel. Ramos había inmigrado legalmente a Estados Unidos mediante un programa de visas y, posteriormente, logró obtener la ciudadanía estadounidense. Esperaba que su esposa pudiera obtener la residencia legal. Pero cuando consultaron con abogados de inmigración durante la administración Biden, les dijeron que eso era poco probable. Una l[ey de 1996](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/illegal-immigration-reform-and-immigrant-responsibility-act-1996-iiraira?ref=rangemedia.co) creó un obstáculo grande, porque impedía que los inmigrantes indocumentados con dos entradas ilegales obtuvieran la residencia, incluso si estaban casados ​​con un ciudadano estadounidense. Esa ley exigía que Sánchez abandonara Estados Unidos durante 10 años antes de solicitar la residencia legal. “Fue entonces cuando empecé a llorar”, recuerda Sánchez. Ramos estaba enojado y culpaba a la administración Biden. Era ciudadano estadounidense, y aun así su esposa no podía tener asegurada una vida en este país, incluso bajo el mandato de Biden, cuando [más de 5.8 millones](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-immigration-legacy?ref=rangemedia.co) de inmigrantes entraron para solicitar asilo o ingresaron bajo programas como el permiso humanitario, que otorgaban un estatus legal temporal. En las elecciones de 2024, incluso votó por Trump. “En aquel momento estaba realmente enfadado”, dijo Ramos. ### Una renovada sensación de temor El segundo cruce de frontera de Sánchez, tras visitar a su padre enfermo, fue peligroso: un día de densa niebla, sirenas sonando en algún lugar cercano, probablemente de la patrulla fronteriza. Estaba sola, con un coyote al otro lado de su teléfono celular que la guiaba y le decía que corriera en línea recta, porque no podía ver a su alrededor. “Fue aterrador”, recordó. El otoño pasado, sintió un renovado temor cuando el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional intensificó sus operativos en el condado de Yakima. Los agentes patrullaban las comunidades, deteniendo a personas mientras hacían compras, compraban gasolina o se dirigían al trabajo. Para finales de 2025, los agentes federales que operaban en el condado de Yakima habían detenido a 477 personas. Esto representó la tasa de arrestos per cápita más alta de 2025 de cualquier condado en Oregón o Washington, según un a[nálisis de la Universidad de Washington](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/03/11/new-data-on-pnw-immigration-enforcement-reveal-powerful-surge-in-late-2025/?ref=rangemedia.co) de datos del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional. “Al ver cómo aumentaba la intensidad de las redadas, crecía mi deseo de irme”, dijo Sánchez. A finales de diciembre, ya estaba planeando su partida. Iría con su hijo mayor, Seth Jesus, que entonces tenía 12 años y, al igual que su hermano menor, había nacido en Estados Unidos. Primero regresarían a Guerrero para visitar a su familia y luego se instalarían en el centro de Sinaloa, en la casa que su esposo había estado construyendo poco a poco como su residencia de retiro. La Administración Trump ha ofrecido lo que el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional califica como una "oportunidad histórica" ​​para los inmigrantes indocumentados que opten por la autodeportación. Según se informa, pueden recibir un vuelo gratuito a casa, así como un b[ono de salida de 2600 dólares](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/18/us/dhs-self-deport-project-homecoming-invs?ref=rangemedia.co) pagado por los contribuyentes estadounidenses. Sánchez afirmó desconocer noticias sobre la ayuda federal. Sin embargo, su desconfianza hacia la administración Trump es tan profunda que, incluso si lo hubiera sabido, asegura que no se habría puesto en contacto con el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional. “¿Acaso solo lo usaban como anzuelo para luego meterte en un centro de detención?”, preguntó. ### Adaptarse a los cambios En Sunnyside, el esposo de Sánchez, Ramos, intenta adaptarse a la vida como padre soltero. Antes de las vacaciones de verano, llevaba y recogía a su hijo menor, que ahora tiene 7 años, de la escuela primaria. También se estaba recuperando de una operación de pie y no había podido trabajar en los últimos meses, pero espera ahorrar lo suficiente para visitar a su esposa. Mientras tanto, la ausencia de Flor se hace sentir con fuerza. Ramos dice que su hijo es como él, capaz de adaptarse a las circunstancias cambiantes. Pero una noche, varios meses después de la partida de su madre, se emocionó hasta las lágrimas cuando Emanuel comenzó a abrazar un mono de peluche, fingiendo que era su mamá. Sánchez, que ahora vive en una comunidad de Sinaloa de unas 800 personas, ha comenzado lo que ella considera una especie de exilio de una década que espera le permita algún día reunirse con su familia en los Estados Unidos. A mediados de junio, seguía buscando trabajo. Si bien el costo de vida es menor en Sinaloa, los salarios también son drásticamente más bajos: un trabajador suele ganar menos de 25 dólares al día, en comparación con los más de 150 dólares diarios que se ganan en Yakima. Sánchez comentó que le preocupa trabajar bajo el calor sofocante de los campos de frutas y verduras de Sinaloa, y recordó un golpe de calor que sufrió en los huertos del condado de Yakima. Por eso, está considerando un trabajo en un almacén, pero no tiene coche para visitar posibles lugares de trabajo. Su hijo mayor, Seth Jesus, se graduó de sexto grado en julio, mientras afronta los enormes cambios que se están produciendo en su vida y en la de su familia. Sánchez dijo que su hijo se mudaría de regreso a Sunnyside. Se siente aliviada de estar libre de la amenaza de ser encarcelada por agentes de inmigración. Pero la separación de su familia le causa un dolor profundo y duradero. Todos los días, hace videollamadas a Sunnyside y anhela el día en que se pueda reunir con su hijo menor, Emanuel. “Solo le pido a Dios que me dé paciencia hasta que mi esposo pueda traerlo conmigo”, dijo. “Estamos haciendo un sacrificio enorme”. ### ‘People are risking their lives to do it the right way.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/haitian-people-organize-tps-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T00:06:16.000Z ℹ️ Many of the quotes and details in this story come from local Haitians who asked to remain anonymous due to immigration concerns. Children’s fingerpaintings of crabs dotted the walls of an early learning classroom in North Spokane where about a dozen Haitians and a few allies gathered. It was late June, just days after the Supreme Court decided that the Trump administration could legally end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries. There was sadness hanging in the air as people sat in a circle, perched on colorful kids’ chairs and with their knees forced close to their chests. There was no time to mourn, though. They needed a crisis plan. Day care teachers, a social worker, folks from the Haitian-led nonprofit [Creole Resources](https://creoleresources.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) and Luc Jasmin III, the Eastern Washington representative from the governor’s office — these are the Haitians who know other Haitians, who can help connect people in their community with necessary information. There are roughly [330,000 Haitians](https://thehill.com/policy/international/5941578-trump-administration-tps-win/?ref=rangemedia.co) living in the United States under what had been Temporary Protected Status. About 150 of them reside in Spokane, according to [estimates](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/26/more-than-a-quarter-of-spokane-haitians-at-risk-of/?ref=rangemedia.co) from community leaders, making up about a quarter of the roughly 500 Haitians in the region. Jasmin III and his sister Katia, executive director of Creole Resources, had called the meeting to shore up community resources and communication, looking for a way to make sure every Haitian in Spokane had access to the most up-to-date information, legal assistance when necessary and a phone number to call for help with everyday needs like transportation. They had already been building networks to connect people with pro bono lawyers and housing assistance; but, with the Supreme Court decision, the situation had changed, adding additional urgency to their existing vigilance. First came the long list of hazards the community is facing today. “The bus isn’t safe right now,” Luc told the room. “We need safe ways for everyone in the community to get to and from work.” Everyone following the immigration process required for Temporary Protected Status had given their information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), often including their home addresses and their workplaces. Some of them had even been told to download an app on their phone that tracked their IP address and location in real time. Next was the long list of logistical unknowns: How many Haitians could be reached at church? Who would be unable to attend a meeting with lawyers because Amazon’s Prime Day would keep them working overtime in the warehouse? Who could assist elder members of the community with Zoom, so they could watch recordings explaining their legal rights? And most importantly, who was on Temporary Protected Status? Who could potentially become immediate targets for ICE agents in the area? “It’s very important that we have that list, because ICE already has it,” Luc said, as Katia nodded next to him. “ICE already has everyone’s information … we’re trying to figure out how we can pull everyone in so they don’t pick you up.” Though it can be terrifying to interact with immigration officials under the Trump administration — which has proven to violate immigrants’ rights to due process at times — and being ordered to install tracking software only increases the draconian vibe, Sam Smith, co-founder of local nonprofit Manzanita House, emphasized that failing to do these things, which include attending check-ins with ICE, could result in serious negative consequences. One man knew people who had been detained by ICE while attending their immigration appointments. “They’re walking into the lions’ den,” he said. “People are risking their lives to do it the right way.” “I am heartbroken for the pain and the difficulty that this is causing our Haitian and Syrian community members and all those who know that this is just another indication of how unrestrained this administration is behaving,” Smith said. Despite how overwhelming it can all feel, there are things people can do to ease that fear, Smith said. For instance, people can head to appointments with their attorney or, if they lack legal representation, they can request accompaniment services from organizations like the [Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network ](https://waisn.org/what-we-do/deportation-defense/accompaniment/?ref=rangemedia.co)or the [Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane](https://www.ricspokane.org/contact.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Those in the classroom willing to take on the responsibility would each become a point of contact for certain issues. Haitians needing legal assistance could call Katia, those needing transportation assistance could call Thamar. One woman could coordinate grocery drop-offs, another would handle miscellaneous needs. Everyone would add every community member that they knew to a large group chat where information could be shared and spread. They would hold internal town halls virtually, some on days when child care workers could come, and others on days when warehouse workers typically had days off. They would seek out landlords willing to rent to those with Temporary Protected Status and [employers](https://www.rangemedia.co/haitian-migrants-employers-temporary-protected-status/) willing to [hire them](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-how-to-help-local-haitian-immigrants/). [Creole Resources](https://creoleresources.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) would serve as a hub for taking donations, spreading information and connecting with Haitians who needed help and allies who wanted to give it. Smith said Manzanita House was planning informational and direct-service events in coordination with local Haitian community leaders to ensure the efforts were helpful, directed and reaching immigrants affected by the Supreme Court’s decision. “We’re being somewhat careful about how we’re advertising these events because we are thinking about safety and \[we’re\] not wanting to draw attention to it,” he said. “But if they reach out to our office directly, then we can give them information about what we’re planning.” The local nonprofit is also hoping to partner with Gonzaga’s immigration clinic and is collecting donations to cover asylum application filing fees and translate information into Haitian Creole, Smith told RANGE. Donations can also help the nonprofit organize asylum clinics. As of early Tuesday afternoon, the[ nonprofit had raised](https://manzanitahousespokane.networkforgood.com/projects/302486-tps-emergency-support?ref=rangemedia.co) $2,660 of its $20,000 goal. ### ‘Never given a chance’ Though most of the evening was devoted to crisis planning, there was discussion of the unfairness of the situation: United States foreign policy has contributed to [destabilizing Haiti since before the island nation gained independence from France](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/haitian-rev?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Under%20President%20Thomas,sovereign%2C%20independent%20nation.) in 1801.Now, the U.S. had decided to turn around and carry out mass deportations against the refugees that it helped create. “This refugee crisis is about America reaping what they’ve sown in Haiti: [political interference](https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/read-resignation-letter-from-u-s-special-envoy-for-haiti-daniel-foote/3136ae0e-96e5-448e-9d12-0e0cabfb3c0b/?ref=rangemedia.co); [19 years of occupation](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/haiti?ref=rangemedia.co); 29 years of [propping up dictatorships](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41715031?ref=rangemedia.co) under the Duvalier regime; policies that [harm](https://cepr.net/bill-clinton-apologizes-for-past-rice-policies/?ref=rangemedia.co) the Haitian agriculture; U.S. interference in the 2010 [elections](https://cepr.net/clinton-e-mails-point-to-us-intervention-in-2010-haiti-elections/?ref=rangemedia.co); support to successive puppets and ineffective government; and more recently, ten years of unwavering [support to a regime](https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20210312/111312/HHRG-117-FA00-Wstate-DouyonE-20210312.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) involved in [corruption](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article245045015.html?ref=rangemedia.co), massacres,[ human rights abuses ](https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/press-releases/report-finds-haitian-government-complicit-in-crimes-against-humanity/?ref=rangemedia.co)and repression that brought Haiti to its knees,” Haitian feminist and social justice advocate Emmanuela Douyon [wrote](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/09/10690075/haiti-refugees-us-border?ref=rangemedia.co) for *Refinery29* in 2021, as the Biden administration targeted refugees. The Haitians in the classroom in Spokane that day echoed those words. “We don’t even own our own country anymore,” Luc said. And in *this* country, in this city, the Haitian community has faced virulent racism, both [in-person](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2024-09-23/spokane-haitians-fight-perceptions-from-ohio-stories?ref=rangemedia.co) and [in digital comments sections](https://range-media.ghost.io/spokane-city-council-facebook-hateful-comments/?ref=rangemedia.co). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-e51da694-b392-46ce-a3a3-6c12ab10dbda.png) Luc Jasmin III speaks to a congregation at a church event. Photo by Sandra Rivera. As a child crawled into Katia’s lap to cuddle, a child care worker in the circle — who primarily looks after white children — described hearing white people say they don’t want Haitians here. “I see them as my kids and you’re saying you don’t want us here,” she said. Another man described seeing his fellow Haitians working 16-hour days at some of the hardest jobs while hearing white people claim they’re a drain on resources. “Why don’t they want us here?” he asked. A huge frustration for Katia comes from feeling like her community “was never given a chance.” “People keep saying TPS is temporary,” she said. “But people weren’t given a pathway to apply for next steps.” The Trump administration has [slowed many pathways](https://www.npr.org/2026/04/28/nx-s1-5775869/trump-travel-ban-pause-limbo-professionals?ref=rangemedia.co) to legal status, and [paused processing ](https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/g-s1-130942/temporary-protected-status-program-explainer-supreme-court?ref=rangemedia.co)immigration applications from countries on his travel ban list, which includes Haiti and Syria. Though court rulings ordered the Department of Homeland Security to resume reviewing the paused applications, there has been no quick progress, according to [NPRreporting](https://www.npr.org/2026/06/29/g-s1-130942/temporary-protected-status-program-explainer-supreme-court?ref=rangemedia.co). Julia Gelatt, associate director of U.S. immigration policy at the Migration Policy Institute, told NPR that “most people who have TPS and who have been on TPS for a long time simply don't have any path to permanent legal status in the United States.” One woman in the room said that her husband’s citizenship swearing-in was canceled with no notice after he went through the whole legal process. It has yet to be rescheduled. ### Uncertainty As the Haitian community works to understand the potential legal pathways and immediate threats they could be facing, the refugee community at large is bracing for impact, too. The June 25 court decision gave the Trump administration the power to strip Temporary Protected Status not just from Haitians and Syrians, but from anyone currently able to qualify for it, unless Congress steps in. Without an act of Congress, TPS could end for those from El Salvador on September 9, those from Sudan and Ukraine on October 19 and those from Lebanon on November 27\. Smith said immigrants affected by the loss of TPS who fear returning to their home countries can apply for asylum. Smith explained that while not a guarantee, the loss of TPS in this way has traditionally been considered an exception to the one-year filing window. “But it is important to act quickly if someone is wanting to do so, which is why we’re trying to get the information out there and make sure people are responding timely to best preserve their right to seek protection in the United States and remain in the United States,” he said. Smith encouraged anyone with concerns or questions to reach out to the nonprofit. If Manzanita House is unable to provide legal assistance, they can give them a referral to other legal firms in the Spokane area and across the state. He urged community members to continue fighting for the safety of their neighbors and for the preservation of legal principles and due process no matter how disheartening the outlook may be. “It is incumbent upon all of us … to continue to make noise and to fight and to know that nothing will change unless we make it change,” Smith said. In the face of this uncertainty, the local Haitian community is urging concerned Spokanites to take action by calling Washington U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and encouraging them to support legislation extending Haitian’s Temporary Protected Status until 2029\. This legislation has already passed the House, but stalled in the Senate. “Here in Spokane, our Haitian neighbors are more than a policy debate. They are health care workers caring for patients, caregivers supporting our seniors and children, and employees keeping our businesses running. They have built lives here and strengthened our community,” Mayor Lisa Brown wrote in a statement. “Congress must act now to provide pathways to citizenship for those who want to pursue the American Dream.” How to Help You can send your senators an email [here](https://act.domesticworkers.org/a/tell-congress-protect-haitian-tps-holders?ref=rangemedia.co). If you’re a Haitian community member seeking resources, or an ally who wants to donate to services supporting them, you can do that [here](https://creoleresources.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). To support Manzanita House’s legal services for the Haitian community, click [here](https://manzanitahousespokane.networkforgood.com/projects/302486-tps-emergency-support?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Who is supporting the STA tax renewal this August? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/who-is-supporting-the-sta-tax-renewal-this-august/ Last updated: 2026-07-06T18:38:29.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. It’s another quiet week, but there’s a few meetings happening anyway. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council is cancelled for “Fourth of July week” but will return next **Wednesday** on the new weekly meeting schedule. - Council members will get a briefing on how many tickets have been issued by the automatic cameras to drivers running red lights or speeding in school zones, as well as a presentation from police that includes info on deadly police shootings this year. - The Spokane School District Board of Directors could pass a resolution voicing their official support for the ballot measure renewing the Spokane Transit Authority sales tax. - The Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors will have a special meeting to discuss a status update on 2026 projects, and look forward to budgeting and an action plan for 2027\. - The Spokane County Prosecutor is applying for a $200,000 grant to hire a new team dedicated to assessing domestic living situations for risk of domestic violence. - Spokane County Detention Services is asking the BOCC to strike the word “retaliation” from the policy that defines and bans harassment. ## Spokane City Council The Spokane City Council meeting this week is cancelled “in recognition of Fourth of July Week.” Beginning next week, all Spokane City Council legislative meetings will be on Wednesdays, not the traditional Monday. ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee (special meeting) 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Monthly updates While the Public Safety & Community Health Committee isn’t cancelled, it is a special session this week and will be held on Thursday at 11 am, rather than the usual time. There’s not a ton on the agenda, but we always find the monthly updates interesting: - In the month of May, there were 2,420 violations caught on the red light cameras placed at key intersections in Spokane — an increase of 416 violations from the same period in 2025\. The intersection of eastbound Mission and Greene had the highest number of drivers running red lights, with 484 in that same one-month span. - Also in May, drivers were caught speeding in school zones 2,161 times. This is a decrease from 2025, but the agenda notes that it’s because there’s one less camera: as Adams Elementary is being remodelled, the camera is also shut down. The camera placed by Longfellow Elementary caught the most violations, with 413 in that same one-month period. - Though Spokane Police Department (SPD) had no fatal police shootings in 2025, there have been two in 2026\. Information about each is included in this month’s report. - On February 24, SPD fatally shot a homicide suspect near the Apple Tree Inn, [stating](https://my.spokanecity.org/police/news/2026/02/25/spokane-police-officers-involved-in-a-use-of-deadly-force/?ref=rangemedia.co) he was “uncooperative” and carrying what appeared to be a gun. This shooting is currently under investigation by Spokane Independent Investigative Response team (SIIR), which is comprised of multiple agencies in Eastern Washington including the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol and the Spokane Police Department. - The second shooting occurred on May 21, when SPD [responded to a domestic violence call](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/27/spokane-police-officer-who-killed-armed-man-last-w/?ref=rangemedia.co) from a woman who said her husband had been drinking, had a gun and threatened to kill himself if she left him. Once there, they saw a struggle between the woman and Kaleb Hassel, who was holding a gun. There was a brief struggle, and an SPD officer shot Hassel, killing him. This incidence is also currently under investigation by SIIR. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 9 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### New money for prosecutor to hire DV assessment team The Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney is applying for a $200,000 grant to hire a team trained to measure the risk of homicide in domestic living situations. Called a “Domestic Violence High Risk Team,” the two-person body would use a “law enforcement field assessment tool” with the goal of reducing domestic violence in Spokane County. The money would come from a branch of the US Department of Justice called the Office of Violence Against Women. The request comes in the wake of [a report](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prosecutors-are-suddenly-declining-to-charge-more-felony-domestic-violence-cases-citing-staffing-issues/) that showed prosecutors were prosecuting fewer domestic violence cases. ### About $3.5 million to SNAP for affordable housing renovations The BOCC is set to approve nearly $3.5 million to Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners to renovate two affordable housing complexes, the Broadway Seniors affordable housing project and the Riverwalk Point II Affordable Housing rehabilitation project. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 7 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### $1.4M in state housing assistance Four housing providers are set to get an infusion of $1,465,251.70 from the Washington Department of Commerce to fund affordable living spaces over the next year in Spokane County. The largest amount, $619,822.70, would go to Counseling & Recovery Services. Catholic Charities, Pend Oreille County Counseling Services and Rural Resources Community Action would receive smaller amounts. ### ‘Retaliation’ struck from harassment practices banned in jail policy Spokane County Detention Services wants to get rid of the word “retaliation” in its policy manual that defines and bans harassment behaviors. The original text read, partly, “The purpose of this policy is to prevent department members from being subjected to discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment and retaliation.” In the newly proposed version, the final two words are gone, along with all other mentions of retaliation in the policy. The agenda material does not give a reason for the proposed revisions. Read the changes [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2266/files/attachment/22060?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 7 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 9 at 1 pm* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors (special meeting) 🌶️/**5 peppers** The Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors are having a special meeting to discuss the status of their 2026 Action Plan. They’ll also look forward to 2027, as staff seeks guidance from the board on the 2027 Budget and Action Plan. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 8 at 11:45 am* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special meeting) 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### In support of renewing Spokane Transit Authority’s tax rate? The board is expected to take a vote on a resolution in support of the Spokane Transit Authority’s August ballot initiative asking voters to renew the .2% sales tax rate. The resolution notes the rate would fund public transportation services. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 8 at 4:30 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Draft legislative priorities Spokane Valley’s government relations leader will present a draft of the city’s legislative priorities, a wish-list the city will present to the state legislature early next year during the lawmaking session. It asks for $7.5 million for large interchange reconstruction projects at I-90 and Barker Road and Sullivan and Trent roads. It also asks the legislature to loosen state rules that govern how local communities develop, saying the Growth Management Act — the broad development framework all local governments in Washington are beholden to — makes it impacts the development of affordable housing. And it asks the state to fully fund costs associated with new caseload standards for public defenders. Read the details [here](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=1674&meta%5Fid=108672&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 7 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Long-term transportation plan up for approval The City Council is set to approve a plan that will govern the way it grows its transportation infrastructure over the next six years. The plan includes nearly $22 million in road construction projects; $4.5 million in traffic control projects, like roundabouts and traffic cameras; and $840,000 in pedestrian and bicycle safety construction. See the details on Page 113 of [the agenda](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F07072026-1237?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Pro/con committees for STA Prop 1 The city is soliciting people to serve on two committees to draft language explaining the up- and the downsides of the proposal to renew the Spokane Transit Authority tax proposal that will appear on Spokane County ballots on August 4\. One Liberty Lake Resident, Kathryn Lynn Atkins, is signed up for the pro committee and must be approved by the City Council. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 7 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### In-the-box solution URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/bike-lockers-spokane-city-hall-urbanism/ Last updated: 2026-07-03T14:01:51.000Z Two years ago to the day, Mayor Lisa Brown signed an executive order in front of the intersection where cyclist and prominent community member Janet Mann had been killed in a crosswalk by a car to say: enough was enough. The city would be moving quickly and decisively to address traffic safety, “ so that we do not have to lose any more of our loved ones to unnecessary traffic related incidents,” Brown said. There was a list of concrete promises, like creating “No Turn on Red” zones and installing [adaptive design](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-calming-design-spokane/) projects in each council district, but one of the first tangible changes the community could expect to see, she said, were new bike lockers at City Hall. “Ultimately you will see the new bike infrastructure start to emerge that will create more protected bike lanes for people. All of that should be happening very quickly,” Brown said. “The bike lockers are already ordered, so hopefully substantial, visible change.” In the two years since, some things *have* changed for the better, cyclists say, perhaps a result of a mayor and city council members who actively bike, walk and use the bus to get around Spokane. But I, and other members of the public, still cannot use the bike lockers. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-2259cae5-98b3-456d-aa64-64f1dbebc214.jpeg) **They are, admittedly, very visible in front of Spokane City Hall. Substantial…well, that’s up for debate. (Photo by Erin Sellers)* As a budding cyclist and City Hall journalist — perhaps the exact cross section of the community that would most enjoy using those lockers — I wanted to know why, and whether that failure was emblematic of the rest of the Brown administration’s approach to traffic calming. ### A brief history of the bike lockers On July 3, 2024, at that fateful press conference that Brown herself biked to, the mayor said the executive order she just signed would ensure that the city focused on creating pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure. “City staff will evaluate options for expediting the implementation of [leading pedestrian intervals ](https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/leading-pedestrian-interval?ref=rangemedia.co)… and will pilot strategies for providing secure public bike parking at high-demand locations through the installation of bike lockers at City Hall and other locations,” Brown said. The bike lockers at City Hall *were* installed quickly, as promised, and the city announced their launch in September. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C%5FjQyBcySLF/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by City of Spokane (@spokanecity)](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C%5FjQyBcySLF/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) There was no publicly posted information about how to use them or whether they were usable at all, a fact that didn’t bother me personally — until I received a bicycle for Christmas at the end of 2024\. As I spent my January imagining a bright future as a Spokane cyclist (once the snow cleared) who could bike to work and park safely without fear of bicycle theft, I remembered that July press conference and those very visible bike lockers and I fired off a quick text to city spokesperson Erin Hut: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-c94dd7a1-e2c0-4d66-9a06-0281d1259ee2-1.png) **Screenshot of texts between Hut and Sellers.* Then, an interesting wrinkle. When I asked if employee-only access was always the plan — because it didn’t sound like it when Brown said the lockers at City Hall were part of her plan to provide “secure **public** bike parking,” (emphasis mine) — Hut replied: “Yep, always the plan.” She went on to explain that making the lockers accessible to the public wastaking longer than expected. For one, they hadn’t found an easy way to make the boxes rentable. Asking the City Hall security team to handle it “wasn’t functional,” Hut said, and using an app to check them out, like Lime scooters, would require electricity provided to the boxes, which at that time, they didn’t have. As of January 16, 2025, they were looking into options to supply the boxes with power. “We’re trying, I promise!” Hut assured me. Four months later, Brown held [another press conference](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/), this time in front of Riverfront Park Square, where her team had just installed “No Right on Red” signs. In 2024, 20 people died in fatal crashes, and by April 18 of 2025, there were already six more deaths. She made more promises about how her administration would be making the city safer, like bringing back the Spokane Police Department’s previously-disbanded Traffic Safety Unit and revamping the Complete Streets policy to reflect modern best practices for pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Annoying even in 2025, I once again asked about the bike lockers. Hut told RANGE they may have been overly optimistic about a quick rollout, and they were still working on finding a way to supply them with power. She promised if there was an update on the bike lockers, we’d be her first call. Unfortunately, I was left waiting by a phone that never rang (or not about that, at least.) ### The tragedy of the commons I’m far from the first City Hall reporter to dread bike theft. Long before he ever began covering city politics for *The Inlander*, Daniel Walters was just a young man with a crush on a girl who liked to read. It was 2004, and an 18-year-old Walters, who now writes for RANGE, rode a Blue Trek bike he received for his 16th birthday to her house under the guise of borrowing her copy of a Jess Walter novel. A few hours later, he left her house, book in hand, and his bike was gone. Along with it, his sense of innocence. In 2012, four years after he began his career at *The Inlander*, another one of Walters’ bikes was stolen after he covered a Ron Paul rally. In 2013, an attempted theft left a third bike’s frame so bent he had to donate it to [Cool Water Bikes](https://www.yelp.com/biz/cool-water-bikes-spokane-2?ref=rangemedia.co), where it was likely Frankenstein-ed into a contraption that allowed users to get one step closer to Jesus and bike on water. In 2014, his Giant black bike was stolen. It was an unfortunate pattern that would continue through 2023, leading Walters to make “guy who gets his bikes stolen” a core part of his internet persona. “ I never liked driving, was never a very good driver, and there was just this joy to be had in the wind rushing through your hair — or lack thereof later on. But you know, it's just a wonderful thing,” Walters said. “ And so then having your bike taken away from you … I've had windows broken a couple times, but it's the only real, genuine crime that I've experienced, right? So it's this real sense of betrayal and outrage.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.29.26---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.31.33---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.33.11---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.34.42---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.36.25---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.36.59---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-11.38.58---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-02-at-2.43.19---PM.png) (Screenshots courtesy of Daniel Walters' Twitter.) Having a safe place to park bicycles is crucial to increasing the number of people who use a bike to commute to downtown, said Lauren Pangborn, who chairs the Bicycle Advisory Board, sits on the Transportation Commission and occasionally [writes columns](https://www.rangemedia.co/author/lauren-pangborn/) for RANGE. “There is definitely a need for secure bike parking downtown. Whether it's at City Hall or not I don't think particularly matters to me, but secure bike parking is critical to increase mode share of people riding downtown instead of driving specifically,” Pangborn said. “Because if they don't have a place to park, people are not gonna do it. If they have to be worried about their bike all day, they just won't — they'll just drive.” As a volunteer board member, Pangborn briefly had a coveted key to the bike lockers, which she surrendered after staff discovered the U-locks approved by the company and purchased by the city could actually be rotated carefully around in a way that would allow a potential thief to open the bike boxes, locked or not. Now, she parks her bike in the back row of the council chambers when she cycles to meetings. Bike theft may not be the most serious crime in the world, but to Walters, it represents the tragedy of the commons. Bike parking is a shared resource, and the more people that cycle, the better it is for both the [environment](https://transportation.ucla.edu/blog/how-bike-riding-benefits-environment?ref=rangemedia.co) and [potentially commuter congestion](https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/10/3/do-bike-lanes-reduce-congestion-is-the-wrong-question?ref=rangemedia.co). But when people steal bikes, and when cyclists lose their trust that they can leave their locked bike downtown for a day without having it stolen, that shared resource is spoiled — making Spokane a little bit worse for all of us. To her credit, Brown has been publicly consistent about wanting to create a city that’s safer for cyclists. In 2018, when Walters’ bike wheels were stolen as he attended a lengthy council meeting about climate change, ruining his reporting “praxis” and forcing him to seek a ride home with Council Member Michael Cathcart, Brown said on Facebook that she was “So sorry!” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-33dce141-75b1-42b6-89ca-9c59308aca76-1.png) (**Courtesy of Daniel Walters’ Facebook)* And in 2023, when she was campaigning for mayor, and Walters’ second bike in four months was stolen in downtown, Brown said that if she won the mayorship, she hoped to improve upon the metric of “Daniel Walters’ bikes stolen” during her term. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-5df8d11e-12cd-4d8e-b88d-5bcd1981aab6.png) (**Courtesy of Daniel Walters’ Twitter)* Though she has yet to open the bike lockers, under Brown, all reported property crime has [decreased](https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiMGUzMGM2ZWItODQ3NC00ZGRmLThjYzctMTk2MDc5NTgyY2FjIiwidCI6Ijk1ZmExZDZlLTZhMjctNDk2ZS05MTE3LWZjMzRkOTA3NjY2MSJ9&pageName=cf1f9a7898a790d80664&ref=rangemedia.co), down from a high of 23,985 offenses in 2022 to 17,329 reported offenses in 2025\. While SPD was unable to provide bike-theft specific crime statistics, they said these thefts would be captured under “stolen property offenses,” which fell from a reported high of 457 in 2022 under Brown’s predecessor Nadine Woodward, to 206 in 2025 under Brown. The police department said they may be able to provide bike-specific data next week when an analyst returns from vacation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-ccaa8001-b32c-47e9-b75a-3843967fdebb.png) **“Stolen property offenses” decreased under Brown. Screenshot taken from SPD’s new* [**public-facing crime dashboard.*](https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiMGUzMGM2ZWItODQ3NC00ZGRmLThjYzctMTk2MDc5NTgyY2FjIiwidCI6Ijk1ZmExZDZlLTZhMjctNDk2ZS05MTE3LWZjMzRkOTA3NjY2MSJ9&pageName=cf1f9a7898a790d80664&ref=rangemedia.co) Despite her hopes expressed at the two press conferences, Brown wasn’t able to make a real dent in traffic fatalities from 2024 to 2025, with [statistics](https://remoteapps.wsdot.wa.gov/highwaysafety/collision/data/portal/public/?ref=rangemedia.co) from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) showing that they actually increased from 20 to 22\. However, 2026 is showing promising signs: there have been just 7 traffic deaths in the first six months, which could mark a significant drop if the trend continues. And Brown *did* make progress on one crucial metric: “Daniel Walters’ bikes stolen.” So far, just 2% of a Walters’ bike — his seat — has been swiped during the Brown administration, a theft ironically realized as we were walking to the library, shortly after he remarked that he hadn’t had a bike stolen lately. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-7c442427-4438-4b30-a40d-981f9f91f02b.jpeg) **Please don’t take this as a challenge to steal Daniel’s bike. (Graphic by Erin Sellers)* ### ‘Night and Day’ Though the public still can’t use the bike lockers, they aren’t completely useless. The city staff is flush with cyclists and bike parking options are “not ideal,” said Jon Snyder, who filled the new Director of Transportation and Sustainability position created by Brown to manage the city’s street safety efforts. The lockers created an option for employees who don’t want to lug their bikes to a parking area on the second floor mezzanine or who had no room to store their bikes in their cubicles. For Sebastian Pedinielli, Council Member Sarah Dixit’s legislative assistant who has one of the new, more theft-resistant city-sanctioned bike locks, the box access helps him bike more. “I’d say having secure bike storage has changed how much I cycle to work,” Pedinielli wrote in a text to RANGE. “Especially because I know if I go somewhere else after work I can leave my bike overnight.” There’s a heightened urgency around pushing urbanist policy, too, Snyder said, describing it as “night and day,” from previous administrations’ approaches to creating pedestrian infrastructure “We have a mayor that basically bikes all the time — bikes or walks to work — and you'll see her at all these different types of events,” Snyder said. “I can't tell you how important that is because just like being an engineer or a planner, getting out and using the facilities and understanding what they're like on the street level informs how we approach it. So she understands the needs in a way that previous mayors did not, and she's hired folks that have that same philosophical bent.” Under Brown, staff have [installed](https://www.rangemedia.co/more-bike-racks-spokane/) 50 new bike racks across the city. The Spokane City Council [unanimously approved the 27 by 2027](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) Urban Mobility Network, the plan to create 27 new miles of low-stress walking and cycling routes by 2027 (although that may get extended to 2028). The city council also spent $150,000 of traffic calming funds to test adaptive design methods to create more inexpensive protected bike lines, like adding bump dividers to Riverside bike lanes, and vertical posts to lanes on Belt, according to [Pangborn’s unofficial bike infrastructure tracker](https://spokanebikeprojects.notion.site/?v=3f77208301ad82c9ba9d888e914a0600&p=5db7208301ad821097a501904fea1119&pm=s&ref=rangemedia.co). There’s council support too, from fellow cyclists like Dixit, who often stores her bike in her seventh floor council cubical, and Zack Zappone, who has been a reliable champion of urbanist policy. There’s an ambitious list of projects [slated for 2026 completion,](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transportation-infrastructure-2026/) too, that could add to Brown’s resume as an urbanist mayor, like adding new crosswalks and bumpouts through all three city council districts and putting in higher visibility crosswalks, including four that have flashing beacons. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/data-src-image-bdc987d3-634d-4387-996b-92670e512ac9-1.jpeg) Dixit and a City Council staff member’s bikes parked in the 7th floor council offices. (Photo courtesy of Dixit) “In general, I think the administration is doing a good job or doing maybe the best job they can on a lot of things. Like, they are running faster. They are doing more things. They are showing more urgency than previous administrations, frankly,” Pangborn said. “I definitely give them props for that. There are people that genuinely care, and there are people genuinely doing things.” Snyder said the public is hungry for even more movement on street safety and pedestrian/cyclist friendly design. “I think there was a time when maybe some folks, maybe even myself, when I was back at City Hall, were kind of ahead of the public a little bit on some of the policies,” he said. “Now the public is pushing us a lot of times to do more.” ### So where can \*you\* park your bike? As long as the City Hall lockers stay inaccessible to the public, secure bike parking is in sparse supply. They’re not as theft-proof as the boxes, but the city has been installing free bike racks across the city, [funded](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/bike-rack-program/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Bike%20Rack%20Program?) by Spokane’s contract with Lime. You can even [submit requests](https://spokanecity.wufoo.com/forms/bike-rack-request/?ref=rangemedia.co) to have them placed near your favorite businesses that currently lack bike parking. There’s also a [crowd-sourced bike parking map](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=15oipB-hjK8CyiPiHOoEmuZ0c8DQ&ie=UTF8&source=embed&msa=0&ll=47.6526065563004%2C-117.421323&spn=0.033759%2C0.04297&z=9) that seeks to list all the parking across all of Spokane, though few of them are as secure as the lockers. Some of the only actual bike lockers in town belong to Spokane Transit Agency, which has lockers placed at the Valley Transit Center and three of the Park-and-Rides in the region: Liberty Lake, South Hill and Hastings Park. These can be [reserved by](https://www.spokanetransit.com/bikes-on-buses/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Bike%20lockers%20are%20available!) calling STA Customer Service for a bike locker rental, which costs $5 a month, for a minimum of three months. It’s a relatively popular service; according to STA spokesperson Carly Cortright, all 16 boxes at Liberty Lake are currently rented, as are all 12 at the Valley Transit Center. Three of the six lockers are available for rent on the South Hill, and just one of the six at Hastings isn’t spoken for. Hut still doesn’t know when the bike lockers at City Hall might be able to be added to the stock. Federal grant cuts and state revenue uncertainties have thrown a new wrench into the process. “My understanding is that it would require a new lock mechanism that would have a code system … to be able to pay for that we’d have to take money from elsewhere and I don’t think people would want us to take that money from elsewhere,” she told RANGE. “It’s constantly a shuffling of where we do we invest the money and what’s most important — is it a traffic calming project in East Central or is it bike lockers?” They haven’t given up on it, though, Snyder said. He’s been looking into different software systems that would allow people to use their phones to check out or rent the boxes, studying [New York City](https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-to-install-bike-storage-lockers-help-pick-where-to-put-them/?ref=rangemedia.co) as an example. So for now, I’ll keep parking my bike on the street and hoping for the best, while the mayor, Hut said, stows hers safely in her seventh floor office. ### Continuing the conversation URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/continuing-the-conversation/ Last updated: 2026-07-03T14:00:49.000Z On this week’s episode, RANGE reporter Aaron Hedge interviewed Daniel Walters about his most recent story, the process and reasoning behind it, and the work that went into it. Daniel’s story consists of follow up interviews with three formerly unhoused men, continuing his previous conversations with them from 2023. [Stabbed. Frostbitten. Overdosed. Sheltered. Sober. Saved.In 2023, I interviewed three unhoused men at the Spokane library. Over the next three years, all of them escaped homelessness![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-8736ef9a-7afa-457a-bea4-e52a8a440f65.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/3-2-8f120669-fd30-4cac-8605-63aa387ceb12.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/stabbed-frostbitten-overdosed-sheltered-sober-saved/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### At statehouse candidate forum: ‘Yes’ on Jesus and guns, ‘no’ on trans health care and government URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-gop-forum-6th-district-election/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T22:26:07.000Z This story was reported in partnership with [FāVS News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co), a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work [here.](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co) In a sanctuary in one of Eastern Washington’s largest churches, John Scherling led five GOP candidates seeking a House seat in Washington’s Sixth Legislative District in a prayer that squarely identified the enemies of American values. “We ask for thy blessings on all of us as we support and defend our candidates and representatives across this county and in our battles against the workers of evil, against leftists and progressives and anyone who desires our harm or that of our children and our community,” Scherling, a Catholic and the secretary for the Spokane County Republican Party, prayed. Praying at a lectern in one of the Calvary Spokane’s secondary sanctuaries in front of about 30 people hoping to learn more about the candidates sat at round tables distributed through the space, Scherling kicked off the forum by posing what seemed like a litmus test to the candidates: what values would underpin your actions in office if you win? One by one, each candidate told the room that Jesus Christ would guide their hand when legislating. “I have strong faith in Christ, and that is the root of our Judeo-Christian ethics,” said Alan Nolan, who promoted his military service and his work on the Mead School District Board of Directors to [erode queer rights](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) for students in the district. “Beyond that I define myself as a Christian.” Jennifer Morton, an Airway Heights City Council Member and Air Force veteran who was adopted as an infant by Eastern Washingtonian parents from a Haitian orphanage, said she would dedicate her public service to the Christian deity. “If it is God's will for me to be in the state legislature, then I'll be able to represent him and the Sixth District in an honorable and principled way,” she said. ### Church, state & a sullied pulpit The county Republicans and other conservative organizations have held similar events in churches and specifically at Calvary Spokane before, but GOP events in Christian spaces have increasingly become a mainstay as Christian nationalism has taken power across the country. And while the candidates themselves may not identify as Christian nationalists — Bingle, for example, is the son of pastor but bristles at the label — Christian nationalist values were front and center throughout the forum: The church should provide charity. Good schools teach Christian values. But there were two elephants in the room Tuesday night, one in the form of the classic GOP logo. That one was obvious. The other went unacknowledged: decades of sexual and spiritual abuse allegations against one of Calvary Spokane’s pastors, Ben Ortize, detailed in the Christian church watchdog publication [*The Roys Report*](https://roysreport.com/calvary-spokanes-pastor-covered-years-of-abuse-by-his-son-then-promoted-him/?ref=rangemedia.co) earlier this year. Ortize denied the allegations [in a sermon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqqKiHNSVvc&ref=rangemedia.co) after the story was published. Scherling told RANGE he didn’t know anything about the allegations. ### Two vacated seats up for grabs Candidates are looking to win one of two positions in the state House of Representatives representing much of the rural — and consistently conservative — territory north and east of the more liberal Third Legislative District that covers most of Spokane proper. Both positions will be vacated by the incumbents Mike Volz, a Republican who sits in Position 1 and is leaving that post to run for Spokane County Treasurer, and Jenny Graham, who [announced](https://jennygraham.houserepublicans.wa.gov/2026/02/13/rep-jenny-graham-will-not-seek-reelection-calls-service-honor-of-my-lifetime/?ref=rangemedia.co) in February that she would not seek a fifth term but did not give a reason. The Republicans seemed to want to keep a tight lid on the event; the audience was barred from recording and taking photos, but Scherling reluctantly allowed RANGE to record audio. Jonathan Bingle, the former Spokane City Council Member and a conservative who was unseated in November by the progressive reproductive rights advocate Sarah Dixit, is running for Graham’s seat against Independent Aaron Croft and Democrat Julia Payne. The Position 1 race is much more crowded: Nolan, Isaiah Paine, Sueann Davis and Jennifer Morton are competing for Volz’s seat against Democrats Nicholette Ocheltree and Michaela Kelso. Only the Republican candidates were invited to the event, Scherling told RANGE, meaning Bingle had no competition, while his fellow panelists vied against each other. On August 4, [voters will choose](https://voter.votewa.gov/CandidateList.aspx?e=898&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co) two candidates for each seat. Seats in the legislature are precious to Republicans in a solidly blue state, and Paine encouraged the room of about 30 potential constituents to unify behind one of the Republicans for the Position 1 seat. If they don’t, he warned, the conservative vote might split so dramatically that the two Democrats could end up vying for the same seat, taking a position Republicans have held for since 2009. “It would be really not good losing a seat in Olympia,” said Paine, who’s served as vice and interim chair of the Spokane County GOP and works in public affairs for the Spokane Homebuilders Association. ### Drown it in the bathtub Many of Scherling’s questions focused not on lawmaking but law dismantling: Q: What gun restrictions would you cut? A: Davis and Morton: all of them. Q: What is the first thing you would cut from the state budget? A: Morton: “government involvement in healthcare.” Nolan: “50% of \[state Attorney General\] Nick Brown's budget for the attorney general. … All they're doing is suing the federal government over ridiculous stuff.” Bingle: anything that doesn’t relate to infrastructure or keeping people physically safe. Paine: implement an “all-cuts” budget. Q: What is your position on state environmental regulations that affect farmers and rural landowners? A: Bingle, referring to the forever chemicals crisis on the West Plains: ”They poison your wells — or they poison your land accidentally through PFAS. And then suddenly it's not their problem. It's their land when you're trying to do something good. It's your land when something bad happens, when they've done something bad to you.” Davis, referencing state and national requirements for some development projects: ”My parents are cattle ranchers. You hear EPA, you hear SEPA, NEPA, you hear all these terms, and I would say repeal the Growth Management Act,” the state law that governs how local communities develop. ### ‘Parental rights’ vs. health care for kids The candidates also railed against protections for children’s bodily autonomy, asserting that parents should be in control of their kids’ health care, including gender-affirming care. “If I could have my magic wand, \[state school’s Superintendent\] Chris Reykdal and \[the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction\] would be gone,” Davis said. She argued the state doesn’t do enough to protect “parental rights,” which amounts to the idea that parents have the legal right to make decisions on their children’s behalf. The idea of parental rights is a flashpoint in modern politics. Proponents say parents need to know what’s happening in all aspects of their kids’ lives. But critics say it stems from the notion that children are property and that faith communities [use parental rights](https://msmagazine.com/2026/04/01/parental-rights-teen-girls-healthcare-contraception-birth-control-abortion/?ref=rangemedia.co) to restrict young people’s spiritual and personal growth as well as their medical safety. Washington allows children in certain circumstances to seek medical care — including gender-affirming care — without the knowledge of their guardians, especially in cases when parents don’t want their children to identify as transgender. Conservative Christians across the state [mobilize](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/tag/reject-5599/?ref=rangemedia.co) nearly every year to erode those protections for kids. This year, the conservative advocacy group Let’s Go Washington is circulating a potential ballot measure that would require schools to let parents opt out of programs they don’t like and review children’s medical records and educational materials. Nolan said Washington should adopt a state version of the Trump administration’s [Education Freedom Tax Credit](https://www.ed.gov/media/document/education-freedom-tax-credit-fact-sheet-113147.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), which allows people to donate up to $1,700 to a “scholarship-granting organization” for a tax write-off of the same amount. The money then goes into scholarships for nontraditional public school programs: after-school activities, private school tuition or home-schooling expenses. The conservative Fordham Institute [says](https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/education-freedom-tax-credit-could-blow-our-faces?ref=rangemedia.co) the credit bloats bureaucracy and will decimate public budgets without providing any benefit to schools. Bingle, who sends his son to a private Christian school, sang the praises of private education. “I pay $9,000 a year for \[him\] to go to school,” Bingle said. “He has a class size of 14\. He comes home. He knows the Bible. He's singing Christian songs. He's learning everything. We were at the mall today. My son was trying to play hide and seek with somebody, and he told one of the other kids, ‘Well, just count to 20.’ This is a 6- or 7-year-old girl, and she couldn't count to 20\. … That's our public school system, OK?” Church-related abuse, which was the subject of [recent state legislation](https://favs.news/washington-governor-act-clergy-abuse-reporting-bill/?ref=rangemedia.co), did not come up in the forum. Learn what district you live in and what candidates you’ll be able to vote for [here](https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder?ref=rangemedia.co). **Editor's note:* This story has been updated to correct the position Mike Volz is running for.* ### Spokane asylum seeker self-deports to Nicaragua, fearing detainment and separation from 1-year-old URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-asylum-seeker-self-deports/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T16:00:26.000Z From Chindandega, Nicaragua, Fatima’s voice cuts in and out over the phone. Beeping sounds can be heard before she gets a signal again. “Sorry, I don’t have good cellphone service here,” Fatima said in Spanish. Fatima self-deported six months ago from Spokane out of fear of being detained, despite an ongoing asylum case. Her partner had been detained a little over a year earlier, an experience she said contributed to her fear of being detained and possibly separated from her 1-year-old. She said she continues to live in fear of the Nicaraguan government’s crackdown on religious freedom and anyone who speaks against the president, but felt returning was a better choice. The Spokesman-Review and Spokane Public Radio agreed to withhold Fatima’s last name because she fears for her safety over religious persecution now that she’s back in Nicaragua. “On one hand, I feel grateful to God because He gave me the opportunity to return and be with my family, but on the other hand I feel sad because the economy here isn’t great, and it’s worse if you have children,” she said. “I want to be able to provide for my children and for them to learn English.” Fatima is one of several people who have decided to self-deport during the Trump administration amid its mass deportation efforts. In an email, the Department of Homeland Security states 2.2 million unauthorized immigrants have self-deported since January 2025\. The federal agency did not state how many in Washington have self-deported. “The current cost of a single enforced deportation is $18,245\. With the new offer of a $2,600 stipend, the cost of a single self-deportation via the CBP Home App will be just $5,100 – saving the American taxpayer over $13,000 per illegal alien,” the Department of Homeland Security said in its email. However, researcher Edward Kissam suggests the total number of self-deportations of unauthorized immigrants for the first year of the Trump administration might actually be around 200,000 individuals. Kissam frequently contributes to studies and articles regarding immigrant rights, such as for Immigrants Rising and the Center for Migration Studies. “There would be a labor market with indicators showing that level of massive exit,” Kissam said. Sam Smith, attorney at Manzanita House, said the organization has received at least a dozen inquiries about self-deportation. Smith confirms two clients have self-deported – one who didn’t notify Smith, which caused complications. “The most we heard was rumors, and, I mean, it impacts us to some degree,” Smith said. “We’re handling their case in a way that best protects their interests, and it’s hard to do that if we’re not aware of what’s going on or to advise them on the consequences of departing.” Smith added that even if the client self-deports, they can’t withdraw from the case until a judge says they can. “We’re still expected to respond to most letters or orders from the court, or show up to hearings if we need to,” he said. ### A raft to the American dream In 2022 Fatima spent 20 days traveling from Nicaragua in hopes of reaching the border between Mexico and the United States. Her last obstacle was to cross the Rio Grande, a roughly 1,900-mile river that runs between Texas and four Mexican states. It’s also known as the “Rio Bravo del Norte,” or Fierce River of the North, due to its dangerous currents. According to the Global Investigative Journalism Network, an estimated 1,107 individuals drowned in the river between 2017 and 2023. “We crossed using a raft, and it took all day because it was a pretty large group,” Fatima said. “I was really scared.” After making it across the river, she turned herself in to Border Patrol and spent three days at a processing center before being released and given one year to apply for asylum. However, Fatima said she did not begin gathering documentation to support her asylum case until almost two years after her arrival to the United States. She got started after her partner had been detained by immigration agents. Fatima said her decision to embark on this near-month journey came after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo intensified the government’s shift toward an authoritarian dictatorship, characterized by a severe crackdown on dissent, civil society and the Catholic Church. Being Catholic herself, Fatima said she felt scared to live in her home country. “Before I would get together with the youth to read the Bible, but they prohibited that,” she said. “You can’t practice your religion in public settings anymore. Only inside the church.” A 2025 National Catholic Reporter article states several members of the Catholic Church are in exile, many of whom are nuns, bishops, clergies and seminarians. Overall, more than 340,000 Nicaraguans have sought asylum since 2018, primarily in Costa Rica, the United States, Mexico and Spain, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Stephen Schneck, commissioner for the U.S. Committee on International Religious Freedom, said this came after the Catholic Church provided refuge to those injured when the Nicaraguan government violently repressed protests in 2018 due to proposed changes to its welfare system. More than 300 people were killed, and at least 2,000 were injured. “President Daniel Ortega and his wife, self-appointed Co-President Rosario Murillo, view the Catholic Church as a political opponent and, since 2018, have intensified and expanded their persecution of religious communities,” Schneck said. He said the Ortega-Murillo government has prohibited processions on major holidays and pastoral missions. Since being back, Fatima said nothing has changed. “We aren’t able to express our religious freedom,” she said. Serena Cosgrove, international studies professor at Seattle University, said anybody who speaks against the government is at risk, not just those who are part of the church. Cosgrove said she had been traveling to Nicaragua regularly since the 1980s due to interest in researching and writing about the history of different countries in Central America. The last time she visited was in 2019 after speaking about global poverty at Seattle University’s former sister Jesuit college, La Universidad Centroamericana, or Central American University. She said she was staying on campus, where leaders of the university were already receiving death threats and students were being repressed for protesting. She said the partnership ended in 2023 after Central American University was taken over by the government. Twenty-seven other universities have closed since 2021. Cosgrove doesn’t plan to go back anytime soon . “The repression continues. It’s like this eerie silence,” Cosgrove said. “The Nicaraguan government has been taking away Nicaraguans’ citizenship so that basically it leaves people without a country. “Then they get stuck in whatever country they found themselves in because they can’t return home because their citizenship has been stripped, and yet they can’t stay where they are unless they go through some kind of an asylum process.” While Fatima fled Nicaragua in search of safety and stability, she said fear eventually found her again in the United States. ### ‘Arrested at gunpoint’ Once Fatima arrived in the United States in 2022, she moved between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene because of her partner’s job working in construction. She said he was already in the area when she arrived. Eventually, she spent most of her time living in Spokane, while her partner continued traveling to North Idaho for work. But in 2023, she said immigration agents pulled him over while in Spirit Lake, leading to his detention at the Tacoma ICE facility, where he was held for four months. Some of his coworkers in the car weren’t detained because they had ongoing immigration cases, she said. Her partner, however, did not have a driver’s license and had not turned himself in to Border Patrol after crossing the border, as she had done. “They arrested him at gunpoint,” Fatima said. Border Patrol believes it was an FBI-led operation. The federal agency didn’t immediately give any additional information. Fatima said her partner was able to get released on a $5,000 bond after four months in early 2024, with the help of an attorney working pro bono with detainees at the Tacoma detention facility. After his release, she applied for asylum, although she feared she too would get detained. Once she applied, Fatima found out she was pregnant while beginning to attend court hearings for her case in 2024\. She said the hearings were going well, despite not having legal representation, up until the Trump administration took office. After seeing several asylum-seeking families being separated, by late 2025, she and her partner decided to return to Nicaragua with their now-1-year-old. “I had another in-person court hearing for February, but I was too scared to go at that point,” Fatima said. Even so, leaving wasn’t easy, Fatima said. She misses Spokane and the community she had built. She said she felt people supported one another and made her feel like she belonged. That support came in different ways, including help from community leaders with her asylum case, Fatima said. At other times, it meant assistance with diapers for her newborn. “Sometimes you just want to get ahead, especially when you have kids, but we didn’t get that opportunity with everything going on under that administration,” Fatima said. > *Reporter Alexandra Duggan contributed to this article.* > [*Monica Carrillo-Casas*](https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/directory/wsu-profile/m.carrillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, reporting on northeastern rural communities for the* [*Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/staff/monica-carillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, is with the* [*Washington State Murrow Fellowships*](https://murrow.wsu.edu/student-work/experiential-learning/news-fellowship/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a local news program* [*supported*](https://news.wsu.edu/news/2023/08/10/murrow-college-to-lead-2-4-million-effort-to-support-washingtons-local-news/?ref=rangemedia.co) *by state legislators.* ### State rep candidate forum at a church ... and almost everyone is off URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/state-rep-candidate-forum-at-a-church-and-almost-everyone-is-off/ Last updated: 2026-06-29T17:37:31.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. We’re getting to the part of the year where a bunch of meetings are cancelled, which means you, us and some government officials all get a bit of a break. Queue abbreviated CIVICS! The thing — and there’s only one — that sticks out to us this week: The Spokane County GOP [will host](https://www.rangemedia.co/state-rep-candidate-forum-at-a-church-and-almost-everyone-is-off/#:~:text=Lake%20City%20Council-,Sixth%20Dist.%20GOP%20candidate%20forum%20at%20Calvary%20Spokane,-The%20Spokane%20County) a community forum for candidates running for Washington’s Sixth Legislative District at Calvary Spokane. Important meetings this week: ## Sixth Dist. GOP candidate forum at Calvary Spokane The Spokane County Republican Party will host a community forum for candidates running for the state’s Sixth Legislative District. The forum will take place Tuesday, June 30, from 5 to 7 pm at Calvary Spokane Family Center at 511 West Hastings Road. It’s unclear which candidates will be there based on available information, but the candidates running for Position 1 are Republicans Alan Nolan, Isaiah Paine, Jennifer Morton and Sueann Davis; and Democrats Michaela Kelso and Nicolette Ocheltree. The incumbent in this seat is Republican Mike Volz, who announced he will not seek reelection. The candidates running for Position 2 are Independent Aaron Croft, Republican Jonathan Bingle and Democrat Julia Payne. The Republican incumbent Jenny Graham also said she would not seek reelection. If you recognize the venue and aren’t sure why, Calvary was recently the subject of a [Roys Report investigation](https://roysreport.com/calvary-spokanes-pastor-covered-years-of-abuse-by-his-son-then-promoted-him/?ref=rangemedia.co) detailing allegations of systemic sex and spiritual abuse by Pastor Ken Ortize’s son Ben, whom Ortize later elevated to leadership positions. ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Safe & Healthy Task Force The council will discuss a regional Safe & Healthy Task Force report that recommended a list of policy priorities agreed to by law enforcement agencies, businesses, community groups and health care providers earlier this month. Read our report on the recommendations [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-most-eclectic-polycule-just-had-a-baby/). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 30 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Furniture, commissioning contracts up for approval for City Hall renovation The City Council is set to approve a $19,675 contract to Huskey Commissioning to oversee the upcoming renovation of City Hall. It will also likely award Freeform Spaces, a commercial furniture contractor, a $374,852 contract to design furniture for the updated building. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 30 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### US Supreme Court rules Trump administration can end legal protections for 350,000 Haitians URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/legal-protections-haitians/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T21:19:07.000Z The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its plans to strip temporary legal status from 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, a move that opens them up to deportation. [The 6-3 conservative court ruled](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-1083%5Ff204.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the Haitian and Syrian immigrants are not “entitled” to orders postponing an end to their temporary protections while litigation is pending, arguing those are non-constitutional claims. It means their work permits and deportation protections are stripped, but the ruling won’t go in effect for 32 days. It was one of two favorable decisions Thursday for the Trump administration’s policy goals to curtail legal immigration and humanitarian protections for its mass deportation campaign. The high court also ruled that [immigration officials could turn away ](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/supreme-court-sides-trump-administrations-efforts-curb-asylum-claims-southern-border?ref=rangemedia.co)asylum seekers on Mexico’s side of the U.S. border. The two rulings greatly expand the president’s executive power to curtail migration at the Southern border and strip deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the interior of the country. The final immigration-related case before the Supreme Court – the highly anticipated decision on the president’s efforts to redefine birthright citizenship – is expected by late June or early July. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote for the majority, said that the Haitians’ arguments — that their equal protection claim that their Temporary Protected Status was terminated on a racial bias — are unlikely to prevail in court. “None of the cited statements by either the President or the Secretary was overtly racial, and in substance all expressed policy views that could rest on race-neutral justifications,” Alito wrote. The liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined in a dissent that argued the president made clear racial comments about Haitians for the purpose of terminating protections. “Haitians are Black. The references—of filth, disease, and primitiveness—are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes,” they wrote. “It is hard to imagine the statements being made today of any White community.” [Trump policies hollow out local Haitian churchTPS recipients are afraid to go outside, even to attend sermons. One local congregation is greeting empty seats with ‘an underground movement’ to keep its faith and community alive.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-01e674ba-dba1-450a-995d-4915fe9d91a8.png)AmazonAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Screen-Shot-2026-03-21-at-6.03.58-PM-b50a0716-f614-4682-acdb-3d1a1d78bd11.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/trump-policies-hollow-out-local-haitian-church/) #### Protections ended for Venezuelans earlier This is not the first time the high court has allowed the Trump administration to strip TPS protections for immigrants. Last year, the conservative justices allowed for the government to end deportation protections for more than half a million Venezuelans. Coupled with Thursday’s decision on Haitians and Syrians, it brings the total loss of legal protections to nearly 1 million immigrants amid the president’s mass deportation efforts. James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security’s general counsel, praised the decision. “The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty,” he said in a statement. “This is a win for the rule of law and common sense.” The architect of the White House’s immigration crackdown, Stephen Miller, said the Trump administration would move to deport any immigrants who lose their TPS status. “Of course,” he said late Thursday, outside the White House. “If you no longer have status in this country you’re supposed to be deported.” The decision is likely to impact multiple lawsuits across the country in which federal judges have halted President Donald Trump’s efforts to strip legal protections granted to more than 1.3 million immigrants with TPS because they hail from countries the U.S. initially deemed too dangerous for return. It also opens hundreds of thousands of immigrants with TPS up to deportation, part of the president’s broader [efforts to curtail immigration and strip legal status ](https://stateline.org/2025/12/30/repub/trump-canceled-temporary-legal-status-for-more-than-1-5m-immigrants-in-2025/?ref=rangemedia.co)from immigrants. [Uncertainty for Spokane’s Haitian migrants — and for employers – RANGE MediaAfter President Donald Trump canceled a program that allows people who fled a country in turmoil to work and live here, a local jobs program is unsure what will happen to them.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-9bff181f-5fb4-4f71-bf86-1923961e3e06.png)AmazonAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/haitian-1-d1bfc651-93cf-4bed-ad91-e3904bbc0e4b.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/haitian-migrants-employers-temporary-protected-status/) #### ‘The saddest day in my life’ TPS holders and lawyers who argued before the high court said the decision will have devastating consequences not only for TPS holders but their families. “We don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Jose Palma, a TPS recipient from El Salvador whose protections are set to expire in September, at a press conference. Viles Dorsainvil, a Haitian TPS holder and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said the decision was “shocking news.” “It’s the saddest day in my life,” Dorsainvil, of Springfield, Ohio, said during the press conference. While on the campaign trail in 2024, Trump, along with his running mate Vice President JD Vance, falsely accused Haitian immigrants of eating people’s pets, and vowed to end TPS for Haiti. The three liberal justices point to those comments as evidence that the president has racial animosity toward Haitians. Ahilan Arulanantham, who represented the Syrians, said during the press conference that the justices in their majority opinion did not wade into the legal argument over whether the Homeland Security secretary, at the time Kristi Noem, took the proper administrative procedures to consult with the State Department on country conditions before making a decision to end or extend TPS protections. Congress created TPS in 1990, and since then a country receives a TPS designation after the Homeland Security secretary consults with the State Department to determine if the country meets certain conditions to qualify for the status. A TPS designation is made if it’s too dangerous to return to the country based on violence, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. Protections can last from six to 18 months unless renewed. “The court doesn’t say that what the Trump administration has done in TPS decision-making is lawful. It doesn’t say that these decisions comply with the TPS statute,” Arulanantham said of ending TPS for Haiti and Syria. “Instead, what it says is that the statute doesn’t give the courts any power to correct illegal decisions made under the TPS statute.” That includes determining whether the Department of Homeland Security actually consulted with the State Department in reviewing country conditions. The State Department advises against any travel to Haiti and Syria. “Instead they say the courts have no role to play in reviewing whether or not the decisions are lawful,” Arulanantham said. He said the decision “hands to the administration and to the far right wing of the anti-immigrant movement an important victory that they have struggled with for a number of years.” #### Democrats decry Trump, high court Congressional Democrats condemned the decision. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the ruling “cruel and inhumane.” “TPS exists for exactly this reason: to protect people when returning home is unsafe,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “Haiti and Syria remain unsafe today. Instead of showing basic humanity, Donald Trump and this Court have chosen fear, chaos, and cruelty.” Congress has tried to extend legal protections for Haitians. [In April, the House in a rare bipartisan move](https://northdakotamonitor.com/2026/04/16/repub/with-gop-defections-us-house-passes-bill-extending-legal-status-for-350000-haitians/?ref=rangemedia.co) passed a bill to extend TPS for Haiti for three years, but it’s unlikely to overcome the 60-vote threshold in the GOP-controlled Senate. During a press conference following the decision, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who pushed for that bill’s passage in the House, said “this fight is not over.” “Ending TPS for Haitians, ending TPS for Syrians, in this ruling endangers all TPS holders,” she said. “Todays ruling is lawless, unjust and should not stand.” She said the Senate should take up her bill that passed the House “immediately, and save lives.” #### Debate over race as a factor Alito noted that while the plaintiffs can still move forward on the arguments of equal protections, charging that the decisions to end TPS were based on racial animus, those arguments were unlikely to succeed. He argued that there is evidence that Noem’s decision to end the designation was not based on race and instead “simply opposes the TPS program.” “For example, one may oppose TPS and favor tighter restrictions on immigration for economic or other reasons that have nothing to do with race,” Alito said. “And a person without racial bias can provide a harshly unfavorable description of living conditions in some of the countries with TPS designations. The criteria for TPS designations guarantee that many, if not most, designated countries have such characteristics.” He argued that “Haiti is no exception,” and that many Americans would describe its condition as “intolerable.” Trump has frequently described Haiti as a “sh\*thole country.” Kagan noted that language in her dissent and criticized the majority for not considering those comments as “overtly racial,” but also refusing to acknowledge some of them. So she made a list. She referenced Trump’s comments on how Haitians were “poisoning the blood” of the U.S.; how they “probably have AIDS;” and how Haitian immigration is “like a death wish for our country.” “The statements fairly shout, in their racial undertones and overtones alike, that race entered into the President’s resolve to remove Haitians from this country,” she wrote. “And here, the President’s own statements show that race did enter in — that, within what was surely a multi-cause decision, it was a motivating factor.” [*This story*](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/06/25/repub/us-supreme-court-rules-trump-administration-can-end-legal-protections-for-350000-haitians/?ref=rangemedia.co) *was originally published by* [*Washington State Standard*](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, which is part of* [*States Newsroom*](https://statesnewsroom.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.* ### Why religion? Why journalism? Why now? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/interview-favs-news/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T23:15:21.000Z On this week’s episode, Aaron Hedge pre-recorded an interview with Tracy Simmons, the editor and Executive Director of [FāVS News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co). FāVS is an acronym for “Faith and Values” news, which is an online publication that covers religion and ethics across Washington State and Idaho. Along with her role at FāVS, Tracy is a scholarly associate professor of journalism at Washington State University and writes for the Spokesman Review and national publications. The two of them talked about the history of FāVS and how it came to be, Tracy’s work and involvement with FāVS, the religious beat in journalism, and why religion reporting is important right now, in this current moment. [The Pacific Northwest isn’t godless. We just haven’t been paying attention.](https://favs.news/pacific-northwest-religion-coverage-favs-expansion/?ref=rangemedia.co) (Tracy Simmons, FāVS News) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### ‘Preparing for the worst:’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/preparing-for-the-worst/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T16:47:11.000Z > *Editor’s note: Before this story published, EWU Provost Lorenzo Smith and President Shari McMahan recommended seven of the nine original programs for discontinuance, including Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies, which faculty has recommended for preservation. You can read McMahan’s recommendation* [*here*](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uWIMz6bZ7PAAMxhx72eUwJyyPlCWX-xm/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* At Eastern Washington University, there’s a new metric to determine whether certain kinds of degrees should survive: 10 graduates annually on average for the previous five years. It’s the brainchild of Lorenzo Smith, the provost, who started almost exactly one year ago. Smith has identified nine inadequate programs which are all now being eyed for the chopping block. The university’s board of trustees will try the metric on for size at its June 25 meeting when it decides which of the nine will be cut. Faculty in the Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) program — one of those nine programs — received letters late last month which essentially said: prepare to lose your jobs. “This letter serves as advance notice that … your appointment could be subject to separation effective June 15, 2027,” the documents say. Interim GWSS Director Jessi Willis and former Director Judy Rohrer read the notice, which RANGE has reviewed, while they were each at work on May 29. “When I got the letter I was very disheartened,” Willis told RANGE, emphasizing that their dismay had little to do with their own job but for the gap that will open in local educational opportunities in the humanities for students in Eastern Washington if the degree goes away. “I’m really invested in students learning the things I got to learn when I was a young person.” GWSS houses classes that look at social issues through feminist and queer lenses. Smith explained to RANGE last month that he also — in addition to the 10 grads per year metric — evaluates program support in the community, faculty recommendations and feedback from students. Some programs that don’t meet the threshold are not on the list of nine. When the trustees make the final call, much of the Eastern community will not be around to see it happen or weigh in. It’s summer, when most students are out of town and many faculty are not teaching. The trustees will make their decision based partly on recommendations from Smith and President Shari McMahan. The community weighed in on the proposed cut during faculty government and trustees meetings last month, while class was still in session. Students, community members and faculty [showed up](https://www.rangemedia.co/students-ewu-gender-studies/) by the dozens to the board meeting on May 14 to protest the proposed cuts, and the faculty government later [urged the board to preserve the program](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/10/faculty-recommends-four-ewu-majors-for-cuts-as-new/?ref=rangemedia.co), along with four others on Smith’s list. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, who once worked with GWSS, [spoke at an event](https://theeasterner.org/52100/news/womens-studies-may-be-cut-from-ewu-majors/?ref=rangemedia.co) in February drumming up community support for the program. Nearly 700 people and dozens of community organizations have signed [a petition](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OL-vit67mpqARDTrHp8M-hIdhxdND%5FfTxL5v6JZ76V8/viewform?edit%5Frequested=true&fbzx=-7877495317613796384&ref=rangemedia.co) faculty member Rohrer organized urging the board to preserve GWSS. But recent events don’t inspire confidence in people who care about the program. Smith did not return a request for comment, but university spokesperson Linn Parish told RANGE in an email that such letters are standard practice when an institution is considering cutting programs not only at Eastern but across academia. It is allowed by the faculty union’s collective bargaining agreement, Parish said. “The pending program decisions are part of a broader process that identifies and vets programs with low enrollment,” Parish said. “The elimination of any degree program does not equate to the elimination of courses. … It’s part of a long-term strategic growth plan that enables the university to dedicate resources to majors in which there is demand.” Parish said the university could not comment on specific faculty, and it was not clear whether faculty in other programs on the list of nine got letters similar to Rohrer’s and Willis’. Smith was careful to say in the letters that they didn’t represent formal notice of termination; rather, they presented an opportunity for faculty to get ready for what, until tomorrow, is only a possibility. And even if the university eliminated the degree entirely, a minor program could persist. Rohrer’s and Willis’ terminations could become effective next year, the letters say. Smith told RANGE in May that he did not know what he would recommend regarding the programs. Tenure, the status some faculty achieve with rank, is designed to protect academic freedom and job security from power structures. In this case, it is no protection. While Rohrer, an associate professor, has tenure, Willis, a senior lecturer and the only faculty member with a PhD in GWSS, does not, despite working at EWU for 16 years. As Rohrer expressed in a recent [letter to the editor](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/21/judy-rohrer-gender-womens-sexuality-studies-threat/?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Spokesman*, she thinks the trustees are intent on axing it. “We are preparing ourselves for the worst,” said Annette Carpenter, who graduated with her GWSS degree just days ago. People have seen the program’s demise written on the eroding walls of academia for years. When one of its longtime tenured professors, Elizabeth Arveda Kissling, retired in 2021 with emeritus status, the university did not preserve that position. The Women’s and Gender Education Center, which works closely with GWSS and supports many of its students, has gone without a manager for years; Willis volunteers to fill that role. Given that history of attrition, some involved in GWSS believe there is nothing that would convince the board to not cut the program. “I think that the board, the president and the provost are focused on budgetary cuts, and it is very likely that with that focus in mind, they will cut the program,” Willis told RANGE. GWSS is one pillar in a suite of diversity degree programs that make the university an asset in Washington state, supporters of the program said. Eastern has been trying to rebrand itself to compete in a university landscape ravaged by funding cuts, hostile politics and a demographic crisis that poses existential challenges to higher education. For decades, it operated as a regional comprehensive with a mission to serve underrepresented communities close by. It [recently rebranded](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-university-polytechnic/) itself as a “polytechnic” dedicated to hands-on training in practical fields rather than theoretical ones like GWSS — or programs like English and Philosophy, which the university collapsed into one program several years ago. In recent years, the board has also rebuffed recommendations from faculty to invest in some academic programs, including GWSS. At the same time, it has preserved the status of programs like the football team, which, playing in its current conference, costs the university about $10 million a year. Carpenter said it would be a mistake for Eastern to cut the GWSS program. “Eastern’s going to really regret losing that because everyone who’s taken a class with Dr. Willis loved it,” they said. [Students battle EWU to keep gender studiesIn the years after its rebranding as a ‘polytechnic,’ EWU may slash academic programs, including its gender studies, ESL, data science and other degrees. Advocates are rallying against the cuts.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-e8c47744-5dbd-46aa-962b-7c43cef2d4d5.png)AmazonAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/EWU-cuts-d848913c-4e5c-41de-892d-6e1d26d7558a.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/students-ewu-gender-studies/) ### Stabbed. Frostbitten. Overdosed. Sheltered. Sober. Saved. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/stabbed-frostbitten-overdosed-sheltered-sober-saved/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T19:25:04.000Z It’s March 2023\. A homeless Spokane man named Seamus “Shame Dog” Galligan overdoses on fentanyl on a street in southern California. After getting out of jail for stealing from a local deli, he boarded a Greyhound bus, heading back to San Diego to be with his father. But after missing his connection in Anaheim, he finds a hit of fentanyl. A month of detoxing in jail has weakened his tolerance. So he makes the miscalculation that killed so many of his friends. He inhales a bit too much, holds his breath a tad too long. His dad waits for him to call to come pick him up. First hours, then days. It’s April 2023\. A homeless Spokane man named Jeremy Root is stabbed multiple times. His attackers are just kids. Nobody's over eighteen, but all of them have knives. He’s far from the first homeless [victim](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/sep/22/four-juveniles-charged-in-beating-of-homeless-woma/?ref=rangemedia.co) of violent juveniles. It’s one more hazard of living on the streets of Spokane, one more way to die. The [knives come for him](https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/monroe-st-bridge-stabbing-victim-speaks-out/293-af84ec48-fa4f-418f-bcbb-ab49711e0c27?ref=rangemedia.co) on the Monroe Street Bridge, where there’s little room to run. Maybe he’s stabbed five times, maybe as many as 17\. The sun has set — he doesn’t want to just pass out right there, where no one would find him. So he staggers back across the bridge toward the downtown library, toward where other homeless people are gathered, the trail of his blood dripping behind him. It’s January 2024\. A homeless Spokane man named Joseph Sampson has almost everything he owns stolen. His backpack, gone. His sleeping bag, gone. It was just another indignity he’d experienced in his dozen years on the Spokane streets. He’d been arrested, harassed and booted from public buildings. He’d felt the bitter cold bite through his gloves until he couldn’t feel his hands anymore. He’d made close friends, then grieved their deaths. And yet: This is a story about hope. For all the forces conspiring to trap these men in chronic homelessness — drug addiction, poverty, mental illness, criminal history, bad luck — there were equally powerful forces working to rescue them. There was love: a father’s love for his son; a father’s love for his daughter; friends’ love for each other. There was a network of social services agencies, non-profits, and even police officers, crafting paths out of homelessness. And there was individual willpower, the guts and tenacity to break out. This is a story of three daring escapes. It’s May 2026\. Jeremy Root, Seamus Galligan and Joseph Sampson are alive. And none of them are homeless. **THE WAY OF THE SHAMEDAWG** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-95645f51-ef70-4b11-b094-10d69b0596c8.jpeg) Seamus Galligan in Central Spokane Library in February 2023, when he was still homeless. (Photo by Daniel Walters) Three years ago in February — one month before Galligan would overdose, two months before Root would get stabbed, 11 months before Sampson would have his possessions stolen — I sat down with all three of them together at the downtown Spokane library. My story’s premise: The Central Library of Spokane had become a microcosm of all that was beautiful and all that was broken about downtown. Homelessness was particularly relevant — as a candidate, then-mayor Nadine Woodward had flirted with banning homeless people from the library entirely. Instead, the library became a sanctuary for the unhoused, a hub for connecting needy people with social services. But that created all sorts of new tensions and conflicts. The three people I interviewed weren’t selected by a social services agency or activists or PR folks. They weren’t cherry-picked. They just happened to all be sitting on the first floor when I walked by. Sampson, member of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, homeless for a decade, came across as contemplative. He’s an older man who’d become a kind of local leader among the unhoused in downtown Spokane. He’d been an activist, pushing back against efforts to [criminalize homelessness](https://www.inlander.com/news/pedestrian-interference-tickets-spiked-during-expo-celebrations-meanwhile-spokane-police-are-now-enforcing-the-proposition/article%5Fefedcf90-316f-5615-ba31-97401c3661f2.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Seamus “Shamedawg” Galligan, with shaggy facial hair and bundled up in winter clothes, had been homeless for three years. He talked like the kind of stoner philosopher who populates many a dorm lounge, cynical and burnt out, but with a penchant for diving into intellectual theory. Tall, lanky Jeremy Root, had been homeless 15 years — nearly half his life — and was eager to flash his intelligence too. When Galligan referenced a seven-story high shanty town in Hong Kong, Root, as if he were buzzing in on Jeopardy, spat out the location: “Kowloon Walled City.” The three debated drug policy, reviewed the quality of the library snack bucket and mourned friends who had been stabbed or had overdosed. Normally, of course, these sorts of stories aren’t multipart sagas. You type up the quotes, you publish the story, you say hi if you run into the sources on the street. But shortly after I published the [story](https://www.inlander.com/news/the-central-library-has-become-a-microcosm-of-downtown-with-all-its-opportunity-and-struggles/article%5F9bff6803-be89-5fa3-8884-92da777c5305.html?ref=rangemedia.co), Galligan’s dad, a tech executive from San Diego, sent me an email. He had been looking for his son for weeks. That sparked this [story](https://www.inlander.com/news/a-tech-executive-from-san-diego-wanders-the-streets-of-spokane-with-one-mission-find/article%5F18490772-1008-5c83-917a-59130891cb02.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in the Inlander, all about Galligan’s father walking the streets of Spokane searching for his son. It nearly had a darker ending. After overdosing on the way to San Diego, Seamus woke up in a hospital in Anaheim. But by the last page of the chapter, Galligan had reunited with his father and was looking to the future. He’d had an epiphany: that if he didn’t change his life to escape homelessness and addiction, he’d never move on from it. Two years passed, and I didn’t look up how Galligan was doing. Too many victories in stories like these are temporary. Roughly [nine out of every 10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5688890/?ref=rangemedia.co) opioid addicts relapse. The key to the happy ending in stories like his often is when you decide to stop reading. Instead, Galligan sent me an email**.** "I'll be two years clean in April," he wrote in an email last year. "I have a baby daughter now with a wonderful woman.” The difference between his life in San Diego and what his life had been in Spokane felt staggering to think about. “I'm somebody's father now,” he wrote in a text. “I have a beautiful family and a beautiful home. A short two years ago I was a raving crackhead. Lost to the world, wandering the streets, sheltering in dumpsters. Whoda thunk.” When he was a teenager, Galligan’s dad had been homeless himself. Galligan’s birth was the kick-in-the-ass he needed to get serious about changing his life around. Galligan’s life followed the same arc. The birth of his daughter was the moment his outlook truly changed. “It was holding my daughter for the first time,” Galligan said. “It was knowing that I have a legacy in this world: Leaving a better world for my daughter.” At first, he simply replaced his opioid addiction with alcohol. But then he set a goal that he could pour himself into: Bench pressing 300 pounds. He enrolled in body-builder competitions too. It made ditching alcohol easy: he didn’t have the time, he couldn’t spare the calories. He said he’s become a mobile personal trainer for a local community gym in the San Diego area working with people with autism and other neurological challenges. “I have neurons that need to be mobilized, that need to be stimulated, that need to be doing something,” Galligan said. There’s so much to love about his life now. He remembers what it felt walking on the streets of San Diego suburbs, reveling in the kind of high that can only come from sobriety. “I felt so lucid,” Galligan said. “It was still cloudy out, and I realized I could smell the wet asphalt. and the rain, and when it's raining in La Mesa, it has this particular smell.” Maybe it’s the way the drizzles blend with the scent of the pink Bougainvillea plants. “If I was just wasted all the time, I would be missing out on all this shit,” Galligan said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-501a0669-4d75-47ce-89d5-33e492e19406.jpeg) Two years after escaping homelessness in Spokane, Seamus Galligan has a daughter and is living in the San Diego area. (Photo courtesy of Seamus Galligan) **SAMPSON’S STRENGTH** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-27ac8fc3-5075-416c-a72d-5a1cad58db8c.jpeg) Thanks to help from his coworkers at New Leaf Café, Joseph Sampson landed a supportive housing unit at the Sinto Commons apartments. (Photo by Daniel Walters) Joseph Sampson’s path to escaping life on the streets began after the death of Rick Cearns, a homeless man from Oregon. Cearns was a person, Sampson recalled, who would look out for others. He’d de-escalate fights. When one of their friends was cold sleeping outside the library, Sampson recalled, Cearns was the one who found every blanket he could find and covered him with it in the middle of the night. The guy didn’t even want to be in Spokane, Sampson said, but he was stuck here on probation. Three weeks before his death, Cearns posted a photo of the wintery Spokane River right outside the library balcony. *“Rick Cearns is feeling happy at Spokane Public Library,”* his Facebook status read. "Got to love the snow.” Later that month, Cearns asked Sampson — another homeless man killing time at the library — to watch his backpack and sleeping bag at the Library while he looked for a place to take a nap. Sampson was happy to help. Sampson waited, but Cearns never came back for his stuff. There was no news coverage, no obituary in the paper, no press release from the police department. The medical examiner’s report said Cearns had been killed from blunt-force trauma to the head, but didn’t conclude whether it was an accident, suicide or homicide. The police case is unsolved. In the days following Cearns’ death, Sampson overheard people talking about the tragedy at New Leaf Coffee, the coffee shop on the first floor of the library. An employee of New Leaf asked to see a picture of Cearns, and Sampson showed her the picture on Cearns’ Facebook page: a thirty-something man with a scraggly red goatee and a nest of curly hair. The barista ended up accompanying Sampson to the annual homeless memorial. New Leaf is more than a coffee shop: It’s a part of Transitions, an organization that provides job training and career services for homeless people. And when Sampson floated ideas that others might have scoffed at — like going to college and training to become a paralegal — the people at New Leaf were eager to figure out how to get him there. “The one lady there, she really pushed me to get housing and get off the streets,” Sampson said. "I told her how long I was on the streets, and she's like, 'that's too long.’” The same month I interviewed him, New Leaf hired Sampson to help serve coffee, taking him on for a six-month job training program. Meanwhile, the team helped their new coworker get everything he needed to get a housing voucher and search for a place to live. It took more than a year, but by April, 2024, he had a place. Today, he’s living in the Sinto Commons, a four-story affordable housing complex in Spokane that opened near North Central High School. “There's a certain percentage of the apartments here in this building that are dedicated to people just getting out of being homeless, like myself,” Sampson said. His small apartment unit is messy, even chaotic, a flurry of dishes and piles of clothes — he is a single guy, after all. It is, to say the least, a lot nicer than his last place. And it’s *his*, his own sanctuary, a place to make his own. He’s lined the walls near the ceiling with a row of vinyl records. His bike — a Genesis Mountain Bike — leans up against a dresser covered in colorful drawings a friend of his made. Just owning a bicycle is a kind of victory, proof of the kind of security he has now. A bicycle wasn’t something he wanted to own when he was homeless. “I wanted a bike so bad, but I know how quickly people's bikes get [stolen](https://www.rangemedia.co/just-how-many-bikes-are-stolen-in-spokane-what-sps-will-do-after-bond-failure/) out there,” Sampson said. Sinto is permanent supportive housing, the kind that sparks intense opposition in Spokane’s wealthier neighborhoods. But unlike regular housing, he gets a case manager to help him improve his life. It happened to be Oakley Gunderson, his old supervisor at New Leaf. Every 30 days, they review his life and chart out new goals. One of those goals: Becoming a paralegal. He’s fascinated by the law. He had a reputation on the street of knowing a lot about the legal system, and he wants to have a chance to use that knowledge for good. Like Galligan, Sampson has a daughter. Because he’s doing better in his life, he gets a chance to see her more often. Sometimes she’ll hang out in his apartment. Other times he’ll hop on his bike and ride downtown and meet up with her. “It's hard to imagine she’s 20 years old already,” Sampson said. “It went by really fucking fast.” So much of his life had been about trying to escape the cold. One winter, he used the little bit of money sent from his tribe to rent a motel room for a week to escape the sub-zero temperatures. “Maybe I'll just freeze to death," Sampson had written on Facebook during one low point in 2022\. "That's what I want anyways.” It’s warm here, today. It’s safe and it’s quiet. Sometimes too quiet. “A year in my apartment, and I’m not adjusted to being inside,” he wrote on Facebook. The indoors had this eerie kind of quiet that made it hard to sleep. “I was so used to hearing the sounds of the world when I was homeless,” Sampson said He’d spent a decade listening to the hum of the city as he fell asleep. So at night, he cracks open a window a little bit, just enough to hear the pulse of the cars driving by below. **ROOT CAUSES** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-ee6dd2b2-19b3-421d-87b4-acd938cc1321.jpeg) Jeremy Root survived a stabbing, frostbite and getting hit by multiple cars to eventually make his way to a sober living house. He’s optimistic about the future. (Photo by Daniel Walters) Jeremy Root survived the stabbing. For now, he can’t even see the evidence of the wounds, he said. "I'm sure, down the road as I get older, those scars will reappear," Root said. Root is sitting on the porch in front of a sober living house on the lower South Hill, occasionally taking hits from a sour green apple vape pen. I hadn’t been able to reach him for weeks – he was in rehab, it turned out. “I got sober,” Root said. “I've been doing drugs for two decades… Figured it was time to get my shit together, so to speak." This housing comes with rules: He has a curfew. He has to attend intensive outpatient behavioral health classes. He has to take drug tests. Root had assistance from a number of social service agencies — and pressure form the Spokane Police Department — but he’s absolutely clear that getting clean was ultimately his decision. “The hoops I'm jumping through now, I'm *choosing* to jump through,” Root said. “I could very easily, you know, give these people the middle finger and go back out onto the street, and go right to my old fucking bullshit.” For a long time, Root had rejected these sorts of rules. He smoked meth — and used to make a lot of money selling it. Even today, he said, he’d rather go to jail than stay in a shelter. “It's the same experience, you know,” Root said. “Forty-two dudes burping and farting in the same fucking room all night." Root had been in a “swordfight of sorts” with mental illness all his life. He was in anger management by the time he was 4-years-old, eventually getting diagnosed with type 2 rapid cycling bipolar disorder. (“Weee!” he added.) Living without housing has a way of exacerbating mental illness. “On a long enough timeline, the world around will give you a level of PTSD,” Root said. There can be a rhythm to homelessness that can be tough to escape: the day-to-day’s you’re living in bleeds into week-to-week’s and then year-to-year’s. The rest of the world blurs by in the distance. “You blink and it's like 10 years later,” Root said. All those years curdled into distrust toward society. Try having a dog like Taz — a Tasmanian-striped pitbull — and see him get dragged away to the animal shelter when you get arrested, and then not being able to get him back when you get out because you’re unsheltered. “You have something you actually give a shit about and it's stripped from you," Root said. "People can get very bitter very quickly." He’d been stabbed. He’d had frostbite. A brutally cold winter night had eaten at the fingertips and his toes like acid. For months afterward, he felt lightning bolts shoot up his body, his nerves misfiring. He’d been hit by cars – so many, he adopted a rule: go *over* not *under*. But none of that caused him to get clean. The final straw was actually a shift in Spokane’s policing strategy. "I just constantly was going to jail over this shit — camping charges and, like, trespassing I have from, like, places that I used to be able to just frequent,” Root said. “I got kind of tired of getting caught in the crossfire and all that.” But this was no accident. This was part of a larger strategy. When I mention Root’s name, downtown Spokane Police Captain Kurt Reese recognizes it. "Jeremy's doing great,” Reese said. Root was one of what the Spokane Police Department called the “Downtown 10” — the top ten people who cops, firefighters, paramedics and social service agencies were responding to more than any other. Reese had seen similar programs at hospitals and at the Portland Police Bureau that focused on giving extra help to the people who kept getting arrested or kept ending up in the emergency room. He wanted to do something similar for downtown Spokane. Last fall, the police department, mental health care organizations, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges all teamed up to focus on the “Downtown 10” — the people who cops, firefighters, ER docs and mental health workers had been responding to more than any others. “We didn't just pick the low-hanging fruit,” Reese said. “We picked some very tough, challenging people.” The cops arrested those with active warrants and connected them with service providers the moment they landed in jail. A coordinator began to track every single step of their cases. "We have weekly meetings where we discuss the welfare of each person and how we can try different tactics to try to get them into services or into some kind of supportive housing," Reese said. The threat — and reality — of jail was a key part of the strategy. The police department worked with the jail and the prosecutor’s office to hold members of the Downtown 10 until they could and see a judge and be connected with services. For years, jail restrictions meant there had been [few immediate consequences ](https://www.rangemedia.co/way-down-in-the-hole/)for low-level crimes downtown. One person had been arrested 17 times without having seen a judge, Reese said, while another taunted the police that he’d be out within an hour. But the Downtown 10 program was part of a strategy to change that. “After being in jail for a few days, he started wanting to come to the table to talk about how to get into services,” Reese said. These kinds of “high utilizer” programs were championed in the report recently released by the “[Safe and Healthy Task Force](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-most-eclectic-polycule-just-had-a-baby/),” a coalition of local leaders aiming to figure out the most effective way to spend criminal justice money. It’s a program that risks drawing fire from both sides of the homeless debate: It suggests using law enforcement and the threat of arrests as a tool to push people to seek help. And it requires a tremendous investment in rehabilitation programs and other support services. But Mayor Lisa Brown told RANGE that the walls dividing between the two camps on the homelessness issue have began to come down. "I think we’re at a more nuanced place now," Brown said. She said more people understand that simply sending people to jail doesn’t solve problems, but also that sometimes “the fact that they're in the jail is then the time and place where they get connected to the resources”. Deciding to change rarely happens in an instant. One social service agency, Root said, had been trying to work with him for more than a year before he agreed to take their help. Some people seem like they’ll never be ready to take that help, Reese said. But then, “all of a sudden they're ready, and when they're ready, we have to have that warm handoff to get them into services.” At the sober house, a grizzled old man with an anarchy tattoo on his neck smoked a cigarette on the porch as I talked to Root. "To actually go from being on the streets to having a place, even if it's just a shared living space ... the rules are totally different,” the man said. Root heartily agreed. “I just got out of treatment like — shit — less than a week ago, I'm still just getting used to doing the whole fucking ‘not homeless’ thing,” Root said. “We have to learn to no longer be feral. Learning to interact with society on a normal level.” Root knows how precarious the recovery process can be. He’s seen plenty of relapses in his time. But this isn’t a moment for those kinds of dark thoughts. The sun is shining so bright today Root has to squint. “This program I've been going through, it's given me a sense of optimism that I haven't had in a long time,” Root said. “Like maybe this time things might work out in my favor.” **THOSE LEFT BEHIND** Just recently, Sampson lost two friends to overdoses and another to murder. When you exit homelessness, it means leaving friends behind. When you have housing and so many of your friends are still on the street, the temptation — the overwhelming sense of human decency — is to give them a spot to crash in your new life. But that’s typically a lease violation. "That's what makes people lose their housing, pretty quick,” Sampson said. “A lot of people I've known that have gotten housing, they get their apartment or house and within a year, they're back on the streets again.” Sometimes Galligan sits in his car and cries about the people he left behind on the streets of Spokane. “I think about them all the time, many times per hour every waking hour of my life,” Galligan said. He’s animated by revolutionary sentiment, outraged about the exploitation that pervades society, infuriated by an economic system that so easily discards people as worthless. “There’s a family less than a mile from me who are homeless with a two-year-old child,” Galligan said. “This is a society that does not care what happens to human beings.” And yet, there *are* those who care about the human beings that the system has discarded. A Spokane police detective told RANGE he hasn’t given up on Rick Cearns, Sampson’s homeless friend who was killed nearly four years ago. There’s one more potential investigative lead he’s still hoping will pan out. He encouraged RANGE readers who know anything to contact Crime Check. Just like the New Leaf coffee baristas didn’t give up on Sampson, and just like the social service workers didn’t give up on Root, Galligan’s dad didn’t give up on him. "If I could be what I was in 2022 or 2023,” Galligan wrote in an email, “and a short time later be what I am now, then nobody, no matter how dejected, should be written off." That’s the lesson of Sampson’s story and Root’s story too. At the sober house, Root raised his pink thermos full of coffee, as if he’s giving a toast. “It’s the feel-good story of the century,” he said. Galligan in a text message, offered a slightly different take. “The good news story will be the end of capitalism,” Galligan wrote in a text message, “and I’m trying to write it every day.” *Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct typos.* ### Data centers, right to cooling and police body cams at Spokane City Council URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/data-centers-right-to-cooling-and-police-body-cams-at-spokane-city-council/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T20:04:23.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - At their last meeting before July 15, the Spokane City Council could pass an emergency one-year moratorium on data centers, approve additional body cameras for cops, add a new urban Native advisory committee and either hold a first reading or an emergency vote on an ordinance to guarantee renters’ right to cooling in their homes. - During the Finance and Administration Committee meeting, the council will discuss a new proposed staffing plan that would remove three initiative manager positions, replacing them with two analysts and an executive assistant, and potentially force council members to share one legislative assistant per district — regardless of whether those district representatives share political beliefs or not. - The Board of County Commissioners will discuss appointing members to a new committee that will likely review locations for a potential new jail. - The Spokane Valley City Council could vote to spend about $250,000 on a new Public Safety Director position to oversee all things public safety. - A new addition to CVSD’s staff expression policy could ban Pride flags and other classroom decor that isn’t considered “neutral.” ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### New body cams The council could approve an amendment to the city’s contract with Axon — the police technology company that provides the department with body cameras and other tech — that would increase the number of body cameras worn, provide Axon Records licenses to the City Prosecutor’s Office for free (no mention of the Public Defender’s office…) and buy more TASERs, among other things. This would cost the city about $250,000 this year, and about $500,000 per year in 2027, 2028 and 2029, which was previously budgeted for. Interesting note: Axon has [made news](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/axon-tests-face-recognition-body-worn-cameras?ref=rangemedia.co) for testing facial recognition technology on police body cameras in Canada late last year. ### Emergency: data center moratorium Last week, the council failed to muster the five votes necessary to add the emergency one-year data center moratorium to the agenda as Council President Betsy Wilkerson and council members Zack Zappone and Michael Cathcart voted against the addition. However, it was added to the agenda for tonight. The ordinance as originally penned would ban all new data centers within Spokane city limits for one year. An amendment filed by Zappone is also up for consideration. The amendment would change the definition of data center and add workplan elements for the Plan Commission and the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board to consider the long-term aspects of data center siting and regulating. If adopted, the definition of data center would change from “facility *used primarily* for the housing, operation, or co-location of compute and networking equipment and the handling, storage, management, processing, and backing up of digital data” to *“business or commercial activity devoted to* the housing, operation, or co-location of computer and networking equipment and the handling, storage, management, processing, and backing up of digital data.” Currently, the moratorium would ban any data center that has capacity in excess of 25 Megavolt-Amperes (MVA), but the Zappone amendment would also change this, banning any data center that *requires* capacity in excess of 25 Megavolt-Amperes (MVA), not just *has.* ### New Urban Native Advisory Council The council will vote on an ordinance to formally establish the Spokane Urban Native Advisory Council (SUNAC), composed of up to 12 voting members. The new advisory council will advise the mayor, city council and city staff on “policies, programs, and initiatives affecting the urban Native population and grounding City decision-making in lived experience, cultural knowledge, and a commitment to equity and sovereignty-informed partnership,” according to the agenda. ### First read: right to cooling Renters in Spokane are already guaranteed the right to adequate heat in their homes; tonight, council will hold a first reading on an ordinance that could guarantee their right to adequate cooling too. The ordinance, sponsored by Council Members Paul Dillon, Kitty Klitzke and Sarah Dixit, points to the 2021 Northwest Heat Dome — which killed [at least 19 people](https://www.inlander.com/news/what-we-can-learn-from-the-19-dead-found-over-six-years-at-spokanes-wolfe/article%5F02925775-e7e3-52c5-ab50-580b3d4ef3d8.html?ref=rangemedia.co) — and climate change as reasons making the legislation necessary. The ordinance as written would: - Require landlords to provide adequate cooling in each bedroom “On any day during which the heat index is predicted by the National Weather Service to be 95 (ninety-five) degrees Fahrenheit or higher for two (2) consecutive days or more.” - Give tenants the power to purchase and install their own cooling device and deduct up to $500 from their normal rent payment, if the landlord doesn’t remedy the issue within 72 hours of receiving written notice - Go into effect July 15, 2026 (a change from the original date of 2031) - Require landlords to give notice to tenants of their rights around cooling device installations for any leases signed or renewed after the effective date There are two amendments to this ordinance on the table. The first, from Council Member Kate Telis, would convert the ordinance into an emergency ordinance, meaning it would go into effect immediately upon passage. However, the next scheduled council meeting is July 15, which means that unless the council elects to take this up tonight, even under an emergency, it wouldn’t go into effect until then. The second amendment is from Zappone, and would change the ordinance from the right to cooling to “the Right to Request Cooling Devices.” Under the Zappone amendment, tenants would not be guaranteed the right to cooling unless they specifically request a cooling device. Also in the Zappone amendment: - The definition of “adequate cooling,” is removed entirely - Landlord would have a full 14 days from tenant request — rather than 72 hours — to provide cooling devices - Sets the effective date of the ordinance as July 15, which means the earliest tenants could get cooling devices if they notified their landlords immediately upon passage would be July 29. - Landlords would still be required to provide tenants notification of their rights regarding cooling devices for any leases signed or renewed after the effective date of the ordinance The agenda review session at 3:30 will decide which, if any, amendments will be approved. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 22 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Yes for Buses The council will discuss a resolution to formally declare their support for the Spokane Transit Authority sales tax renewal, which will appear before voters on the August primary ballot. ### Council Operations After a fight late last year about whether or not to cut city council staff positions, the council ended up hiring the Matrix Consulting Group for $64,500 to do an organizational analysis of the council staff to help the council decide which (if any) council staffers should have their positions cut and create an office handbook that formalizes roles, responsibilities and expectations. Today, the council will discuss an "operations guide" created by Matrix. Interestingly, the guide also includes a proposed staffing plan that seems to cut the council’s [initiative manager positions](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/members/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Council%20Staff), replacing them with a “policy advisor,” “budget analyst,” and “senior executive assistant.” The staffing plan also lists legislative assistants as “3 to 7 positions,” stating that there could either be one legislative assistant per council member, or one per district — which means that council members who share a district but sit on different ideological poles, like District 1’s conservative Cathcart and progressive Dixit, could be forced to split one assistant. This is still up for discussion. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 22 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 22 at 3:30 pm* > *25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Public facility committee In a perfect example of important government business being buried beneath a layer of jargon, as part of their “Essential Public Facility siting process,” the county commissioners will discuss the “Essential Public Facility Committee makeup.” This might sound boring or unimportant, but what this actually means is that the county commissioners will discuss who to put on a committee that will likely be deciding where a new jail would go, if we build one. This is the next step in the process being supported by the [Safe and Healthy Task Force](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-most-eclectic-polycule-just-had-a-baby/). They recommended spending priorities, and the county will have to decide whether to go out to the public for a sales tax to fund these things, and whether the funding will go to updating the jail at its current site, building a new facility entirely, or something else. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 23 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 23 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** The Spokane County Planning Commission will hold workshops on the environmental impacts of growth, and preferred alternative parameters. There’s not much additional information available, but if you’re a land use or development wonk, this might be the meeting for you. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, June 25 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, June 25 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Annual election for legislative representative? The board of directors will hold a first reading and potential vote on a policy revision to make changes to electing a legislative representative from the board and how long that person serves in that role. If changes are adopted to Policy 1210, the representative would serve for a one-year term instead of the two-year term they currently do. The revision also has annual elections held in December, instead of the June elections currently held every other year. ### Fees and budget The board is also expected to take a vote on adopting a resolution regarding the district’s fees and budget policies as part of the budget adoption expected in August. The policies include: facility use, Union Stadium fee, mileage rate, ASB fees and other fees. The ASB membership fee for middle schoolers would increase from $15 to $25, according to the agenda. And mileage rates would be adjusted to align with IRS standard rates. There would be no changes to other fees like use of facilities, renting the Union Stadium and parking. ### Upcoming school year’s budget The district’s chief financial officer is expected to talk about the upcoming fiscal year’s proposed budget, according to the agenda. No other details were available though. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 22 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Continued tax levy? With the current levy for educational programs and operations set to expire at the end of 2027, the district will begin its planning process for a 2028-2030 levy to present to voters for approval. The current levy supports about 16% of the district’s annual operating expenditures and helps support about 300 staff, educational opportunities and other essentials for students, families and staff, according to the agenda materials. District staff are looking into possible scenarios, including maintaining the current levy rate. But even if the tax rate stays the same, levy collections would increase. This is mostly because of the growth in assessed property values and new construction, the agenda notes. The projected levy revenue amounts based on the current $2.50 rate per $1,000 of assessed property value are as follows: - $48.9 million for 2028 - $50.55 million for 2029 - $52.4 million for 2030 The average cost for a homeowner with a property assessed with a value of $410,000 could expect to pay about $85 a month or $1,025 a year. ### Weighing in on the budget The public will have the opportunity to voice their concerns or thoughts about the district’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget roughly totals $322.4 million. The board will then take a vote to adopt the budget later in the meeting. ### Reviewing policies and procedures The board will review the district’s Student Fees, Fines and Charges procedure. The most notable changes reflect the increased prices for school breakfast and lunch as well as increased fines for replacing technology devices. The board will then hold a first reading of its new [Civility in the Workplace](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/cvsd/Board.nsf/files/DV6SEQ725B37/$file/5161%20Civility%20in%20the%20Workplace%20-%20CVSD%20Edits%20062226.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) policy. The district reworked the Washington State School Directors' Association’s model policy to include a section [for enforcement.](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/cvsd/Board.nsf/files/DV6SEQ725B37/$file/5161%20Civility%20in%20the%20Workplace%20-%20CVSD%20Edits%20062226.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) “The board of directors commits the district in its entirety to the core value of mutual respect for each person regardless of individual differences or characteristics,” the policy reads. No action will be taken on these at this meeting. ### Banning PRIDE flags? A first reading will also be held for the district’s new Staff Expression policy and procedure (also derived from the Washington State School Directors' Association). “Staff expression includes the performance of job responsibilities and how they represent the district in their use of district email accounts, school district buildings, district property, classrooms, and how they present themselves to students,” the [policy reads.](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/cvsd/Board.nsf/files/DV6NHN5FF525/$file/5254%20Staff%20Expression%20-%20CVSD%20Edits%20060926.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) The district’s version strikes out language stating that an employee whose use of social media “interferes with the district’s operations or prevents the district from functioning efficiently and effectively” could be disciplined or terminated. The [procedure](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/cvsd/Board.nsf/files/DV6P2T628D0C/$file/5254AP%20Procedure%20Staff%20Expression%20-%20CVSD%20Edits%20062226.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) has added language from the district that tells employees to make sure decor and displays in their classroom or school are kept “neutral” so that they are respectful to diverse personal beliefs throughout the school community. So could PRIDE flags be banned? Yes. The district's procedure explicitly prohibits displays that promote personal political, social or religious beliefs. The procedure’s list of allowed displays include: - US flags - WA state flags - District or school flags, banners, posters - Displays related to education - Student artwork - “Age-appropriate” displays that create a positive environment The procedure also says that a violation may result in “appropriate disciplinary action consistent with applicable law, policy, and collective bargaining agreements.” No action will be taken to approve this policy and procedure at the meeting. ### **Superintendent contract** The board will also take a vote on renewing Superintendent John Parker’s contract which lists an annual base salary of $257, 509\. The term of the contract is from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029. *Editor's Note: this section has been updated with additional information on the budget item.* > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 22 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, June 24 at 3:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** Note: there will be a special meeting at 5 pm. It will immediately go into an executive session on “potential land acquisition” with no public attendance or comment permitted. The regular meeting will begin at 6 pm. ### New public safety director In 2026, the city of Spokane Valley is set to spend about 65% of its annual budget — roughly $45.5 million — on public safety services costs, including contracting with Spokane County to provide all its policing services. And yet, the city currently does not have a public safety department, a director-level position or even dedicated staff overseeing these services. Instead, responsibilities fall to two administrative analysts, the Deputy City Manager and the City Manager, who all have other job duties. That could change tonight. A public safety coordinator position was created in 2025, then not filled due to budget constraints, but the city managers and analysts are spending more and more of their time on public safety, according to the agenda sheet. Tonight, the council could vote to create a Public Safety Director position that would focus on the city’s top initiatives: renegotiating the city’s policing agreement with the county, analyzing law enforcement alternatives like other contracted services or in-house staffing, and looking at options for enhancing prosecution services. While the 2027 draft budget includes funding for the position — a $226,436 annual salary plus an additional $100k in expenses for a vehicle and an office — the city is seeking to add this position early, which would cost an estimated $231,218\. There’s no budgeted funds for this in 2026, however, because of timing with hiring new police officer positions, the city has found $156,007 in the existing public safety budget to support hiring the director position, and additional funding for the office and furniture from another existing fund balance. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 23 at 6 pm (executive session at 5 pm)* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Spokane prosecutors are suddenly declining to charge more felony domestic violence cases, citing staffing issues URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prosecutors-are-suddenly-declining-to-charge-more-felony-domestic-violence-cases-citing-staffing-issues/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T16:53:39.000Z In April, Spokane police arrested a man for grabbing a woman by the neck and pushing her to the ground. A neighbor had called 911 worried that the yelling next door was a domestic violence situation, and the woman told an officer through tears that she was sick of her boyfriend putting his hands on her, according to the police report. The next day, Spokane County prosecutors sent an email to police. There was probable cause that the man had committed a felony-level assault, since he had prior domestic violence convictions for assaulting and strangling other women he was dating. But the prosecutor’s office decided to decline the case because the victim didn’t want to pursue charges. It used to be rare that prosecutors declined to bring such charges, said Sgt. Dave Adams, who has worked at the Spokane Police Department for over three decades and has led its domestic violence unit since August 2024\. But starting last summer, Adams said that similar emails started trickling into his inbox, until October, when it was like a spigot had opened. The Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office went from declining one or two felony domestic violence cases referred by law enforcement per month to declining over a dozen, peaking in March at 25 declined cases, according to the prosecutor’s office’s data. People who were arrested for crimes like strangulation, assault and no-contact order violations were being released within days, with no new criminal charges on their record. “It was a little bit of a shocker,” Adams said. “Suddenly my inbox starts getting filled up, and I’m like, ‘What have I missed here?’” Spokane County has one of the highest reported rates of domestic violence in the state. But under Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam — up for election this year after being appointed to the position in July 2025 — the county has seen a surge in domestic violence cases being declined, the office’s data shows. While McCollam, Spokane police and survivor advocates point to differing reasons for the case refusals, they agree that the county’s criminal justice system is at capacity — and that consequently, some cases must take priority over others. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/Spokane_mg_1.jpg) Adams and advocates at Spokane’s YWCA attribute the increased refusals to prosecute to a [June 2025 Washington State Supreme Court order](https://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/Supreme%20Court%20Orders/Order%2025700-A-1644.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that slashed the number of cases that public defense attorneys are allowed to take each year. The order, drawing on recommendations from the Washington State Bar Association’s review of a [national public defense study](https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research%5Freports/RRA2500/RRA2559-1/RAND%5FRRA2559-1.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), aimed to lighten the [heavy workloads](https://wsac.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026%5FWSAC%5FPublic-Defense-Crisis-in-Washington-State%5Fv02.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) of public defenders, who represent low-income people charged with crimes — a legal service that each state is constitutionally obligated to provide. Instead of providing relief, some prosecutors and law enforcement officers say that the new mandatory caseload limits — which jurisdictions had to start implementing in January — are tipping Washington’s strained criminal justice system to a breaking point. As public defenders take fewer cases each year in accordance with the court rules, prosecutors say they are having to be even more selective with the charges that they file or else they’d risk a judge tossing the case out later due to a lack of representation. Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Brusic said his office is declining more property crime and non-domestic violence assault cases because there aren’t enough prosecutors or public defenders to take them all. “Since we’ve had the attorney shortage, we’ve had to be more selective. It’s angered police chiefs, and it’s angered the community to some degree, because we have a high crime rate,” Brusic said. Although McCollam said that he’s worried about the state’s public defense crisis, he disagrees that it’s impacting his office’s charging decisions, especially when it comes to domestic violence cases. Those decisions are based on the strength of the case, admissible evidence and whether they believe they can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. It also depends on the availability of prosecutors — the Spokane County office is down 20% of its staff at any given time, operating with around 40 criminal lawyers when they should have over 50, McCollam said.Following his appointment last year, he sent a clear message to law enforcement: While the office remained committed to prosecuting violent and chronic offenders, they’re facing “significant challenges” in prosecuting crime due to staffing and changing court rules. The [state Supreme Court issued another order](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court%5Frule%5Frelated%5Forders/orders/25700-A-1653.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) in July 2025 that accelerated the timeline for prosecutors to make charging decisions in state superior courts, McCollam pointed out. [McCollam](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court%5FRules/proposed/2025Jan/CrR%204.1%20CrRLJ%204.1%20CrRLJ%203.2.1%201622/Preston%20McCollam%20-%20CrR%204.1.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Spokane County Superior Court judges](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court%5FRules/proposed/2025Jan/CrR%204.1%20CrRLJ%204.1%20CrRLJ%203.2.1%201622/Michelle%20Szambelan%20-%20CrR%204.1.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) had submitted public comments imploring the Supreme Court justices to reject this change, arguing that the “extremely overwhelmed” criminal justice system was already straining to assign attorneys in the current timeline, and that prosecutors would have significantly less time to notify and confer with victims about charges. The changes were adopted anyway. “The system is still struggling under the burden of these rule changes,” McCollam said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/Spokane_mg_2.jpg) Preston McCollam was appointed Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney in July 2025 and is up for election this year to keep the position. (Provided/Spokane County) As a result, there are some crimes that the prosecutor’s office has stopped prioritizing. Over a quarter of Spokane County’s declined felony domestic violence cases from January 2025 through March 2026 were for “invited” violations of no-contact orders, according to the office’s records — meaning that the survivor allowed their alleged abuser to contact them despite it being a crime under the court order. The prosecutor’s office can’t prioritize those cases due to the “sheer number of violent crimes and nonconsensual contact cases,” according to McCollam. Before last year’s Supreme Court orders, the prosecutor’s office used to take those cases, Adams said. There are many reasons why domestic violence survivors might allow their abusers to contact them, said Adams, like fear of telling their abuser “no” or because they’re trying to navigate shared custody of their kids. Now, Adams doesn’t assign detectives to those cases. “I can’t waste taxpayer dollars investigating stuff that won’t be prosecuted,” he said. ### Victim cooperation On a cool, clear night in April, a woman called the Spokane Police Department afraid she was going to die. She reported that her boyfriend had squeezed his hands around her neck, yelling that he would kill her as she gasped for him to let go, according to the police report. When police arrived, an officer noted a fresh cut on the woman’s lip and redness on her cheek where she said her boyfriend had hit her. Her neck was red and her eye was bloodshot. She was shaking. They arrested the man for second-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The Spokane County Superior Court issued an order barring him from contacting the woman or coming within 1,000 feet of her home, and the police department assigned a detective to dig further into the case. But the detective never got the chance. Within days of the arrest, the Spokane County prosecutor’s office declined to file charges against the man. He was released from jail, and the no-contact order was dropped. The prosecutor’s office sent an email to Spokane police explaining why they declined the case: When the office reached out to the woman, she told them that nothing bad had happened and she was fine. Without her cooperation or more independent evidence supporting the allegations, prosecutors decided not to move forward with the case. “Victim noncooperation” is a common challenge in domestic violence cases, said Sally Winn, YWCA Spokane’s director of legal services. Many victims call 911 because they need immediate protection, but after the emergency is over, they don’t agree to be involved in the criminal investigation. That decision is often for safety reasons, Winn said. “Maybe he’s threatening her. Maybe he’s withholding child support if she goes forward,” she said. “We don’t know what kind of influence the abuser is having over the victim in trying to prevent her from going forward. That is not an indicator of whether or not the case is valid.” Before the June 2025 state Supreme Court order, the prosecutor’s office would often still file charges in these instances based on evidence like medical records, photos, videos, witness testimony and text messages, according to Winn and Adams. Yet as fall turned to winter then spring, Spokane police received more and more emails from the prosecutor’s office declining cases because the victim wasn’t cooperating. “That’s been the biggest change for us in law enforcement, is to see those cases get declined,” Adams said. “The nature of domestic violence being what it is, the chances that a survivor is going to want to cooperate are essentially zero.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/Spokane_mg_3.jpg) Spokane Police Department Sgt. Dave Adams and YWCA Spokane Director of Legal Services Sally Winn have seen a surge in refusals to prosecute domestic violence cases since the fall. In Spokane and other counties, attorney shortages are forcing prosecutors to prioritize filing some cases over others — an issue that prosecutors say is being exacerbated by changing court rules. (Erick Doxey/InvestigateWest) In March, Spokane police interviewed a woman whose face was streaked with blood after an alleged assault, according to police records. The woman described how her boyfriend pushed her to the ground and squeezed her neck with his thighs. The officer saw shattered glass throughout the apartment and a broken TV that the woman said her boyfriend smashed with a granite block. The prosecutor’s office declined the case days later, after the woman told a victim advocate that she had “no safety concerns” and didn’t want to press charges. In another case later that month, a woman told a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputy that her intoxicated husband had slammed her face into a car window and screamed that he would kill her. The deputy photographed the woman’s swollen cheek and scratches on her face. Her husband, who had a previous conviction for assaulting her, was arrested and booked into jail. Again, the prosecutor’s office dropped the case within days after the woman told a victim advocate that she didn’t have safety concerns. Although cases become much more difficult to prove without the survivor’s testimony, filing charges still has benefits for survivors, Winn said. It activates protection mechanisms like no-contact orders and requirements for alleged abusers to relinquish their guns. It also allows survivors more time to recover from the incident, speak with advocates and make safety plans — supports that could eventually give them the capacity to engage with prosecutors later in the process. In Yakima County, which also faces high rates of domestic violence, Prosecuting Attorney Brusic said that his office doesn’t need victim cooperation to charge domestic violence cases, although they always prefer to have it. “There are evidentiary ways we can get around it,” Brusic said, like relying on hearsay exceptions and eyewitness accounts, “but it does have an impact on our decisions at times.” But McCollam said that he “absolutely” needs cooperation from the victim in order to present domestic violence cases in court. Filing those cases without it does a disservice both to the victim and the community, he said. “If we know at the onset that we can’t prove it, we’re kind of clogging the court system even more,” McCollam said. ### Supply and demand In September 2024, Washington State Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Executive Director Russell Brown stood in front of the state’s Supreme Court justices and, on behalf of Washington’s 39 elected prosecutors, asked them to reject the proposal to slash public defender caseloads. “We are seeing currently in many communities already under the current labor shortages, there are not enough public defenders, and frankly, not enough prosecutors to manage the current criminal caseload,” Brown said during the [public hearing](https://tvw.org/video/washington-state-supreme-court-hearing-on-indigent-defense-standards-2024091059/?ref=rangemedia.co). The proposed court rules would only aggravate this complex problem, he argued. “You would see substantial numbers of serious criminal cases that would be unable to be filed.” Several prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, city mayors and judges submitted comments echoing Brown’s concerns that lowering public defenders’ caseloads would only worsen counties’ existing attorney shortages. But in June 2025, the Washington State Supreme Court found that the state’s [public defense crisis](https://wsac.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026%5FWSAC%5FPublic-Defense-Crisis-in-Washington-State%5Fv02.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) required immediate action. Low-income people who had been charged with crimes were [waiting weeks or even months](https://www.investigatewest.org/washingtons-yakima-county-represents-breaking-point-in-states-public-defender-crisis?ref=rangemedia.co) for an attorney, while overburdened public defenders were drowning under excessive caseloads. The justices issued an order lowering the maximum cases that public defenders can take on from 150 felony cases per year to 47 — effectively tripling the number of defense attorneys that Washington needs to manage the same volume of cases. Jurisdictions [have 10 years](https://www.wsba.org/connect-serve/committees-boards-other-groups/public-defense/standards?ref=rangemedia.co) to comply, using a phased approach that requires them to get incrementally closer to the new standard each year. In many jurisdictions, however, the money and labor pool needed to implement the required changes simply don’t exist. Unlike most states, Washington contributes little funding to its public defense system, leaving local governments to pay for [more than 94%](https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/wa-legislature-left-a-vital-task-undone-funding-public-defenders/?ref=rangemedia.co) of the costs — a burden that many smaller and rural counties don’t have the resources for. Spokane County is already facing implementation challenges. In May, the directors of two public defense offices [sued the county](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-county-public-defenders-challenge-their-caseloads-in-court-and-at-the-bargaining-table/article%5Fe883ca3a-4f51-4373-959c-2684f35ccf31.html?ref=rangemedia.co) for setting caseload limits that they argue exceed the limits allowed by the state Supreme Court. Some public defenders have had to stop taking assignments and work hundreds of unpaid hours in an effort to give their clients quality representation, according to the lawsuit. Prosecutors are not optimistic that the problem will be solved anytime soon. Although the state Legislature more than doubled its funding for local public defense services in its budget for 2026 and 2027, counties say the funding [still falls far short](https://www.investigatewest.org/wa-legislatures-budget-doubles-public-defense-funds-but-counties-say-its-still-not-enough/?ref=rangemedia.co) of what’s needed. A proposal to direct 7% of Washington’s [new “millionaires tax”](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-signs-millionaires-tax-law?ref=rangemedia.co) revenue toward public defense was [dropped by lawmakers](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-income-tax-plan-drops-public-defense-for-cities-counties/?ref=rangemedia.co) before the bill passed in March. “To say we need some more defense attorneys, I think, is reasonable. But to say we need three times as many defense attorneys, I don’t see that as reasonable or workable,” said Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik. “Already, this is causing real damage to the justice system. The damage will become very, very serious in another two, three, four years.” Some counties’ superior courts are already [at a breaking point](https://www.investigatewest.org/washingtons-yakima-county-represents-breaking-point-in-states-public-defender-crisis?ref=rangemedia.co). In 2024, Benton County released five people from jail in 2024 who were charged [with crimes including domestic violence and rape](https://www.nbcrightnow.com/news/5-inmates-released-from-benton-county-jail-due-to-lack-of-defense-counsel/article%5F36d649b4-251b-11ef-903d-fb29f6dbd64e.html?ref=rangemedia.co) because there were no defense attorneys to represent them. A Clark County judge [dismissed 24 misdemeanor criminal cases](https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/feb/27/clark-county-judge-dismisses-24-misdemeanor-cases-over-lack-of-attorneys-for-defendants/?ref=rangemedia.co) in February for the same reason. In Yakima County, the lack of defense attorneys grew so dire that the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington [sued the county](https://www.aclu-wa.org/press-releases/aclu-washington-sues-yakima-county-failing-appoint-attorneys-indigent-people-charged-crimes/?ref=rangemedia.co) over it in 2024\. The Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has not begun selecting out domestic violence cases, which are still being filed at the same rate as previous years, according to the office’s data. But Prosecuting Attorney Brusic and Yakima Police Department officers worry that refusals to prosecute domestic violence cases will become a larger issue as the public defender caseload limit phases in over the next decade. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-18-at-11.21.15-AM.png) [DV Declinations](https://www.canva.com/design/DAHMaCC%5F1x8/FrgAXw7nWI1iN4NLI1KfrA/view?utm%5Fcontent=DAHMaCC%5F1x8&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=embeds&utm%5Fsource=link) “All of those laws designed to keep victims of domestic violence safe are being countered by the inability to prosecute people that should be prosecuted for domestic violence,” said Yakima Police Department Capt. Chad Janis. “The question is, how many times is it acceptable to assault your wife before we prosecute you? Because that’s where we’re going to go.” In Spokane County, McCollam emphasized that prosecutors still decline relatively few cases. From June 2024 to April 2026, the prosecutor’s office filed 5,866 cases and declined 766, a decline rate of about 13%. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in contrast, declined to file over 40% of cases referred by law enforcement in Superior Court during that same timeframe, according to the [King County office’s data dashboard](https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/pao/about-king-county/about-pao/data-reports/dashboard?ref=rangemedia.co#toc-The-Data-Dashboard). “We should never be in a situation, I don’t believe, where we’re filing a case or we’re not filing a case because we’re worried about whether or not they have an attorney,” McCollam said. But in practice, prosecutors like McCollam know that there are only so many cases that will make it through the state’s underfunded criminal justice system — and if they don’t triage those cases on the front end, then a judge could end up dismissing them later in the process due to a lack of attorneys, as happened in Benton and Clark counties. McCollam looks at Oregon as a cautionary tale. In February, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that [more than 1,400 cases](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/05/oregon-supreme-court-ruling-attorney-shortage?ref=rangemedia.co) had to be dismissed due to a shortage of public defenders. “That’s something that I’m really concerned is coming to Washington if we can’t get this thing figured out,” McCollam said. “So we need to be aware of it, and we need to be prioritizing resources.” The prosecutor’s office doesn’t leave domestic violence survivors out in the cold, added Spokane County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Hannah Stearns. Attorneys refer them to the YWCA and other organizations to help with things like custody issues, housing and transportation. But the YWCA’s capacity is [also at its limit](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2026-05-30/domestic-violence-survivors-legal-help-spokane-ywca-needs-more-funding?ref=rangemedia.co). Their shelter is full, their domestic violence helpline is constantly ringing, and the number of people getting legal support nearly doubled since last year, according to a May statement from the organization. Adding to the strain, federal funding for crime victims has plummeted in recent years, causing Washington domestic violence nonprofits to [cut positions and scale back services](https://www.investigatewest.org/wa-crime-victim-orgs-call-for-state-help-as-falling-federal-funding-has-them-at-a-breaking-point/?ref=rangemedia.co) just to continue operating. “We can try and protect the client as best we can, but there’s nothing in place to change the trajectory of the abuser,” Winn said. “That’s kind of what we need the criminal justice system to do, so it doesn’t happen to the same survivor again or doesn’t happen to another survivor.” In January, when a mom of three didn’t want to engage with Spokane County prosecutors, the prosecutor’s office emailed law enforcement that “with great regret” they had to decline the felony domestic violence referral. The victim was “100%+ uncooperative,” the email explained, and they didn’t have other witnesses who could testify. But the prosecutor’s office concluded with a warning: “We’ll see this family again.” [*Kelsey Turner* ](https://www.investigatewest.org/author/kelsey-turner?ref=rangemedia.co)*covers gender-based violence and other issues relating to poverty and marginalized communities for* [*Investigate West*](“https://www.investigatewest.org”)*.* ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/c5cebd18-5b20-4450-97f5-2564de558a74.jpg) ### Best of CHUMs URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/best-of-chums/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T18:52:31.000Z Some may say that Seattle is not a four-hour car-ride from Spokane, but rather a whole world away. What even happens there? Is their mayor actually a communist? Does all authentic grunge music still emerge fully formed from its music scene? Does a Kraken actually live in the sound, or is that just the hockey team? While Seattle is WAY out of our coverage area, we're stepping out of our comfort zone to meet a few of our favorite west siders in Wenatchee – the hometown of RANGE's Daisy Zavala Magaña. In just a few weeks, we're going to confer with CHUM News to — to swap stories from our respective sides of the state and share underreported local news that will inevitably impact everyone across Washington. In anticipation of this Midstate Meet-up, we had CHUM on the pod to chat about what they're building. We talked arts and culture, data centers and got Seattle recs from the locals. As Spokane journalists, we want to ask CHUM all the most important questions when we meet them in person next week, so drop us a line: What do you want us to fact check about Seattle? What do you want to know about the west side? Listen now at the link below or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Power Polls URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/power-polls/ Last updated: 2026-06-17T22:23:44.000Z Most of you regular folks probably hang up when pollsters interrupt a summer evening with a “short” phone survey that lasts 20 minutes or more. But we political reporters are built different. We sigh, start up our computers, hit record on our digital voice recorders and start reporting. This is exactly what happened last week, when a pollster called RANGE reporter Daniel Walters’s cell phone to conduct a lengthy phone survey focused on local politics. The lady on the other end had many, many questions: Did Daniel have positive or negative impressions of Bob Ferguson, the Spokane City Council, President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep Michael Baumgartner? Who did he plan to vote for in the next race for US representative and state house representative? What were his thoughts on tax measures for the Spokane Transit Authority and the Spokane library? What were his thoughts on a bunch of questions about natural gas regulations? And how about next year’s race for mayor? “It's too early to know who will run,” the surveyor asked, “but three potential candidates are Lisa Brown, Spokane's current Mayor; Betsy Wilkerson, Spokane City Council President; and Gavin Cooley, Spokane's former chief financial officer and current head of the Spokane Business Association.” The Spokane Business Association was founded by industrial property developer [Larry Stone](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/ai-data-center-electricity-water/687521/?ref=rangemedia.co), one of the biggest political donors in Spokane. Stone is a one-time progressive who has become a major critic of Mayor Lisa Brown. Brown, a former state Senate Majority leader, was once tarred as a radical leftist as Sandinista Lisa for her work with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in 1990, but long ago moderated to become part of the Democratic establishment. The poll also floated a potential three-way Spokane City Council President race between current Council President Betsy Wilkerson and progressive council members Zack Zappone and Paul Dillon. The pollster, however, did not identify *who* they were polling on behalf of. Was this a Larry Stone thing? Or maybe a political action committee like Let’s Go Washington, which successfully ran a pro-[natural-gas ](https://letsgowashington.com/the-initiatives/?ref=rangemedia.co)state initiative in 2026? Or was this one of the other traditional political power players in Spokane, like the Spokane Home Builder’s Association or the Spokane Association of Realtors? After all, the questions a pollster asks can be just as revealing as the answers they get back. Political polling isn’t cheap. It’s rarely simply a matter of curiosity. It had to be someone with deep pockets and equally deep stakes in the political landscape. So Walters picked up the phone and started calling local politicos. Not I said, the Homebuilders. Not I said, the Realtors. Not I, said Gavin Cooley of the Spokane Business Association. But Cooley had a guess for who it may have been instead: “Based only on the subject matter, Avista?” Indeed, Avista Corp., a mid-sized power utility that holds a monopoly over parts of Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, was the leading suspect for most of the folks RANGE contacted. “I think it's interesting to be polling at this point," Brown told RANGE. "But from the nature of it, it seemed like it had a lot of energy related questions. That's probably an Avista thing." So we reached out to the utility’s comms team. "I did some asking around and discovered that we did indeed recently run a survey asking about the questions we spoke about" Avista Communications manager Lena Fuston wrote in an email. That, unfortunately, was a big old conflict-of-interest for Walters, because his (beautiful, intelligent, etc.) wife works there. So he handed off the Avista part of the story to Aaron Hedge, who does not have even a single wife working at a local power utility. Here’s what Hedge found: ## Survey part of a bigger landscape Avista provides electric and natural gas power to 30,000 square miles of the Inland Northwest. Its annual revenue in 2025 was nearly $2 billion and it holds $3.271 billion value in stock shares. It owns 115 wind turbines; seven thermo-generation plants, which generate electricity from heat derived from steam; five natural gas plants; and eight hydroelectric plants drawing from 14 dams across the Pacific Northwest. Some power utilities are much larger — for example, the Texas utility Oncor has 10-fold the number of customers Avista serves. Still, as one of only four publicly-traded companies based in the Spokane area, Avista is one of the community’s most important power brokers. It is also a state-regulated monopoly, meaning it’s the sole power provider in its operating territory. It has a strong incentive to cater to Washington’s energy laws, which are some of the nation’s most progressive, aimed at curbing climate change. Like any large company, Avista needs to research its customers to make sure it’s serving their needs. The survey Avista commissioned this spring is part of a “broader, ongoing research effort” designed to help the company “understand how perspectives may be changing, particularly as energy policy and costs continue to evolve,” Funston said, in written comments to Hedge. She said the company typically does a similar survey each spring. She said the survey results will likely not be released publicly, “although we may share general insights at a high level when they help provide context on the energy issues our customers are thinking about.” She would not comment on how Avista chose which candidates to ask questions about. “While questions related to local leadership or elections are inherently speculative, they are designed to provide context on the broader environment, not to support or influence any specific candidate or outcome,” she said. The utility took over the local news cycle for a couple of days earlier this month when news organizations, [including RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/), reported that it was in talks with a “large load” customer to build a large data center somewhere near Spokane. That project would eventually consume 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 400,000 homes. A few days later, [the company paused](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/12/avista-puts-data-center-negotiations-on-pause/?ref=rangemedia.co) those negotiations, saying it wanted to take customer feedback into consideration. Funston said the survey had nothing to do with any data center or large load customer. “We’ve tried to be as transparent as we can about the purpose and general topics,” Funston wrote. “At the same time, we don’t typically share detailed survey design, vendors, or full results, as that work is considered proprietary and part of our internal research approach.” Last month, three top officials at Avista held their first quarterly earnings call with investors and disclosed they were in early negotiations to power a data center, but they kept things vague with the media, instead calling it a “[large load customer](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/03/avista-working-with-developer-to-provide-massive-a/?ref=rangemedia.co).” Brown, Wilkerson, Dillon and Zappone told RANGE they’ve been hearing about the survey since they came into city government years ago — or earlier. Wilkerson, Dillon and Zappone, the three potential city council president candidates polled by Avista, said there needs to be a strong framework to develop more power generation. “The region is growing,” Wilkerson said. “We have to build capacity for economic development. But if we don't build it so they can come on our own terms by putting policies and ordinances in place and processes, then we'll just get what we get.” Dillon and council members Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis introduced a year-long moratorium on approval for new data centers — which could imply more natural gas infrastructure — to Monday night’s City Council agenda. But when it came to finalize the agenda, it received only four votes; not enough to clear the five-vote threshold required to add agenda items last minute. Zappone, who voted against adding it, told RANGE he didn’t have a good enough handle on it to know if it would impact the development of the [Spokane Aerospace Tech Hub](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/30/spokane-aerospace-tech-hub-gets-new-life-after-was/?ref=rangemedia.co). “ My understanding is part of it's for manufacturing, but part of it is subleasing to a data center within it that will be used to offset the cost of the construction,” Zappone said. “I do not agree or support that thesis, Dillon told RANGE. "And if they are building a data center, then yes, they should not be exempt.” ### Cooking with gas? Natural gas has been a lightning rod in local politics for years. In the years leading up to 2021, a City Council subcommittee focused on climate change [had proposed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jul/04/banning-the-ban-spokane-citizens-initiative-looks-/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20plan%20is,construction%20by%202028.%E2%80%9D) banning natural gas hookups in new construction, but that proposal never went anywhere. In 2021, the Spokane Home Builders Association launched the Spokane Cleaner Energy Protection Act, a ballot initiative that would have prohibited future city councils from imposing natural gas restrictions. Avista employees formed a political action committee to support the ballot initiative, also called Prop 1 — not to be confused with the phantasmagoria of other props 1 —that would have forced Spokane to provide natural gas hookups for people who want to use it. They donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the campaign. But a Superior Court judge struck the measure down, saying it dealt with administrative practices in the city, which exceeded the scope of ballot initiatives. Avista Corp. itself sometimes spends money on candidates for office and ballot measures. For example, it gave Zappone the maximum of $2,400 last year during his reelection campaign, according to campaign disclosures. It also employs lobbyists who work at the state Capitol. There is also a strong, well-funded world of advocacy to fight against even theoretical regulations on natural gas — one that is sometimes successful. For example, in 2024, Let’s Go Washington, a conservative organization that pushes right-wing ballot initiatives, convinced voters to approve [ballot Initiative 2066](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2066-fossil-gas/), which required utilities and local governments to create infrastructure to provide natural gas to power consumers. Natural gas emissions accumulate in the atmosphere and let sunlight through but traps heat in the air, [contributing to global warming](https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-much-does-natural-gas-contribute-climate-change-through-co2-emissions-when-fuel-burned?ref=rangemedia.co). Avista is not listed as a partner on Let’s Go Washington’s [website](https://letsgowashington.com/initiatives-hall-of-fame/?ref=rangemedia.co#I-2066) dedicated to that initiative, but it’s basically the same as Spokane’s previous Prop 1\. The major difference is I-2066 applies statewide rather than only to Spokane. That law is currently [being challenged](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/22/legal-fight-over-natural-gas-initiative-crescendoes-at-wa-supreme-court/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the Washington Supreme Court. Dillon expressed concerns about more development of natural gas, pointing to a [1999 gas pipeline explosion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic%5Fpipeline%5Fexplosion?ref=rangemedia.co) in Whatcom County that killed three people. “I think people from across the political spectrum can appreciate the concerns around these issues, and we have to address that,” he said. ### Smelling Gas The survey was not a “push poll” — a stealth campaign ad — but it did appear to be very interested in testing messaging on natural gas regulations. *"Do you have a positive or negative opinion about natural gas or fuel for your home heating and cooking?”* *“Some local governments in Washington are considering policies that require all new homes and buildings that be powered by electricity only, including for heating and cooking.”* It’s true some communities around the Pacific Northwest have been talking about banning the energy source, including [Eugene, Oregon](https://www.opb.org/article/2023/02/07/eugene-natural-gas-ban/?ref=rangemedia.co), which in 2023 became the first government in the state to do so. But natural gas is still very available — it generates [about 33%](https://www.myavista.com/about-us/about-our-energy-mix?ref=rangemedia.co) of its electricity. *Charge an additional fee for natural gas hookups to homes and businesses? Require homeowners to replace their natural gas and appliances, such as furnaces, water heaters, stoves with electric appliances? Ban the use of natural gas appliances, such as furnaces and stoves, and new homes and businesses?* *“The Washington legislature passed the* [*Climate Commitment Act*](https://ecology.wa.gov/air-climate/climate-commitment-act?ref=rangemedia.co) *in 2021: It requires the natural and gas, electric utilities, or refineries, and large manufacturers to purchase pollution credits from the state. The cost to buy these pollution credits may be passed along to consumers.”* After noting that the credits would partially fund programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the pollster presented the question: *“Do you think the Climate Commitment Act is increasing, decreasing, or has no effect on the following: the cost of everyday goods you buy? Greenhouse gas emissions? Your monthly utility bills for electricity or natural gas?”* With that last one, the pollster followed up by asserting there was a correct answer: *“In fact, except for protected low-income customers, the Climate Commitment Act has increased the cost of utility bills for most residential natural gas customers, and the cost is expected to increase over time.”* Then the survey firm asked respondents to say whether they agreed more that “paying high gas bills is not worth it, especially with rising household costs especially with rising household costs” or “uncertainty about whether they will reduce greenhouse gases, or paying higher natural gas bills is worth it to support investments aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.” One question asked respondents to rank spending priorities considered by potential local ballot initiatives, including spending taxpayer money on public education, public transportation, library services or public safety and criminal justice services. Avista was one of the groups that convened the Safe and Healthy Task Force, a coalition of local leaders aimed at guiding how behavioral health and criminal justice dollars would be spent. Last week, it released a report that, despite being very long, did not [define its priorities](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-most-eclectic-polycule-just-had-a-baby/). Avista’s survey aimed to ask the public to define its own priorities, asking how they would rank **“**treatment or reentry services aimed at reducing repeat offenses” vs. “increasing police presence in neighborhoods and downtown areas” vs “expanding jail capacity” vs targeting “public safety issues connected to homelessness, such as property crimes and sleeping on sidewalks in public parks.” These are the kinds of priorities, of course, a Spokane mayor will have to weigh in the future, whether it be Lisa Brown or, say, Gavin Cooley or Betsy Wilkerson? **GRAND OLD COOLEY?** Informed that he was named as potential mayoral candidate on the survey, Cooley laughed and wrote that he’d “love to see the results.” “Always thinking but nothing official,” Cooley said when asked if he was considered a run. He declined to do a longer interview about the topic. Candidates have a reason to play coy about whether they’re running. Within two weeks of announcing a candidacy, even verbally, candidates must officially file with the state [public disclosure commission](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/rules-enforcement/guidelines-restrictions/online-campaign-activities?ref=rangemedia.co). That triggers all sorts of reporting and bookkeeping requirements up until the election. Historically, Cooley has often been on the ambiguous center-left politically, praising former City Council President Ben Stuckart’s handling of finances and harshly criticizing the financial management of conservative former Mayor Nadine Woodward. But he was a major booster of David Condon, the technocratic two-term Republican mayor, and in recent years, his advocacy has shifted to rightwing causes, like killing public transit expansions and road diets and lobbying against policies that protect renters. In the last few years, his criticism has turned more [explicitly](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/) against Brown. At the tail end of Woodward’s term, Cooley had been leading a multi-government effort to create a [regional homelessness authority](https://www.rangemedia.co/regional-homeless-authority-spokane-housing-jail/). But when Brown got into office, she unceremoniously nixed the project, complaining that the city would be spending too much money without getting enough control. Cooley felt betrayed. To Brown, Cooley’s role on the Spokane Business Association soured their relationship. She objects to the association’s “videos, the full-page ads, the playing loose with statistics — I would say [very loose](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/) with statistics — to the point where I just sort of shake my head.” Wilkerson, for her part, scoffed at the notion that she might run for mayor. “As always in our community, speculation runs amok around the political season. I have not expressed any interest in being mayor,” Wilkerson said. To start with, the mayor can only have one job. Running for mayor, she said, would require her to give up her assisted living business. “That’s my passion,” she said. She’s sticking to running for re-election as Spokane City Council president. “As of now, I’m running until I’m not,” she said. It isn’t clear whether Wilkerson was inserted into the mayoral poll because the pollster thought Wilkerson was likely to run for mayor, because they wanted to split the progressive vote to inflate Cooley’s apparent chances, or because they were just spitballing. “Someone threw me in as a wild card,” Wilkerson said. But there’s yet another outside possibility the poll may have been noodling over: that Lisa Brown doesn’t run for re-election. While Brown has already submitted her re-election paperwork, she hasn’t made the final call yet. “The decision about mayor is something I'm gonna make at the end of the year,” Brown told RANGE. “As long as I can go and not be in campaign mode, the better. That's how I look at it." ### ‘Considerados esenciales’ y olvidados: URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/considerados-esenciales-y-olvidados-como-los-lideres-comunitarios-y-los-medicos-estan-ayudando-a-los-trabajadores-agricolas-latinos-a-sobrellevar-la-covid-prolongada/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:20:37.000Z 💡 To read in English, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/latino-farmworkers-long-covid/). Armida Rivera trabajaba como supervisora ​​en Monson Fruit Company, cerca de Yakima, durante la pandemia de COVID-19, cuando los trabajadores le pidieron que se uniera a la huelga. No dudó en decir que sí. Pero poco después, la despidieron. “No tenían ninguna protección contra el virus. No teníamos ni jabón para lavarnos las manos,” dijo Rivera. “No me arrepiento para nada. Lo volvería a hacer con todo mi corazón.” Rivera ahora se desempeña como organizadora en Yakima para el Latino Community Fund, brindando apoyo a los trabajadores agrícolas que enfrentan los impactos continuos del COVID-19\. A lo largo de Washington, ella es parte de un esfuerzo más amplio, incluyendo personal de radio comunitaria en Sunnyside y a los médicos de la Clínica de COVID Persistente de la Universidad de Washington, para conectar a las comunidades desproporcionadamente afectadas, como los trabajadores agrícolas latinos, con información y atención médica. El Dr. Leo Morales, profesor de la facultad de medicina del University of Washington e investigador del Centro Latino para la Salud de la universidad, dijo que los datos de una encuesta recopilados por el centro mostraron que el 41,2% de los trabajadores agrícolas previamente diagnosticados con COVID-19 experimentaron COVID persistente. El proyecto define el COVID persistente como una enfermedad que afecta a personas con una infección probable o confirmada por COVID-19, cuyos síntomas aparecen en un plazo de tres meses y duran al menos dos meses. Morales afirmó que algunos casos de COVID persistente podrían estar relacionados con retrasos en la vacunación y reticencia a vacunarse. La Dra. Anita Chopra, de la Clínica de COVID Persistente del University of Washington, agregó que los trabajos físicamente exigentes, como el trabajo agrícola, pueden dificultar que los trabajadores se tomen tiempo libre. Amy Liebman, directora de programas para el Migrant Clinicians Network, señaló que otras barreras, como la falta de transporte, las barreras lingüísticas y los temores relacionados con el estatus migratorio, pueden complicar aún más el diagnóstico. El Migrant Clinicians Networks es una organización sin fines de lucro que colabora con trabajadores de salud comunitarios y otros educadores en el ámbito de la salud, trabajando con familias inmigrantes y migrantes en todo el país. “¿Pero quiénes estaban en primera línea? Nuestros trabajadores agrícolas, ¿verdad? Y los aplaudíamos por ser trabajadores esenciales,” dijo Liebman. “Estaban más expuestos, y también se enfermaban y morían con más frecuencia que la población general.” ### ‘Dando más respuestas a las familias’ En una esquina de la oficina del Latino Community Fund, Rivera señala varias cajas apiladas: cubrebocas. Cuenta Rivera que, desde que la despidieron, ha mantenido contacto con muchos de los trabajadores que participaron en la huelga y suele tener cubrebocas disponibles por si los necesitan. También mencionó que muchas organizaciones en el centro de Washington dejaron de repartir cubrebocas y otros recursos cuando se levantaron las restricciones en 2023. Rivera comentó que la mayoría de los campesinos con los que ha mantenido contacto aún presentan síntomas persistentes de mareo desde que contrajeron la COVID-19\. Otros, además, han perdido el sabor. “Toda la gente que trabajamos en la agricultura sabemos lo pesado que es ese trabajo y lo peligroso que es cuando te mareas y te subes a una escalera con la bolsa de manzana o de pera,” dijo Rivera. Radio KDNA, una estación de radio en español en Sunnyside, ha mantenido algunas de sus iniciativas también que comenzaron durante la pandemia. Elizabeth Torres, directora de operaciones de la estación, dijo que su colaboración con el Departamento de Salud del estado comenzó durante la pandemia y continuó una vez que la primera vacuna contra el COVID estuvo disponible para los miembros de la comunidad. Dijo que la estación a menudo hacía entrevistas con la agencia estatal de salud para actualizar a los miembros de la comunidad sobre nueva información y eventos de clínicas móviles de vacunación. Añadió que la mayoría de sus oyentes son trabajadores agrícolas. El director de noticias Francisco Ríos dijo que, a través de su colaboración, la estación ha hecho entrevistas junto con la agencia estatal de salud sobre las vacunas de refuerzo contra el COVID, información sobre nuevas variantes y cualquier otra cosa relacionada con la salud que pudiera afectar el área. “Nosotros tratamos como radio, junto el Departamento de Salud, estamos tratando de que el condado tenga esas respuestas para las familias, para la comunidad,” dijo Ríos. Cuando comenzó la pandemia, la estación insistió en que la información estuviera disponible en español, algo que ha mejorado con el tiempo. Ríos recordó que cuando el Departamento de Salud local de la ciudad ofreció una conferencia de prensa para anunciar las medidas de cuarentena, la estación ​​solicitó que todos los folletos y comunicados de prensa se tradujeran al español. “Al principio, toda la información estaba en inglés,” dijo. “Lo primero que pedimos es que fuera la información en español, que hubiese voceros en español, que hubiese comunicados de prensa en español, que hubiese personas disponibles, especialistas doctores en español para poderlos tener aquí en la radio en español y transmitir igualmente la información en inglés como en español.” Ríos destacó que el condado de Yakima permaneció mucho tiempo en el nivel número uno debido a altas tasas de contagio, lo que obligaba a la gente a quedarse en casa. “Hubo la mayoría de los contagios otra vez porque los campesinos que tenían que trabajar,” dijo Ríos. “Radio KDNA fue fundamental líder en que toda esa información estuviera actualizada constantemente durante las programaciones de todo el día para que las familias supieran cómo protegerse.” A nivel nacional, Liebman afirmó que el Migrant Clinicians Network ha colaborado con diversas organizaciones en Washington para ayudar a mejorar los resultados de salud y los recursos específicos para los trabajadores agrícolas migrantes. Esto ha incluido trabajar en colaboración con el Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic y el University of Washington’s Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center. Liebman dijo que también desarrollaron estas relaciones para generar confianza y animar a los trabajadores agrícolas a vacunarse, pero se pregunta qué problemas e inquietudes no se han abordado tras la pandemia. “Las preguntas que siempre tengo cuando se trata de trabajadores agrícolas que sufren de una enfermedad crónica son, ¿todavía están aquí en los Estados Unidos? ¿Regresan a sus países de origen porque no pueden trabajar, y entonces cómo se ve eso? ¿Y cómo los estamos rastreando?” dijo. Liebman enfatizó que una mayor aplicación de las leyes migratorias hace difícil que los trabajadores agrícolas quieran participar en estudios. “No vamos a tener buenos datos, desafortunadamente, sobre una población que fue muy impactada por el COVID,” dijo. Pero Kendl Sankary, una médica en la Clínica de COVID Prolongado, dijo que todavía hay varios proyectos de investigación ocurriendo a nivel nacional, incluyendo uno del que ella actualmente forma parte. Dijo que está liderando investigación en Washington como parte de un estudio internacional que examina cómo el COVID prolongado afecta a los pacientes y su posible correlación con la demencia. Esto, anticipa, ayudará a obtener más respuestas. “Nuestro sitio está enfocado en la población asiática estadounidense, de las islas del Pacífico, nativa hawaiana, y también en los pueblos indígenas en el estado de Washington,” dijo Sankary. “Es un estudio longitudinal, así que observa el impacto a largo plazo en la cognición de las personas con el tiempo.” Dijo que este estudio internacional incluye sitios en Texas, Nueva York y Argentina, cada uno enfocado en un grupo diferente. Sankary todavía está en las primeras etapas de la investigación y anticipa que se terminará en tres años. Mientras tanto, ha estado trabajando como voluntaria en las organizaciones estudiantiles indígenas de la Universidad de Washington para construir confianza dentro de la comunidad. “Hay mucha investigación en curso donde estamos tratando de entender esto, especialmente en poblaciones que son fuertemente afectadas por la condición,” dijo. ### Mejorando la atención del paciente Después de años de tratar a pacientes con síntomas persistentes de COVID, la Dra. Anita Chopra está enfocada en preparar a futuros proveedores para reconocer y diagnosticar mejor el COVID prolongado. Chopra, médica principal en la Clínica de COVID Prolongado de la Universidad de Washington, ha trabajado junto con Stanford University para desarrollar un plan de estudios dirigido a ayudar a estudiantes de medicina y aprendices a identificar la condición. “Es muy importante para (los proveedores) entender qué es esta condición, qué se está haciendo, y qué pueden hacer, cómo identificarla,” dijo Chopra. Chopra dijo que se asoció con el Dr. Héctor Bonilla y la Dra. Linda Geng, ambos médicos en el equipo de atención de COVID prolongado de Stanford, para crear un plan de estudios de 13 módulos llamado “LEARN Long COVID.” Aunque el plan de estudios está destinado a estudiantes de medicina en formación, dijo que los proveedores también pueden usarlo según sea necesario. El programa fue construido con aportes tanto de estudiantes de medicina del University of Washington como de Stanford y fue apoyado por la universidad y el Departamento de Salud del estado de Washington, dijo Chopra. Además, dijo que la Universidad de Washington está trabajando hacia la creación de un programa para empoderar a médicos de atención primaria para diagnosticar y manejar pacientes con COVID prolongado. Sin embargo, debido a sus primeras etapas de desarrollo, dijo que no puede proporcionar mucha información. “El objetivo final es mejorar la atención del paciente,” dijo. Sin embargo, Morales dijo que a pesar de que los médicos en la universidad están trabajando para ayudar a educar a proveedores y futuros proveedores sobre el COVID prolongado, esto solo beneficiará a los miembros de la comunidad latina en la medida en que tengan acceso al sistema de salud. “Como sabemos, muchos en la comunidad latina carecen de acceso debido a la falta de seguro, y aun entre aquellos elegibles para seguro o asegurados, abundan las barreras al acceso significativo, en cuanto a geografía, cultura, lenguaje y desconfianza,” dijo. “Mi punto de vista es que los módulos educativos tendrán poco o ningún impacto en los latinos con COVID prolongado en el corto y mediano plazo,” dijo Morales. Aun así, en nombre del equipo del Latino Community Fund, Rivera dijo que los currículos y planes de estudio que Chopra y Sankary están abordando son necesarios para demostrar el impacto que el COVID tuvo, y continúa teniendo, en las comunidades latinas, especialmente entre los trabajadores agrícolas. “Las personas fueron consideradas esenciales, y aunque se proporcionaron algunos recursos, se necesitan más a medida que las personas continúan enfrentando problemas de salud,” dijo Rivera. “Esto es necesario para implementar los cambios de política requeridos para proteger a la comunidad. Sabemos que ver los datos impulsa cambios de política y moviliza recursos,” dijo. *Este reportaje forma parte de una beca de periodismo patrocinada por la Association of Health Care Journalists y financiada por el Commonwealth Fund.* [*Monica Carrillo-Casas*](https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/directory/wsu-profile/m.carrillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, reporting on northeastern rural communities for the* [*Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/staff/monica-carillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, is with the* [*Washington State Murrow Fellowships*](https://murrow.wsu.edu/student-work/experiential-learning/news-fellowship/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a local news program* [*supported*](https://news.wsu.edu/news/2023/08/10/murrow-college-to-lead-2-4-million-effort-to-support-washingtons-local-news/?ref=rangemedia.co) *by state legislators.* ### 'Deemed essential' and left behind: URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/latino-farmworkers-long-covid/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:20:24.000Z 💡 [Para leer en español](https://www.rangemedia.co/considerados-esenciales-y-olvidados-como-los-lideres-comunitarios-y-los-medicos-estan-ayudando-a-los-trabajadores-agricolas-latinos-a-sobrellevar-la-covid-prolongada/) Armida Rivera was working as a supervisor at Monson Fruit Company near Yakima during the COVID-19 pandemic, when workers asked her to strike with them . She didn’t hesitate to say yes. But not long after, she was fired. “They didn’t have any protection against the virus. We didn’t have soap for us to wash our hands,” Rivera said in Spanish. “I don’t regret saying yes. I wholeheartedly would do it again.” Rivera now serves as the Yakima organizer for the Latino Community Fund, supporting farmworkers facing the ongoing impacts of COVID-19\. Across Washington, she is part of a broader effort, including community radio staff in Sunnyside and physicians at the University of Washington Long COVID Clinic, to connect disproportionately affected communities, like Latino farmworkers, with information and care. Dr. Leo Morales, a UW medical school professor and researcher with the university’s Latino Center for Health, said survey data collected by the center showed that 41.2% of agricultural workers previously diagnosed with COVID-19 experienced long COVID. The project defines long COVID as an illness affecting people with a probable or confirmed COVID-19 infection, with symptoms appearing within three months and lasting at least two months. Morales said some long COVID cases may be linked to delays in vaccination and vaccine hesitancy. Dr. Anita Chopra, University of Washington Long COVID Clinic, added that physically demanding jobs, such as agricultural work, can make it difficult for workers to take time off. Amy Liebman, chief program officer for the Migrant Clinicians Network, said other barriers, such as limited transportation, language barriers and fears related to immigration status, can further complicate diagnosis. The Migrant Clinicians Network is a nonprofit organization that works with community health workers and other health-related educators relating to immigrant and migrant families across the country. “But who was on the front lines? Our farmworkers, right? And we cheered them on for being our essential workers,” Liebman said. “They were more exposed, and were also getting sick more often and dying more often than the standing population.” ### ‘Giving families more answers’ In a corner of a Latino Community Fund office space, Rivera points to several stacked boxes: COVID face masks. Rivera said since getting fired, she stayed in contact with many of the farmworkers who took part in the strike and often has masks in the office in case they need them. Organizations in Central Washington, she said, have stopped handing out face masks and other resources since COVID restrictions were lifted in 2023. She said most of the farmworkers she has stayed in contact with still have lingering symptoms of dizziness since getting COVID. Others have been left with no sense of taste, she said. “Anybody that has worked in agriculture knows how dangerous it is to feel dizzy and be on a ladder picking fruit,” Rivera said. Radio KDNA, a Spanish radio station in Sunnyside, has kept some of its initiatives that began during the pandemic. Elizabeth Torres, director of operations for the news station, said its partnership with the state Department of Health began during the pandemic and continued once the first COVID vaccine was available to community members. She said the station often did interviews with the state health agency to update community members of new information and events for vaccine mobile clinics. She added that the majority of their listeners are farmworkers. News Director Francisco Rios said through their continued partnership, the station has done interviews alongside the state health agency about the COVID booster shots, information on new strains and anything else health-related that could impact the area. “As a radio station, alongside the Department of Health, we’re trying to continue giving families within the county more answers,” Rios said. When the pandemic began, the station advocated for more language-inclusive information, he said, which has improved over time. Rios recalled when the city’s local health department held a news conference to announce quarantine measures, the station asked for all flyers and news releases to be translated into Spanish. “All the information at first was in English,” he said. “We asked if there were city officials who speak Spanish, doctors who speak Spanish, other leaders in the community who speak Spanish so we could have them come by the radio station and share the information just as they had been doing in English into Spanish.” He emphasized that Yakima County was in Phase 1 for an extended amount of time due to high infection rates. Phase 1 mandated residents to stay isolated. “We had a high infection rate because of the farmworkers. They were still required to work,” Rios said. “The work we’ve been doing has been important, not just for the station, but for the communities of Yakima County. I believe Radio KDNA has been a fundamental leader for farmworkers.” On a national level, Liebman said the Migrant Clinician Network has worked with multiple organizations in Washington to help improve health outcomes and migrant-specific resources for farmworkers. This has included working alongside the Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic and the University of Washington’s Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center. Liebman said they also developed these relationships to build trust and encourage farmworkers to get the vaccine, but she wonders what issues and concerns haven’t gotten addressed post-pandemic. “The questions I always have when it comes to farmworkers suffering from a chronic illness are, are they still here in the U.S.? Do they go back to their home countries because they’re unable to work, and so what does that look like? And how are we tracking them?” she said. Liebman emphasized heightened immigration enforcement makes it difficult for farmworkers to want to participate in studies . “We’re not going to have good data, unfortunately, on a population that was very impacted by COVID,” she said. But Kendl Sankary, a physician at the Long COVID Clinic, said there are still several research projects happening nationwide, including one she is currently part of. She said she is leading research in Washington as part of an international study examining how long COVID affects patients and its possible correlation with dementia. This, she anticipates, will help get more answers. “Our site is focused on the Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian population, and then Native Americans as well in the state of Washington,” Sankary said. “It’s a longitudinal study, so looking at the impact long term on people’s cognition over time.” She said this international study includes sites in Texas, New York and Argentina, each focusing on a different group. Sankary is still in the early stages of the research and anticipates it will be finished in three years. In the meantime, she’s been volunteering at the University of Washington Native student organizations to build trust within the community. “There’s lots of research going on where we’re trying to figure this out, especially in populations that are hit hard by the condition,” she said. ### Improving patient care After years of treating patients with lingering COVID symptoms, Dr. Anita Chopra is focused on preparing future providers to better recognize and diagnose long COVID. Chopra, lead physician at the University of Washington Long COVID Clinic, has worked alongside Stanford University to develop a curriculum aimed at helping medical students and trainees identify the condition. “It’s very important for (providers) to understand what this condition is, what is being done, and what can they do, how to identify,” Chopra said. Chopra said she partnered with Dr. Hector Bonilla and Dr. Linda Geng, both physicians on Stanford’s Long COVID Care team, to create a 13-module curriculum called “LEARN Long COVID.” Although the curriculum is intended for emerging medical students and trainees, she said providers can also use it as needed. The program was built through input from UW and Stanford medical students and was supported by UW and the Washington State Department of Health, Chopra said. Additionally, she said UW is working toward creating a program to empower primary care physicians to diagnose and manage Long COVID patients. However, due to its early stages of development, she said she isn’t able to provide much information. “The ultimate goal is to improve patient care,” she said. Yet, Morales said that despite physicians at UW working to help educate providers and future providers on long COVID, this will only benefit Latino community members to the extent they have access to the healthcare system. “As we know, many in the Latino community lack access due to uninsurance, and even among those eligible for insurance or insured, barriers to meaningful access abound, regarding geography, culture, linguistics and mistrust,” he said. “My view is that the education modules will have little to no impact on Latinos with long COVID in the short and medium term,” Morales said. Still, on behalf of the Latino Community Fund team, Rivera said the studies and curriculums Chopra and Sankary are tackling are needed to demonstrate the impact COVID had, and continues to have on Latino communities especially among agricultural workers. “People were deemed essential, and while some resources were provided, more are needed as people continue to face health issues,” Rivera said. “This is necessary to implement the policy changes required to protect the community. We know that seeing the data drives policy changes and mobilizes resources,” she said. > *This story is part of a reporting fellowship sponsored by the Association of Health Care Journalists and supported by the Commonwealth Fund.* > [*Monica Carrillo-Casas*](https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/directory/wsu-profile/m.carrillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, reporting on northeastern rural communities for the* [*Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/staff/monica-carillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, is with the* [*Washington State Murrow Fellowships*](https://murrow.wsu.edu/student-work/experiential-learning/news-fellowship/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a local news program* [*supported*](https://news.wsu.edu/news/2023/08/10/murrow-college-to-lead-2-4-million-effort-to-support-washingtons-local-news/?ref=rangemedia.co) *by state legislators.* ### No data centers in Spokane city this year? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/ Last updated: 2026-06-15T18:32:29.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council [could pass](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=Data%20center%20moratorium) an emergency moratorium on data centers within city limits, effective immediately. - The Spokane City Council is also set [to pass](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=Police%20violence%20settlement) a $200,000 settlement to a man who sued the city for Spokane Police Department excessive force, and $70,000 in grants to events that could generate tourism, like Terrain and Feast Fest. - At the Urban Experience Committee, there’s a [continued focus](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Urban%20Experience%20Committee%20%28Spokane%20city%29,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) on eviction prevention work, including allocating $20,000 towards it. The Spokane city Council members will also get a presentation on the 2026 Point-in-Time count data here. - The Spokane Public Library board [will hear](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Public%20Library%20Board%20of%20Trustees,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) results of an employee satisfaction survey, so if you’ve ever wondered how good it is to work for the library, this might be your meeting. - The Spokane Transit Authority board [could approve](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=Mobility%20on%20demand%20update) a nearly $7 million contract for six years of mobility-on-demand, a pilot program approved in their Connect 2035 strategic plan. - The Spokane County Auditor wants to [buy a new](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers-,New%20land%20recording%20system,-The%20Spokane%20County) land records management system to replace the existing one, which was purchased in 2006 and which the auditor says is outdated. - The Spokane Valley City Council [is set](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-data-centers-in-spokane-city-this-year/#:~:text=Adopting%20six%20year%20transportation%20plan) to adopt its six-year transportation improvements plan, which includes tens of millions in roads projects. Important meetings this week: ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Data center moratorium Though Avista [announced plans](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/12/avista-puts-data-center-negotiations-on-pause/?ref=rangemedia.co) to “pause” development on their large load data center partnership, the city is not planning to pause their emergency one-year pause on new data centers in the city. Tonight, the council could vote to impose an immediate moratorium on data centers anywhere in the city limits of Spokane. Avista’s coverage area is large though, and even if this passes, a data center could be sited outside Spokane city limits without similar moratoriums or legislation from the bodies that govern all the land outside the city — like the county commissioners. ### Police violence settlement After [spending $175,000](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Fighting%20a%20police%20violence%20suit) to fight a lawsuit about Spokane Police Department conduct, the council is set to approve a $200,000 settlement for Andrei Johnson. Johnson alleged that his civil rights were violated by excessive force used against him by SPD in 2022\. According to the lawsuit, Johnson was holding a shard of glass against his own neck, and instead of deescalating, SPD officers deployed tasers, 40mm less-lethal rounds and then unleashed a K9 after Johnson was prone and surrounded. The dog inflicted severe injuries to Johnson’s head. ### New Urban Native Advisory Council The council will hold a first reading of an ordinance to formally establish the Spokane Urban Native Advisory Council (SUNAC), composed of up to 12 voting members. The new advisory council will advise the mayor, city council and city staff on “policies, programs, and initiatives affecting the urban Native population and grounding City decision-making in lived experience, cultural knowledge, and a commitment to equity and sovereignty-informed partnership,” according to the agenda. ### Tourism grants A small lodging tax on hotel rooms rented in the city funds grants that make investments in new cultural activities and events that could draw tourists to Spokane, ideally creating an ouroboros of benefit for Spokane. Tonight, on recommendations from the Tourism and Cultural Investment Committee, the council could give out seven $10,000 grants funded by the lodging tax to: - Terrain for its flagship event and BrrZAAR - Local Inland Northwest Cooperative Foods for Grainmaker Fest - Feast World Kitchen for Feast Fest 2026 - South Perry Together for South Perry Street Fair - Spokane Pride for Garland Pride - Boomjam Arts and Music Festival - CorpoRAT for the Punk Rock Flea Market > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 15 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, June 18 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** This week’s Urban Experience committee is set to be a busy one. Here’s the highlight reel of what the council will discuss today: - the emergency ordinance to impose a moratorium on data centers, which is scheduled to go up for a vote tonight - an ordinance to authorize the residential rental property mitigation fund to support the city’s new Eviction Prevention program (which we covered [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/eviction-prevention-spokane/)) - a special budget ordinance to spend $20,000 in funds collected from rental-related business license fees and rental registry revenues on contractual services related to the Eviction Prevention program - detailed results from the 2026 Point-in-Time count, which is a “snapshot” of the number of people who are homeless during a short time period in January. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 15 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** These agendas never have much in the way of detail, but if you want to know how library employees feel about working for the library, this is the meeting for you, as they’ll get info on the 2026 Employee Engagement Survey results. *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanelibrary.org/about/administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Tuesday, June 16 at 5:30 pm* *Council Chambers* *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ## New land recording system The Spokane County Auditor is requesting to purchase a new land records management system (LRMS), software that allows the office to capture, index and store land records throughout the county. A presentation asking for approval from the BOCC says the current system is old, lacks modern functions of other LRMSs and would be expensive to update. The system it wants to buy is called the Acclaim Land Records Management System, which is manufactured by Harris Recording Solutions. The purchase would cost the county $438,000\. The contract with Harris would also purchase annual maintenance at a cost of $130,000 a year. The presentation notes the expenditure was accounted for in the 2026 budget. ### Safe & Healthy Task Force presentation Last week, we reported on the new recommendations from the regional Safe & Healthy Task Force, a coalition of community leaders trying to make Spokane County, well, safer and healthier. The BOCC will present its recommendations Tuesday. Read details about these recommendations [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-most-eclectic-polycule-just-had-a-baby/). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 16 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Second reading on polygraphs for juvenile offenders The commission is holding a second reading on a resolution to dedicate $25,000 to pay [Inland Polygraph](https://inlandpolygraph.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) to administer polygraphs, a widely discredited technology, to children detained by county Juvenile Court Services. Polygraphs, also known as “lie-detector” tests, measure physiological responses to questions asked of people accused of crimes to determine whether they’re being truthful. Proponents of polygraphs say they gather data that accurately suggests whether a person is lying, but the American Psychological Association [writes of them](https://www.apa.org/topics/cognitive-neuroscience/polygraph?ref=rangemedia.co): “scientific evidence suggests that polygraph tests are not a reliable and valid way to detect deception, and their use in legal proceedings has long been restricted in many states.” > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 16 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Mobility on demand update Mobility on demand — the pilot program approved in the Connect 2035 plan that would expand transit coverage by sending vehicles to pick up people outside of the normal coverage area — is nearing the implementation phase. This week, the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors could approve a 6-year, $6,675,160 contract with Direct Medical Transportation, Inc. to run the mobility on demand pilot. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, June 18 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Contract amendments for terminal expansion The board is amending contracts for the ongoing construction expanding Terminal C at the Spokane International Airport. There’s no more information on the agenda sheet. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, June 18 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (regular and special) 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Levy headed to voters The board will take a vote on a resolution to put a $333 million tax levy before voters during a special election on November 3 (in conjunction with the regular election). The levy would pay for educational programs and operations costs and would be paid over three years beginning in 2027. ### Contract renewal Superintendent Adam Swinyard’s contract renewal is also up for a vote. The contract offers an annual base salary of $285,987\. The contract’s term is from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029\. ### Increased costs and the upcoming school year’s budget The board will also take a vote on updated student fees. These include increased costs for things like Spokane Public School’s Express Child Care and school lunches, among other things. The board will also potentially approve increased fees for using school facilities. As officials continue discussing the budget, the board will hear a presentation on the recommended budget for the 2026-2027 school year. The board is expected to consider adoption during an August 26 meeting and offer the public an opportunity to weigh in during a public hearing before taking action. ### School transportation Before the regular meeting, the board will gather for a special meeting that will include an update on SPS Transportation. According to the agenda, the open session includes “a review of timelines and key areas of focus” to improve transportation services. > *Agendas* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, June 17 at 4:30 pm and 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Adopting six year transportation plan The city council is set to adopt a plan that will dictate transportation infrastructure in Spokane County over the next six years. The plan contains tens of millions of dollars worth of construction costs. Some of the most prominent: - reconstruction of the interchange at I-90 and Barker Road at a cost of $47,845,000 - reconstruction of the bridge the interchange of Sullivan and Trent road at a cost of $48,343,000 - reconstruction of the bridge at Argonne Road and I-90 at a cost of $25,080,000 See the full list [here](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=1672&meta%5Fid=108156&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 16 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Governance Manual proposal The agenda contains no details, but the city council will meet to review a new draft governance manual, a document that sets down the rules city officials must follow in their jobs and in public meetings. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 16 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Spokane’s most eclectic polycule just had a baby. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-most-eclectic-polycule-just-had-a-baby/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T23:10:22.000Z Last year, regional leaders from across the political spectrum, with different hopes, dreams and lived experiences, shacked up and decided to make a baby. They called this situationship “The Safe and Healthy Task Force,” formed with the goal of creating a set of recommendations that would ultimately guide our region’s elected officials in how to spend finite behavioral health and criminal justice dollars. During the gestation, there were plenty of arguments about vision and goals, but nine months later (as with most pregnancies) it concluded with a press conference where task force members and elected officials alike announced the birth of their child, a 65-page packet of recommendations, that boiled down to one key idea: “A community is only as safe as it is healthy, and only as healthy as it is safe.” The birth announcement/presser on Thursday lacked certain details from the task force, like how many new beds the region’s homeless system needs, whether they want to build a new jail or rehabilitate the old jail and which recommendations will be prioritized first. Nor did it have a parenting plan with information on what the projects cost and who’s going to pay for what, and had no official question and answer period. Still, more than a dozen parents from the polycule spoke proudly about the group’s efforts and the project they christened the catchy earworm of a name: “Community-Built Roadmap for Improving Region’s Public Safety and Health.” Unlike most pregnancies, where the key traits of a growing embryo are ultimately left up to chance, this was more of a designer baby created through a negotiated, constructed effort that required keeping some of the region’s self-admitted “complicated personalities” at the table. The task force was able to come up with 14 official recommendations that everyone from Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels to Angel Tomeo Sam of Yoyot Sp’q’n’i could agree on. Everyone plans for their baby to grow up to establish a shared data system, strengthen pre-trial diversion efforts and invest in modern, integrated justice facilities, among other things (see the full report [here](http://safehealthyspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)). ### ‘Not every crisis is a crime’ Matt Albright, the executive director of operations for Providence Inland Northwest, spoke to the scope of strain the medical system is currently under, due to untreated behavioral health issues and substance use. Over the last year, 8,000 of the total 60,000 adult visits to the Sacred Heart Medical Center were due to the behavioral health and substance abuse crisis, Albright said, and of those 8,000 people, 32% of them returned within 30 days of discharge, some “over and over and over again.” We see firsthand when someone falls through the cracks or when support systems are missing,” Albright said. “This roadmap is about changing that. It is about building the kind of coordinated system where people get the right care at the right time, and where our community's resources are used in a way that actually produces better outcomes for everyone.” Nowels, the cowboy-hat-wearing sheriff who has [spoken about his daughter’s experience ](https://www.inlander.com/news/one-month-behind-the-scenes-of-spokanes-ongoing-fight-to-end-the-deadly-fentanyl-crisis/article%5Fe2ad0a26-0d10-56e9-8622-ab0eed331b93.html?ref=rangemedia.co)battling fentanyl addiction, said he “wholeheartedly” supported the recommendations. Public safety, Nowels said, was inseparably tied to issues like addiction, mental health and the health care system. “It has been my experience in the criminal justice system — and also my experience as a father and a son, a grandson, a son-in-law, with people who have dealt with substance use issues, been involved in the criminal justice system and who have dealt with mental health issues — that we have created an incredibly complicated system to navigate.” Tomeo Sam, an enrolled Colville Tribe member, said that by highlighting paths beyond incarceration, the recommendations “recognize that not every crisis is a crime.” “Native people have been disproportionately represented in these systems: systems of crisis, behavioral health and incarceration,” Tomeo Sam said. “These recommendations offer a different path, one rooted in prevention, intervention, healing and connection — and what's good for Native Americans is good for everybody.” While Tomeo Sam has been a longtime advocate for [looking beyond incarceration](https://www.rangemedia.co/regional-homeless-authority-spokane-housing-jail/) and [prioritizing social services](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/12/angel-tomeo-sam-no-one-should-go-hungry-on-stolen-/?ref=rangemedia.co), the brainchild of the task force has the support of even its most disciplinarian parents. Chud Wendle, executive director of the Hutton Settlement and prolific pro-business [advocate](https://www.inlander.com/news/special-access-inside-the-police-chiefs-alliance-with-a-small-group-of-powerful-spokane-property/article%5F99200914-78bc-53ff-b563-ffcce8b95993.html?ref=rangemedia.co), said that he used to think the complex problem had one simple answer: “ We need a new jail.” The nine-month process opened his eyes, he said, after hearing about the criminal justice system from people like Tomeo Sam and Dr. Melissa Mace, the NAACP Spokane executive director. Wendle still spoke about the need for “modern integrated justice facilities,” — describing the current county jail as "obsolete" — but that has to come paired with affordable housing, he said. “When people leave correctional facilities with nowhere to go, the cycle does not end. It restarts. Without adequate housing options, we are investing in a system that releases people back to the same circumstances that brought them in,” Wendle said. Wendle’s change of heart was evidence for what many members touted as a big win: the relationship didn’t crumble, despite political differences. Service providers, people who had experienced homelessness or behavioral health crises, business leaders and politicians alike all kept coming to the table. Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson, and [past target](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-a-network-of-politicos-tied-to-u-s-rep-cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-are-pulling/article%5Fafdccfed-bfb0-5802-a9d4-7605045a11e5.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of Wendle’s activism, said that while the process wasn’t perfect, and service providers and business leaders likely won’t be besties any time soon, there were still signs for hope. “We just can’t write folks off. As my ‘best friend’ Chud said, he was gonna lock ‘em up,” Wilkerson said after the conference. “Now he’s seen the light.” ### Afterbirth: Parenting doesn’t end after pregnancy While the group was able to come to consensus on the philosophical guiding principles, practically, there are more uncertainties and tension to come. Essentially everything on the task force’s wishlist has one common thread besides “wholehearted,” support: it all costs money. And with almost every municipality in the region facing down deficits and projected financial shortfalls, there are limited options. The task force recommendations didn’t include information on who would be paying for what, or which recommendations would be prioritized over others in tight budgeting seasons. One big question still on everyone’s minds (or at least every reporter’s mind) — are electeds planning on asking the voters to approve the same tax to build a new jail that [failed](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-voters-approve-camping-ban-countywide-tax-measure-fails-for-new-jail/article%5F28262f6e-72c0-5644-843c-8f23f50d645f.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2023? And if so, when will that measure appear on ballots? “ For all the moms in the room, you know that the nine months that goes into producing the baby, in this case, the report, is not the end of the story,” Mayor Lisa Brown said. “That is the very actual beginning, and success for this region will be when we see each one of those little babies emerging in our region as someone who can be nourished, safe, healthy, housed with resources that are coordinated.” Though much of the press conference was task force members thanking each other for showing up and praising the continued collaborative efforts, there were signs that the honeymoon phase may soon be coming to an end as funding prioritization conversations begin. Wendle threw a little barb seemingly directed at Brown, who sent [a letter](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/thecentersquare.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/ab/bab204be-78d2-43c7-a3dd-d421c35f3efa/6a232adb81fba.file.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) with Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall last week asking that shared data coordination and immediate improvements of the current jail facility be prioritized over other expensive options (like building a new jail entirely.) “ I respectfully ask our elected leaders, including our mayor, to listen and act faithfully to work with us and not to demand that their personal agenda supersedes our work,” Wendle said during his remarks. “ The task force has been clear about the need for modern facilities as part of the integrated system, but it has not gotten into the specifics of facility planning … The task force hopes elected leaders will carry into those planning sessions, particularly the importance of looking at the system as a whole, not correctional facilities as a silo.” During her remarks, Brown sniped back. “Accountability for electeds is to keep this conversation moving forward with a coordinating entity of some sort and with data so we can measure outcomes,” she said. “That's not a personal agenda. That's responsible governance — how do we prioritize our limited resources and get this work off the ground?” The back-and-forth between Wendle and Brown hinted at the harder future ahead. Past regional polycules have fallen apart once the relationship hit the same obstacles that have sunk many a couple: money problems and negotiating how to share responsibilities in real life, outside a love bubble. One only has to look as far back as the Regional Homeless Authority, which died after Brown [pulled the city’s support](https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2024/04/qa-spokane-mayor-lisa-brown-policing-homelessness-and-budgets?ref=rangemedia.co), citing concerns with the proposed governance and financial structure of the authority that would have left the city [funding](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/spokaneunite-com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/funding-options-reviewed-draft-recommended-funding-base.pdf) a large chunk of the authority’s activities, while controlling only [two seats on the 14-person board](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/spokaneunite-com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/draft-governing-board-11-16.pdf). Of course, Safe and Healthy Task Force optimists will point to [key differences](https://watersmeet.foundation/working-for-a-safe-and-healthy-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) between the two processes as a reason to hold out hope that this effort can weather the storm. The regional authority faced serious headwinds for relying too heavily on jail, and not meaningfully involving service providers or people who have been incarcerated or homeless [in the process](https://www.rangemedia.co/regional-homeless-authority-spokane-housing-jail/). The participation of Tomeo Sam — who was a vocal critic of the regional authority and who worked on the campaign against the new jail tax — and other Black, Brown and Indigenous community leaders should be a sign that the future of this venture is on a more solid foundation, [wrote](https://watersmeet.foundation/working-for-a-safe-and-healthy-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) Zeke Smith, the president of Waters Meet, one of the five organizations who officially convened the task force. The other conveners include Greater Spokane Inc., Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Spokane Partnership and the Avista Foundation. Wilkerson has heard chatter from her community that “they’re gonna build a jail to lock up Black and Brown people,” which is what has happened historically, she said. She too believes this effort is different, and will result in resources being directed to create “ the right beds: not just incarceration beds, but the right beds to meet the needs of the people that we are trying to help.” She thinks that whatever difficulties in negotiation may lie ahead, community leaders are ready to lay down their weapons and work together. “The region is ready for collaboration,” Wilkerson said. “We've done a lot of fighting, now it's time for collaboration.” The first test of their collaboration could come next Tuesday, as the recommendations are presented to the full slate of county commissioners, Commissioner Chris Jordan told RANGE. The board of county commissioners, which is controlled by a conservative majority, will ultimately be the deciders on if a sales tax to fund these recommendations goes out to voters — and when. Jordan was the only commissioner present at the press conference this week. Will the region’s most eclectic polycule survive the most common relationship pitfalls in order to get us to a safer, healthier Spokane? Only time will tell. As *Couples Therapy*’s Dr. Orna Guralnik [notes](https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/relationships-love/a39927962/showtime-couples-therapy-orna-guralnik-shares-top-love-lessons/?ref=rangemedia.co) in her televised therapy sessions, “we must love our partners enough to transcend ourselves.” ### Protestar contra ICE y defenderse de un arresto migratorio violento URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/protestar-contra-ice-y-defenderse-de-un-arresto-migratorio-violento/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T22:44:13.000Z Durante las últimas semanas, RANGE ha reportado sobre dos casos federales con gran importancia en el Tribunal Federal del Distrito Oriental de Washington. Uno de esos casos, conocido como “The Spokane 3”, se centraba en si tres manifestantes eran culpables de conspiración por protestar contra el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE por sus siglas en inglés). El gobierno acusó a Jac Archer, Justice Forral y Bajun Mavalwalla II ​​de conspiración federal para obstaculizar o perjudicar a agentes federales por responder a una publicación de Facebook que instaba a la comunidad a protestar por la detención de dos solicitantes de asilo venezolanos que se encontraban legalmente en los Estados Unidos y vivían en Spokane. Los manifestantes que respondieron se mantuvieron pacíficos. Algunos de ellos intentaron bloquear un autobús que se dirigía al Centro de Detención del Noroeste en Tacoma – con los dos solicitantes de asilo y otros inmigrantes detenidos – tomados de los brazos y sentados frente a él. El otro caso fue de un inmigrante salvadoreño, Héctor Saúl Iraheta-Mercado, y en sí agredió a un agente del ICE durante un arresto migratorio al subir la ventanilla de su coche, atrapando el brazo del agente. En ambos casos, un jurado de 12 personas decidió su destino. Las personas en el caso de The Spokane 3 fueron condenadas por cargos federales de conspiración que ahora buscan apelar, y el jurado declaró a Iraheta-Mercado no culpable. Les explicaremos los aspectos más importantes de cada uno de estos casos, y qué sigue para estas cuatro personas que desafiaron al gobierno federal. ### The Spokane 3 - El 11 de junio de 2025, manifestantes intentaron impedir que ICE trasladara a dos jóvenes detenidos, César Álvarez Pérez y Joswar Rodríguez Torres, para ser procesados ​​para su deportación en las instalaciones del ICE en Tacoma. Los dos hombres se encontraban legalmente en los Estados Unidos y fueron arrestados cuando fueron a la oficina del ICE en Spokane para sus citas. Un tribunal de distrito dictaminó más tarde que ICE había [detenido a Torres ilegalmente](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/) y fue puesto en libertad en febrero. (Pérez ya había sido deportado). - Más de 30 personas fueron arrestadas esa noche por cargos locales como negarse a dispersarse, y dos de ellas fueron acusadas además de "detención ilegal". Un mes después, el gobierno federal arrestó a nueve personas bajo sospecha de "conspiración para impedir o lesionar a agentes". Dos de las nueve personas también fueron acusadas de "agresión a un agente federal". Inicialmente, las nueve se declararon inocentes, pero seis de ellas se declararon culpables bajo [acuerdos](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/) en diciembre. Las tres personas que no aceptaron un acuerdo, Justice Forral, Bajun Mavalwalla II y Jac Archer, fueron a juicio el 18 de mayo de 2026. - Durante el juicio, que duró dos semanas, los fiscales pintaron un retrato detallado de los agentes federales [bajo asedio](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-under-siege-ice/), una fuerza policial local que tardó en responder y una sofisticada conspiración de manifestantes que trabajaban para atrapar a los agentes del ICE en el edificio y obligarlos a liberar a los solicitantes de asilo detenidos. - Mientras tanto, la defensa [señaló](https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-6-punch-defense/) la violencia desproporcionada ejercida por las autoridades contra los manifestantes, el claro sesgo de las autoridades visto en las grabaciones de las cámaras corporales y en imágenes que RANGE encontró en la cuenta de Twitter de un agente, y el hecho de que una de las tres personas acusadas ​​ni siquiera conocía a las otras dos antes de la protesta. - Un jurado predominantemente blanco, compuesto en su mayoría por personas que no viven en Spokane, finalmente declaró culpables a las tres personas. Esto dejó [conmocionada](https://www.rangemedia.co/a-shocked-city-reckons-with-guilty-verdict-of-spokane-3/) a la comunidad y a muchos en el ámbito jurídico. Se espera que las tres personas apelen la condena. - La corte no permitió que los equipos de defensa [presentaran pruebas](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-sets-parameters-as-spokane-3-head-to-trial-may-18/) que demuestran que Torres había sido detenido ilegalmente, o pruebas de que Richard Barker, el exfiscal federal interino del distrito este de Washington, renunció en lugar de firmar la acusación contra las personas que se manifestaron. - El uso de cargos por conspiración —una ley de la época de la Guerra Civil que rara vez se aplica— contra manifestantes ha generado temor a que cualquiera que participe en una protesta donde se produzcan actos de desobediencia civil, como sentarse o permanecer de pie pacíficamente frente a vehículos, o donde ocurran otras conductas ilegales, pueda ser acusado de un delito federal grave. Este es un uso relativamente nuevo de la ley, pero uno que el Departamento de Justicia, bajo la presidencia de Trump, ha fomentado. También se han presentado cargos por conspiración contra manifestantes en Illinois y California, aunque el caso de los manifestantes de Illinois fue desestimado debido a mala conducta de la fiscalía. ### Héctor Saúl Iraheta-Mercado - Iraheta-Mercado enfrentó [dos juicios con jurado](https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/). En el primero, el jurado no pudo llegar a un veredicto, lo que provocó la anulación del juicio. En los Estados Unidos, una persona puede ser juzgada de nuevo en casos como ese. - En la mañana del 8 de julio de 2025, Iraheta-Mercado fue detenido al costado de una carretera en East Wenatchee por el agente de ICE Jaimie Waite, quien vestía de civil y conducía un vehículo sin distintivos. Iraheta-Mercado tenía a sus dos hijos adolescentes con él en su auto. Minutos después, llegó el agente de ICE Andrew Johnson. - A Iraheta-Mercado se le indicó en inglés que saliera del vehículo. Al no hacerlo, Waite metió la mano en la ventanilla del coche y declaró ante el tribunal que su intención era abrir la puerta. Pero Iraheta-Mercadosubió la ventana, atrapando el brazo de Waite. En algún punto, la ventana fue bajada, pero Waite intentó alcanzar más lejos que antes y su brazo quedó atrapado de nuevo. Los dos agentes del ICE sacaron sus pistolas y apuntaron a Iraheta-Mercado, rompieron dos ventanas (el lado del conductor y el lado del pasajero, donde su hijo estaba sentado). Los agentes entonces sacaron a Iraheta-Mercado de su asiento, quien resistía, y lo esposaron. - La fiscalía [principalmente argumentó](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-video-jaimie-waite-federal-assault/) que Iraheta-Mercado no actuó en legítima defensa, sabía que los dos hombres eran oficiales, que él comprendió sus órdenes, hirió intencionalmente a Waite y agravó la situación al inmovilizar el brazo contra la ventana. La fiscalía también argumentó que los agentes eran identificables como tal. - En contraste, la defensa argumentó que el gobierno estaba malinterpretando los hechos. La defensa principalmente argumentó que los oficiales no estaban claramente identificables, que el video del arresto mostraba la gorra de béisbol de Waite con un escudo de ICE después de que la situación ya se había agravado, que Iraheta-Mercado, quien habla español, no entendió las órdenes de los oficiales. La defensa también argumentó que él no tenía intención de hacerle daño a Waite y estaba reaccionando a una situación confusa y cada vez más volátil, una situación en la que también se vieron involucrados sus hijos. - Durante todo el calvario, el hijo e hija de Iraheta-Mercado pidieron una orden de arresto y Johnson testificó que de hecho la pidieron 11 veces. En cambio, Johnson les dijo en inglés: “No tengo que darles mierda ahora mismo”. No fue hasta después del arresto que los agentes mostraron la orden judicial. La fiscalía dijo que los oficiales de ICE no estaban obligados legalmente a mostrar la orden. Pero la defensa cuestionó si la escalación de la situación podría haberse evitado si los agentes simplemente hubieran mostrado la orden al principio. - La base de la orden que tenía ICE provenía de una orden de deportación del 2008, después de que Iraheta-Mercado no se presentara a una cita judicial fijada después de que fue detenido por la patrulla fronteriza estadounidense en 2006 en Texas. La defensa también argumentó que la orden de expulsión se emitió mediante una audiencia en ausencia, lo que significa que él no estuvo presente, y que no había pruebas que indicaran que él supiera que se le había emitido una orden de deportación. - Johnson testificó que ICE había estado vigilando a Iraheta-Mercado antes de su arresto. Pero la jueza Mary Dimke no permitió que se presentaran pruebas en el tribunal que demuestran que ICE[ ilegalmente había obtenido](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/) la información y datos de Iraheta-Mercado el julio pasado del Departamento de Licencias del Estado de Washington. - Durante el juicio, la credibilidad e imparcialidad de Waite en su trabajo fue cuestionada basado en un meme que compartió en Facebook sobre ICE usando pistolas de estiércol. Aunque esa fue la única publicación que vio el jurado, RANGE [reportó sobre](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-video-jaimie-waite-federal-assault/) otras publicaciones de Waite que mostraban su sesgo o prejuicios contra los inmigrantes y las personas indocumentadas. - Al final, el jurado no estuvo de acuerdo en que Iraheta-Mercado hubiera cometido agresión con fuerza, y dictó un veredicto de no culpabilidad. Tras ser absuelto, Iraheta-Mercado fue trasladado de la cárcel del condado de Spokane y fue puesto bajo custodia federal por su violación de la ley de inmigración. Iraheta-Mercado estuvo detenido y bajo custodia de diferentes entidades desde que fue arrestado el año pasado. Su hija creó una página de GoFundMe [para recaudar dinero](https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hector-secure-an-immigration-attorney?ref=rangemedia.co) para un abogado de inmigración y otros gastos relacionados. *Este informe se basó en reportajes de RANGE.* ### Come on in, the water's (not) fine URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/interview-pfas-crisis/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T14:05:01.000Z On this week’s episode, RANGE reporter Aaron Hedge interviewed John Hancock, a clean water activist from the West Plains. John has made efforts to educate and bring clean water to his neighbors whose water wells are contaminated by PFAS. The two of them talked about the PFAS crisis in the West Plains and how it affects people, the advocacy and organizing around finding solutions, and John’s involvement in this activism work. A group that organizes around this issue is the [West Plains Water Coalition](https://westplainswater.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Read RANGE's latest coverage on the West Plains PFAS below: [Spokane ordered to provide clean water to West PlainsNearly a decade after Spokane Airport found forever chemicals in its groundwater, the state is requiring the city of Spokane and Spokane County to get affected well owners safe water.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-9ecdc9fb-2296-4e0c-8810-a9ee09e44555.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/civics-2026-405ac5a8-0935-4bf2-aa24-b69b865eba96.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/pfas-spokane-airport-safe-water-west-plains/) [Health emergency declaration discussed for West Plains PFAS crisis – RANGE MediaA new task force is providing the first official county response to the ‘forever chemicals’ crisis on the West Plains. Its leaders are considering declaring an emergency that would mobilize response funds.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-4670c4e5-90d6-4b9f-93aa-9e6204ec4ca2.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/image-from-ios-1-4ec21376-9da9-481a-9308-311f9f756ce4.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/pfas-taskforce-health-emergency-west-plains/) [WA state: Spokane city and county now liable in PFAS crisis, too – RANGE MediaThe two governments jointly own Spokane International Airport, which discovered the chemicals six years before disclosing to the public. The decision could direct funding from the city and county for cleanup.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-9db19098-0989-4e74-92be-ecbd99147f0c.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/pfas-12-7715177f-5f88-4cb5-8afd-e0af29ff501d.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-state-spokane-city-county-liable-pfas-crisis/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Who? Where? We don’t know, but Avista is entertaining a large data center URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/who-where-we-dont-know-but-avista-is-entertaining-a-large-data-center/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T19:32:07.000Z After a local TV station reported Tuesday that a potential Avista Corp. customer wants to build a large data center, the power company told journalists it had not given details about the facility sooner because “there was uncertainty around what we could confirm publicly.” Spokanites had been nervously murmuring about the specter of a data center for months since proposed legislation that would have exempted new data centers from the state sales and use tax failed in the legislature. But while the public remained in the dark about the nature of the proposed “large load” project, Avista’s shareholders found out on May 5, more than a month prior. At a quarterly earnings call that day between top Avista officials and representatives from Wells Fargo Bank, Barclays Bank PLC and Jefferies LLC, the utility disclosed the project was a data center. Data centers are energy-intensive facilities filled with servers and networked computers designed to store and manage electronic information generated by companies and other organizations, which purchase storage capacity in the centers. “Negotiations continue with one of the prospective data center developer customers looking to locate in our service territory with a projected incremental load of up to 500 megawatts,” Avista President and CEO Heather Rosentrater told the bankers in an update about the utility’s finances. That’s [enough](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48646?ref=rangemedia.co#ifn9) to power as many as 400,000 homes. It could take the equivalent of 250 wind turbines to generate that much juice. “At the time of the earnings call, this project was still in early exploratory discussions and covered by confidentiality agreements,” Avista spokesperson Jared Webley wrote in an email. That arrangement is designed to protect confidential information. “Heather’s comments were high-level and general in nature. As conversations progressed … we took a more cautious approach in our communications to ensure we were honoring project-specific confidentiality while details were still being clarified.” According to [a publicly available transcript](https://seekingalpha.com/article/4898697-avista-corporation-ava-q1-2026-earnings-call-transcript?ref=rangemedia.co) of that call published by the business news aggregator Seeking Alpha, Avista Investor Relations Manager Stacey Wenz and Senior Vice President Kevin Christie were also on the call. “We are also engaging with policymakers and the Washington \[Utilities and Transportation\] Commission regarding data centers to advocate for policies that ensure appropriate allocation of costs and benefits associated with the integration of these large loads,” Rosentrater said, according to the earnings call transcript. Avista signed the MOU with the developer on May 31\. Webley said he could not give RANGE that document, partly because it identifies the developer, which Avista is keeping under wraps during negotiations. But no one in Spokane seemed to know that a specific relationship Avista was building with an undisclosed developer was for a data center until KXLY confirmed it with Avista on June 9. *The Spokesman-Review* [first wrote](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jun/09/avista-confirms-negotiations-with-company-seeking-/?ref=rangemedia.co) about the data center agreement on June 3\. The MOU is nonbinding and allows Avista to pull out of the deal. In that story, County Commissioner Al French speculated it could be anything, like a Boeing manufacturing center, which he would have supported. The Regional Plan Association [writes](https://rpa.org/news/lab/the-rise-of-data-centers?ref=rangemedia.co) that data centers could consume up to 12% of electricity in the US by 2028. ### Memorandum vs moratorium Webley emphasized that the MOU is only a “framework” for further discussions with the developer, not an agreement on Avista’s part to facilitate the large power load. Most importantly, it commits the developer to paying for all costs associated with the project so Avista doesn’t pass them on to ratepayers, which has been a [big concern](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-ai-data-centers-electricity-prices/?embedded-checkout=true&ref=rangemedia.co) in other communities where data centers have been built. Talks with the developer are in the earliest stages and do not represent a commitment by Avista to let the developer tie into its grid, Webley said. He also said Avista has a responsibility to consider such proposals and said the potential customer would pay for an extensive study for the project. Avista presented to the Spokane City Council on its “large load” development process on March 26, but did not mention any specific projects. Garrett Brown, who manages large industrial consumers for Avista, said in his presentation the biggest concerns in building large new projects surrounds the making of electricity — like wind and solar farms and natural gas power plants — and transmitting that electricity via power lines. Brown did not mention the specific proposed data center at that meeting, but he said Avista had been approached by a potential customer who was asking for 500 megawatts. “As we talk to customers who are asking for 500 megawatts, we’re talking to customers who are ultimately asking for a quarter of our peak load,” Brown told the council at the study session. Council Member Sarah Dixit asked Brown how much land such a project would require. Though he didn’t know a specific amount of acreage, Brown said it “could be a very sizable amount of land.” He said any proposed facility goes to Avista’s “system planning team,” which models the details of connecting a big facility to Avista’s transmission system. The team determines how to adapt the system to the new load and tell the customer how much it would cost. If Avista and the customer agree to a deal, they then have to have it approved by regional energy commissions. In the case of a data center, it would be the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon was at that study session and told RANGE he was not satisfied with the utility’s answers. He said he and council members Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis announced proposed city legislation to enact a moratorium on new data centers on Wednesday. The proposal would buy the city time to create a legal framework to approve data centers, Dillon said, noting the city doesn’t have a regulatory framework for data centers. Right now, “we would be very ill-equipped to address it,” Dillon said. “So it's important that we put this pause in and work on those impacts and how do we get ahead of this because we're so far behind.” Just this week, the Seattle City Council approved [its own moratorium](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/seattle-passes-moratorium-on-new-data-centers-amid-national-backlash/?ref=rangemedia.co) on new data centers. There are currently five data centers in and around Spokane, but those facilities are much smaller — and have been around for much longer — than the proposed one. It’s not clear where in Avista’s service area, which spans 30,000 square miles in Eastern Washington, Idaho and Oregon, the facility would be built or whether a citywide moratorium would impact this project. Dillon told RANGE he’d heard of three potential locations for the data center, including one near the Hillyard neighborhood northeast of town. Daines Capital, a realty firm, has published an undated PDF promoting a 203-acre “Data Center Site” that has 240 megawatts of available power. It advertises “high-capacity fiber” and two industrial cooling wells. Steve Daines, who owns the company, did not immediately return a request for comment. The site sits outside the city limits a few blocks from the former Kaiser aluminum plant. The flyer says the property can be purchased at $6 per square foot and in three phases. The PDF was removed from the internet after we published this story, but the listing is still available as a rental [here](https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/2425-E-Magnesium-Rd-Spokane-WA/28047348/?ref=rangemedia.co). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/A43C86B3-D1D6-474C-B7B7-7BF8A28451F4.jpeg) **A screenshot of the first page of the Daines Capital PDF.* County Commissioner French recently asked the state legislature to exempt data centers in Spokane from the state sales and use tax. Representative Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, introduced a bill during the 2026 legislative session that would do that, but it died. ### Environmental impacts Data centers, especially ones dedicated to generating and storing AI-generated media, are the subject of a heated public debate over the environmental impacts associated with their construction and operation. They drain electricity, so much so that in some cases, utilities [are cutting power](https://electrek.co/2026/05/13/data-centers-grid-strain-driving-residential-solar-battery-demand/?ref=rangemedia.co) to existing customers to accommodate the facilities. People across the nation are [opposing data centers](https://fortune.com/2026/05/18/communities-are-blocking-billions-in-data-centers-big-tech-has-wagered-1-trillion-otherwise/?ref=rangemedia.co). Sometimes they are steamrolled; sometimes they kill the proposal. Community members in the township of Saline, Michigan, tried to stop a $16 billion data center from being built, but the project [was approved](https://bridgemi.com/business-watch/saline-data-center-brings-out-bigwigs-big-day-for-michigan-or-big-betrayal/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Saline%20Township%20officials%20had%20voted%20against%20the%20rezoning%20for%20the%20project%2C%20but%20last%20fall%20settled%20the%20lawsuit%20to%20clear%20the%20way%20for%20the%20project.%20That%20move%20remains%20locally%20controversial.%C2%A0) anyway. Any new data center would have to go through an intensive, years-long approval process involving local, county, state and federal agencies. For example, it would be subjected to the State Environmental Policy Act, which defines a process that determines whether a proposal would have to undergo an onerous and expensive environmental impact study. Before that happens, the developer has to apply with Avista, according to a process outlined in its “Large Load Service Request” [form](https://www.myavista.com/about-us/large-load-service-request?ref=rangemedia.co). According to Avista, the data center would initially consume 125 megawatts of power at any second starting in 2029 and would ramp up to 500 megawatts by 2032\. That’s about half of all the power Spokane County consumes. “The proposed single customer could require several times the combined generating capacity of the Spokane River hydropower system, representing a level of demand that exceeds anything currently operating in the region at a single-facility scale,” Katelyn Scott, a water protector with the Spokane Riverkeeper [wrote in a blog](https://www.spokaneriverkeeper.org/riverjournal/2026/6/8/what-could-data-centers-mean-for-the-spokane-river?ref=rangemedia.co) last week. Scott noted that the hydropower system, composed of dams on the stretch of river that snakes through the city, generates 137 megawatts of electricity, compared with the eventual 500 the developer wants to use. She told RANGE there’s very little information to determine whether the data center would alter local water resources. “This is a black box right now,” she said. “And until we can see into that black box, it's impossible to support.” Data centers also have to keep their computer systems from overheating, and one way to do that would be to cycle water from a local aquifer through the center’s cooling system and back into the aquifer, where it would cool down again. But she added that doesn’t mean it’s safe for the river’s ecosystem. “It can actually have a thermal heating impact on aquifers if there's too much,” she said. “Depending on the volume, we might start seeing temperature changes in our aquifer, which then influences the temperature of the river, which is already impaired for temperature.” In the Columbia River Basin, one data center generates so much steam through its cooling processes that [it disrupts](https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2026/04/google-cloud-steam-from-data-centers-may-be-disrupting-aviation-along-columbia-river.html?ref=rangemedia.co) local aviation. Scott said developers are looking increasingly to the American West to build new data centers. That statement is [backed up by reporting](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/08/datacenter-ai-drought-water?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Guardian*. In his presentation to the city council, Avista’s Garrett Brown said that other data center markets are saturated. Though no one knows where the data center would be built, Scott said the only entity that has rights to the amount of water a data center would need is the City of Spokane, so the easiest legal way for the center to cool its systems would be to hook into municipal water. It could also purchase water rights from other owners, Scott said, but that’s a legally complex and fraught process. Some of these concerns could be addressed through regulation, she said, but Washington state has a long way to go before it’s home to a safe environment for data centers. “Washington, as a state, is really close to passing the laws that would lead to the regulation that we think is needed,” Scott said. “But it's not quite there yet. These regulations take years to pass and create, so it's good to hear that Avista also thinks this project is years off. There's a whole process that has to go into this in order for us to really understand what this development could mean for a community and if it's acceptable.” Community members are also concerned about the dearth of information about the project. Rachel Winder, a water resource agent with the [Idaho Department of Water Resources](https://idwr.idaho.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) who is trying to organize an opposition group, doesn’t know where to start: “How do you keep a watchful eye on something when you don't know where it is or where it's going?” ### ‘Not guilty’: Jury gives verdict to man accused of assaulting ICE officer during immigration arrest URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/not-guilty-jury-gives-verdict-to-man-accused-of-assaulting-ice-officer-during-immigration-arrest/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T17:58:55.000Z 🔗 Read our previous coverage on this case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-video-jaimie-waite-federal-assault/), [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/) and [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/). Wearing a white and pale blue striped button down shirt and grey slacks, Hector Saul Iraheta-Mercado waited for his verdict to be read out loud in his second jury trial for allegedly assaulting an ICE officer last summer in East Wenatchee. “Not guilty.” A couple of gasps could be heard from some of the Spokane strangers who gathered to support him after seeing his story in the news. Iraheta-Mercado grabbed a tissue and began patting down tears from his eyes. His defense team then crowded around him, patting his back or his shoulder as Iraheta-Mercado gave them a small smile and thanked them in Spanish. The unanimous verdict from the 12-member jury came after just a few hours of deliberation, a stark contrast to his first trial that ended after a jury deliberated for eleven hours and could not reach a conclusion. The jury said that the government had failed to prove there had been forcible assault. Minutes after the verdict was read, Iraheta-Mercado was placed back in handcuffs. He would be taken to be processed out of county jail, where he’s been held for the duration of the trial, and then likely, released to federal immigration custody for the order of removal issued against him. It was a grim outcome that his defense confirmed later that evening with RANGE. As of 7:52 pm, Iraheta-Mercado had been checked out of jail and into federal custody. Through one of his attorneys, Carter Power Beggs, Iraheta-Mercado gave just one brief comment: “Thanks for everyone who came out to support.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/5-1.png) Art of Powers Beggs by Jake Gillespie A GoFundMe page was created for Iraheta-Mercado by his daughter to raise money for an immigration attorney. [Here's the link. ](https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hector-secure-an-immigration-attorney?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Closings, in brief Closing arguments began Monday morning and ran through noon, after the government rested its case[ last Friday.](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-video-jaimie-waite-federal-assault/) The defense did not bring forward any witnesses and Iraheta-Mercado, who required an interpreter for the duration of the case, did not testify. Ann Wick, the prosecutor, argued that the government had proved all the elements it needed (beyond a reasonable doubt) for the jury to convict Iraheta-Mercado of assaulting a federal officer when he rolled his car window up, trapping ICE officer Jaimie Waite’s arm: that Waite was engaged in his official duties as a law enforcement officer, that there was actual injury and that a forcible assault happened. She also argued that Iraheta-Mercado’s actions weren’t justified under a self-defense claim. “Your job as jurors is not to decide if you like any of the individuals in this case,” Wick said. “Your job is to determine if the defendant committed a crime … it’s not a popularity contest.” Defense attorney Justin Lonergan argued that Iraheta-Mercado did not intend to harm Waite, but that he was pushed into a confusing situation that quickly turned volatile and one he couldn’t understand as a Spanish-speaker — with the added stress of his two teenage children being in the car with him. Lonergan held that Iraheta-Mercado’s actions were in self-defense and that he rolled up the window when he perceived a threat from plain-clothes officers who were unidentifiable to him. “If you can see how another person could see the situation differently, then you have reasonable doubt,” Lonergan told the jury. “It is not enough that government allegations could be true ... there’s still so much room for misinterpretation, for mistakes.’’ The prosecution and defense disagreed about many key points in the incident, like who caused the situation to escalate, whether Iraheta-Mercado could actually understand the officers, if they were identifiable and whether the assault was intentional or a reaction in self-defense. ### ‘He knew what he was doing’ Wick reminded the jury of the photos shown in court of the bruises Waite sustained from the window, testimony from Waite and Andrew Johnson, the other officer there that day, and other evidence she said showed the government had met its burden of proof. She told the jury that to prove forcible assault, the government only needed to prove one of the three following things: there was an intentional hit, a willful attempt to inflict an injury or an intentional threat that also presented the possibility of injury causing a “reasonable apprehension” of immediate harm. Here, she also argued that all three were present. “This was not an accident, this was purposeful. He knew what he was doing,” Wick said, adding that Iraheta-Mercado chose to roll the window up and understood the officers’ commands. “The scene drastically escalated when Officer Waite’s arm was pinned.’’ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/2-1.png) Art of Wick by Jake Gillespie She also argued that Iraheta-Mercado understood the officers’ directions because he shook his head several times and also said “no,” — a word that means the same thing in both English and Spanish. Wick questioned why his children weren’t translating for him if he really only knew Spanish. To have successfully argued against self-defense, the government had to prove only one of the following: that Iraheta-Mercado knew Waite was a law enforcement officer, that he didn’t reasonably think he needed to use force against immediate unlawful force and lastly, that Iraheta-Mercado used more force that was appeared to be “reasonably necessary.” Wick kicked off her argument against self-defense by saying that Waite used flashing lights to pull him over – which were small and attached to the car’s grille – and that Iraheta-Mercado gave him his driver’s license. “If he didn't believe he were a law enforcement officer, he wouldn’t provide his drivers license,” she said. Even his children knew the two officers were law enforcement, she said. “Would they have asked a… carjacker, a kidnapper for a warrant? I submit to you, no,” Wick added. She also argued that Iraheta-Mercado had to have known the men were law enforcement because he was aware of his legal status and what that meant considering he had been ordered deported in 2008 and later used false documentation in a job application in order to be able to work at an agriculture company in Wenatchee. In arguing that he understood English, Wick noted he had filled out the work application in that language. On Friday, though, the director of human services for his job testified some of his paperwork was completed in Spanish and the application was double-sided — one side was English, the other was Spanish. When it came to Waite’s decision to reach in, she argued that choice was not an immediate use of unlawful force that Iraheta-Mercado needed to "reasonably" defend himself against. Wick also held that Iraheta-Mercado used more force that was reasonably necessary and that his actions signaled that he contemplated driving away with Waite’s arm pinned in the window. ### Is the government misinterpreting the facts? Lonergan argued that the prosecution had assumed the worst outcome and that the evidence presented in court brought forward a real question about whether the government had misinterpreted what happened that morning on July 8, 2025. Though the government framed Iraheta-Mercado’s behavior as resistance and assault, Lonergan argued, his actions are more accurately explained by his lack of understanding about what was happening and concern over having his two children in the car with him. He argued the arrest had been a “deliberate surprise” stop by an officer who was not clearly visibly identifiable and who only offered limited identification. The confusion was also rooted in the decision of the two officers to make assumptions and voice commands in English towards a man who didn’t understand them – despite Johnson's ability to speak Spanish. “Most tellingly is that after the fact, Johnson reads him the warrant in Spanish,” Lonergan said. There was a chain reaction of escalation, he continued, that began when Waite put his arm inside the car. “Officer Waite’s decision to put that arm in the car took it from a stable situation to one that became increasingly volatile,” he said. “The bottom line is there are things … that underscore why we should have serious questions about what the government is inferring about intention.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/3-1.png) Art of Lonergan by Jake Gillespie Pushing back on the government’s argument that the “why” of the alleged forcible assault didn’t matter, Lonergan told the jury that it simply wasn’t enough that either officer felt threatened or that Waite was injured if it wasn’t done on purpose. In response to Wick’s argument that Iraheta-Mercado’s decision to pull over was telling, Lonergan noted that people are conditioned to stop when they see red and blue lights behind them. But that doesn’t mean the person stops assessing the situation. “When *s*omething doesn't look right, you start wondering if it, in fact, is as it’s claimed,” he said. Lonergan asked the jury to consider if the officers’ badges were actually visible to Iraheta-Mercado when the video of the interaction shows the situation had already escalated by the point in which a badge is visible. “It is very plausible Iraheta-Mercado didn’t see a hat (with an ICE shield), a badge, anything,’’ Lonergan said. He told the jury that Waite conceded that the first window roll up could have been accidental. Additionally, Lonergan pointed out that Waite was the first to initiate physical contact and not Iraheta-Mercado as the prosecution claimed in closing. Lonergan also argued that the second time Waite’s arm was caught, it looked like he had enough time to pull back but instead, he stuck his hand even further inside the car. Iraheta-Mercado never meant to harm Waite, Lonergan argued, whether the car was on and he had his hand on the shifter, adding that it appeared the Salvadoran man had actually shifted the car into park. Everything happened so fast, he said. Showing a video still used by both sides, Lonergan told the jury it was unclear if Iraheta-Mercado’s hand was already on the window button as Waite reached in. And one second after Waite’s arm became caught, Johnson pulled his gun out, Lonergan said. At that point, it was unclear if Iraheta-Mercado even realized Waite’s arm was stuck before his attention became focused on the gun pointed his way. The defense argued that if Johnson, a trained officer, admitted to making a snap judgement based on information that was challenged once he saw footage, then it was likely Iraheta-Mercado also missed details during the chaos. He also pushed back on the prosecution’s argument that Iraheta-Mercado should have known the officers were immigration enforcement. Lonergan argued that Iraheta-Mercado had been living his life the same way he had since he arrived in the US in 2006: forgotten, overlooked, tolerated, not drawing attention to himself — but also not living in hiding. When he was apprehended by US Border Patrol decades ago, Iraheta-Mercado told the agent that he intended to live and reside in the US and admitted that he was a citizen of El Salvador. “(Iraheta-Mercado) did not come with false papers trying to hide his identity,” Lonergan said. “If Iraheta-Mercado was really concealing his identity, he's doing a bad job.” He asked the jury to be mindful about how they weighed information about the deportation order issued in 2008 without him being present, arguing there was no evidence he was even aware of it. He also noted that the work application that contained a copy of a false green card and Social Security card contained information that led right back to him. “This is not someone who’s concealing their presence in the United States,” Lonergan said. “The intention of those documents were for work.” Officer Johnson said he didn’t know how they got information about Iraheta-Mercado, Lonergan said. (Dimke ruled against evidence showing [ICE obtained that information illegally](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/) from the Washington State Department of Licensing.) But there are clues, he told the jury. It looks like Johnson identified him because his driver’s license had his name, date of birth and residence, Lonergan told the jury. ### Waite’s credibility in question The officers testified that Iraheta-Mercado had shook his head and said no to them, taking that to mean he understood them and was refusing to comply. But Lonergan told the jury that those actions could also mean Iraheta-Mercado didn’t understand them. “We don’t know,” he said. Lonergan asked the jury to consider if Waite’s testimony was credible considering a biased post he shared on Facebook. What the jury didn’t see were the[ other posts Waite made. ](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/) Lonergan argued that “when you're posting about blowing feces onto human beings,” it shows a difficulty in being able to maintain impartiality. He added that Waite’s comment during the arrest asking Iraheta-Mercado’s children if they wanted them to also do the same to them, showed a lack of restraint and a “me v. you” attitude. During the rebuttal that the government is allowed, Wick said that questioning Waite’s judgement and credibility was a “false logic” suggestion. She argued that there was no connection between a post about a “poop gun” lacking any suggestion it would be used on people, and Waite’s impartiality as an ICE officer. Waite didn’t say "I wish I could use these," she continued, he only used the *hmm emoji*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/4-1.png) Art of Iraheta-Mercado by Jake Gillespie *Additional reporting was contributed by Erin Sellers. This story was updated after publication to add art and a GoFundMe page.* ### Bill roundup: Here are some state laws taking effect URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/law-of-the-land/ Last updated: 2026-06-09T17:00:29.000Z The Washington legislative session wrapped up last month, passing [267 bills](https://www.seattlechamber.com/news/2026/03/16/advocacy-news/washington-legislature-adjourns-2026-session/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%2060%2Dday%202026%20legislative,or%20appropriation%20within%20a%20bill.) to Governor Bob Ferguson to sign into law. We would go insane giving you a rundown of each one, but here’s a look at a few we followed during the 2026 legislative session. [SB 6002](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6002&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) **Driver Privacy Act (effective March 30, 2026)** This law is designed to protect driver data captured by surveillance cameras from police abuse. It limits which agencies state and local police can give access to data gathered by their license plate-reading cameras, known as automated license plate readers (ALPRs). It also restricts the amount of time they keep data gathered by the cameras to 21 days (which is far longer than police accountability activists had advocated). Under this law, police must register, report and audit their ALPR systems, and it says they cannot be used to help federal agents enforce immigration law. Read our local coverage [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-may-regulate-flock-in-next-legislative-session/). [HB 1903](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=1903&year=2026&initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Statewide Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (effective June 11, 2026)** The Statewide Low-Income Energy Assistance Program created by this law streamlines the process for funding energy subsidies for low-income people. It requires the Department of Commerce to phase in funding to participating utilities to reduce the monthly energy bills of low-income customers. The law also modifies utility energy assistance requirements under the [Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA)](https://www.commerce.wa.gov/energy-policy/electricity-policy/ceta/?ref=rangemedia.co). Governor Bob Ferguson vetoed the section of the bill requiring the Department of Commerce to establish an advisory group for the Statewide Low-Income Energy Assistance Program on March 30, citing lack of funding. [HB 1906](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=1906&year=2026&initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Water System Rates (effective June 11, 2026)** This law is meant to limit sudden rate hikes for water. It does so through several mechanisms. First, it requires public water systems to tell their counties and water districts when they change ownership. It also requires the [Washington Utilities And Transportation Commission](https://www.utc.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) (UTC) to adopt rules for determining water companies’ rates and prohibits the UTC from approving any transaction that changes the controlling interest in a water company unless the transaction provides net benefits to customers of the company. It also allows a water company to file a multiyear rate plan with the UTC. [HB 1941](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=1941&year=2026&initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Cannabis Agricultural Cooperatives (effective June 11,2026)** This bill amends existing laws to allow cannabis producers to form agricultural cooperatives, providing them with similar structural benefits to traditional agricultural cooperatives. An agricultural cooperative is a user-owned, democratically controlled business allowing farmers and producers to combine resources,collectively purchase supplies and market products. According to an [amendment](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Amendments/Senate/1941.E%20AMS%20LC%20S5336.2.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) to the bill by the [Labor and Commerce Committee](https://leg.wa.gov/about-the-legislature/committees/senate/lc/?ref=rangemedia.co) added on March 5, “Licensed cannabis producers may form associations or cooperatives and engage in activities as provided in [RCW 24.34.010.](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=24.34.010&ref=rangemedia.co) No single association or cooperative may represent more than three cannabis producer licenses issued by the liquor and cannabis board at any given time.” [SB 6182](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=6182&year=2026&initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Abortion Savings Program (effective June 11, 2026)** The bill creates a public funding stream low income people can access to pay for abortion care in Washington. A new section added to chapter [43.70 RCW ](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=43.70&full=true&ref=rangemedia.co) outlines the program's purpose, including awarding operating grants to eligible organizations that promote equitable access to abortion services. The bill mandates that at least 85% of the funds appropriated for the program be distributed as grants, while also ensuring the confidentiality of identifying information related to grant recipients and service providers. [SB 6260](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=6260&Year=2026&ref=rangemedia.co) **Public Education Funding (effective June 11, 2026)** This bill would reduce the state’s obligations to the public education system by $31.8 million in 2025-27, $70.6 million in 2027-29 and $74.3 million in the 2029-31 biennium, according to the [Everett Post](https://www.everettpost.com/state-news/wa-senate-narrowly-advances-bill-to-reduce-education-spending-by-176m-through-2031/?ref=rangemedia.co). SB 6260 will extend the state’s reimbursement timeline for buses purchased by school districts, lengthening the amount of time buses can run before they need to be replaced, spreading state payments over a longer period. Use for smaller buses would increase from eight to 10 years, while those for larger buses would increase from 13 to 15 years. The bill also reduces the combined maximum enrollment for students participating in [Running Start](https://www.sbctc.edu/colleges-staff/programs-services/running-start/default.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) temporarily to 1.3 full-time equivalent (FTE) if the tax on millionaires is enacted ([it was](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-signs-millionaires-tax-law?ref=rangemedia.co)). This means students can still participate in summer Running Start, but they will need to carefully plan their credits with academic advisors to maximize the lower limit, which will effect the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years. Funding for the [Transition to Kindergarten](https://ospi.k12.wa.us/student-success/support-programs/early-learning-washington-state/transition-kindergarten?ref=rangemedia.co) (TTK) Program would be limited, allowing school districts to charge tuition and fees for the transitional kindergarten program, except for children with disabilities. Eliminates the inflationary increase for [National Board](https://www.nbpts.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) bonuses beginning in the 2026-27 school year. [HB 1604](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1604&Chamber=House&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) **Jail Searches/Gender (effective June 11, 2026)** Provides parameters for conducting searches of transgender and intersex people who are incarcerated in Washington. Those folks will also be able to choose the gender of the staff conducting their search or request a medical professional. [HB 2105](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2105&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) **Immigration Worker Protection Act (effective June 11, 2026)** The bill aims to bolster protections for immigrant workers in Washington State by mitigating the impacts of federal immigration enforcement actions, such as workplace raids. Key provisions include requirements for employers to notify workers of federal inspections of [I-9](https://www.uscis.gov/i-9?ref=rangemedia.co) forms and related records. Employers must also post notices in multiple languages and ensure that affected workers receive timely information about inspection results. HB 2105 sets penalties for non-compliance, allowing the [attorney general](https://www.atg.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) to investigate violations and pursue legal action on behalf of affected workers. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers for exercising their rights and workers may seek damages in court. ### 🎵How could you be so HEART-less?🎵 Spokane city could decline awarding affordable housing funds this year URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/heart-fund-affordable-housing-sales-tax/ Last updated: 2026-06-08T21:14:39.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. We’re short-staffed today with a reporter on vacation and a reporter at the courthouse covering another [federal trial](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-video-jaimie-waite-federal-assault/), so enjoy an abbreviated CIVICS edition today — there’s a lot of bullet points Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The city of Spokane could pass a law heightening punishment for street racers and a resolution declining to disperse affordable housing funds this year, instead saving those funds to afford $2 million in 2027. - At the Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee, the council will discuss expanding the Spokane Police Department’s contract with Axon, for more body cameras and TASERs, among other things. - The County Commissioners are planning to ask a state commission for permission to levy a regressive 0.1% sales tax — despite foregoing the annual property tax increase a few months ago that would have cost homeowners about $2. - The Board of County Commissioners also plan to send Al French back to the Spokane Regional Health District to balance out the appointment of a tribal representative, placing all five county commissioners on the board. ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** It’s set to be a pretty short meeting overall, but there’s a few items worth noting on the docket for tonight’s city council meeting: - If the consent agenda is approved, the city could spend $136,361 on project design, project management and modular furniture for a redesign of the fourth floor of City Hall. - Also in the consent agenda, after a deferral, is the agreement to [sell the building](https://www.spokanejournal.com/articles/18325-city-moves-ahead-with-monroe-building-sale?ref=rangemedia.co) that houses the city’s Public Defender’s offices — located at 824 N Monroe — for over $2 million, with the option to lease it back for up to nine years. - Later in the meeting, the council could pass a resolution stating their intent to not disburse money from the [HEART fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/07/07/mayor-announces-proposals-to-jumpstart-affordable-housing-development/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Establishing%20and%20Expanding%20the%20HEART%20Fund%C2%A0%C2%A0) (previously known as the 1590 Fund, named for the state bill authorizing a local sales and use tax for affordable housing) this year. The funds they would be able to award this year are limited, the resolution states. Instead, the council plans to wait for spring 2027, when they anticipate being able to award around $2 million to primarily affordable housing projects. - The council could also pass [an ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8E%B5I%20wonder%20if%20you%20know%2C%20how%20they%20live%20in%20Tokyo%F0%9F%8E%B5) further penalizing street racing and aggressive speeding, while also allowing the police department to make citations under the law based on video evidence where speeders’ license plates can be identified like dashcams, cell phone video and the speed cameras [already installed](https://my.spokanecity.org/police/get-help/photo-red-and-photo-speed/?ref=rangemedia.co) in school zones. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 8 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee ​​🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** There are two big items up for discussion at the PIES committee. The first is an amendment to the city’s contract with Axon — the police technology company that provides the department with body cameras and other tech — that would increase the number of body cameras worn, provide Axon Records licenses to the City Prosecutor’s Office for free (no mention of the Public Defender’s office…) and buy more TASERs, among other things. This would cost the city a quarter of a million this year, and about half a million per year in 2027, 2028 and 2029\. It was previously budgeted for. Interesting note — Axon has [made news](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/axon-tests-face-recognition-body-worn-cameras?ref=rangemedia.co) for testing facial recognition technology on police body cameras in Canada late last year. The other major item up for discussion is an update to the ordinance that guarantees that 1% of the value of executed construction contracts on qualifying capital improvement projects is spent on public art. The mayor’s administration hopes to strengthen the ordinance by “integrating it into the Citywide Capital Improvement Program, clarifying eligible projects, and providing flexibility to the Public Art Fund to support new public art projects and support the maintenance of the City's existing public art inventory.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 8 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, June 10 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** Spokane County is eyeing down a projected $20 million budget deficit. Despite that, last year they [voted against](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/18/spokane-county-commission-votes-against-property-t/?ref=rangemedia.co) the annual state-approved [1% property tax levy lid](https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/tax-topics/property-tax-how-1-property-tax-levy-limit-works?ref=rangemedia.co), forgoing about $1 million in revenue and saving home-owners about $2 a year. Instead, the county is now looking at adopting a more regressive 0.1% sales and use tax, which will be spent on “criminal justice purposes.” There are no additional details as to what exactly the tax would be spent on, but the county will be briefed on the tax this morning, which first requires an application to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. At the briefing session, they will also discuss the request from Juvenile Courts to allocate up to $30,000 in grant funding to pay for youth polygraph examinations. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 9 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** At their afternoon legislative session, the county commissioners plan to: - Approve the 0.1% sales tax application to the state commission they discussed at the morning briefing (see above for details). - Approve $2,148,988.97 in state funding to be spent on emergency shelter services ($1,048,220.50), homelessness prevention services ($465,768.47), transitional housing services ($299,927) and outreach ($335,073) - Pass a resolution to send a letter to the City of Spokane Valley by the end of the month, letting them know that the county will no longer lease the Spokane Valley Precinct Building. They’re planning to be out of the building by the end of 2026\. This will save the county $175,000, but it’s unclear what it means for the future of policing in Spokane Valley — they currently contract with the county, who dresses sheriff’s deputies in Spokane Valley Police uniforms and provides law enforcement services. - Appoint County Commissioner Al French the Spokane Regional Health District board to counter-balance the upcoming appointment of Nathan SiJohn from The Healing Lodge of The Seven Nations — an Urban Indian Organization entitled to health board representation under state law. This would place literally every single County Commissioner on the Health District board. Notably, French also “[led the effort](https://www.inlander.com/news/county-commissioner-district-5-al-french-who-proudly-led-the-effort-to-fire-health-officer/article%5Ff947cc9c-d78d-55c5-879c-f008d1efb755.html?ref=rangemedia.co)” to fire former health officer Bob Lutz, who was recently awarded a [$1.65 million settlement](https://www.inlander.com/news/lawyer-spokane-s-former-health-officer-has-signed-a-1-65m-settlement-in-his-wrongful/article%5Fa6341239-351c-4535-9d70-3365f4fe4df3.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in his wrongful termination suit. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 9 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** The Spokane Airport, which lobbied against the city of Spokane’s increased parking tax implementation, continues to have discussions about their parking garage expansion at the board level. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, June 11 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** It’s an executive session within a work session, so you won’t yet know what’s discussed and you won’t have a chance to comment on it, but the Mead School district is planning to spend 15-20 minutes discussing a potential “Sale of Real Estate,” at tonight’s meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 8 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### State audit finding The CVSD board will get a report on a Washington State Auditor’s Office fiscal audit for 2024-2025\. Districts undergo these audits annually and get back two reports: the Financial Statement and Federal Single Audit Report and the Accountability Audit. The district got a “clean” Financial Statement Audit and a “clean” Accountability Audit, but got dinged for its Title I program. The auditors said, “the District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with federal eligibility requirements.” According to the meeting agenda, staff responsible for allocating Title I funds didn’t know they were supposed to allocate them to schools with poverty rates greater than 75% and only allocated those funds to the elementary schools in the district with rates less than 75%. Staff also thought the district met the Title I requirements for allocating funds because OSPI approved the district’s Title 1 application. In response, the district agreed that one school with a 75%+ poverty rate was not served. But, the district also said that OSPI approved the application, including how they said they were going to allocate funds, and the office didn’t raise concerns then. Either way, they asked OSPI if they needed to make any changes or corrections for the current year and the office said to wait until the following year to make corrections. The district also noted that no school going into the 25-26 fiscal year was above the 75% threshold, so it shouldn’t be a problem going forward. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 8 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 8 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1, Spokane Valley* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** Spokane Valley City Council won't have their regular evening meeting, but they will have an all-day budget workshop starting at 8:30 am, with various staff presentations and discussions scheduled throughout the day. No public testimony options, but legally, you can definitely hang out and watch the whole workshop if you have the time for it. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 8 at 8:30 am* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### ‘Do you want us to do it to all of you?’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-video-jaimie-waite-federal-assault/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T01:05:31.000Z Where’s the warrant? That’s the question two teens repeatedly asked with increasing emotion as one filmed two plainclothes ICE officers trying to arrest their father on the side of a highway in East Wenatchee last summer— a confrontation that quickly escalated. Hector Saul Iraheta-Mercado was arrested on July 8, 2025 and is now facing a federal jury trial [for the second time ](https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/)on a charge of assaulting one of the ICE officers that arrested him, Jaimie Waite, after he allegedly rolled his window up trapping the officer’s arm. On Friday, Waite testified in court not only about what happened that day but also about one of the many prejudiced posts [RANGE found this week](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/). “I will permit this line of inquiry given the nature of his work… as the vast majority of his duties include enforcement actions against individuals who don’t have legal status,” Judge Mary Dimke said. “It’s evidence of bias.” RANGE has been following trial proceedings since they began Wednesday. Over the last two days, the jury has heard opening statements, watched a video of the arrest and sat through some testimonies and cross-examinations, including those of the two ICE officers who made the arrest. Before opening statements began on Thursday, Judge Mary Dimke reminded the 14-member jury that the government has three main things they need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt: - that Iraheta-Mercado forcibly assaulted Waite, - that this assault happened while Waite was engaged in his official duties, - and that he inflicted actual bodily injury. The prosecution has argued that Iraheta-Mercado understood what was happening, that he knew Jaimie Waite and Andrew Johnson were ICE agents and that he willfully pinned Waite’s arm in the car window twice. Iraheta-Mercado made “choice after choice” in an effort to resist arrest, prosecuting attorney Ann Wick said. In contrast, the defense has argued that the ICE agents weren't clearly identifiable, that Iraheta-Mercado didn't speak English and was receiving rapid fire, conflicting commands in a chaotic situation and did not willfully pin Waite’s arm in his window. Defense attorney Carter Powers Beggs also asked the jury to make note that Johnson does not try to give commands in Spanish, despite his proficiency, that the car never moves and neither officer explained their true intention until after two windows were broken. “It took officers seconds to draw firearms and minutes to explain why they were there that day,” Powers Beggs said. ### What the video shows The video, submitted as evidence, was taken by one of Iraheta-Mercado’s children. (The following account is based on what two RANGE reporters saw in the courtroom on Thursday and is not a comprehensive analysis of what transpired.) > The video appears to start after Waite told Iraheta-Mercado to step out of his car. > > Waite can be seen reaching into the window and the daughter can be heard saying something like, “there’s no reason you should be doing this.” > > It appears that Johnson tells Iraheta-Mercado to turn off the car or he’s gonna get shot, pointing the gun at Iraheta-Mercado, who puts up his hands. > > At some point, Iraheta-Mercado can be heard asking one of his children to take a video of what’s happening in Spanish**.** > > About a minute into the video, a still image shared in court shows Waite leaning into the car with a baseball cap that Johnson said displayed an ICE shield.Another still shows Waite pointing his gun with his one hand and Johnson testifies that Waite’s other arm was trapped, but it’s not visible in the image. > > The two officers are yelling at him while pointing their guns. The daughter can be heard saying that they shouldn’t be doing that. > > Then Waite reaches in again and tells Iraheta-Mercado that he’s resisting arrest. > > Iraheta-Mercado’s daughter says something to the effect of, “there’s no reason for arrest, you guys pulled us over for no reason.” > > The agents then break the car’s windows. Iraheta-Mercado’s children repeatedly ask for a warrant as the agents open both of the car doors and the daughter can be heard saying “that’s not right, where’s the warrant.” > > One of the teens in the back says “you can’t do that” and it appears one of the agent’s says “I just did.” > > Waite then yells for Iraheta-Mercado to get out of the car. One of his children says they can’t do that and Waite responds with something like, “yes we can. Do you want us to do it to all of you?” (An official transcription shown later attributes that statement to Johnson, who disputed that and said Waite was the speaker). > > One of the teens says “don’t touch my dad.” > > Waite appears to grab Iraheta-Mercado by the neck as he tries to remain inside the car with both agents trying to pull him out. They eventually do. The agents tell the teens to step back. Hector speaks in Spanish as the agents continue to give him commands in English. > > One of the teens tells the agents that his father is trying to comply but an agent is heard saying “no, he’s not.” The agents then pin his hands behind his back and one of the teens tell the agents they’re hurting him and it appears that Waite says “because he’s resisting.” Iraheta-Mercado continues to say something in Spanish. > > With Iraheta-Mercado out of the car, Johnson also appears to be holding the base of his neck (though Johnson testified his hand was on the chest) as Waite points an OC pepper spray can at Iraheta-Mercado’s face. It does not appear anything was sprayed.| > > They eventually handcuff Iraheta-Mercado. Johnson also said that the teens asked for a warrant 11 times. For one of those requests, his response was: “I don’t have to give you shit right now.” He said he regrets that, but that he used that language because he was upset. “Once the arrest was complete, the scene was much safer, so we had time to show the warrant to the female passenger who was asking for it,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-25ef7339-f528-468a-a1f5-3e3d6e28eaf4.jpeg) ICE agent Andrew Johnson (Art by Jake Gillespie) For his part, Waite testified: “I did not feel it would help the scene to engage in conversation with passengers …I didn't see how that would help.” He said his response of **“**Do you want us to do it to all of you?” was meant to threaten an arrest if they obstructed or interfered. Wick also showed a series of grainy stills from the video, showing an arm on the gear shift and the dashboard. During cross-examination, Johnson testified that he did not see Iraheta-Mercado turn the car on or shift the car into gear, but heard the car start and a click and assumed that was the case. Waite, who’s been an ICE officer since 2012, said that the first time his arm was caught by the window was when he reached into the car after he told Iraheta-Mercado to step out and he didn’t. He said the second time was when the window was lowered and he tried to reach further into the car. He also testified on a still image where he appears to grab Iraheta-Mercado’s neck. Waite said he did not apply force and was going for Iraheta-Mercado’s back for leverage but failed. In a [video shared online](https://www.instagram.com/p/DHFb7a4xDko/?ref=rangemedia.co) of a separate incident, Waite can be seen arresting a man in Wenatchee while wearing plain clothes as people repeatedly ask for a warrant, why they're arresting the man and proof of the reason for the arrest. As Waite approaches the driver's side of his vehicle, a woman gets close and keeps asking for proof. Waite tells her to back up and let him carry on if she doesn't want to get arrested. "I want you to show me proof," she said. He responds: "You're not a lawyer, I'm not doing that... Do you want to go to CPS? Then back up." Waite then pushes her and gets into his vehicle. ### Where the warrant came from The warrant the officers ended up showing to the family stems from an incident about 20 years ago. In April 2006, Iraheta-Mercado was apprehended from a Greyhound bus with three other people at a border-patrol checkpoint in Texas. During Johnson’s cross-examination, Lonergan used that to show that his client remained peaceful with uniformed agents and was honest when questioned. Three days later, a criminal complaint was filed charging him with unlawful entry into the U.S., which is a federal misdemeanor if it’s the first entry. Iraheta-Mercado was released under his own recognizance and instructed to report to a Los Angeles immigration office a few months later, according to a document. Two years later, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) filed an order of removal in absentia. An arrest warrant was issued for him based on this order 17 years later. In court, Johnson said that the warrant was issued by his superior because there was probable cause that Iraheta-Mercado lacked legal status based on a records check. He didn’t know if there had been any effort from the U.S. to contact Iraheta-Mercado and he said he never saw a copy of a document notifying Iraheta-Mercado of the order. Johnson said he learned of Iraheta-Mercado’s whereabouts using an app that aggregates data from several sources, mainly immigration and federal, to generate leads. Attorney Justin Lonergan, also representing Iraheta-Mercado, was not able to question Johnson about the [Washington DOL illegally](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/) giving ICE [access](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/) to his information last July because Dimke ruled that evidence inadmissible. The jury also saw a “baseball card” Johnson had created for Iraheta-Mercado that showed his last known address, date of birth, mentioned his deportation order but no felony history or additional information. In trial preparations, the prosecution had indicated they [planned to discuss](https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/) Iraheta-Mercado’s false identification in relation to employment, which was not discovered in his first trial. This was done in an attempt to go against evidence of Iraheta-Mercado’s good behavior and peaceful residency in the US. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-b3bfab33-752e-4926-8884-a72f3ac4215d.jpeg) Prosecutor Ann Wick. (Art by Jake Gillespie) Ana Chavez, the human resources director for agricultural company McDougall & Sons, was subpoenaed by the prosecution to testify Thursday. She affirmed that Iraheta-Mercado had used a false green card and Social Security card in his application with the company. Also presented with Chavez was the defendant’s job application, where he had filled out some of the bilingual forms in Spanish and used “mecánico” instead of “mechanic,” bolstering his language defense. In the cross-examination of Johnson, he said there was no indication that Iraheta-Mercado tried to use an alias when he was stopped by the officers. ### Going undercover — who’s arresting me? During cross-examination, the jury learned that Johnson visited Iraheta-Mercado’s residence several times before the arrest — this was his case. Johnson said he’d been doing covert surveillance near the area when he spotted Iraheta-Mercado in the vehicle registered to him and followed him to a second residence, but didn’t follow him after and instead requested Waite’s assistance. “We didn’t want to show our presence until we wanted to affect (the arrest),” he said. Waite ended up making the call to pull over Iraheta-Mercado on a stretch of highway, Johnson said, despite the safety risks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-eb2da587-4307-4432-b7df-8f8f98fb7e84.jpeg) ICE agent Jaimie Waite (Art by Jake Gillespie) The prosecution submitted a video of what the emergency lights looked like on Waite’s dark-tinted mini-van. They were located on the front grille and dash but both appeared hardly visible when flashing. Wick, the prosecutor, asked why Johnson didn’t tell the family about the warrant. “The primary reason is to complete the encounter as fast as possible,” Johnson responded. “In my experience the back and forth can turn into a circulatory argument that delays.” He also said he was worried about independent countersurveillance groups showing up and filming the incident, creating more of a hazard. Johnson also testified that the arrest was “not planned.” Both officers drove unmarked vehicles and were in plainclothes, and the defense questioned if they were identifiable to the people in the car. ### Agent questioned about bias for social media post Waite testified about a meme he reposted about wanting ICE to use manure guns with the “hmm” emoji. “I just thought it was a strange article about manure guns,” he said in court. He said he didn’t think the article mentioned ICE guns and wasn’t suggesting that the agency do that. Waite testified that it was from 2020, but it was shared in October 2025\. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/data-src-image-b54927b4-eed1-4a09-8dd2-30feb2134c7b.jpeg) One of the memes Jaimie Waite shared on Facebook in 2025. The defense had requested the post be admitted into evidence to be used as impeachment evidence against Waite’s credibility. “You have every option of ignoring an offensive article but chose to repost this?” Lonergan asked during cross examination. Waite affirmed. ### The result of arm vs car window On Friday, prosecution showed photos of the injuries Waite said he sustained during the arrest: bruising, scratches and scrapes. He testified his injuries were caused by the window being rolled up, the broken window glass and Iraheta-Mercado slapping his hand away. “It affected my mobility quite a bit. It was very sensitive. Moving it hurt and touching it hurt for a week or 10 days,” he said of the large colorful bruises on his forearm. He said he sought medical attention for his injuries. During cross-examination, Lonergan questioned Waite’s assertion about the cuts he said were caused by Iraheta-Mercado. “You can’t say with certainty that him slapping you caused cuts on your hand,” Lonergan posed. “I can agree to that,” Waite responded. After the jury was excused on Friday, Powers Beggs motioned for Rule 29, meaning he was requesting the judge to dismiss the case entirely for lack of evidence. Dimke denied it. She said there was sufficient evidence to send the case to the jury, that there was no question that Waite was acting in his official capacity or that bodily injury was inflicted. The only issue in contention is forcible assault. The defense is expected to bring its first witness Monday. *Erin Sellers contributed to this report.* *Editor's note: This story was updated with information about a separate incident that shows Waite arresting a man and his interactions with the people around.* ### Trials upon trials URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/trials-upon-trials/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T14:05:08.000Z On this week’s episode, Erin Sellers and Aaron Hedge went on the air to dive deeper into the Spokane 3 trial, the jury verdict, and the implications of the trial on free speech and protesting. The “Spokane 3” – Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II – were charged by the federal government with conspiracy to impede a federal officer by using threats, force or intimidation to stop ICE agents from discharging their duties. The alleged conspiracy charges come from last year’s June 11th protest, where people in the community tried to stop ICE from taking two detained young men – who were in the US legally – to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. The trial began on Monday, May 18th and ended on Thursday, May 28th, where a predominantly white jury consisting mostly of people who don’t live in Spokane gave all three individuals guilty verdicts. However, this legal process is expected to last longer, as all three individuals filed Rule 29 motions in hopes of acquittal. They also talked about the jury trial for a Salvadoran man accused of assaulting an ICE officer during an arrest last summer in East Wenatchee. Find the stories they talked about (in order) below: [The Trial of the Spokane 3: ‘The entire weight of the United States government’The guilty verdict for three Spokane protesters and what’s next in their case.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-da751a41-95c3-4f31-b67d-103cf1d58263.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/RANGE---story-art-template--32--bd994ccd-9eae-4b6a-ac2a-f58b9150a15a.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-protesters-federal-conspiracy-political-prosecution/) [A shocked city reckons with guilty verdict of Spokane 3Activists, community members, officials and onlookers were horrified about the First Amendment implications of the convictions. But they vowed to keep fighting.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-5736010c-c619-4a13-852a-c195aae4279f.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_9347--1--9580484a-b9b9-4019-9631-b68d9705a56a.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/a-shocked-city-reckons-with-guilty-verdict-of-spokane-3/) [Tried for a second timeThe jury trial for a Salvadoran man accused of assaulting an ICE officer during an arrest last summer in East Wenatchee begins again after a mistrial.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-2494e4c4-67a6-42b4-8d61-6ccb940e042d.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/civics-2026--5--265d75f9-858b-4e2f-a9ab-9b35e08b2d86.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/) Find RANGE's full coverage on the protests and federal trials here: [Spokane Protests – RANGE MediaOn June 11, 2025, protesters attempted to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking two detained young men who were in the US legally to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. We reported from the ground for nearly twelve hours as federal agents shoved protesters and the media and threatened federal charges against Spokanites \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-149.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/sa4a6090-1.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### WA DOL illegally shared data with ICE. No one can tell the jury in trial of Salvadoran immigrant. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-wa-dol-data-kwwa-violation-jaimie-waite/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T18:07:31.000Z Records obtained by Hector Saul Iraheta-Mercado’s legal defense team showing that his Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) data was illegally shared with federal agents last July will be inadmissible in his trial, Judge Mary Dimke ruled this morning. Iraheta-Mercado is currently on trial for allegedly assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer Jaimie Waite after the Salvadoran immigrant rolled his window up, pinning Waite’s arm, during a stop last summer in East Wenatchee. It’s his second time in court for the charge; the first ended in a mistrial in March after a jury couldn’t come to a unanimous decision. Though the defense wanted to use ICE’s search for Iraheta-Mercado’s data as potential impeachment evidence against Waite and ICE deportation officer Andrew Johnson, who arrested him, Dimke blocked that line of questioning. “I’m not allowing inquiry in terms of alleged violations of state law or use agreements, from the court’s perspective, there’s no indication that this is relevant," Dimke said. “Preliminarily, it seems to me it’s an issue of state agencies and how they’re making their information available.” Essentially, under the Keep Washington Working Act (KWWA), even though Iraheta-Mercado’s data was unlawfully shared, the legal burden falls on the state of Washington to protect immigrants’ information, not on federal agents to not access that information. And even if ICE violated the user agreements of the national database they searched in for Iraheta-Mercado’s data, there is not a clear enough link to show that the individual officers who are witnesses in this case were the ones that searched the data, or knew about the agreements. Dimke’s ruling illustrates clear issues with the KWWA: federal agents can’t be held accountable for state violations of the law — even if they’re aware that the law forbids collaboration in civil detainments — and often, discovery of these violations comes too late to help the immigrants the law is supposed to protect. It’s also unclear how the DOL can be held accountable for sharing immigrants’ data; when RANGE previously [asked the state](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-dol-data-border-patrol-civil-immigration-kwwa/) about a DOL data breach resulting in the detainment of a Spokane youth, Governor Bob Ferguson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The state Attorney General’s Office also declined to provide comment, citing attorney-client privilege between the DOL and the Attorney General’s office. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/bikes.jpg) ICE deportation officer Jaimie Waite Because questioning about the DOL data access is forbidden, the jury likely won’t find out that a state agency exposed Iraheta-Mercado’s information to federal agents. They also likely won’t know that Waite, the alleged victim in the case, has a long and well-documented history ofcollaborating with local enforcement before and after the KWWA was passed. ### Waite and the law The KWWA, which was signed into law in 2019, prohibits agencies from [sharing non-public information](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2024/08/01/paths-to-compliance-the-effort-to-protect-immigrant-rights-in-washington-state/?ref=rangemedia.co) like someone’s date of birth with federal immigration officials for civil immigration enforcement. The next year, Governor Jay Inslee signed another bill into law, prohibiting warrantless civil arrests of people going to or coming from state courthouses. Though human rights advocates, including the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights (UWCHR), have continually noted that these laws lack strong enforcement mechanisms, ICE deportation officer Waite bemoaned the state ban on local collaboration on social media. He also posted about people calling him “a paranoid nut about stealing elections with illegal alien votes,” and reposted a meme about wanting ICE to use manure guns with the “hmm” emoji, among other interesting things. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/1-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/3.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/4.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/5.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/6.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/7.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/8.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/9.png) Beyond social media posts and a [blog](https://thewaiteofthemasses.blogspot.com/2009/01/criminal-aliens-skipping-due-process.html?ref=rangemedia.co) where he wrote a treatise on immigration and “Illegal Alien criminals” from the perspective of a long-dead Supreme Court justice, Waite is also notorious for taking his distaste for state laws restricting federal collaboration beyond the keyboard. The UWCHR flagged interactions Waite had with Quincy and Grant county law enforcement officials — showing continued sharing of information after KWWA took effect. “In January 2022, a Quincy Police Department Captain emailed ICE Deportation Officer Jaimie Waite flagging a local resident for ICE by name and date of birth, describing the individual as having been arrested numerous times, but asserting that he ‘no longer fears the court system … Quincy PD would like \[this individual\] held responsible for his violent tendencies and if possible removed from our community for public safety reasons,’” one [UWCHR report](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2024/08/01/paths-to-compliance-the-effort-to-protect-immigrant-rights-in-washington-state/?ref=rangemedia.co) found. However, the report does not clarify if the person had ever been criminally charged or convicted. That same month of the same year, [Waite also forwarded](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2024/08/01/paths-to-compliance-the-effort-to-protect-immigrant-rights-in-washington-state/?ref=rangemedia.co) a detainer request to a Grant County jail official and wrote “thank you.” It is illegal for an agency to hold someone in custody or give immigration officials the opportunity to take the person into custody in response to a detainer request because it is considered a warrantless request under the KWWA. But the human rights center said “it is impossible to determine” if an arrest a week later is tied to the detainer request Waite sent due to the lack of detail in the records that Grant County and ICE gave. What’s more, the center couldn’t determine if that arrest or the 66 other arrests ICE reported after the KWWA passed involved actual violations of the law. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/10.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/06/11.png) A separate [2019 report ](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2019/10/16/ice-cbp-courthouse-arrests/?ref=rangemedia.co)from the center that analyzed immigration arrests at courthouses and information-sharing, noted the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s prosecuting attorney’s office emailed Waite directly about people’s court dates prior to the KWWA. The report stated that it sought to look into the extent of the collaboration between local officials and immigration enforcement officials in certain counties to gauge likelihood that the KWWA would address issues. Some information was shared with Waite upon his request, other times in relation to people being prosecuted whose immigration status was relevant to the case, according to the report. But employees of the prosecutor’s office would also reach out to Waite, sending him information about people even when their immigration status was irrelevant to the charges. “Given that all of the defendants whose information was shared with DO Waite have Latinx surnames, and that some were U.S. citizens with Latinx surnames … these communications raise concerns about possible ethnic profiling,” the report said. Waite is set to testify as a witness for the federal government against Iraheta-Mercado. **Editor's note:* The headline to this story has been updated for clarity.* [Tried for a second timeThe jury trial for a Salvadoran man accused of assaulting an ICE officer during an arrest last summer in East Wenatchee begins again after a mistrial.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-e23cbb6b-adb2-46cf-a3f2-70ec25863347.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/civics-2026--5--7ff82464-db6d-44ae-95f5-8e9f4b119094.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/) ### Tried for a second time URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/second-trial-wenatchee-jaimie-waite-east-district/ Last updated: 2026-06-04T02:32:45.000Z After having faced a jury that was “hopelessly deadlocked,” unable to reach a unanimous verdict, Hector Saul Iraheta-Mercado will stand trial a second time in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington beginning Wednesday. Iraheta-Mercado was charged with assaulting a federal officer after he rolled his window up and an ICE officer’s arm became stuck during a stop last July in East Wenatchee. Though the affidavit says both officers reported they identified themselves and had “clearly visible badges,” a pre-trial hearing transcript states otherwise. Justin Lonergan, co-counsel for Iraheta-Mercado, said Iraheta-Mercado had family in the car, and the officers were in plain clothes and obscured badges. “You can’t see Johnson’s badge at all for the entire duration. They're cussing at his family, telling them they don't, pardon my French, have to show them shit," the transcript reads. "It was a bad situation." RANGE has not seen the footage of the interaction submitted to the court, but the jury will see it as the trial continues to unfurl. The first jury trial Iraheta-Mercado faced began March 10 and lasted four days. The court declared a mistrial on March 13 when the deadlocked jury failed to reach a verdict after deliberating for about 11 hours. The concept of Double Jeopardy, which protects people from being prosecuted twice for the same crime under the Fifth Amendment, may make you think Iraheta-Mercado can’t legally be tried twice. However, a [second trial can happen](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-5/reprosecution-after-mistrial?ref=rangemedia.co) in cases that resulted in a mistrial because the jury failed to reach a verdict. This case follows a pattern that has been happening across the country since the second Trump Administration took office: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleging the people they arrest are assaulting or resisting their officers and charging them with a federal felony. A February [report](https://www.pogo.org/investigates/dhs-assault-cases-spiked-to-a-record-high-experts-and-judges-have-raised-alarms?ref=rangemedia.co) from the Project On Government Oversight showed a fivefold increase in referrals for prosecution in such cases from 2024 to 2025, though dozens have been dismissed by prosecutors, rejected by grand juries and resulted in not-guilty verdicts. For instance, a jury handed down a not guilty verdict last November to Martin Diaz, of Spokane, who had been accused of assaulting a Border Patrol officer, [The Spokesman-Review reported.](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/04/jury-finds-spokane-man-fighting-deportation-not-gu/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## **The arrest** On July 8 of 2025, ICE officer Jaimie Waite pulled over Iraheta-Mercado in East Wenatchee and told him to get out of his vehicle, according to court documents. At the time, Iraheta-Mercado, who is described as a “non-English speaker” in court documents, had a warrant out for his arrest based on an order of removal. But the defense noted in a court document that the order of deportation had been issued in Iraheta-Mercado’s absence and that there was no indication Iraheta-Mercado, originally from El Salvador, was even aware that he had been ordered deported. Iraheta-Mercado provided his identification when asked but declined to step out of the vehicle, according to court documents. So Waite reached his arm into the driver’s window to open the door, but Mercado rolled it up. He started his car and put the gear into drive, the documents say. But they don’t say that Iraheta-Mercado allowed the car to actually move. The affidavit alleges that Iraheta-Mercado trapping Waite’s arm was the assault. The prosecution’s brief states that Waite’s arm was injured, including bruising. Waite and Andrew Johnson, another ICE officer who had arrived after surveilling Iraheta-Mercado’s home, drew their weapons and told him to stop the vehicle, according to the affidavit. Iraheta-Mercado complied, but Waite’s arm was still caught in the window so Johnson broke the passenger window and Waite broke the driver’s side window. The two officers then forcibly pulled Iraheta-Mercado out and put him in handcuffs. He was charged with assault on a federal officer, under [18 U.S. Code § 111(a)(1), b.](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/111?ref=rangemedia.co) The sections of the law hold that anyone who “forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes” with a federal officer or employee carrying out their official duties will be fined, imprisoned on a maximum sentence of 20 years or both. Iraheta-Mercado is detained at the Spokane County jail. He sat through Wednesday’s jury selection with a headset translating the proceedings into Spanish for him. The jury will receive instructions Thursday and will then listen to opening statements. ## **Misuse of DOL data** With the second trial expected to last three days already underway, some new elements were presented before the court this week. During a pretrial conference Tuesday, Judge Mary K. Dimke, at the request of the prosecution, ruled to allow evidence that Iraheta-Mercado had worked under false documentation. As of Wednesday afternoon, two other items remained pending before Dimke. She’s expected to discuss these with the attorneys first thing Thursday morning. One was the request from the defense for the court to introduce impeachment evidence against the ICE agents. Impeachment can be used by attorneys to discredit a [witness’ credibility](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/impeachment%5Fof%5Fa%5Fwitness?ref=rangemedia.co) during a trial. Before Iraheta-Mercado’s first trial, his federal public defender Carter Power Beggs still had unanswered questions about how the ICE agents had obtained the information they used to find, surveil and ultimately detain him. While the defense was unable to get answers from the government before the first trial, a public records request submitted to the Washington State Patrol (WSP) by the defense team came back with crucial information just days before the second trial was set to begin. Those records showed federal agents had used Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) data on the date Iraheta-Mercado’s warrant was signed to access information on him, like his home address and driver’s license. They again accessed his information the day agents testified they originally planned to arrest him, Powers Beggs said in a pre-trial conference. Powers Beggs said it was concerning that ICE agents would use DOL data to apprehend someone with no criminal charges at the time because that violates the Keep Washington Working Act (KWWA), which bars state agencies from sharing such information. He also said it was a violation of the user contract for the software law enforcement agencies across the country use to share and access driver’s license data. The KWWA prohibits the DOL, the (WSP) and other state and local agencies from using state government “funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation or enforcement” of civil federal immigration violations. “They were misusing this tool to target Mr. Mercado,” Powers Beggs said. “The government is using improper surveillance techniques.” The judge currently awaits further briefings from the legal teams on this issue. If she rules that the data-access evidence is admissible, Powers Beggs and co-counsel Lonergan could use it to impeach the officers’ character and supplement argument that their client had no idea he was being surveilled by the government, which goes to his shock and incomprehension when officers pulled him over. ## **Arguments heading into the trial** For the jury to declare Iraheta-Mercado guilty of assaulting Waite, the government must prove the alleged assault beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the highest legal standard for proof. The government argues that Waite identified himself as law enforcement and that Iraheta-Mercado inflicted bodily injury. The prosecution’s brief also states the government can overcome a claim of self-defense if they can prove only one of the following: that Iraheta-Mercado knew Waite was a law enforcement officer, that he didn’t “reasonably believe” it was necessary to use force in defense of immediate use of unlawful force or that he used more force than what seemed to be “reasonably necessary.” The prosecution is also poised to argue that Iraheta-Mercado’s use of false information goes against claims that “he had no reason to expect law enforcement to be pulling him over and thus did not know (Deportation Officer) Waite was a law enforcement officer.” The defense argues that at the core of the case lies the issue of knowledge and intent. An argument for self-defense applies if the defendant was unaware the person attacking them was law enforcement. Additionally, the defendant must have intentionally hit the officer for forcible assault to have taken place, the defense argued in its brief. Simply resisting arrest or tensing up doesn’t meet the definition. The defense also cited *U.S. v. Span*, a case in which the court held that a claim of self-defense can be used even if the person is aware of law enforcement’s presence when excessive force is used. “Importantly, the defenses are available not only where a defendant mistakes officers’ identity, but also their authority to arrest,” the defense’s document reads. The defense also argued Iraheta-Mercado’s order of removal was obtained through an in absentia hearing, meaning he was not there, and that there was no evidence to indicate he was aware that he had been issued a deportation order. The document shows the defense’s intent to object to the use of the word “fugitive” to describe Iraheta-Mercado. It was not immediately clear if the court had approved that. “There is no indication that Mr. Iraheta-Mercado was in flight status or otherwise escaping arrest. As will be undisputed at trial, he was living under his true name with no indication that he was avoiding surveillance or law enforcement,” the trial brief document reads. *Reporter Erin Sellers contributed to this story.* ### SPS to tweak immigration enforcement policy to make it ‘cohesive’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sps-immigration-policy/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T23:03:07.000Z The Spokane Public Schools Board of Directors is expected to vote on adopting a new-to-you policy on Wednesday afternoon, that lays out exactly how school officials will respond to attempts of immigration enforcement in local schools. But the requirements outlined in the policy are not entirely new. SPS spokesperson Ryan Lancaster told RANGE in an email that the policy, called Limiting Immigration Enforcement in Schools, would unify pieces of existing district policy and procedure into a “cohesive governance item.” “So, little if anything is changing in regard to actual practice,” Lancaster wrote. “We’re just bringing it all under one umbrella.” SPS has already set the tone of limiting immigration enforcement in schools through its broad [District and Campus Safety](https://weba.spokaneschools.org/polpro/SearchG.aspx?q=immigration&ref=rangemedia.co#docaccess-832a24df9788fe4baae7566a3a44668a6f743f75883f4e5d7e2afa9b8fa75431) procedure and policy titled [District Relationships with Law Enforcement and Other Government Agencies](https://weba.spokaneschools.org/polpro/View.aspx?id=415&ref=rangemedia.co). The latter states that immigration enforcement falls outside the scope of the district’s responsibility. It also prohibits staff from giving immigration agents access to school grounds unless the superintendent or district’s general counsel determines the agent’s request complies with applicable laws. “The district supports the federal immigration policy that views schools as sensitive locations and therefore, we do not collaborate with immigration enforcement agencies or share information that could put a student’s security at risk,” the policy reads. This Biden-era policy offered protections against immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like schools and churches. But the Trump administration reversed it on January 20, 2025 as one of its first orders of business. This effectively left states, municipalities and other entities responsible for adopting their own policies if they didn’t already have them. The policy the board will consider this week prohibits the district and schools from helping or participating in immigration enforcement activities, including surveillance. It lays out the steps school officials must take when immigration enforcement officials show up, and what resources can be shared with families, like “Know Your Rights” resources and forms to help them prepare for the event of a family separation. Under the new policy, federal agents and anyone else trying to enforce immigration laws would be restricted from openly accessing school grounds, nonpublic areas and databases. Staff would be required to immediately direct the person to the principal or whoever they designate to: - verify the person’s credentials, including their name, agency and badge number - record the date and time of the visit - reason for the visit - names of the people the officials plan to contact School staff is also required to request a valid court order or judicial warrant from anyone looking to gain access to school grounds, speak to a student or make an arrest, per the policy. School officials will not give personal information to any officer unable to produce a valid court order or judicial warrant. The district’s superintendent (or their designee and/or legal counsel) will: - review the request and the information staff collected - review the court order or judicial warrant to make sure it’s valid and signed by a judge - review the written and signed authorization from an officer’s “appropriate level director” for the officer to visit a school and that states their specific purpose (without that, the district will need to contact the superior to confirm the officer has permission) - make a “reasonable effort” to notify a student’s parent or guardian about any requests related to immigration enforcement - request the presence of a district representative in any interview After reviewing all of the required information, the policy says the superintendent (or their designee and/or legal counsel) will decide if they will allow the immigration enforcement officer to actually contact or question the adult or student they’re seeking — and will check that the request complies with federal and state laws before any information is given out. Even if an officer’s request is granted, the policy also states that school officials cannot give access to any information or records that fall outside what is specified in the court order, judicial warrant or legal requirements. ### FIFA cash pours into Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T23:50:54.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The city [is adjusting](https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/#:~:text=World%20Cup%20funding%20from%20federal%20government) its budget to accommodate hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and state funding to police the FIFA World Cup events Spokane will host. - Spokane City Council will [consider a proposal](https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8E%B5I%20wonder%20if%20you%20know%2C%20how%20they%20live%20in%20Tokyo%F0%9F%8E%B5) to regulate street racing on city streets. - Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall [will talk to](https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/#:~:text=Cops%20report%20metrics%20on%20drone%20program) the Public Safety & Community Health Committee about his department’s drone surveillance program, which is set to expand with the World Cup. - Spokane County [is working](https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/#:~:text=The%20county%20might%20need%20to%20tighten%20its%20belt) with a very tight budget, and the county commission is urging elected officials to review their spending to ensure they’re working within their budgets for their departments, suggesting they may need to tighten their belts. - The county wants to spend $25,000 on a [lie-detector test contract](https://www.rangemedia.co/fifa-cash-pours-into-spokane/#:~:text=%2425K%20for%20polygraphs%20for%20juvenile%20offenders) to interrogate children detained in the county’s juvenile court system. That technology has been challenged by researchers. Important meetings this week: ## Civics 101, a City Council primer Council Member Sarah Dixit will host a how-to session explaining to regular folks the most effective ways to engage with the Spokane City Council. That will happen June 3 from 6 to 7:30 pm. Find more details [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2026/05/27/civics-101-how-to-engage-with-council-workshop/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### World Cup funding from federal government There’s lots of public money coming to Spokane to pay for operations around the World Cup events that our city will host in June and July. The grants from federal and state agencies include just over $1 million, $54,770 of which will be subawarded to Spokane Sports. Much of that money will be dedicated to police funding to monitor the events. One of the most important aspects of the events is that Spokane is hosting Team Egypt, which will practice on soccer fields at Gonzaga University. The matches will be hosted in Seattle, but Spokane is hosting satellite events. Spokane is adjusting its budget to reflect these funds. ### 🎵I wonder if you know, how they live in Tokyo🎵 We covered this a few weeks ago when it hit the Public Safety & Community Health Committee. Now it’s at the City Council for a vote. Here’s our previous write-up: A new ordinance sponsored by Dillon and Cathcart that could curb street racing and excessive speeding by adding additional financial penalties is up for discussion today. Under this ordinance, anyone caught racing another vehicle, racing against an agreed-upon time, or driving at “excessively high rates of speed or acceleration,” or doing things like drifting, sliding or rolling coal (defined by the ordinance as “emitting black smoke”) could be given a traffic infraction.The penalties for receiving a traffic infraction in violation of this new ordinance would be $500 the first time, $800 the second and $1,500 the third. Anyone who violates the law more than three times could then be charged with a gross misdemeanor. An interesting facet of this ordinance is that it allows drivers to be cited based on video evidence. Basically, if a video of you racing up Division Street is posted online, it can be reviewed by the Spokane Police Department, who can then send you a traffic citation. If the driver is identifiable in the video evidence, they can be cited with street racing. But if the driver can’t be identified from the footage or other evidence, then the registered owner of the car can be cited with “unlawful vehicle use,” which has the same financial penalties as the citations for street racing. The ordinance is designed to “increase safety for all users of public streets,” the agenda sheet states. ### No more drive-thrus near bus stops, public hearing scheduled tonight The city stopped the construction of new drive-thrus and service stations for the next year near busy bus stops and other transit facilities on April 13\. It’s hosting a public hearing on that moratorium, which was sponsored by Klitzke and Zappone, at the June 1 City Council meeting. ### Stevens St. and Third Ave. will be repaved The council will likely award Shamrock Paving, Inc., of Spokane $2,774,000 to repave part of Third Avenue and Stevens Street. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 1 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, June 4 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Cops report metrics on drone program Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall will deliver a presentation on the metrics of the department’s drone program, which deploys the flying machines to monitor criminal activity and public events. Drones became a permanent part of the force in the air support unit in 2018\. And the department will [likely procure](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=%24230k%20on%20police%20tech%20for%20the%20World%20Cup%20and%20beyond) $126,924 worth of new drones to fly over the FIFA World Cup events Spokane will host this month and next. Those machines will become a permanent part of the surveillance technology used by Spokane police. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 1 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Visit Spokane economic impact report Rose Noble, the CEO of Visit Spokane, which promotes tourism in Spokane County, will present the organization’s economic impact report. Some relevant statistics from the report: - The number of visitors to Spokane County has gradually increased at rates between 1% and 2.9% since 2019 (with a remarkable outlier year with a 52.5% increase after COVID rules were relaxed in 2021). - Visitors spent $1.548 billion in Spokane County in 2025. - The vast majority of tourists in the county, 98.9%, were from the US. - Tourists sustained 17,000 jobs. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 2 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### The county might need to tighten its belt In a budget letter likely to be signed June 2, the BOCC worries about not having enough money to meet the county’s needs and instructs elected officials to double check their spending and budgets. Citing state law that requires the county to keep its spending within its means, the letter states: “Given the County’s present budgetary constraints, we request that each elected official: 1. Review your current expenditure trajectory and confirm that operations can remain within the adopted 2026 appropriation. 2. Notify the Board immediately if projected spending indicates a risk of exceeding budget authority. 3. Suspend or delay discretionary expenditures where prudent to ensure compliance within RCW 36.40. 4. Engage early if a formal budget amendment may be necessary; no obligation should be incurred in anticipation of such an amendment unless and until the Board has acted.” ### $25K for polygraphs for juvenile offenders The commission is set to dedicate $25,000 to pay [Inland Polygraph](https://inlandpolygraph.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) to administer truth tests, called polygraphs, a widely discredited technology, to children detained by county Juvenile Court Services. Polygraphs, also known as “lie-detector” tests, measure physiological responses to questions asked of people accused of crimes to determine whether they’re being truthful. Proponents of polygraphs say they gather data that accurately suggests whether a person is lying, but the American Psychological Association [writes of them](https://www.apa.org/topics/cognitive-neuroscience/polygraph?ref=rangemedia.co): “scientific evidence suggests that polygraph tests are not a reliable and valid way to detect deception, and their use in legal proceedings has long been restricted in many states.” ### $1M in improvements to Crestline Road The BOCC is set to award Liberty Northwest Construction a $1,009,170 contract to build sidewalks along Crestline Road between 57th and 63rd avenues. The agenda doesn’t mention any other bidders. Most of that money, $807,000, would come from state Transportation Improvement Board funding; the rest would come from the county’s Road Fund. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 2 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special and regular meetings) 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Budgets & levies The Spokane School District Board of Directors will hold three open session discussions during a special meeting before the regular meeting begins. One of these discussions focuses on giving an update on the budget and the proposed 2028-2030 Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) levy totaling $333 million. This levy is needed for SPS to continue with student programs that aren’t paid for through state or federal funds, according to a slideshow presentation attached to the agenda. The second discussion will focus on reviewing the current (2025-2026) school year’s priority strategies and talk about the development of priority strategies for the upcoming school year (2026-2027). The third discussion zeroes in on the school board’s goals, which [the board is responsible](https://weba.spokaneschools.org/polpro/View.aspx?id=885&ref=rangemedia.co) for creating every year. At the regular meeting, a presentation will be given on the 2026-2027 drafted budget where community members will have the opportunity to provide public comment. ### Policies on native education and immigration enforcement The board will then discuss and take action on a few policies including the Native Education and Limiting Immigration Enforcement in Schools– the two new policies we highlighted a couple of weeks ago in [CIVICS.](https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/) > *Agendas* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, June 3 at 4:30 pm (special meeting) and 6 pm (regular meeting)* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council (special meeting) **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Comprehensive Plan update The council will review the third section of an update to the Comprehensive Plan, which governs how the city grows and is mandated by state law. This section will focus on the development of parks, transportation and capital facilities, which are properties the city owns. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 2 at 5 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Transportation Improvement Plan update The council will discuss the regular update to its Transportation ImprovementPlan, a six-year plan that articulates millions of dollars to be spent on road repaving, building of sidewalks and construction of new infrastructure to make cyclists and pedestrians safer. The budgeting also contains $300,000 in new traffic monitoring cameras across Liberty Lake. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 2 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The Trial of the Spokane 3: ‘The entire weight of the United States government’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-protesters-federal-conspiracy-political-prosecution/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T02:09:37.000Z Everyday we've covered the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). As they walked into the courtroom for the reading of the verdict, Justice Forral cradled their copy of *To Kill a Mockingbird*. Bajun Mavalwalla II, smiling, gave his father Bajun Mavalwalla I a long hug at the threshold of the gate separating the gallery of the courtroom from the well. Jac Archer, the last to arrive, hurried in to take their place at the defense table, taking just a brief pause to connect with their loved ones in the front row. Minutes later, a predominantly white jury made up mostly of people who don’t live in Spokane, would find all three protesters guilty of federal conspiracy charges — a felony that could result in potential sentences of up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Archer was found guilty of conspiring to prevent an officer from doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer to impede them in their duty and aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure officers. Forral was found guilty of conspiring to prevent an officer from doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer because they were doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer in order to impede them in their duty and aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure officers. Mavalwalla was found guilty solely of aiding and abetting the conspiracy for their roles in the [June 11 protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Before the verdict reading, the judge had warned the packed gallery that there were to be no outbursts. The audience in the courtroom largely obeyed: the verdicts were initially met with a shocked stillness in the air. Then, quiet weeping, muffled as people tried to choke back their sobs. The federal prosecutors cleared out quickly, as the defendants and their legal teams packed up their paperwork and their belongings. The defendants, their friends, family, legal teams and supporters were slower to leave the courtroom. One of Forral’s lawyers was crying silently. A half-used roll of toilet paper was passed back and forth as people tried, in vain, to dry their eyes. When the court finally cleared, the toilet paper roll was left behind, sitting alone on the short barrier that divides the gallery from the well. “I was shocked by the verdict,” said Aine Ahmed, one of Mavalwalla’s attorneys, who was not in the courtroom on Thursday. “ I was on the plane when \[co-counsel\] Matt Duggan texted me and said ‘Guilty,’ and I thought he was lying. I've had some unexpected verdicts in my life, but nothing like this.” Andrew Wagley, one of the attorneys representing Archer, said their team was “floored,” by the jury’s decision. “ We were feeling fairly confident that it was gonna be an acquittal,” he said. Ahmed, Wagley and Andrea George, Forral’s lawyer, all told RANGE that this was not the end of the road, though George could not be reached for additional comment today. All three will be filing [Rule 29 motions](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/#:~:text=is%20extremely%20important.-,Rule%2029%2C,-a%20type%20of), asking Judge Rebecca Pennell to acquit their clients. ### A political prosecution The indictment of the original nine protesters — six of whom took [plea deals](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/) — has been criticized as politically motivated. While dozens of protesters were arrested on local charges on June 11, the federal arrests didn’t come until July 15\. This was roughly a month after the Justice Department sent a June 12 memo to federal prosecutors across the country [directing them](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-prosecutors-immigration/?ref=rangemedia.co) to prioritize and publicize prosecutions of anti-ICE protesters. Former acting US attorney for eastern Washington Richard Barker [resigned](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/washington-state?ref=rangemedia.co) rather than sign the indictment, telling [the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/20/us-army-veteran-ice-protest-trial?ref=rangemedia.co), “I didn’t feel in this case that a conspiracy charge that would carry a six-year term of incarceration was true to who I was or wanted to be as a federal prosecutor.” After the verdict, Barker wrote in a statement to media: *“Although I respect the judicial process and jury’s verdict, I question whether justice truly was served. This was the first conspiracy prosecution in Eastern Washington history under 18 U.S.C. Section 372 — a Civil War-era law dusted off to punish members of the Spokane community who stood up for two young men who were unlawfully detained by ICE. I hope that moving forward \[the\] DOJ will focus on the crimes that matter most to keep our families safe and to build trust with the communities that most need and deserve law enforcement protection.”* As the protesters and their supporters left the courtroom, Mavalwalla’s father, who is currently a congressional candidate running in a crowded primary to unseat Rep. Michael Baumgartner, spoke passionately to the distraught crowd. “The prosecution suppressed the most important salient facts in this case. Number one: that the first US attorney, Richard Barker, resigned rather than to prosecute this case, and that information was suppressed from the jury.” Mavalwalla senior said. “People in Spokane, people in Eastern Washington need to understand that we were guinea pigs, that they brought the swamp of Washington, DC into our area to stop American citizens from exercising our rights that are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.” Pete Serrano, who identified himself as First Assistant United States Attorney in his press release (but whose actual title is prefaced with Special Attorney to the Attorney General of The United States because [he was never confirmed by Senate](https://www.rangemedia.co/pete-serrano-federal-prosecutor/)) wrote in a Friday press release: “*Our office’s sole motivation for the charging and prosecution of these individuals was to hold them accountable to the law as each attorney in this office has sworn an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution. This case was brought by my office, was agreed upon by the grand jury, and concluded with a multi-day trial by jury because the alleged crimes were committed. Statements made by current or former public officials who never set foot in the courtroom during the trial bear no relevance to these facts or the outcome of this case.*” Serrano was present one day in the courtroom, sitting between two US Marshals in the back of the room on Wednesday, the day many thought the verdict would be returned. Mavalwalla’s attorney Ahmed, a former assistant US attorney of Eastern Washington himself, called [Stephanie van Marter](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/stephanie-van-marter-serve-acting-united-states-attorney-eastern-district-washington?ref=rangemedia.co) — the former Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington who initially signed the indictment before Serrano took over — “ethically challenged.” He told RANGE that he had tried to negotiate a plea deal with the government for his client, but they refused to offer any deal that would not require Mavalwalla to say before a judge that he’d used force against an officer. Ahmed asked his client to consider taking a misdemeanor deal. “And Bajun, ethically, he’s so strong, he said, ‘you’re asking me to lie to a federal judge, and I’m not going to do that,’” Ahmed said. At the end of the trial, after all of the evidence had been presented, Ahmed thought there was no way there would be a guilty verdict, and that the charges themselves were extreme. ”I didn't think the government proved any sort of conspiracy, and I don't think joining arms is a conspiracy, and I couldn't believe the government was relying on that during their closes,” Ahmed said. “ I thought the whole verdict against Mavalwalla was surreal and frankly, I thought it was surreal against the other two as well. If not a single police officer got hurt and none of them were involved in damaging property, I just don't even know how you charge this case.” Across the country, protesters arrested on similar charges in Illinois had their case [thrown out](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/broadview-6-trial-canceled-as-prosecutors-acknowledge-misconduct-before-grand-jury/?ref=rangemedia.co) amid accusations of prosecutor misconduct and the Trump administration recently [created](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/why-legal-experts-say-trumps-new-anti-weaponization-fund-is-unprecedented?ref=rangemedia.co) a slush fund to pay people like January 6th insurrectionists who say they were victims of government weaponization (though that was quickly [paused](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-halts-trump-anti-weaponization-fund-jan-6-prosecutor-files-suit-rcna347539?ref=rangemedia.co) by a judge.) In his press release, Serrano pointed to the jury decision as evidence that the conviction wasn’t political: *“For 250 years in this country, we have turned to juries to resolve those disagreements. Here, twelve individuals from across our community heard 8 days of evidence and concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that these three defendants committed the crime as charged, that they agreed to impede law enforcement officers and injure their property as they did their jobs … Just because the jury did not find in a way that some people wanted, does not negate the fact that a crime occurred.”* Still, community activists pointed to the [jury](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-2-the-jury-the-opening-statements-the-first-witness/#:~:text=into%20this%20story.-,The%20Jury,-All%20of%20Monday) [selection](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-federal-trial-jury-selection/) process, which pulled jurors from across Eastern Washington — an area politically more conservative than the city of Spokane, where the protest occurred — as being unfair to the defendants. This is a quirk of the [sheer size](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/about-district?ref=rangemedia.co) of the district, which spans 20 Washington counties. “ If you're in Spokane County Superior Court, then you have jurors just from Spokane County,” Archer’s lawyer Wagley said. “When you're in federal court, you have jurors anywhere east of the Cascades because it's all the Eastern District of Washington.” The jury was also predominantly white in a case where all the defendants were people of color. Two of the defendants identify as nonbinary and at least one juror had written on their jury questionnaire that he had concern about people who use nonbinary pronouns. ### The First Amendment question Key in courtroom proceedings was the prohibition on arguments or testimony invoking the First Amendment. As RANGE reported before the trial began, Pennell ruled that questions of the First Amendment were the court’s purview, not the jury’s. “No witness should testify regarding the ultimate issue of whether Defendants’ actions were legal or constitutionally protected. Nevertheless, should Defendants elect to testify in this case, they must be given some leeway,” her pre-trial decision [read](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-sets-parameters-as-spokane-3-head-to-trial-may-18/), in part. “Defendants must be allowed to testify as to their mental state regarding the charged offense. This can be done without Defendants summarily explaining that they intended to obey the law or that they intended to exercise their First Amendment rights.” Still, the defense had hoped that limited explanations of the First Amendment and protected speech Pennell included in the jury instructions would help the jury see their clients’ speech as Constitutionally protected. ”We are extremely disappointed in the verdict and what it means for the First Amendment. The verdict does not reflect the evidence presented at trial and Jac Archer's non-violent, peaceful actions on June 11th, 2025,” Wagley said. “This outcome has a substantial chilling effect on an individual's First Amendment right to free speech, including the right to protest. If Jac Archer can get convicted of a felony conspiracy for linking arms, the Constitution no longer applies.” Because an intent to use “force, threat or intimidation,” is required to convict defendants of conspiracy, Archer’s defense team has consistently pointed to evidence showing that Archer’s intent was nonviolent protest. However, because Archer did come in with “an agreement,” to do acts of civil disobedience — though not an agreement to use force, threat or intimidation — Wagley thinks that could have been confusing for jurors. He pointed to videos and voice memos introduced by the federal government of Archer saying things like “for those willing to risk arrest.” “ I could see how a jury could see that and think, ‘Well, that's advocating for lawless action,’ but it's not. It's advocating for civil disobedience, which is clearly protected, and that's what I think that’s got to come down to, is the court setting aside the verdict based upon the First Amendment,” Wagley said. “Because otherwise, if protesters can get prosecuted and convicted for civil disobedience for a federal felony conspiracy, there's just - the First Amendment doesn't mean anything anymore.” Archer’s team, which also includes attorney Carl Oreskovich, had filed a preliminary [Rule 29 ](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/#:~:text=is%20extremely%20important.-,Rule%2029%2C,-a%20type%20of)motion — a rule that allows defendants to ask for summary acquittal on the grounds that the evidence presented isn’t sufficient for a jury to convict — after the federal government rested their case. This motion cites a 9th Circuit of Appeals ruling that states: “Peaceful speech, even speech that urges civil disobedience, is fully protected by the First Amendment. Were this not the case, the right of Americans to speak out peacefully on issues and to petition their government would be sharply circumscribed.” The motion also argued that the characterization of a protest as a conspiracy violates the right to the Freedom of Association. After the verdict, Pennell gave defendants an additional two weeks to amend or file new Rule 29 motions, the government two weeks after that to respond, and the defense a final week to respond to the government’s response. The judge set July 2 as the deadline for the end of this process, after which she will schedule a hearing to rule on the motions to acquit. For Archer, Forral and Mavalwalla, the Rule 29 hearings could be just the next step in a lengthy legal process that has already taken nearly a year of their lives. All legal teams have indicated that, should the judge rule against the motions to acquit, they will appeal the convictions — another expensive, labor-intensive step. In a Facebook comment responding to a statement where City Council President Betsy Wilkerson wrote that the verdict “concludes an important chapter in case that has drawn significant attention and no doubt strong feelings throughout the community,” Archer wrote just six words: “Respectfully, nothing about this is ‘concluded.’” Mavalwalla’s father, too, said his family would continue to battle the charges. “Now the fight has to begin in earnest,” the elder Mavalwalla said Thursday from the federal courthouse courtyard. “We have extraordinarily brave people here today. Jac and Justice and my son have taken the brunt of the entire weight of the United States government onto their shoulders on our behalf.” Though they spoke at an informal community gathering later in the evening, Forral chose not to address the crowd directly after the verdict. Instead, they handed their friend and fellow activist David Brookbank the copy of *To Kill a Mockingbird* they’d carried throughout the trial, pointing out a passage they asked Brookbank to read. Voice strong as he stood before the community, Brookbank read: ”I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway, and you see it through, no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” ****📢 RANGE has been doggedly reporting on this trial, and other local news, since June 11, when protesters were first arrested on local charges.** **You can support dedicated, tenacious local news by becoming a member for as low as $10/month or $100/year.* [Become a RANGE member ](#/portal/signup/free) ### A shocked city reckons with guilty verdict of Spokane 3 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/a-shocked-city-reckons-with-guilty-verdict-of-spokane-3/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T03:51:22.000Z Outside the courthouse where a jury had just convicted three Spokanites of a federal conspiracy, folks wept, screamed and committed to continue advocating for freedom of speech. Justice Forral, Jac Archer and Bajun Mavalwalla II had been [found guilty](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-verdict-jury-guilty-innocent/) of “conspiracy to impede or injure officers using threat, force or intimidation.” The charges stemmed from their protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) unlawful detainment of two immigrants last summer. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-5818d387-ffb4-4097-9e78-ac34ccd52300.jpeg) **Justice Forral, an activist convicted on federal conspiracy charges, at a community rally at A.M. Cannon Park May 28\. “As much as you want to lie, the truth is a rock," they said. "You can't break the truth. You can break it up, maybe. But in the end, when it's there and it's visible, the truth will always come out.” (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* The protesters had responded to a Facebook post asking Spokane community members to block federal officers from taking two Venezuelan immigrants, Cesar Alvarez Perez and Joswar Rodriguez Torres, to be processed for deportation in a Tacoma ICE facility. The two men were in the US legally and a district court [later ruled](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/) that Torres had been wrongfully detained. (Perez had already been deported.) At the protest, federal agents pushed and shoved protesters, hundreds of whom had demonstrated alongside the three, and local law enforcement shot them with “less-lethal” ammunition and smoke canisters. Spokane police and county deputies arrested 31 protesters that night on local charges. A month later, the federal government charged nine people with felony conspiracy. Six took [plea deals](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/) in December, and most of the local charges against other protesters for failure to disperse were [later dropped](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/#:~:text=Luke%20Baumgarten-,The%20local%20arrests,-Queer%20BIPOC%20organizer). Local leaders said the verdict threatens to erode free speech rights in the US: if responding to a social media post imploring people to demonstrate against an injustice amounts to conspiracy, what does that mean for the fundamental American right to protest? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-1ee339bf-1996-44b6-8d40-02aec4191ac9.jpeg) **Jac Archer, one of the defendants and co-executive director with Spokane Community Against Racism, leaves the Tom Foley Federal Courthouse after being convicted of conspiracy. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* “We are heartbroken,” said hadley morrow, a Spokane community organizer. “We are outraged. And we are resolved to keep working.” morrow emphasized that the protests represented social values rather than criminality. “We know that these acts of community are not conspiracy,” they said. “The protest at the ICE office last June was community in action. A true testament to how Spokane shows up.” From the outside, Mavalwalla II, Archer and Forral seemed resolved and calm. Dressed in a black blazer, a pink dress shirt and a tie, Mavalwalla II smiled wanly as he walked out of the courthouse with his dad. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-db70d0c8-64cd-4519-81fc-e2c25636bbdb.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-5e092b8d-5993-4f45-b3e2-b1a9fdcd7f9b.jpeg) **Left photo: Dual Bajun Mavalwallas exit the Tom Foley Federal Courthouse after the younger, left, was convicted of conspiracy charges. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* **Right photo: Justice Forral, who was convicted on federal conspiracy charges May 28, shares their copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird” with David Brookbank and Jim Leighty outside the federal courthouse. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* But the community’s emotions were still raw. Judy Rohrer, the former director of the Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies Department at Eastern Washington University, walked around the apron of the Tom Foley Courthouse and wept, despairing for the fate of American democracy. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-89b6e1c9-4520-4cbd-80c7-a932a6ab34dc.jpeg) **Judy Rohrer outside the Tom Foley Federal Courthouse May 28\. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* Along with grief came anger. Mavalwalla Sr. ended up escorting his son’s partner from the press conference after some said law enforcement had approached her about being too upset. She screamed that she’s allowed to be angry “that an all-white jury fucking convicted my husband of a bullshit crime.” *(Note: Several people have been saying the jury was all white, but RANGE identified one person of color on the jury who served in this case.)* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-e993d157-5681-453b-a17c-d3781b2aa7be.jpeg) **Anwar Peace, a prominent community activist and member of the Spokane Human Rights Commission, embraces Bajun Mavalwalla I, after the verdict was released. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* At a later community rally at A.M. Cannon Park in North Spokane, community leader Angel Tomeo Sam, who local cops arrested during the June 11 protest, reflected on the weight of the verdicts handed out Thursday. “Being a bystander there, all I saw was federal agents — ICE agents, Border Patrol — I just saw them brutalizing people,” she said. “We were doing the right thing that day.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-9adcb189-ffba-4641-a144-af1c1aa1247f.jpeg) **Bajun Mavalwalla I, the father of one of the defendants, speaks at a press conference after the verdict was delivered. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* The guilty verdicts were devastating, Tomeo Sam said. “They are not criminals,” she said. “These are people who love. … All the things they do are rooted in love.” The Spokane 3 case is expected to set precedent for other cities and other defendants who face similar circumstances while standing up for what's right, she noted. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-987f35df-26c1-4990-bbf7-089cd6745d0a.jpeg) *City Council Member Kate Telis looks on at the press conference after the verdict was issued. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* Gesturing to the crowd in the park, Tomeo Sam stressed the importance of the gathering and how resting, reaching out and holding hands is resistance, too. "I know it's hard to fight a federal case, and we are in a time right now where the obvious things just don't seem obvious to those who make these kinds of decisions," she said. “I think appeals are going to be really important,” she added. “If we’re gonna win this, we have to look outside of the usual parameters of what Rule 29 provides.” “Rule 29” is a motion that allows a defendant to ask the judge to overturn a guilty verdict and argue the government had not proven its case. The defendants are filing that motion, which will be heard in July. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-761df62c-69d0-4965-9cc1-cc0b09b59e68.jpeg) **Spokane City Council Member Sarah Dixit tearfully takes the mic at the press conference after the verdict was issued. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* The day before the verdict, people on the streets had said a guilty verdict would have been unconscionable. During the court lunch break on May 27, around the time the lawyers were preparing their final arguments, Mavalwalla I talked to a woman on the courthouse’s apron. Mavalwalla I is challenging congressional Republican Michael Baumgartner for the Fifth District seat that represents Spokane in the US House of Representatives. “It was crazy they were talking about ‘common sense’ in the courtroom,” the woman said to him. He responded, rhetorically agreeing with her: “What were they trying to prove? Conspiracy. … Conspiracy does not happen by way of telepathy.” In an interview with RANGE late last year, Mavalwalla I had said the case carries significant implications to American citizens’ freedom to express themselves. “They want to frighten people so they are afraid to use their First Amendment rights,” Mavalwalla I had said. At the Spokane ICE office several blocks northeast of the courthouse, Spokane resident Phoebe Brusca had held a sign opposing ICE. RANGE asked her what she thought about the trial and the broader immigration crackdown the Trump administration is waging. In response, she turned to the ICE building, flipped it the bird and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Fuck you, motherfuckers. You’re racist sons of bitches.” Brusca was not standing outside of the ICE building because of the Spokane 3 trial — she’s part of a small group of demonstrators who protest there every Wednesday. Many Spokanites were on their toes to respond to protests in case a verdict was reached late in the afternoon on May 27\. A training exercise that sent a convoy of Spokane police, Washington State Patrol officers and Spokane County Sheriff deputies racing around town added to that lingering apprehension. The long time it took for the jury to reach a verdict on the afternoon of May 27 and May 28 proved to signal bad news for the defendants. But their fate is still uncertain. The charges carry a potential six years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine. The protesters will appeal the verdict, and the judge could possibly overturn it in the Rule 29 hearing, **The streets weren’t the only arena in which people responded to the verdict.** Elected officials, candidates for office and various groups also responded to the verdict via social media and at press conferences. Here’s what they said, verbatim. They’re organized in the following order: 1. Statements made at the press conference 2. Those made by current city and state elected lawmakers 3. By candidates for public office 4. Other organizations and people **Bajun Mavalwalla I, Mavalwalla II’s father and Congressional Candidate for WA’s 5th District:** (Note: Our audio cut out and we may have missed a segment of the beginning of his statement.) “I can only speak on behalf of myself, not on behalf of any of these wrongly convicted- My feeling is that we still have the American justice system. There is still the right to appeal. There is still Rule 29\. What has happened today is a jury has been lied to. The prosecution suppressed the most important salient facts in this case. Number one, that the first US attorney, Richard Barker, resigned rather than to prosecute this case, and that information was suppressed from the jury. They were not allowed to hear that. The jury was also given lies. The information that the FBI presented to them, conflated information, put red herrings out there for them, all kinds of fallacies, and it was overwhelming. They put stuff up that didn't happen. Just as an example, they put a slide up that has a picture of my son at 2:00 PM at the white bus, except my son didn't get there till 5:00. And they did this to all of them. They did this to Jac, they did this to Justice, they did this to my son, and they did it because they were intentionally lying. And the FBI knew that, and the prosecutors in this case knew that. If they had integrity, they would've resigned like Richard Barker did. So what we need to do now is know the next steps. The judge has the opportunity, and I have no complaints about the judge. I have no complaints about the jury. This is our system, but the jury was not given the information necessary to reach a fair verdict. \[Alexandra Duggan from the Spokesman asked: Bajun, do you feel like this was a result of the Trump administration ordering all 93 US attorneys to prosecute, um, protests and immigration cases?Do you feel like that has a result-\] How could it be anything else? An order came down from Pam Bondi that said, "You will prosecute anybody who protests against ICE." This is the first one in the country. People in Spokane, people in Eastern Washington need to understand that we were guinea pigs, that they brought the swamp of Washington, DC into our area to stop American citizens from exercising our rights that are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. It was the whole point of the Constitution, the right to protest, the right to dissent, the right to assemble. All of those things are now in question because of this case. And in other cases across the country, the juries were not tainted, and the cases have been thrown out. I am confident that this will still work because our justice system does work, but we need to let everybody know. The important part is that the only part of our government that is functioning is the Fourth Estate. That's the part that isn't part of the government. That is the free press, and it is all of our responsibility to tell everybody we know what has happened here. It's not a travesty of justice. It is an incomplete function of justice. So now the fight has to begin in earnest, and we have extraordinarily brave people here today. Jac and Justice and my son have taken the brunt of the entire weight of the United States government onto their shoulders on our behalf. My son fought in Afghanistan for this country. He held a top secret security clearance and has never been in trouble with the law, and these people call him an insurrectionist, and that is unconscionable, and it's un-American. What we fought for, what my son is standing for, what Justice is standing for, what Jac is standing for, are the freedoms that separate this country from the dictatorships and the banana republics of this planet. I really appreciate you all coming out here today. It means a great deal to me. You all are on the forward edge of the struggle for a free America. Thank you for all coming out and showing support.” (Audio below.) Bajun Mavalwalla I remarks 0:00 /294.013673 1× **Spokane City Council Member Sarah Dixit, from a speech at the press conference:** I was a protester on June 11\. I've been a community organizer in this city for around 10 years, and I've organized alongside many of you, including the three folks that were unjustly convicted today. I truly didn't know what to expect today. I think all of us are in that boat. To hear those charges against our friends and our loved ones and hear them described in such a way is disgusting. For those of us who were there that day you know what we saw. We saw community. We saw people sharing popsicles and snacks and water to make sure people weren't passing out from heat. We even saw people taking the time and care to pass out sunscreen, to protect folks from sunburn. It showed a lot of community love and care and it certainly was not conspiracy. Those of us in the courtroom and following the coverage have seen videos of violence and obscene language. It wasn’t carried out by the three who were on trial, it was done by law enforcement and ICE agents and sheriff's deputies. All of whom live in our community, and for some reason don't see the beauty we have here and how powerful it was that day. We know that throughout the country, people are going to be prosecuted, and they're going to fight back to this. I want us to remember that while they might come after us, it does not mean we will run away. That is what they want. This community shows up for one another, and I know that in the face of fascism, we will not scurry away like they want us to. It's important locally, statewide, federally to be active and make sure that we can do everything we can to protect our community members. If you have an idea or a way that we can show solidarity with our community, that we can protect our community locally — whether it is with an ordinance, or a program, or a project, or anything for this city — talk to me. I was elected because of all of you, and I am there for this community. I am there for the people who are marginalized, and voiceless and persecuted. I send my love to the three folks who were on trial today and to their families and their loved ones who have been impacted. Thank you all for taking the time to come out here and show support. I know it can't be easy, people have work, and families, and responsibility, but it truly means a lot, so thank you. (Audio below.) Sarah Dixit remarks 0:00 /194.976508 1× **Third Legislative District of WA representative and incumbent candidate Natasha Hill:** “I am absolutely disappointed and disgusted with this prosecution. We know they targeted our activists in order to undermine our ability to organize in our community so that we could utilize our First Amendment rights, our right to use our voice, our right to assemble and our right to resist the unlawful and illegal detention and kidnapping of any of our neighbors, whether they're immigrant, refugee, Native, Black, other, doesn't matter. I thought we'd grown a lot more. As somebody who grew up in this community, born and raised in Hillyard, fourth generation, we’ve got a lot of anti-racism work to do. And to see a member of Spokane Community Against Racism, a professional organizer who testified not only in their defense but as an expert to face more racism and anti-ism with an all-white jury, not of their peers, not of their peers. But that's what you get in this region. You don't get equity And if you're a person of color, you get targeted. And if you have different identities, you get targeted. And it is the community that I have seen showing up and observing and supporting. It's not the people in positions who have a lot of power. It wasn't Ben Stuckart. I ain't seen him. Yeah, it's fucking bullshit. Yeah. Absolutely. It's fucking bullshit. You started this, and you couldn't even show up to finish it. So I call on you, and I call on others to do what you said you were gonna do and stand up for your community because this fight is not over with this conviction. That's not where it stops. That's not how the process works. And I know that everyone who's been showing up is gonna continue to show up and continue fighting right alongside these three community members who stood up for the two young men who were kidnapped from our community. (This statement is MUCH longer, so we’re cutting it here and embedding the audio so can listen to the whole thing here.) Natasha Hill remarks 0:00 /553.940023 1× **Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown:** “Since the federal charges were filed, I have maintained this prosecution was politically motivated. It was meant to make an example out of people who disagreed with federal immigration policy. The right to peacefully protest and criticize the government is a cornerstone of our democracy. We cannot allow these verdicts to silence us.” **City Council President Betsy Wilkerson:** “I know emotions are high today. My hope is that we continue to show up for one another with dignity, fairness and respect. Keep in mind, some of the most important chapters in our nation's history were written by people advocating for change. Today's verdict concludes an important chapter in a case that has drawn significant public attention and no doubt strong feelings throughout the community. Regardless of where people stand on the verdict, Spokane must remain committed to the principles that strengthen democracy, to continue civic engagement, speak out, organize and advocate for the change they want to see. I encourage my fellow Spokane residents to remain peaceful, respectful and engaged. We have more work to do in community.” **Council Member Paul Dillon:** “The guilty verdict of the Spokane 3 is a horrific injustice, and this was always a political prosecution. We all must stand together against fascism and care for our communities.” **Council Member Zack Zappone:** “Let's be clear. The federal government is trying to scare us with these charges. Federal agents were illegally detaining immigrants who came to our community ‘the right way.’ Peaceful protest is a core part of our identity. I maintain that peaceful protest is still valuable. We cannot let these verdicts silence us from standing up for what we believe in, what is right and what is just.” **Democratic candidate for the Third Legislative District of Washington’s House of Representatives Luc Jasmin III:** "This verdict is deeply distressing. The jury and judge have raised serious concerns for me. So much for justice. Appeal!" **Candidate for the Sixth Legislative District of Washington’s House of Representatives Jonathan Bingle:** “I see a lot of local leaders decrying this case for being politically motivated. But it’s important to remember that this verdict did not come from a politician or government agency. It came from a jury of their peers after hearing the evidence presented in court. Just because you don’t like the outcome doesn’t mean it’s fascism. Now, peacefully protesting is a right recognized by the constitution and should be protected. But, impeding law enforcement from fulfilling their lawful duty is not protected protest, it’s criminality. Don’t do that.” **Candidate for WA’s Fifth Congressional District Kevin Fagan:** “Today's guilty verdict against Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla Il is a sobering moment for Spokane - and for every American who believes in the right to peacefully protest. These three neighbors showed up on June 11, 2025, to stand with two young Venezuelan men who were in this country legally. They did what many of us were raised to believe was right: they showed up. For that, the federal government has now secured conspiracy convictions that could send them to prison for up to six years each. A guilty verdict does not erase what this prosecution represents. It makes the questions it raises more urgent - and it makes our obligation to speak out more necessary than ever. Using conspiracy charges to criminalize protest is a tactic with a long and troubling history in this country — and it has no place here. The body camera footage from that day showed conduct from law enforcement that the prosecution itself called "horrendous." When that footage exists and the protesters are still the ones facing federal prison, our community deserves to ask hard questions about how justice is being applied. I stand with Jac, Justice, and Bajun today — and I will continue to stand with them through whatever comes next.” **Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart, one of the original indicted defendants:** “I feel awful about the guilty verdict. I feel awful for Jac, Bajun and Justice and their families. I support those that took plea deals and I support those that went to trial. I wish I could have attended the trial and press conference after the verdict. My parole officer was clear that if the defendants came outside and I was there I would be violating my parole. Randy (Joswar) is still living with us and we talk to Cesar every single morning. They are grateful for those that stood up for them on June 11th. I am trying my best to finish what I started by taking care of the guys the government wrongfully took. Hugs to everyone !!” **Western States Center:** “We are outraged by today’s verdict in the Spokane 3 trial. Since June 11, 2025, when local community members in Spokane, WA gathered to protest the detention of two young men in the U.S. legally, federal law enforcement has sought to criminalize community members who acted out of concern for their immigrant neighbors and a belief in nonviolent collective action. This trial outcome is another troubling sign of federal escalation to chill free speech and dissent. Across our country, as Americans have sought to bear witness to and peacefully counter aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics, we’ve seen Members of Congress pepper-sprayed in AZ and NJ, a union president arrested in Los Angeles, a family-friendly labor rally tear-gassed in Portland, OR, bystanders killed in Minneapolis, and now community activists and nonprofit staff in Spokane convicted on conspiracy charges. We’re holding the Spokane community close, and we know that many people are angry and hurt, grieving this outcome, and worried about the future. We encourage our community to respond with care for one another and a commitment to deescalate tensions and keep each other safe. Moments like this are designed to create fear and isolation. Instead, we choose solidarity and peaceful resolve. We choose community and courage. And we remain committed to defending democracy, immigrant justice, and civil rights.” **ACLU of Washington:** “Three individuals, Bajun Mavalwalla II, Jac Archer and Justice Forral, were charged and subsequently convicted of felony conspiracy charges in connection with a protest outside a federal facility over the transfer of two men who were legally in the country to an immigration detention center. This trial took place against the backdrop of numerous attempts by the Trump Administration to deploy the Department of Justice to silence critics of the Administration and its agenda.” **Legal Director of the Washington ACLU La Rond Baker:** “While we respect the decision of the jury, this matter is not over. We remain concerned about the chilling effect that the Department of Justice’s charging decisions will have on protest and free expression in this country. The Administration has a demonstrable history of using the Department of Justice to silence and punish its critics. Using the power of government to deter criticism is undemocratic and counter to the values of our state and the country.” **Spokane County Democrats:** “The guilty verdict of the Spokane Three was an appalling injustice that was meant to intimidate those who dare to speak up against the unlawful immigration enforcement from the Trump Administration that causes so much cruelty and trauma in our communities. We stand with Justice, Jac and Bajun and know the fight continues.” ### Jury finds Spokane 3 protesters guilty of federal conspiracy charges URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-verdict-jury-guilty-innocent/ Last updated: 2026-05-30T02:17:20.000Z Nearly a year ago, former city council president Ben Stuckart posted on Facebook, asking people to come to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building and sit in front of the bus that was scheduled to take detained immigrants from Spokane to Tacoma — including a young Venezuelan man who had been under his care. Hundreds of Spokanites responded, and later, nine were arrested on federal felony charges, accusing them of committing a conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers or their property using force, threat or intimidation. While six of those originally indicted [accepted plea deals](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/) to avoid the chance of federal prison time, Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II chose to fight the charges. On Thursday afternoon, after seven days of trial, more than two dozen witnesses and eight hours of deliberation, a jury of 12 people determined all three defendants were guilty of "Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers." However, the jury did not believe all of them were guilty of the same roles. To be convicted of the conspiracy charge, the jury had to agree on at least one finding of five to support the verdict. For example, they could believe a defendant conspired to prevent an officer from doing their job but didn't injure them. - Archer was found guilty of conspiring to prevent an officer from doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer to impede them in their duty and aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure officers. - Forral was found guilty of conspiring to prevent an officer from doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer *because* they were doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer *in order* to impede them in their duty and aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure officers. - Mavalwalla was found guilty only of aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure and officer. None of the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to injure any officer. The overall charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in federal prison and/or $250,000 in fines. It’s unclear so far how the jury's findings will impact that. The attorneys for the defense have said they plan to appeal the verdict, but before that they will ask the judge to overturn it in a Rule 29 hearing in five weeks. The ACLU of Washington issued a statement on the impact of the decision, saying it's not over. “We remain concerned about the chilling effect that the Department of Justice’s charging decisions will have on protest and free expression in this country," Legal Director La Rond Baker said. "The Administration has a demonstrable history of using the Department of Justice to silence and punish its critics. Using the power of government to deter criticism is undemocratic and counter to the values of our state and the country.” The verdict has sent shockwaves through the community. The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane hosted a community gathering Thursday afternoon with supporters of the defendants at A.M. Cannon Park to process the news in community. Forral spoke to the gathered crowd under the shade of the trees and posed an important question: “What’s more powerful, truth or persuasion?” They asked people to talk about it amongst themselves. After some time, Forral said Greek philosophers (specifically Sophists) would say that it’s human beings who create and dictate morality and so they arrive at the conclusion that persuasion is more powerful. But Socrates argues that truth is more powerful. They too said that the truth held more power. “As much as you want to lie, the truth is a rock," Forral said. "You can't break the truth. You can break it up, maybe. But in the end, when it's there and it's visible, the truth will always come out.” Before parting they said: “I love you all very much. I know I've seen each and every one of you countless times,” they said. “I'm delighted to talk for the first time in almost a year, and I'm glad you listened to me.” Mayor Lisa Brown expressed her dismay at the verdict in a statement: “Since the federal charges were filed, I have maintained this prosecution was politically motivated. It was meant to make an example out of people who disagreed with federal immigration policy. The right to peacefully protest and criticize the government is a cornerstone of our democracy," she said. “We cannot allow these verdicts to silence us.” ***Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and we will update it as we get more information.*** We're continuing to cover the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). **You can support this work by becoming a member for as low as $10/month or $100/year.* [Become a RANGE member ](#/portal/signup/free) ### Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 7: Jury starts deliberation, verdict expected Thursday URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-jury-deliberation-verdict/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T22:49:20.000Z Everyday, we're covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). Early in the morning on the seventh day of the trial of the Spokane 3, Justice Forral rested their case without taking the stand. It was a somewhat unexpected move, as their co-defendants also charged federally with conspiracy for their roles in the June 11 anti-ICE protest – Bajun Mavalwalla II and Jac Archer — had testified in their own defense on Tuesday. So just minutes after walking into the courtroom, the jury was sent out as the lawyers hurriedly organized the exhibit book for the jury to review. It was a tedious process, with attorneys arguing over how evidence should be labelled in the books. For example, should a video of Forral holding a metal stick be labelled “Forral with a club” or “Forral with a steering wheel lock.” There was an anxious, charged energy to the air. Friends and families of the defendants mingled about, swapping little facts about the case or worries. After about an hour, the jury was brought in and Judge Rebecca Pennell read them their jury instructions. She read out the details of the charge and key definitions of things like “force,” “threat” and “intimidation,” — necessary components of a conspiracy. These instructions included hard-fought clauses from the defense, like a reminder that “merely tensing up or merely resisting does not constitute force.” They also included an “aiding and abetting” clause, which means that even if the jury does not believe defendants committed conspiracy, they can be held accountable for helping members of the conspiracy. At 10:35 am, assistant US attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux began the closing arguments for the federal prosecution. In an unusual move, her boss Pete Serrano, the US Attorney in charge of WA’s Eastern District, was at the proceedings, watching from a seat in the back of the room between court security officers. He was the focus of an [earlier motion](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-pretrial-motions-1st-amendment-explainer/#:~:text=Who%E2%80%99s%20in%20charge%20of%20the%20local%20US%20Attorneys%3F) from the defense to dismiss the case, arguing the district does not have a “lawfully appointed” attorney since Serrano has never been confirmed by the Senate. ### Federal closing argument In her closing arguments, Cartier-Giroux spoke intentionally and methodically. Using a PowerPoint presentation as a visual aid, she painted a careful picture of federal agents under siege, a local police force who were slow to respond — possibly at the direction of Spokane’s mayor, who was in contact with one of the alleged co-conspirators — and a sophisticated conspiracy of protesters working to trap ICE agents in the building and force them to release detained asylum-seekers. When people think of conspiracies, they think of movies like Oceans 11, she said: people sitting in a basement, plotting, specifically inviting other conspirators, and then enacting their plan. Because the events of June 11 happened so quickly, that didn’t happen, but it was still a conspiracy nonetheless, Cartier-Giroux argued. “They are working together for a common goal, knowingly participating, purposefully acting,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-d199d6f0-c29d-4068-9f65-6188017dbbae.png) Prosecutor Lisa Cartier-Giroux gives the federal government’s closing arguments. (Art by Jake Gillespie) The agreement was one of shared actions and purpose — even if that wasn’t spoken between people, even if there’s no evidence like agreements or communication between defendants prior to the protest, she said. She laid out what she sees as each defendant’s acts for the conspiracy. Forral barricaded gates and let air out of the white bus’s tires, she said. They agitated the crowd and said things like “come here, this is the door,” and “block the exits.” By getting a bike lock out of their car and banging it on a pylon, they were threatening local law enforcement officers, and by extension, the federal law enforcement officers inside, she argued. For Mavalwalla, the case was primarily that he stood in front of the south gate of the ICE facility and linked arms with other protesters to form a human chain across the gate as ICE agents pushed and shoved them, throwing some to the ground. Cartier-Giroux quoted Mavalwalla on video saying things like, “The police aren’t coming to help you, it’s against state law,” and “block every exit.” Then, later, after local law enforcement responded, Mavalwalla can be seen handing out COVID-19 masks to protesters in front of the Border Patrol van — evidence of “shared intent,” she said. Archer was one of the leaders of the conspiracy, Cartier-Giroux argued. They took down emergency contacts and coordinated a bail fund. They recorded voice memos characterizing blocking the gate as “doing their job” and said things on those recordings like, “We collectively made it so they had to essentially deploy violence in order to kidnap these boys.” They also organized the arm-linking at the south gate, which the federal prosecution has continually characterized as force. “Archer, Mavalwalla and others push back, pulling away and relocking arms to use the force of their body mass against the officers,” one of Cartier-Giroux’s slides read, as she said, “They’re using it like a rugby scrum, they’re using the body mass. How do you know that? When they do get separated, when they do fall down, they get up, relink arms and go right back to the gate.” At some moments during her closing statements, she addressed the more controversial moments of the case, like federal agent Jeremy Burlingame’s Twitter [account](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/) filled with racist, homophobic and transphobic posts. “You may not like the decisions made by people, you may not like the witnesses, but your job here is not to decide if it could have been better,” Cartier-Giroux said. “You’re not here to punish witnesses you do not like, you’re here to decide if I have proven this case beyond a reasonable doubt.” With her last five minutes, she asked the jury to consider the charge of conspiracy carefully. Whether protesters actually had a physical agreement or conversation or not, they had the same goal and the same plan, she said. “The plan was to trap them inside … to trap the officers so they couldn’t do their duty, which was to transport them, to bring them to court in Tacoma,” Cartier-Giroux argued. “That’s not the way things work in this country. Mobs can’t demand police to turn over people. There is a process and for all the clamoring on about due process, that’s exactly what they were going to get, \[the protesters\] only delayed it.” ### Defense closing arguments At 11:45 am, Forral’s attorney Andrea George began her arguments. She talked for nearly an hour, using up about two-thirds of the defense’s allocated time. For much of the argument, George spoke softly, sometimes slowly, presenting from a PowerPoint of her own. “It is imperative that you look at this statute as to what they have to agree to, not the end purpose of preventing ICE from having these people, but a conspiracy or agreement to prevent by force, intimidation or threat, or an agreement to injure either the person or property of a United States officer,” she said. “If you don’t have that, then you don’t have this crime.” Forral’s case is simple, she said. Forral wasn’t on the bail list. They didn’t write their emergency contact down. They weren’t linking arms with protesters at the south gate. There wasn’t a conspiracy, but if there was, Forral clearly wasn’t a part of it. George highlighted what she characterized as violence at the south gate, violence at the hands of federal officers — officers who testified that they had no concrete plan, but nonetheless acted together. She pointed this out specifically, making the point that protesters could have similar behavior without a plan or an agreement between them, which is necessary for conspiracy. “Just because people are acting the same doesn’t mean they have a plan,” George said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-0edf0133-e13e-4a2d-a6b0-e2e079f145c0.png) Justice Forral’s lawyer Andrea George delivers her closing argument.(Art by Jake Gillespie) There was a bombshell moment in George’s argument, too. Before the trial began, there had been a debate between George and federal prosecutors as to what constitutes federal property. Pennell ruled that even if something was a federal agent’s personal property, it could be considered relevant under conspiracy if they were using it to discharge their duties. However, Pennell did not explicitly rule on contractor property. During her arguments, George contended that even if jurors thought Forral’s actions of parking their car in front of the white bus at the ICE facility and fiddling with the tire (she said there was no proof they actually let any air out) was impeding under the conspiracy charge, that white bus didn’t belong to the federal government. Instead, she said, it was owned and operated by contractors, making it irrelevant to the conspiracy deliberations. This was met with an abrupt objection from prosecutors, but Pennell ruled in George’s favor. And when it came to the hours of body cam footage the jury was shown of Forral interacting with local law enforcement, none of that was relevant, George argued, because those aren’t federal officers either. Being angry with the cops is not a federal conspiracy, she said. “People acted independently that day. The government takes independent moments … and stitches them together into agreement,” she said. “People were there for very different reasons, this was not a conspiracy. Find Justice Forral not guilty.” Aine Ahmed on behalf of Mavalwalla was much shorter, taking just 23 minutes. “You had individuals at this protest that damaged property, no doubt about it. My client, Mr. Mavalwalla played no part in that, he didn’t encourage that,” Ahmed said. “In terms of conspiracy, I could know you were robbing a bank. I could stand outside and clap for ya. That doesn’t make me a co-conspirator.” Mavalwalla didn’t know anybody at the protest, Ahmed argued, and couldn’t have knowingly entered into an agreement with any of them. If Mavalwalla seemed to be acting similarly to other protesters, that just spoke to shared values. Ahmed spoke casually, with good ole’ Southern charm in his voice, as he described a federal case relying on thin evidence and techniques like pausing video at a point where defendants looked bad and leaving it on the screen for minutes for the jury to see. “Innuendoes and suppositions and conjecture is not evidence,” Ahmed said. “One of the things that really had an impression on me during the government’s case — they stopped the video of the confrontation at the south base with Mr. Mavalwalla’s face on the video and he looked diabolical … That’s just a bush league technique when you don’t have evidence.” Ahmed described Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agent John LaForte as “Napoleonic” and looking for a fight. Federal witnesses like Burlingame and Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Brittan Morgan who called protesters “fucking cunts,” as “knuckleheads” who bring their biases to the stand. He also stressed that Mavalwalla never used, or intended to use, force against federal agents, regardless of footage of him linking arms with protesters or “spinning around like an airplane” (Mavalwalla’s words) in front of local law enforcement. “Merely tensing up or merely resisting does not, by itself, constitute force.” Ahmed said, reading from the jury instructions. “Bingo, right there … Mr. Mavalwalla is one of less than 1% of the American population that is a combat veteran. He is a master. If he wanted to use force, that would not have been like that.” During a moment when it appears Mavalwalla could potentially be elbowing an agent, that was because agents shoved him, like they were doing with other protesters, Ahmed said. “It was an act of thuggery is what it was, and they’re not fighting back. They’re not.” “The government in this case has failed to prove this case, this charge, beyond a reasonable doubt and while I only represent Mr. Mavalwalla in this case, I would submit that the words ‘not guilty’ should be echoed in this court over and over again,” Ahmed finished. Carl Oreskovich, soft-spoken and so tall he was told to use a hand microphone, took the floor at 1:03 pm on behalf of Archer. Oreskovich stressed that Archer was not on trial for any other offenses besides conspiracy. Not trespassing, not failure to disperse — conspiracy. When Archer prepared to attend the protest, when they took anything that could be construed as a weapon out of their bag, when they called their parents and sent the post around to other organizers, they only intended to do what was in Stuckart’s post: sit in front of the bus. Oreskovich continually hammered the point that Archer was only interested in nonviolent civil disobedience, no force, threat or intimidation that would be required for conspiracy. Archer arrived, saw disorganization, and attempted to organize the crowd so it would stay peaceful and nonviolent, Oreskovich argued. They weren’t a mastermind, but an experienced organizer who wanted to keep people safe. “The government wants to ascribe some nefarious purpose to Jac Archer walking around with the clipboard,” Oreskovich said. “It ignores your common sense, it ignores your reason.” Unlike some of the other defendants, Archer *did* form an agreement at the protest, he added, but it wasn’t an agreement as defined under conspiracy. It was to risk arrest: nonviolently. “Jac Archer tells people ‘Hey if you cannot take a punch without throwing a punch, do not get in this line,’” Oreskovich said. “Jac Archer does not want force, Jac Archer does not want violence, Jac Archer is trying to organize people to not act violently.” Oreskovich also touched on the federal characterizations of protesters linking arms as using force. “ICE officers come in and try and describe it for you, try and put some labels on it and act like these people were acting forcefully,” he said. “They say it was a ‘tush push’ or a ‘rugby scrum’ for those of you who are sports fans, this was no ‘tush push’ or ‘rugby scrum,’ don’t be fooled by that.” It wouldn’t be the first time the government tried to fool the jury, he said, bringing up Burlingame. “You don’t think Officer Burlingame tried to fool you? You don’t think he’s trying to fool you again with his answers?” Oreskovich said. Burlingame said he didn’t have social media but, “all of a sudden when the defense finds out about them, bingo: erased … he doesn’t want you to know he’s biased. Biased against Black people. Biased against nonbinary people. Don’t be fooled by the government’s description of things.” Oreskovich closed by asking the jury to beware of “the hammer,” — the government’s short rebuttal that defense won’t get to respond to, imploring them to use their common sense and reason. He also bemoaned the jury’s loss of innocence, in a way. “It’s sad in some respects. We’ve heard things in a courtroom that were heartbreaking. Heartbreaking to watch hidden hatred, hidden racism,” he finished. “You don’t have to go too far to understand why Jac Archer is a passionate person who fights against racism and hatred.” ### Rebuttal and what’s next The other prosecutor, Rebecca Perez, followed defense closing statements with a 15 minute rebuttal. She spoke fast, and passionately, running through her points in a rapid-fire fashion. For Burlingame and Morgan, their conduct may have been offensive and “vile,” she said, but jurors could simply watch the video and disregard their testimony. It would still show the same thing, she said. As to the arguments about needing an actual agreement for conspiracy, the government is considering the communication between protesters that they can see as evidence. “The communication that does exist … and indicates the agreement. But not only the communication, but the actions.” Perez said. “Mere presence isn’t enough, but certainly the fact that this was a nine hour, seven hour thing: that shows some agreements.” She highlighted other elements in the jury instructions: not every defendant has to have committed each act to be found guilty. Loud, consistent profanity from the protesters should be considered threats or intimidation — the federal agents testified to being scared. “This event happened and it was only possible because these defendants worked together with an agreement, with each other and others to impede officers,” Perez said. “You can call it civil disobedience, you can call it whatever you want, giving it a different name doesn’t mean it doesn’t meet the elements.” Perez closed by saying protesters refusing to get pushed over were “fighting back,” and that the defendants should be found guilty. The jury was sent out to deliberate around 2 pm and continued until 5 pm when they asked for instructions on going home for the night. Pennell released the jury with strict instructions to not talk about or research the case. The jury will restart deliberations at 9 am on Thursday, but it’s likely they will have a verdict by the end of the day. After the verdict, defendants will also likely file a third “Rule 29” motion, asking Pennell to acquit the defendants for a lack of evidence against them. ### Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 6: ‘Can you take a punch without throwing one?’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-6-punch-defense/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T14:25:11.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). The Trial of the Spokane 3 is headed into its second week with the defendants’ cases, as the prosecution rested last Friday. Though the defendants — Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II — are in court together, each must present their own case and the jury will ultimately rule on each defendant separately. Because the charge of conspiracy requires each person charged with it to have knowingly entered into an agreement with the shared purpose of “impeding or injuring federal officers using force, threat or intimidation,” at the crux of most of today’s testimony was the question of intent: What did each defendant intend when they went to the protest? Did they ever knowingly join an agreement that would call for the use of force, threat or intimidation against federal officers or their property? While Mavalwalla’s case was slated to be the first presented, the court first heard from a witness for Forral: Spokane Police Department Officer Christopher Smith, who talked mostly about how Forral did not resist arrest and was nonviolent when taken into custody. The rest of the morning was devoted to Mavalwalla’s case, which rested at 11:37 am. From that point on, the court heard from Archer’s witnesses, which included two protesters and Archer themself. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-f310ccf2-463b-455e-9c91-b0a0e20f3107.png) SPD Officer Christopher Smith describes arresting Justice Forral and facing no resistance. Art by Jake Gillespie. The day ended at 5 pm when Archer, too, rested their case, which means just Forral has evidence left to present in the morning. Judge Rebecca Pennell told the attorneys to prepare to deliver their closing arguments tomorrow. Depending on the timing, it is technically possible that the jury returns a verdict tomorrow. **That’s your summary! For the nitty-gritty digest, read on.** ### The character witnesses For Mavalwalla’s case, lawyer Aine Ahmed called multiple character witnesses to attest to Mavalwalla’s values of “law-abiding” and “peacefulness.” This was an interesting process; essentially, Mavalwalla called three people to the stand — two friends and Mavalwalla’s boss — and asked them if they knew him well enough to attest to his law-abiding or peaceful nature, or both. Witnesses were told to answer only with either “good” or “not good.” All of the witnesses, including former congressional candidate Dr. Bernadine Bank, testified “good.” On cross examination, assistant US attorney Rebecca Perez asked each of the witnesses if they’d been there on June 11 and if they saw Mavalwalla’s conduct during the protests. None of the witnesses had been there, and none had seen his conduct, save someone who saw a video on social media, which she wasn’t allowed to testify about. This moved quickly, cycling through all three character witnesses in just ten minutes. ### The protesters Though the government issued Fifth Amendment notices, warning protesters on early witness lists that they could incriminate themselves with their testimony if they were present on June 11, two protesters agreed to testify as Archer’s witnesses. The first was Liz Moore, the executive director of Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS), who prosecution identified as “an individual of investigatory interest.” Over the last week, they’ve also taken pains to point Moore out on multiple evidentiary videos played for the court. Moore talked at length about Archer’s training with PJALS in nonviolence and deescalation at protests in her direct testimony. One of the pillars of that training is to “use our outrage at injustice as a positive nonviolent force. We don't return the assault of people who assault us, “Moore said. “We don't hold or use weapons or things that could be construed as weapons.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-8ea0c310-adbb-47eb-8286-eb387768c4c6.png) Liz Moore from PJALS describes the peaceful protest training Jac Archer received. Art by Jake Gillespie. She said the protest was not planned, but spontaneous, which can create risks for protesters, and that Archer did their best to organize people in the moment to keep them safe, asking people to make informed choices and to act in the spirit of nonviolent civil disobedience. In one of the most contentious moments of the day, Moore was asked about a moment caught on video where former City Council President Ben Stuckart can be heard telling protesters to be peaceful. In the video, Moore jumps on a bullhorn to say that it’s not about being peaceful, it’s about preventing the bus from moving and being “disciplined and nonviolent.” She started to explain why she didn’t use the word peaceful, but before she could finish her answer, she referenced the right to freedom of speech. Perez uttered a fierce objection, and the other prosecutor, Lisa Cartier-Giroux, moved to strike Moore’s answer. There was a flurry of activity, that turned into a private conference with the judge, that then turned into a full lunch break. Right before the break, after the jury was sent out, Pennell stressed that Moore is able to testify to her own state of mind and what her intent was, but should avoid terms like “First Amendment rights” or “Freedom of Speech,” per the motion Pennell approved in pre-trial conferences. Pennell also told the lawyers that they needed to chill out (this is a paraphrase.) "It’s been a stressful case for everyone involved so please check your emotions," Pennell said. “It is inappropriate for counsel for either side to be passing on their assessment of what a witness is saying by facial expressions.” (RANGE could not see most of the attorneys’ faces from their positions in the courtroom.) After lunch, Moore repeatedly stressed from the stand that the intent of the protesters was to be nonviolent and to use civil disobedience to show their displeasure with ICE’s actions. Archer was always trying to keep people safe, Moore said, repeatedly telling protesters near them, “If you are going to risk arrest, can you take a punch without throwing one?" She described staying at the gate even after they knew the young men had been transported because, “we were expressing our commitment to not leave before the police left and to our right to protest and to our commitment to our immigrant neighbors.” On cross-examination, Perez hammered Moore, repeatedly asking about her intent in standing in front of the south gate and linking arms. Perez has repeatedly called protesters linking arms “force,” and characterized their efforts to stand in the gate as “pushing back,” rather than just allowing themselves to be pushed by federal agents. She did the same in her questioning of Moore, who kept reiterating her stance that they linked arms as a show of commitment. Still, despite the implications that she was being investigated too, Moore gave a full testimony, never pleading the Fifth, and consistently characterizing Archer as someone who was trying to keep others safe and trying to bring some order to the chaos of the spontaneous event. The second protester called was Laura Tewel, a licensed family therapist and former teacher who joined the protest on the spur of the moment after driving past it. “In my head, I thought they just kidnapped two people,” she said. “So I just stopped. It felt wrong to turn my back and leave the situation like that.” Tewel had no idea what was going on when she got there, but she just sort of followed the crowd and ended up linking arms with Archer. “I just didn't want to get hurt or fall down. I wasn't thinking a lot at that point,” Tewel said. “I was mostly just afraid and trying to mitigate getting hurt or falling on someone else.” During the protest, Tewel remembers Archer telling people, “we are not hitting back, we are not pushing back,” and saying, “If you can’t take a punch without throwing one, you need to leave.” On cross-examination, she was pushed by Perez on the details of the south gate of the ICE facility, what protesters wanted and whether they were ignoring law enforcement. Tewel, who joked on the stand about her outfit not being her best color and her husband being able to attest to her selective focus, kept saying she didn’t remember or couldn’t tell what was happening behind her. Despite more pressure from Perez, Tewel repeated that protesters did not “push back,” did not use force and that Archer was always trying to calm people down. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-92f58579-d8f0-42bd-b370-9b00c377cede.png) Forral’s attorney Andrea George, left, listens to testimony, ready to object. Art by Jake Gillespie., , ### The defendants Two defendants testified today: Mavalwalla and Archer. In the morning, Mavalwalla spoke. His testimony mostly consisted of him attesting that he knew nobody at the protest before he got there and went because he saw a Reddit post. As a veteran who has worked with Afghan refugees, he feels passionately about protecting refugees. "I believe very strongly in the peoples' right to immigrate to the US and seek asylum and I believe that people have a duty to speak up when they see something they think is wrong." Mavalwalla said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-2b410396-06ed-424e-8f67-038158305cb5.png) Caption: Bajun Mavalwalla II takes the stand to testify about his involvement in the June 11, 2025 protest. Art by Jake Gillespie. He defended some of his conduct that had been under question from the prosecution, like wearing gloves (he said to protect his hands), handing things to the protesters (water bottles, he said) and kicking a smoking canister (it wasn’t at cops, just away from him, he said.) Mavalwalla reiterated that it was not his intent to block the bus, and that he wasn’t telling people to join him, but just making sure that people knew what was going on. He said he was just one of many protesters at the gate, and he had a right to be there. He also repeated that he did not intend to intimidate anyone or use force at any point. He was only ever “defensive,” Mavalwalla said, when he was at the south gate and when he had an umbrella. During one of the funniest moments of Mavalwalla’s testimony, Perez describes him spinning with his arms out in front of the crowd right after local law enforcement deployed smoke and pepper balls. “That was intended to be intimidating to the officers, right?” she asked. Mavalwalla said no. Perez said “How could that be anything but \[intimidating\]?” Mavalwalla responded, “Spinning like an airplane?” as the crowd giggled. The tone of Archer’s testimony and cross examination was more serious. Archer described coming into the protest with the understanding that they might possibly do civil disobedience — like sitting in front of the bus and refusing to move. They knew the consequences of that — usually a misdemeanor. “All protests carry a risk of arrest, that's just a fact of protest, but certainly civil disobedience can lead to arrest and people were at this point sitting in front of the doors to the white bus,” Archer said. They remembered trying to bring some semblance of organization to what they described as a spontaneous protest with no plan. Archer was worried that if some people weren’t talked to, they might, “choose their own adventure, and that might turn into a misadventure.” When it came to linking arms, that was also an intentional choice, they said, meant to ensure nonviolence. "When your arms are linked you can't hit anyone. Not only are you holding someone but they're holding you," Archer said. "It was also a great symbol of solidarity to stand or sit with our arms linked together." Archer likened their actions and intent to the civil rights lunch-counter sit-ins of the 60s — they knew they could get arrested but were going to go sit somewhere they weren’t allowed because of their principles. This was why they can be heard in voice memos and seen on social media posts asking for people willing to risk arrest, they said. On cross, Cartier-Giroux peppered Archer with questions about their role in what the prosecution characterized as leading the protest, and sticking to a plan. She also asked questions about their decision to risk arrest. The examination lasted over an hour, as Archer reiterated their stance over and over: when they said risking arrest, they meant civil disobedience. Cartier-Giroux once asked if Archer was “linking arms to push back,” and Archer replied, “I don’t know how I would push someone without the use of my hands.” “My testimony is that my only intent in this entire scene is to keep from eating pavement,” Archer said of the events at the south gate. They said they never intended to use force or intimidate officers, just to express that they weren't, “going to be complicit in the kidnapping by doing nothing.” At roughly 5 pm, Cartier-Giroux ended her cross-examination and Archer’s team rested their case. Tomorrow, Forral will present their case, and likely, the prosecution and all three defendants will give their closing arguments. Depending on how quickly all that goes, the case could be handed over to the jury tomorrow as well. For a full blow by blow, read our live post [here](https://bsky.app/profile/rangemedia.co/post/3mmrcaabcrs2g?ref=rangemedia.co). **Editor’s Note:* On the stand, federal prosecutors asked Archer if this reporter was the one to yell “Fight, Jac, Fight,” on one of the audio recordings. For the record, she was not, though she can be heard yelling periodically, “I’m press, don’t touch me.”'* *This story has also been updated to correct Tewel's current profession and the spelling of her last name.* ### The Trial of The Spokane 3, Day 5: Play stupid Burlingames, win stupid Burlinprizes URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-5-play-stupid-burlingames-win-stupid-burlinprizes/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:47:01.000Z The last day of the first week of the trial of the Spokane 3 started with a bang, and ended with a whimper. The day began with a testy bit of testimony from Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) Deputy Brittan Morgan, who was cross-examined by attorneys for the defendants. Morgan’s cross-examination was expected to be spicy — he was caught on his own body camera footage calling protesters “fucking cunts” and saying he wanted to beat them with a stick. But what wasn’t expected was the reappearance of one Jeremy Burlingame, the ICE agent who testified on Wednesday that protesters were threatening law enforcement and forming “a mob.” At the close of court May 21, defense attorney Andrea George asked Judge Rebecca Pennell to introduce new evidence: tweets Burlingame made on a previously undisclosed Twitter account that defense had been unaware of until RANGE published an article about the posts. Pennell declined to rule that day, but at a pre-trial conference this morning, when even federal prosecutor Lisa Cartier-Giroux called Burlingame’s tweets “horrendous,” she [called him](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-ice-burlingame-tweets/) back to the stand again so the defense could question his credibility. In the afternoon, prosecutors called three more witnesses: SCSO resource officer Jared Wolf, Spokane Police Department (SPD) Officer Daniel Valencia, SPD Officer Robert Riggles and FBI special investigator Ian Burns. The first two mostly answered questions about the end of the protest and protesters’ actions before and after local law enforcement deployed smoke, pepper balls and pepper spray. The latter, Burns, touched more on extractions of protesters’ phones, including voice memos on Jac Archer’s phone, and government-made flowcharts that outlined who they saw as “conspirators” and their actions on June 11. In one weird deviation, former city council president Ben Stuckart’s call log was brought up, with calls placed to Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and Washington State General Attorney Nick Brown. Burns had claimed this was relevant to conspiracy because he thinks Mayor Brown decides when to deploy local law enforcement. Here’s what you need to know from today’s proceedings. ### ‘Cunt’-gate As expected, Morgan’s testimony was confrontational. If the week has been so long and eventful, you forgot who Morgan is. He’s the sheriff’s deputy who was caught on video expressing his desire to hurt protesters. Here’s a [reminder](https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-1-deputy-stick-protest-brittan-morgan/) from Monday’s story: *“God I hope they do some shit. I want to hit someone with a stick today. This is my only day off you fucking cunts … I cannot tell you how pissed off that I’m here right now. Not that I don’t want to be here, I’d love to hit someone with a stick, but this is my only day off you fucking cunts.”* While assistant US attorney Rebecca Perez beat the defense to the punch, asking about the body camera footage before defense could, today the defense got their turn to push Morgan. He would not answer directly when defense lawyers asked if he was describing protesters as “fucking cunts,” stating multiple times “I was just venting to my friends.” Morgan was also pushed on choosing to drive his vehicle at speeds of up to 97 miles per hour down the streets of Spokane while listening to screamo music, a decision he received a formal reprimand from SCSO. George asked if he was told what “code” level at which he should have responded to the protests with. The code level determines how fast SCSO deputies can go and what traffic laws they can break. Morgan said he was told to respond “at code,” and what level was up to him to determine. In one of the most contentious moments, after watching Morgan on his own body cam speed through Spokane, listening to screamo music , belching loudly and calling protesters “fucking cunts,” George asked if what we were seeing was the “real.” He responded, “You saw me venting to my friends, ma’am.” On a redirect, Perez asked him about who the real him was, which Pennell said opened the door for defense to ask him about prior uses of language or things relevant to his character. Before defense lawyers could do it, Perez asked Morgan whether he told a civilian at the gym to “eat a bag of dicks,” prior to 2025\. She also asked whether he once told someone he was arresting to “don't fucking move, show me your fucking hands or I'll shoot you in the fucking face.”He admitted he had in both cases. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-c696ca6c-b296-465e-a4b0-a80152702f40.png) **Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brittan Morgan testifies, admitting to receiving reprimands for improper use of language on the job more than once.* Morgan has had at least one recorded policy violation every year since 2023, when he was hired by SCSO. ### ‘Your an idiot’ The most explosive moments on Friday came when Burlingame was called again as a witness. The federal government questioned him first, and assistant US attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux came out swinging. She asked Burlingame why he hadn’t notified the government about his Twitter account when they’d asked about it. He said he had “forgotten about it.” She also wondered why he deleted the account. "I was deeply embarrassed and regretful, and I didn't want to cause any more trouble,” Burlingame said. Cartier-Giroux recited his racist, transphobic, sexist and [inappropriate](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/) [tweets](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/22/spokane-ice-agent-questioned-on-stand-about-racist/?ref=rangemedia.co) back to him, asking after each if he posted it. In each instance, he said he did. "These posts, there's a lot of them,” Cartier-Giroux said, pointing out that all of the tweets she’d read, at least 10, were made in 2025\. She said she had notified ICE of his conduct, and Burlingame acknowledged ICE had opened an investigation into his conduct. Still, Burlingame claimed his testimony was truthful and that his tweets didn’t reflect on him or the agency. “Well I know they don't reflect the agency, but you posted these for over a year, this went on for over a year,” Cartier-Giroux said, before turning the floor over to the defense. During cross-examination, Burlingame claimed he made the comments during “a hard time in my life, both personal and professional.” Carl Oreskovich, Jac Archer’s lawyer, dug into Burlingame’s credibility and honesty. During Cartier-Giroux’s questioning, Burlingame had admitted he had been asked for potential bias material but didn’t turn it over because he didn’t remember the account existed. Under Oreskovich’s questioning, Burlingame then claimed he didn’t provide the information because the government didn’t ask. Oreskovich seized on this. Then, Oreskovich pressed Burlingame on his biases, asking if the agent was aware Archer was Black and nonbinary. Oreskovich read post after post of Burlingame calling Black people “ghetto,” and other racialized insults, and posts calling queer people “mentally ill.” Burlingame claimed he never called Black people “[ghetto garbage](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/#:~:text=Screenshots%20are%20below.%29)” and was solely describing behaviors he thought were “ghetto garbage.” Oreskovich then showed a tweet in which Burlingame responded to a picture of Jasmine Crockett with the comment, “She is ghetto garbage.” Then another post about Black politicians in which Burlingame wrote, “These people are the lying ghetto garbage that stokes of fear and hate and creating division.” \[sic.\] In yet another post shown by both prosecution and Oreskovich, in response to a video of a cop violently arresting a Black woman, Burlingame had responded to a commenter questioning the necessity of the violent arrest with the reply, “Your \[sic\] an idiot. You thinking \[sic\] biting cops is good? You like jungle behavior?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-ff0d900d-9d50-4457-adf5-2277e31ea5e2.png) **ICE agent Jeremy Burlingame has his racist tweets read back to him. Art by Jake Gillespie.* Oreskovich asked if Burlingame had a bias against Black people. Burlingame said “No.” Oreskovich asked if he had a bias against LGBTQ+ people. He didn’t answer. When pressed again, he said, “I agree that the statements are biased but they're not my true opinion.” Oreskovich responded, “They’re not your true opinion but you posted them time and time again?” Then, the lawyer rested his cross examination. (Sidebar: he also made Burlingame define the term “soy boy,” which Burlingame used to describe a gay politician. Wild to hear “soy boy” in court.) Notably, Burlingame was not questioned by either prosecution or defense on his[ tweets calling for the arrest of Stuckart](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/), likely because it could open the door for the prosecutors to bring up the outcome of Stuckart’s case — a plea deal — which defense attorneys [petitioned to avoid. ](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-sets-parameters-as-spokane-3-head-to-trial-may-18/#:~:text=She%20approved%20a%20request%20from%20both%20parties%20to%20keep%20evidence%20of%20the%20other%20six%20defendants%E2%80%99%20plea%20agreements%20out%20of%20the%20trial.%C2%A0) ### The rest of the case The rest of the day was significantly less dramatic. Jurors were mostly shown evidence they’d seen before — stills of various protesters at the protest, sometimes doing things like throwing gas canisters back at police or carrying objects like umbrellas or clipboards. Local law enforcement officers were questioned about whether or not they felt threatened. (They said they did). They called the crowd angry and discussed their choices to use less lethal force like smoke, pepper balls, pepper spray, blue nose foam rounds and bean bag rounds. Wolf said Forral was “agitating the crowd.” Valencia and Riggles both expressed concern about Bajun Mavalwalla II’s behavior, who can be seen holding an umbrella in front of the crowd while smoke is being deployed by SPD. In footage, he can be seen after this punting a deployed canister away from himself. Most of the evidence shown was footage everyone had already seen, but late in the afternoon, the prosecution called Burns, the FBI special investigator who had been sitting at the government’s table throughout the trial. Burns was asked by Cartier-Giroux about a slideshow he worked on, which placed both defendants and a few other “persons of investigatorial interest” identified by the government at various locations and events during the protest. He was also asked about recordings and texts found on Archer’s phone. Burns highlighted that Archer had seen Stuckart’s initial Facebook post and then sent it to other people in various Signal chats. In one message, Archer had written, “There are multiple exits that about 90-100 people are struggling to cover could use more folks willing to thoughtfully risk arrest." Burns argued this was proof that Archer was coordinating the effort to block the exits and implying this was Archer leading what the government sees as the conspiracy. Burns also brought up a photo of a bail list on Archer’s phone and tied that to drone footage of Archer with a clipboard, again implying that Archer’s role the day of the protest was to lead efforts. The government then played three voice memos taken on Archer’s phone. In the first, recorded the day of the protest, they talked about how someone spray painted the windows of the white bus and then left, while Archer and others were doing other things. Burns found it significant that Archer said "we" in the video, as in "we're just going to sit in front of the bus." Cartier-Giroux harped on the use of “we,” using it to get at the idea of Archer being part of a group with shared goals. In the third memo, recorded the day after the protest, and played in court, Archer began “yesterday was unexpected in a lot of ways.” They described seeing Stuckart’s post and his invitation for folks to join him. “And we did,” Archer said. “We all, in various ways, showed up and it was beautiful. It was organized.” They proceeded to describe making sure people had emergency contacts and other ways they organized to keep people safe, calm and out of unnecessary harm. In the recording, Archer described being on the south exit of the ICE building. “Our job was to link arms and man that gate and keep anything from going in or out. They were not going to kidnap anybody by getting out of that gate,” they said. “We held the gate ... and the last protester did not leave until everybody had a safe way home." They continued, stating they developed imperfect plans in the moment, but that community showed up to care for each other. They stated that they intended to commit acts of civil disobedience and risk arrest, but also that they would not fight or resist arrest. Near the end of the recording, Archer said they had complex feelings: they were devastated that the asylum-seeker under Stuckart’s care had ultimately been taken to Tacoma, but proud that Spokane showed up to fight it. "It was a rough, rough day but I'm so proud of Spokane right now." Archer said. After the recordings, Cartier-Giroux then asked Burns about call logs from Stuckart, who posted the initial Facebook post. It was a weird digression, coming seemingly out of nowhere and lasting just a few minutes. Burns highlighted calls between Stuckart and both Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown. Burns said these calls were relevant in regards to the investigation because they showed Stuckart called Mayor Brown multiple times, and SPD did not arrive until after Stuckart’s last call with Brown. Burns said his understanding of local law enforcement response was that SPD Chief Kevin Hall reports to Mayor Brown and that Hall wouldn’t send officers without the mayor’s permission. It seemed for a second like he was implying Mayor Brown was part of the conspiracy at the heart of the case and kept law enforcement from responding to ICE’s calls, which first came when there were only a couple dozen protesters milling about around the white bus. City spokesperson Erin Hut wrote in a response to RANGE, “The federal government has not contacted the mayor in regard to this case. The timing and nature of police response is made by the police chief.” Mavalwalla’s attorney Aine Ahmed briefly cross-examined Burns on the government’s failure to find phone evidence linking his client to any of the other protesters. Then, at 5:03 pm, the United States government rested their case. ### Rule 29 Remember Rule 29? We defined it in our [trial primer](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/), but here’s a refresher: it’s a type of request that the defense can make during the trial after the government rests its case asking for the judge to acquit the defendants based on insufficient evidence for a conviction. The second the federal government rested their case, all three defendants’ lawyers filed Rule 29 motions, asking Pennell to throw the case out for lack of evidence. George read the definition of conspiracy and said the government had failed to offer any evidence that Forral had knowingly agreed to impede or injure federal officers or their property, which is necessary to prove conspiracy. Ahmed argued the same thing, stating “There's no conspiracy, no evidence of a conspiracy." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-a47d2e48-684b-4798-b7b7-4e9195d38bcb.png) **Aine Ahmed, Bajun Mavalwalla II’s lawyer, asks Judge Rebecca Pennell to acquit the defendants based on lack of evidence. Art by Jake Gillespie.* Oreskovich made a longer, more impassioned plea. Hand on his hip, he implored Pennell to consider the lack of evidence of conspiracy presented by the government. He said Archer’s voice memos showed their real intent: to protest nonviolently, with civil disobedience, a time-honored tradition going back to [sit-ins](https://www.britannica.com/event/sit-in-movement?ref=rangemedia.co) — even to the point of being willing to risk arrest. Any crimes Archer talked about being willing to commit were not conspiracy, the crime for which they are currently on trial, Oreskovich argued. “Stuckart invites people to come sit in front of a bus,” Oreskovich said. “Jac Archer arrives and Jac Archer does what's in the post … All Jac Archer did is \[they\] went to a protest with the intent to sit in front of the bus or the intent to lock arms.” He said Archer didn’t participate in any vandalism, in any property destruction or in anything in the skirmish with smoke deployments. Archer protested nonviolently and made that intent clear during the day and after. “If there’s a case for a Rule 29 dismissal or acquittal,” Oreskovich said, “It’s this one.” Perez disagreed, arguing officers felt scared and threatened and like protesters used force against them by locking arms and resisting, among other things. She said there was “obvious cooperation,” and that the protesters’ actions amounted to conspiracy. Pennell did not rule on the motions today, instead reserving her right to rule after the rest of the evidence is presented, when defense rests. The trial will resume next Tuesday, when Ahmed has indicated he will start with Mavalwalla II’s defense. ### Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 5: ICE agent will be called back in to court to testify about Twitter account URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-ice-burlingame-tweets/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T16:37:30.000Z At a pretrial conference early this morning, Judge Rebecca Pennell ruled that Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) supervisory detention officer Jeremy Burlingame can be called back into court so the defense can question him about his [Twitter account](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/). Burlingame did not disclose the existence of the account before the trial began, but RANGE uncovered it during our year-long investigation into the arrest and detention of the protesters on June 11\. We broke the story after Burlingame first testified yesterday. The account contained numerous disparaging tweets about immigrants, transgender people and Black people. Of direct importance to the trial, Burlingame posted that former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart, who posted a call for folks to join him in protesting the detainment of two young men, “needs to be charged for incitement at the federal level.” Assistant US attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux agreed with Justice Forral’s defense attorney Andrea George that Burlingame should be allowed to be called back to court for questioning, where the defense will attempt to impeach his credibility. “We’ve looked at the tweets and they are impeachment,” Cartier-Giroux said. “They are horrendous, there’s no other way to put it.” She said that Burlingame did not reveal his Twitter account in discovery, where agents were asked if they had social media accounts. Cartier-Giroux said she has reported him to his agency where he is now under investigation. George said that her investigators had been attempting to download and document his account when he deleted it which she remarked may be “destruction of evidence,” as she provided the government with copies of tweets they had preserved. Pennell said that “a lot of folks have criticized the Department of Justice over the past year and a half,” and that their stance on supporting the defense’s request to call him back is “a great testament to the DOJ’s integrity.” Burlingame will likely be called back to this stand this morning, after the defense is able to cross examine a sheriff’s deputy who testified at the end of the day yesterday. --- If this is your first time reading RANGE, **you can get our trial coverage sent right to your email by** [**signing up here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/). It’s also a great way to get reporting so obsessively thorough, it got an ICE agent called back to court to potentially be impeached. ### An overview of the Spokane 3 trial (so far) URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/overview-spokane-3-trial-so-far/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T14:00:33.000Z On this week’s episode, Aaron Hedge and Pascal went on the air to talk more about the Spokane 3 trial – which began earlier this week on Monday, May 18th – and provide an overview of updates from the courtroom. The two of them gave updates from days 1, 2, and 3 of the trial (which were Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). The “Spokane 3” consists of Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II, who were charged by the federal government with conspiracy to impede a federal officer by using threats, force or intimidation to stop ICE agents from discharging their duties. The alleged conspiracy charges come from last year’s June 11th protest, where people in the community tried to stop ICE from taking two detained young men – who were in the US legally – to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. They also talked about what’s been going on behind the scenes at RANGE since that protest. Find the stories they talked about (in order) below: [‘This guy needs to be charged for incitement at the federal level’ICE Agent who testified in the trial of the Spokane 3 may have made a post asking for federal charges for protester the day after the June 11 protest.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/RANGE---story-art-template-5ed771e5d6446ce3293b3509a1828e04e761fa773252dacd8a091d6ed0e2a3bf.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/) [PHOTO ESSAY: Community rallies for Spokane 3 as federal trial starts‘The implication of the jury’s ruling will set precedent that ripples across the nation. We are calling all of you here to help raise awareness and to stand in solidarity.’![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/DSC_9348--1-.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/photo-essay-community-rallies-for-spokane-3-as-federal-trial-starts/) [Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 1: Deputy said ‘I want to hit someone with a stick’ during protestSheriff’s Deputy body camera footage ruled admissible in court. Plus, witnesses appointed legal council after warnings they could be investigated for protesting on June 11, too.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/RANGE---story-art-template--6-.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-1-deputy-stick-protest-brittan-morgan/) [Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 1: ‘Please do not bring in politics. Please do not bring in politics.’Jury selection for the Spokane 3 Trial will bleed over into day two as lawyers probe the jury pool for bias, and jurors share fun facts, favorite movies and interesting takes.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/RANGE---story-art-template--7-.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-federal-trial-jury-selection/) [The Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 2: The Jury, the Opening Statements, the First WitnessThe 15 people deciding the fate of the Spokane 3, and the first pieces of information they learned.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/1.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-2-the-jury-the-opening-statements-the-first-witness/) [The Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 3: ‘Emotions went high today.’ICE agents ‘came out aggressive,’ one said, at a protest to defend legal immigrants from deportation. Also, one misgendered a protester so much the judge recessed court.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/RANGE---story-art-template--8--060b0e5ec9b0e1d74a3b277df415bc524128d3f3b9c83b8c5134c571a8686c17.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-3-emotions-went-high-today/) Find RANGE's full coverage on the protests and federal trials here: [Spokane Protests – RANGE MediaOn June 11, 2025, protesters attempted to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking two detained young men who were in the US legally to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. We reported from the ground for nearly twelve hours as federal agents shoved protesters and the media and threatened federal charges against Spokanites \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-149.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/sa4a6090-1.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### The Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 4: ‘Under siege.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-under-siege-ice/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:44:58.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). On June 11, 2025, the Spokane ICE office was under siege. Or at least — that’s what Homeland Security Investigation’s John LaForte told a federal court on Thursday. During the fourth day of the trial of three protesters fighting federal conspiracy charges, attorneys for the federal government called six witnesses: three federal officers and three local law enforcement officers. The morning was devoted mostly to testimony from Greg McSullivan, a special agent with HSI and LaForte, testifying in large part about “The South Gate Incident.” The afternoon’s testimony from local law enforcement focused on what happened after the Spokane Police Department escorted a US Border Patrol van past protesters to the ICE office. The day ended with testimony from Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brittan Morgan, who was the subject of a [pre-trial fight](https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-1-deputy-stick-protest-brittan-morgan/), as Justice Forral’s defense attorneys fought for the right to introduce body camera footage of Morgan saying, “God I hope they do some shit. I want to hit someone with a stick today. This is my only day off you fucking cunts,” among other inappropriate comments. A few major themes emerged throughout Thursday, as federal agents and local law enforcement alike were pressed on the idea of deescalation techniques, who gets to express frustration and what kind of behavior justifies violent response. ### ‘Under Siege,’ Yesterday, [we heard](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-3-emotions-went-high-today/) from three officers who were part of a plan to take three vehicles out from the south parking lot and rendezvous with a red Border Patrol van on June 11\. McSullivan and LaForte were not in that original group, but instead in a different trio that walked into a crowd of protesters and began shoving people during “the South Gate Incident,” with LaForte serving as the agent in charge. McSullivan can be seen in video clips as the larger man grabbing protesters by the neck, shoving people aggressively and knocking a notebook out of this reporter’s hand, while LaForte is the man who went out without any kind of law enforcement identification (he testified he was wearing his lanyard with his ID badge, but video footage subsequently revealed if he had a lanyard, it wasn’t visible). It was LaForte’s last day of work in Spokane and he had turned in his equipment, he said. Both men admitted on the stand that they came into the interaction with protesters hot. They blamed a lack of support from the Spokane Police Department (SPD), who LaForte said they’d called for assistance earlier in the day, when the crowd of protesters numbered around just 20 or 30\. They were told to wait it out, but they didn’t want to. "Again you have to take this in context. We've called 911, when you call 911 you expect someone to show," McSullivan said. That perceived lack of support from SPD "colored the context of the situation where nobody was coming to help us, we have to figure this out ourselves." McSullivan said he was under the impression that SPD wanted them to just buckle in for the night. That context, coupled with fear that the three officers trying to leave the parking lot were in danger after seeing a crowd of people run to block the gate, caused them to come out aggressive, which was consistent with their training, he said. Agent Jared Tomaso, who testified yesterday, and LaForte got to the gate slightly before him, McSullivan said, and their first goal was to get to the other agents who were trying to exit in their cars. Then they formed their own wall against the protesters to push them back. He said they announced their presence and gave lawful commands, telling people "get out of the way,” though that announcement of presence can’t be heard on any of the video footage that has yet been shown. McSullivan said when he can be seen grabbing a protester by the head, it’s because "for one reason, it was what was available to grab ... there is a saying, ‘where the head goes, the body goes.’" ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-2fc03d59-677f-4b29-93ed-05813a4a5176.png) McSullivan testifies, two different angles illustrated by Jake Gillespie. He said in some ways, they did what he would call deescalation: no closed fists or strikes were used, and they didn’t deploy tasers, chemical agents, batons or lethal weapons. “We were doing everything we could do to deescalate, to keep the situation as calm as we could,” McSullivan said. All of the officers repeatedly stressed that they didn’t feel safe, they felt like SPD let them down by not assisting earlier and that they were upset by the situation — especially when protesters cheered after the lower parking lot gate closed. LaForte put it succinctly: "I was frustrated that there was not a response \[from SPD\] and also that our building was under siege." Defense attorneys consistently pushed them on this characterization, asking if any officers were hurt (no), if protesters ever crawled over gates or tried to breach the building (no) and if officers could leave the building (yes, but they didn’t feel safe.) Aine Ahmed, Bajun Mavalwalla II’s lawyer, asked LaForte to define “siege.” LaForte said it was “When you surround a place and keep people from getting in and out.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-04eaa501-3cf0-403a-b681-426dda7e4767.png) LaForte leans on the white GEO bus as he tells protesters to move. Still from a video taken by RANGE on June 11. Yesterday, the jury watched hours of footage of the front door with no protesters outside of it, and people freely coming and going. LaForte said he “could walk outside, but not without threat.” ### ‘Flicked a cap’ After the confrontation at the gate, where the federal officers pushed protesters, throwing some of them to the ground and pointing a taser pointblank at one, all six officers left the parking lot after about 15 minutes. To get back to the ICE building, they passed through what they called “a man-gate” — a door for people to exit the parking lot by the north side of the lot — and then walked past a few protesters to get back inside. Caught on security footage is a brief interaction between the six agents and a few protesters milling about by the “man-gate.” On the tape, you can see the agents walk by. Almost simultaneously, LaForte — seemingly unprompted — reaches up and knocks the baseball cap off of one of the protesters. Behind him, a second protester reaches out toward officer Kevin Wilks, and McSullivan shoves him back. You can’t hear it on the footage, but McSullivan says he said something like, “You don’t fucking touch us.” LaForte had said that he feared for his and his fellow agents’ safety, which Ahmed brought up on cross examination. “You certainly didn’t appear to be afraid when you went past and flipped someone’s hat off,” he said. LaForte responded, “I don’t think that has anything to do with fear.” Ahmed asked if LaForte was escalating the moment, and LaForte responded, “That wasn’t escalation, that was frustration.” When pressed about whether that was allowed in his training, LaForte said, “We don’t have training on flipping hats.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-bed37c5b-dbbb-40e1-8f36-c4e3b1b1ccb7.png) John LaForte faces cross examination. Art by Jake Gillespie. It was a particularly interesting exchange, especially in light of evidence the prosecution introduced later in the day, showing Forral taking the hat off of SCSO Deputy Morgan — which was characterized by Morgan as Forral hitting the top of his head. (Forral is [still facing](https://www.rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/#:~:text=The%20Spokane%20County%20Sheriff%20detailed%20the%20assault%20allegation%20in%20a%20June%2016%20press%20release%2C) an assault charge in Spokane County for this incident.) It’s a point the defense has been trying to highlight all week: when actions are taken by law enforcement officers, they’re characterized as “frustration” or necessary deescalation. When protesters take the same actions, they’re painted as scary, “preassault indicators” and evidence of conspiracy. ### ‘Act a fool’ The fourth day ended with the hotly anticipated testimony of Morgan, who had made headlines earlier in the week after defense attorneys filed a motion with material from his officer file, including references to body cam footage of him describing protesters as “fucking cunts” and saying how much he’d love to hit them with a stick. Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Perez had originally fought to keep that evidence from being introduced, but after Judge Rebecca Pennell ruled it would be allowed, Perez made the decision to ask Morgan about it herself, before defense could bring it up on cross examination. She asked Morgan his state of mind on June 11, and he shared that he was tired and didn’t want to go in because his wife’s birthday was coming up — although not that day. Most of her examination of Morgan seemed to be trying to preempt potential defense attacks, asking him about the moments he pulled protesters by the hair and when he appeared to point a less lethal gun that shoots blue foam rounds at Forral from a few feet away (though Morgan said that was an optical trick from the camera angle and the gun was pointed at the ground in front of Forral). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-3ac86957-374e-41fc-8201-2e1ffcc1dc6e.png) ****Courtesy of Al Jones, Tracyton, WA** Morgan described all of those as effective moments of deescalation that allowed him to not use more force. He called the hair pulling “extremely effective.” He also continually characterized Forral as aggressive and displaying “pre-fight indicators” like clenching their jaw and flaring their nostrils. "They would run up start chants, encourage people to just act a fool and then disappear into the crowd,” Morgan said. “They were all over the crowd." This justified Morgan doing what he classified as bringing his less lethal weapon to the “low ready” position, and what defense called pointing it at Forral, he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-4146dc26-575a-4b19-b743-b26de60eb1e6.png) SCSO Deputy Brittan Morgan holds his less lethal shotgun while looking at Justice Forral. Artistic rendering by Jake Gillespie. Further testimony from Morgan also revealed something that hadn’t come out in earlier motions. He received two formal reprimands for his conduct on June 11: one for driving 97 miles an hour on his way to the Sheriff’s office to get geared up and head to the ICE building, and one for the language he used caught on the body camera he thought he’d turned off. He expressed regret and said those letters will follow him forever, though he later said they will stay in his file for just two years. What the jury doesn’t know, and likely won’t, is that Morgan has prior policy violations. His file showed he was disciplined for failing to report an instance of using force in 2023 and in 2024 for telling someone to “eat a bag of dicks,” on top of the two policy violations from June 11, 2025\. He was hired in 2023, he testified, so he’s had at least one policy violation every year he’s been with SCSO. Morgan also misgendered Forral so persistently that Pennell had to call another recess, and even after the break, he continued to do it. A [different agent](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-3-emotions-went-high-today/#:~:text=how%20we%20train.%E2%80%9D-,Other%20fiery%20moments,-During%20one%20moment) on the witness stand on Wednesday did the same thing. Tomorrow will pick up with cross-examination of Morgan. --- If this is your first time reading RANGE, **you can get our trial coverage sent right to your email by** [**signing up here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/). It’s also a great way to get reporting so obsessively thorough, it got an ICE agent called back to court to potentially be impeached. ### River creep URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/river-creep/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T20:37:46.000Z Mayor Lisa Brown had to learn about it in *The Spokesman*: a [2,200 square-foot dock](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/12/ruby-river-hotel-proposes-building-public-dock-on-/?ref=rangemedia.co) for sunbathers and paddlers that may soon stretch far into the Spokane River just upstream of the Upper Spokane Falls Dam. Because it’s so big and in such a visible part of the river, the project has massive implications for the future of development on the river, which is still healing from a century of abuse from various industries. Developers argue the dock would encourage public access to the river, but biologists and university professors argue it has the potential to harm the ecology of the river and instigate other developers to crowd the river with similar projects. “We’re still in the fact-finding stage,” Brown told RANGE at a Parks Board meeting May 8\. Environmental advocates said they were similarly surprised. This perceived secrecy, said Hilary Hahn, the environmental planner who’s filing permit applications for the dock and helping conceive of the structure, is only that: perceived. She insisted she and developer Jerry Dicker, who owns the Ruby River Hotel and its Osprey Restaurant & Bar, have been nothing but open with the public about the project. To illustrate this, she cited her frequent work with city planners and state agencies that have the authority to approve the necessary permits for the dock’s construction. “It's had a lot of eyes on it to make sure that we're doing it right,” she told RANGE. That list of agencies she’s had to file documents with is indeed long. Hahn, who leads the project for Facet NW, the contractor Dicker hired to design the dock, had to have a "conditional use permit” approved by the city of Spokane and state offices. Because the dock is so close to the Upper Spokane Falls Dam, she had to apply for approval from the US Army Corps of Engineers. She’ll have to acquire a lease from the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). She had to file a checklist with the city noting that the project could affect sensitive species, including redband trout, which is listed by the state Department of Fish a Wildlife (DFW) as a “species of greatest conservation need” because their habitat is being destroyed. Still, a growing chorus of people are worried about the proposal. They’ve expressed their concerns publicly in two letters to Brown — one from the Spokane Riverkeeper and another signed by nine professors and biologists — and a [letter to the editor](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/26/greg-gordon-and-katelyn-scott-the-spokane-river-be/?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Spokesman* by the Riverkeeper and Greg Gordon, an environmental studies professor at Gonzaga University. They said the dock should be subjected to a more rigorous process of public scrutiny and outlined their concerns. They worry: - A dock this conspicuous would encourage other developers to embark on similar projects, which would proliferate and change the river — which is home to one of only two urban waterfalls in the US — in unacceptable ways. - The project poses potential safety hazards, including a deceptively swift current that could swallow intoxicated restaurant patrons who might use the dock as a jumping off point for a swim. (Hahn said the dock will be open to paddleboarders and kayakers, not swimmers, and would not be open at all during the most dangerous river flows.) - Avista, the power utility, worries a log may dislodge the dock, which would then be swept into the Upper Spokane Falls Dam, an essential piece of water infrastructure in the city. (Hahn said she would ensure the dock could not be dislodged when it comes time to engineer it.) - City officials did not properly notify local neighborhoods about public meetings to discuss the project. (Spencer Gardner, director of the city’s Planning Department, admitted that mistake but said it should not hamper the application process, noting the city has an “expediency” obligation to developers.) - The state DFW hasn’t done a species survey on this stretch of the river for a decade and a half. - The city of Spokane issued a “finding of nonsignificance,” meaning there was no reason to do an expensive and onerous environmental impact study, even though redband trout have been observed spawning just feet from the dock site. Those fishes are [listed](https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/oncorhynchus-mykiss-gairdneri?ref=rangemedia.co#conservation:~:text=Species%20of%20Greatest%20Conservation%20Need) by DFW as a “species of greatest conservation need” because their habitat is being destroyed, and fish biologists worry the dock will create a spawning environment for invasive fish that eat juvenile redbands. (Hahn said the dock would let enough light through to maintain the ecosystem underneath.) In emails to some of the concerned folks, city officials have apologized for the notification oversight. “The omission of neighborhood councils on the agency comment for project Z25-419SCUP was in error,” Gardner wrote in an April 14 email to Luke Tolley, the chair of the Administrative Committee of the city’s Neighborhood Community Assembly. But they emphasized that the project will go forward regardless. They promised to do better in future projects. The only thing that might stop it, Gardner told RANGE, is if one of the neighborhood councils that was not notified of the public meeting asked to restart the process. Hahn, the Facet contractor, noted in an interview that the dock is a public asset that will improve access to the stretch of the Spokane River upstream of the Upper Spokane Falls Dam. Public access to the river is a central component to Spokane’s [Shoreline Master Program](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/616/Shoreline-Master-Program?ref=rangemedia.co), which governs how infrastructure is developed near water in the city. Tamara Camper, a former environmental planner at Facet who said she did a high-water analysis for the site and attended an early meeting between those involved, said Ruby River Hotel owner Dicker initially did not want the dock to be public. He wanted to make the dock available only to patrons of his hotel and restaurant, and even fence off from the public and have it patrolled by contracted Spokane police officers, Camper said. “He had zero interest and was very much pushing back about letting the public there,” Camper said. “He had a lot of complaints about homeless people. … He just wanted to have it for a venue for weddings and special events.” Hahn confirmed that Dicker, who did not respond to a request for comment but has [publicly excoriated](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/06/jerry-dicker-and-gavin-cooley-city-hall-needs-a-re/?ref=rangemedia.co) the city for not being friendly enough to private developers, did not initially want the dock to be open to the public. But this was a nonstarter for city planners, who convinced Dicker to commit to letting the public on the dock. “It's not unusual for a developer to come in with an idea,” said planning Director Gardner, who was not in the initial meetings. “But they're not experts in what our code requires. And so during those meetings, it is common to have a developer saying, ‘Well, here's kinda what I'm looking for,’ or ‘Here's what I wanna do.’ And then we can say, ‘Well, here's what our code is requiring you to do.’ That's our code working as intended.” After Dicker realized he would have to open the dock to the public, Hahn said he let her take over planning for the dock. “Once it kind of became this public dock, he really did let me run with it,” she said. She then started planning several public amenities, including a potential fish camera that would let dock users watch the creatures swimming underneath. “He was like, ‘OK, Hilary, I'll let you go for it.’" There is no mention of the dock proposal on the [website](https://gvdcommercial.com/properties/?ref=rangemedia.co) of his company GVD Commercial Properties, Inc., a prominent Spokane developer. At a February hearing to discuss the conditional use permit, Hahn said the hotel would make several parking spaces available to people who want to use the dock. They would carry their watercraft down a gangway to put into the river. ### Big blue ribbon This stretch of the Spokane River was abused for years by the paper, mining and rail industries that freely dumped chemicals into it and made it difficult for Spokanites to access it. The city rebuilt and cleaned the river through a painstaking process in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the run-up to Expo-74, the World’s Fair that made Spokane globally famous as the smallest city to ever host the event. Now, the Centennial Trail, a 37-mile recreational trail connecting the city with the border of Idaho, snakes along the river just south of the hotel. Rain or shine, runners, cyclists, inline skaters and pedestrians use it for exercise and as an alternative to driving around downtown. City Council Member Paul Dillon worries that once the dock is constructed — which most people engaged in the process see as an inevitability — other developers will see it and want to make their own dock. As those projects proliferate, the character of the river will change, they say. “ I'm really concerned that this is a Trojan horse for more monetizing of the river,” Dillon said. “It seemed like this was one of the legs of the stool to something bigger.” He’s also concerned with what he agreed was a secretive process to get the dock approved. “I’m not happy with how this went down,” Dillon said. But both he and Gardner said there really nothing they can do to slow the process down. Brian Muegge, a river advocate and member of the governing board of the Spokane Riverkeeper, disagrees. He proposed some solutions to city officials, the City Council and Mayor Brown in a May 13 email, which RANGE has reviewed. He said an approval Dicker obtained from the Department of Natural Resources could be vacated because state agencies don’t know enough about the ecosystem at the dock site. He also said the city could consider requesting an environmental impact study since some neighborhood councils were not notified of the public meetings early in the process. In an interview, Muegge, who earned his biology degree from Gonzaga University a few hundred yards upstream of the site in the 2010s, worried about the way the dock could affect redband trout in a sensitive stretch of the river. “That section of the Spokane River is a gaining reach, meaning that the aquifer feeds the river, which means that it's colder, which salmonids, including interior redband trout, need.” He also worried about public safety. “You're a hotel,” he said. “You're gonna get people from out of town. You're gonna get people that are unfamiliar with our river, who have no bloody clue that it can get cold and quick and dangerous real quick.” Greg Gordon, one of the authors of the [letter to the editor](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/26/greg-gordon-and-katelyn-scott-the-spokane-river-be/?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Spokesman*, noted that there is already a kayak takeout directly on the opposite bank. He questioned whether Spokanites even want the dock. On a deeper level, Gordon, an Environmental Studies professor at Gonzaga, lamented the ways in which developers and capitalists think about the natural world. “I've been trying to figure out why this dock irritates me so much,” Gordon said. “Why does this thing just get under my skin? … I think what it speaks to is this attitude that the natural world exists solely for our amusement and our own edification and profits. And I think that's why this gets to me is this isn't something that's done for a community need.” The state Department of Ecology will soon weigh in on the conditional use permit that was approved by an independent city hearing examiner on March 12\. That’s the last hurdle before engineers will start designing the final construction plans and applying for final permits. Hahn said the project is very close to being in the bag. “Once we get \[Ecology’s\] approval … then we're free to head into the building permit process,” she said. *Update: As we wrote this story, Ecology approved Dicker's permit to build the dock.* *Editor's note: This story has been changed to say neighborhood councils can ask, rather than demand, the city to restart the permit application process.* ### ‘This guy needs to be charged for incitement at the federal level’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-spokane-3-jeremy-burlingame-twitter/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:45:32.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). On Wednesday, the courtroom for the trial of the Spokane 3 heard testimony from supervisory Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention officer Jeremy Burlingame. Burlingame has been with ICE since 2007, he said from the witness stand. He mostly works in Spokane, though he spent a bit of time in Texas. Burlingame was in the ICE building during the June 11 protests. He was also one of the federal agents who accused June 11 protester and Human Rights Commissioner Justice Forral of [detaining agents unlawfully](https://rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the local charging documents. Prosecutors called him to testify in the federal trial for the three protesters charged with federal conspiracy. We found [a Twitter account](https://x.com/burl78287?ref=rangemedia.co) under Burlingame’s name. The profile picture depicts a man with his back to the camera, wearing an ICE vest. This account posted about the June 11 protests, stating that former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart, who posted a call for folks to join him in protesting the detainment of two young men, “[needs to be charged](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1933171946696687956?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) for incitement at the federal level.” It also posted about a local ICE arrest in Spokane Valley. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-3d899d45-f6fe-4748-bd78-67d1803beb29.png) Just over a month later, Stuckart and eight other protesters were [charged with the federal felony of “Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers](https://rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/?ref=rangemedia.co).” Other posts on the X account include: - calling a Black politician “[lying ghetto garbage](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1921685258870681880?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co)” for trying to conduct congressional oversight at an ICE detention facility - calling Senator Chris Van Hollen “[a treasonous traitor](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1913618876853534885?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co)” for visiting the unlawfully detained Kilmar Abrego Garcia at the prison in El Salvador where he had been illegally shipped by the Trump administration - tweeting at DOGE and the Department of Homeland Security asking why “[bean counting idiots](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1903146229653180543?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) at ICE HQ” are making calls about field work because “red tape and foolishness is choking out productivity” - reposting a video of a [local arrest](https://rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/?ref=rangemedia.co) where ICE agents broke the window of a pregnant woman in Spokane Valley to detain two immigrants (Note: some of the X links *may* not work if you aren’t logged in, or they may end up getting purged. Screenshots are below.) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-10.38.13---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-10.42.03---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-10.43.12---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-11.09.44---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-11.11.05---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-11.11.53---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-11.23.37---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-11.38.21---AM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-21-at-11.39.49---AM.png) The transcription of the video with the pregnant woman quotes one agent saying, “It’s pregnant,” which is visible on the screenshot Burlingame retweeted, as is the caption, “ICE breaking window and arresting pregnant invader. Nobody fucking cares. Go have your baby in Guatemala.” The woman in the video is a US citizen married to one of the men ICE was detaining. (This tweet appears to have since been deleted.) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-3d8b7bec-5c74-4227-9773-befd1b948c34.png) The account also tweeted at least three times videos of Black women [stating](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1913618768405938392?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) that “Black culture is in need of some help,” wished Muslim politicians “[Happy Easter](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1913418935728554261?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co)” and [called](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1907580804446011772?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) videos of [transgender](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1882804876058747034?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) people “Mental illness on display!” In response to a video of a cop violently arresting a Black woman, the account under Burlingame’s name responded to a commenter questioning the necessity of the violence with the [reply](https://x.com/burl78287/status/1899924024723169571?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co), “Your an idiot. You thinking biting cops is good? You like jungle behavior? \[sic\]” ICE spokesperson David Yost told RANGE the agency had distributed “internal guidance” for how agents should use social media, but that they mostly follow a “common-sense approach.” RANGE asked to see that guidance and whether Burlingame’s tweets violated it, but Yost did not respond. The account has not posted or commented on anything since June 12, 2025\. We attempted to DM the account to request comment, but X settings did not allow us to since we are not “mutuals.” --- [Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 5: ICE agent will be called back in to court to testify about Twitter accountThe content of those tweets, which RANGE reported on exclusively yesterday, is so bad even the prosecution said, “They are horrendous, there’s no other way to put it.”![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/RANGE---story-art-template--1-.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-trial-ice-burlingame-tweets/) UPDATE If this is your first time reading RANGE, **you can get our trial coverage sent right to your email by** [**signing up here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/). It’s also a great way to get reporting so obsessively thorough, it got an ICE agent called back to court to potentially be impeached. *Additional reporting contributed by Aaron Hedge.* ### The Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 3: ‘Emotions went high today.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-3-emotions-went-high-today/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:46:08.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). The third day of the trial of the Spokane 3 was filled with federal agent testimony, contentious cross examinations and misgendering of a defendant that was so persistent the judge had to send the court into recess. The day began with the questioning of Special Agent Jared Tomaso from ATF, who had previously worked as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent for two years and a Border Patrol agent for eight years before that. Also called as witnesses today were Jeremy Burlingame, the supervisory detention officer for ICE, GEO group contractor Arianna Sanchez, ICE officer Jason McIntosh and ICE deportation officer Kevin Wilks. Testimony and evidence today focused mainly on a confrontation at the south gate of the ICE facility and defendants Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II’s roles in it and questions of safety throughout the day — who was safe and when? Who was creating unsafe situations? ### What happened at the South Gate? The question of what happened at that gate was the central theme of much of the testimony in the case so far. In one tense moment yesterday, a juror audibly gasped “falls??” after a government witness characterized Archer being pushed down by a federal agent as a “fall.” The federal government has continually painted a picture of what happened there as protesters acting erratically and violently, not responding to orders from agents. Federal agents have said they saw people acting with “a mob mentality.” Meanwhile, in cross examinations, defense attorneys have pushed federal agents on when the violence started and who started it, seemingly seeking to convince jurors that it was not protesters who escalated the situation but the federal agents. On June 11, Tomaso said he attempted to “deescalate” protesters early in the day, telling the people sitting outside the white bus ICE intended to use to transport detainees to a facility in Tacoma to move or they’d be considered obstructing federal officers. He pointed himself out on a video, originally taken by RANGE, having what he described as a peaceful interaction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-7eb2a629-39e4-42dd-8250-d450b8043648.png) **ICE agents Jared Tomaso and John LaForte. Video still was taken from a RANGE video. Tomaso identified himself in the video from the witness stand.* Tomaso characterized the rest of the day as escalating in tenor, with much of his testimony focused on what the government is calling “The South Gate Incident.” This references the moment when federal agents clashed with protesters who had linked arms and formed a human chain across the parking lot exit south of the ICE facility. Three federal agents had formed a plan to exit that gate in their vehicles and rendezvous at a different location with a red Border Patrol van that they could then escort in and use to transport out the 12 people they had detained that day, testimony throughout the day revealed. Tomaso was not part of that plan, but one of a second trio of officers who responded once the crowd had formed outside the gate, pushing and shoving through protesters. Burlingame described feeling frustrated that the Spokane Police Department did not come to help earlier in the day and said he was the decision maker on part one of their plan to leave through the south gate: the three officers who went to the parking lot to take their vehicles out of the fenced lot. The other group of agents, the ones who came to the south gate later and started pushing protesters, did not have a plan, Tomaso testified, and acted impulsively. "At that point I was concerned for the safety of the officers because of the size of the crowd running towards them," Tomaso said during his testimony. "So I ran out the door." Tomaso can be seen on the footage shoving protesters back from the gate. In response to a question from prosecutor Lisa Cartier-Giroux, Tomaso said he pushed the protesters “hard.” "I was very stern and I came out aggressive," Tomaso said. "They weren't listening to us, they were intending on disrupting what we were trying to do ... so I came out aggressive." Burlingame, described moments with Mavalwalla at the south gate. He pointed his Taser pointblank at Mavalwalla’s head (although he didn’t use it), and Mavalwalla “moving into an athletic stance,” which Burlingame found threatening. He called the crowd at the south gate a “moshpit” and a “mob.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-66e3dc6b-4880-467e-bade-79844c1dc72a.png) **Jeremy Burlingame seen on RANGE footage leaving the ICE building to talk to protesters.* "The crowd was becoming more agitated,” he said. “They were locking arms. The volume was increasing. They weren't showing any willingness to comply with lawful orders." Along with Wilks and McIntosh, both Burlingame and Tomaso described hearing protesters yell profanities at them, like “Fuck ICE,” and “Fucking Nazis.” Who initiated contact — the protesters or the agents — was not something the agents agreed upon, though video footage appears to show federal agents making first contact, striding into the crowd and pushing protesters. The courtroom was shown a few videos — some of which had already been shown yesterday — including Tomaso’s own body camera footage, security camera footage, drone footage, videos recorded by protesters and posted to social media and a video taken by RANGE’s reporter. Many of these videos were replayed frame-by-frame today as the lawyers made arguments about each instance of contact. ### Who was safe? Other testimony focused on the idea of safety. GEO group contractor Sanchez’s testimony focused on her experience as one of a handful of civilians in the facility. She was scared, she said, and felt trapped in the building until late in the evening. Federal officers wanted to escort her out of the building but then felt it wasn’t safe. (The defense challenged this by showing a timelapse video of hours of security camera footage from the front of the building showing people coming and going freely. Only a few protesters were in the frame.) Returning to the South Gate, one of the most interesting moments came as attorney Andrea George, who represented Forral, questioned Tomaso on his decision to, with two other officers, approach the protesters at the south gate on foot. Here’s an exchange, paraphrased. **George:* "You testified on direct examination that you had no plan when the three of you went out there."* **Tomaso:* That's fair to say. We responded to a rapidly evolving situation.* **George:* "You had no plan? You had no agreement as to what you were going to do … and just because you acted the same doesn't mean you had an agreement to act the same, it just happened?"* **Tomaso:* That's fair.* It seemed like George was trying to make the point that people can make joint in-the-moment decisions in stressful situations without having a plan. For example, protesters can make similar decisions at a protest and respond similarly to the chaos without there having been an agreed-upon plan or conspiracy to do so. Federal agents also consistently argued they used the force they used that day because they felt threatened by the protesters. Multiple agents used the term “preassault indicators” and described behavior like athletic body stances and balling of fists. When they see behavior like that, they are allowed to respond with more force, Tomaso said. He described a moment when he shoved a protester, seemingly out of nowhere. Tomaso claims he saw those “preassault indicators,” and pushed the protester “very aggressively.” “We meet force with greater force,” he said. “It’s how we train.” ### Other fiery moments - During one moment of testimony, McIntosh misgendered Forral so many times in the span of a few moments that Pennell had to call a recess. The jury was in recess when she admonished the government about the importance of being respectful to everyone in her courtroom and reminded McIntosh of the correct pronouns to use. - During one line of questioning on a cross-examination, Forral’s attorney Andrea George was asking questions of McIntosh, who booked asylum seekers Joswar Rodriguez Torres and Cesar Alvarez Perez into detention. She was asking him about their legal status — whether or not they were brought into custody because of a warrant, or had an immigration hold. Rebecca Perez, federal attorney, shouted objections at nearly all of George’s questions, especially after McIntosh said he didn’t know if there was a warrant to detain the young men. He said he took them into custody because his supervisor told him too. The lawyers and Pennell conferred privately about which questions George could ask. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-9fc8882e-c4f4-4d3f-8e60-16df65dc9ecd.jpeg) **Jason McIntosh seen outside the ICE facility from public property by a protester. The Image was posted on Facebook.* As soon as court resumed, George asked if the men ICE had detained were on asylum — apparently not an approved question because Perez objected to that question. George, in her cross examination, pressed McIntosh on a comment he made about a protester having “a look of hatred in her eyes,” asking if the look could have been sadness about where the country is going. Perez stood and yelled, “Miss George is consistently putting on a show for the people behind us!” Pennell and George discussed in open court, and George stopped questioning McIntosh. At the end of the day, Pennell brought the conflict between George and Perez up. “Emotions went high today. I understand that this is a serious case and this happens,” Pennell said. “My ruling is and continues to be there should not be appeals to politics or broader policy issues. That could be perceived by the jury as an improper request for nullification.” She said if any lawyer wants to ask questions or make comments about politics, they need to tell her before doing it. **To read our live thread of the trial, click** [**here**](https://bsky.app/profile/rangemedia.co/post/3mmcbw57om22f?ref=rangemedia.co)**.** --- If this is your first time reading RANGE, **you can get our trial coverage sent right to your email by** [**signing up here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/). It’s also a great way to get reporting so obsessively thorough, it got an ICE agent called back to court to potentially be impeached. ### The Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 2: The Jury, the Opening Statements, the First Witness URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-trial-of-the-spokane-3-day-2-the-jury-the-opening-statements-the-first-witness/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:46:18.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). On Tuesday afternoon, after what felt like an hour of attorneys for the government and defendants pushing papers back and forth, furiously checking their notes and taking turns striking potential jurors, those watching from the overflow room let out a collective sigh: the jury had been chosen. Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II know which of their peers will decide their case. Throughout the rest of the day, the jury heard opening statements from the prosecutors and defense attorneys, watched a bunch of drone and security camera footage and heard from an FBI agent called as witness for the prosecution. They also learned about things like a newfound tech issue in the courtroom that causes exhibit screens to frequently black out. Read on for a debrief of the trial today, and click [here](https://bsky.app/profile/rangemedia.co/post/3mm7qeudnt226?ref=rangemedia.co) for a live-posted thread on Bluesky capturing all the little details that might not make it into this story. ### The Jury All of Monday had been devoted to questioning the jury pool of at least 120 people on their backgrounds, interests and potential biases. Today, nine more jurors were struck for cause, which means either they or the judge felt they couldn’t give a fair and unbiased opinion of the case. Then, finally, just before lunch, after the attorneys finished the process to cut jurors they felt may be unfavorable to their case, Pennell announced the 12 people and three alternates that would be on the jury. There’s a small quirk in the way Pennell runs her court: 15 people were chosen, and none of them will know if they’re one of the 12 people who will actually give a verdict on the case, or one of the three who are on standby in case an emergency renders someone unable to serve. This keeps all 15 people paying attention to everything the whole time, Pennell said. Eight women and six men were chosen for the jury. One of the jurors is an ex-attorney. One is a veteran who served in the military for two years as a dental technician. Three people were from Clarkston, Washington, which is more than two hours away (the jury selection pool spans the region, stretching from Wenatchee to Spokane to Clarkston). One juror said he had some concerns about using nonbinary pronouns for people — like the two defendants Jac Archer and Justice Forral, who both use they/them pronouns — but felt he could ultimately be fair because he has some “very good friends,” who are nonbinary. Pennell instructed them on their role and responsibilities as a jury, the basic stuff like not talking about the case with anyone else, only considering the evidence presented in court and their need to consider each defendant — and their innocence or guilt — individually. There were also more complex instructions, like what exactly a conspiracy is and what the government would have to prove in order to find any of the defendants guilty of it. “The crime of conspiracy is the agreement itself to do something unlawful; it does not matter whether the crime agreed upon was actually committed,” Pennell read. “For a conspiracy to have existed, it is not necessary that the conspirators made a formal agreement or that they agreed on every detail of the conspiracy. It is not enough, however, that they simply met, discussed matters of common interest, acted in similar ways, or perhaps helped one another.” Essentially, to conspire they must have made a specific plan to commit a crime, and in order to have committed federal conspiracy, that specific plan must have included intent to prevent federal officers from doing their job by using force, threat or intimidation.The jury will receive more specific instructions at the close of trial that include legal definitions of force, threat and intimidation. ## Sign up for RANGE Media RANGE is a local news organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### The Opening Statements The arguments made in each party’s opening statements hinged on that idea of an agreement. Rebecca Perez, assistant attorney for the United States, began by describing a voice recording Archer made on their phone the day after the protest. Archer described the events of June 11 as “organized and beautiful,” Perez said. But instead what happened, she said, was that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building on West Cataldo was “essentially held under siege for about seven hours.” As the case unfolds, Perez said that the evidence will show that the protesters were organized, in large part by Archer, and that their shared goal was to stop federal officers from transporting the two young Venezuelan asylum seekers — and other detainees in the facility that day — to Tacoma, Washington. “The crowd collectively indicated they would not be moving,” Perez said. She went on to describe acts that occurred at the protest: people sitting in front of the bus, Mavalwalla II sprinting to stand in front of the south gate that ICE agents were attempting to leave through, Forral letting air out of the tires of the white bus with the spraypainted windshield, Archer “organizing a human wall across the gate.” “This evidence will show you, ladies and gentleman, that what Jac Archer indicated in their voice memo was correct,” Perez said. “They were organized, they worked together to block exits.” They used force and intimidation against federal officers, and the Spokane Police Department had to come to the federal officers’ aid, she said. Then came the defense, who had 20 minutes between the three defendants. On behalf of Forral, federal public defender Amy Rubin argued that the people who gathered outside the ICE facility on June 11 had different goals: Some came to protest, some came to show support for asylum-seekers, some just came to watch. “People gathered to exercise their right to speak and assemble nonviolently. There was no command structure, no coordinated strategy, no organized plan among everyone present,” Rubin said. Forral was there because “Justice wanted justice.” Rubin described the protest as peaceful until federal agents came out and pushed the crowd. Rather than deescalating, they “ignited” the situation, she said, ripping flags out of peoples’ hands and shoving people. Amid rising tensions came an “increasingly chaotic environment,” and Forral made emotional and sometimes even criminal choices, like letting air out of tires and trying to help a protester escape from a Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy who was dragging them by the hair. “This was not the behavior of someone carrying out a coordinated plan,” Rubin argued. “Anger is not conspiracy. Reaction is not conspiracy. Chaos is not coordination … Conspiracy requires something very specific: an agreement. An agreement to use force, intimidation or threats.” At the end of the trial, she will ask the jury to find Forral innocent because the government charged them with conspiracy and she argued that “one thing will remain missing from the government’s story: an agreement.” For Mavalwalla II, attorney Matthew Duggan kept his initial argument simple: Mavalwalla is a veteran with a strong moral compass who wants to protect the weak. He didn’t know anyone else at the protest, including the other two defendants he sits next to. None of his conduct at the protest got him arrested at the time. “One of the most important things in Mr. Mavalwalla’s life is to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,” Duggan said. “He felt the urge that he’s felt so many times before – that it was time for him to go right a wrong, to stand up for people who could not stand up for themselves.” Like Rubin, Duggan also argued that whatever evidence the jury sees from the government there is one piece of evidence they won’t see: anything that proves an agreement. Mavalwalla did not enter into a conspiracy and had no plans to commit any crimes, Duggan said. “His only intent was to engage in a peaceful protest.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-225fe6f2-e391-422e-a417-e26fe3ae114a.png) **Caption:* Archer’s attorney Carl Oreskovich watches and listens to the opening statements. Art by Jake Gillespie.* For Archer, attorney Carl Oreskovich argued that his client, a recent law school graduate, has been battling racism and prejudice their whole life, and takes their role in making the Spokane community a better place seriously. Archer went to the demonstration intending to protest nonviolently, and they stuck to that all day, Oreskovich said. Even when Archer was shoved to the ground by an ICE agent, they responded nonviolently. The government will introduce evidence showing Archer, and on all of it, they will be acting "peacefully, nonviolently and disobediently,” Oreskovich said. Archer sat in front of a bus, got on a megaphone to tell people to act peacefully and linked arms with their backs to ICE in front of a gate while ICE agents pushed them, he argued. At the end of the trial, the jury will find Archer innocent, he said. ### The First Witness As is customary in trials, the prosecution presents their evidence first. Perez began by calling Ethan Hawks, an FBI agent and a “co-case investigator” for the government. Hawks has been with the FBI for three years and was with Border Patrol in Arizona for three years before that. It was his job to review the “mass amount of video footage,” in the investigation, he said, primarily hundreds of hours of Spokane Police Department (SPD) drone footage, security camera footage and body camera footage from local and federal agents — but also news coverage and social media videos. When considering footage, he said, he broke it into five major events: “The White Bus Incident,” “The South Gate Incident,” “The Barricade Incident,” “The Red Van Incident” and “The Law Enforcement Response.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-945f0fa8-b4fe-4581-a1ad-fbc81f218a89.png) **Caption:* FBI Agent Ethan Hawks testifies. Art by Jake Gillespie.* Perez used Hawks to introduce a swathe of drone and surveillance camera footage from the course of the nine hour event as evidence. The jury watched soundless footage of a variety of events from that day. Much of it showed a few dozen people milling about, some sitting in front of the white bus. Other, more salacious, footage showed Mavalwalla — wearing a black t-shirt that read “Give a Damn,” — sprinting to be the first protester standing in front of south gate parking lot exit, blocking ICE agents as they tried to leave, and later, Forral piling a bench and cones in front of that same gate. In the most heated moments, Forral is shown knocking the hat off a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) deputy and Mavalwalla kicking a smoke canister (Hawks said it was directed at law enforcement, while Mavalwalla’s lawyer Aine Ahmed characterized it as merely directing the canister away from Mavalwalla and not nearing officers who were at least 50 feet away.) When Archer appears in the shown footage, it is mostly for Hawks to point out that Archer is talking to people while holding a clipboard, talking to people in a group, holding a megaphone or standing with their back to ICE agents. At one point, the government implied this footage showed Archer was leading or organizing the protest, which was stopped with an objection from the defense. During cross examination, Hawks was pressed on his role in cell phone extractions by Ahmed, who asked if the extractions showed any evidence Mavalwalla colluded before attending the event. Hawks said Mavalwalla posted on Reddit and later discussed attending the protest on the app. Ahmed also pushed Hawks on the moment Mavalwalla kicked a smoke canister away from himself, asking how Hawks can prove Mavalwalla kicked it at officers when it got nowhere near them. By both Ahmed, Rubin and Andrew Wagley (Archer’s other attorney), Hawks was quizzed on the violence done that day and who initiated it: was the first contact made by civilian protesters or federal agents? Hawks carefully described protesters as the aggressors, stating they made a human line and that officers tried to remove them. “In the shoving, people fell to the ground,” Hawks said. “During the shoving and pushing, people were resisting against the officers and people were falling to the ground.” Wagley also pushed Hawks after he said it didn’t appear Archer was shoved. Wagley pulled up a drone video edited by Hawks that highlights Archer, circled in green. It clearly shows Archer getting shoved to the ground by a federal officer. “That is defendant Archer getting pushed down, correct?” Wagley asked. Hawks responded, “It appears defendant Archer falls down.” In one of the most dramatic moments of the day, a juror audibly gasped “Falls??” Wagley again asked if Archer was pushed down, and then Hawks responded, “Yes.” Rubin pushed him on the call logs extracted from phones. Was there any proof her client, Forral, called Stuckart before the protest? Hawks said no, but some phone numbers on the call log were unidentified. Calls they could identify on Stuckart’s phone included four completed calls with Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and one with Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown. In the last moments of the day, the federal government presented a redirect: a photo of signs on the south gate that read “authorized parking only, do not block gate," and "warning, moving gate can cause serious injury or death." The trial will continue tomorrow morning at 9 am. The federal government plans to call two ICE agents to testify. --- If this is your first time reading RANGE, **you can get our trial coverage sent right to your email by** [**signing up here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/). It’s also a great way to get reporting so obsessively thorough, it got an ICE agent called back to court to potentially be impeached. ### PHOTO ESSAY: Community rallies for Spokane 3 as federal trial starts URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/photo-essay-community-rallies-for-spokane-3-as-federal-trial-starts/ Last updated: 2026-05-28T17:45:42.000Z Under a deep blue sky in the Spokane Tribal Gathering Place behind City Hall, reporters and activists gathered to discuss a dark topic: the federal conspiracy charges against the [Spokane 3](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/), who were arrested last year after protesting federal immigration arrests. As the case unfolded nearby in the Thomas Foley Federal Courthouse, activists implored citizens to support the defendants. The stakes of the case, the activists said, are no less than the free speech rights enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution. “These are the first protesters in the nation to be swept up in what we now see as a national pattern of using conspiracy and similar charges to target protesters in an attempt to criminalize our dissent and to cripple the tools that we use to fight for our rights and stand for our neighbors,” said hadley morrow, a community organizer who led the event. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-80f0aaba-a02e-4edc-9081-8bbae962b288.jpeg) **hadley morrow, a local community organizer flanked by members of Veterans for Peace, Fuse Washington and community leaders, speaks to reporters at a press conference in the Spokane Tribal Gathering Place behind City Hall. (Photo by Sandra Rivera)* The federal trial against the three protesters, Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II, had [begun](https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-1-deputy-stick-protest-brittan-morgan/) earlier that morning, May 18\. They face charges of conspiracy to impede or injure law enforcement officers because they’d responded to a call on Facebook to protest the arrests of two immigrants who were here legally. Many see the trial, which will go before a jury, as a test case in whether free speech rights will be done away with under the Trump administration. (You can follow live trial updates from RANGE reporter Erin Sellers on our [Bluesky feed](https://bsky.app/profile/rangemedia.co?ref=rangemedia.co) and read their dispatches [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/).) “The implication of the jury's ruling will set precedent that ripples across the nation,” morrow said. “We are calling all of you here to help raise awareness and to stand in solidarity. Our community will not let Jac, Justice and Bajun fight this alone.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-513d0ca5-e718-47fe-9767-c54c6c3c1a44.jpeg) **Reverend Walter Kendricks of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church speaks to reporters at a press conference May 18\. (Photo by Sandra Rivera)* “We all want the world to know that we stand with \[the protesters\] and against the federal government's appalling and unjust charges,” said Reverend Walter Kendricks of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. Kendricks, who founded and leads the civil rights group Spokane Community Against Racism, noted that many of the rights that are at risk under the Trump administration were hard won by people of color, like the Spokane 3\. Those rights are fragile, he said. “As a Black man, I will tell you, I have been fighting for rights for probably 60 years, and I can assure you that in my struggle, if my rights have been allowed to be taken away, it won't be long before all of our rights are taken away,” Kendricks said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-7efc7614-d499-4a48-850f-9a2e91105da8.jpeg) **Some demonstrators wore shirts that read “Community ≠ Conspiracy,” referencing the federal conspiracy charges the Spokane 3 face. (Photo by Sandra Rivera)* Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon, who’d left a committee meeting early to be at the press conference, referenced a long national [news segment](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/army-veteran-faces-conspiracy-charges-after-participating-in-anti-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) about Mavalwalla II’s case. ”I watched the PBS NewsHour that reported Richard Barker, the acting US attorney for Eastern Washington state last year, resigned in protest of these charges,” Dillon said. “He told them that he could not ethically support pursuing these charges. … It's not just Richard Barker's words that provide moral clarity. It is his actions, resigning instead of giving in to the unjust and unethical demands to prosecute the Spokane 3.” In an interview after the conference, Dillon emphasized the importance of the case. "Jac Archer is facing prison time for sharing a social media post telling people to come join the protest. I don't care who you are, that should terrify you,” he said. “It sets a very scary precedent, and we've seen the pattern of silencing dissent across so many different mediums with this administration." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-214b282e-a2aa-4089-9b0d-f226c9eb8ba3.jpeg) **George Taylor, a member of Veterans for Peace, spoke to a rally of demonstrators in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue May 18\. (Photo by Sandra Rivera)* Later on Monday, organizers with Veterans for Peace and other organizations rallied in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue near River Park Square. George Taylor, a member of Veterans for Peace, said he’d been in the courtroom for the part of the trial that morning. “We need to be brave now,” Taylor told the crowd of demonstrators. “The Spokane 3 are willing to take that risk. What risks are we going to be prepared to take? So let us hope for the best. Let us hope for a good outcome.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-4e14ba92-2844-4498-bd39-9aab1ecddd6d.jpeg) **A protester carries the book “One Day, Everyone Will Always have Been Against This,” by Omar El Akkad. The book makes a moral case against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, but the phrase could carry meaning for the Spokane 3 as well. (Photo by Sandra Rivera)* ## Sign up for RANGE Media RANGE is a local news organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### One Bad Apple Spoils The Whole Lunch URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/marie-gluesenkamp-perez-apple-red-delicious-usda/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T21:27:48.000Z Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the centrist Democrat from Southwest Washington, has taken on [bright headlights](https://www.thereflector.com/stories/mgps-amendment-to-investigate-overly-bright-headlights-passes-house-appropriations-committee,384506?ref=rangemedia.co) and [salmon-gobbling](https://www.thefp.com/p/marie-gluesenkamp-perez-sea-lion-issue?ref=rangemedia.co) sea lions. But today, she shared a clip of her in Congress aiming, like William Tell before her, at bad apples. Not metaphorical. Actual apples. “I think we all remember being presented with a really gross Red Delicious apple in school cafeterias. Maybe you like them. But if you do, you’re wrong,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “Then people argue, ‘the kids just aren’t eating fruit because they don’t like it.’ Well, yeah, if you gave them an old boot leather to eat, they won’t eat that either. It’s important that we offer a quality fruit that can compete with Cheetos or whatever kids are eating these days.” She elaborated on social media: “Given that Red Delicious are the worst apples, have you ever wondered why they’re in every school cafeteria?” she [wrote](https://x.com/RepMGP/status/2056433983009739014?ref=rangemedia.co). “It’s because there’s a list of ‘approved’ apple varieties allowed in schools, and it hasn’t changed since [Kmart sold firearms](https://www.deseret.com/2001/7/2/19593860/kmart-decides-to-phase-out-sales-of-handgun-ammunition/?ref=rangemedia.co).” She’s right about one thing: Your typical Red Delicious apple catfishes you with its glistening red appearance and its sexy name and then leaves you with mushy, mealy, disappointment. It’s a big contrast from, say, one of the best recent apple varieties, Washington State’s own Cosmic Crisp. At first glance, it’s the kind of story about obnoxious government regulation that could make a swing voter shake their head. But Gluesenkamp Perez’s fruit-related government-regulation anecdotes have previously turned out to be a bit more [slippery](https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/why-is-this-member-of-congress-claiming-its-illegal-to-peel-bananas-in-a-daycare?ref=rangemedia.co) when you peel away the layers, so it was worth a second glance. An email to RANGE from Vancouver Public Schools, the district serving the biggest city in Gluesenkamp Perez’s district, said “there is no federal restriction on the variety of apples served in school meal programs.” Asked to share the source the representative used, Gluesenkamp Perez's communication director, Vince Morris, said he'd try to find a link and encouraged RANGE to interview the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the issue. But the US Department of Agriculture, in a statement to RANGE, specified that the “USDA does not have an ‘approved’ list of foods,” and that while schools may be required to buy American and follow specific meal plans, “USDA can confirm that schools are not limited to serving Red Delicious apples.” A quick look at the US Department of Agriculture site [list](https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-fis/foods-available?ref=rangemedia.co) shows that the government helps directly provide schools with Red Delicious apples, but also Empire, Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji and Honeycrisp. Several are more recent triumphs of apple engineering. Apples don’t just grow on trees. They get *invented.* Some of the tastiest varieties of apples, like the Fuji and the Honeycrisp, didn’t start getting released until the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Just like Brussels Sprouts went from bitter and gross to one of the tastiest vegetables because scientists [literally fixed them](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/from-culinary-dud-to-stud-how-dutch-plant-breeders-built-our-brussels-sprouts-bo?ref=rangemedia.co), the modern apple was upgraded to be bigger and better. But if these types of apples have existed for decades, why would inferior apples be served so often in school cafeterias? My last name is on Spokane’s Walters’ Fruit Ranch. Apple juice runs in my veins. If there’s an apple story here, it’s up to me to get to the core of it. So I called up the Battle Ground School District, the school district that covers the most territory in Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s congressional district. Laura Fiksdal, the director of dining services for Battle Ground, can talk a *lot* about apples. “We can serve any apple,” Fiksdal said. “We just have to get it at the right size and the right price.” There really *are* a lot of Red Delicious apples available at the Battle Ground school cafeterias, but not *only* Red Delicious. “A lot of Fujis, a lot of Galas,” Fiksdal said. “When we’re lucky, we get Granny Smith.” She’s always on the lookout for variety. “We’ve had Pink Ladies come through,” Fiksdal said. “I will jump on any fun apple we can get.” Kids, after all, can be extremely picky. Some kids will only eat red apples. Others will only eat green apples. Most kids prefer apples in a pink-ish hue, Fiksdal said. So Battle Ground tries to swap apples when they can. “These kids eat at our restaurant 180 days a year,” Fiksdal said. “That could get really boring if we just had the same apples.” Here’s where the federal government comes in. Most schools are participants in the National School Lunch Program, which helps subsidize lunches and breakfasts for students. Part of that funding can be spent through the USDA Department of Defense’s [Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program](https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-foods/usda-dod-fresh-fruit-and-vegetable-program?ref=rangemedia.co). They often only have certain varieties of apples available, Fiksdal said, and it can change week to week, depending on the season. To be clear, schools aren’t banned from purchasing any kind of apples from other sources, so long as they stick to federal rules on nutrition and calorie counts. In fact, around 80 percent of the food served in school lunches are purchased through commercial markets, according to the USDA. “This gives schools the flexibility to select the apple varieties that best meet their menu needs, including varieties not available through USDA Foods,” the USDA statement said. Battle Ground sources its produce from three different vendors — and it’s always a scramble to find the right availability and price. And size. The size of the apple is one of the most important factors. Standard apple sizes are based on how many apples can fit in a standard [apple box](https://www.stemilt.com/assets/pdfs/AppleSizing.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co): And Battle Ground schools want to stick to the smaller apples that come 163 to a box. Often those are Red Delicious. Honeycrisps may be delicious apples, but — as anyone who shops for Honeycrisp at a grocery store knows — they tend to be huge. They typically come 80 to a box. It’s about the same with Fujis right now, Fiksdal said. The issue is partly about cost-control: It doesn’t do a lot of good for a kid to take a few bites out of an apple and then throw the rest of it away. The gigantic apples we love as adults don’t work for a kid’s smaller appetite. Ideally, Fiksdal said, the apples would be small enough that kids could easily take them home if they need to. Then there’s also the issue of calories: federal rules are often more targeted on how many calories kids can have and their nutritional balance, rather than the variety of balance. There’s another big factor: Apples contain sugar. A larger apple can contain twice as much sugar as a smaller one. And so when it comes to children with diabetes, the amount of sugar can have serious ramifications for their health. “Our nursing staff, we put the menus online,” Fiksdal said. “They know what the child had for lunch. They know how much insulin the student should receive.” So knowing what size of what they ate, she noted, is “extremely important, specifically with fruit.” Ultimately, she said, finding the best apples are just part of the messy art of serving school lunch. “If you talk to any nutrition director, we are doing as much as we can with as little we are given,” Fiksdal said. “School lunch is never going to be Whole Foods, unfortunately.” ***Editor's Note: This story has been updated with a response from the USDA.*** ### Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 1: ‘Please do not bring in politics. Please do not bring in politics.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-3-federal-trial-jury-selection/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T20:01:51.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). One potential juror likes alpine skiing and brewing his own beer. Another cares for a small herd of 50 goats. A third — who was dismissed by both parties — is obsessed with HAM radio, watches protester strategy videos on Youtube and is really into the far-right blog “Decode the Left,” that spreads theories about queer Marxism. For nearly eight hours on Monday, Judge Rebecca Pennell, lawyers from the federal government and lawyers representing Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II questioned members of the prospective jury about their beliefs and potential bias. Pennell said that the goal was for the court to get through jury selection and choose 15 people — 12 jurors and three alternates — who will ultimately decide the fate of the Spokane 3\. If they were able to do that in a day, she said, she would give the defense more time for opening statements. Before proceedings even began, the court excused three jurors for hardship reasons and another eight did not show up. Unfortunately, proceedings didn’t move quickly enough to get to opening statements. It didn’t even move fast enough to get to the one hour of individual questioning each that the prosecutors and the defense were entitled to. It was a long day as the lawyers and judge tried to narrow the pool, with a few dramatic moments and a lot of fun facts as jury members introduced themselves. They shared their favorite media, their club memberships, their hobbies and any worries they might have about being fair and impartial jurors. Of the pool of jurors that numbered more than 100, more than a few love Taylor Sheridan shows. At least eight count the Bible as their favorite book. Many don’t consume any news, or exclusively get their information from word of mouth, while another batch had heard about the exact case they were called to serve on. Sixteen jurors were struck for knowing too much about the case and feeling like their knowledge would influence their ability to consider the evidence fairly and impartially, including HAM Radio Guy — whose answers to the court’s questions prompted both sets of lawyers to propose a codeword for when they universally agreed on cutting someone. One man was cut because he was “the problem juror,” and the court had heard that he kept making comments about the case to other jurors. Another four were cut because they felt that they would be strongly prejudiced either in favor of or against testimony from law enforcement officers. Two more were cut for other “just cause” reasons. Questionnaires sent out to all prospective jurors asked how they felt about the use of nonbinary pronouns and whether or not they could make fair decisions if a juror used they/them pronouns. The defense pushed two jurors who had put strong opinions on their forms, including one man who said he could make fair decisions because his “daughter is nonbinary,” and another that said he wouldn’t use they/them pronouns for a nonbinary person, but would “use their name instead.” That prompted a strong reaction from the overflow room where media and viewers watched Pennell’s reactions — the jury and the lawyers were out of frame — as one person said, “You’re using they/them pronouns right now!” The prosecutors focused their efforts on people who had written in strong negative opinions about the actions of the federal government and people with distrust of law enforcement officers. Lisa Cartier-Giroux, in particular, pushed juror number 59 about his opinions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. He described a distrust of federal agents and said “It’s tough to be an American these days,” but thought he could reach a fair verdict. Discussion on this juror reached such a fervor that when another juror walked into the courtroom on it, both she and 59 were dismissed. Still, Pennell stressed that in the group jury setting, lawyers should not ask direct questions about jurors’ politics or political values. “Please do not bring in politics,” she implored twice. “I’m not naive, I’m not a Pollyanna. I get it. But I want every juror to leave this courtroom thinking the system works and this is not about politics.” We did not get a chance to see if lawyers could abide by this, as court ended for the day. Tomorrow, we can expect the court to narrow the pool to a group of 15, who won’t know who the 12 jurors are and who the three alternates are. As a bonus, enjoy a list of favorite movies from a jury of your peers: - Apollo 13 - Waterboy - Star Wars (no specific star wars mentioned) - The Count of Monte Cristo (her favorite book is the Bible) - Any Marvel movie “don’t make me pick a favorite” - Clue - The Princess Bride - Jungle Book - The Notebook - Pretty Woman - Lincoln Lawyer - National Lampoon Christmas Vacation (watches fox and newsmax) - The Godfather - You’ve Got Mail - The original Star Wars trilogy - Alien - Dr. Zhivago - She’s the Man - Alien vs. Predator - The Lord of the Rings trilogy - Alien (again) - Christmas Story or National Lampoons Christmas Vacation - Top Gun because “I like watching those jets fly” - Any movie about the Bible - The Field of Dreams - Maverick - Top Gun - The Right Stuff - The Princess Bride - The Peanut Butter Falcon - Hunger Games - The Matrix - Ford vs. Ferrari - Meet Joe Black - True Grit - The Hobbit - Dumb and Dumber - Star Trek - Star Wars (again) - Black Hawk Down - Dodgeball - Spaceballs - Shenandoah - Westward the Women - Step Brothers - Full Metal Jacket - Hunt for Red October - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner - The Lord of the Rings (again) - Miracle - Ford v Ferrari (again) --- If this is your first time reading RANGE, **you can get our trial coverage sent right to your email by** [**signing up here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/). It’s also a great way to get reporting so obsessively thorough, it got an ICE agent called back to court to potentially be impeached. ### Hundreds of thousands in legal defense costs for city URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T23:49:11.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. **SPECIAL NOTE THIS WEEK: Our reporter Erin Sellers is posting live updates about the federal conspiracy trials against the Spokane 3, which has free speech implications for all Americans. Read their first dispatch** [**here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-1-deputy-stick-protest-brittan-morgan/) **and follow their reporting** [**here**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/)**. Now to the meetings.** Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The city of Spokane [may soon](https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/#:~:text=City%20dedicating%20hundreds%20of%20thousands%20to%20variety%20of%20lawsuits) spend hundreds of thousands of extra dollars on a variety of lawsuits it’s defending from a diverse array of accusers. - Compassionate Addiction Treatment, or CAT, may get an [influx of funding](https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/#:~:text=CAT%20funding%20may%20increase%20by%20nearly%20%24300K%20for%20next%20two%20years) over the next two years to run its emergency shelters. - The Board of County Commissioners [will accept](https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/#:~:text=Board%20to%20approve%20more%20than%20%24725K%20for%20World%20Cup%20security) nearly $800,000 from the federal government for local law enforcement agencies to police the FIFA World Cup events happening in Spokane in June and July. - The Spokane Transit Authority will likely [exempt itself](https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/#:~:text=STA%20may%20not%20maintain%20public%20records%20index) from maintaining a public records index under a state law that says exemptions can be declared if an index would be too financially burdensome. - The Spokane School District is looking to [limit immigration enforcement](https://www.rangemedia.co/hundreds-of-thousands-in-legal-defense-costs-for-city/#:~:text=Limiting%20immigration%20enforcement%20%26%20supporting%20Native%20students) at schools. **Important meetings this week:** ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### City dedicating hundreds of thousands to variety of lawsuits The city is looking to hire outside legal counsel for a series of lawsuits brought against it for a range of alleged abuses from very different plaintiffs. If approved, the city will have to spend hundreds of thousands more than it had planned. Here are some the more prominent cases: - At the end of 2024, Spokane police snipers stationed on a hill near Garland apartment complex [killed Joshua Musselman](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/), who was on the landing of his third-floor apartment. Musselman’s family is suing for wrongful death. The council wants to dedicate an additional $100,000 to fight the suit, bringing the total contract amount with Keating, Bucklin & McCormack, Inc., P.S. to $150,000. - Worship pastor Sean Feucht [sued the city](https://www.rangemedia.co/sean-feucht-spokane-lawsuit/) in 2024 because the council had denounced then-Mayor Nadine Woodward for appearing at a 2023 concert with him and the dominionist pastor Matt Shea after Shea had compared the deadly wildfires that year with gay marriage. He claimed the city had defamed him, and the council wants to spend an additional $50,000 on Pacifica Law Group’s defense, bringing the total to $300,000. - Matt Shea himself also sued the city over the same event, and the city wants to dedicate another $50,000 to Pacifica, bringing the total amount of that suit’s legal costs to $200,000. - And it wants to spend an additional $350,000 on a pair of suits filed by Andrea Kernkamp and Michael Bacon who say the Spokane Fire Department violated their rights by requiring them to be vaccinated against COVID-19\. The total amount the city would spend on those lawsuits would come to $785,000. ### New ‘opportunity zones’ may be coming to Spokane Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon are sponsoring a resolution that would recommend low-income areas of the city for a federal investment program. So-called “opportunity zones” “are federally designated areas meant to spur investment in low-income communities by providing capital gains tax benefits to investors in designated census tracts,” according to the agenda item. They are designed to bring private capital into places where there aren’t natural incentives to invest. The council has identified nine areas of the city to be eligible for the program. Here are some of them: - The area just north of the river on the west end of Spokane, including parts of Kendall Yards. - Parts of the Logan neighborhood. - Much of the East Central neighborhood. - Parts of downtown between the river and I-90. - Parts of the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood. - The area of the Cliff Cannon neighborhood south of I-90. ### New appointment to Ombuds Commission The council will likely vote to confirm Justin Ackerman as a commissioner on the Ombuds Commission, which governs the city’s police ombuds office. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 18 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 18 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Meeting moved back an hour The committee will meet at 1 pm, rather than noon. ### CAT funding may increase by nearly $300K for next two years Compassionate Addiction Treatment (CAT) may get an influx of new funding for running parts of the Scattered Site Emergency Shelter Project, bringing the total the city gives CAT for the program to $860,167\. According to the amendment document, the Washington Department of Commerce is adding $63,277 for fiscal year 2026 and $573,445 for fiscal year 2027. ### $60K tourism and cultural investment grant The Tourism and Cultural Investment Committee is recommending a series of $10,000 grants for the following local programs: - South Perry Street Fair - Terrain 17 AND Brrrzaar - Grainmaker Fest - Feast Fest 2026 - Boomjam Music & Arts Festival - Punk Rock Flea Market Spokane > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 18 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 18 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanelibrary.org/about/administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 19 at 4:30 pm* > *Hillyard Library* > *4110 N Cook St, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed here*. ## Bicycle Advisory Board (special meeting) 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Special meeting for bike facility tours The board will tour bicycle facilities and talk about opportunities for building more facilities in the future. The tour will start at the Manito Shopping Center Parking Lot near STCU, go to Ben Burr Park and end at Republic Pi Pizza. There will be no virtual attendance and no public comment. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 19 at 5:30 pm* > *Manito Shopping Center Parking Lot* > *810 E 29th Ave, Spokane* ## Spokane Ombuds Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/ombuds-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Tuesday, May 19 at 5:30 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting%5FNWNlYjdjMDktMGYwMy00NDExLWE1ZTItN2UwYzliMGY1NzI2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2295fa1d6e-6a27-496e-9117-fc34d9076661%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8a149ab-0094-4c4e-b7e3-3633a0ca624f%22%7d&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### HCD looking at more than $2M in funding for homelessness services The Housing & Community Development Department is expecting to receive $2,043,372 from the state Department of Commerce to add to its homeless services portfolio, which will bring the fund up to $14,348,833.89 for the period from July 2025 to June 2027\. The department is recommending the board divvy the funds up according to the following schedule: - Emergency Shelter: $1,106,055.85 - Homelessness Prevention $465,768.47 - Transitional Housing $299,927 - Outreach $335,073 - HMIS $140,148.60 > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 19 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Board to approve more than $725K for World Cup security The FIFA World Cup is coming to Seattle in June and July — and the Spokane County sheriff is getting hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide security. The BOCC is set to approve the funding Tuesday. The sheriff’s office received a grant of $726,158 from the Department of Homeland Security to help with security during the six matches that will take place at the Seattle Stadium during the event, which is one of the largest sporting competitions in the world. It’s not clear in the agenda material whether they’ll do security at the free Spokane watch parties or potential practices in Spokane or actually go to Seattle. But the agenda item says deputies will “support the safe execution of World Cup activities and bolster security capabilities at official FIFA-designated locations,” according to the agenda sheet. ### $1M+ contract exceeds county engineer’s estimate The county is set to award Halme Construction $1,130,394 to improve sections of Coulee Hite Road, near Deep Creek, for railroad safety. The amount far exceeds — nearly doubles — the county engineer’s estimate for the project of $656,009\. The agenda does not say why the award is larger but that the Washington Department of Transportation has committed to funding the “overage.” ### Board reappointments The BOCC will likely reappoint: - Nancy Vorhees to the Joint Spokane County & City of Spokane Airport Board. - Colin Charbonneau to the Criminal Justice Treatment Account Panel > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 19 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️***/5 peppers*** ### Funding school improvements The board is holding a special meeting this afternoon to review and approve a bid for improvement projects at Orchard Center Elementary School, West Valley City School and Centennial Middle School. A document attached to the agenda appears to compare two bids. One is from Halme Construction with a base bid of roughly $2 million. The other is from Liberty Northwest Construction with a base bid of about $1.8 million. Some of the improvements include replacing asphalt at Orchard Center Elementary School’s southwest parking lot and updating irrigation at West Valley City School’s West Playfield, according to the document. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 18 at 3:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (regular and special) *🌶️*🌶️🌶️***/5 peppers*** ### Limiting immigration enforcement & supporting Native students During its regular meeting on Wednesday, the board will hold a first reading for several policies and may approve them. The list includes two new policies: Native Education and Limiting Immigration Enforcement in Schools. The Native Education policy would “ensure that all Native students have equitable access to all programs, services, and opportunities offered within the district.” Requirements for [SPS include](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/files/DU7Q6Q67CF6C/$file/2018%20Native%20Education%205.15.2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co): - Consulting annually with local Tribal governments as well as other regional Tribal Nations with ties to the area to discuss “educational programs, services, and agreed upon educational and social-emotional outcomes.” - Support for Native language programs, language certification and offer credit for dual-credit and world-language through collaboration with Tribal Education departments. - Ensure that procedures allow Native students to be excused for absences related to cultural or spiritual ceremonies and that they can complete missed work without facing penalties. The Limiting Immigration Enforcement in Schools policy requires [school officials](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/files/DU4RK36E4E7D/$file/4300%20Limiting%20Immigration%20Enforcement%20in%20Schools%20%20%205.15.2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) to request a valid court order or judicial warrant from anyone wanting to enter school grounds, talk to students or arrest someone. School officials would also need to record the name, agency and badge number of anyone trying to enforce immigration law and forward the request to the superintendent. The superintendent or their designee would determine whether the person has a valid court order or judicial warrant. The full policies are attached to the agenda. ### Budget forecast The board’s special meeting will include a presentation that gives an update on enrollment, information on the preliminary budget and the 2028-2030 levy. Another presentation will focus on reviewing 2025-2026 priority strategies and begin discussion of the priority strategies for next year. > *Agendas* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, May 20 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane.* ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Bus stop projects need easements, property agreements The authority is actively making improvements to at least 11 bus stops that may need access to properties that are outside the public right of way. That means it might need to create temporary easements allowing it to do construction or allow public access through properties that don’t belong to it. Read about them on page 99 of [this document](https://www.spokanetransit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20260521%5FSTABDPKT.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). ### STA may not maintain public records index The state public records act requires public entities to keep public records indexes unless doing so poses an “undue burden” on the agency or government. STA staff are asking the board to allow the agency to use this exemption. A public records index lists some of the documents a public entity has to disclose to people who request them. The resolution that would implement the exemption would not make it so STA doesn’t have to disclose records. The public can request records [here](https://spokanetransit.govqa.us/WEBAPP/%5Frs/%28S%28ujkxdcummnf4wkurowt0trw0%29%29/supporthome.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, May 21 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️**🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Ellis to present FIFA law enforcement plan Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis will present the city council with his plans to police events surrounding Seattle’s FIFA World Cup matches, including sending officers to watch parties in June and July. The department will also help monitor practice for Team Egypt at Gonzaga University. Law enforcement agencies around the county are prepping for similar operations. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 19 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Comprehensive plan up for city approval Every local government in Washington has until the end of this year to establish comprehensive plans for developing their communities, and Liberty Lake is set to submit its plan to the state. City planners are asking the council to finalize the plan so it can do so. Comprehensive planning is governed by a state law called the Growth Management Act, which the legislature revised this year to require governments to start measuring their carbon emissions so they can move to reduce them in the future. It also said they must make resiliency plans to deal with the inevitable effects of climate change. Liberty Lake’s plan establishes 2022 as a baseline for emissions and encourages businesses to engage in climate friendly practices. The plan is a massive document that will define the way Liberty Lake develops until 2046. ### For/against committees for tax measure Liberty Lake is asking its voters to raise taxes to pay for more police in a measure that will appear on November ballots. To do so, it needs to create committees that will describe the arguments for and the arguments against the tax, which they’ll discuss at Tuesday’s meeting. The agenda item does not say who is up for consideration for each committee. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 19 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Trial of the Spokane 3, Day 1: Deputy said ‘I want to hit someone with a stick’ during protest URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trial-spokane-3-day-1-deputy-stick-protest-brittan-morgan/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T01:01:54.000Z Every day this week, we’ll be covering the federal trial of the Spokane 3, local protesters charged with conspiracy for protesting ICE detainments on June 11, 2025\. Read our primer on the case [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Read all our coverage of the protests and subsequent prosecutions [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). In a Monday morning ruling before jury selection began in the trial of the Spokane 3 and over arguments from the federal government, Judge Rebecca Pennell ruled that body camera footage from Sheriff’s Deputy Brittan Morgan would be admissible in court. Morgan, who is scheduled to be called as a witness by the prosecution, was captured on his own body camera calling protesters “cunts,” and stating to other deputies that he wanted to use violence against them. The sections of footage that defendant Justice Forral’s defense team wanted to introduce include the following quotes from Morgan, according to a motion they filed with the court: “God I hope they do some shit. I want to hit someone with a stick today. This is my only day off you fucking cunts,” Morgan said, according to the defense motion, then later added, “I cannot tell you how pissed off that I’m here right now. Not that I don’t want to be here, I’d love to hit someone with a stick, but this is my only day off you fucking cunts.” Forral’s lawyer Andrea George also moved to include screengrabs of Morgan pointing a less lethal shotgun at Forral from point-blank range, and stills of Morgan grabbing two protesters by the hair. She also wanted to include other material in Morgan’s file that showed he was disciplined for failing to report an instance of using force in 2023; relevant, she argued, because he also failed to report pointing his nonlethal weapon at Forral from a close distance at the June 11 protests. Later in the day on May 18, George filed a supplementary motion with more material on Morgan that showed additional policy violations from him, including previously telling someone to "“eat a bag of dicks” in 2024. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-ea0e8ea1-edbc-44b0-8719-0dfca178f6d7.png) Screenshots of bodycam footage of Spokane Sheriffs Deputy Brittan Morgan pointing a less lethal shotgun at protester Justice Forral from point-blank range. A judge ruled the footage admissible in court. George argued that this material should be admissible in court because it showed “inability to follow Sheriff Department rules, his aggressive and inappropriate conduct, and acts of dishonesty.” She wants to use the body camera footage and disciplinary record to impeach Morgan on the stand during his testimony as one of the government’s witnesses. In a motion to exclude the material about Morgan, federal prosecutors Lisa Cartier-Giroux and Rebecca Perez wrote that “None of the behavior described in the disclosed materials bears on officer credibility.” They further argued that the issues disclosed were “addressed through additional training or counseling or letters of reprimand,” and that the “respective sanctions are therefore irrelevant to the officers’ credibility and ability.” Pennell ruled that “aggressive or unprofessional speech captured on body camera would be probative of how the officer would be conducting himself on the day in question,” and that the defense could introduce it. She did state that Morgan’s prior use of force likely couldn’t be introduced because it wasn’t relevant to the case at hand. On a call with multiple reporters, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mark Gregory said he had no comment on Morgan’s conduct. He did not respond to a second call for comment from RANGE by press time. Other issues discussed at the pretrial included a motion filed by the federal prosecutors to prohibit the defense from calling Spokane Police Department Chief Kevin Hall as a witness, and to warn a handful of other defense witnesses that they could be at risk of incriminating themselves by providing testimony. “Defendants have included the names of possible witnesses who were present on June 11th, including some who based on their actions may be subject to potential prosecution for obstructing and impeding officers and/or assault on an officer,” the prosecutors wrote in a motion filed May 14\. “While the United States is not indicating by this filing that these individuals will ultimately be charged, the 5th Amendment applies to any stage of a criminal investigation or questioning where answers may be used to implicate the person in a crime, and is simply providing notice to the Court in the event the Court believes it is necessary to provide any warnings outside the presence of the jury to these witnesses or appoint counsel prior to their testimony.” The witnesses who received those warnings were Caleb Hutchins, Laura Tewel, Liz Moore and Gian Mitchell. Pennell issued a ruling this morning that separate counsel would be appointed for any of the witnesses who did not secure their own counsel. She also issued a provisional ruling allowing the defense to call Hall if the testimony was relevant to determining what defendants’ states of mind were on June 11\. **Editor's Note**: *This story has been edited to reflect an additional motion filed by George about Morgan's conduct in 2024, and correct the description of the weapon Morgan used from rifle to shotgun.* ### We’ll see you in court URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/well-see-you-in-court/ Last updated: 2026-05-16T16:23:12.000Z A lot of people have reached out to me and other members of the RANGE crew with questions and words of comfort following [Alex Duggan’s story](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/13/a-spokane-reporter-is-sought-to-testify-in-an-upco/?ref=rangemedia.co) about the attempt to compel Erin Sellers to testify at the trial of the Spokane 3 — a move that every reporter dreads, and one we chose to fight. For that piece, I gave a brief explanation of our position, and Alex interviewed Kelly McBride\*, a senior Vice President at the Poynter Institute and a nationally recognized authority on journalism ethics, who gave a more thorough explanation than I could have about why reporters try to avoid being called to testify at all costs. On Thursday afternoon, our legal team handed us written confirmation that the defense who had tried to compel Erin’s testimony had backed down. The subpoena fight is over. Erin is free to cover the trial of the Spokane 3, which starts on [Monday](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/). Our lawyers advised us not to publish anything ourselves until the matter was resolved. Now that it is, the RANGE team asked me to write something short: Erin has covered the June 11 protest and its aftermath more closely than anyone in this city. She and I took the call from Ben Stuckart before the impromptu action had even begun. She was present throughout the afternoon and into the evening, including during a two-minute window near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility’s lower gate where defendant Bajun Mavalwalla II was captured on her video, protesting. Erin is the person on our team who knows this story inside and out. If she had been compelled, she would have also been sequestered, likely for the entirety of the trial. She wouldn’t have been allowed in the courtroom except to testify. We may have even been forced to log her out of RANGE’s work communications. Our plan for daily trial coverage would have been severely harmed, and might have collapsed completely. We couldn’t let that happen. Reporting is a tool of public awareness, and the facts journalists uncover are free to be wielded however anyone — prosecutors and defendants alike — see fit. Attempting to weaponize the reporters themselves, though, was a bridge too far for us as a news team. As in most of the rest of America, there are fewer reporters working in Spokane today than there have been at any time in the last century. We need every single one of them reporting the facts of our world as we find them. Without fear or favor, as the saying goes. That’s especially true of the one reporter who — in the opinion of this editor — has covered June 11 and its aftermath more completely than anyone else. So we challenged the witness list, but we couldn’t have done it alone. Our longtime partners at [Lawyers for Reporters](https://www.vancecenter.org/initiatives/lawyers-for-reporters/?ref=rangemedia.co) have advised us almost since RANGE’s founding. For this situation, they connected us with [Davis Wright Tremaine LLP](https://www.dwt.com/about/news/2023/12/dwt-most-innovative-law-firms-in-north-america?ref=rangemedia.co) — a law firm internationally recognized for its media, First Amendment and intellectual property expertise. Neither group was forced to help at all. Both chose to do so pro bono, and on very little notice. We are deeply grateful to everyone involved. The argument DWT put forth to the legal team who sought to call Sellers was straightforward: Erin's reporting is already public. What she saw, heard, and documented is in print and on video for anyone to examine. Compelling her to take the stand would add nothing new to the public record — it would only hamper her ability to add to that record. I get why Mavalwalla’s legal team wanted her on the stand: She’s a great reporter. That’s why, for us, her work was too important to muzzle, a team of some of the most knowledgeable lawyers in America agreed, and now all of Spokane, and anyone else who takes an interest in this case, will continue to benefit from her work.Erin will be in the room on Monday. RANGE will publish daily dispatches throughout the trial. And we’ll continue to lead coverage of a story of the deepest and gravest importance — not just to Spokane, but to the rights of all Americans. We’ll see you in court. *\*On a personal note: McBride spent over a decade of her career reporting in Spokane at* the Spokesman*, and it gave me warm feelings to read a veteran of our local journalism trenches defending a member of the current corps on the ground.* ### Unlikely Political Animal Friends URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/jonathan-bingle-nicolette-ocheltree-6th-legislative-district/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T22:36:50.000Z Whenever Nicolette Ocheltree tells people she’s running for the state legislature in the Sixth District, people keep responding with the same line: For which party? It’s a joke. Kind of. Ocheltree first made her name in local politics as a left-wing activist, counterprotesting anti-abortion rallies and speaking out for tenants’ rights at Spokane City Council meetings. But then, in a surprise move in 2022, she was hired on as a legislative aide for Jonathan Bingle, the most [right-wing member](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-liberal-activist-nicolette-ocheltree-went-from-warning-spokane-about-jonathan-bingle-to-working-for/article%5Ff19a5132-0c7e-588b-bf2b-976c486f4fac.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of the council. “I started with a megaphone screaming at the City Hall building,” Ocheltree said. “I traded that for the podium mic to give testimony to council members, and then traded that for a \[council\] job, and every step of the way trying to impact change.” Her role as Bingle’s aide didn’t last long — a few months into the job, then-council president Breean Beggs offered her a better-paying job, in a subject matter she really cared about: She was made the council’s manager of Housing and Homelessness Initiatives. She thinks they moved her for strategic reasons too. “I think in some of their minds, I was making Jonathan too powerful,” Ocheltree said. She’s at least half-serious. But Bingle lost re-election for city council — blame over-confidence and a failure to knock on enough doors in a district where personal contact matters more than ideology. With Rep. [Jenny Graham](https://www.inlander.com/news/rep-jenny-graham-outed-for-her-links-to-conspiracy-theory-websites-has-a-healthy-lead/article%5F25500d5b-d287-54f8-b6df-0a82673f58d9.html?ref=rangemedia.co) retiring and Rep. Mike Volz vacating his seat to focus on his role as county treasurer, both spots are open in the 6th legislative district, covering the northwest of Spokane County. And now, Ocheltree and Bingle are both gunning for a seat. They aren’t running against each other, as interesting as that would be. Ocheltree says that would be strategically stupid. Bingle already has a bunch of money and an endorsement from the incumbent. “He's going to come out a juggernaut,” Ocheltree said. Besides, for as much as she disagrees with much of his politics, she’s not trying to sabotage him. “I'd like to be a seatmate of his,” Ocheltree said. “That's my ideal scenario." For either to succeed, they’ll have to break out of the bounds of their parties: To win in a district that hasn’t seen a Democrat in 16 years, Ocheltree will have to sway the support of independents and Republicans. And to anything done in Democrat-dominated Olympia, Bingle will have to convince progressives to work with him. Ocheltree, for her part, is making her friendship with Bingle a part of her campaign strategy — a contrast to the partisan nastiness that pervades so much of politics. "It's happened before, where people are like 'what the hell are you doing, working together?" Ocheltree said. “Maybe people will actually see that Jonathan and I get along, making each other better thinkers and better doers.” ### Cats and dogs, living together Consider, for a moment, one of the most wholesome of all clickbait tropes: the unlikely animal friendship. The hippo who hangs out with the tortoise; the snake who’s buddies with a hamster; the lion that lays down with the lamb. Bingle and Ocheltree are the Unlikely Animal Friends of the local political scene. Even aesthetically, the two make for a sharp contrast: Ocheltree’s rockabilly fashion is infused with Tumblr quirk — the Pac-Man-patterned dress she wore to the RANGE interview is cinched up with a sparkly Hello Kitty belt. Jonathan Bingle, meanwhile, typically looks like he is freshly cooled from the Michael Baumgartner-mold on the Republican Politician assembly line — though, to be fair, sometimes he has a mustache. Their politics on deeply-felt issues are the polar opposite: Bingle wants to restrict abortion rights in Washington to 13 weeks. Ocheltree says that’s the kind of thing that would get her to take up her megaphone and start yelling again. Still, it’s not hard to find similarities in their approach. “They both love to debate,” Council Member Paul Dillon said with a laugh. “That’s the common thread.” Ocheltree rattles off her thoughts on positions with a machine gun whir: Details, caveats — toss in an occasional squib of City of Hall gossip — all flooding out with a rapid pace. Bingle’s one-on-one style is often softer, relying on asking questions first, before sharing his own view. He likes to invite journalists out to coffee, not to feed them a news story, but to ask them questions about faith, say, or about their definition of Christian Nationalism. Bingle and Ocheltree said they would call the other up to argue about the stuff they disagree with, a way of refining their own points and strengthening their understanding of their own views. “People need to get back to having a little nuance in life,” Ocheltree said. Democrats, in Ocheltree’s mind, get wrong the same thing most Republicans get wrong: “we talk about communication, collaboration and coordination, but we don't actually do it.” ### Change my mind “I'm firm in my beliefs,” Bingle said. “But that doesn't mean that I'm not open to having my mind changed, particularly on things that I care deeply about.” On one hand, Bingle bristles when liberals selectively quote scripture to him to challenge his stance on issues like immigration. Yet, when I questioned him on his heavy use of Christian imagery during his unsuccessful attempt to run for U.S. Congress in 2024, he changed course. At that moment, he was walking downtown, wearing a big [cross lapel pin](https://gyazo.com/b3564f0170f453f4b60bdd0016ecbecd?ref=rangemedia.co) with an American flag pattern emblazoned across it. “I both deeply love my country and I deeply love my God, but anytime you have the American flag draped on a cross, it becomes the focal point, and not the cross itself,” Bingle said in an interview last week. “I literally took it off of my jacket in the moment, like, *this is wrong*. I threw that pin away, got rid of it.” Two years before that, Bingle had another regret: he lied to me. He had filed an ethics complaint against former City Council President [Ben Stuckart](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/may/04/councilman-jonathan-bingle-issues-complaint-about-/?ref=rangemedia.co), and had flat-out denied to me that anyone other than Ocheltree had assisted him. In fact, an unprotected Google Doc revealed an edit history that involved multiple regional political operatives had been heavily involved in proposing, drafting and refining the complaint and associated press releases. "I contemplated resigning over that situation. I'm not kidding,” Bingle said. “I, in this moment, failed so miserably." But even here, Ocheltree said she was proud of him: he had been pushed to file a second, ethics complaint against then-City Council President Breean Beggs too, but had refused. She saw him wrestle with the ethical struggle. "He struggled like all day, literally looking physically ill,” Ocheltree said. “Part of that is because he does care." In fact, Ocheltree may be the most persuasive, Bingle suggests, when pushing him to do what he already knows is the right course. “Because of the relationship we had, she would be able to say, Jonathan, this seems to me to be in conflict with who you are and what I know you to believe,” Bingle said. ### Two pariahs in a pod Other decisions, however, Bingle doesn’t regret. His very first month in office in 2022, amid the ongoing COVID pandemic, Bingle refused to wear a mask in City Hall. In one move, he’d violated a state mandate and pissed off fellow council members. Back then, the City Council passed a resolution to not only censure Bingle, but to urge the Mayor to enforce rules that would have prevented him from entering City Hall entirely. “I was a pariah from everybody, and that was a really, really lonely time,” Bingle said, “but I knew it was the right thing to do.” Bingle acknowledges that N95 masks, worn correctly, really [did keep](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10509348/?ref=rangemedia.co) people safer from COVID-19, though research also shows that cloth and surgical masks were much less effective. But he saw his anti-mask stance as a symbolic protest, protesting a whole suite of complaints about what he saw as the government’s absurd COVID responses, from contradictory guidance on masks from the feds, and state rules resulting in “churches being shut down while weed stores could be open.” The government could pick and choose which businesses were considered essential — and under their standard, his bar trivia business was considered, well, *trivial*. “They ruined the businesses like mine for very specific political purposes,” Bingle said. “For me, that was a great injustice that was done to a number of folks throughout the country.” Ocheltree, too, has stepped on toes in City Hall, though in her case, it’s less often from defying the rules so much as trying to get them enforced. She says she’s pored over receipts from the region’s shelter providers over the years and has identified irregularities. When she believed that members of the Continuum of Care Board, which coordinates the region’s response to homelessness, were violating federal conflict-of-interest rules, she said she reported it to multiple officials in City Hall. That got her yelled at, she said. “This is just a series of things where, when I witness something that I don't think is right, and I pointed out where, I ended up getting a trouble for it,” Ocheltree said, “and then somehow that's me ‘being not a liberal’ or ‘not a Democrat’.” Sometimes, she’s taken matters into her own hands. When city council members held an unrecorded meeting discussing cutting staff positions, and wouldn’t let her attend as a staff member, she took the day off, attended as a citizen, and recorded [it herself](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-budget-meetings-inaccessible/). Along with two other council staffers, Ocheltree [sued the city](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=12181217&caseNumber=2520347632&subNum=2.0&pageNum=10&ref=rangemedia.co) last year over the improperly calculated salaries and underpaid wages for city council employees. She tries to strictly police her own ethics too: She sent me a late-night Facebook message after her interview with RANGE, worried that the picture I took of her with the Spokane County courthouse in the background could possibly be construed as using county facilities for campaign purposes. I assured her it was fine. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-ddccb549-4ec0-4f0f-9d90-9c7019f8d551.jpeg) Nicolette Ocheltree fretted that this photograph might break the rules. (Photo by Daniel Walters) ### Different kind of experience Both Bingle and Ocheltree, Council Member Paul Dillon said, have a “flair for the dramatic.”“They’re both [theater kids](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/us/politics/theater-kid-insult-politics.html?ref=rangemedia.co),” Dillon said. “There’s a place for that in politics.” After all, plenty of previous Spokane council members, from [Steve Eugster](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/may/30/steve-eugster-tenacious-spokane-councilman-who-ins/?ref=rangemedia.co) to [Ben Stuckart](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-city-council-president-ben-stuckart-uses-smoke-to-ream-opponents-of-a-renewable-energy/article%5Ffa190f48-6c8e-5d0e-acc2-86b983bb7223.html?ref=rangemedia.co), have had their stagy moments. At times, Dillon said, it has seemed like Ocheltree had influenced Bingle, such as on housing issues when Bingle voted to decrease parking regulations to make it cheaper to build new housing. “Some of those conversations with Nicolette opened the door with that new thinking,” Dillon said. But then, he said, Bingle would swing back hard to the right. When it came to rights for transgender people, Dillon said, Bingle introduced a slew of conservative red meat to “legislation that he knew wasn’t going to pass, to create tension.” Council Member Zack Zappone credits Bingle for friendliness and for good intentions, but argues that his pursuit of culture wars distracted him from his job on council. He points out Bingle skipped a number of council meetings, including one city council meeting, to talk about transgender issues at a [Mead School District meeting](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/13/spokane-council-to-consider-mirroring-lgbt-protect/?ref=rangemedia.co). In fact, at one point, Ocheltree became so frustrated with Bingle’s approach to trans issues that she froze him out for a month. “I still had to occasionally talk to him at work, but I stopped answering his calls or calling him outside of the office,” she said. Running for the conservative-leaning 6th District, of course, his strain of social conservatism won’t necessarily harm Bingle. The district repeatedly elected Michael Baumgartner, who could shake hands across the aisle with one hand, while [lobbing bombs](https://www.inlander.com/news/the-two-baumgartners/article%5F3faff3d3-72a3-55af-b76d-3d507d49e9b0.html?ref=rangemedia.co) with the other. Instead, Ocheltree faces the big uphill climb. She’ll have to prove she’s Democrat enough for the primary, but flexible enough in the general. In the primary, she’ll have to contend with Democrat Michaela Kelso, the candidate who unsuccessfully ran against Rep. Graham in the same district in 2024\. She points to her record scrutinizing the government on fiscal issues. “I do think that there's a lot of waste, fraud and abuse,” Ocheltree said. “Those all sound like, you know, Republican talking points, but I do think it happens.” She points out, for example, that the city of Spokane doesn't buy bottled waters for homeless shelters in bulk, instead relying on the pricier method of reimbursing individual shelters for buying their own water bottles. Bingle cites governmental waste as a huge problem too. But there’s a notable difference in where they see the waste. “There's a ton of programs that Washington state is funding that we shouldn't be funding,” Bingle said. “Probably the glaring example is all the spending that we're doing on homelessness, right? It clearly and obviously has not been working.” West coast states frequently had some of the highest homelessness rates in the country, a problem that correlates tightly with the region’s low supply and high cost of housing. “It's a failed philosophy and failed ideology that is driving this thing,” Bingle said of government spending on homelessness. “It is just not a core governmental function. That level of charity belongs in the private area, not in the public.” But Ocheltree has a more personal kind of experience. She was homeless herself in 7th grade, living out of a VW bus. Sometimes, when men had finished paying her mom for sex, she got to sleep in a hotel. So while she’s seen plenty of opportunities to improve the spending, she’s also seen the success of programs like the state support for dismantling the Camp Hope homeless encampment in a compassionate way. “If the private sector can address this problem better and without public funds, then I’m not sure what’s stopping them from doing that right now,” Ocheltree said. The August 4th primary election is months away, but Bingle has already made an endorsement for the other 6th district seat: Republican Isaiah Paine. But Ocheltree? She may give Bingle her support anyway. “I might endorse him,” Ocheltree said. “I’m certainly going to be honest about the fact that I want him to win.” ### A rundown on the Spokane 3 trial URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/spokane-3-trial/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T14:00:36.000Z We have two segments for this week's episode! **During the first segment,** RANGE reporters Daniel Walters and Val Osier discussed the former Mayor Nadine Woodward's tort claim against the City of Spokane and the context around it. (*Long story short: Woodward is threatening a $10 million lawsuit in response to a 2023 resolution from Spokane City Council, saying the resolution violated her free speech rights.*) Find the story here: [Nadine and the supremesDoes ex-Mayor Woodward have a chance to win $10 million from the city she led?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-148.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Aspect-1.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/nadine-and-the-supremes/) **During the second segment,** Erin joined Daniel and Val to talk about RANGE's reporting on the June 11, 2025 protest and its aftermath, including developments in federal trials against Spokanites. Find RANGE's full coverage on the protests and federal trials here: [Spokane Protests – RANGE MediaOn June 11, 2025, protesters attempted to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking two detained young men who were in the US legally to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. We reported from the ground for nearly twelve hours as federal agents shoved protesters and the media and threatened federal charges against Spokanites \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-149.png)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/sa4a6090-1.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Students battle EWU to keep gender studies URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/students-ewu-gender-studies/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T01:16:11.000Z The students marched in just as the words “Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies” left the lips of Eastern Washington University’s (EWU) faculty government president Ginelle Hustrulid. They stood along the walls behind faculty senators seated at tables, holding signs inscribed with quotes from Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) graduates. Hustrulid was about to call for an advisory vote on the fate of the Bachelor of Arts in GWSS degree, which may land on the chopping block of the EWU Board of Trustees this summer. “I was able to learn more about myself and my place in the world, about the good I can do in it, than I ever would have without Gender Studies,” one sign said. It was May 11, during the regular faculty government meeting, and GWSS Interim Director Jessi Willis took the mic. “Yesterday was Mother's Day,” Willis told the group gathered in a Tawanka Hall conference room. “However you spent the day, it's true for all of us that we come to this planet through the body of a woman.” To a faculty government that was about to consider a proposal to axe the GWSS degree from the university — one of nine programs Provost Lorenzo Smith had proposed to cut — Willis narrated a history of hard-won victories for women through the history of the United States and at EWU. “The first women’s studies courses at EWU were taught in 1974,” she said. That year “was also the first time women could apply for a line of credit without the permission of her father or husband.” Willis noted that the Trump administration is trying to erode those rights. Part of that effort: sidelining or getting rid of any programs that emphasize women’s studies — a central mission of GWSS. A few seats to Willis’s left sat Smith, the provost who came to EWU in June of last year — a couple of years into the university’s new branding as a “polytechnic” institution, meaning one that emphasizes hands-on education rather than theory as its core mission. He took his own mic to respond to Willis’s remarks: “ I recognize the value in the GWSS curriculum,” he said. “ I, in fact, met with some students last fall after the Board of Trustees meeting … and I said, ‘Please come to my office. I want to hear from you.’ They never followed up, OK? It was an opportunity for me to get that qualitative assessment, hear from them. And so I encourage students, please, yes, there's great value in what you're doing right here, raising visibility. But please reach out also to people like me so I can hear from you directly, and we can have that exchange. So again, qualitative assessment on top of numbers is not — it, it's critical, it is essential.” Smith and a program review committee at the university are talking about cutting the nine degree programs because they have graduated fewer than 10 students on average per year for the past half-decade. Those programs: the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies; the Master of Science in Applied Math; the Bachelor of Science in Data Science; the Bachelor of Arts in English as a Second Language; the Bachelor of Arts in GWSS; the Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs; the Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning; the Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood & Special Education; and the Bachelor of Science in Applied Technology. The faculty government was gathered in Tawanka that day to give advisory votes on those cuts. The professors recommended cutting both master’s degree programs. They tabled discussion on Data Science, English as a Second Language and GWSS. (Those cuts had been contested by senators, and the GWSS cut had been challenged by the Undergraduate Affairs Council.) They recommended that everything else should not be cut. But two senators questioned the idea of cutting GWSS. First, Dale Garraway, a professor of mathematics, pointed out universities have a responsibility to preserve diversity programming at a time when marginalized communities are under attack in the US. “Maybe it's time to just take a small stand and say, ‘No, we're gonna protect this’ — not because it's a big money winner, and I would argue it's probably not a big money loser, but because it's the right thing to do in the situation we're living in,” Garraway said. “We need to push back against what's happening in this country.” Some degree programs at EWU, like biology and general education, graduated more than 100 students in recent years, but Martin Garcia, a professor of Chicanx studies, suggested the number 10 was arbitrary. “I heard Provost Smith talk about numbers,” Garcia said, “and I was surprised when we asked: ‘Tell us a little bit about why that number?’ There didn't seem to be a logical explanation other than, ‘Well, it was just a number.’” In an interview after the meeting, Smith addressed this criticism, saying every university has to grapple with programs that don’t graduate a lot of students. “Even at a 35,000-student university, if there's a degree program that has one graduate per year, you kind of have to ask some questions,” he said, noting that he derived the 10 graduate figure from a program in the University of Texas system and that nothing is finalized. “This is not a new concept at all. It is a conversation starter. … It absolutely demands additional qualitative assessment, which is not unlike what you heard here. At some point, I'm gonna reflect upon everything that I've heard very carefully and make a recommendation to the president.” Annette Carpenter, a GWSS major who protested on May 11, told RANGE they chose EWU because it had one of the strongest arrays of diversity-oriented programs they could find in the American West. “I think the school would struggle less if they highlighted those programs and instead made it a selling point,” said Carpenter, who will graduate this year and is accepted to the master’s degree program in social work at EWU. Actually, EWU is not struggling that hard financially, Smith said. The proposed cuts are about priorities and resource allocation. “We have resources,” he told RANGE after the faculty government meeting. ”They are limited. We have to make the most of them for the taxpayers, right? We are serving the taxpayers, and so we take our resources and make the most of them and put them in areas that are in demand.” The faculty’s advice now falls in the lap of Smith, who, based on that recommendation and other criteria, will tell the university president and the governing Board of Trustees what he thinks should be invested in and what he thinks should be cut. The BOT, which “directs the university’s implementation of initiatives and programs and controls the university’s property and facilities” and hires and fires the president, according to [its website](https://www.ewu.edu/about/leadership/bot/?ref=rangemedia.co), will make a final decision at its June 25 meeting. But students, alumni and supporters of the GWSS degree aren’t waiting for that meeting — which will take place during the summer when most students are not in classes and many are out of town — to make their opinions known to the BOT. On May 15, they will again protest at a meeting, this one the BOT’s May gathering. Starting at noon, just before the board opens the floor to public comment at 1 pm, students, organized by the student club Scary Feminists will rally outside of Tawanka, where the board will meet, for a “Show Out.” Demonstrators at the faculty government meeting handed out flyers advertising this future demonstration. They are also distributing [a petition](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OL-vit67mpqARDTrHp8M-hIdhxdND%5FfTxL5v6JZ76V8/viewform?edit%5Frequested=true&fbzx=-7877495317613796384&ref=rangemedia.co) to keep the GWSS degree, which is currently signed by nearly 600 people and organizations. In 2024, EWU [rebranded itself](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-university-polytechnic/) “The Region’s Polytechnic,” a label that emphasizes hands-on learning programs rather than theory. Many faculty worried this would hurt the humanities programs at EWU. In the lead up to that decision, faculty evaluated all programs at the school and recommended many for cuts. GWSS professor and former GWSS Director Judy Rohrer wrote [an op-ed](https://www.rangemedia.co/ewu-pride-op-ed-eastern-washington/) in RANGE in July 2024 outlining a pattern at the university of cutting off resources to programs that help queer programming and noting the [abrupt 2023 firing](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-university-diversity-equity-inclusion-delgado/) of Vanessa Delgado, who’s led the school’s Student Equity And Inclusion Services. Another signal program in that discussion was the football program, which faculty suggested should be moved to a less expensive conference. That seemed to be a nonstarter for the BOT, which kept football where it was even as it axed or downsized other academic programs. Some faculty have also pointed out that EWU President Shari McMahan was awarded a 13% raise in 2025, bringing her salary to nearly half a million dollars, at $485,467\. This is a much larger salary than most public university presidents in the US, the average of which is $369,121, and some feel it reflects a lapse in priorities as cuts are being proposed for academic programs. Asked about this, EWU spokesperson Linn Parish sent the following statement to RANGE via email. “The program discontinuance process is in place to ensure Eastern Washington University’s offerings and resources align with student demand,” Parish wrote. “The process isn’t unique to EWU, nor is it exclusive to this academic year. Put another way, the process isn’t in place to address specific budgetary needs or challenges. In that context, the decisions made through the process aren’t related to compensation decisions for EWU employees. President McMahan received an increase in salary about a year ago to align her compensation with that of her male counterparts at the other two regional universities in Washington state, Central Washington University and Western Washington University. This is precisely the type of equity decision that those who advocate for gender studies have championed for all women.” For his part, Garcia, the senator who questioned the metric of 10 graduates, pointed out that the university was thinking about deemphasizing programs that support women, gender and diverse sexualities at a time when both EWU and the faculty government are led by women. “I just think it's kind of ironic that we may decide on the elimination of women and gender studies when we have women in leadership positions,” Garcia said. “I hope the women’s and gender studies major continues.” > Editor's note: We updated this story to reflect the correct spelling of Jessi Willis, the Interim Director of the Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies program. And we added a link to a petition to keep the degree program. ### COLUMN: Why we need Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/column-why-we-need-gwss/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T21:50:53.000Z In the Fall of 2025, I began my first year as a student at Eastern Washington University. Coming into higher education as a “non-traditional” student in my thirties, I was full of zest and excitement for the path I was embarking upon. In my first quarter, I took Introduction to Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies (GWSS), taught by Dr. Jessi Willis. By the end of the first week, the course had flipped me upside down, and I began challenging everything I thought I knew. GWSS impacted me more than any subject matter ever has. I quickly began to understand the interconnected power structures at play in our world and how they disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. My mind expanded almost instantly, and anger and passion began filling my body. I resonated with the material and information so deeply that I knew I needed to continue doing the work. During winter quarter, I took my second GWSS course: Social Policy and Social Justice taught by Dr. Judy Rohrer. I developed a new awareness of the intersectional issues affecting marginalized populations worldwide. The material was heartbreaking and gut-wrenching at times, but ultimately gave me the motivation to learn more. I started hearing rumors that the administration was planning to eliminate the GWSS major. “They can’t do that, can they?” I thought to myself. I didn’t quite understand the severity of what was happening, but I increasingly saw devastation on the faces of many students and faculty. It became clear that the GWSS major was among a handful on the Provost’s list of “low performing” majors slated for elimination. The GWSS program mobilized on different fronts. On February 19, GWSS brought Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown to campus to speak about the importance and impact of GWSS. The event was a success, and afterward, many students, faculty, community members, and alumni decided to share their voices at the Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting. We signed up for the BOT public comment period the next day. However, before we spoke, BOT President Uriel Iñiguez said, “We have no plans to eliminate any programs at this time.” We all looked at each other, confused at this remark, and quickly realized we were being gaslighted. That remark was the gas that lit our fire, and one by one, [students, faculty, and alumni spoke about their personal experiences with GWSS](https://drive.google.com/file/d/10OzUWX%5FYBoCX7FcQpFHrczD-Wy0JmMp3/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co), how the field impacted them and the world around them. Each person spoke from the heart; you could feel the emotion circulating through the room. Months have gone by. The Faculty Senate will vote on elimination of the major on June 1\. Then the provost will make his recommendation and the BOT will make their final decision later in June, when most students and faculty are gone. This is by design, and when I think of it, I cannot help but prepare for the loss of the major. GWSS is more than a major or a program; it’s a fundamental part of understanding the societal structures we all live in, and then pushing to change those structures to create a more just world. GWSS empowers its students to go beyond themselves and engage in meaningful work specifically intended to help others. The professors who teach this work are among the most dedicated individuals, with a passion and care that extend far beyond the classroom. The lifeblood of this university is its students and faculty, without them this institution would be nothing. On Friday, May 15, student organization Scary Feminists is hosting an on-campus rally to [“Show Out for the GWSS Major”](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1apidE3yaMUrm1sNUPsmIVh28vqeQsMQq/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co) before the BOT meeting’s public comment period at 1 pm. I plan to look each one of the trustees in the eyes and tell them I am ashamed – ashamed to fund an institution that blindsides, gaslights, and dismisses its faculty and students. This is especially true when we are right in front of you, telling you what we need. Decisions like the one to eliminate the GWSS major from Eastern’s curriculum speak volumes as to whom the university prioritizes and who it believes is disposable. ### What you need to know before the Spokane 3 trial URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/what-you-need-to-know-before-the-spokane-3-trial/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T16:48:58.000Z On Monday, May 18, three Spokanites will stand trial for their roles in the June 11 protest that sought to stop Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from detaining two young Venezuelan men who were in the US legally. Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II — along with six others — were charged by the federal government with conspiracy to impede a federal officer by using threats, force or intimidation to stop ICE agents from discharging their duties. The other six people arrested, including former City Council President Ben Stuckart who posted the original call asking protesters to come to the ICE building on that day, took plea deals that allowed them to avoid the threat of federal prison. But come Monday, the three remaining defendants will have their day in court as they seek to prove that their actions on that fateful day in June were those of nonviolent civil disobedience. They say they didn’t plan to cause harm to, threaten or intimidate any officers, and don’t deserve federal felony charges. ### The charge Archer, Forral and Mavalwalla II were charged under 18 U.S. Code § 372 - Conspiracy to impede or injure an officer. Here’s how that offense is defined under the code: *If two or more persons in any State, Territory, Possession, or District conspire to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat, any person from accepting or holding any office, trust, or place of confidence under the United States, or from discharging any duties thereof, or to induce by like means any officer of the United States to leave the place, where his duties as an officer are required to be performed, or to injure him in his person or property on account of his lawful discharge of the duties of his office, or while engaged in the lawful discharge thereof, or to injure his property so as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede him in the discharge of his official duties, each of such persons shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six years, or both.* For a jury to find the three defendants guilty, the federal government has to prove both that two or more people agreed to use “force, intimidation or threat,” to keep any federal officer from doing their job, to injure any federal officer or to injure the property of any federal officer. If the prosecutors can do that, they must also prove every person on trial knowingly joined the agreement. Each defendant will be considered individually, despite all being on trial at once. That means one defendant could be found guilty while another could be found innocent. ### The day in question On June 11, 2025, protesters tried to stop ICE agents from taking two young men who were in the US legally to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. The protest was sparked by a Facebook post from Stuckart, who was the official guardian for one of those men. Hundreds of people showed up to the spontaneous protest, leading to a tense standoff with local law enforcement. Some protesters sat in front of a white bus and a red van waiting to transport the detainees. Early in the day, someone on a bike rode up, spray-painted the windshield of the white transport bus and left. Later, someone let out the air in the tires of that bus and someone slashed the tires of the red transport van. Spokane police and county sheriff’s deputies arrested 31 people, but most of the charges were for “failure to disperse” and were later dropped. Then, about a month later, the federal government arrested nine people now known as the “Spokane 9” on suspicion of “conspiracy to impede or injure officers.” Two of the nine were also charged with “assault on a federal officer.” All nine initially pleaded not guilty and were awaiting trial. In December, six of the nine, including the two charged with assault, took plea deals. Since then, attorneys on both sides have been preparing for the May 18 trial. (All our coverage can be found [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/).) ### The Protesters on Trial #### Jac Archer Jac Archer, one of the three defendants on trial, is the Co-Executive Director of Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR). They are also a parent, a law student at a local university and a [longtime activist](https://www.cheneyfreepress.com/story/2021/02/04/education/jac-archer-named-ewu-activist-in-residence/27758.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in the Spokane community. Neither Archer nor their lawyers responded to requests for comment for this profile, but they have a longstanding record in the community. In 2021, they were named Eastern Washington University’s Activist in Residence, where they hosted workshops on activism and protesting. The following [year](https://pjals.org/jac-archer-honored-by-naacp-and-the-learning-project/?ref=rangemedia.co), Archer was honored by the Spokane NAACP and The Learning Project, receiving the Emerging Leader award for their community work. Colleagues described Archer as intentional, authentic and courageous in an announcement about the award. While we were unable to talk to Archer for this story, Reverend Walter Kendricks — the current co-executive director of SCAR and the original co-founder of the organization alongside Sandy Williams — spoke to RANGE about Archer. He considers them a friend in addition to being a coworker and described Archer as “super intelligent, passionate and learned.” As long as Kendricks has known Archer, they’ve been a “policy wonk.” “It’s one thing to have an activist heart, and it’s another to get involved in policy,” Kendricks said. Jac has both, he noted. While Kendricks wasn’t at the ICE building on June 11 (he was leading a Bible study at his church) he was shocked to see that Archer was charged for their participation in the protest. At other actions, like the George Floyd protests in 2020, Kendricks witnessed Archer and said they always had a “calm demeanor, is unconfrontational and is a law-obeyer … they’re not wild and crazy, just exercising their right to peacefully gather.” Kendricks characterized Archer’s indictment as “vindictive” and an attempt to intimidate local activists from participating in their Constitutional right to protest: “We know that they are innocent. We know that these are bogus charges.” Still, Archer has balanced their legal defense and their classload, their family, their friendships and their work at SCAR with the grace and attitude Kendricks knows them for. “I think the world of Jac … Anytime you’re in the criminal justice system, it’s not a place that you want to be,” Kendricks said. “Jac is facing it with the courage, dignity and intelligence that I would expect from them.” Jac choosing to fight the charges all the way to a jury trial instead of taking a plea deal says “all you need to know,” about who they are, according to Kendricks. “Instead of taking a plea, they’re willing to stand up for those things that they believe in. They believe that they broke no laws, which I believe also,” Kendricks said. “You gotta fight for those things that you believe in. It’s very simple: you gotta fight.” #### Justice Forral Maybe Justice Forral was always destined to be an activist — their given name could be seen as prophetic. While Forral and their lawyers also did not provide comment by press time, they have a well-documented history of work trying to improve the circumstances of marginalized people in the Spokane community. They currently serve as a Human Rights Commissioner for the city of Spokane, and they previously worked for SCAR. They’ve been a featured [speaker](https://www.gonzaga.edu/academics/centers-institutes/center-for-the-study-of-hate/international-conference-on-hate-studies/previous-themes/2023/about/conference-speakers/justice-forral?ref=rangemedia.co) at Gonzaga University and a board member of the Washington State Tenants Union.They’ve worked on political action [campaigns](https://ywcaspokane.org/2023-sept-rsj-spotlight-justice-forral/?ref=rangemedia.co), like the No New Jail Initiative opposing the county’s [2023 efforts](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jan/31/if-spokane-county-voters-want-a-new-jail-itll-prob/?ref=rangemedia.co) to get voters to fund a new jail. They’ve appeared in RANGE coverage of local [police accountability efforts](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-reform-roundtable-breakdown-scar-spokane/), queer rights activism after [repeated vandalism](https://www.rangemedia.co/vandalism-rainbow-pride-spokane/) of rainbow crosswalks around town and our [People’s Priorities series](https://www.rangemedia.co/peoples-priorities-spokane-city-council-community/) on what Spokane community organizers hoped to see in Mayor Lisa Brown’s first term. In November of 2023, the Spokane City Council [shut a meeting down early](https://www.rangemedia.co/point-disorder-spokane-city-council-public-forum/) when Forral used their public testimony time to read a transcript from a previous city council meeting out loud. Then-Council President Lori Kinnear gavelled the meeting to a close after repeatedly interrupting Forral, interpreting a council rule that requires speakers to direct comments to the president to mean that they couldn’t say the names of other council members. After Forral’s public comment, which ended when the council vacated the chambers, they held their own council meeting, inviting members from the public to come to the front of the room to share testimony. That kind of action is what Forral’s friend and fellow activist David Brookbank knows them for. Forral and Brookbank met nearly a decade ago, during efforts to [stop Border Patrol agents](https://theintercept.com/2019/12/10/border-patrol-greyhound-buses-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) from conducting raids on buses and at the Intermodal Center, Spokane’s Greyhound bus station. Brookbank doggedly documented Border Patrol’s actions at the bus station (which made [national news](https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2019/01/27/border-patrol-interrogated-portland-comedian-mohanad-elshieky-at-a-greyhound-station-in-spokane-they-kept-repeating-the-word-illegals/?ref=rangemedia.co) after Portland comedian Mohanad Elshieky was interrogated at the Spokane station, eventually winning a $35,000 settlement from CBP). One of his first interactions with Forral was when he took the young activist to the Intermodal Center. Brookbank remembers standing in front of a local bar and pointing out Border Patrol vehicles parking near the station to Forral. Forral wanted to get closer, see more. “They’re very courageous,” Brookbank said. After the Spokane City Council passed a law restricting Border Patrol from entering the [Intermodal Center](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/oct/22/council-passes-law-restricting-border-patrol-searc/?ref=rangemedia.co), Brookbank and Forral kept fighting for the rights of some of Spokane’s most vulnerable community members. In the last few years, they’ve worked closely with Forral, speaking against Spokane’s role in the military-industrial complex that helps enable the genocide in Palestine and bombings in the Middle East. Forral’s passion, courage and skill with technology were instrumental to these community protests, Brookbank said. Once, Brookbank saw Forral emceeing a protest in front of the courthouse while wearing a gas mask. As they spoke, they left an impression on Brookbank: “You just knew that you were in the presence of a person to be reckoned with.” Brookbank knows Forral as more than a dedicated community activist, though. They’re also a comedian, braiding biting wit and political commentary into their stand-up sets, Brookbank said. They’re not afraid to laugh at themselves or poke fun at their stressful circumstances — see: their comedy shows both after their initial arrest on [local charges they still face](https://www.rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/) (“While I’m Out!”) and for their recent birthday before the trial began (“Justice Fest.”) Forral makes the people around them braver, Brookbank said, more willing to stand up for what they believe in. On June 11, Brookbank saw people stand their ground against federal action they thought to be unjust. “When somebody like Justice acts on their understanding of the world as it is and decides this is a moment, a collective moment, where we need to all stand up and push back, there's an opportunity for our version — the people's version — of history to be written,” he added. “I love Justice and I worry for them … If they’re on trial, then we should all be on trial.” #### Bajun Mavalwalla II Bajun Mavalwalla II, the third defendant on trial, works construction, sometimes devoting his time to fixing up friends’ homes, *pro bono*. He used to be in the Army National Guard, where he worked during the 2010s as a Japanese linguist and served a combat tour in Afghanistan. Like the others in the case, Mavalwalla is charged with conspiracy to impede a federal officer for participating in the June 11 demonstration. The conspiracy the prosecution is alleging played out on Facebook, but Mavalwalla told RANGE he saw the post as a screenshot on Reddit. That day, he’d planned to be at a nephew’s t-ball game not far away, so when he saw Stuckart's call for help, he went to the ICE office on Cataldo Avenue to “ see what this is about," he said in a recent interview. “I was actually planning on still leaving and going back and watching the game,” he said. “But when I got there, it very quickly became obvious that I was gonna be there.” He helped block the gate through which the federal officers wanted to transport the young men they’d arrested. Like Archer, Mavalwalla wasn’t arrested the day of the protest, but more than a month later on July 15\. That morning, he noticed federal officers amassing outside his home. His father Bajun Mavalwalla, who is one of about 10 of challengers for Michael Baumgartner‘s seat in the Fifth Congressional District representing Eastern Washington, recorded [video](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/army-veteran-faces-conspiracy-charges-after-participating-in-anti-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) of the veteran calmly being searched and detained by FBI officers. The younger Mavalwalla’s partner Kate Gaston thinks he was targeted because of his name and ethnicity. “If you look at the nine people who were indicted — the number of white men that were indicted versus the number of white men that were at the protest — they absolutely saw ‘Bajun Mavalwalla’ and went, ‘Yeah, that's a brown person,’” Gaston said. The Mavalwallas have [historical ties](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/02/fbi-arrest-us-army-veteran-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Indian%20independence%20leader%2C-,Mahatma%20Gandhi,-.) to Mahatma Gandhi, the nonviolent Indian independence activist. The younger Mavalwalla says that’s part of why he’s still fighting the case. The younger Mavalwalla has trauma from seeing colleagues blown up in the Middle East, but he’s trying to move past that with Gaston, who is also an Army veteran (she whispered to RANGE that she, a former combat medic, has more medals than Mavalwalla). They bought land in rural Eastern Washington to set up a future of peace for themselves and their four children. And the younger Mavalwalla has taken up a mantle of social justice. He founded a nonprofit that helped dozens of Afghan refugees escape their country when it fell to the Taliban after US President Joe Biden pulled American forces from Afghanistan in 2021. But he doesn’t talk to that community anymore — it’s unsafe. Because of the crosshairs the government has on him and its program to oust Afghan refugees from the Unites States, it’s too dangerous for him to stay in touch with them. “I feel like it's too big of a risk for me to even talk to these people,” he said. “These people depended on my organization to get food and places to stay and escape and, you know, like, make their way to safety,” the younger Mavalwalla told RANGE. “It's really hard to be in a position where I'm talking to them while they're still trying to navigate through whatever this is that we're going through, and I'm putting them at more risk than is necessary.” His sadness about this comes from a deep empathy for others, Gaston said. It’s why she loves him. “ Bajun is one of the most caring and thoughtful people I know when it comes to other people. He's not always the kindest to himself,” Gaston said. “He expects perfection from himself. Bajun definitely thinks the world should be fair, that if we do the right thing, things should be OK, that if you follow the golden rule, life will be nice.” On the national stage, Mavalwalla has been perhaps the most visible of the Spokane 3\. He was the subject of a recent [segment](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/army-veteran-faces-conspiracy-charges-after-participating-in-anti-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) on PBS News and [articles](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/02/fbi-arrest-us-army-veteran-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) [in](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/20/us-army-veteran-ice-protest-trial?ref=rangemedia.co) [*The Guardian*](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/05/ice-arrest-bajun-mavalwalla-veterans?ref=rangemedia.co)by reporter Aaron Glantz. But he’s careful with his platform, given the precarity of his situation. He doesn’t know what will happen with his case, but he is hopeful. “I have to believe that justice will prevail,” he said. “There's always a risk, but I think that risk is pretty low. … But I don't know what will happen. I have to wait and see.” \~ AH ### Other names you need to know #### The judge ***Hon. Rebecca Pennell,*** was appointed as judge of the US Court for the Eastern District of Washington by former President Joe Biden in 2024\. Pennell previously served as a judge for the Court of Appeals of Washington State from 2016 to 2024 and as a Federal Defender for Eastern Washington and Idaho from 2000 to 2016\. #### The lawyers ***Todd Blanche***, acting US Attorney General — he’s the name at the top of court filings but isn’t actively on the case ***Lisa Cartier-Giroux***, Assistant United States Attorney, prosecutor in the case ***Rebecca Perez***, Assistant United States Attorney, prosecutor in the case ***Andrea George***, Executive Director, Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington & Idaho and Forral’s attorney ***Amy Rubin,*** Federal Defender, Eastern Washington and Idaho and Forral’s attorney ***Carl Oreskovich,*** Archer’s attorney from Etter, McMahon, Lamberson, Clary, & Oreskovich P.C. Has represented clients in high-profile cases like Gonzaga Basketball player Tyon Grant-Foster’s [quest](https://www.swxlocalsports.com/spokane/gonzaga/mens-basketball/gonzagas-tyon-grant-foster-granted-additional-season-of-eligibility-by-spokane-county-superior-court-judge/article%5F39d15c01-0d17-4cf0-aa99-dbb3f86ccb2c.html?ref=rangemedia.co) for an extra year of eligibility and [defending](https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2011/11/spokane%5Fofficer%5Fconvicted%5Fof%5Fe.html?ref=rangemedia.co) Spokane police officer Karl Thompson against excessive force charges for his role in the brutal beating death of [Otto Zehm](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/mar/20/twenty-years-after-his-killing-spokane-remembers-o/?ref=rangemedia.co) ***Andrew Wagley,*** Archer’s attorney, also from Etter, McMahon, Lamberson, Clary, & Oreskovich P.C. ***Matthew Duggan,*** Mavalwalla II’s attorney from Duggan Law Offices, formerly worked as a Spokane County prosecutor and Assistant US Attorney ***Ainuddin “Aine” Ahmed:*** Mavalwalla II’s attorney. Currently practices at his own firm based out of Indiana. Ahmed was previously an Assistant US Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, [alongside Duggan](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/spokane-woman-sentenced-fifteen-years-federal-prison-her-role-violent-drug-trafficking?ref=rangemedia.co) #### The previous six Besides Archer, Forral and Mavalwalla, six others were arrested on July 15, 2025, on charges of conspiracy to impede or injure officers. Two of those people were also charged with assault on a federal officer or employee. All six took [a plea deal](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/) to avoid time in federal prison; according to the plea, the US Attorney’s Office of Eastern Washington will drop the felony charge after they appear for a federal hearing in 18 months, replacing it with a misdemeanor charge of “depredation of government property.” The six protesters who took plea deals are former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart, Mikki Pike Hatfield, Erin Lang, Collin Muncey, T. Ramirez and Bobbi Silva. Pennell approved a motion to keep their guilty pleas from being introduced as evidence in court, and none of the six currently appear on witness lists. Still, Stuckart’s Facebook posts and videos of all of the protesters appear in evidence exhibit lists filed by the prosecutors. #### The federal officers The federal government [alleges](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-pretrial-motions-1st-amendment-explainer/#:~:text=Lisa%20Cartier%2DGiroux%2C%20one,name%20victims%20in%20indictments.) that there are 14 officers the defendants conspired to impede or injure. Cartier-Giroux and Perez indicated in documents that they intend to call a slate of federal officers from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) as witnesses. It is unclear what each officer’s role was on June 11, but that list includes: Jared Tomaso (ATF), John LaForte (HSI), Greg McSullivan (HSI), Jason McIntosh (ICE), Jeremy Burlingame (ICE), Kevin Wilks (ICE), Lindsay Sanders (FBI), Ian Burns (FBI), Ethan Hawks (FBI), Caleb Sullivan (CBP) and Kevin Loader (FBI), who is also listed as a fact witness scheduled to provide testimony on the digital extraction of data from defendants’ phones. #### The two young asylum seekers ***Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez,*** a asylum-seeker who was in the United States legally. Stuckart was Alvarez Perez’ guardian while he was under 21\. On June 11, Alvarez Perez’ 21st birthday, he was detained at a scheduled ICE check-in at the building on Cataldo Avenue. ***Joswar “Randy” Rodriguez Torres,*** an asylum seeker who was fleeing persecution in Venezuela and entered the US with Alvarez Perez. He was in the US legally under the humanitarian parole program and was also detained on June 11\. In late January 2026, a judge [ruled](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/) that Rodriguez Torres was detained in violation of his due process rights, and he was released from detention. He currently awaits an asylum appeal hearing. ### The political backdrop While the defense is [not allowed](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-sets-parameters-as-spokane-3-head-to-trial-may-18/) to present any evidence to the court about events that happened after the June 11 protest, thankfully, we’re not banned from publishing relevant information. On June 12, amid [nationwide anti-ICE protests](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/protests-immigration-raids-seattle-austin-washington/?ref=rangemedia.co), the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors across the country to [prioritize and publicize prosecutions](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justice-department-prosecutors-immigration/?ref=rangemedia.co) of anti-ICE protesters. Prior to that day, we could find just one example of a protester arrested on conspiracy charges: California labor organizer David Huerta, who was [charged with the felony on June 6](https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/06/seiu-leader-detained-immigration-protest/?ref=rangemedia.co). (His charges were later [downgraded](https://archive.is/TbvT9?ref=rangemedia.co) to a misdemeanor obstruction charge, and he currently awaits trial.) After that day, though, the entire country has seen a wave of prosecutions against protesters. The Spokane 9 were arrested on July 15\. In September, then-congressional-candidate Kat Abughazaleh and five other protesters were also [charged](https://capitolcitynow.com/news/248842-broadview-6-defense-accuses-feds-of-keeping-grand-jury-transcripts-secret-reneging-on-dropping-conspiracy-charge/?ref=rangemedia.co) with felony conspiracy and misdemeanor simple assault of a federal officer for protesting outside an Illinois detention center. Their conspiracy charges were recently [tossed by a judge](https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/07/judge-agrees-toss-top-conspiracy-count-broadview-six-case?ref=rangemedia.co). In Portland, more than [three dozen people](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/investigations/37-federal-cases-1-prison-sentence-quiet-resolution-portland-ice-protests/283-11bf0b3a-f9e9-4d1f-85ed-3aaaae6682ac?ref=rangemedia.co) were charged on a variety of alleged offenses. In Minneapolis, dozens of protesters were charged, though some of those have since been [dismissed](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/05/06/feds-dismiss-third-of-ice-protester-charges?ref=rangemedia.co). Meanwhile, the DOJ under Trump has asked a federal appeals court to [throw out conspiracy convictions](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/doj-moves-to-erase-seditious-conspiracy-convictions-of-oath-keepers-proud-boys-in-jan-6-cases?ref=rangemedia.co) for the Proud Boys and Oath Keeper leaders who had been sentenced to prison for their roles in leading the January 6, 2021 riots, and Trump has pardoned other [January 6 rioters](https://www.jan-6.com/full-list-of-people-pardoned?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=22662596135&gbraid=0AAAAAoRYyDSO-i5rNL1gvP0BkO%5FUvA4wN&gclid=CjwKCAjwwpDQBhAuEiwAa-4WoymabOSqyfstmue%5FSXCEeO%5F-Vhrh8GxAqCGj5EaXC-5eo3FF-ZPZSxoC4tEQAvD%5FBwE&ref=rangemedia.co). In the face of this, defense attorneys for the Spokane 3 have argued that their clients’ indictment was a politically-motivated prosecution. They cited former acting US attorney for Eastern Washington Richard Barker, who told the [PBS News Hour](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/army-veteran-faces-conspiracy-charges-after-participating-in-anti-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) that he resigned because he couldn’t ethically pursue charges against the protesters. “I didn't feel in this case that a conspiracy charge that would carry a six-year term of incarceration was true to who I was or who I wanted to be as a federal prosecutor,” Barker said. ### Court terms you need to know ***Motions,*** in laymen’s terms, an official request to the court. **Mens rea**, means “state of mind.” This is relevant to this case because the prosecutors will have to prove defendants *intended* to use force, threat or intimidation to impede federal officers. That means what a defendant’s *mens rea* or “state of mind,” was — what they intended to do, or understood about the situation — is extremely important. ***Rule 29,*** a type of motion that the defense can file during the trial after the government rests its case or after the trial entirely. Though often considered perfunctory, this is a [request](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule%5F29?ref=rangemedia.co) for the judge to acquit the defendants based on a lack of evidence from the government to sustain a conviction. ***Voir dire,*** the term for jury selection. The court has sent questionnaires to potential jurors to fill out. Some jurors will be cut because of their answers to those questionnaires. Other jurors will be called to court on Monday, May 18, and the first part of the trial will be the jury selection process. There’s more info on that [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/14e5WLxALbGyXU%5Fb1nCny9LHfBYw3jajw/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co). ***Objection,*** a [formal protest](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/objection?ref=rangemedia.co) from lawyers for either party arguing that an error has been made. In movies, you hear lawyers yell “[I object](https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExamEwOHgzMTlzYm5wNTFpcWd5ZzU2cnI4NWpoNnFxN2lvNDM2OWhxZiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/lQV9axsh42JWA0F02i/giphy.gif?ref=rangemedia.co)!” or “objection!” In court, it’s more like a lawyer saying “objection,” at a reasonable volume into their microphone. Pennell will then have to make a ruling. If she “sustains” the objection, she agrees with the lawyer who objected. If she overrules, she disagrees. ***Jury nullification,*** is one term you actually won’t hear at trial, per one of Pennell’s rulings banning discussion of it in front of the jury. But here’s what it means: the jury [could give a ‘not guilty’ verdict](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/jury%5Fnullification?ref=rangemedia.co) if they disagree with the law itself, the prosecution, or want to send a message. ***Brady/Henthorn disclosure,*** information the federal government has to turn over upon request if they intend to call law enforcement officers as witnesses. Brady/Henthorn material is anything in an officer’s file that might call their credibility into question. Forral’s attorney has requested all Brady/Henthorn material, while the prosecutors recently filed a request to disallow the material from being used in court, arguing that none of the material was relevant. The motion to exclude, which the judge has yet to rule on, reads: *“There are no findings as to their credibility or honesty, rather the incidents are directly related to ongoing training or counseling as to a lesson(s) to be learned to improve performance of their duties as police officers. Further, the issues described are issues which did not result in adverse findings; they were addressed through additional training or counseling or letters of reprimand. These respective sanctions are therefore irrelevant to the officers’ credibility and ability to testify about their involvement in this matter.”* ### Stay informed We will cover the trial in depth, with a reporter in the room every single day. Our stories will be posted [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/), and you can sign up for our newsletter [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/signup/) to get updates delivered to your inbox. ***Aaron Hedge contributed reporting.*** ### Why the greater Spokane area needs a branded regional trail network URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-trail-network-column/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T21:32:16.000Z Bentonville, Arkansas is home to 60,000 people *and* the largest retailer on earth. In 2019, Walmart’s leaders decided to consolidate its workforce to a few select cities and to build a new headquarters in Bentonville. But Walmart’s leaders knew those jobs wouldn’t be enough to tempt those surely talented enough to find jobs in elite coastal cities to move to — or stay in — Bentonville. Instead, the city itself must be attractive — it would need to provide a high quality of life that punches above its small-Arkansas-city weight class in order to recruit, retain and engage its talent. Enter: Sam Walton’s grandsons, Tom and Steuart, who are like the [Medici dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House%5Fof%5FMedici?ref=rangemedia.co), if the Medicis lived in Northwest Arkansas and funded paths and trails, instead of poisoning aristocrats. They’ve [directed upwards of $74 million](https://avidcyclist.com/feature-article/how-bentonville-arkansas-went-from-walmart-town-to-bike-mecca/?ref=rangemedia.co) from the family’s foundation to building 163 miles of paths and trails in and around Bentonville. The trail system is for both leisure – it kickstarted a booming mountain bike tourism industry, including a prestigious race called the Big Sugar Classic – and for transport. The city, neighboring municipalities, and the state parks have built their own miles of trails too, to bring [the total miles of paved and dirt trails in Northwest Arkansas to over 500.](https://www.eastwestnewsservice.com/bentonville-arkansas-american-small-town-now-global-biking-capital/?ref=rangemedia.co) The return on these and other investments is clear: - [The bicycling ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas generated an impact of $159 million](https://walton.uark.edu/initiatives/cber/%5Fresources/files/2023/Economic%5Fand%5FHealth%5FBenefits%5Fof%5FBicycling%5Fin%5FNorthwest%5FArkansas.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Homes a quarter mile from a paved trail sold for $6,300 more in 2018, on average, than homes one mile away from the trail.](https://headwaterseconomics.org/trail/136-ar-bicycle-benefits/?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Bicycling helped people in Northwest Arkansas avoid $59 million in healthcare costs in 2022.](https://walton.uark.edu/initiatives/cber/%5Fresources/files/2023/Economic%5Fand%5FHealth%5FBenefits%5Fof%5FBicycling%5Fin%5FNorthwest%5FArkansas.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) Our region has at least 400 miles of paved and dirt trails (according to my back-of-napkin math counting the Centennial Trail, Beacon Hill, Mount Spokane State Park, Riverside State Park, and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes), but each is seen as an individual park rather than part of a cohesive system. Yes, Bentonville has loads of trail mileage, but more importantly, it has a trail *network.* The network, known as Oz Trails, is expanded, branded and looked after by a nonprofit organization, [NWA Trailblazers ](https://wearetrailblazers.org/what-we-do?ref=rangemedia.co)(not to be confused with the Portland basketball team). The Trailblazers create interactive trail maps of the network, organize trail clean up days and group rides, host community cycling classes, host a platform for trail reports and build new trails across the region. **An example closer to home** 2,000 miles northwest of Bentonville and 180 miles west of Spokane, in Central Washington, lies the Methow Valley, a picturesque river valley just east of the North Cascade mountains dotted with a handful of small towns. Like Northwest Arkansas, its residents have developed a natural resource that results in the region punching above its weightclass: it’s the home to the largest Nordic Trail system in North America. In the summer, this stellar trail system is used by mountain bikers, hikers, runners and horse riders. While its primary use cases are recreational, it’s used for non-motorized transportation too. But unlike Bentonville, it has no Medici-like sponsor. It only has the combined efforts of residents, governments, and nonprofits over the course of decades. One of them, Methow Trails, is a nonprofit similar to the NWA Trailblazers – it maintains a master plan for the system, builds new trails, brands the network, produces trail maps and organizes events. It coordinates across every level of government, and with businesses in the area and other nonprofits like the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-a5c8d3ba-1a13-444b-addf-03425d33ee3d.jpeg) **A subset of the Methow Trail summer system. These attractive, detail-rich trail maps are distributed to local businesses.* The network is split across federal Forest Service, federal Fish & Wildlife, state Department of Natural Resources, state Fish & Wildlife lands and over 175 private properties – Methow Trails has organized long-term agreements with landowners to protect the public’s ability to use the trails! The [economic impact of Methow Trails](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tv5zw9kpph0kcmc2oeaxo/Methow-Trails%5FEIA-Final-Report-2025.pdf?rlkey=kzmq487kid454ko6lxw6fcjo4&e=1&st=pj5avzlf&dl=0&ref=rangemedia.co) is similar to that of Oz Trails, but scaled as expected for a smaller population: - It generates $17.6 million annually for the local economy - It supports the employment of 260+ people. Year-round trail usage means these jobs also tend to be year-round. - Homes within a quarter mile of a trail tend to sell for about 10% more. Not bad for an area with less than 7,000 residents. I have not been to Bentonville, but I rode the Methow Trails a few weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about them. Not only is the trail system impressive, the structure around the system is what makes it shine: Methow Trails has distributed magazines and trail maps to local businesses throughout the region and created trailheads. It’s also posted signage that identifies the trails, provides wayfinding, and grades them along a technical scale so you never end up on a trail you don’t have the bike or skills to ride. **Why it works** NWA Trailblazers and Methow Trails’ status as independent organizations is their superpower. As a transportation advocate and observer of local government, I cannot imagine our local governments coordinating with each other, let alone federal and state governments, on anything at all. Even coordinating something simple, like the trail system’s branding, would take decades, or fail entirely. Creating integrated master plans, building new trail segments that cross municipal boundaries and striking agreements with private landowners seem like nigh impossible tasks to coordinate through that many layers of bureaucracy. Having an independent organization, run by residents and blessed by each level of bureaucracy to work seems much more achievable. Rather than hoping for the system to be loved and maintained by passionate government employees that somehow stick around through budget cuts and election cycles, the nonprofit remains a steady driver of the project via dedicated staff and board members. (Not that nonprofits are easy to run, but at least they can remain focused on their specific remits in a way I haven’t seen in local governments, who have many other topics and projects to work on.) **What’s the point of all this though?** Namely, I want Spokane to be a nice place to live. Doubling down on its natural beauty isn’t just a nice idea – it’s a way to do economic development that lasts and isn’t dependent on courting one large employer that may leave. It’s how we avoid the fate of Pennsylvania mining towns. It’s courting employers and employees, universities and students, events and tourists. A greater Spokane trails system would surely attract tourism, which is great, and trail networks like Oz Trails and Methow Trails definitely do that, but more importantly, they make their communities great for the folks who already live there. They make it easier and more fun to exercise and commute, and increase the value of property in the area. They provide spaces to host outdoor events like community rides and races. **What am I hoping for? Picture this.** A branded trail network throughout the Inland Northwest. Integrated trail maps that cross municipal boundaries are critical – after all, only city planning nerds among us know where one city ends and the county starts. It’s not important that a cyclist on the Fish Lake Trail knows that she just exited Cheney and she’s now in the county. What is important is that she knows the trail exists, how to detour onto Cheney-Spokane Road to reach the northern portion of the trail, confirmation she’s made the detour correctly, how far she is from the Fish Lake - Centennial Trail intersection and that crossing the Sandifur bridge would bring her into Kendall Yards, but staying on the South Gorge Trail would be a more direct route into downtown. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-d0d212e9-0865-4548-b448-cc1aff1135f0.png) **A quick sketch of the problem: our friend trying out these trails for the first time would not know how to make the detour around the Fish Lake Trail Gap, whether to use the Centennial or the South Gorge, and more.* **The massive advantage we have is that these trails already exist and are actively being expanded.** The greater Spokane area already has many miles of paved and dirt trails: the Appleway Trail, Trolley Trail, the Bluff Trails, Riverside State Park, Beacon Hill and many more. Spokane also has miles of greenways and protected bike lanes, like those on Riverside Avenue downtown and Illinois Avenue. And this year, [the city of Spokane is extending the path along Sunset Boulevard,](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/19/getting-there-nearly-2-mile-stretch-of-protected-p/?ref=rangemedia.co) [the state is extending the Children of the Sun trail,](https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-projects/us-395-nsc-spokane-river-crossing?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Spokane Valley is building a new trailhead for the Centennial Trail.](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/321/PinesBNSF-Grade-Separation?ref=rangemedia.co) And we already have community orgs that sponsor our trails and look after them, like the [Friends of the Centennial Trail](https://spokanecentennialtrail.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Friends of the Bluff.](https://www.friendsofthebluff.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) But notably, the system is owned, maintained and expanded by multiple cities, counties and states, and streets/transportation departments and park departments at every level of government. (While we have the Spokane Regional Transportation Council doing admirable work to integrate across various government bodies, its focus is too broad in that it includes car travel and too narrow in that it tends not to work on parks and dirt trails.) Although not perfect nor complete, a trail network already exists. Importantly, it needs a name so it can be referred to as a local perk on Zillow listings, job descriptions, university websites, and city commerce Instagram ads. It needs a brand so that when you arrive at the start of an unassuming dirt trail, you know you’re in the right place, or so that there’s something to Google when you first notice a trail in your new neighborhood. A modest start to creating something like Oz Trails or Methow Trails of the Inland Northwest would be: - A brand (name and logo) - Trail maps, both that span the region and focus in on subareas, starting online then printed later. - A simple website - Permission to print signs and post them throughout the network - The actual printing and posting of signs, starting in Spokane and expanding outwards Then, partnerships with other nonprofits and expanded levels of government. > **I want to hear from you: who is already doing this work? Who is interested in helping? Who has an idea for a name? Drop me a line at bikeroutehelp@range.com** ### Park and neighborhood improvements near you? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/ Last updated: 2026-05-11T19:35:57.000Z 🍻 ****Support RANGE by supporting Perry Street Brewing during** ~~****American**~~ **Spokane Craft Brew week, May 16-23!** $1 of every beer supports the Press for the People. More info [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Local%20craft%20brews%20support%20local%20craft%20news). Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council could [approve funding](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Approving%20neighborhood%20project%20funding) for a variety of crucial neighborhood projects, including affordable housing in West Spokane, rehabilitation of the Ridpath Apartments downtown and a variety of infrastructure improvements to community centers. - The Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee will discuss a [new ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Public%20feedback%20on%20plan%20changes) to change the process for out-of-cycle amendments to the six-year Street Plan. - The Central Library is hosting a [free event](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Resource%20Fair%20at%20the%20Library) to help those in need get replacement ID cards, renew their driver’s license and connect with other resources on Tuesday from 10 am to 2 pm. - There is a [scam text](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Main%20Ave%2C%20Spokane-,Scam%20Warning,-If%20you%20got) going around claiming to be from the county clerk’s office. Don’t open any associated links! - The Central Valley School District will talk about the [new position](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=WIAA%20recommends%20banning%20trans%20girls%20from%20sports) the state organization for school activities just took on transgender girls in sports: they want to ban their participation, but can’t because of state law Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=reportfraud.ftc.gov/-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Public%20Infrastructure%2C%20Environment%2C%20and%20Sustainability%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Plan%20Commission,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Regional%20Transportation%20Council,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,West%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/park-and-neighborhood-improvements-near-you/#:~:text=Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council%20%28special%20meeting%29) ## Local craft brews support local craft news ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/05/data-src-image-cda02084-b592-40d8-97a2-798fc519fc39.png) Come join Perry Street Brewing and your friends at RANGE for a week of festivities that have always gone extremely well together: reading the news, then drinking about it. The rules are simple: Come to any of the festivities above, have a beer, and presto, you've also supported worker-owned news serving working people in Spokane. More info [here](https://www.instagram.com/perrystreetbrew/?utm%5Fsource=range&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=brewweek). ## Resource Fair at the Library Tomorrow from 10 am to 2 pm, the Central Library will host a free event designed to help community members with income barriers or who are experiencing homelessness connect with resources. Folks can get a free replacement Washington State ID card or renew their driver’s license. Local service organizations will also be on site to offer “support related to housing, employment, medical screenings, addiction and recovery, food access, clothing, counseling, and more.” > *Tuesday, May 12 from 10 am to 2 pm* > *Central Library* > *906 W Main Ave, Spokane* ## Scam Warning If you got a text claiming to be from the county clerk or the District Administration that read something like “Spokane County has a letter attached in Adobe for your reference,” do not open any attached links. This is a scam text. Spokane County Clerk Tim Fitzgerald has issued a warning about this scam, and stated the clerk’s offices will not send correspondence over text. For more scam information or if you want to report a scamSCAM like this, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Approving neighborhood project funding Tonight, the city council could approve allocations of nearly $1.8 million in Community Development Block Grant funding that would fund capital projects and neighborhood development. This would divvy up $400,000 between three projects: - the Shiloh Hills Friendship Park Sports Court would get $266,667 - the Nevada Heights Just One Neighborhood Project would get $88,889 - Chief Garry Park’s Northeast Youth and Family Services would get $44,444 for its parking lot And $1,102,484 in capital project funding would be divided between eight projects: - the Northeast Youth Center Rehabilitation would get $210,000 - Transitions TLC would get $55,000 for a boiler replacement - the Northeast Public Development Authority would get $199,500 - the Northeast Community Center Association would get $142,320 for air filtration upgrades - the Catholic Housing Services of Eastern Washington would get $117,205 to make improvements to the Ridpath Apartments - the Salvation Army’s Stepping Stones Rehabilitation would get $150,000 - the Salish School Of Spokane would get $52,789 for its Salish Cultural Recreation Community Center - the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center would get $175,670 for restroom rehabilitation ### Improvements in West Quadrant The council could approve the spending of funds collected by the West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to repay property owners who installed “important pedestrian, street and utility infrastructure adjacent to their properties.” The Neighborhood Projects Advisory Committee approved two repayment agreements: - $237,057 to Broadway Foods and Broadway Laundromat in West Central for “sidewalks, frontage improvements, and other features necessary to ensure pedestrian safety and circulation.” - $1,200,500 to Habitat for Humanity to fund the purchase and renovation of up to seven “permanently affordable” homes in the TIF district. Both projects received letters of support detailing their importance to the neighborhoods. The ordinance to approve the TIF spending is sponsored by Council Members Kitty Klitzke and Zack Zappone. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 11 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public feedback on plan changes Council Member Michael Cathcart has proposed an ordinance that would increase public feedback requirements for some changes to the six-Year Street Plan. Currently, the plan sets out the city’s goals for street improvements to be made in the upcoming six years and is updated annually. Cathcart’s amendment would prevent any arterial project from being “significantly modified or expanded beyond the scope of the project as set forth in the six-year plan” without first getting approval of the modifications from the Transportation Commission and then from the full City Council after a public hearing. This ordinance will be discussed today. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 11 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 14 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, May 13 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### County looking for disaster recovery funds The Spokane County Department of Housing & Community Development wants to establish a dedicated funding line for the administration of disaster recovery for homeowners who lost their homes to the Gray and Oregon fires three years ago. The money would total $2,634,000 over five years and come from Community Block Development Grants. The county has been building new homes at about a rate of 12 each year for people who lost their houses in the fires. The money would hire three full-time disaster case managers, an executive director, an administrative assistant and contracted services. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 12 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### More petty $ for sheriff’s deputies? The sheriff’s office wants to boost the amount of discretionary funding in its budget to pay for small items. It’s asking the BOCC to increase the amount of “petty cash” in its coffers from $13,000 to $20,000\. Petty cash is a funding line that allows employees to pay for small emergencies when traditional funding line approval processes are too onerous. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 12 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, May 14 at 1 pm* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### WIAA Enrollment for next two years The Mead School District will host a work session to discuss its membership in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), a statewide organization that prescribes policies for member districts to run parts of the schools. There is very little information in the agenda — but as always, you can get the deets to attend the meeting below. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 11 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### WIAA recommends banning trans girls from sports The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, of which CVSD is a part, [has said](https://www.wiaa.com/wiaa-representative-assembly-approves-22-amendments/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=15-,ML/HS%20%2321,-18.16.0) it doesn’t want transgender girls to play in school sports. It doesn’t matter in a legal sense — it’s just posturing, because WIAA rules can’t supersede state law, but 29 school representatives voted for the non-binding ban. The organization spent a lot of time on this, even though trans athletes, who number fewer than 10 in the state, make up about .004% of Washington’s K-12 athletes. This reflects a national fervor over the expanding acceptance of queer communities in American society. CVSD and the Mead School District have, over the past several years, consistently positioned themselves against queer, and particularly trans, rights in their schools. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 11 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, May 13 at 8 am* > *District Conference Center 8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Parks master plan proposals The city staff will recommend a number of additions to the Spokane Valley parks master plan to the city council, mostly focused on boosting opportunities for residents to engage in the various recreation programs the city maintains. Here are some of the big-ticket items they’ll talk about (verbatim from presentation): - Provide more “learn to swim” classes and water safety courses - Set aside and acquire additional land for future open space preservation as the city continues to develop - Create green corridors for alternative transportation routes and habitat value, mitigating environmental impacts - Enhance lighting for longer, usable hours at specific fields, courts and other amenity areas to boost programming opportunities > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 12 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council (special meeting) **🌶️**/**5 peppers** ### Governance Manual proposal The agenda contains no details, but the city council will meet to review a new draft governance manual, a document that sets down the rules city officials must follow in their jobs and in public meetings. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 12 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Judge sets parameters as Spokane 3 head to trial May 18 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-sets-parameters-as-spokane-3-head-to-trial-may-18/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T19:34:14.000Z As the trial for the three Spokanites federally charged with felony conspiracy for their roles in the June 11 protests inches closer, Judge Rebecca Pennell continues to work her way through a slate of pre-trial issues on the table. Meanwhile, both the federal government and the defense are filing more requests. If your sole knowledge of the legal system comes from *Legally Blonde*, *The Trial of the Chicago 7* or the veritable hydra of law procedurals forever running on network television*,* you may have no idea just how much of legal fight is done before defendants can ever appear before a jury of their peers (or be interrogated on the stand about their haircare routine). There is simply So. Much. Paperwork. Lawyers asking for certain lines of argumentation to be banned from use. Lawyers asking for certain witnesses to be banned from testifying. Lawyers asking for certain words like “victim” or “co-conspirator” to be banned from use, at least in certain circumstances. Before a jury can even be chosen, the lawyers must agree on what questions to ask on a questionnaire sent out to potential jurors, what kind of answers to that questionnaire are immediately disqualifying and what instructions the jury must be given when they ultimately must rule on the innocence or guilt of the defendant(s) in front of them at the end of the trial. And all of this falls to the ultimate authority of the judge, who rules on the issues as they come up, trying to make sure everyone is on the same page when the trial actually starts, minimizing the number of times lawyers will have to stand and yell “objection!” like you see on the silver screen. On Tuesday, May 5, Pennell ruled on [another batch](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-pretrial-motions-1st-amendment-explainer/) of motions, setting the tone for the trial ahead. The central question in the entire case is whether the three defendants on trial conspired to use force, violence or intimidation against federal officers. Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II were arrested in July of 2025 on conspiracy charges for their presence and alleged actions on June 11\. On that day, they were among hundreds of Spokanites gathered outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in downtown Spokane to protest the detainment of two young men who were in the United States [legally](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). Six others were arrested on federal charges, but those people have all since taken plea deals that allowed them to avoid federal prison time. The conspiracy charge levelled against the three defendants still on trial carries a six-year maximum sentence and/or a large fine. While lawyers for the defense have continually proposed different legal justifications for Pennell to throw the case out — most recently arguing it was an illegal selective prosecution — she has been consistent in her rulings thus far: the case is going to trial. And at the hearing we learned the trial will likely take two weeks. The federal government intends to call between 18 and 20 witnesses, while lawyers for each of the individual defendants intend to call about four witnesses each. This was a surprise to Pennell, who had planned for the case to take just one week. “This is a one day event that happened over a few hours, most of it captured on video. I fail to see why we need so many witnesses,” Pennell said. Still, between the large number of planned witnesses, anticipation that the defense will challenge phone extractions and video evidence and that jury selection will be contentious on both sides, the current estimate is for a two-week event. Court will run Monday through Thursday. ### Tuesday rulings Did the three defendants knowingly coordinate with each other and plan to use force, intimidation or threats to prevent federal officers from doing their job? For a jury to convict, the government must prove that they did. In her rulings on Tuesday, Pennell kept returning to that idea; Would the information each side wanted to present or tools they wanted to use help the jury make a decision on that key question? “I don’t want to talk about other crimes … This case is about force, threat or intimidation,” Pennell said. “This is not about vandalism. This is not about trespassing. This is about, was their intent to commit force, threat, or intimidation? Here’s quick rundown on some of the decisions Pennell made: - She granted a motion from Forral asking the federal government to turn over any information about federal officers who may testify in the case, like if they’ve previously lied in court or been accused of using excessive force. - She denied a motion from Forral asking for the indictment to be redacted because she said she couldn’t change the language in an indictment. But she acknowledged that Forral didn’t want the jury to associate them with the more violent acts alleged to have been committed by defendants who have already plead guilty. To that end, she asked both the prosecution and defense to submit drafts of what they hoped would be told to the potential jurors about the crime in advance of the trial. - She denied a motion from Forral to prevent the federal government from introducing cell phone and Facebook records as evidence but preserved their right to challenge the evidence during the trial. - She granted a motion from the federal government asking to ban all discussion or suggestion of jury nullification, which is when a jury gives a “not guilty” verdict even if they think the defendant broke the law. This can happen when jurors think the law or the prosecution is unjust, for example. - She granted a motion from the federal government to exclude any argument that the government failed to charge other members of the conspiracy. - She approved a request from both parties to keep evidence of the other six defendants’ plea agreements out of the trial. - She granted a motion from the federal government preventing former US Attorney Richard Barker from being called as a witness or quoting statements made by him. Defense teams said they weren’t planning to do that. Much of the argument revolved around what can and cannot be talked about at trial. The US attorneys were pushing for some heavy restrictions. They wanted to prevent Mavalwalla from talking about his military service, prevent defendants from saying they went to the protest to exercise their First Amendment rights and prevent the defense attorneys from arguing that this is a political prosecution or that the federal government is unlawfully detaining people in immigration proceedings. Pennell ruled in favor of the government on a few issues. Defense teams will not be able to use the fact that one of the two young men whose detainments sparked the June 11 protests was [released](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/) after a judge found his right to due process was violated. They will not be able to use anything that occurred here, or in other cities, after June 11 as a defense — not the federal government’s targeting of [protesters](https://patch.com/illinois/evanston/broadview-protest-case-loses-felony-count-judge-dismisses-conspiracy-charge-report?ref=rangemedia.co) in Illinois nor the fatal [ICE killings](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/a-second-u-s-citizen-was-killed-by-federal-forces-in-minneapolis-heres-what-we-know?ref=rangemedia.co) of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. But Pennell said the prosecutors’ requests went “too far,” in parts. Archer, Forral and Mavalwalla can testify to their own beliefs on June 11, because so much of the case hinges on what their intent was on that day. If they believed the young men had been unlawfully detained, they can testify about that. If their intent was to keep people safe or to peacefully protest, they can testify about that. The prosecutors also wanted to ban the defendants from saying things like “I wanted to exercise my First Amendment rights.” Pennell approved this in part and denied it in part. “No witness should testify regarding the ultimate issue of whether Defendants’ actions were legal or constitutionally protected. Nevertheless, should Defendants elect to testify in this case, they must be given some leeway,” her decision reads. “Defendants must be allowed to testify as to their mental state regarding the charged offense. This can be done without Defendants summarily explaining that they intended to obey the law or that they intended to exercise their First Amendment rights.” Essentially, this means they can say “Our intent was to go to a protest” or “Our intent was not to intimidate anyone,” but they can’t say “What I did was First Amendment-protected speech.” The prosecution team also sought to keep Mavalwalla from testifying about his military service, his honorable discharge and awards he won for his conduct. Pennell said witnesses talk about their backgrounds all the time on the stand, like law enforcement officers who will likely cite their experience and professionalism as reasons the jury should trust them. Mavalwalla should be able to do the same about his military background, she ruled. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” she said after this and several similar rulings. Mavalwalla also intends to call witnesses to testify about his “good character,” specifically his truthfulness and his law-abiding nature. Whether or not those witnesses will be allowed will be up to the judge if and when defense tries to call those them. Pennell also ruled that in opening statements and witness examinations, the federal government may not call protesters “co-conspirator.,” (The prosecutors have been doing just that in motions, going as far as to refer to people who also protested and attended the first hearing in support as “co-conspirators, indicted or not.”) Pennell also ruled the prosecutors should avoid referring to the group of defendants as “defendants” whenever possible, instead listing their individual names. ### Jury Instructions The other key element of the case up for debate was what instructions the jury should be given to make their verdict. Jury instructions typically outline key considerations in the case law, like defining terms, telling jurors what standards need to be met for them to convict on a specific charge and giving them other relevant information they may need to make their decision. How the jury is instructed is particularly important because, as Pennell said, “Jury instructions that haven’t been vetted are one of the most common causes of reversals,” at the appellate level. Because of that, she proposed the jury be given instructions that were used in a case for similar charges that have survived an appeal in the 9th Circuit: *United States vs. Ehmer*. In Oregon, four men were charged with conspiracy to impede officers of the United States (among other charges) after they occupied [the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge](https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/02/malheur-occupation-anniversary-southeast-oregon-harney-county/?ref=rangemedia.co). That 41-day [occupation](https://www.hcn.org/issues/48-5/the-darkness-at-the-heart-of-malheur/?ref=rangemedia.co), led by Ammon Bundy, resulted in a shootout in which one of the occupiers was [shot and killed by officers](https://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/robert-lavoy-finicum-dead-rancher-bundy-burns-oregon/?ref=rangemedia.co). While the federal government was never able to secure a conviction the Bundys, Duane Ehmer, one of the men occupying the federal land, was ultimately sentenced to one year in prison for his role in the occupation. He was found [guilty](https://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/malheur-duane-ehmer-sentence-year/?ref=rangemedia.co) of one of the felony counts leveled against him — depredation of property — and two misdemeanors: trespassing and tampering with vehicles and equipment. He later appealed and his conviction was upheld. Because the [jury instructions](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CbjDruCtuX7XBU2-o977Y2aYUgbJg21%5F/view?ref=rangemedia.co) used in his case that survived the appeal included instructions on how the jury should consider the conspiracy count Ehmer was also charged with, Pennell suggested using them as a model. Those instructions include definitions of the crime of conspiracy, definitions of what would rise to the level of “threat” and “intimidation” (though not “force”) in the conspiracy law and details on First Amendment protected speech. One section of the *Ehmer* instructions that sparked debate was this paragraph: *“On the other hand, unless a defendant intended his speech or expressive conduct to incite an imminent lawless action that was likely to occur, a defendant’s speech that merely encourages others to commit a crime is protected by the First Amendment.”* The government wanted this paragraph struck from Pennell’s model jury instructions, while Forral’s attorney Andrea George argued its inclusion was “vital” for the case the defendants want to make. George said she thinks the prosecutors are going to argue that Archer’s Facebook post telling people willing to risk arrest to go to a certain area is evidence of conspiracy, and keeping the jury instruction above is important when considering that post. Speech encouraging others to commit a crime can be protected by the First Amendment, but speech intended “to incite an imminent lawless action that was likely to occur” would not be. That distinction is important to the case, because being willing to disobey a dispersal order — a misdemeanor with far smaller repercussions — should not be considered a conspiracy, George said. Both sides made their arguments to Pennell, who told them to submit their proposed changes to her jury instructions by May 8 to be ruled on May 15. ### Know before you go Other important information discussed at the hearing was what audience members and the media can expect from the trial. It’s a small courtroom and seating will be first-come, first-served. Because the first day of the trial will be mostly jury selection, an overflow room will be opened on the eighth floor of the Spokane federal courthouse for spectators and the media, as the courtroom will be full of potential jurors. Reporters will be allowed to use laptops if they submit a form to the court and are approved. All devices in the room must be set to silent. No one may take photos or record audio or video in the courtroom. The federal government also asked Pennell to bar RANGE’s courtroom sketch artist, Jake Gillespie, from sketching jurors or the witnesses. They particularly want to avoid artistic depictions of federal officers who might testify. “We don’t want their faces out in the media,” Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Perez said. “They’re being followed home from the HSI building.” George objected to the request, saying that because witnesses are testifying in open court, an artist should be allowed to sketch them. Pennell joked that while the [sketch](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-rules-spokane-9-case-will-go-to-trial/) of her from the first hearing “wasn’t flattering” she wants “to be careful of the rights of the press.” She approved the request to ban depictions of jurors, but said that both parties will have to file a briefing with their positions on artistic witness depictions by May 8 for her to rule on. A pretrial conference is scheduled to begin at 8 am on May 18, with jury selection beginning immediately after. For more information on how the trial will work, click [here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/14e5WLxALbGyXU%5Fb1nCny9LHfBYw3jajw/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co). **Editor's note*: This story has been edited to correct the misspelling of Mavalwalla II's name.* 💡 Find all our past coverage on the lead-up to the trial and the June 11 protests [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/). ### “A river of news in a news desert” URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/river-of-news/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T14:00:15.000Z On this week’s episode, Aaron Hedge and Pascal spoke with two Gonzaga students – Sandra Rivera and Abby Zappone – about journalism in Spokane and the collaboration, research, and work that goes into it. Sandra and Abby are part of the six-person staff that created *Spoke*, a magazine that showcases Spokane’s journalistic world through essays from the student perspective. Sandra is the Art Director and Abby is the Photo and Research Editor. *Spoke* isn’t available online yet, but be sure to keep an eye out for when it is! Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Nadine and the supremes URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/nadine-and-the-supremes/ Last updated: 2026-05-07T20:34:32.000Z In 2019, Spokane mayoral candidate Nadine Woodward took a strong stand against what state Representative Matt Shea believed and how he expressed it. An investigation commissioned [by the state legislature ](https://www.inlander.com/news/a-new-report-accusing-state-rep-matt-shea-of-domestic-terrorism-shrinks-his-number-of/article%5F467fdbdd-7fc3-5a83-9564-33d7708d5438.html?ref=rangemedia.co)had accused Shea, then representing Spokane Valley, of supporting domestic terrorism for his role in the armed occupation of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Woodward, who was running for office, didn’t mince words. "I strongly condemn Matt Shea's extreme rhetoric and ideology," Woodward said. But four years later, at a religious rally held by controversial Christian worship leader Sean Feucht, the relationship between the two very different conservatives seemed to have changed. Shea, now a local pastor, declared that Jesus Christ was the answer to “problems” like “homosexual marriage” and “transgender issues” and then called Mayor Woodward to join him on the stage. There she stood beside Shea, the man she had once denounced. She nodded her head and mouthed words in prayer, then accepted a hug from him as he left the stage. The brief alliance was very short lived: Woodward, then campaigning for a second term, [condemned](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLVtumI8o1w&ref=rangemedia.co) Shea a second time in the days after, claiming she didn’t know he was going to be at the event. But the incident brought a chorus of condemnation from her critics, made national headlines and spurred the City Council to narrowly pass a resolution condemning her actions. “The Spokane City Council formally denounces Mayor Nadine Woodward's actions that affiliated the City of Spokane and its residents with former Washington State Representative and identified domestic terrorist, Matt Shea, and known anti-LGBTQ extremist Sean Feucht,” the resolution read. That November, Woodward lost reelection. But there may be a particularly lucrative upside for Woodward in all this: She’s filed a tort claim with the city, threatening a $10 million lawsuit in response to the city council’s [resolution](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4900061-10-democrats-vote-to-censure-biden-officials-over-afghanistan-withdrawal/?ref=rangemedia.co). The proposed lawsuit claims the resolution violated Woodward’s free speech rights. The council has maintained they were only using their own free speech rights, objecting to the mayor’s actions without leveling any penalty. This isn’t a new argument: Woodward originally filed the claim two years ago, represented herself, and asked for $1.4 million. But now she has a hard-charging lawyer who upped the ante to $10 million — over 50 times her annual mayoral salary. That attorney, Mary Schultz, is not to be underestimated. She was the attorney whose gender discrimination case sent the Spokane Country Club into bankruptcy. She was the attorney who won a $19.5 million verdict against the Spokane Sheriff on behalf of a deputy fired after being [accused of racism and harassment](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-the-spokane-sheriffs-allegations-of-racism-and-sexism-led-to-a-defamation-lawsuit-and/article%5F9a61e55e-dd02-5e09-8aa4-86e0ac29560f.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Today, Schultz is arguing that Woodward’s case goes far beyond just what happened to the mayor. “What this is about is this city's City Council compelling only favored speech and punishing people for engaging in disfavored speech,” Schultz said. “A legislative body simply cannot do that. That's not their role. And what was done here was flatly unconstitutional.” She argues the illegal nature of the resolution should have been obvious. “How something like this could pass is beyond my comprehension,” Schultz said. “I think anyone who has any inkling of First Amendment law would look at something like this and say, ‘What in the world were they doing? How did this get passed?’” Yet others with plenty of inklings of First Amendment law knowledge say different. At least two judges have already [rejected claims](https://www.khq.com/news/judge-dismisses-christian-nationalist-sean-feucht-s-lawsuit-against-spokane-city-council/article%5F22540d37-6bef-4952-a1af-675d06fd0a52.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in lawsuits from Shea and Feucht that the resolution represented a violation of anyone’s free speech. And RANGE shared the legal claim with one of the preeminent free speech legal organizations in the country, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE has a long record of suing powerful institutions on [both ](https://www.fire.org/news/fire-supreme-court-biden-administration-doesnt-want-defend-student-rights-so-let-us-do-it?ref=rangemedia.co)sides of the political aisle over free speech violations. Aaron Terr, FIRE’s director of public advocacy for FIRE, couldn’t identify a clear free speech problem with the Spokane resolution. "If this is just a non-binding resolution that's just denouncing the mayor's associations, I think she'll have a very difficult time making out a First Amendment argument," Terr said. Even if the resolution exposed the mayor to vehement criticism or swung the election, he sees that as the First Amendment working as intended. “That point of speech — that it does persuade people to change people's opinions about things or to vote one way or another — that's just all part of politics,” Terr said. FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh, meanwhile, had a more cutting informal response after RANGE sent him the text of Woodward’s proposed suit. “I prefer it in the original crayon,” Steinbaugh said. “Is it being placed on someone’s fridge?” ## City Council's toothless gums Legally, governmental bodies are generally prohibited from taking actions that would “chill a person of ordinary firmness” from continuing to speak or associate with someone. In her interview with RANGE, Schultz repeatedly went back to the premise that the council’s resolution represented a clear kind of repression against Woodward’s ability to speak freely. It wasn’t just criticism, she argues. It was legislation. And, she said, the precedent is quite clear about the government trying to legislate viewpoints. “We cannot have our city become known as a city where its legislature regulates what its citizens can say and what they can't say,” Schultz said. “This should be an embarrassment to the people of Spokane. And it should be an embarrassment to you as a reporter.” But Council Member Zack Zappone, who sponsored and advocated for the resolution, told RANGE that, while there was a lot of tussling over the difference between, say, using the word “denounce” versus “censure.” But he wasn’t ever worried that the resolution risked harming the mayor’s freedom of speech. "It is a formal and public statement that we believe her actions were wrong," Zappone had said during the 2023 marathon session when it was passed. "That's all it's saying." When Terr, of FIRE, read through the resolution, he couldn’t find anything suppressing Woodward’s free speech. “It does appear on its face to just be a denunciation of the mayor for associating with certain people,” Terr wrote in an email. “It doesn't seem like the natural reading of the resolution is one that requires the mayor to self-censor or stop associating with any particular individual.” It’s not just him: the two judges who scrutinized the resolution in the Shea and Feucht cases have both declared the resolution was “toothless.” After Feucht, the worship leader who headlined the event, sued the city and the four individual council members who voted for the resolution, Superior Court Judge Rachelle Andersontossed out the case entirely. Among other issues with his case, she declared that the resolution was not "regulatory, proscriptive or compulsory," and that it contained "no punitive or censorial action, or even a threat of potential punishment or censorship." Feucht is currently appealing. Similarly, the federal judge in Shea’s case, James Goeke, wrote that the resolution was simply the city council’s own constitutionally protected speech, without any enforcement provision. “The Resolution represents a policy statement, an instance of the government speaking for itself, rather than lawmaking because it lacks the hallmarks of a law,” Goeke wrote in his opinion. He noted that “legislative bodies have passed such resolutions since the early days of the Republic to express their collective opinions whether by denouncing a president, railing against socialism, or affirming a welcoming community free of violence.” Indeed, just a few years ago, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution censuring President Joe Biden and multiple administration officials by name for the [botched pullout](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4900061-10-democrats-vote-to-censure-biden-officials-over-afghanistan-withdrawal/?ref=rangemedia.co) of Afghanistan. “Did Joe Biden sue?” Schultz asked when RANGE floated the example. “Maybe he should have.” The judges in both the Shea and the Feucht lawsuits cited a 2002 case where the city of San Francisco passed a resolution decrying anti-gay television advertisements and urging television stations not to broadcast them. The [American Family Association](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-9th-circuit/1135980.html?ref=rangemedia.co) sued on First Amendment grounds, but the 9th Circuit ruled that San Francisco was within its rights. Courts have found that it was constitutional for the government to try to persuade businesses to stop selling *Penthouse* magazine or a satirical anti-welfare board game — at least so long as there was no explicit or implicit threat of meaningful [governmental retaliation](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/602/22-842/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Held:%20The%20NRA%20plausibly%20alleged,and%20impermissible%20attempts%20to%20coerce.). In 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled that it hadn’t been shown any evidence that a “purely verbal censure" like that of a Texas community college trustee “has ever been widely considered offensive to the First Amendment.” “The First Amendment surely promises an elected representative … the right to speak freely on questions of government policy,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote. “But just as surely, it cannot be used as a weapon to silence other representatives seeking to do the same.” But in that case, Schultz points out, the ruling was limited to a governmental body censuring their own members. This is about city legislators trying to censor the city executive. And that, she said, is very different. ## **Mayoral privilege?** Pressed on some of the arguments raised in prior cases, Schultz joked it was like RANGE was serving as the city’s lawyers. "I don't want to have to try and engage in a preliminary advisory argument with, you know, the coach of the defense team before the game starts," Schultz said. But Schultz has a [plan](https://journaliststudio.google.com/pinpoint/document-view?collection=cf18f993d467df14&docid=b574854078dbd183%5Fcf18f993d467df14&p=1&dapvm=1&highlight=b14cfb599cf36e0a&utm%5Fsource=highlight%5Fdeep%5Flink) to make her case succeed where the others have struggled. Step 1: Schultz points to the city charter saying that the mayor’s job is to ensure that “that all laws and ordinances are faithfully enforced.” Step 2: While resolutions are often considered [non-binding](https://mrsc.org/stay-informed/mrsc-insight/february-2024/ordinances-resolutions-motions-proclamations?ref=rangemedia.co), Schultz argues that, because the city charter does not explicitly define “resolution,” they should be treated like laws or ordinances. Step 3: Schultz argues that, therefore, by requiring the mayor to faithfully enforce a legislative action denouncing her own speech, you run into all sorts of problems. Separation of powers problems. Compelled speech problems. Terr, with FIRE, remains unconvinced. “Even if the mayor has a duty to ‘faithfully enforce"’ all laws and ordinances, I'm not sure there is anything *to* enforce here,’ Terr said. But to Schultz, the “authoritarian” and “dangerous” nature of the ordinance was clear. “Words can convey a message that the writer claims: ‘Oh, I didn't intend that.’ But that's precisely what that language conveys,” Schultz said. “It’s a personal critique of the mayor. … The intent was to impact the election.” Shea’s case, in federal court, survived on one count: While the version of the resolution on the council agenda referred to him as an “alleged domestic terrorist” the version the council actually passed didn’t hedge, calling Shea an “identified domestic terrorist.” That kind of label, the court ruled, could be enough for Shea to suggest he had been punished without due process. (Shea has since argued he has been [exonerated](https://x.com/repmattshea/status/1845976578024788035?s=46&ref=rangemedia.co) of the accusations.) Schultz makes a similar argument, declaring that the resolution had marked Woodward with the “brand of infamy or disloyalty” for her associations. Tallying up the $10 million worth of damages, Schultz said the ordinance “imposed a scarlet letter … which took over the election cycle,” and that Woodward suffered “social and professional isolation,” and “fear of physical harm’ as a result.” She notes that Woodward ultimately lost the election by 2,800 votes. Yet the Supreme Court has said that, effectively, elected officials should be made of tougher stuff than regular citizens. “In this country, we expect elected representatives to shoulder a degree of criticism about their public service from their constituents and their peers — and to continue exercising their free speech rights when the criticism comes,” Gorsuch wrote in the 2022 Texas trustee case. It’s not at all clear that the controversy over Shea’s August 20 prayer swung the election, as opposed to, say, Woodward’s struggle to deliver on her [campaign promises to reduce homelessness](https://www.inlander.com/news/local-political-watchers-float-seven-theories-about-why-nadine-woodward-didnt-win-a-second-term/article%5F84d50d31-33af-5da4-8784-c52405b8315e.html?ref=rangemedia.co). In fact, in the weeks after the event, she disputed the notion that the backlash to her attendance at the rally was wide enough to call a “[political firestorm](https://www.khq.com/elections/spokane-mayor-nadine-woodward-recalls-prayer-event-with-matt-shea/article%5Fa7dcc4de-4ea8-11ee-8a9c-47030726282d.html?ref=rangemedia.co).” The negative comments were from a handful of very vocal people, and her office had been flooded with positive comments from people supportive of her being a “woman of faith” who believes in “the power of prayer.” It’s also hard to separate the impact of the media coverage of the event itself from the impact of the resolution. After all, the City Council resolution passed on September 25, over a month after the event. By then, there had already been national news coverage. How many people, exactly, switched their votes or fired off an angry email — not because they had seen Nadine appearing with Matt Shea on Twitter or TikTok or in [*Rolling Stone*](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/sean-feucht-maga-preacher-prays-for-jesus-fire-consume-spokane-1234813578/?ref=rangemedia.co)or the [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/08/24/spokane-mayor-religion-service-politics/?ref=rangemedia.co)but because some guy named Zack Zappone denounced it in a [city council resolution](https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/08/24/spokane-mayor-religion-service-politics/?ref=rangemedia.co)? “That's a legitimate question,” Schultz said. It’s exactly the kind of question, she says, she will plumb as they get into discovery. But she promises there *was* an impact, and they’ll be able to prove it. Today, Woodward is a [realtor who proudly touts](https://nadinewoodward.withwre.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) her legacy as mayor on her real estate website. As with many such lawsuits, this risks exhuming an old moment that the Mayor claims severely damaged her reputation. But the stakes are higher than just one former mayor. “This is actually already blooming into a larger stage,” Schultz said. “I've been getting inquiries from bloggers. I've been getting inquiries from independent writers in various First Amendment areas.” If Woodward wins, it could set a precedent that would reverberate in city council chambers across the region, one that would raise future questions. If, say, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown suddenly went on a tirade of grotesque racial slurs — and, to be clear, as of press time she has not — would that mean that the city council orany other governmental body in America would be prohibited from formally condemning her? And would a mayor be able to put out an official statement, not just condemning a specific constituent and his belief system but calling it a “threat to democracy?” Because that was what Woodward said in a statement about Matt Shea, one day after appearing with him on stage. **Editor's Note*:* This story has been edited to correct the preposition in FIRE's name. **Editor's Note:** This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Aaron Terr's last name. ### Fast & Furious, Lightning McQueen impressions could soon be banned in Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-05-07T23:56:44.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City could pass [a law](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers-,Food%20truck%20vending,-After%20a%20few) making it easier for food trucks and other mobile vendors to sell in the city limits, by cutting a fee and killing a requirement to get permission from owners of properties adjacent to where they want to set up. - At the Public Safety & Community Health Committee, Spokane City Council members will discuss a [new ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8E%B5I%20wonder%20if%20you%20know%2C%20how%20they%20live%20in%20Tokyo%F0%9F%8E%B5) with bipartisan sponsors to increase penalties for street racing and excessive speeding. - Spokane Park Board is holding a five-hour [special session](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=/5%20peppers-,Special%20meeting%C2%A0,-The%20Park%20Board) to discuss a slate of topics including naming/sponsorship rights and the status of Together Spokane projects. - Spokane County will accept nearly [$7.5 million](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Nearly%20%247.5M%20in%20state%20funds%20for%20PFAS%20filters) in Department of Commerce funding to install filters on private drinking water wells contaminated by forever chemicals. - The Spokane Valley City Council will hold its second reading on [an ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Second%20read%20on%20crypto%20kiosk%20ban) that would ban cryptocurrency ATMs in the city. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Spokane%20City-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Public%20Safety%20%26%20Community%20Health%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Park Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Park%20Board,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors%20%28special%20meeting%29) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-furious-lightning-mcqueen-impressions-could-soon-be-banned-in-spokane/#:~:text=attendance%20here.-,Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Food truck vending After a few weeks of deferring slowed the process, the ordinance from Council Members Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon to make it easier for food trucks to operate in the city is scheduled for a vote. The [ordinance](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/12/food-truck-freedom-spokane-considers-ending-permis/?ref=rangemedia.co) would do a few things: - Stop requiring food truck operators to make site improvements when they’re operating out of a surface parking lot - Update city code to match state code, allowing food trucks to sell alcohol at certain events with the appropriate permits - Eliminate a $60 permit required for trucks operating more than two weeks in the city - Allow food trucks to park in any surface lot (with the owner’s permission) - Eliminate an onerous requirement that food trucks get written permission from any adjacent properties they want to park next to, requiring only the permission of owner of the property they park on Last week, the council voted down an amendment from Council Member Michael Cathcart that would have made violating food vending code a criminal misdemeanor for both employees and business owners, and given the Spokane Police Department the authority to enforce it. The Dixit/Dillon version, sans Cathcart amendment, is what’s up for a vote tonight. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 4 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 7 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Presentation on Sheriffs Bill Debbie Novak, the eastern Washington lead for the state's Coalition for Police Accountability, is giving a presentation to the council on Senate Bill 5974, the new law that allows sitting sheriffs to be decertified by the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission and replaced by the appointment of county officials until the next election — among other accountability measures. The law is currently being challenged in court by sheriffs across the state (including Sheriff John Nowels here in Spokane County), with a judge [recently ruling](https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-sheriffs-get-temporary-court-win-over-parts-of-sb-5974/article%5F00e6764e-54fb-4032-a3a6-d10b2b0b43c4.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to temporarily block some sections of the law. We don’t have many details on Novak’s presentation, but this might be an interesting watch for police accountability advocates. ### 🎵I wonder if you know, how they live in Tokyo🎵 A new ordinance sponsored by Dillon and Cathcart that could curb street racing and excessive speeding by adding additional financial penalties is up for discussion today. Under this ordinance, anyone caught racing another vehicle, racing against an agreed-upon time, or driving at “excessively high rates of speed or acceleration,” or doing things like drifting, sliding or rolling coal (defined by the ordinance as “emitting black smoke”) could be given a traffic infraction.The penalties for receiving a traffic infraction in violation of this new ordinance would be $500 the first time, $800 the second and $1,500 the third. Anyone who violates the law more than three times could then be charged with a gross misdemeanor. An interesting facet of this ordinance is that it allows drivers to be cited based on video evidence. Basically, if a video of you racing up Division Street is posted online, it can be reviewed by the Spokane Police Department, who can then send you a traffic citation. If the driver is identifiable in the video evidence, they can be cited with street racing. But if the driver can’t be identified from the footage or other evidence, then the registered owner of the car can be cited with “unlawful vehicle use,” which has the same financial penalties as the citations for street racing. The ordinance is designed to “increase safety for all users of public streets,” the agenda sheet states. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 4 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Park Board 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Special meeting The Park Board will hold a special meeting 9:15 am to 2:15 pm this Friday. On the agenda for the lengthy session are a public records refresher, an update on the River Loop, a presentation on sponsorships and naming rights of parks assets and an update on Together Spokane projects funded by the [joint school bond and parks levy](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/05/together-spokane-parks-schools-overview/?ref=rangemedia.co) passed last year. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/spokane-park-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Friday, May 8 at 9:15 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed via WebEx,* > *Call in: 408-418-9388 Access code: 2491 764 3350* **Editor's note*: This section has been edited to reflect that the Park Board meeting is Friday, not Thursday.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### County may receive nearly half a million for wildfire prevention Spokane County is eligible to receive about $480,000 in funding to prevent wildfires in vulnerable areas. The money would come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). An initial $40,000 grant would allow the Haynes Estate, Holmberg, Beacon Hill and Mackenzie conservation areas to develop wildfire mitigation plans. It would then be eligible for an additional $438,731 to carry out those plans. The Department of Natural Resources would administer the grants. The BOCC is set to vote on accepting the money. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 5 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Nearly $7.5M in state funds for PFAS filters The county is set to accept an award of $7,450,000 from the Washington Department of Commerce to pay for filters in the homes of people who drink from wells contaminated with forever chemicals. The filters would clean water coming out of wells at their caps. Hundreds of wells drilled into West Plains aquifers were contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, stemming from firefighting chemicals deployed at Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. Read RANGE’s PFAS coverage in our environment section [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/tag/environment/). ### Possible surveillance cameras for 2 county parks The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office wants to partner with the Parks, Recreation & Golf Department to install surveillance cameras on public facilities in Plante’s Ferry Sports Complex and Camas Meadow Park. The cameras would be connected to the sheriff’s Real Time Crime Center. The agenda does not say who the cameras would be purchased from. The sheriff’s office currently partners with the Public Works Department to operate similar cameras. ### $1M in improvements to Crestline Road The Public Works Department is asking the county to approve $1,009,170 to build sidewalks along Crestline Road between 57th and 63rd avenues. The agenda doesn’t mention any bidders. Most of that money, $807,000, would come from state Transportation Improvement Board funding; the rest would come from the county’s Road Fund. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 5 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special meeting) 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Budget talks, public hearing The board will get an update on the preliminary general fund budget in the works for 2026-2027\. The board will also hold a public hearing and consider adopting a roughly $35.7 million budget extension for the new Transportation Vehicle Fund to purchase its own fleet of buses. “In December 2025, the School Board approved purchasing buses as one of the steps necessary to implement district operated student transportation services,” according to a resolution attached to the agenda. The board didn’t adopt a budget for the Transportation Vehicle Fund for 2025-2026 last August, so the extension would be for the months left in the fiscal year, according to the resolution. In December, the [board moved](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/#:~:text=School%20Boards-,Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) to implement district-operated student transportation after new legislation and rising costs made it better to bring it in-house. ### New name, same school The board will also hear a presentation about the request to rename The Community School and it appears they will take action, according to the agenda. Here are the recommended names the board is tasked with selecting from: - Riverpoint High School - The Community High School - Riverpoint Community High School - Riverpoint Community School - And lastly: The Community School. (No. That’s not a typo on our end.) ### A packed consent agenda The board of directors is also expected to vote on approving a couple contracts and other items on the consent agenda, including : - Capping the cost for the first phase of the Regional Fields Improvement Project at roughly $8.7 million. - A $148,285 contract with North Sound Auto Group for three new cargo vans. These will replace vehicles that “are no longer cost effective to maintain in a safe working condition.” - A contract with Bouten Construction Company for the North Central High School Modernization Project. No specifics of the contract were shared through the agenda materials. - A purchase order worth $611,270 over four years with Pathwise for bus routing software. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, May 6 at 4:30 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Second read on crypto kiosk ban Cryptocurrency is a relatively unregulated form of money that allows users to bypass the traditional hoops associated with bank accounts. One of the drawbacks is that it provides opportunities for scammers, and one of the most vulnerable choke points of this system is the “virtual currency kiosk,” essentially an ATM where users can add money to their digital wallets. Last year, the city of Spokane [banned](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/06/17/spokane-city-council-votes-to-prohibit-virtual-currency-kiosks/?ref=rangemedia.co) the kiosks from the city limits because scamming had become a real problem. It has in Spokane Valley, too. “The Spokane Valley Police Department has been tracking and investigating crimes involving cryptocurrency ATMs, and Spokane Valley residents have fallen victim to fraudulent schemes involving virtual currency kiosks,” according to a city memo on the problem. “This creates a significant public safety and welfare issue that is affecting citizens.” The Valley city council is on their second read of an ordinance banning the kiosks, meaning they could pass it Tuesday. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 5 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Sidewalk plan would prioritize safety, equity Liberty Lake’s walking paths are suffering from years of wear and tear, so the city is looking to adopt a long-term plan that would govern how the city repairs sidewalks. The plan would prioritize specific areas of the city, sorted by five categories: safety, equity, proximity and cost-benefit. The first two categories rate sidewalks according to a range of physical characteristics. **Safety** - Degree of Sidewalk Distress - Concentration of Distress Points - ADA Ramp Presence - Pedestrian Injury in Vicinity - Speed Limit of Adjacent Roadway **Equity** - High Concentration of Children or Seniors - Proximity to Manufactured Housing - Proximity to Senior Housing Read more about the plan [here](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F05052026-1214?ref=rangemedia.co), starting on page 21. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 5 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* *Editor's note: This entry has been changed to reflect the PFAS filters will be installed on well caps rather than inside the home.* ### Bringing people together and taking care of each other URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/bringing-people-together/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T00:24:22.000Z On this week’s episode, Pascal and Val were joined by Frances and Fen from [Asians for Collective Liberation in Spokane](https://aclspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (ACL Spokane)! May is Asian American Heritage Month, and ACL is doing a month-long celebration full of events, workshops, and art. Frances and Fen talked about ACL’s Heritage Month events, the importance of organizing and creating intergenerational community spaces, and how people can get involved. To learn more about ACL Spokane and to view their Asian American Heritage Month events, click [here](https://aclspokane.org/heritagemonth/?ref=rangemedia.co). Learn more about ACL’s Asian Youth for Collective Liberation program [here](https://aclspokane.org/youth/?ref=rangemedia.co). You can also find a list of book recommendations from ACL and the Spokane Public Library [here](https://aclspokane.org/heritagemonth/?ref=rangemedia.co)! Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Spokane Transit Authority will ask voters to renew 0.2% sales tax in August URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transit-authority-will-ask-voters-to-renew-0-02-sales-tax-in-august/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T00:11:47.000Z At a special meeting on Wednesday that took no public comment, the Spokane Transit Authority board of directors chose to ask voters within their service area to approve the renewal of the two-tenths of one percent sales tax through 2048\. The addition of the expiration date was a last-minute change that came after eleventh-hour private lobbying efforts from business interest groups. For weeks, members of the public lobbied the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) board of directors. They all wanted one thing: renew the sales tax supporting transit operations as soon as possible, and do it without a sunset clause. Every single piece of feedback the board received, from more than 80 different people, asked the agency to renew the tax, according to meeting minutes from March 19. Not one person was opposed, a rarity in local government. At a meeting on April 16 it seemed like the majority of the board was on the same page, too. At least five of the nine voting members voiced support for asking voters to renew the existing two-tenths of one percent sales tax they currently pay — which amounts to 2 cents for every $10 spent — on the August primary ballot. As written that day, the sales tax would have no expiration date (sunset clause, in legalese) and would continue in perpetuity without needing voter reapproval. The importance of being able to promise a guaranteed funding stream on federal grant applications was impressed upon a few of the board members who had been able to attend the recent American Public Transit Association conference in Washington, DC. Because STA’s current sales tax has a sunset clause, the agency can’t promise state or federal partners that they have funding secured for the lifespan of longterm projects they’re asking for support on, like the upcoming Division Street Bus Rapid Transit. Most of the board members agreed that removing the sunset clause was the right move forward, making the organization a more attractive candidate for grant dollars. For most of the meeting, it appeared transit advocates were going to get most of what they fought for (some of them had asked the agency to actually increase the tax and with it, services.) Enter exactly one business organization. A representative from Greater Spokane Incorporated, the region’s Chamber of Commerce, had testified virtually at the beginning of the meeting asking the board to defer the vote — which had been very publicly in the works for months — to one of the last days possible before the deadline to get a tax on the August ballot. He offered no criticisms of the tax, and no concrete opposition from the business community, just a request for the agency to delay and meet with GSI members to discuss the tax renewal. Airway Heights council member Bill Campbell, a nonvoting member of the board, called GSI’s last–minute request “a delaying action,” and said they could have talked to STA anytime during the tax renewal discussions, rather than waiting until the last minute. But after a lengthy discussion, the board [deferred](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/16/spokane-transit-authority-waffles-on-tax-renewal-v/?ref=rangemedia.co), agreeing to wait to vote on running the tax renewal in August until after some of their board members could have a private conversation with representatives from GSI, which represents businesses in the region. Because no media members were [allowed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/28/spokane-business-group-denies-public-access-as-it-/?ref=rangemedia.co), and the STA board sent just three electeds to avoid a quorum that would create the need for a public meeting, the details of that conversation are not available. Something that happened behind those closed doors shifted the board’s position, because at the top of Wednesday’s special meeting, Spokane Valley City Council Member Pam Haley proposed adding a 20-year sunset clause. This would require STA to go back to voters in 2048, two decades after the expiration of the current sales tax. Her motion wasn’t immediately supported. Five of the nine voting members said they’d prefer to see the tax renewal on the ballot without an expiration date at all, while Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart said he wanted a shorter sunset to hold STA accountable and keep it from turning into a “billion dollar boondoggle,” like other agencies — see [Sound Transit](https://go.bsky.app/redirect?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenewstribune.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farticle315566475.html&ref=rangemedia.co). Spokane City Council Member Zack Zappone, who co-sponsored a resolution passed by the city council this week asking the STA board to put the tax on the ballot in August without a sunset, was opposed to any expiration date at all. He said it left transit, a necessity for many working people, at the “political whims” of a future body. His fellow council member Sarah Dixit was also in strong opposition to adding a sunset, expressing frustration that the business community “held this vote hostage.” She said most of the feedback she’d gotten from transit-riders wanted the tax renewed without a sunset. Ultimately, though, a compromise coalition won out, and the sunset was added to the ballot measure by a vote of 5-4, with Zappone and Dixit joined on the “nay” side by County Commissioners Josh Kerns and Al French, who didn’t offer any reason behind their vote. STA board vice chair and Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke told RANGE that her vote for the sunset, despite repeatedly saying she’d prefer the measure without, was to ensure that the tax renewal goes before voters as soon as possible. “I’ve put too much into this to let it fall apart over a 20-year sunset,” Klitzke said. “In the \[Public Transportation Benefit Area\], there is no straightforward political lean so you really do have to build a broad coalition to feel good about things passing. Overconfidence isn’t something I wanted to risk to do something that would be really good for the community.” After agreeing to add the sunset clause, the board then voted on adding the tax renewal to the August ballot, which passed 7-2\. Kerns and French voted no, again offering no reasoning as to why. But when the board turned to the last thing they needed to do before the May 1 deadline to get information to the county auditor — appointing the committees that will write “Pro” and “Con” statements for the Voter’s Guide — French gave a hint of his position: “Can a member of the board be part of the con committee?” he asked. STA’s lawyer Megan Clark said it was not advisable. French said, “Kay,” then moved to add former STA board member [Mike Allen](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/dec/27/qa-with-departing-city-council-member-mike-allen/?ref=rangemedia.co) to the “Con” committee. He also moved to add one more name: former director of utilities and strategic planning for the city of Spokane Rick Romero, though French hadn’t yet gotten confirmation that Romero actually wanted to be on the committee. Clark asked if Romero actually lived within the boundaries of the PTBA, a necessity for anyone serving on the ballot measure committees and French replied that he didn’t know, but would check. According to his 2024 voter registration and an [op-ed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/13/gavin-cooley-and-rick-romero-proposed-amendment-wo/?ref=rangemedia.co) he penned with the Spokane Business Association’s [Gavin Cooley](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/) for *The Spokesman* in 2025, Romero lives in Newport, Washington, which is outside the boundaries of the PTBA. Klitzke told RANGE on Thursday that Clark was already working on striking Romero from the “Con” committee due to his ineligibility. Members of the “Pro” committee will be former state senator Andy Billig, confirmed in advance by Klitzke, and co-executive director of transit advocacy organization Spokane Reimagined Erik Lowe, who was in the room at the time and nominated in the spur-of-the-moment by Dixit. There is a launch party for the sales tax renewal campaign tonight at 5:30 pm at Brick West Brewing. ### Are you smarter than a Spokane 12th grader? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-civics-bowl-2026/ Last updated: 2026-04-30T20:19:13.000Z In a time when a new threat to the Constitution [emerges](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-next-video/?ref=rangemedia.co) [each](https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-free-press-first-amendment/?ref=rangemedia.co) [day](https://thelensnola.org/2026/04/30/birthright-citizenship-supreme-court-challenge-14th-amendment/?ref=rangemedia.co), a president may or may not be dozing off on live TV after unilaterally starting a ~~war~~ special military operation and Congress is … somewhere, it’s nice to see young people who know their civics. The US is built on a foundation many of us learned about in high school — the three branches of government, the checks and balances, the inalienable rights — and promptly forgot, in many cases. But it’s in the larger political chaos of 2026 and a second Trump presidency that today’s high schoolers are learning these core concepts. They’re seeing them play out in the national news and in some cases [here at home](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-rules-spokane-9-case-will-go-to-trial/), so now a relatively low-stakes local quiz show focused on civic education takes on a new significance. Each spring, dozens of Spokane County high school students compete in the [Civics Bowl](https://www.ksps.org/civic-health/civics-bowl/?ref=rangemedia.co), a competitive quiz show hosted by KSPS PBS that tests the kids with a rapid-fire barrage of questions about government and history. Eight schools sent teams of four to compete in the tournament that will culminate in a championship airing on June 1\. KSPS and the Spokane chapter of the [League of Women Voters](https://my.lwv.org/washington/spokane-area?ref=rangemedia.co) collaborated to create the Civics Bowl in 2022; the League wrote the questions for the tournament. Those questions range from the abstract — which of the basic principles in the US Constitution means that all political power resides in the people? (Popular Sovereignty) — to the subject of recent [explainers](https://theconversation.com/when-a-president-is-unfit-for-office-heres-what-the-constitution-says-can-happen-280120?ref=rangemedia.co) — which chamber of Congress has the power to investigate and pass articles of impeachment? (The House of Representatives). Some questions even had two possible answers because of [changes](https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pentagon-asks-congress-to-endorse-rebranding-scheme-and-spend-taxpayer-money?ref=rangemedia.co) the Trump administration has made: Which department in the president's cabinet is the largest? (Department of Defense or Department of War). In the backstage green room, just before the cameras started rolling for the April 16 event, each team was hit with a question: "Why does civics matter?" It was one of those on-the-spot simple-yet-tricky questions that can cause the brain to go blank. But after a bit of under-pressure mental scrambling (“Wait, let me look up the definition of civics real quick”), they all nailed it. “We all have inalienable rights. The Constitution says so, but we only have that if we understand them,” said Central Valley High School team captain Alex. The match that day was between the Liberty High School Lancers, and Alex’s team, the CVHS Bears. By school size, it’s a classic David-and-Goliath set-up, between the tiny 150-ish student Liberty High School from Spangle, and the CVHS which has about 1,300 students in Spokane Valley. “They’ve been working for months,” Liberty coach and PE teacher Ken VanSickle said proudly as they filmed “Choose Your Character” [style introduction videos](https://www.instagram.com/p/DXpKX2lDcLT/?ref=rangemedia.co). The nervous energy backstage was palpable: some of the competitors bounced on their toes and flopped their arms to shake off their nerves. “Only one of us is gonna move on. That’s kind of a weird thought,” Trevor, from CVHS said in a serious tone. For a second, there was a hush in the shared dressing room. Then, his teammate Joe joked, “What if we all form a SUPER team?” To which he got a resounding “YEAH!” That would, however, defeat the whole idea of a tournament, so they soldiered on into the studio with its bright lights, official podiums, giant camera rigs and live audience, still glittering with an air of gleeful trepidation. Public Affairs Producer Leilah Isaacson explained the [rules](https://bento.pbs.org/prod/filer%5Fpublic/ksps-bento-live-pbs/06-Civic%20Health/Civics%20Bowl/Season%204/e3194a0d2a%5FCivics%20Bowl%20Rules%5F2025-26.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) and how the game would work: four rounds, each with different formats, some requiring speed at the buzzer, some allowing or forbidding conference with teammates, some deducting points for wrong answers. At the end of the four rounds, only one team would stand victorious. In a dapper suit and slicked back hair, host and local journalist Scott Leadingham asked some non-civics questions to give the students practice with the buzzers: “What’s Taylor Swift’s lucky numb —” BUZZ “— 13,” CVHS’s Alex answered correctly. The students were locked in. VanSickle, the PE teacher from Spangle, said Liberty’s participation in the Civics Bowl is “totally student-led.” The core of the Liberty team, Zoe, Colin, Thomas and Carter, got recruited last year by a now-graduated senior named Mitchell — whom the competitors at the small school spoke of almost as a legend. Minding the stack of phones he was holding for the teens, the coach and team alternate Kinley watched the match with the intensity of a high-stakes basketball game. From the side of the risers, CVHS coach Rob Rowe projected the air of a stoic parent trying not to let on that they’re a *little* anxious for their kid. Rowe recruited his team, Joe, Alex, Trevor and Aubrey, from his Advanced Placement (AP) US Government and History classes (the students later declared that he’s a favorite teacher too). Prepping for the tournament meant researching hundreds of questions, creating 100+ card Quizlets, testing each other and binge-watching the last three seasons of Civics Bowl [on KSPS](https://video.ksps.org/show/civics-bowl/?source=ksps-cb-button&%5Fgl=1%2A1iuyyfn%2A%5Fgcl%5Faw%2AR0NMLjE3Nzc0MTQzMTQuQ2p3S0NBand0Y0hQQmhBREVpd0FXbzNzSnRVejY4d2QwSVU5MDJtenFySUhXWFZUSmJvamF2Z2twRWhMUnNxV1FQcVlMOUNnVVV2NGJCb0NTNEVRQXZEX0J3RQ..%2A%5Fgcl%5Fau%2AMTM3OTQ0NzE2NS4xNzc3NDEyMjIw%2A%5Fga%2AMjIwNTk5MTkyLjE3Nzc0MTIyMjA.%2A%5Fga%5FZ77SR4NF5G%2AczE3Nzc1NzMzMTAkbzUkZzAkdDE3Nzc1NzMzMTAkajYwJGwwJGgw). For the nine teens, the match was the culmination of months of study. The match began with a toss-up round, where the questions were asked to all the players and the buzzer was king. Determining who got to the question — and potential points — came down to fractions of a second, with Liberty showing extreme prowess on the buzzer. Some questions were tricky, though, and stumped both teams, like: “How many county commissioners represent Spokane County citizens?” Liberty’s Carter said three. CVHS’s Aubrey said six. (The correct answer is five, since the board [expanded](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/dec/07/the-sheriff-versus-the-housing-leader-five-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) from three members in January 2023.) Some answers from the teams prompted the judges to confer in whispers at a table sequestered from the podiums. The students anxiously waited as a red or green card determined if their answer was acceptable. At the end of the first round, Liberty had taken a huge lead with 150 points to CVHS’s 30\. But even as the stakes grew more dire, the kids made light of the situation, with the boys blowing kisses at each other and playing rock paper scissors from their respective podiums. By the start of the third round, the score was looking bleak for CVHS at 200-80, but this was the category round: the teams would be able to confer and the buzzers that had given Liberty its edge wouldn’t be a factor. CVHS quickly started clawing back ground as they correctly answered questions about famous presidential quotes and the Great Depression, hitting a high of 170\. Still, they lost points for incorrect answers, ending the round with 90 points to Liberty’s 240\. Just before the final round, each coach had a chance to give a pep talk or joke about Taco Bell lunch plans to lighten the mood of the teens in competition mode. “I just told them that being in front of the lights and cameras can make you nervous, so just be confident and do your best,” Rowe said in an interview during a break. Though the point difference continued to widen through the final round, each team fought to the last second on questions like “Who represents Washington's Fifth Congressional District in the House of Representatives?” (Michael Baumgartner) and the final question: “What ancient civilization is considered to have had the first democracy?” (Athens or Greek civilization). The match ended with Liberty at 320 and CVHS at 170, but both teams were sincere in their good-game-murmurs, high fives and fist bumps. For the Liberty team, a celebratory Taco Bell lunch awaited — and maybe some strategic planning for their upcoming match with The Community School, which had won its first round match against University High School. For the CVHS team, there was some relief in it being over and some excitement to have competed at all. “I’m proud of our civics knowledge,” Aubrey said. She had been almost exclusively listening to old Civics Bowl episodes on her car rides for weeks, but smiled broadly and fist-pumped the air as she said, “I’m going to listen to music on the way home!” > Watch this episode on YouTube [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpr7s1XK0oY&ref=rangemedia.co). Follow the tournament at KSPS [here](https://www.ksps.org/civic-health/civics-bowl/?ref=rangemedia.co). New episodes air Mondays at 7 pm through June 1. ### ‘Pensé que habría democracia’. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pense-que-habria-democracia/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T21:32:26.000Z Antes de que 'Ariel' pisara suelo estadounidense, había escuchado que el país albergaba una de las democracias más sólidas, que se consideraba un lugar donde todos tenían derechos y nadie estaba por encima de la ley. Tras sufrir persecución política en su país latinoamericano, Ariel huyó de su hogar y solicitó asilo en Estados Unidos hace unos tres años. Allí empezó el largo proceso que aún continúa. Su esperanza era construir una vida segura en Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, el caso de asilo de Ariel fue negado recientemente sin una audiencia para que pudiera presentar sus argumentos, y el juez ordenó su deportación a Ecuador, un país donde también había sufrido maltrato y daño. Ambas administraciones de Trump han utilizado acuerdos con terceros países, legalmente cuestionables, para restringir el acceso al asilo en Estados Unidos y, en su lugar, enviar a personas a un país extranjero, como en el caso de Ariel. Estos acuerdos se conocen como Acuerdos de Cooperación de Asilo o Acuerdos de Tercer País Seguro. “Pensaba que habría democracia”, dijo Ariel a RANGE. “Ahora que vivo aquí, es muy diferente”. Debido al peligro que corre Ariel en su país de origen y a petición de su abogada en Manzanita House, RANGE accedió a identificar a Ariel bajo un seudónimo y no mencionar su género, país de origen o detalles específicos del caso. Durante años, las personas han podido recurrir a procesos establecidos desde hace mucho tiempo para presentar su temor a regresar a su país de origen y solicitar asilo, lo cual está protegido por diversas leyes y tratados internacionales, dijo la abogada del Proyecto para los Derechos del Inmigrante del Noroeste (NWIRP), Audrey Gilliam. Las [pretermisiones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f7ACFgjBk0&t=84s&ref=rangemedia.co), como la que sufrió Ariel, ponen fin a la solicitud de asilo de una persona antes de que comience un proceso sustantivo, según el Centro Nacional de Justicia para Inmigrantes (NIJC). El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) o un juez de inmigración pueden iniciar una preterición. Estas pueden presentarse por motivos como la falta de pago de una tasa, la presentación de una aplicación incompleta o por medio de un Acuerdo de Cooperación de Asilo existente. En esencia, si otro país acepta que un inmigrante solicite asilo allí, Estados Unidos puede proceder rápidamente a su deportación. Ariel es solo una de las miles de personas inmigrantes afectadas por la avalancha de casos de asilo negados en todo el país bajo la segunda administración de Trump. ### **Una práctica judicial preocupante** Defensores de los derechos humanos han denunciado que el uso de los acuerdos firmados por la administración Trump para enviar solicitantes de asilo a terceros países viola el derecho de los inmigrantes al debido proceso, de acuerdo con un informe del centro. En 2020, una coalición de organizaciones, entre las que se incluyen la Unión Americana de Libertades Civiles (ACLU) y el Centro de Estudios de Género y Refugiados (CGRS), presentó una demanda para impugnar la norma de 2019 y las políticas relacionadas, clasificándolas como ilegales, según el centro. Sin embargo, el uso de las pretermisiones, antes poco frecuentes, para negar a los inmigrantes la oportunidad de presentar sus argumentos, se disparó en 2025, impulsado principalmente por las mociones de pretermisióntras una decisión del 31 de octubre de la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración (BIA) durante la administración Trump. Esta opinión legal establecía que, si el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) alegaba que un acuerdo de asilo con un tercer país aplicaba, el juez de inmigración debía considerar si al solicitante entonces se le niega el asilo en Estados Unidos antes de examinar los méritos del caso, según el centro. “Lo que hemos estado viendo desde noviembre es que las personas siguen teniendo solicitudes de asilo válidas, pero no pueden presentarlas ante el tribunal”, dijo Gilliam. “En cambio, el caso simplementese cierra”. Para evitar que se le niegue el asilo en Estados Unidos en virtud de un acuerdo con un tercer país, un solicitante de asilo tendría que demostrar ante el tribunal que, con alta probabilidad, sufriría persecución o tortura en dicho país, según la decisión de octubre de la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración. El 12 de marzo de 2026, el gobierno federal ordenó a los abogados del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) que dejaran de presentar estas mociones de pretermisión, informó The Seattle Times. Sin embargo, aún no está claro por qué se ordenó la suspensión ni si es temporal. Mientras tanto, los jueces continuarán tomando decisiones sobre las mociones que ya se presentaron antes de la pausa. “Les dijeron que pararan… pero al mismo tiempo, no hemos visto ninguna política al respecto”, dijo Sam Smith, director de asistencia legal para inmigrantes y abogado de inmigración de Manzanita House. Según afirmó, dada la falta de transparencia durante la administración Trump, la ausencia de una política formal causa preocupación de que la pausa no sea duradera. El sistema detribunales de inmigración ha demostrado ser un entorno complejo y, en ocasiones, [hostil para los inmigrantes,](https://www.brennancenter.org/es/our-work/research-reports/promesa-vacia-junta-apelaciones-inmigracion-departamento-justicia?ref=rangemedia.co) especialmente para aquellos que no cuentan con un abogado. Sin embargo, Ariel logró acceder a asistencia legal en Manzanita House gracias a una recomendación de Latinos en Spokane el año pasado. Melissa Main, la abogada que representa a Ariel, dijo a RANGE que el siguiente paso en el caso de Ariel era apelar la decisión del juez de preterirsu caso de asilo y ordenar su deportación. “A partir de ahí, pueden pasar muchos meses o incluso años para que todo el proceso se complete”, dijo. ### Se abren las compuertas Antes de 2025, era extremadamente raro que un caso fuera preterido en un tribunal de inmigración, según Koby Jargstorf, abogado del Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. A principios de 2025, se produjo un flujo constante a resultado de decisiones de la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración, incluyendo pretermisiones por solicitudes incompletas de asilo, retención de la deportación y la Convención Contra la Tortura. La American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) ha descrito las decisiones de desestimar casos de asilo porque el solicitante no respondió a todas las preguntas del formulario como un sacrificio de la equidad y algo que compromete "la capacidad del tribunal para revisar exhaustivamente" los casos. Pero fue realmente después de la decisión de laJunta de Apelaciones de Inmigración en octubre cuando se "abrieron las compuertas", explicó Jargstrof. En 2024, elDepartamento de Seguridad Nacional presentó 754​​mociones depretermisión**,** según [un informe de bklg](https://bklg.org/blog/pretermission-03-26/?ref=rangemedia.co), un servicio que permite a los abogados de inmigración obtener registros de procedimientos. En 2025, esa cifra aumentó a 27.770, debido principalmente a las mociones presentadas durante la última parte del año. Según Gilliam, en Washington se produjo un aumentosimilar en las mociones de pretermisiónpresentadas en casos en distintas fases de los procedimientos de deportación. “Desde nuestra perspectiva, no parece haber una lógica clara en la solicitud del gobierno”, dijo. “En muchos casos, están presentando solicitudes de(Acuerdos de Cooperación de Asilo)para personas que ingresaron al país en o a partir del 19 de noviembre de 2019”. Los datos de Bklg muestran que el DHS presentó más de 2000 mocionesde pretermisión en casos de asilo en Washington entre el 6 de julio de 2025 y el 25 de enero de 2026\. La gran mayoría se presentaron en el tribunal de inmigración de Seattle, y solo una fracción se presentó en Tacoma. Gilliam afirmó que la decisión de la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración de permitirlas pretermisiones basadas en los acuerdos con terceros países parece eliminar las opciones alternativas para los jueces de inmigración; si una persona que solicita asilo puede ser enviada a un tercer país, debe serlo. “Lo que hemos observado es que los jueces de inmigración han concedido en gran medida la mayoría de estas mociones de pretermisión cuando han sido presentadas por el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional”, afirmó. Durante una entrevista a principios de abril, Gilliam dijo que la unidad de Defensa contra la Deportación en la que trabaja atendía a dos o tres personas por semana afectadas por pretermisiones. Esa cifra era de tres a cuatro personas para la unidad de Jargstorf, el Proyecto de Apoyo para Migrantes y Solicitantes de Asilo de Washington (WA MASS.). Smith afirmó que Manzanita House también ha atendido con frecuencia a personas que recibieron una moción de pretermisión**.** Esta organización local sin fines de lucro, al igual que NWIRP, ha intentado ayudar a personas con recursos limitados en medio de prácticas que cambian rápidamente e incluso que podrían ser ilegales. “Lo más desalentador y difícil de todo esto es que hay muy pocas oportunidades de luchar con éxito contra esto, al menos en primera instancia, en el tribunal de inmigración”, dijo Smith. “Hemos visto que algunas personas han tenido un éxito limitado en circunstancias muy particulares, pero por lo demás, estamos viendo apelaciones masivas”. Y aún no está claro cómo abordará exactamente la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración estos casos, dijo Smith.[ Un análisis ](https://www.brennancenter.org/es/our-work/research-reports/promesa-vacia-junta-apelaciones-inmigracion-departamento-justicia?ref=rangemedia.co)del Brennan Center for Justicereveló que la junta “ni siquiera guarda la apariencia” de centrarse exclusivamente en la interpretación de la ley desde que Trump regresó al poder. El centro argumenta que la junta ha emitido regularmente decisiones que “restringen los derechos de las personas inmigrantes y reducen la imparcialidad judicial”. Sin embargo, manifestar la oposición es fundamental, añadió Smith. No solo porque aún existe una posibilidad, aunque remota, sino también porque ayuda a exigir responsabilidades al gobierno, a crear un registro en cada caso particular y a documentar en todo el sistema cómo actúa el gobierno. Smith señaló que dos clientes de Manzanita House fueronpreteridos en un lapso de dos semanas en marzo. Uno fue excluido en las primeras etapas del proceso legal, mientras que la otra persona, Ariel, fue excluida por un juez unos 13 días antes de la audiencia programada en la que Main habría tenido la oportunidad de argumentar la solicitud de asilo de Ariel. “Presentaron esta moción en el último minuto y al comienzo de la audiencia, en lugar de abordar el caso de asilo que habíamos preparado y para el que estábamos listos para argumentar, el juez quiso hablar sobre la moción para dar por concluido el caso anticipadamente debido a eso”, dijo Smith. Smith dijo que Manzanita House tuvo aproximadamente dos semanas para prepararse y una audiencia de 30 minutos para argumentar por qué el acuerdo con terceros países no se aplicaba a Ariel y que, de aplicarse, Ariel se enfrentaría a la persecución allí. “Y eso es tiempo insuficiente tanto para preparar como para presentar un caso. Por lo tanto, creemos que existen serias preocupaciones en cuanto al debido proceso en este sentido”, afirmó. Smith señaló que la administración Trump ha dedicado sus dos mandatos a debilitar la política de inmigración, en particular la de asilo. “En teoría, podrías haber estado aquí casi siete años con un caso pendiente, a solo unos días de presentar tu caso, y el gobiernosimplemente (hace algo que te deja desorientado)”, dijo. ### ‘Una burla a nuestro sistema de asilo’ El Centro de Estudios de Género y Refugiados señala en el informe que el marco regulatorio utilizado para implementar los Acuerdos de Cooperación de Asilo no solo es "fundamentalmente defectuoso", sino que también convierte "en una burla a nuestro sistema de asilo". Todos los Acuerdos de Cooperación de Asilo deben cumplir con la Ley de Inmigración y Nacionalidad, la cual permite al gobierno impedir que los solicitantes pidan asilo en Estados Unidos si pueden ser deportados de forma segura a otro país en virtud de un acuerdo vigente, según el centro. La ley establece que el tercer país deberá dar seguridad y un proceso de asilo completo y justo. Sin embargo, el centroha señalado que los acuerdos firmados bajo la administración Trump "no han cumplido sistemáticamente con los requisitos legales", lo que significa que violan la ley federal. En 2019, la administración Trump firmó acuerdos con Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador, países que la ACLU describió como extremadamente peligrosos y con sistemas de asilo precarios. Estos países habían generado más de 778.800 refugiados hasta 2024, según un informe del ACNUR. Antes de esto, el único acuerdo con un tercer país que Estados Unidos mantenía era con Canadá. La administración Biden dio por terminados esos acuerdos al asumir el cargo, pero no rescindió la norma ni las políticas relacionadas que crearon el marco antes del regreso de Trump. En 2025, la administración Trump firmó nuevos acuerdos con Belice, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador y Uganda. “Dados los dudosos historiales de derechos humanos de estos estados y la grave insuficiencia de sus sistemas de asilo, resulta evidente que el objetivo de la administración no es compartir la responsabilidad de ofrecer refugio seguro, sino negar a los solicitantes de asilo el acceso a la protección en Estados Unidos y en otros lugares”, escribió el centro en su informe. Smith detalló algunas preocupaciones sobre el debido proceso, incluido el breve plazo para pelear una moción. Una vez presentada, las personas tienen solo 10 días para oponerse a ella. “Si alguien está representado, sabe que la notificación debería llegar electrónicamente y de inmediato, pero sabemos que la mayoría de las personas no están representadas y la reciben por correo postal”, dijo. “Para cuando nos enteramos o vemos a personas con estas mociones, en realidad han tenido 4, 5 o 6 días para responder”. Cuando un juez aprueba una mociónde pretermisión, las personas tienen 30 días para apelar. Aunque el proceso es rápido y a menudo implacable, existe una manera en que el gobierno federal podría permitir que las personas soliciten asilo en los EE. UU., aunque un acuerdo con un tercer país sea aplicable. El DHS, o la entidad a la que deleguen, tiene la autoridad para hacerlo mediante lo que se llama una "determinación de interés público", explicó Smith. Pero ese proceso también parece estar fallando. “Hasta donde sabemos, no se lo han delegado a nadie. Les hemos preguntado explícitamente a los abogados litigantes de nuestros casos: ‘¿Cuál es el procedimiento? ¿Cómo podemos plantear esto al secretario del DHS?’ Y nos han respondido rotundamente: ‘No existe ningún procedimiento’”. Según Smith, uno de los casos que Manzanita está tramitando presenta diversos factores que justificarían una decisión de interés público. En el caso de un cliente, los Estados Unidos pretende enviarlo a un país latinoamericano que ha roto relaciones diplomáticas con su país de origen. Además, padece una grave afección médica que, de no recibir el tratamiento adecuado, probablemente le dejaría solo unos meses de vida. “Por lo tanto, existen muchas razones de peso por las que debería tomarse una determinación de interés público, pero aun así, negarse incluso a participar en el proceso o no estar dispuesto a hacerlo… Creo que eso es, en primer lugar, una cuestión fundamental de justicia, y creo que el debido proceso está allí.” Es difícil explicarle a alguien el confuso y complejo panorama migratorio, añadió Ruthie Jablonsky, otra abogada de Manzanita House. “Y luego, intentar explicar algo que es tan injusto a simple vista es realmente difícil”, dijo Jablonsky. “Creo que parte del problema es que se rompe la confianza entre abogado y cliente porque, básicamente, no hay nada que yo pueda hacer. Y como defensora, quiero decir, es mi trabajo poder hacer algo”. Al detallar sus experiencias en los tribunales, Jablonsky describió cómo los jueces han dicho lo mismo, casi como si estuvieran leyendo el mismo guión. “Parecía que, de una audiencia a otra, \[el juez\] no había leído nada de la información que habíamos presentado”, dijo. “Uno se presenta y el juez simplemente pregunta: ‘¿Han estado alguna vez en tal país tercero?’. En este caso era Ecuador, y mi cliente nunca había estado allí. Así que poder demostrar que… sería básicamente perseguido si lo envían a un país que nunca había visitado… es un estándar muy alto que cumplir”. También señaló que el plazo de 10 días para responder no es suficiente para preparar un caso sólido. En medio del caos, Jablonsky afirmó que conserva una pequeña esperanza de un resultado favorable en el litigio en curso que desafía las deportaciones a terceros países. ### No queda más que luchar. En el despacho de Main hace unas dos semanas, Ariel le contó a RANGE que le resultaba difícil explicar los sentimientos que tuvo tras enterarse de la decisión del juez de preterir su caso. “Es como un dolor sin dolor, pero una rabia con impotencia. Como que no puedes hacer nada porque todo está en manos de alguien que no le importas”, dijo Ariel. El clima actual ha sembrado miedo entre comunidades de inmigrantes, incluidos los solicitantes de asilo que siguen los procedimientos judiciales. Tras enterarse de que su caso había sido preterido, Ariel fue a una cita de ICE con Main. Ariel recuerda haber sentido miedo ante la perspectiva de tener que ir a esa cita después de recibir la decisión del juez y se preparó mentalmente para una detención. La administración Trump ha detenido a personas que asisten a audiencias y citas de inmigración, incluso en Spokane. Esta práctica dio lugar a [una demanda ](https://www.telemundohouston.com/noticias/local/grupos-demandan-a-gobierno-de-trump-por-arrestos-de-ice-en-cortes-de-inmigracion/2503822/?ref=rangemedia.co)en curso que alega que la administración ha arrestado ilegalmente a inmigrantes. “Es una situación que solo queda como vivir preocupado, vivir asustado. Solo como tratar de vivir con esto”, dijo Ariel. “De quedarnos aquí o que nos manden a otro lado, es quedarnos aquí o la muerte, una de las dos. Es muy literal.” Ariel dijo que se ha enterado de muchos casos en los que personas fueron deportadas a su país de origen y había gente esperando para hacerlas desaparecer. “Seguiré luchando hasta donde alcance, hasta donde pueda”, dijo. “No hay más”. #### Recursos legales - Proyecto para los Derechos del Inmigrante del Noroeste: https://nwirp.org/get-help/ - Manzanita House: https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/legal-aid-mila - Proyecto de Apoyo para Migrantes y Solicitantes de Asilo de Washington: https://www.wamassproject.info/hc/en-us Esta lista no es exhaustiva. Si desea sugerir algún recurso local para esta lista, póngase en contacto con nosotros. ### The cop-to-content pipeline URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-free-bodycam-footage-problem/ Last updated: 2026-04-28T21:59:19.000Z Spokane County Sheriff deputies have only been wearing body cameras since 2022, but in that short time hundreds of public records requests for the footage have flooded into the Spokane County records’ offices. Spokane County records logs, obtained by RANGE, show a WIRED reporter asked for body camera footage of deputies responding to a [school shooting hoax](https://web.archive.org/web/20250207011523/https://www.wired.com/story/school-swatting-torswats-brad-dennis/). A *Spokesman* reporter wanted the footage from a deputy who [beat a man for refusing to give his name](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/29/feds-charge-former-spokane-county-sheriffs-sergean/?ref=rangemedia.co) in a Spokane park. Other requesters hoped that body camera footage could shed answers on what happened to their loved ones. One man, worried about his sister’s “mental health, accidental discharge of a firearm and suicide attempts,” wanted footage of deputies interacting with her. Body camera footage requests have come from a woman who said her boyfriend had been “brutally assaulted” by law enforcement, from the mom of a vehicle prowling suspect and from a daughter investigating her mother’s death. For nearly four years, all that video footage was free to anyone who requested it. That changed on March 24, when the Spokane County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to start charging requesters for the staff time needed to process and redact these records. State law requires certain elements of audio or video footage body camera footage to be blacked out before it’s released to the public. Under the new rule, anyone directly involved in an incident recorded by body cams will still be able to get the footage for free. So would their attorneys. But for most of the rest — journalists, family members of victims or local police reform activists scrutinizing a police shooting video — will have to pay for the redactions. Redacting a 10-minute video, the county estimated, would likely run them nearly $47\. An hour of video would cost $280\. The problem, county records officers explained, was another growing category of requester: YouTube body camera channels. Body camera footage requests by these for-profit operations, often turned into tabloid-style gawking at the grisly and the perverse, have overwhelmed records departments of law enforcement agencies across the country. On the same day as the Board of County Commissioners passed the new fees, a requester calling herself Ava Westbrook made 14 records requests for body camera footage in 14 separate cases — including cases involving murder and child rape. “This request is on behalf of my educational YouTube channel where we educate viewers on real-life cases,” Westbrook wrote. “The \[body camera\] footage will be used only for educational reporting on our monetized YouTube channel.” Westbrook’s were just one piece of the swarm of requests from body camera YouTubers that showed up in the Spokane County records logs. Verda Studios made a request too, identifying themselves as a producer of “responsible, fact- based crime documentaries” on YouTube.” Those documentaries include such responsible fact-based classics like "When Mother of 2 Realizes She Killed Her Own Husband," "When Racist Teens Think Laws Don't Apply to Them" and "When Stupid People Get Arrested at Walmart." A company named EWU Media — “a global community 10 million strong with over 2.5 billion views since 2015” and with no relation to Eastern Washington University — wanted bodycam footage involving the arrest of a female teacher who’d groomed and had sex with an underage high school student. Vee Body Cams requested footage of an arrest for indecent exposure near the North Spokane Park and Ride. Midwest Safety requested body camera videos of Spokane County of deputies responding to a carjacking, a car crash, a hit and run and a police shooting. The deluge of requests had become so intense, Spokane County records officer Tony Dinaro said, that it was hard to keep the sheriff’s records office staffed. “Just as a way to try to mitigate some amount of stress for that office, I recommended that we take another look at charging fees for anything that is legally allowed,” Dinaro said. But as a consequence, public records have become that much more difficult to obtain for those who truly need them. ### **Every man a *Cops* producer** The notion that raw police footage could captivate viewers is hardly a new epiphany: For 37 seasons, the documentary TV show *Cops* had turned ride-alongs with officers and deputies of departments across the country — including the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department — into reality TV content. But in the years since, more and more departments have adopted body cameras. It was something both the police and the police reformers could get behind: activists hoped they would expose abusive cops; cops hoped they would expose false accusations from criminals. Both were right. But the proliferation of body cameras had another, unintended impact. Combined with the state laws allowing the public to get almost any government-created records, those cameras suddenly let everyone be their own *Cops* TV producer. With little more than an email to a records officer, they could summon first-person point-of-view footage from police and sheriff’s departments throughout the country. No need for contracts with the law enforcement agency. No need for signed video releases. No need to blur faces of those who don’t want to be on TV. No need to pay videographers — the cops *were* their cameramen. While *Cops* will blur faces unless they get a signed video release from those portrayed, these channels generally don’t take that step. Unlike many public records, which often arrive shrouded in bureaucratese, body camera footage comes clickbait-ready. With enough footage and a bit of editing, and a YouTube channel operator can play any emotional note they desire: Heartbreaking. (“[Mom Realizes Grandma Ran Over Her Baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2JSPkogLwU&ref=rangemedia.co).” Scary (“[Cops Have No Idea this Man is about to be Murdered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e95JrxIGGjQ&ref=rangemedia.co).” Gruesome. (“[Killer Realizes She's Been Caught After Cutting Baby Out of Victim's Stomach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzfDkNdZevQ&ref=rangemedia.co).”) Gross. ("[Taco Bell Worker CAUGHT doing This DISGUSTING thing to food](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ngNWL65xeXE?ref=rangemedia.co).” Lurid. (“[When Suspects Try to Seduce Cops](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwUpcaWeG8g&ref=rangemedia.co).” “[Mom’s Bra Secret Gets Exposed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4QMHkwEvy8&ref=rangemedia.co).”) Bizarre. (“[Drunk Driver’s Situation Is So Crazy That He Almost Kill Kamala Harris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F1Qioj2w3w&ref=rangemedia.co)” ) There are recurring archetypes. The [Dumbass Criminal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtKRpUYDzgM&ref=rangemedia.co). The [Monster Mom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewrx4eQ-PqQ&ref=rangemedia.co). The [Neighbor From Hell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sv0t9%5FvZME&ref=rangemedia.co). [The Hero Cop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN-0Yw7OOuU&ref=rangemedia.co). The [Bastard Cop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHRGfaNSmv8&ref=rangemedia.co). And, of course, the most ubiquitous star of them all: The “Karen.” An entitled woman, typically white, upper middle class, middle aged, Karen appears in many incarnations: Vee Body Cams alone features cameos by Gas Station Karen, Concert Karen, Notorious Karen, Ex-Cop Karen, Airport Karen, and — of course — Intoxicated Karen. And naturally, some of the most popular videos combine one or more or all of these themes. (“[Karen Strips Naked and Goes Berserk After Traffic Stop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K4I-FAHAIA&ref=rangemedia.co).”) Alex Smith, co-founder of Midwest Safety — one of the channels that has turned records requests in Spokane County into viral YouTube clips — said there’s a reason some of these themes are so compelling. There’s something to be said for seeing karma catch up to “someone who is an enormous jerk,” he told RANGE. It’s the sense that, “maybe there’s justice in this world.” Nine months ago, his YouTube channel published a video that began with footage of the Spokane County skyline. "Spokane County, Washington, population 539,000,” a narrator with a deep *viewer-discretion-is-advised* voice intones over Spokane County body camera footage, “and out of those half million people, we found the single worst neighbor." The 13-minute selection of bodycam footage, obtained for Smith’s channel, features an angry woman living in a Spokane Valley apartment calling the cops on her neighbor, only to get arrested for disorderly conduct herself. The resulting YouTube video, “Neighbor Looking for Revenge Gets Karma Instead,” got more than 1.1 million views. “As someone born and raised in Spokane, there has got to be an untapped gold mine for Spokane bodycam videos,” one commenter wrote on a video from Midwest Safety. Smith politely declines to say how much a million-hit video like the Spokane Valley footage gets — but [reporting](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-youtube-pays-for-views-100-thousand-million-150-2020-1?ref=rangemedia.co#1-million-views-between-3400-and-40000-6-creators-2) from *Business Insider* in 2020 suggests such videos at that level of success could generate anywhere from $2,000 to $40,000, depending on topic, length and ad options. That kind of money helps pay the bills for Midwest’s team of 45 staffers. Like all Midwest Safety videos, the video description emphasizes to viewers that the figures in the videos may be suffering from behavioral health issues, and that “everyone deserves to be treated with respect.” But plenty of the more than 7,000 comments on the video paid little attention to that maxim, eagerly mocking the Spokane woman’s appearance, voice, fashion sense, word choice and worthiness as a parent. Smith said they try to strictly filter the YouTube comments and ban abusive users. He said he’s familiar with the longstanding criticism of *Cops* — that shows like that take the worst day of someone’s life and immortalize it for the entire world. He says that the site has a “right to be forgotten” policy. If someone depicted in one of his videos fills out [a form](https://midwest.clickup.com/forms/9006119175/f/8ccwy87-63557/LE0PT31DZVHHEIE5AW?ref=rangemedia.co), they’ll remove the video. Today, he said, their internal system flags videos involving mental health crises, drug abuse and homeless people and either displays them less prominently or declines to publish them at all. “We really don’t do ‘the drunk girl at the bar that fought with the cop,’” Smith said. “We have done that in the past. We’re moving away from it.” Smith portrays a nobler vision for Midwest Safety than those kinds of videos. He lives in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed in 2020\. The channel emerged in the wake of the protests that followed. Its innovation was figuring out how to efficiently tap into public traffic cameras to provide another lens to observe the demonstrations on the freeways. But in 2021 Midwest Safety shifted focus, expanding its operation to focus on publishing body camera footage on YouTube. Smith said his channel adds governmental transparency in an age where traditional media outlets are struggling. “Journalism by and large has been decimated over the last several decades,” Smith said. “No one is sending journalists out to Podunk County with population: 500.” While Midwest Safety doesn’t have a physical presence in small communities, he says the channel can use bodycam footage to show, say, the arrest of a local pastor for shoplifting. Similarly, he sees publishing videos of drunk drivers and serious collisions as a kind of social responsibility: After all, car crashes are a leading [cause of death](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6637963/?ref=rangemedia.co) for young kids. Smith compares his site’s more sensational content to prestigious newspapers boosting their subscriber base by writing about, say, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend — it’s a click generator to help pay for more important [coverage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3wRZLq%5FDQA&ref=rangemedia.co). It’s not like traditional news outlets — from the *New York Post* to local [TV news channels](https://www.inlander.com/archive/local-news/article%5F52f67384-e553-598c-9c32-963182f775f4.html?ref=rangemedia.co) — don’t dabble in deceptive headlines and lurid storylines. Smith says the site also produces some of the best behind-the-scenes police reporting in the country, relying on their own internal use-of-force database. The database isn’t public yet, Smith says**,** as they’re trying to figure out how to handle all the extremely graphic content that often *hasn’t* been redacted in the footage. Other body camera channels make their own claims to high-minded professionalism too, though not always convincingly. A request from "Blue Line Cam," for example, emphasizes its focus “on law-enforcement transparency” and “citizens' rights under open-records law.” But it must also be noted: Of the Top 50 most popular body camera videos on their YouTube page, 21 feature screen caps of women being arrested in bras or low cut shirts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-dca3c5af-3d62-48a3-8d40-8254aac531f5.jpeg) This viral YouTube clip from Midwest Safety begins with the most sensationalistic way possible: with Spokane County’s population figures. (Photo by Daniel Walters) **THE HIGH COST OF FREE BODY CAMS** Today, Smith says, videos with sensationalist titles are less likely to garner hits on YouTube than they once were. “Eventually, you and I can recognize a spam email,” Smith said. “It’s the same with clickbait, people get resistant to it.” But that has done little to stop the flood of records requests. It’s just a lot easier to turn body camera footage into a content farm than it once was. Digital platforms like GovQA and records request services like MuckRock have made it far easier to send and receive mass records requests. The rise of generative AI programs can make every stage of the process quicker: identifying the crime, requesting the record and editing down the video footage. Records logs show one requester using ChatGPT to find an incident of a Spokane man getting arrested for shining a laser at an aircraft. The requester explains that the channel uses generative AI programs like TubeMagic for "creating storylines and condensing hours of footage into a few minutes.” And for the tasks that do require the human touch, there’s an entire global employee market ready to be tapped into. LinkedIn shows 100 people applied for a $25-35 an hour "True Crime Script Writer" position at EWU Media, vying for jobs turning "raw law-enforcement footage into compelling, cinematic documentary narration.” But there are cheaper sources of labor. A search on Upwork reveals a number of workers on the global market touting their ability to source police body camera footage. “Muhammad M,” from Pakistan, a “True Crime Footage Researcher,” offers to source body camera footage for $8 an hour — only to be undercut by “Muhammad A,” a “FOIA & Public Records Specialist,” also from Pakistan, willing to perform the same service for $6 an hour. Sometimes the pages themselves are operated out of foreign countries — Vee Body Cams, according to its YouTube profile page, is based in Moldova. Hit body camera footage often sparks more copycats to request the same videos. Just two days after Midwest Safety published “Neighbor Looking for Revenge Gets Karma,” a competing channel requested the footage from the same incident. A few months after that, a third channel also requested the footage of the arrest. Other channels steal their way to large numbers of views: An Instagram channel, [midwest.safety.clips, ripped the Midwest Safety video from YouTube and ran the video in pieces on their own page. ](https://www.instagram.com/midwest.safety.clips/?ref=rangemedia.co) “There are a lot of pages like this that slavishly steal our stuff and post our content,” Smith said. Smith said he’s heard from communities that say they were receiving hundreds of records requests from Midwest Safety in 24 hours. But it wasn’t from them, he said — someone was using their name to get their own footage. “This is the shift: spammy, huge-volume requests, taking advantage of the fact that you can be an anonymous \[records\] requester,” Smith said. It’s why MuckRock, the open records organization, recently banned users from using the platform to obtain body camera footage. “We recently found that some users were using the platform to obtain bodycam footage primarily for social media content,” MuckRock said in a statement to RANGE, “which placed an undue burden on our systems without serving the public interest.” ### Who can afford records these days, anyway? Of course, Spokane County is not the first to start charging higher fees for body cameras. County Commissioner Josh Kerns pointed out to RANGE that the city of Spokane has had similar fees for years. Midwest Safety is used to it. A piece of its budget is dedicated to paying for records requests, so it’s unlikely Spokane County’s new charge will affect them. But others struggle to get records to begin with. "I don't want impacted families to have additional barriers to go through,” Debbie Novak, mother of a man killed by police, said at a Spokane County Commission meeting. She’s been through the wringer. After her son David was shot by Spokane police officers in January 2019, it took nine months for her to get the records she wanted. After the evidence was in and Novak sued, the city settled with her family for $4 million. "There's money and resources for records when it comes to a television show or some kind of footage for public relations purposes," Novak said. “But when families or others are trying to get answers, suddenly there are added costs and more barriers.” It’s why local activist Jim Leighty launched a non-profit called [Citizen 926](https://citizennine26.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Named after the date his best friend was killed by Bonner County sheriff’s deputies, the organization seeks to help suffering families find all sorts of answers about what has happened to their loved ones by going through police records. When families are grieving, the last thing they want to do is try to leap through legal hoops. “Sometimes families just need it to find out, you know, can they locate a person or what happened during the car accident?” Leighty said. Other times, a loved one may have been killed by police. In those moments, a low-income family member may need to first have a body camera footage in hand to show that there had been a miscarriage of justice to convince an attorney to take them as a client. The non-profit covers the cost of records. But the higher fees get, the harder it is. “Every time we get charged another fee, we might not be able to help another person,” Leighty said. Spokane County’s fees may be relatively low now, but Leighty worries that charging any kind of fee can lead to a slippery slope. “In Stevens County, I was charged over $700 for body cam video, and that wasn't for all of it,” Leighty said. “I had to go and pick which ones I felt I needed to help a family whose loved one was killed by police.” Smith prefers the solution that Wisconsin uses — charging for footage, but making the first 10 requests free. He also suggested barring people from requesting footage from outside the United States. The trouble is, the gulf between the big bodycam channels and the people depicted on them isn’t only one of resources, it’s one about experience and know-how. The low-income struggling person often doesn’t have experience filing records requests — the right way to word them, the intricacies of interdepartmental record-keeping — much less know how to use AI tools or outsource international labor to file hundreds in a day. Spokane County prosecutors ultimately dropped the disorderly charges against the woman in “Neighbor Looking for Revenge Gets Karma Instead.” A judge ruled that a subsequent warrantless search of her apartment had been illegal. But when she unsuccessfully tried to sue the City of Spokane Valley over her arrest, she failed. Among other problems with her case, she’d failed to get the body camera video of her arrest. The same records logs that listed the requests from dozens of true-crime YouTube body footage channels showed her struggles to get the video she needed. “Please stop hiding my body cam footage and produce it in a timely fashion, ” she wrote in a July 14 records request last year. By then, however, the footage had been viewed by hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers across the world. ### Transit tax renewal: now or later? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T19:24:59.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council will consider a resolution in support of putting the two-tenths of one percent transit tax renewal on the ballot this August, but the decision ultimately lies with the Spokane Transit Authority. - The Finance and Administration Committee will talk about budgeting priorities for the next biennial budget, and a grant-funded program to make streets safer after fatal crashes. - The Spokane Transit Authority board will hold a special meeting to finally vote on a proposal to put their sales tax on the ballot for the August primary elections, after a last-minute deferral earlier this month to placate the business community. - The Board of County Commissioners are set to accept millions in state funding to install filters in the homes of West Plains people who get their water from wells contaminated with forever chemicals. - The BOCC wants to establish a taxing district to protect the West Plains drinking water aquifers, which are contaminated with forever chemicals. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Spokane%20City-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Council%20Committees-,Finance%20and%20Administration%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Community, Housing, and Human Services Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Community%2C%20Housing%2C%20and%20Human%20Services%20Board,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20County%20Planning%20Commission,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Transit%20Authority%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Regional%20Health%20District%20Board,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=College%20Avenue%2C%20Spokane-,Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%3F/5%20peppers) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,East%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%3F/5%20peppers) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=1%0ASpokane%20Valley-,West%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%3F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%3F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-tax-renewal-now-or-later/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Support for STA tax renewal The Spokane Transit Authority Board has to decide this week if they’re going to run a sales tax renewal on the August ballot before the deadline to get ballot language to the county auditor’s office. STA is funded in part by two-tenths of one percent sales tax — meaning they get 2 cents for every $10 retail purchase — approved by voters in 2016\. The sales tax [expires at the end of 2028](https://stamovingforward.com/plans/proposition-1/?ref=rangemedia.co), though, leaving the agency limited time to run a ballot measure to renew the tax. If they fail to renew the tax this year, it could put potential federal funding for the Division Street Bus Rapid Transit line in jeopardy, most of the board members said. However, despite having a plan and ballot language ready to go, the board [waffled](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/16/spokane-transit-authority-waffles-on-tax-renewal-v/?ref=rangemedia.co) on the renewal earlier this month. With uncertainty about whether a new jail tax is going to be ready to run in November, rumored threats that business organizations would pay to run an opposition campaign and last-minute comments from Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) that they didn’t feel involved enough in the lengthy and public planning process, the city of Spokane could make their stance on the issue clear tonight. City Council Member and STA board member Zack Zappone and City Council Member Paul Dillon are co-sponsoring a resolution up for a vote tonight to show the city’s firm support for running the tax renewal in August with no sunset clause and making the 0.2% sales tax permanent. Some STA board members — including City Council Member Michael Cathcart — expressed frustration with the move to remove the sunset clause, which means the tax would run in perpetuity, saying it removed accountability. Other board members said that sunset clauses on transit taxes were out of the norm and that removing it would make going out for state and federal funding easier since matching agency funding wouldn’t potentially be in jeopardy every decade. STA will meet later this week both with GSI and then the next day to vote on adding the tax to the August ballot. ### Food truck vending Last time this was on the agenda, it was deferred for a few weeks. But the ordinance from Council Members Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon to make it easier for food trucks to operate in the city is scheduled once again for a first read. The [ordinance](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/12/food-truck-freedom-spokane-considers-ending-permis/?ref=rangemedia.co) would do a few things: - Stop requiring food truck operators to make site improvements when they’re operating out of a surface parking lot - Update city code to match state code, allowing food trucks to sell alcohol at certain events with the appropriate permits - Eliminate a $60 permit required for trucks operating more than two weeks in the city - Allow food truck to park in any surface lot (with the owner’s permission) - Eliminate an onerous requirement that food trucks get written permission from any adjacent properties they want to park next to, requiring only the permission of owner of the property they park on There is also an amendment proposed by Cathcart, which would add a clause requiring mobile food vendors to leave any site they operated from in the same or better condition as they found it, and give the police department the authority to enforce city code around food vendors. It would also make violating the mobile food vendor code a criminal misdemeanor, both for employees and business owners. Employees could face up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine or both for violating the code under the Cathcart amendment, while employers would face up to 364 days in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both. Currently, violating city code for food vending is just a civil infraction. The Cathcart amendment will get voted on during the agenda review session before the evening meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 27 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, April 30 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Emergency streets Last year, Sarah Rose — co-executive director of Spokane Reimagined — spoke to the Spokane City Council about an idea: when somebody dies of a traffic crash, the city should put out white traffic cones to mark the fatality and slow traffic in the area until it can be determined what caused the crash and how to fix any infrastructure issues. Nothing came of it at the time. Now, the city is taking steps to bring something similar to what Rose pitched to Spokane streets through a pilot program funded by a Washington Traffic Safety Commission grant. The council already voted to accept the grant, but today, they’ll be briefed on a special budget ordinance to actually purchase the traffic control equipment needed to run the pilot program: candles, cones, barrels, signage and other items, for up to $10,000 of the grant funding. The pilot program will run May through September as an effort to help the city more immediately address traffic fatalities. More details hopefully soon, perhaps even at this meeting! ### Budget priorities City budgeting isn’t just something that happens in the fall. There are benchmarks for the city to hit along the way as a lead-up to the official budget getting passed, and today, they’ll be working towards one of those benchmarks by discussing their budgeting priorities for the next two years. There’s no additional info in the agenda to give us a preview about what they’re thinking, but they’re going to start discussing what’s at the top of their lists for funding today with City Council Budget Director Kate Fairborn. Later, what bubbles up from this discussion will be turned into the Council Priorities Resolution, which they will pass as an official way of telling the mayor where they want money to go. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 27 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 5 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Board Retreat Did you know the public can go watch board retreats for government bodies, too? Technically, they’re public meetings, so while you might not be able to give public comment or participate, you can still watch! In lieu of their regular meeting, the CHHS/Continuum of Care boards will hold a joint board retreat to “engage in strategic planning, coordination, and alignment of priorities.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Friday, May 1 at 9 am* > *WorkSource Spokane* > *130 S Arthur Street, Spokane WA 99202* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### New surveillance devices possible for parks The Spokane County Parks, Recreation, and Golf Department wants the BOCC to give it permission to install new surveillance cameras at some of its newly renovated parks and trailheads. The idea is to “prevent vandalism of public investments.” The cameras would collect data for “investigative purposes” and share live images on the department’s website. It’s unclear what brand of cameras will be purchased, but the County shut its Flock network down [this month](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-county-deactivates-license-plate-reader-washington-privacy-law/293-72ea9980-dbd1-430a-b4b0-67dae541dfa1?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Nearly $7.5M in state funding for PFAS relief The county is looking to receive $7.45 million from the state to install filters in the homes of people who live in the West Plains and whose drinking water wells are contaminated with forever chemicals. Read our coverage of the crisis [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-are-forever-chemicals-why-in-water-airway-heights-pfas/). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 28 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Ballot measure for West Plains aquifer protection The county will place a measure on August primary ballots to create a taxing district to raise funding for awareness and protection of the West Plains aquifers that are contaminated with forever chemicals. The chemicals came from the two airports in Airway Heights, Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 28 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Workshops The commission is planning two workshops for the county’s long-term planning on economic development and rural land and agritourism. Visit these workshops if you want to know more about the way the county plans. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, April 30 at 4:30 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/**5 peppers** ### Special meeting: tax renewal edition At their last meeting, the Spokane Transit Authority Board decided to wait until the last possible minute to vote on whether or not to add their sales tax renewal ballot measure to the August primary ballot. They scheduled a special meeting for the afternoon of April 29, which isn’t up on the website yet, but we know it’s happening. While the majority of the board expressed their preference for running the tax renewal in August — both as a way to get it done and out of the way of potential future tax measures other municipalities might want to run and because of fears they could lose federal grant dollars if they delay — the body [ultimately deferred](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/16/spokane-transit-authority-waffles-on-tax-renewal-v/?ref=rangemedia.co). There were fears that if they didn’t have even more meetings with the business community before officially adding the measure to the calendar that the business community would shell out the funds to run an opposition campaign to the tax renewal. The meeting with the business community is scheduled for April 28, but it doesn’t seem likely to change at least a few minds: Zappone has already announced he’s introducing a resolution at the Spokane City Council today to support putting the renewal on the ballots in August. Agenda and scheduling details for the upcoming special meeting can be found at the link below when available. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, April 29 at ???* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Handing over the reins After the forced resignation of former Administrative Officer Alicia Thompson last summer, the Spokane Regional Health District is holding a vote on a resolution to formally hand the reins of power over to the new Administrative Officer: Danny Scalise. Scalise was officially hired by the board after they held an executive session, gave no comments to the public on the candidates after and then voted to hire “candidate A” — not even giving the public a name. His name was not [announced](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/mar/04/candidate-a-is-the-new-administrator-at-the-spokan/?ref=rangemedia.co) until after he had been officially hired. ### Unpermitted food vendors Food Safety Program Manager Jessica Martin will be presenting on unpermitted food vendors in Spokane County, in advance of the Spokane City Council’s upcoming vote next week on the ordinance to make it easier for food vendors to operate in the city. A preview of the presentation shows that complaints for unpermitted food vendors have gone from eight in 2023 to 32 in 2025\. There’s not much else in the presentation, besides some photos of unregulated food stands. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, April 30 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Supporting the Let’s Go WA agenda against trans athletes The board of directors is expected to take a vote on approving a resolution that expresses support for two initiatives that will appear on the November ballot: the first would ban trans student athletes from participating in girl’s sports and the other looks to broaden parental rights by stripping amendments made to a 2024 law and re-enacting original provisions. According to the [Washington Education Association](https://www.washingtonea.org/file%5Fviewer.php?id=66553&ref=rangemedia.co), the latter initiative would erase nondiscrimination policies that protect students who are homeless, immigrants, neurodiverse and trans. The initiative would [also let](https://www2.sos.wa.gov/%5Fassets/elections/initiatives/finaltext%5F3264.pdf?%5Fgl=1%2An6vlqy%2A%5Fga%2ANTk4NTEwNjEuMTc2NTQwMTU4NA..%2A%5Fga%5F7B08VE04WV%2AczE3Njk0ODI2MDEkbzYkZzAkdDE3Njk0ODI2MDEkajYwJGwwJGgw%2A%5Fga%5FX6SDF160YQ%2AczE3Njk0ODI2MDEkbzYkZzAkdDE3Njk0ODI2MDEkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=rangemedia.co) parents and legal guardians examine textbooks and curriculum used, and opt children out of certain classes and activities, among other things. Both of these initiatives are backed by Let’s Go Washington, a conservative PAC sponsored by multimillionaire Brian Heywood. ### A new holiday The board will also have a first reading of a district policy revision to add Juneteenth to the list of holidays the Mead School District observes. Juneteenth, celebrated June 19, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The board is expected to take a vote Monday. ### Elective credit for jobs Another policy revision that the board will hold a first reading for centers around student credit opportunities. The revision would allow students who are 16 or older and eligible to work to get credit for up to two electives through a job. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 27 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors ?/**5 peppers** The agenda viewing software that most school districts in our area use appeared to be down this morning, so we don’t know what’s scheduled for this board. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 27 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors ?/**5 peppers** The agenda viewing software that most school districts in our area use appeared to be down this morning, so we don’t know what’s scheduled for this board. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 28 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors ?/**5 peppers** The agenda viewing software that most school districts in our area use appeared to be down this morning, so we don’t know what’s scheduled for this board. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 29 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors ?**/5 peppers** The agenda viewing software that most school districts in our area use appeared to be down this morning, so we don’t know what’s scheduled for this board. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 29 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### City may dedicate more than $12M to ice sports facility The Innovia Foundation has approached Spokane Valley about building an ice sports complex at Sullivan Park. The council is scheduled to vote on funding for the project, which includes a $9 million facility and $3 million worth of public infrastructure for the facility. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 7 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Developments in Spokane’s federal conspiracy case URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/developments-spokane-conspiracy-case/ Last updated: 2026-04-24T14:00:00.000Z On this week’s episode, Erin Sellers and Aaron Hedge went on the air to talk about a couple stories, one ongoing and one new. First, they talked about developments on the trials of Spokane protestors from June 11th, 2025 and the implications these trials have on free speech. [In the weeds of Spokane’s federal conspiracy caseThe ins-and-outs of the legal arguments made at yesterday’s hearing for three Spokane protesters charged with federal conspiracy.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/Gillespie_Spokane-9.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-pretrial-motions-1st-amendment-explainer/) [Spokane Protests – RANGE MediaOn June 11, 2025, protesters attempted to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking two detained young men who were in the US legally to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma. We reported from the ground for nearly twelve hours as federal agents shoved protesters and the media and threatened federal charges against Spokanites \[…\]![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaRANGE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/sa4a6090.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) Second, they talked about the new Pursuit church in Spokane’s Browne’s Addition neighborhood. Hedge talked about his presence at a Pursuit event, what the church’s pastor said about him during a live sermon, and what *actually* happened. They also talked about Pursuit’s effects on the Browne’s Addition neighborhood, which you can read about more in depth below: [Persecution, Inc.Commentary: A Seattle pastor who has staked out ground in Browne’s Addition says Spokane — and this reporter — is out to get him.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Pursuit.jpeg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/persecution-inc/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### ‘I thought that there would be democracy’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/i-thought-that-there-would-be-democracy/ Last updated: 2026-04-24T00:17:02.000Z Before ‘Ariel’ touched US soil, they had heard the country held one of the strongest democracies, that it was regarded as a place where everyone had rights and no one was above the law. After facing political persecution in their Latin American country, Ariel fled home and applied for asylum in the US about three years ago, beginning what would be a long process they still find themselves in the midst of. They hoped to build a safe life in the US**.** But the asylum seeker’s case was recently denied without a hearing to argue their case and the judge ordered Ariel’s deportation toEcuador, a country where they had also faced mistreatment and harm. Both Trump administrations have used legally questionable third country agreements to restrict people from US asylum and instead send them to a country they’re not from, like in Ariel’s case. These are known as Asylum Cooperative Agreements or Safe Asylum Third Country Agreements. “I thought that there would be democracy,” Ariel told RANGE in Spanish. “Now that I live here, it’s so different.” Because of the danger Ariel is facing in their home country and at the request of their attorney at Manzanita House, RANGE agreed to identify Ariel under a pseudonym, and refrain from mentioning gender, country of origin or specific case details. For years, people have been able to rely on long-standing processes to present their fear of return to their home country and apply for asylum, which is protected by various statutes and international treaties, Northwest Immigrants Rights Project (NWIRP) attorney Audrey Gilliam said. Pretermissions – like what happened to Ariel – end someone’s application for asylum before even a [“substantive process begins.](https://immigrantjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Slides%5FMotions-to-Pretermit%5FJan2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co)**”** DHS or an immigration judge can initiate a pretermission. [These can be filed](http://grs.uclawsf.edu/en/pretermission?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=a%20full%20hearing.-,2026,merits%20of%20the%20asylum%20claim.) for things like if an applicant fails to pay a fee, turns in an incomplete application or was directed to seek asylum outside the US through an existing Asylum Cooperative Agreement. Essentially, if any other country will agree to let an immigrant seek asylum there, the US can quickly move to deport them to that country. Ariel is just one of the thousands of immigrants affected by a torrent of asylum dismissals across the country under the second Trump administration. ### A concerning court practice The use of agreements that the Trump administration signed to send asylum-seekers to third countries has been flagged by human rights advocates as [violating immigrants’ rights](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/en/our-work/publications/asylum-cooperative-agreements-denial-due-process-and-risks-return-danger?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=This%20factsheet%20examines%20the%20legal,ACAs%5FPretermissions%5F2%2Dpager%5F03.11.2026.pdf) to due process. Ongoing l[itigation challenging](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/en/our-work/litigation/ut-v-bondi?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20Trump%20administration,Guatemala%2C%20El%20Salvador%20and%20Honduras.) the 2019 rule and related policies as unlawful was filed in 2020 by a coalition of organizations including the ACLU and Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. Still, the use of once-rare pretermissions to summarily dismiss cases and deny immigrants the opportunity to present the merits of their case exploded in 2025, driven mostly by motions to pretermit after an October 31 decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals under the Trump administration. This [legal opinion](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/en/pretermission?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=On%20October%2031%2C%202025%2C%20the,merits%20of%20the%20asylum%20claim.) stated that if DHS claims a third-country asylum agreement applied, the immigration judge should then consider if the applicant was barred from asylum in the US before actually considering the case's merits. “What we’ve been seeing since November is that people continue to have valid asylum claims but aren’t able to present them to the court,” Gilliam said. “Instead, the case is just completely cut off.” To avoid being barred from US asylum under a third country agreement, an asylum-seeker would need to prove to the court that they would more likely than not face persecution or torture in the third country, according to the Board of Immigration Appeals October decision. On March 12, 2026, the federal government directed lawyers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop filing these pretermission motions, The [Seattle Times reported. ](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/u-s-pauses-tactic-to-deport-asylum-seekers-to-third-countries/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Consequently%2C%20Washington's%20immigration%20judges%20have,and%20Honduras%20%28118%20orders%29.) But it remains unclear why the halt was ordered or if it’s temporary. In the meantime, judges will continue to make decisions on motions that were already filed before the pause. “They were told to stop … but at the same time, we haven't seen any policy around that,” said Sam Smith, Manzanita House’s director of immigrant legal aid and immigration attorney. Given the lack of transparency under the Trump administration, the lack of a formal policy raises concerns that the pause may not last, he said. The civil immigration court system has proven to be a complex and at times [hostile landscape](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/empty-promise-board-immigration-appeals?ref=rangemedia.co) for immigrants to navigate, especially those without an attorney. But Ariel was able to secure access to legal help at Manzanita House based on a referral from Latinos en Spokane last year. Melissa Main, the attorney representing Ariel, told RANGE that the next step in Ariel’s case was to appeal the judge’s decision to pretermit Ariel’s case and order them deported. “From there, it can still be many months or even years for the whole process to play out,” she said. ### The floodgates open Before 2025, it was incredibly rare for a case to be pretermitted in immigration court, said Northwest Immigrant Rights Project attorney Koby Jargstorf. There was a steady trickle of pretermissions in early 2025 from other cases already decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals, including dismissals for an incomplete application for relief under asylum, withholding of removal and the international treaty Convention Against Torture. Decisions to dismiss asylum cases because an applicant did not answer every question on the form has been described by the American Immigration Lawyers Association as sacrificing fairness and compromising “the court’s ability to thoroughly review” cases. But it was really after the Board of Immigration Appeals’ October decision that the “floodgates opened,” Jargstrof explained. In 2024, the Department of Homeland Securityfiled [754 motions to pretermit](https://bklg.org/blog/pretermission-03-26/?ref=rangemedia.co) cases, according to a report from bklg, a service for immigration attorneys to get records of proceedings. Then in 2025, that number rose to 27,770, mostly driven by filings from the latter part of the year. There was a similar spike in Washington withmotions to pretermit for cases filed at various stages of removal proceedings, Gilliam said. “From where we sit, it doesn't seem like there's a rhyme or reason for the government application,” she said.“They really are applying or filing (Asylum Cooperative Agreements) motions in many cases for folks who entered on or after Nov 19, 2019.” Bklg data shows that DHS filed over 2,000 motions to pretermit asylum cases in Washington between July 6, 2025 and January 25, 2026\. The vast majority were filed in the Seattle Immigration court, with only a fraction having been filed in Tacoma. Gilliam said the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision to allow pretermissions under the basis of the third-country agreements appears to take away alternate options for immigration judges; if someone seeking asylum can be sent to a third country, they have to be. “What we’ve seen is that immigration judges have largely granted most of these motions to pretermit when filed by the Department of Homeland Security,” she said. During an early April interview, Gilliam said the Removal Defense unit she works in was seeing two to three people a week who were impacted by pretermissions. That number was three to four people for Jargstorf’s unit, Washington Migrant and Asylum Seeker Support program (WA MASS.) Smith said Manzanita House has also regularly seen people who received a motion to pretermit on their case.The local nonprofit, similarly to NWIRP, has tried to assist people with limited resources amid rapidly changing and even potentially illegal practices. “And the thing that's incredibly disheartening and difficult about this is there's very little opportunity to successfully fight against this, at least at the first level, in immigration court,” Smith said. “We've seen some people have limited success in very particular circumstances, but otherwise we're seeing essentially mass appeals.” And it’s still unclear how exactly the immigration appeals board will deal with these, Smith said. An analysis from the [Brennan Center for Justice](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/empty-promise-board-immigration-appeals?ref=rangemedia.co) found that the board has failed to maintain “even the appearance” of solely focusing on interpreting law since Trump returned to office. The center argues that the board has regularly issued decisions that “significantly curtail immigrants' substantive and procedural rights.” Still, registering opposition is vital, Smith added. Not only because there’s still a chance, even if slim, but also because it helps hold the government to account, build a record in an individual case and a record across the system of how the government is acting. Smith noted two clients of Manzanita House were pretermitted over the span of two weeks in March. One was pretermitted in the early stages of legal proceedings, while the other — Ariel — was pretermitted by a judge about 13 days before the scheduled hearing where Main would have had the chance to argue Ariel’s actual asylum claim. “They filed this motion at the last minute and at the beginning of the hearing, instead of going into the asylum case that we had prepared and briefed and were ready to argue, the judge wanted to talk about the motion to pretermit and close the case early because of that,” Smith said. Smith saidManzanita Househad roughly two weeks to prepare and a 30 minute hearing to argue why the third country agreement didn't apply to Ariel and that if it did, Ariel would face persecution there. “And that's just an insufficient amount of time both to prepare and to present a case. And so we think that there's pretty severe due process concerns when it comes to that,” he said. The Trump administration has spent both his terms chipping away at immigration policy – particularly asylum, Smith noted. “Theoretically, you could have … been here for almost seven years with a case pending, and just be days away from arguing your case, and the government just pulled the rug out from under you,” he said. ### ‘Mockery of our Asylum System’ The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies [notes](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/sites/default/files/ACAs%5FPretermissions%5F2-pager%5F03.11.2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the regulatory framework used to implement the Asylum Cooperative Agreements is not only “fundamentally flawed,” but also makes “a Mockery of our Asylum System.” All Asylum Cooperative Agreements need to comply with the [Immigration and Nationality Act, ](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/sites/default/files/ACAs%5FPretermissions%5F2-pager%5F03.11.2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co)which does allow the government to bar applicants from seeking asylum in the US if they can safely be deported to another country under an existing agreement. The Act states the third country would have to provide safety and a full and fair process for asylum. But the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies [has noted](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/sites/default/files/ACAs%5FPretermissions%5F2-pager%5F03.11.2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that the ACAs signed under the Trump administration have “consistently failed to meet the statutory requirements,” meaning they violate federal law. The Trump administration signed agreements in 2019 with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador -– all countries that the ACLU described as extremely dangerous, with skeletal asylum systems. These countries produced over [778,800 refugees as of 2024\. ](https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/Forced%20Displacement%20in%20and%20from%20El%20Salvador%2C%20Guatemala%20%20and%20Honduras.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=As%20of%20June%202024%2C%20there%20are%20over,247%2C090%20people%20are%20internally%20displaced%20in%20Honduras.) Before this, the only third country agreement the US held was with Canada. The Biden administration terminated those agreements when taking office, but failed to rescind the rule and related policies that created the framework before Trump’s return. In 2025 the Trump administration signed new agreements with Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador and Uganda. “Given the dubious human rights records of these states and the serious inadequacy of their asylum systems, it is apparent that the administration's goal is not to share the responsibility of offering safe haven, but to deny asylum seekers access to protection in the United States and elsewhere,” the center wrote in a [report](https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/sites/default/files/ACAs%5FPretermissions%5F2-pager%5F03.11.2026.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). Smith detailed some concerns with due process, including the short timeframe given to contest a motion. Once filed,people have just 10 days to oppose it. “If someone is represented, you know that the notification should come electronically, and you get that right away, but we know most people are unrepresented and are getting it through mail,” he said. “By the time we're hearing about it or seeing people with these motions, then they really \[had\] 4, 5, 6 days to respond.” When a judge approves a motion to pretermit, then people have 30 days to appeal. Though the process is quick and often merciless, there is a way that the federal government could allow people to seek asylum in the US — even if a third country agreement applies. DHS or whoever they delegate has the authority to do that through what's called “a public interest determination,” Smith said. But that process seems broken too. “To our knowledge, they've delegated it to no one. We have explicitly asked the trial attorneys in our cases, ‘what is the process? How can we raise this to the Secretary of DHS?’ And they have told us flat out, ‘there is no process.’” He said one of the cases Manzanita is handling has various factors that would warrant a public interest decision. In one client’s case, the US wants to send him to a Latin American country that has severed diplomatic ties with his country of origin. He also has a severe medical condition that if he is unable to get adequate medical treatment for, it would likely leave the client with only months to live, Smith said. “And so there's a lot of really strong reasons why a public interest determination should be made, but still refusing to even engage with the process or being willing to do that … I just think that that is one: a fundamental issue of justice and I think due process is implicated there.” It’s already hard to explain to someone the confusing and complex immigration landscape, added Ruthie Jablonsky, another Manzanita House attorney. “And then to try to explain something that is just so unjust on its face – it's really difficult,” Jablonsky said. “I think part of it is that it breaks down the trust between attorney and client because there's basically nothing that I can do. And as an advocate, I mean, that's – it's my job to be able to do something.” Detailing her experiences in court, Jablonsky described how judges have said the same things, almost like they’re reading from the same script. “It didn't seem, from one hearing to another, that \[the judge\] had read any of the information that we had submitted,” she said. “You show up, and the judge just says ‘have you ever been to whatever third country?’ In this case it was Ecuador, and my client had never been there. And so being able to prove that they … would be basically persecuted if they were sent to the country they'd never been to – It's a really high standard to meet.” She also noted that the 10-day window to respond is hardly adequate time to prepare a strong case. Amid the chaos, Jablonsky said she holds onto a “kernel of hope” for a favorable outcome in the ongoing litigation challenging removals to third countries. ### Nothing left but to fight Sitting inside Main’s office about two weeks ago, Ariel told RANGE that they found it difficult to explain the feelings they had after learning about the judge’s decision to summarily dismiss their case. “It’s like a pain without pain — but a rage mixed with helplessness. As if you can’t do anything because everything lies in the hands of someone who doesn’t care about you,” Ariel said. The current climate has sown fear among communities of immigrants, including asylum-seekers following court procedures. After learning their case was pretermitted, Ariel went to an ICE check-in with Main beside them. Ariel recalls feeling scared at the prospect of having to go to that check-in after receiving the judge’s decision and mentally prepared to be detained. The Trump administration has made a show of detaining people attending immigration court hearings and check-ins,[ including in Spokane](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/). This practice prompted an ongoing lawsuit that alleges the administration has [illegally arrested immigrants. ](https://immigrantjustice.org/press-release/unlawful-ice-arrests-at-immigration-courthouses-prompt-lawsuit-by-advocates-and-immigrants/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20class%20action%20lawsuit%2C%20the,of%20the%20San%20Francisco%20Bay%20Area%20%28LCCRSF%29%2A%2A) “It’s a situation where all you can really do is live in constant worry — live in fear — and just try to cope with it,” Ariel said. “It’s a choice between staying here or being sent somewhere else. It’s staying here or death — and that is very literal.” Ariel detailed that they’ve come to learn of many instances in which people were deported back to their country of origin and had people waiting to “disappear them.” “I will keep fighting as far as I can go — as far as possible,” they said. “There’s no other option.” #### Legal Resources - Northwest Immigrant Rights Project: [https://nwirp.org/get-help/](https://nwirp.org/get-help/?ref=rangemedia.co) - Manzanita House: [https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/legal-aid-mila](https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/legal-aid-mila?ref=rangemedia.co) - Washington Migrant and Asylum Seeker Support Project: [https://www.wamassproject.info/hc/en-us](https://www.wamassproject.info/hc/en-us?ref=rangemedia.co) **This is not a comprehensive list. Reach out to us if you'd like to suggest an addition for local resources.* ### Persecution, Inc. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/persecution-inc/ Last updated: 2026-04-24T17:49:03.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News*](https://favs.news/spokane-pastor-matt-shea-leading-anti-muslim-communist-movement/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* I’ve been preached at a lot in my career as a journalist who covers Christian nationalism. The Christians I’ve encountered have laid hands on me — which in Christianese means to pray while touching me — and told me the Lord is calling me. They say they long for the day I profess Christ as my king. But I’d never been preached *about* until I came into the orbit of pastor of The Pursuit, Russell Johnson. He didn’t seem to want me in the fold at all. “We have security at all the campuses … just because of the world that we're in, the region we're in, the political climate we're in,” Johnson warned his congregation. The pastor spoke in a [Southern drawl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjn0Y2hUKpk&ref=rangemedia.co) that he'd somehow cultivated [growing up in Seattle](https://www.thepursuitnw.com/about?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Born%20and%20raised%20in%20Seattle). At The Pursuit during that Palm Sunday sermon, Johnson wore a black T-shirt that read “HOLLYWOOD” under a blazer with a Gucci tag on the sleeve, an angled fringe haircut and large-framed glasses. The Pursuit, a chain of west-side megachurches that has just expanded to Spokane, recently bought and moved into the property of the beautiful old Lutheran church in Browne’s Addition. The church’s planting has caused a stir in the neighborhood; as the locals sense, it is one of the biggest Pacific Northwest organizing hubs in the Christian supremacist movements trying to establish Jesus, rather than voters, as the highest authority in American government. (Read more from expert Kate Burns about this movement and Johnson’s place in it [here](https://leftcoastrightwatch.org/articles/plots-prayers-anti-queer-mayday-organizers-wage-lawfare-over-seattle-los-angeles-events/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20event%20delivered,apologize%20and%20resign.).) Since Johnson founded The Pursuit in 2014 in a barn, it has grown to four locations across Washington state, the headquarters in Snohomish and satellite locations in Seattle, Kirkland and here in Spokane. Johnson travels between them in a private helicopter. He believes Christians are the victims of the culture wars, as he said on Palm Sunday, describing a sermon he’d recently delivered at the Spokane location. “I notice a guy trying to get on the stage. Security stops him, and then he tries to get on stage again, a second time, and security stops him. And by the third time that he's trying to get on stage, finally, security helps escort him to the exit and tells him that he can't come back.” That guy? He was referring to me. But that isn't what happened — it’s not even close. ### Not charging the stage Two Sundays before, I was at the church’s first “Revival Nights” event taking photos and recording audio, like I normally do when I’m reporting on far-right churches, but this time I was told that the congregation found it distracting. That’s fair: most of the other folks at the church were quietly sitting in their seats while I hunted in the periphery for a good photo angle. What I did not do was try to get on stage. Not even once. Imagine my surprise when I heard Johnson, in a live-stream of the Palm Sunday service, tell his congregation that not only did I try to storm the pulpit *three times*, but that I was drunk. For the record: This was a mix of exaggerations and falsehoods. So I’d like to clear up his narrative. I’d had some wine earlier in the day that Sunday, which was probably in bad taste, but I was not drunk. For the record: I tried to interview him after the event — would love to sit down with him over a coffee — but sharing a stage with him is right up there with unanesthetized dental work as the last thing I want. For the record: I left politely the first time I was asked — and I have a text thread with Travis, the security guard who escorted me out, to prove it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-cb9e6eee-0b40-4bac-bed5-0ae2b7f6d57e.png) **A text I received from security guard Travis. (For the record: I did not touch a single Pursuiter any more than I thrice stormed the stage.)* But Johnson was not satisfied with his blown-up story about me being escorted out. He needed to give me an agenda. “And so then I wake up the next day,” Johnson continued in his sermon, “I got an email in my inbox from this reporter: ‘Would you like to sit down for an interview? We're writing a hit piece anyways. We'll give you a chance to respond, and we want to hear both sides but we're letting you know the article is going to come out, and you better sit down with us right away and give us your side of the story.’” For the record: it generally doesn’t much serve a reporter to tell someone they are trying to interview that they *want* to write a hit piece. For the record, *sigh*, I did not do that, either. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-11f31edc-3dd3-48f4-bf8a-72fc2afc646c.jpeg) **The email, sent on March 23, in which Johnson said I told him I was writing “a hit piece.”* ### The Johnson method This is not the first time Johnson has spun a run-in with a Spokane-connected reporter into a public controversy. Nate Sanford, a former *Inlander* reporter who’s now at Cascade PBS and KNKX, was investigating AI usage when Johnson [posted to Twitter](https://x.com/russellbjohnson/status/1927432307356422574?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) audio of a voicemail containing hateful language toward Christians under the comment “Another satisfied customer.” Most of the replies reveled that Johnson had landed YET ANOTHER blow in the constant spiritual war playing out on Twitter and Instagram. (When Johnson is not preaching, slicing into a filet mignon at [Ascend](https://ascendprime.com/menu/dining-room-menu?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=ASCEND%20HAND%20SELECTED%20PREMIUM%20BEEF) in Bellevue, scoping out the next multimillion-dollar property to purchase for his church, playing Call of Duty, or “[trying to finish my PhD](https://www.prophetsnwatches.com/blog/pastor-profile-russell-johnson?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=trying%20to%20finish%20my%20PhD),” he is fighting demons on social media.) But a reply far down in the thread seemed to notice the flat and mechanical quality of the audio. “Bill Billerson” said “This is fake.” Sanford emailed Johnson to ask about it. One day — and 20 of Johnson’s tweets — later, [Johnson posted](https://x.com/russellbjohnson/status/1927832029153886363?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) a screenshot of Sanford’s email including Sanford's email address and cell phone number under the message “you don’t hate the media enough.” “People said some mean things on Twitter and it was a little annoying for a few days, but it was, you know, whatever,” Sanford told me. “But, you know, he definitely has a habit of posting reporters' emails on Twitter.” ### Fighting the natives Obviously, neither mine nor Sanford’s behavior was Johnson’s point. But the specter of a drunken, stage-stealing, reputation-assassin reporter infiltrating a holy space is a handy foil for a pastor who wants to tell his congregation that he won’t back down from the dark secular forces of a godless neighborhood like Browne’s Addition. If there is any sin that infects the neighborhood, it is [NIMBY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY?ref=rangemedia.co)ism. The community has [complained repeatedly](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/12/brownes-addition-residents-raise-alarm-at-new-neig/?ref=rangemedia.co) to the city of Spokane about The Pursuit: floodlights keep people up at night, The Pursuit lacked a permit to operate an assembly, construction crews were breaking down walls before building permits were approved. Fifteen residents noted in interviews that the church was hosting more congregants than the fire code allows, that they’d ripped up a beloved community garden, that churchgoers were blocking driveways and fire hydrants with their cars, that Johnson [has a history](https://www.thestranger.com/news/the-city-let-anti-lgbtq-religious-zealots-take-over-cal-anderson-80074724/?ref=rangemedia.co) of going into queer neighborhoods and staging confrontations with protesters, that unknown security personnel were patrolling the grounds with long guns and in Kevlar, menacing passersby. The city has asked The Pursuit to comply with the rules, and a city official told me the church is cooperating. But the neighbors’ concerns don’t seem to matter to Johnson — he’s on a more important, divinely-inspired mission. “The reason why we planted a church in Spokane is because the Lord was in need of it,” Johnson said. So, a reporter getting kicked out of a church or asking him a question about a tweet positions him as God’s good warrior. And [here’s the bigger playbook](https://www.thestranger.com/news/the-city-let-anti-lgbtq-religious-zealots-take-over-cal-anderson-80074724/?ref=rangemedia.co) that he’s already used in other PNW cities: start a visible controversy in an otherwise sleepy neighborhood known for its friendliness to queer and other marginalized groups, demonize anyone who doesn’t want him there, declare that the neighborhood belongs to Christ, and that he’s fighting God’s holy war against secularism. When Johnson helped anti-trans Portland pastor Jenny Donnelly and the Spokane dominionist Matt Shea organize the Seattle stop of a national tour to oppose gender-affirming care, he and Shea told media outlets that counterprotesters had lobbed “urine-filled balloons” at the Christians. There is no evidence to support that assertion. The exaggerating or fabricating of threats to the church is a well-trod path that Christian nationalist figures bring to Spokane every few months. You can taste its flavor in [Sean Feucht’s long relationship](https://www.rangemedia.co/zach-williams-meets-redemption-machine-sean-feucht-matt-shea/) with the city. The Pursuit’s evolution is chronicled in the highly-produced hagiographical documentary it made about itself in 2024 called “The Kids from the Barn” [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5G8TrL8F6w&ref=rangemedia.co). Watching it will give you a window into Johnson’s rhetorical flair. And you can read more about how Johnson is leaning into that pattern in Emry Dinman’s exhaustive and excellent profile of The Pursuit in *The Spokesman* [here](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/12/brownes-addition-residents-raise-alarm-at-new-neig/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Who brought it here? The Pursuit’s sudden appearance in Browne’s Addition, at its core, is deeply connected to far-right and Christian nationalist movements, [which](https://www.rangemedia.co/healing-rooms-ministry-spokane-cal-pierce-property-taxes/) [I’ve](https://www.rangemedia.co/life-surge-says-gold-is-way-to-serve-god/) [been](https://www.rangemedia.co/pete-serrano-sean-feucht-us-attorney-eastern-wa-christian-nationalist-spokane-9/) [writing](https://www.rangemedia.co/matt-shea-michael-flynn-spokane/) [about](https://www.rangemedia.co/matt-shea-nadine-woodward-spokane-christian-nationalist/) [for](https://www.rangemedia.co/behind-dont-mess-with-our-kids-message-nadine-woodward/) [years](https://www.rangemedia.co/political-pastors-christian-nationalism-comes-home/). And that’s why, even though Johnson marked me a blemished goat and disinvited me from the fold, I can still tell you a bit more about how they got here. The Pursuit’s journey to Spokane starts with three Eastern Washington men who were part of Johnson’s organizing circles: Gabe Blomgren, Titus Hug and Gavan Spies. They are connected through the [dominionist](https://www.rangemedia.co/dominionism-new-apostolic-reformation-spokane-matt-shea/) [soldier](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-six-degrees-of-an-embattled-charismatic-ministry/)\-[politician](https://www.rangemedia.co/resurrecting-the-bogeymen/)\-[turned-apostle](https://www.rangemedia.co/matt-shea-michael-flynn-spokane/) [Matt Shea](https://www.rangemedia.co/political-pastors-christian-nationalism-comes-home/)’s church On Fire Ministries, which Blomgren and Hug helped found as elders, and of which Spies is at least a some-time attendee. Blomgren, with whom I have a friendly reporting relationship and is being groomed as Pursuit Spokane’s worship pastor, did an on-the-record interview with me several weeks ago about The Pursuit. I disagree with him about important issues like queer rights and reproductive healthcare, but he’s been kind to me and generous with his time. I’ve always enjoyed our conversations. I asked him if queer people could go to The Pursuit. He said, “Yes, all are welcome, but there’s a real distinction between attendees and members. Anyone seeking active membership has to agree with the church’s view on biblical teachings.” Anyone can attend a service at most churches. But to become a member means to enter a formal agreement with the church, and one of the provisions is to sign onto its doctrine and commit to its rules. The Pursuit interprets scripture to say that queerness is sinful. “I don’t think someone who disagrees with the church’s doctrine would feel at home as a long-term member,” Blomgren said. Still he encouraged people to “come and see for themselves.” ### The three wise men Blomgren, who has previously worked as a mail carrier, did a years-long stint as a member of Covenant Christian Church in Spokane. That church operated a related ministry called The Church At Planned Parenthood, which staged what they called “worship services at the gates of Hell.” These abortion protests in front of the Spokane Planned Parenthood, at which Blomgren was present, netted the ministry about [$1 million worth](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/mar/14/anti-abortion-church-group-holds-first-protest-at-/?ref=rangemedia.co) of legal costs over harassment allegations. In 2020, Shea, who has no formal training as a pastor, was hired to lead Covenant Church. In 2021, Shea left with a good chunk of the Covenant congregation from which he founded On Fire, and Blomgren became Shea’s worship pastor. Blomgren left On Fire more than a year ago, as did his friend Titus Hug. Hug runs a prominent construction company in Spokane and a [Christian mission in Kenya](https://hugconstruction.com/eric-and-chad-go-to-africa/?ref=rangemedia.co). Blomgren and Hug, both in need of a new place of worship, soon started talking about planting a church. (Hug did not respond to a request for comment on this story.) Enter Gavan Spies, a former strategic director for [Turning Point USA’s faith initiative](https://tpusafaith.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [some-time attendee of On Fire](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/). The three men decided they should start a church together, Blomgren told me. But it’s a lot easier to plant a church when you have infrastructure and money, which they, through their past work with churches affiliated with The Pursuit, knew Johnson had. “Titus called him, and Russell \[Johnson\] was like, ‘Yeah, I feel called to Spokane,” Blomgren said. “Once I had heard that, I said to myself, ‘I would much rather take a bunch of people and fight together, work together, rather than trying to recreate something or start something.” He’d seen Johnson speak at an event in Arizona and said the common ground he felt with the pastor was refreshing. “You know, I think Christianity is so fractionalized. … It's so broken.” He thought The Pursuit could pull Spokane Christians together. He recalls Hug’s and Johnson’s phone call was either in the late summer or the early fall of 2025\. By January 29 of this year, The Pursuit had bought Browne’s Addition’s All Saints Lutheran Church for $2 million. All Saints pastor Rev. Alan Eschenbacher told me in an email he had no choice but to sell the church and send the proceeds to All Saints’ partners in the [Evangelical Lutheran Church in America](https://www.elca.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). “Attendance was dwindling for 15 plus years, and offerings were greatly reduced,” he said. That coupled with increasing overhead created an unsustainable situation. The Pursuit, by contrast, seems to have lots of money — on April 19, it announced nearly $50 million in purchases of Seattle real estate. ### Not tilling the soil The three men got busy renovating the church, and Spies, who Blomgren said was the campus director of the Browne’s location, wanted the community garden out — one of the saddest of the complaints about the church I heard from neighbors who had planted there for years. Not long after the purchase, Christine White, 80, who’s lived across the street from the church for two decades and maintained a plot in the community garden All Saints had established for the neighborhood, got an email. It was from the community garden’s manager, who told her the new owner of the church did not want to keep the garden — it was private property, after all, and the folks who had plants there needed to get out. White was prepared to do this when she got the email, but she wanted to talk to the purchaser first. She figured she had a little time to work out her extraction from the garden and wanted to negotiate with a representative from The Pursuit. She said she walked across the street the next day, and her plot, home to about $500 worth of plants, had been “scalped.” (White was one of two Browne’s residents I interviewed willing to go fully on the record. The other 13 feared reprisals from their new neighbors and would not let me use their names.) ### California dreamin’ So far, The Pursuit hasn’t established an official leader for the Spokane congregation. Instead, they’ve been bringing in a rotating cast of high-profile celebrity pastors and worship leaders who are at the center of the New Apostolic Reformation, which is the most influential realm of Christian support for President Donald Trump’s war on the Islamic Republic of Iran. (The Sunday after Trump began his attacks, Johnson delivered a sermon implying Trump was helping to bring about the end times.) When I talked to Blomgren, he didn’t know when the Spokane branch would get a dedicated pastor. “I'm not that high up the food chain,” he said. Many of the folks Johnson brings in hail from the notoriously liberal state of California. On April 19, the church [told its congregation](https://www.instagram.com/p/DXVY1FIFBYr/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) it was hiring celebrity pastors Jay Koopman and Ross Johnston onto the church staff, but the announcement didn’t say which of The Pursuit’s campuses they would work at. Both have preached at the Spokane location. Koopman is the former frontman for Sean Feucht. Johnston — who has said he was oppressed by an “[orphan spirit](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqQLIkCQAS-5kTXYmeXQnGQ?ref=rangemedia.co)” because his mother, a gay woman, had been artificially inseminated to conceive him — founded the organization [California Will be Saved](https://cawillbesaved.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). In our last conversation, Blomgren articulated the ultimate goal of The Pursuit Spokane: “Spokane will be saved.” I asked him what that meant. He described a very different end goal from Russell Johnson’s idea of planting the good church the Lord needed in Spokane. It was a vision in which every person in Spokane has the resources to live a dignified life. And, crucially, how it’s the church’s job to do that work. “Jesus was able to somehow distribute to 5,000 people food for the whole entire group,” Blomgren said. “And he didn't bring that much food. It was a miracle. It will be up to God and the church to steward what we already have, giving it to the people. It's through the action of the church in the city.” As for the community garden, there’s a chance someone might make a new one. On April 21, Spokane Parks & Recreation officials set up sticker boards near a playground in Coeur d’Alene Park, across the street from The Pursuit. The board displayed mockups of potential new features and asked passersby to place a sticker on the ones they wanted most. One feature was a community garden, and one of the officials said that was a direct response to The Pursuit getting rid of the All Saints garden. That feature had four stickers; some of the playground features had eight. ### Spokane to host World Cup team + city may extend ban on alcohol sales near schools URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/ Last updated: 2026-04-20T18:59:57.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane Police Department [wants to](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=%24230k%20on%20police%20tech%20for%20the%20World%20Cup%20and%20beyond) spend nearly $230,000 on new equipment that will help it police World Cup events in Spokane — also, Spokane [is hosting](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Team%20Egypt%20will%20stay%20in%20Airway%20Heights%2C%20practice%20for%20FIFA%20in%20Spokane) Team Egypt! - Spokane Valley [may sign onto](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Indigent%20defense%20caseload%20standards) a county resolution that would bring it in line with new state standards that reduce caseloads for public defenders. - The Liberty Lake City Council is developing its [hazard management plan](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Hazard%20plan%20presentation) — part of its comprehensive long-term plan — which in part spells out how the city will manage wildfires in the next 20 years. - The Spokane Public Library is considering [new policy revisions](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Library%20revises%20policy) that govern its security cameras with the aim of improving privacy for library patrons. - The Spokane Plan Commission will potentially [add millions](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Millions%20in%20new%20street%20projects%20added%20to%20six%2Dyear%20street%20plan) in spending to repaving roads included in the six-year plan for road projects. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Lake%20City%20Council-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Urban%20Experience%20Committee%20%28Spokane%20city%29) - [Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Public%20Library%20Board%20of%20Trustees,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Bicycle%20Advisory%20Board,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Plan%20Commission,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,West%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-to-host-world-cup-team-city-may-extend-ban-on-alcohol-sales-near-schools/#:~:text=attendance%20here.-,Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Team Egypt will stay in Airway Heights, practice for FIFA in Spokane Spokane will host Team Egypt for the FIFA World Cup in June and July, meaning one of the greatest soccer players, Mohamed Salah, will practice at Gonzaga University. The team will stay at the Kalispel Tribe’s Northern Quest Resort and Casino in Airway Heights, [according to *The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/20/spokane-to-host-egypt-during-world-cup-according-t/?ref=rangemedia.co). Spokane will host several prominent events for FIFA, one of the biggest sporting events in the world, which happens this summer in Seattle. ### $230k on police tech for the World Cup and beyond The council is looking to approve more than $200,000 on police equipment to prepare for the World Cup events Spokane will host. The World Cup will be held in Seattle, but Spokane will host practices and will be the host city for Team Egypt. Some of the equipment is focused on surveillance, some on protecting venues from vehicle attacks, including the Gonzaga University practice sites. The money will come from the police department’s capital budget, and they expect it to be used for future events. The resolution that will approve the purchases is sponsored by council members Michael Cathcart and Kate Telis. The equipment the department is looking to buy: - four [Skydio X10 drone platforms](https://www.skydio.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) from Axon Enterprises for $126,924.32 - [Meridian Archer Trailer Kit 1000](https://www.betterbarriers.com/app/uploads/technical-specifications/Meridian%20Trailer%20Kit%201000%20Technical%20Specifications.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) from Meridian Rapid Defense Group for $99,786.21 ### Booze ban around parks and schools may continue The city’s ban on booze outlets near city parks and schools may get a second life in the coming weeks. The temporary Ordinance C36680 was adopted last year and bans the sale of alcohol within 500 feet of places that cater to kids or people who are in recovery from addiction. The extension of the ban, sponsored by council members Kitty Klitzke and Kate Telis, would last until October 28, 2026\. But the agenda sheet says the city’s next long-term plan, due to be adopted by the end of the year, will likely make the ban permanent. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 20 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, April 23 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Cops & World Cup briefing Assistant Police Chief Matt Cowles will brief the committee on the World Cup equipment purchases the Spokane Police Department wants to make for Spokane’s World Cup events. (Read about it above.) ### CBDG funding available City officials are recommending allocations of nearly $1.8 million in Community Development Block Grant funding that would fund capital projects and neighborhood development. The neighborhood projects would divvy up $400,000 between three projects: - the Shiloh Hills Friendship Park Sports Court would get $266,667 - the Nevada Heights Just One Neighborhood Project would get $88,889 - Chief Garry Park’s Northeast Youth and Family Services parking lot would get $44,444 And $1,102,484 in capital project funding would be divided between eight projects: - the Northeast Youth Center Rehabilitation would get $210,000 - Transitions TLC would get $55,000 for a boiler replacement - the Northeast Public Development Authority would get $199,500 - the Northeast Community Center Association would get $142,320 for air filtration upgrades - the Catholic Housing Services of Eastern Washington would get $117,205 to make improvements to the Ridpath - the Salvation Army’s Stepping Stones Rehabilitation would get $150,000 - the Salish School Of Spokane $52,789 for its Salish Cultural Recreation Community Center - the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center $175,670 for restroom rehabilitation ### TIF funding for Broadway Foods and Laundromat Broadway Foods and Laudromat is requesting a $237,057 reimbursement from the city for construction of public infrastructure — pedestrian, street and utility assets that serve the general public — near its West Central property. The funding would be provided through a tax increment funding district that encourages businesses to improve their surroundings for the benefit of the public. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 20 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Library revises policy The board is expected to take a vote on approving revisions to the library’s Security Camera and Video Monitoring Policy (new name). According to the agenda, the goal is to strengthen the privacy protections for library patrons and create clearer access, among other things. “The 2018 procedures provided a basic framework but lacked meaningful controls over access documentation, external disclosure, and accountability,” the agenda reads. “The revised policy addresses these gaps by establishing clear written standards that protect patron privacy and intellectual freedom, support consistent and equitable enforcement, and reduce legal and reputational risk to the Library.” Key changes outlined in the agenda include: - New language that explicitly forbids use of surveillance to monitor or restrict people based on “protected characteristics or lawful use of library resources” - The revised policy would require documentation of access to archived surveillance data, including the date, the employee who accessed it and the reason for the data review - External organizations need to submit written requests to access surveillance recordings and specifically identify the incident they’re seeking, date, time range and purpose - The executive director (or designee) will need to authorize any disclosure of recordings, including for law enforcement - The library can only disclose the “minimum necessary portion of a recording.” - The library can decline requests that fail to meet policy requirements or compromise the privacy of a patron or confidentiality requirements - Required documentation of disclosures made as well as denials - That for the retention of a recording past 30 days, the executive director (or designee) will be required to make a written determination that keeping that record is required;documentation of the reason and length of extension is required - Two new sections: The first is an Oversight and Compliance section that makes the executive director responsible for periodically reviewing access logs, retention practices and disclosures. The other is a Policy Review section that requires a review every two years at least or whenever there are changes to law, technology or the library’s priorities. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanelibrary.org/about/administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 21 at 5:30 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed here*. ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Lime Scooter Contract Update There’s very little information in the agenda about this, but it’s important: city planners will give the committee an update on the city’s contract with Lime Scooters. Show up to learn how the city works with the company. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 21 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Millions in new street projects added to six-year street plan Spokane’s six-year street plan contains specific projects to improve roads, and the Plan Commission is considering 11 newly added projects to study and improve streets and trails around the city. Some of the more expensive ones are simply repaving projects, including: - $6.96 million to repave portions of Ash, Maple and Monroe streets - $5.12 million to repave parts of Sprague and 29th avenues and - $4.3 million to repair the Monroe Street Bridge > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 22 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** ### Revenue loss The board is expected to discuss the financial impact of enrollment declines and other factors affecting finances for the district in 2025-2027\. According to agenda materials, district officials estimated a loss of about $3.2 million in revenue. About $1.6 million of that was due to enrollment decline. The discussion would also include talk of what the district plans to do in response and its mitigation strategy. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 22 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Special meeting on budget The board will hold a special meeting ahead of its regular meeting that is expected to include discussion of the 2026-2027 preliminary budget for the general fund. ### New A/V system for North Central After that, the board is set to meet for their regularly scheduled meeting. A vote is expected to approve a contract with Avidex, an audiovisual vendor based in Spokane, to replace North Central High School’s audio/visual system. “The existing system is antiquated and not fully functional. This replacement will ensure full theater audio/visual control capabilities along with ease of use for simple presentations for staff unfamiliar with the system,” the agenda reads. The contract is worth roughly $523,600\. Construction is slated to begin around June of this year with the final completion expected in August. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 22 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council 🌶️**🌶️/5 peppers** ### Indigent defense caseload standards Public defense is a constitutional right in the United States, meaning governments have to provide lawyers for people who can’t afford them on their own. But as the burden of defending people has mounted over the years due to reduction in public resources and new ways of gathering evidence, public defenders have been increasingly unable to handle the amount of work they have to do. The Washington Supreme Court last year adopted new caseload standards requiring that public defenders represent defendants in no more than 300 cases a year. Spokane Valley contracts with Spokane County for public defense and is considering supporting a county resolution that would adopt that same standard at Tuesday’s meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 21 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Hazard plan presentation The coming summer is anticipated to be a doozy in terms of drought and wildfire danger, and communities around Washington state are planning on how to deal not only with this year but for the next 20 years as fire danger will get even worse. Those plans are contained in “hazard mitigation plans,” which are much more comprehensive plans to deal with all kinds of dangers that exist in built and natural environments. Liberty Lake will host a workshop on its hazard mitigation plan at its Tuesday meeting, an excellent opportunity to learn how communities plan for risk. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 21 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The Easement URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-easement-sta-lawsuit/ Last updated: 2026-04-17T20:47:43.000Z Cary Edwards thinks his neighbor, Atalalech “Tutu” Aberra, is trying to “take over” the neighborhood where they’ve both lived in Spokane Valley for years. There are four houses on the block, and Aberra has owned the one at the end of their drive since 2013, where she operates an adult family home and cares for up to four clients at a time with disabilities. Last year, she bought the next-door house, which sits between hers and Edwards’. City documents say Aberra has the right to come and go over an easement that pavement bridges across Edwards’s property — as do the clients who come to her home for services like “personal care, housekeeping, activities, and group meals,” according to [a website](https://careavailability.com/provider/aberra-adult-family-home/?ref=rangemedia.co). But to assert what he said are his property rights, he installed three bollards — physical barriers that keep out large vehicles — blocking the strip of pavement Aberra uses to access her house. The bollards have made it impossible for any vehicle bigger than a minivan to get to the adult family home. That’s a big problem for the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) paratransit vans her disabled clients sometimes need to get to work, appointments and social gatherings. Edwards, who told RANGE he’s friendly with some of Aberra’s clients, maintains that STA vans and other traffic are ruining the blacktop on his property — and that he’s on the hook to repair the damage. There are some depressions that are visible when it rains and some cracks in the quarter-century-old pavement. Edwards said he hasn’t given the agency his permission to get to Aberra’s business. Aberra, a Black Ethiopian-American woman, thinks Edwards is trying to make her life and work as difficult as possible because, she said, he’s “racist.” Edwards scoffs at this because he has Black friends. “She’s trying to take the whole subdivision here, and she’s upset that I’m not giving it to her,” Edwards told RANGE of Aberra, who’s lived in the Spokane area for decades. They’ve been screaming at each other since last summer. ### Yelling matches & litigation Edwards moved the office of his motorcycle parts business home last year, and when he did he started noticing the depressions in the pavement. Blaming the depressions on the paratransit vehicles, which weigh about five tons, he started parking a large truck along the easement, which Aberra said blocked the traffic to her home and business. Though Edwards told RANGE his truck was not obstructing the easement, it sparked a series of tense interactions between Edwards and Aberra and their families. In an interview, Aberra accused Edwards of mocking her for being single. Police were called more than once. On September 12, STA’s general counsel Megan Clark sent Edwards a cease and desist letter, demanding that he stop blocking the easement to STA vehicles. During the most recent altercation between the neighbors, which took place on the road in front of Edwards’ home, Aberra accused Edwards of imposing “bad energy” on the neighborhood. She offered to “buy your house for cash right now,” according to footage of the incident recorded by Aberra and reviewed by RANGE. “So that’s the way you are?” Edwards said in the video. “You’re from a communist country, and you feel like you’re an oligarch. You think you can buy the whole property and take over.” Ethiopia has not been a communist country for 35 years. Aberra called Edwards a “loser” and told him if he doesn’t like living in a neighborhood with Black people he can move out. Edwards asked if she would sit for a conversation with him about the central point of contention between the two neighbors: who will replace asphalt on the drive Edwards said is damaged by paratransit vans that go to Aberra’s adult family home. She refused and said the police were on their way. Not long after the video was recorded, Edwards texted RANGE that Aberra’s ex-partner had instigated the incident, saying he “proceeded to cuss my wife out and call her some very explicit things.” Edwards insists he is not motivated by the color of Aberra’s skin. He told RANGE it’s racist for Aberra to call him racist because that’s a stereotype against white people. Plus, he has a good relationship with his other Black neighbor, Henok Demoz, so he can’t be racist, he said in an interview. Demoz declined to comment on the dispute and his relationships with either neighbor. When the city of Spokane implemented a rule barring federal agents from enforcing immigration law on city property, Edwards posted to his personal Facebook: “‘Immigration Enforcement Free Zones’ We call them prisons! Get legal or get out!!!” He posted material generated by the European Sovereign Union, a far-right, anti-immigrant political party that recently took seats in the government of the European Union. He also posted an AI-generated video of Black women in headcoverings counting large stacks of cash in a facility that looks like a day care. It’s a racist allusion to a [right-wing fervor](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/somali-day-care-fraud-lawsuit-minnesota-nick-shirley/?ref=rangemedia.co) started during the last presidential election cycle by the boyish YouTube influencer Nick Shirley over fraud in some Somali daycares in Minnesota. (Some daycares appear to have engaged in fraud, [including here in Washington](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/03/31/audit-questions-37m-in-child-care-payments-in-wa/?ref=rangemedia.co), which has led to [harassment against immigrant childcare providers](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-brown-issues-statement-reports-harassment-daycare-providers?ref=rangemedia.co), but there’s [little evidence](https://19thnews.org/2026/01/child-care-fraud-minnesota-fact-check/?ref=rangemedia.co) the problem is as big as Shirley made it out to be. Still, Shirley’s videos were weaponized by the right to demonize Black immigrants and helped instigate the Trump administration’s deadly crackdown on Minneapolis.) Responding to questions about his posts, Edwards said he is concerned about illegal immigration but doesn’t have a problem with people who come to the US legally, like Aberra. In February, after at least two verbal standoffs between the pair, plus Edwards’ installation of the bollards, and STA had sent its cease and desist letter, Aberra, through her lawyer Douglas R. Dick, filed her own cease and desist letter demanding he remove the barrier. Edwards did not. Spokane Valley City Manager John Hohman, who fielded calls from Edwards, said it’s unusual for someone to install barriers to prevent access to their neighbor’s property. “I’ve never heard of anyone going that far,” Hohman said, referring to the bollards. In an interview, Dick echoed Hohman. “This is the first time I’ve seen someone go to such lengths to put up infrastructure to stop people from enjoying their property,” Dick said. On March 12, Aberra sued Edwards in Spokane Superior Court, asking it to order Edwards not to “obstruct, gate, narrow, or otherwise interfere with Plaintiff’s rights under the Easement \[the strip of land connecting Aberra’s property to the main road\].” STA joined the litigation, asking the court to explicitly allow its vans to access Aberra’s business. The lawsuit also asks the court to prevent Edwards from blocking the easement, to declare that Aberra can use the easement as she always has, to force Edwards to remove his bollards and to promise not to obstruct it anymore. According to the suit, “the bollard in the middle of the driveway easement is not just a nuisance; it creates multiple traffic problems by narrowing and blocking the full travel path, increasing conflict points and collision risk with the bollard and Defendants’ residence, reducing turning radius for larger vehicles, impeding two-way flow and emergency service access, and creates a strike hazard for anyone unfamiliar with the driveway.” “We just want to be able to provide transportation to our folks,” Delana Combs, the ombudsman for STA, said in an interview. In documents he filed with the court countering the lawsuit, Edwards accuses Aberra of defamation for calling him racist. His filings say the city does “not permit business-related traffic or commercial use.” He accused Aberra of “misrepresenting her property rights” and STA of trespassing and asked the court to ban STA from accessing Aberra’s property without his permission. Spokane Valley planning documents say maintenance of the easement is not the city’s responsibility, but they do not spell out whose it is. Edwards said he has no problem with the actual business Aberra runs, only the public services to that business. Aberra has a permit for her business. Records show STA officials have had multiple run-ins with Edwards, including one that said Edwards “showed hostility towards an STA employee.” In September, an STA official contacted the Spokane County Sheriff to report that Edwards was harassing paratransit workers. In response to the cease and desist letter filed as evidence in Aberra’s lawsuit, Edwards denied having harassed anyone. Spokane Valley documents designate Aberra’s as “the dominant property,” meaning she can use it to get between her home and the street. Hohman told RANGE the city’s documentation “doesn’t contemplate group homes,” like Aberra’s adult family home. But the lawsuit notes that the easement has historically been used for paratransit, and the documents give Aberra the right to use it to enter and exit her property. Edwards said that language does not include vehicles that are too heavy for the easement and that he should not be responsible for any damage caused by the STA vans. He insists STA needs his permission to get to Aberra’s door. The morning of April 1, Edwards texted RANGE that he had not seen the vans for a long time and removed some of the bollards. But he said he would put them back if more paratransit vans showed up. The afternoon of April 2, he texted again, saying a van had used the easement, so he reinstalled the bollards. “Bummer, oh well,” he wrote. In an hour-long conversation on April 17, just before we published this story, Edwards repeated that he is not concerned with Aberra’s business or even the STA traffic. He said he’s fighting for all Washingtonians who are not represented by the state’s stance on easements. He said he doesn’t care much about the paratransit vehicles, and though he finds them “annoying,” it’s the principle of the matter. Private property owners are victims. ”She threatened to buy my house,” he said. “It's not just me — it's properties all over Spokane Valley, maybe all of Washington state, that are dealing with the same issues of their properties being taken advantage of.” For Aberra’s part, she said she just wants to get her clients the access to the transportation they need. The two are due to appear at a hearing on April 24 in Spokane County Superior Court. Edwards is looking for a lawyer to represent him but said he can’t find anyone who has not represented STA. Clark has been STA’s general counsel since at least [2022](https://www.spokanetransit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/STA-Aug-Spec-Bd-Mtg-Min.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). Edwards told RANGE he’ll comply with whatever a judge orders in the case. ### We’re going to Get Lit! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/range-at-get-lit/ Last updated: 2026-04-17T15:49:35.000Z On this week’s episode, Val and Aaron Hedge were joined by Kate Peterson and Mackenize Draper from the [Get Lit festival](https://inside.ewu.edu/getlit/?ref=rangemedia.co)! The four of them talked about what goes into the festival, its impact on our region, and the ways it’s building up our communities. RANGE will be at the festival, so if you see us, say hi! Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### In the weeds of Spokane’s federal conspiracy case URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-pretrial-motions-1st-amendment-explainer/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T22:47:39.000Z For one hour and 28 minutes, a packed courtroom listened as lawyers for both federal prosecutors and three of the nine Spokanites arrested for the June 11 protests made their arguments. Federal Judge Rebecca Pennell’s [ruling](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-rules-spokane-9-case-will-go-to-trial/) was disappointing for many in the audience supporting the defendants: both motions to dismiss the charges were denied and the case is going to trial. The federal government charged the three defendants — Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II — with federal conspiracy after they protested the arrests of two immigrants in Spokane. The [charge](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/372?ref=rangemedia.co) carries a six year maximum sentence, and/or a large fine. If the government wants to win, it must prove that at least two people knowingly planned to use force, intimidation or threats to prevent federal officers from doing their job. In this case, the government has to prove that a Facebook post calling for a protest counts. While the Tuesday hearing was short, there were a few relatively complex legal issues at play, so if you want a short summary of what happened, [click here](https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-rules-spokane-9-case-will-go-to-trial/). But if you’re interested in a more in the weeds explanation of the proceedings, read on. ### The basics On June 11, 2025, protesters tried to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking two detained young men who were in the US legally to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma.The protest was sparked by a Facebook post from former city council member Ben Stuckart, who was the official guardian for one of the young men detained earlier that day. Hundreds of people showed up to the protest, leading to a tense standoff with local law enforcement. Some protesters blocked the driveways to the facility with benches and scooters to prevent ICE from taking the two young men, and other immigrants detained that day, to Tacoma. Other protesters sat in front of a white bus and red van intended to take the detainees. Early in the day, someone on a bike rode up, spray-painted the windshield of the white transport bus, and left. Later, someone let out the air in the tires of that bus and someone slashed the tires of the red transport van. There were over 30 local arrests from the police and the sheriff, but most of those charges were dropped. Then, about a month later, the federal government arrested nine people now known as the ‘Spokane 9’ on suspicion of “conspiracy to impede or injure officers.” Two of the nine were also charged with “assault on a federal officer.” All nine initially pled not guilty and were awaiting trial. In December, six of the nine took plea deals. Since then, attorneys on both sides have been preparing for the May 18 trial. (All our coverage can be found [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/).) ### The First Amendment Question Central to the hearing was a motion filed by Carl Oreskovich — Archer’s lawyer — that asked the judge to dismiss the case, based on two key arguments: - Responding to a Facebook post does not constitute a conspiracy - While some of the original nine defendants may have individually committed crimes — and in two cases, what Oreskovich saw as potentially violent crimes — none of those crimes met the bar necessary to convict on conspiracy. Oreskovich argued that while some of the allegations levelled against the defendants were crimes — vandalism, maybe, or trespassing — they did not rise to the level of a federal conspiracy. The majority of the acts outlined in the indictment against all nine people originally charged were nonviolent acts. Blocking a pathway, letting air out of tires, sitting in front of a bus even when asked to move; all non-violent and not physically threatening though perhaps intentionally disobedient, he said. “We’re not saying that the statute is unconstitutional on its face,” Oreskovich said. ”We’re saying it’s unconstitutional as it applies to this case … An act of civil disobedience is constitutionally protected.” Oreskovich said two allegations — throwing a smoke canister back at local police officers and striking a federal officer from behind — could potentially be considered acts of force. But, he said, neither were committed by defendants still on trial. And, he added, most of the evidence of violence submitted by the US attorneys showed federal officers striking protesters in the back at the lower gate. “If there’s a use of force in any fashion… it’s not the people protesting or engaging in acts,” he said. “It’s the officers.” Oreskovich also said the charges violate Constitutional protections for the right to freedom of speech and assembly. “Concluding that a conspiracy exists simply because of posts is a stretch,” he said. Still, while it’s the court’s purview to rule on constitutional issues, Pennell wasn’t convinced. She denied the motion, stating that it was the federal government’s job to prove that the protesters’ choices rose to the level of conspiracy, and that they would have to convince a jury Archer wasn’t just “sitting in front of a bus, but sitting in front of a bus with intent to obstruct.” There are [restrictions](https://www.freedomforum.org/when-does-protesting-become-illegal/?ref=rangemedia.co) on freedom of speech, including ones that ban people from inciting violence. In this case, the federal government is specifically arguing that protesters conspired with the intent to use force, threaten or intimidate federal officers. That intent, the government said, made their conduct illegal. Archer’s lawyer countered that the protesters’ intent was not force, intimidation or threat, but rather constitutionally protected civil disobedience. But Pennell seemed willing to hear the government out, becausethe central issue at hand is the protesters’ state of mind, known as *mens rea*. “That’s an issue for trial,” she said, but also noted the federal government will have a high burden of proof to clear. She added that she was willing to consider [acquittal](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule%5F29?ref=rangemedia.co) during and after the trial if the federal government did not present enough evidence. ### What’s an officer, really? In Justice Forral’s motion to dismiss, attorney Andrea George argued on two fronts: - The various law enforcement officials the defendants are accused of conspiring against are technically not “officers of the United States” as described in federal law. - If they are considered officers, the indictment isn’t specific enough to defend against because it “has not named the injured party nor alleged any injury specific to their person or property.” Essentially, George asked, where is the victim? In the officer argument, George teased apart [the law](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section372&num=0&edition=prelim&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=%C2%A7372.,1809%20.%29) the defendants are charged under and what it means by “officers of the United States.” She argued the term “officers” refers only to people subject to the [Appointments Clause](https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S2-C2-3-1/ALDE%5F00013092/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20Appointments%20Clause%20is%20Article%20II%2C%20Section,%2A%2AAll%20other%20Officers%20of%20the%20United%20States%2A%2A) of the Constitution, like judges and the attorney general, because of the way the statute is structured. And while about 172 federal and state officers from different agencies were involved in the case, she argued none would qualify under the conspiracy charge — and if they do, they should be named in the indictment. The indictment does not name specific victims. Lisa Cartier-Giroux, one of the prosecutors, said she had given the defense the names of the 14 officers the government alleges the defendants conspired to impede or injure. “I have identified them. There is no hiding the ball,” she said, noting that she often doesn’t name victims in indictments. But court documents for a separate Spokane County Sheriff's [case](https://www.rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/) against Forral for alleged unlawful imprisonment for the same incident list only seven victims: John La Forte, Greg McSullivan, Jeremy Burlingame, Kevin Wilkes, Jeff Evers, Jason McIntosh and Jared Tomaso. That case is still awaiting trial. Someone can be charged with conspiracy for injuring an officer’s property or equipment, too, and the federal government included examples of property damage in the indictment. Forral’s lawyers argued about what constitutes an officers’ property and whether the law meant personal property or government property. “The United States doesn’t own the white bus. The United States doesn’t own the red van,” George said of the two vehicles the defendants are alleged to have injured. Both vehicles are owned by the private prison company GEO Group. Cartier-Giroux argued “it wouldn’t make any sense” if the law didn’t include law enforcement officers and the property they use to do their duties. “It’s not about who owns it, it’s what that item is being used for,” she said. Pennell ultimately agreed with her interpretation of the statute and denied the motion. ### Who’s in charge of the local US Attorneys? In a last-minute motion one of Archer’s attorneys submitted Monday night, Andrew Wagley argued that the case should also be dismissed because the Eastern District of Washington has not had a “lawfully appointed” attorney since before the office issued the indictment. This stems from the resignation of previous Acting US Attorney Rich Barker, who later [stated](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/us/politics/justice-dept-prosecute-protesters.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that he did so because he didn’t want to sign the indictment against the protesters. Instead, the lead name on the indictment was [Stephanie Van Marter](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/stephanie-van-marter-serve-acting-united-states-attorney-eastern-district-washington?ref=rangemedia.co), who had been appointed acting US Attorney for the region after Barker’s departure. A few months later, [Pete Serrano](https://www.rangemedia.co/pete-serrano-sean-feucht-us-attorney-eastern-wa-christian-nationalist-spokane-9/) took her place as interim US Attorney for the district. He is listed at the top of several case documents filed in October. He was never confirmed by the Senate and ran out of his constitutionally-allowed 120 days of service, but stayed in the role through [two new titles](https://www.kuow.org/stories/workaround-will-keep-wa-s-pete-serrano-in-federal-prosecutor-job?ref=rangemedia.co) given to him by now-ousted US Attorney General Pam Bondi. Serrano is [now listed](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa?ref=rangemedia.co) as the “Special Attorney to the Attorney General of The United States” and the “First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.” But his name isn’t forever tied to this case: in mid-March, then-Deputy Attorney General of the US Todd Blanche started showing up atop the government’s filings in the Spokane 9’s cases in place of Serrano’s. On April 2, President Donald Trump appointed Blanche — who once was his personal attorney — to Acting Attorney General. It’s unclear why Blanche would be listed at all since Serrano is technically still in charge of the eastern district region. These aren’t perfunctory changes, Archer’s lawyers argued. The US Constitution lays out safeguards to protect Americans from politically-motivated prosecutions. Federal courts in [Virginia](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11380?ref=rangemedia.co), [New York](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/judge-disqualifies-trump-acting-u-s-attorney-john-sarcone-northern-new-york/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=John%20Sarcone%2C%20acting%20U.S.%20attorney,attorney%20when%20he%20sought%20them.) and other states have ruled that acting US attorneys placed by Trump are serving unlawfully. At least [two high-profile cases](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/24/g-s1-98612/trump-us-attorney-lindsey-halligan?ref=rangemedia.co) against Trump critics have been dismissed as a result of such rulings. “The prejudice to Defendant Archer by virtue of this unlawful prosecution is clear,” Wagley wrote in his motion. “This is a highly political prosecution, resulting in the resignation of a former Acting U.S. Attorney. The crux of the allegations relate to protesting actions of the current Presidential Administration. A lawfully appointed U.S. Attorney, with confirmation pursuant to the requisite Constitutional checks and balances, would likely not have brought this case in the first place or argued against the Motion to Dismiss on First Amendment grounds.” At Tuesday’s hearing, Cartier-Giroux visibly bristled at the notion that the prosecution was political: “I say this as an officer of the court. I wrote this indictment. I was never instructed by anyone to do this.” Either way, Pennell did not grant the motion, saying, “If I grant it, then every single case in front of me would have to be dismissed … You can take that issue to the 9th circuit but I’m not going to do that.” The lawyers for each defendant insisted it be entered into the record, preserving their right to appeal on this basis later. ### The feds and the 1st Amendment On the Monday before the hearing, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, supported by Cartier-Giroux and Perez, filed what’s called a [motion in limine](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/motion%5Fin%5Flimine?ref=rangemedia.co) – a motion to keep the jury from seeing certain information or hearing certain arguments during the trial. Blanche’s motion asked the court to “exclude any argument or statements that Defendants’ conduct was a proper First Amendment protest,” mentions of former US Attorney Richard Barker, any reference to policy directives given to the Department of Justice to go after protesters, any references to Minnesota protests, or any arguments that the two Venezuelan men — whose detainment initially sparked the protests — were in the country legally. While Pennell did not rule on that motion on Tuesday, it was briefly discussed during debate around Archer’s attempt to see the case dismissed. Pennell told the federal prosecutors that First Amendment rights issues are hard to keep from the jury. “I don’t want the jury worried that something is being hidden from them,” Pennell said. ### What’s next A pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 5, where Pennell will rule on the government’s motion (described above) and additional motions filed by both the government and the defense attorneys. The federal government’s second motion to exclude testimony or evidence is perhaps even more expansive than the first, seeking to ban the defense from a slate of things, like mentioning Mavalwalla II’s military service in Afghanistan, referencing the government’s “failure to charge other members of the conspiracy,” or describing the potential consequences of conviction — up to six years in federal prison. The US attorneys also announced their intent to use video evidence of “other bad acts,” allegedly committed by the defendants on June 11 that were not described in the original indictment. For the defense, Archer’s attorneys are asking the court to exclude any reference to the guilty pleas entered by the six other protesters, while Forral’s attorneys filed a motion to redact the names of all the people who have already pleaded guilty. Forral’s motion also seeks to remove references to the descriptions of a protester throwing a smoke canister back at local police officers and striking a federal officer from behind, as those actions were allegedly committed by two people no longer on the trial. Forral has also asked the court to require the government to present any impeachable information about federal officers who testify in the case, like if they’ve previously lied in court or been accused of using excessive force. Pennell will also likely make final decisions on the wording of questions on a survey that will be sent out to potential jurors to narrow the pool before official selection begins, and any other pre-trial motions that are filed before then. ### Judge rules Spokane 9 case will go to trial URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/judge-rules-spokane-9-case-will-go-to-trial/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T22:46:52.000Z In the moments before the hearing began, Jac Archer and Justice Forral sat quietly at the defense table, flanked on either side by their attorneys. Minutes later, after the gallery seats behind them had been filled with local activists, clergy members and a Spokane city council member, they were joined by the third defendant — Bajun Mavalwalla II, a tall Army veteran with hair tied back in a short ponytail. Over the next two hours, the courtroom heard arguments from a fleet of attorneys representing the defendants and two representing the federal government around First Amendment rights, pronoun usage and the meaning of the word “officer,” presided over by Judge Rebecca Pennell. At the end of a pre-trial motion hearing that could have cleared three Spokanites arrested on federal charges for June 11 anti-ICE protests who refused to plead guilty, Judge Pennell made one thing clear: the case is going to trial. Archer’s lawyers had filed [a motion to dismiss the case](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-federal-conspiracy-motion-dismiss/), saying the government’s charges would criminalize speech protected by the First Amendment, while Forral’s defense team had filed a second, more complicated motion. Andrea George, on behalf of Forral, said that the federal government did not specify who or what or what had been harmed by the defendants. She argued that three of the four counts of conspiracy should be struck because of an argument that the agents and staff impeded or injured by the alleged conspiracy did not actually constitute “officers,” under federal law. Mavalwalla II joined both motions, and Archer and Forral joined each other’s, meaning if one motion to dismiss or strike succeeded, it would succeed for all defendants. The judge was also hearing initial arguments on a last minute motion filed by the Acting Attorney General of the United States, Todd Blanche, and argued by Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Perez. Blanche’s motion asked the court to “exclude any argument or statements that Defendants’ conduct was a proper First Amendment protest,” mentions of former United States Attorney Richard Barker, any reference to policy directives given to the Department of Justice to go after protesters, any references to Minnesota protests, or any arguments that the two Venezuelan men — whose detainment initially sparked the protests — were in the country legally. (Just two days before Archer, Forral, Mavalwalla and six others were arrested on federal charges, Baker had resigned as United States Attorney for Washington’s eastern district[ rather than issue the indictment](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/02/fbi-arrest-us-army-veteran-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) that led to this hearing.) Before ruling on the motions to dismiss, Pennell heard that argument, as well as others: - a motion filed by Archer’s defense the night before the hearing to throw out the cases on the basis that there was no lawfully appointed US attorney - a discussion on what pronouns to use for the defendants and how to phrase a question on the jury selection questionnaire inquiring about whether potential jurors would feel bias towards people using nonbinary pronouns. Pennell ruled periodically throughout the hearing; on the key points, she found in favor of the federal government, deciding not to dismiss the case out of hand and instead see it through to trial, which is scheduled to begin May 18\. Before that, another hearing is scheduled to decide on Blanche’s motion, what questions prospective jurors would be asked, the specific instructions they’d be given to find their verdict and any other motions filed. “The remedy is to go to trial, and that’s scary, but that is the remedy we have here,” Pennell said. “The government gets to put out its evidence and at least attempt to make its case.” Bajun Mavalwalla, the father of Mavalwalla II and a Congressional candidate, found room for hope in the judge’s rulings. “ I heard very clearly that the judge was saying that the bar for the United States Attorney's Office was just raised,” he said. “And if you don’t meet it during your arguments, this thing could end halfway through,” — referring to the judge’s promise that she was willing to consider a [Rule 29 motion](https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule%5F29?ref=rangemedia.co) during or after the trial to end the trial due to lack of evidence. At a press conference organized by community leaders representing organizations like Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, the Spokane Community Against Racism — which Archer works for — and Experience Matters, were less optimistic. The rain punctuated heartbreak as they huddled under the eaves of the Philanthropy Center. “This was an obviously disappointing decision from the judge,” Liz Moore, Executive Director of PJALS, said. “It will always be ludicrous, the idea that was a conspiracy when it was the most spontaneous protest Spokane has ever seen.” Organizer hadley morrow described the indictment as “a clear moment where the Trump administration is trying to villainize our dissent and criminalize our right to speak up.” They called the prosecution a “targeted attack,” and added that the three people choosing to fight the charges are queer people, people of color and in Mavalwalla’s case, a veteran. The press conference ended with the soft lyrics of a hymn shared between organizers, many of whom had been outside the ICE office on June 11. “We are here, with our voices, with our love for each other,” they sang. “Our love for each other will carry us through.” For more details on the ins and outs of the legal matters decided today, check back tomorrow. ### Caught in the Crackdown: As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/arrests-anti-ice-protests/ Last updated: 2026-04-14T19:35:56.000Z **by** [**A.C. Thompson**](https://www.propublica.org/people/ac-thompson?ref=rangemedia.co)**,** **ProPublica and FRONTLINE, and** [**Gabrielle Schonder**](https://www.propublica.org/people/gabrielle-schonder?ref=rangemedia.co)**,** [**FRONTLINE**](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/?ref=rangemedia.co) *This story was originally published by* [*ProPublica*](https://www.propublica.org/article/caught-in-crackdown-ice-cbp-doj-trump-arrests-convictions?ref=rangemedia.co)*. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive their*[ *biggest stories*](https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/the-big-story?source=www.propublica.org&placement=top-note®ion=national) *as soon as they’re published.* *This story is part of a collaborative investigation from ProPublica and FRONTLINE that includes a documentary, “Caught in the Crackdown,” which premieres April 14 at 10 p.m. EDT/9 p.m. CDT on PBS stations (*[*check local listings*](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/schedule/?ref=rangemedia.co)*) and will be available to stream on* [*YouTube*](https://www.youtube.com/@frontline?ref=rangemedia.co)*, the* [*PBS App*](https://www.pbs.org/pbs-video-app/?ref=rangemedia.co) *and* [*FRONTLINE’s website*](http://pbs.org/frontline?ref=rangemedia.co)*. It will also be available on* [*PBS Documentaries on Prime Video*](https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/storefront?ie=UTF8&benefitId=pbsdoc&pd%5Frd%5Fw=jaV9l&pf%5Frd%5Fp=4f4681c1-4528-47dd-bf61-c66d47adf7b6&pf%5Frd%5Fr=GWK5A5WZXH14FH1CMMFK&pd%5Frd%5Fr=2ec562c2-91bf-4a09-86ad-3939e089fa8d&pd%5Frd%5Fwg=H6VfQ&qid=1624645405&linkCode=ll2&tag=sem%5Fdocs%5Fgeneral-20&linkId=f7030805de511b99f54545eb0528ac55&language=en%5FUS&ref%5F=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl&gad%5Fsource=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqpSwBhClARIsADlZ%5FTkFmLOYNmGC4DbSWExsBtyGErOVIY2bskq70E3cnKoiekzZQKcpprcaAtHVEALw%5FwcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Reporting Highlights - **Protesters Detained**: ProPublica and FRONTLINE found more than 300 people who were arrested during immigration sweeps and accused of crimes like assaulting or interfering with law enforcement. - **Cases Collapse Under Scrutiny**: Over and over, cases against protesters fell apart, often because statements made by the arresting officers were debunked by video footage. - **Chilling Effect**: Experts said arrests, even without convictions, can quash dissent. “I don’t want to be assaulted again. I don’t want to wind up back in federal prison,” a protester said. *These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.* The National Guard soldiers in desert camo piled out of unmarked vans in East Los Angeles last June, cordoning off East Sixth Street, a residential street lined with single family houses, and blocking a nearby road leading to an elementary school. A squad of federal agents moved in flinging flash-bang grenades — explosives designed to disorient — into a small home before storming inside. They’d come for Alejandro Orellana, a Marine Corps veteran and UPS employee accused of being a central figure in a secret confederacy of insurrectionists. A news video had shown the 30-year-old distributing water, food and face shields to people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration roundups in Los Angeles. Bill Essayli, a former state legislator who leads the federal prosecutor’s office in Los Angeles, joined the raid along with a Fox News crew. With cameras rolling, Orellana, his parents and brothers were led out in handcuffs as agents searched their home. On Fox News, Essayli, sporting a blue FBI windbreaker, hyped the arrest of Orellana, a quiet, wiry man with a long mane of coal-black hair. “It appears they’re well-orchestrated and coordinated, and well-funded,” he said. “And today was one of the first arrests — first key arrests — that we did.” Essayli would charge Orellana with conspiracy — under a federal statute typically used to build cases against drug traffickers and organized crime — and with aiding and abetting civil disorder. Within weeks, the prosecutor’s marquee case would quietly fall apart. Agents who searched Orellana’s house found little that could be considered incriminating, and prosecutors never charged anyone else as part of the supposed conspiracy. By late July, they moved to have the charges dismissed. It wouldn’t be the only such case. Over the past 10 months, President Donald Trump’s administration has made much of its success in sweeping through U.S. cities, capturing unauthorized immigrants and arresting people who publicly oppose the operations, routinely accusing dissenters of being domestic terrorists or extremists. Federal agents have arrested hundreds of U.S. citizens like Orellana — including protesters, activists observing the immigration enforcement operations, bystanders and, in some cases, the family members of people targeted for deportation. Less clear to the public is what has happened to those charged. To find out, ProPublica and FRONTLINE combed through social media, court records and news stories. Reporters identified more than 300 protesters and bystanders who were arrested by federal agents during immigration sweeps and were accused of crimes such as assaulting or interfering with law enforcement. But over and over those accusations fell apart under scrutiny. Our reviews of court files found that statements made by the arresting officers were repeatedly debunked by video footage. In more than a third of the cases, prosecutors quickly dismissed charges that couldn’t be substantiated, refused to file charges at all, or lost at trial. The tally of cases that end this way will likely climb as many of the arrests remain unresolved. Co-published With ![](https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/unnamed_a64377.png) “What’s happening now is not comparable to anything that’s happened in the past,” said Cuauhtémoc Ortega, the chief federal defender for the Central District of California, who personally represented Orellana and other protesters. “We’ve never had a situation where it seems like you arrest first and then try to justify the reasons for the arrests later.” The Department of Homeland Security, which includes Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the arrests and declined to answer detailed questions from ProPublica and FRONTLINE. But in a statement in response to an earlier story, DHS said, “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly — not rioting. DHS is taking reasonable and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers.” ### Watch the Trailer for FRONTLINE and ProPublica’s Documentary on ICE Crackdowns Timothy Grucza/FRONTLINE (PBS) Given the unprecedented nature of the urban sweeps, it is difficult to compare the rate of failed cases to another time period or context. But current and former federal prosecutors and other legal experts said having that number of arrests come to nothing is particularly striking in the federal system, where U.S. attorneys usually secure convictions or guilty pleas in more than 90% of the cases they bring; only 8.2% of federal criminal cases were dismissed in 2022, according to data compiled by that court system. The failures highlight the challenges of sending large numbers of federal agents into major cities to conduct roving immigration sweeps: They aren’t accustomed to dealing with crowds of angry protesters Border Patrol agents are typically stationed at the border where their day-to-day work entails scooping up people who have crossed illegally. ICE agents, who often work in urban settings, had little prior experience handling hostile crowds. And FBI agents, who have aided in the immigration sweeps, would normally spend months or years painstakingly amassing evidence before making arrests. That lack of experience in street policing and crowd control, coupled with the Trump administration’s demand for huge numbers of deportations, led agents to make a wave of unjustified arrests, legal experts say. To be sure, protesters have often engaged in hostile behavior, hurling expletives, getting in agents’ faces and occasionally becoming violent. A woman in Minnesota is accused of [biting off part of an agent’s finger](https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/13/4-indicted-after-minneapolis-clashes-including-a-woman-accused-of-biting-off-an-officers-fingertip/?ref=rangemedia.co) during a scuffle after the killing of Alex Pretti in late January; in Los Angeles, an officer outside an immigration detention facility suffered a dislocated finger after a protester allegedly [grabbed his bulletproof vest](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.979790/gov.uscourts.cacd.979790.1.0.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) and shook him. But the agents’ conduct has also frequently been violent. As ProPublica and FRONTLINE reported last year, they have [routinely shot pepper balls or tear gas at protesters in ways that violate their own rules](https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-border-patrol-less-lethal-weapons?ref=rangemedia.co), causing severe injuries to demonstrators in several cities. “The agents, they don’t know how to operate in these situations,” said Christy Lopez, a former Justice Department attorney who spent years investigating misconduct by law enforcement. Their behavior, she said, “is on par with the worst protest policing and just law enforcement that I’ve seen from any department, even in their worst days. *ProPublica and FRONTLINE compiled information on the arrests of hundreds of U.S. citizens — including protesters, activists observing the immigration enforcement operations, bystanders and, in some cases, the family members of people targeted for deportation — in Los Angeles; Chicago; Minneapolis; and Charlotte, North Carolina, four key jurisdictions where the Department of Homeland Security has staged high-profile campaigns. We gathered reports from federal prosecutors, federal defenders, news reports, lawsuits, personal interviews, and DHS press releases and social media posts. We found court files for about 300 of the arrests and compared the original charges, internal DHS reports, additional evidence and outcomes. Many of these cases are still pending. We were unable to find court records for every arrest, and were unable to determine the outcomes of some.* In its earlier statement, DHS said that “rioters and terrorists” have repeatedly attacked immigration agents, but ICE and Customs and Border Protection personnel “are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and themselves.” The arrests are not without consequence. Even unsuccessful prosecutions can be costly and emotionally taxing for defendants, said Jared Fishman, a former career prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The aggressive tactics of the agents and the gleeful social media posts by DHS accusing protesters of serious crimes, Fishman said, affect people’s willingness to publicly challenge the mass deportation policies. “If the goal of the Trump administration is to keep people out of the streets, then it doesn’t matter if the people are getting convicted,” said Fishman, now the executive director of the Justice Innovation Lab, a nonprofit focused on creating a more equitable and effective justice system. “I’m sure it’s having a chilling effect.” After reviewing data and some court records for ProPublica and FRONTLINE, Fishman said, “The numbers seem to indicate a pattern and practice of illegal arrests.” ### “We Must Identify Him” The crackdown on protesters began in June of 2025, when the Department of Homeland Security launched its wave of major immigration sweeps in Southern California. The campaign was led by Gregory Bovino, a veteran Border Patrol chief who normally presided over a remote stretch of sand and scrub deep in the state’s Imperial Valley. Bovino from the start encouraged his agents to shut down or arrest protesters. “Arrest as many people that touch you as you want to. Those are the general orders, all the way to the top,” Bovino told his officers, footage from an agent’s body-worn camera shows. “Everybody fucking gets it if they touch you.” He went on to remind them that their actions should be “legal, ethical, moral” while encouraging them to use so-called less lethal weapons on protesters. “We’re gonna look at shipping tractor trailers full of that shit in here,” he said. Bovino’s forces repeatedly [fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets](https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-border-patrol-less-lethal-weapons?ref=rangemedia.co) at the heads and faces of demonstrators and journalists. Bovino’s aggressive tactics sparked intense opposition from Angelenos, including those gathered in the streets in front of the sprawling federal office complex in downtown Los Angeles on June 9\. That day Orellana drove his Ford F-150 pickup truck loaded with bottled water, snacks and cardboard boxes containing Uvex brand face shields — clear plastic masks designed to protect industrial workers from flying debris and chemical splashes — to the protest. When he arrived in front of the federal building, another person hopped into the bed and began handing out the supplies to protesters gathered outside the entrance. Orellana told FRONTLINE and ProPublica that he decided to help distribute the supplies after watching federal agents fire tear gas and rubber bullets into crowds at an earlier demonstration. “A bunch of us took it upon ourselves to, you know, go downtown and give out these resources — the food, water and of course the PPE,” he said, referring to personal protective equipment. Video and photos quickly made their way onto social media. An X user with more than 30,000 followers posted a photo of Orellana. “A photograph of the man delivering boxes of gas masks to the rioters has emerged,” wrote the poster. “We must identify him, so we can track down who is funding this coordinated attack.” From there the thread was picked up by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has a vast audience on the platform. Jones, who repeatedly claimed that financier and philanthropist George Soros was funding the protests, eventually named Orellana as the driver of the pickup. More than two million people saw the post. Within 48 hours, the soldiers and federal agents arrived to arrest Orellana. ![A man wearing a face mask sits in the driver’s seat of a truck with cardboard boxes in the bed. People are surrounding the truck and one person is crouched in the bed going through the boxes.](https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Orellana-2.jpg?w=752) ![Two agents with blurred faces, one of whom has an FBI jacket on, escort a man in handcuffs.](https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Orellana-1.jpg?w=752) Fox News showed Orellana sitting in his truck, first image, while people hand out bottled water, snacks and face shields he brought to the protest, and also covered his later arrest, second image. Via Fox News Over the next five months, they arrested more than one hundred U.S. citizens in Los Angeles and other cities in Southern California — most of them demonstrators — charging them with assaulting federal law enforcement personnel or interfering with agents’ activities. Others were accused of damaging government property. At least 16, like Orellana, were charged with conspiracy, which can carry a sentence of up to six years in prison. ProPublica and FRONTLINE found that more than a third of those cases crumbled. In eight instances, [juries acquitted defendants at trial](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-04-03/u-s-attorneys-office-losses-protest-cases?ref=rangemedia.co). But more frequently, prosecutors dropped charges when the claims made by immigration officers and agents didn’t match video evidence or other inconsistencies emerged. In several cases, prosecutors declined to file charges at all. There have been some successful prosecutions: 32 of the 116 people whose arrests in California we reviewed have been convicted, many pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges. And in late February, [jurors convicted two activists](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-27/two-los-angeles-protesters-convicted-of-stalking-ice-agent?ref=rangemedia.co) on stalking charges after they livestreamed themselves following an immigration agent to his home; the pair were acquitted of conspiracy. Today 38 cases are still pending. Essayli has stated on social media that his office brought more than 100 cases and secured convictions in more than half of them. When asked about the discrepancy between his claims and the data compiled by ProPublica and FRONTLINE, he declined to comment. “The U.S. attorney’s office does not lose cases because they’re bad lawyers,” said Carley Palmer, who spent eight years as a federal prosecutor in the office Essayli now runs. “They are excellent trial attorneys. So if they’re losing a case, it may mean that the evidence isn’t there, or it may mean that the community doesn’t believe it should be a federal crime.” Palmer, who is now in private practice, said the glut of protest and low-level criminal immigration cases have shifted resources away from the complex prosecutions the DOJ is uniquely equipped to handle: environmental crimes, public corruption, financial fraud, cyberscams, civil rights violations. Essayli declined to be interviewed for this story or an accompanying FRONTLINE documentary set to air Tuesday. He was appointed by the Trump administration in early 2025, but he has never been confirmed by the Senate, raising ongoing questions about the legality of his role as top prosecutor for the region. His office did not respond to detailed questions sent by email. Like Orellana, Julian Pecora Cardenas, 31, was charged with conspiracy last summer after following a convoy of federal agents in his car. On the morning of July 5, Pecora Cardenas followed vans full of Border Patrol agents after they left a Coast Guard station in San Pedro, south of Los Angeles, livestreaming their movements on Instagram. “It’s every citizen’s duty to conduct oversight of their government,” he said. “I was within my First Amendment rights.” After roughly 30 minutes, the agents stopped, pulled Pecora Cardenas from his Hyundai and slammed him to the pavement. “I honestly thought it was going to be like a George Floyd moment,” Pecora Cardenas recalled in an interview, alleging that multiple agents pinned him to the asphalt with their knees. He suffered a concussion, needed stitches over his left eye and wore an orthopedic collar to stabilize his injured neck. Federal prosecutors charged Pecora Cardenas and another activist with conspiracy to impede the federal agents, saying that they “were illegally maneuvering their vehicles through traffic, stop lights, and stop signs to stay behind the agent’s vehicles,” that they tried to block the Border Patrol vehicles, and that they created “hazardous conditions on the road.” Pecora Cardenas’ own video of the day’s events told a different story. The footage, which ProPublica and FRONTLINE have reviewed, contradicts the claims that the men had interfered with the agents. Within days of seeing the images, Essayli’s office jettisoned the charges “in the interest of justice.” Pecora Cardenas hasn’t tried to observe federal agents or participate in a protest since his arrest. “I don’t want to be assaulted again. I don’t want to wind up back in federal prison for something that I didn’t do.” ### “They Were Just Randomly Grabbing People” When Bovino, the Border Patrol chief, left California and took his forces to Illinois last fall, their focus on protesters intensified. In roughly one month, federal agents arrested more than a hundred American citizens, many of them activists participating in demonstrations or documenting the movements of immigration agents as their convoys of rented SUVs rolled through the streets of Chicago and surrounding communities. But Justice Department prosecutors in [Chicago had less success prosecuting those arrested](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/30/chicago-immigration-citizen-arrests-charges/?ref=rangemedia.co) than their peers in California. On the morning of Oct. 3, 2025, about two hundred demonstrators gathered near the ICE facility in Broadview, a small town in the western suburbs of Chicago. Tucked away in a quiet industrial park, the nondescript building had become the locus of ongoing protests since Bovino and his forces had arrived in Illinois. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, accompanied by a DHS video team, was on site that day wearing a baseball cap and a black ballistic vest. Also present was Benny Johnson, a prominent podcaster and online influencer who is close to the Trump administration. Johnson, who had brought his own camera crew to shoot video for his YouTube channel and other social media accounts, was effectively embedded with Noem, Bovino and the immigration agents. At about 9 a.m., Bovino and a phalanx of heavily armed agents in combat gear began striding down Harvard Street toward the protesters. “Walk slowly,” Bovino told his men. Without a bullhorn or any sort of amplification, Bovino informed the crowd that they were being dispersed. Then he and his colleagues began shoving people to the ground and arresting them. In a matter of minutes, a dozen protesters had been handcuffed. Three arrestees interviewed by ProPublica and FRONTLINE told us they were confused because they’d been standing in a “free speech zone” set up by state officials. “I felt somebody grab my shoulder and pull me to the ground,” said Juan Muñoz, a business owner and elected leader in nearby Oak Park Township. “And once I fell onto my back, that’s when I saw it was Greg Bovino.” Kyle Frankovich, a Harvard data scientist and Chicago resident, was also arrested. “They were just randomly grabbing people,” he recalled. “There was nowhere to go, people were falling all over the place, and several of the people they arrested simply had the misfortune of tripping over all of the other protesters” as federal agents surged into the crowd. Frankovich said FBI agents who questioned him asked who had paid for him to participate in the demonstration and who “covered the transportation cost for you to be here today.” Johnson’s video team and a DHS camera crew filmed the arrested protesters as they were lined up outside the ICE building, while Noem looked on. DHS posted photos of Frankovich in handcuffs on X and Facebook with the message, “[We will NOT allow violent activist](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AznAntvcB/) to lay hands on our law enforcement.” Johnson, who has more than more than 4 million followers on X and more than 6 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a video on X panning across the arrested protesters and wrote: “I saw dozens of Democrat domestic terrorists arrested today for VIOLENT ASSAULT on federal law enforcement. Every activist here attacked ICE agents in broad daylight just for enforcing American law.” He made the same claim in a nearly 13-minute-long YouTube video. Such social media content had become a central feature of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. DHS, Border Patrol and a raft of allied social media influencers regularly produced slick videos showing agents in action: riding in helicopters, striding through city streets clutching rifles, breaking down doors, and apprehending immigrants and activists. But on that day in Chicago, DHS had strayed far from the facts. And so had Johnson, a 38-year-old former journalist who turned to social media after being [embroiled](https://www.businessinsider.com/benny-johnson-independent-journal-review-2017-3?ref=rangemedia.co) in [plagiarism scandals](https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/493048778774290432?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co) at BuzzFeed and the Independent Journal Review. After about eight hours in custody, Frankovich, Muñoz and nearly all the others were released without charges. In the end, only one person would be prosecuted. Neither DHS nor Johnson have taken the posts down. Johnson did not respond to emailed requests for comment. The lone person charged with a [crime that day was Cole Sheridan](https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/11/28/border-patrol-gregory-bovino-cole-sheridan-broadview-ice?ref=rangemedia.co), who was accused of attacking Bovino and sending him to the hospital with an injured groin muscle. Sheridan spent three and a half days in jail — “probably the most unpleasant thing I’ve ever had to experience,” he said in an interview with FRONTLINE and ProPublica — before being released. In court, a prosecutor said that Sheridan had thrown a punch at Bovino and pushed him, transcripts show. The evidence presented by the Justice Department, though, was slim. Bovino didn’t wear a body camera, so prosecutors relied on video from the body camera of Border Patrol agent Jason Epperson. But it didn’t show Sheridan assaulting anyone — though he did call Bovino “a fucking idiot.” In statements to investigators, Bovino and Epperson had offered conflicting accounts of the encounter. About a month after Sheridan was arrested, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case after a [bystander video surfaced](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDO3pvTt4qY&ref=rangemedia.co) showing clearly that Sheridan hadn’t assaulted Bovino. “I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced something truly that bizarre and absurd as, like, seeing a law enforcement agent concoct a narrative to arrest me, to press charges against me,” said Sheridan, who describes himself as intensely private and was initially reluctant to talk publicly about his arrest. “That was extremely unnerving.” He remains worried that he’ll be harassed or even physically attacked because of the inflammatory social media posts about him. “What a farce. Every element of it felt staged,” he said. In a statement to ProPublica and FRONTLINE, Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros said, “Our willingness to be open-minded and dismiss cases — or not file charges in the first place — reflects our commitment to do the right thing even in those cases where a crime was committed and the conduct in question clearly falls outside any protected First Amendment activity.” He declined to comment directly on Sheridan’s case. FRONTLINE and ProPublica showed video of Sheridan’s arrest to Lopez, the former Justice Department attorney. “It’s just a gross abuse of power,” she said. “And we’ve almost normalized that this is how federal law enforcement behaves now. They just arrest people.” Of the 109 arrests that ProPublica and FRONTLINE documented in the Chicago area, federal prosecutors dropped charges in at least 75 cases. ### Felony Charges Downgraded When Bovino and his forces arrived in North Carolina last November, they were greeted by protesters opposed to the deportation sweeps, as they had been in previous cities. Heather Morrow was one of them. She had joined a small group of demonstrators, chanting and banging on metal dishes outside an immigration facility in Charlotte when ICE officers confronted the group. They handcuffed Morrow, 45, and another activist, stuffed them in the back of a federal vehicle and, according to Morrow, kept them there for hours before finally taking her to jail. “I was so traumatized,” Morrow, a school bus driver and dog boarder, said in an interview. “I didn’t expect them to be so overly aggressive. I really showed up there expecting conversation, making them come to their senses.” After a full day and night in custody, she was released to face federal felony assault charges. A Department of Justice[ press release](https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/charlotte-woman-charged-assaulting-federal-officer?ref=rangemedia.co) accused her of attacking an ICE officer just as he showed up for his work shift, grabbing his shoulders and trying to jump on his back. But a shaky phone video circulating on social media showed what appeared to be a very different scene. In it, an officer comes from behind and abruptly tackles Morrow to the pavement. The video doesn’t show her assaulting anyone. When prosecutors saw the video, they dumped the felony charges. But they promptly filed a new misdemeanor case against Morrow and the other activist, alleging the pair impeded ICE officers and failed to follow their orders. It took a month for Morrow to get her phone back from federal custody, while her other confiscated possessions, including her keys, have been lost, Morrow’s attorney said. Because she’s on pretrial probation, the federal government has seized her passport. Morrow has pleaded not guilty, and her case is ongoing. ### In Handcuffs and Intimidated In early January, Bovino arrived in Minneapolis with his social media team. Within weeks, two activists — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were shot and killed by immigration agents. The Trump administration immediately portrayed Good as an extremist; Bovino claimed that Pretti was planning to kill federal personnel when he was shot to death. The killings, which sparked national outcry, would prompt the administration to recalibrate. By Jan. 26, Bovino had been demoted and sent back to his home station in the California desert. But immigration agents continued to roam the Twin Cities, and activists continued to get arrested. Civil rights attorneys from around the country gathered in a Minneapolis conference room on Jan. 30 to discuss those arrests. During a break for lunch, Jon Feinberg, president of the National Police Accountability Project, stepped out of the room and spoke to reporters. “To be charged with a federal crime is something that is life-altering,” said Feinberg, who is based in Philadelphia. “The consequences of being accused and possibly convicted of a federal offense are devastating, especially when people have not engaged in criminal conduct from any reasonable person’s perspective.” ProPublica and FRONTLINE have identified nearly 80 arrests stemming from the Minnesota immigration sweeps. Most of the cases are still ongoing, though a handful have been dismissed. Daniel Rosen, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, did not respond to requests for comment. One of those arrested was Rebecca Ringstrom, who lives in Blaine, a quiet suburb north of Minneapolis. Ringstrom, 42, is a member of an activist group that tracks immigration agents as they move around Blaine. “There was a vehicle with four agents inside that I could see. All four were in tactical gear,” she said in an interview with ProPublica and FRONTLINE. “I was able to look at the plate and see that it was a confirmed ICE vehicle.” Behind the wheel of her Kia, [she began following them](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ice-is-cracking-down-people-who-follow-them-their-cars-2026-02-10/?ref=rangemedia.co); Ringstrom insists her driving was safe and lawful. But in a matter of minutes, she’d been arrested and accused of interfering with federal law enforcement. Ringstrom said an agent at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, where she was briefly held after her arrest, said he wished he’d arrested her — because he would’ve made the experience more unpleasant and violent. “There was no reason to say that. I’m already here. I’m in handcuffs. It’s just a way to intimidate,” she recalled. She was charged with interfering with a federal agent and issued a notice of violation — essentially a ticket — for the misdemeanor offense. Since then, Ringstrom has lined up a pro bono lawyer, but she has also lost her job, “likely due to the ongoing coverage” of her arrest. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance later this month. ### Pend Oreille County kids weekend food program is running out of funds URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pend-oreille-food-program-funds/ Last updated: 2026-04-14T01:44:07.000Z One of the most important food programs for young people in Pend Oreille County is nearly broke, and it needs a cash infusion by the end of April in order to fund its 286 monthly bags of food. Youth Emergency Services (YES), which started in March 2021 with pandemic relief funding, only had $1,050 at the end of March for its weekend food program, said YES Executive Assistant Paula Martin. That’s slightly less than half the average $2,122 it spends each month on food for people in need under 24 years old, mostly Newport School District students. This isn’t spelling the end for the program as YES will use money from its general fund to support it for now. YES Executive Director Kellie Dean says that they prefer not to draw from their general fund, as it is designated for participant services including things like clothing, education, housing and employment. After the original federal funding for the program, administered under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) ran out in January 2025, YES has relied on occasional grants and donations. The food program receives approximately $500 in donations each month. “We’ve been applying for other grants, but they are highly competitive, and we haven’t gotten one yet,” Martin said. “Of course we’ll keep trying.” The food program assists youth experiencing food insecurity by providing food bags filled with meals and snacks to help them get through the weekend. About 252 of the bags go to students in the Newport School District. YES spends about $7.42 on each bag, adding up to more than $6,200 in the first quarter of 2026, Martin said. “To lose this program would be detrimental to our kids, physically and mentally,” Dean said. “There is a direct link between nutrition and children being able to grow healthily and focus on school. If you’re hungry, you’re not paying attention. If you’re not paying attention, that can negatively affect your grades. And if your grades are failing, you’re not getting through school.” It's not just the weekend food program that some youth depend on. The staff at YES say kids come into the facility everyday looking for snacks, a cup of noodles and something to drink, whether it’s cold water and juice in the heat of the summer or hot chocolate in the fall and winter. “We don’t deny any kid food, whether they are from Pend Oreille or Bonner County,” YES Advocate Kaileyann Saunders said. “Sometimes people struggle. Families are doing their best and times are hard. People need reminders sometimes that their community cares about them.” Martin said $37 provides five bags and $74 provides 10 bags and even small [contributions](https://yesteensupport.com/2026/03/19/community-food-program/?ref=rangemedia.co) can make a meaningful difference. “We’re asking that people please consider making a monetary donation to help this program keep going,” Martin said. “Whatever you can spare is not too small.” *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Clogged streets and arteries no more: new drive-through ban could pass tonight URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/ Last updated: 2026-04-13T18:28:01.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Tonight, the Spokane City Council will vote on an [emergency ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=to%20Johnson%E2%80%99s%20head.-,Stop%20the%20clog,-Some%20council%20members) to immediately ban new drive-throughs from opening on some streets in the city — most notably, a huge swath of Division. If this seems out of nowhere, it is. - The Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee is packed. The new [drive-through ban](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Death%20to%20drive%2Dthroughs) makes its first appearance, and the council will also discuss a renter protection ordinance that could guarantee renters the right to cooling in their units by 2031. - The STA board will decide this week when to run the [ballot renewal](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers-,Renew%20now%2C%20or%20wait%3F,-A%20big%20decision) for the sales tax that funds our transit system, a crucial decision to keep state and federal funding. - Spokane County will [appoint people](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=For%20and%20against%20committees%20for%20West%20Plain%20water%20protection%20measure) to write a “for” proposition to a measure the BOCC will likely add to August ballots to create a protection district for West Plains groundwater. - The governing board of Spokane County’s emergency call system is shrinking, and the BOCC will vote on a [new quorum](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=New%20quorum%20for%20the%20shrinking%20SREC%20Board) level for the body. - The cities of [Liberty Lake](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=attendance%20here.-,Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) and [Spokane Valley](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Comprehensive%20plan%20update) will examine different aspects of their long-term plans that the state says must be completed by the end of December. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Lake%20City%20Council-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Public%20Infrastructure%2C%20Environment%2C%20and%20Sustainability%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Plan%20Commission,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Transit%20Authority%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Airport%20Board,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors%20%28work%20session%29) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors%20%28special%20%26%20regular%20meeting%29) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,East%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council%20%28special%20meeting%29) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/clogged-streets-and-arteries-no-more-new-drive-through-ban-could-pass-tonight/#:~:text=attendance%20here.-,Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Participatory budgeting Tonight, the council could accept a $650,000 grant from the WA State Dept. of Commerce to do a process called community participatory budgeting, where the community gets to decide how funds are spent in their neighborhoods. There aren’t a ton of details in the agenda as to how the process will work, or which neighborhoods may see the benefits of funding, but tonight’s action is just to accept the grant, so … more details later? ### Fighting a police violence suit The city could pass a contract amendment to spend an additional $75,000 fighting a lawsuit about Spokane Police Department (SPD) conduct in 2022, bringing the total costs to $175,000\. The suit, filed by Andrei Johnson, alleged Johnson’s civil rights were violated by an excessive use of force from SPD. According to the [lawsuit](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=11964839&caseNumber=2520074432&subNum=6.0&pageNum=16&ref=rangemedia.co), Johnson was holding a shard of glass against his own neck, and instead of deescalating, SPD officers deployed tasers, 40mm less lethal rounds and then unleashed a K9 after Johnson was prone and surrounded. The dog inflicted severe injuries to Johnson’s head. ### Stop the clog Some council members have lovingly (or not so lovingly) described Division Street as “The Chicken Strip,” due to the sheer concentration of chicken drive-through restaurants. But the spread of chicken domination could be coming to an end. In an effort to stop the clog of streets (and also your arteries), all new drive-throughs could be banned on streets slated to receive planned frequent transit stops or transit-oriented development. Tonight, the council will vote on an immediate emergency moratorium, proposed by Council Members Kitty Klitzke and Zack Zappone, which means any drive-throughs hoping to open on the streets outlined in the ordinance that have not yet received their permits will have to alter course and look elsewhere. The moratorium zone includes most of Division Street — which is scheduled to be the site of bus rapid transit from Spokane Transit Authority — swathes of Monroe Street, a small section of West Central, a small section of Garland District, a few chunks on Wellesley, about a dozen blocks on Sprague Avenue, part of 29th and a few other small areas. The map in full can be found on page 641 of the agenda. If passed tonight, the moratorium would go into effect immediately and last for a year. It would halt any drive-throughs that don’t yet have counter-complete permits. It would, however, [not stop the controversial Chick-Fil-A](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-a-contentious-proposal-for-a-new-chick-fil-a-collided-with-a-ban-on/article%5Fd73b84fc-1652-52ae-8a57-dc7e3d868c8b.html?ref=rangemedia.co) planned for Division Street. ### Food truck fans, rejoice Tonight, an ordinance from Council Members Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon that could make it easier for food trucks to operate in the city will get its first reading. The [ordinance](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/12/food-truck-freedom-spokane-considers-ending-permis/?ref=rangemedia.co) would do a few things: - Stop requiring food truck operators to make site improvements when they’re operating out of a surface parking lot - Update city code to match state code, allowing food trucks to sell alcohol at certain events with the appropriate permits - Eliminate a $60 permit required for trucks operating more than two weeks in the city - Allow food truck to park in any surface lot (with the owner’s permission) - Eliminate an onerous requirement that food trucks get written permission from any adjacent properties they want to park next to, requiring only the permission of owner of the property they park on > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 13 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, April 16 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### WTE won … sort of Spokane has been fighting in the state legislature for the Waste-to-Energy plant to get an exemption to the Climate Commitment Act carbon-credit bidding system for years. The city didn’t exactly win the fight, but this year, the legislature gave the city a stay of execution — no need to bid on carbon credits [until 2030](https://archive.is/1fzwG?ref=rangemedia.co). Instead, the WTE plant’s emissions will be under scrutiny. The city needs to create a Waste Diversion and Recovery report, a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction report and more. For all the details on the bill and the fiscal impacts to the city, tune into today’s committee. ### Right-to-cooling The more renter-friendly Spokane City Council is continuing to pitch renter-protection laws. Up for discussion next is an ordinance that would guarantee renters the right to cooling in the residential properties they’re leasing. The first draft of the ordinance, proposed by Council Members Dillon, Klitzke and Dixit, would require every dwelling unit in the city to have adequate cooling in the bedrooms by 2031, or be deemed uninhabitable. Renters are already guaranteed the right to adequate heat; this ordinance would do the same for cooling — a recommendation from the city’s Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board in the face of climate change. If this were to pass and tenants had lack of cooling, they would have the right to terminate their lease, pursue civil remedy or install a cooling device and deduct the cost from their normal rent. This is up for discussion today. ### Death to drive-throughs If you’re getting déjà vu because you just saw a drive-through moratorium in this edition of CIVICS, don’t worry, this is the same thing. Because the potential ban is speed-running the normal process, the council will have its very first discussion on forbidding new drive-throughs on streets with planned frequent transit stops at committee, and then vote later tonight. See the above for more details. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 13 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 14 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### For and against committees for West Plain water protection measure The BOCC will appoint West Plains residents Julia McHugh, Craig Volosing, Reed Oakes and Hank Bynaker to the “for” committee that will draft public language advocating a protection district for West Plains Aquifers. According to the agenda sheet for the appointments, there were no candidates for an “against” committee. The West Plains aquifers, which flow under the city of Airway Heights, Spokane International Airports and Fairchild Air Force Base, are contaminated with “forever chemicals” stemming from firefighting operations at the airports. A protection district is a taxing authority that raises funds — in this case, $400,000 for the next 20 years — to educate the public and promote clean water efforts for people who drink from the aquifer. The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, from which most Eastern Washingtonians get their drinking water, has been under a protection district for decades, but the West Plains aquifers are not protected. Voters will likely see a ballot measure creating the district on their August primary ballots. ### Update on sheriff’s FIFA contract There’s very little detail in the agenda sheet, but Undersheriff Kevin Richey will give the BOCC an update on the Spokane County Sheriff’s contract to do security at World Cup-related events. We first reported that contract in CIVICS [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=More%20than%20%24725K%20for%20sheriff%E2%80%99s%20office%20to%20do%20security%20at%20World%20Cup). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 14 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### New quorum for the shrinking SREC Board As the regional 911 management system changes after the city of Spokane withdrew from that body over unbridgeable disagreements with other represented governments last year, the board will have new quorum rules. These are the rules that say how many board members have to be present to hold a valid vote. The changes pan out like this: voting members of the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) board are being reduced from nine to seven, reducing from seven to four the number of members required for a vote. ### $2M Fancher Property purchase for conservation futures The Parks, Recreation & Golf Department wants to spend $2 million on a 78-acre property, called the “Fancher Property,” near Minnehaha, the Beacon Hill Conservation Area and the Centennial Trail for the conservation futures program. The BOCC is set to vote on the purchase. That program, which voters approved in 1994, currently preserves more than 9,000 acres in the county from development. The Fancher Property sits in an area that is quickly developing, according to the agenda sheet. The purchase would protect established hiking trails and wildlife habitat. ### West Plain APA likely headed to ballot Responding to years of advocacy from local residents, the BOCC will likely approve a ballot measure that would create a protection district that preserves the quality of the water in the West Plain aquifers in the same way the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer is preserved. The details of the fees that would be implemented should voters approve the measure are detailed [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2254/files/attachment/21297?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Board appointments The BOCC will appoint: - Undersheriff Sean Walter to the law enforcement position on the Behavioral Health Advisory Board and - Robert Ordner for District 2 position on the Spokane County Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 14 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Renew now, or wait? A big decision lies in front of the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors this week: when to run the sales tax renewal on the ballot. STA is funded in part by two-tenths of one percent sales tax — meaning they get 2 cents for every $10 retail purchase — approved by voters in 2016\. The sales tax [expires at the end of 2028](https://stamovingforward.com/plans/proposition-1/?ref=rangemedia.co), though, leaving the agency limited time to run a ballot measure to renew the tax. The agency has received more than 80 written comments and 16 public comments, all in favor of running the sales tax renewal as soon as possible, rather than waiting until 2027\. Waiting could risk STA’s access to state and federal grants, but some STA board members have expressed concerns that running the tax renewal this year could put it in competition with a potential tax for new public safety measures (or a jail) that may be soon proposed by the Safe and Healthy Tax force. STA’s tax renewal could run as soon as this August, on the primary ballot, which some board members say would “clear the way,” for other taxes to run on the November ballot, while others say running two taxes back to back could negatively impact one or both tax measures. There is also an uncertainty about whether the [Safe and Healthy Task Force](https://safehealthyspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) is actually going to be ready to [run a tax](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-a-private-group-is-trying-to-find-ways-to-fix-spokane-s-behavioral-health/article%5F7190fedb-7a31-452b-b5b6-b96289bc4492.html?ref=rangemedia.co) this year, and whether waiting to run the STA tax renewal in anticipation of a potential new tax could hinder them both, if STA holds and the new Safe and Healthy tax doesn’t even run this year, leaving both forced to run next year. The Board Operations Committee for STA did not make an official recommendation on when to run the tax, which means it will be left to the full board. It will likely be a fight as early discussions showed fault lines between board members who seemed to prefer deferring to the potential new tax, like County Commissioner Al French — who said at an STA committee meeting that he would not support the STA tax renewal — and City Council Member Kitty Klitzke, who was in favor of running the STA tax in August. For transit enthusiasts, this is definitely a meeting to watch. And who knows … we may even be there live-posting! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tursday, April 16 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, April 16 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors (work session) 🫑**/5 peppers** The board will hold a work session to discuss the 26/27 budget and levy rate, among other things. The agenda does not provide details for the topics the board will discuss. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 13 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors (special & regular meeting) > *Agendas* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Monday, April 14 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** ### New superintendent The East Valley School District Board of Directors is expected to hold a vote on approving a contract for Mandi Rehn as the superintendent. The contract’s term spans three years and offers an annual base salary of $230,000 for the first year. After that, the superintendent could receive the same annual salary or a higher amount. You can view the full contract on the board’s agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 14 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## Spokane Valley City Council (special meeting) **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Comprehensive plan update Spokane Valley city staff will present an update on the long-term plan it’s required to finalize by the end of December. This meeting will focus on housing policy, climate resiliency and public and private utilities, and note recent changes in state law that impact those plans. One of the most important elements here is the new requirement that local governments start recording emissions of climate warming gasses so they can strategize how to reduce those emissions. The presentation says Spokane Valley has completed its greenhouse gasses inventory and is now working on a plan to reduce them. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 14 at 5 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Workshop on the 20-year infrastructure plans The council will hear a presentation on the capital facilities plan to govern the way Liberty Lake will invest in and build public infrastructure, which consists of roads, stormwater management, city buildings, public art, the golf course, to name only a few types of infrastructure. Liberty Lake plans to spend more than $130 million on such projects in the next two decades. The capital facilities plan is a central part of the comprehensive plan every local government is required to update every 20 years. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 14 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Failure to Thrive URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/thrive-international-debt-refugee-housing/ Last updated: 2026-04-11T00:51:24.000Z A court had already declared his nonprofit owed millions of dollars. He’d long since lost the lease to its Spokane building. Eighty immigrants and refugees were facing the prospect of losing their housing. But Thrive International CEO Mark Finney struck an optimistic note this Thursday. “Even if we can't continue to use that particular building, we'd sure love to be able to continue our mission and expand it in Spokane and across the state, because the needs are huge,” Finney said. In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Thrive had turned Quality Inn buildings in both Spokane and Tacoma into temporary housing for hundreds of immigrants seeking asylum. But now, the refugee housing organization has hit extremely dire financial straits. For a year and a half, Thrive has been locked in a legal battle with The Olmsted, the company that owns the nonprofit’s Spokane facility. In January, an arbitrator had declared that Thrive owed The Olmsted $3.3 million, including over $300,000 in legal fees for the building owner’s fleet of lawyers. After the verdict, The Olmsted declared in legal filings that they had the right to boot out Thrive and every tenant staying there. “There was some indication that the intention was also to rapidly evict all of the families that were there as well,” Finney said. So Finney and the Thrive board made one more play: they handed over the keys to their non-profit to a receiver, someone with the ability to liquidate a floundering business’s assets. That move had one very important advantage: it froze all the legal proceedings, including any efforts to evict immigrants en masse. “That means that I have a lot of breathing space here,” said Shelly Crocker, the receiver now in control of Thrive. Sometimes receivers act like a chop shop, dismantling a wreck and selling off the scraps. But Crocker is different. She’s brought multiple nonprofits — not to mention 20 Papa John’s stores — back from the brink of death. And she’s not planning on simply clearing out all the tenants. “I have dueling priorities,” Crocker said. “I do have an obligation to deal with the debt that is owed. I also have an obligation to care for the very vulnerable people who are living there.” **THE LEASE OF THESE** It’s not unusual for nonprofits — heavy in idealism, light in expertise — to run into a mess of financial problems. “One of the things about receivership is you just get dropped in the middle of this soup,” Crocker said. “There were a number of operational concerns … There had not been a high-level financial professional in place.” Thrive had been put together quickly. Just five months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent thousands of families to seek sanctuary in America, Thrive found the downtown hotel to convert into temporary refugee housing: A place where new immigrants and asylum seekers could stay, three months at a time, as they learned language skills and tried to find employment. The building owner was technically called The Olmsted, but it was just one of dozens of LLCs in Washington and Oregon run by Fortify Holdings. Fortify had purchased numerous struggling motels with the intention of converting them to low-income housing — including two other properties in Spokane. (A call to Fortify Holdings on Friday was not immediately returned. If we hear back we will update this story.) “We felt we had a pretty productive working relationship with the owner for the first couple years that we were in there,” Finney said. But in August of 2024, something changed sharply. Fortify handed Thrive a bill for over $360,000 in unpaid property insurance payments, and told them it had to pay the full total in just 30 days. Thrive claimed its attempts to negotiate or work out a payment plan were rejected. As part of their contract, Thrive had agreed to reimburse Fortify for property insurance but claimed in legal filings that they hadn’t ever received that bill until that August. Thrive filed a counter-suit and stopped paying rent. Thrive’s lease was terminated on November 3, 2024\. Just two days later, Donald Trump was once again elected president. And that, ultimately, was another financial blow. “As you know, the national tone about who is welcome and how we support immigration has changed,” said Lars Gilberts, Thrive’s founding board chair. Even more than during his first term, Trump has treated refugee resettlement with antagonism. He has drastically slashed the number of refugees allowed in the country. He ended temporary protected status programs. He hiked fees for immigrants of all kinds. “The fees to apply for various immigration supports have just mushroomed,” Finney said. “I’ve got a family of three I'm friends with, and they just reapplied for their work permits. It was $7,000 … and there's no guarantee they’ll even get them.” Without work permits, immigrants have to rely on charity to survive. And thanks to the Trump administration, federal grants, an important funding stream for organizations like Thrive, were cut off. “There wasn’t going to be enough cash to make it,” Gilberts said. With Thrive facing financial ruin, Gilberts loaned Thrive $100,000 of his own money, to provide enough cashflow to keep the organization going. “We were in the season where things can feel unjust,” Gilberts said. He said he’s forgiven $20,000 of the loan, and prefers to focus on how meaningful their work has been so far. He’s seen immigrant families flourish and watched immigrant families grow. “A number of kids have names of our staff because we were the ones wrapping our arms around them when they were born,” Gilberts said. **REAPING, SOWING** But in the meantime, Fortify Holdings itself was staring down massive financial problems on multiple fronts. Property records obtained by RANGE show that all three Spokane buildings Fortify purchased to renovate have been subject to liens and lawsuits from unpaid contractors. In June 2023, Fortify was sued by the security company for the Imperial Apartments in downtown Spokane after they weren’t being paid for their services. [H&S Construction](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=11633972&caseNumber=2420277232&subNum=2.0&pageNum=35&ref=rangemedia.co) sued for nearly $250,000 in unpaid construction work on the Imperial, accusing Fortify in June 2024 of using a variety of LLCs to avoid payment. Fortify never responded, and H&S won by default. According to Spokane Code Enforcement documents, the city spent $15,000 of taxpayer money to board up and protect The James, Fortify’s property near the Finch Arboretum, "due to ownership’s lack of responsiveness, and more importantly, lack of proactive security measures and site management.” If Fortify didn’t fix it, the city threatened to take control of the property. Spokane was the tip of the iceberg. Fortify faced liens on The Waverly apartments in Tacoma. It missed property tax payments in Ellensberg. The city of Kennewick filed a lien for failing to secure a dilapidated building that had become a public nuisance — and considered simply demolishing the building. By July 2024, the *Oregonian* reported that Fortify’s founder Sean Keys [owed nearly](https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/07/oregon-paid-his-companies-70-million-personal-tax-business-debts-are-piling-up.html?ref=rangemedia.co) $1 million in unpaid personal income taxes and hundreds of thousands of unpaid property taxes on Oregon properties. “I regret that I have fallen behind in paying business and personal taxes but understand it is my responsibility to get all taxes paid in full along with any penalties,” Keys told the *Oregonian*. And it’s not the first time he’s been underwater: Keys owed thousands in unpaid federal taxes in [2017](https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-oregon-gentrification-real-estate-investors-property-apartments-affordable-housing/?ref=rangemedia.co) too. According to court documents, Finney knew about Fortify’s troubles: in internal texts from November 2024, he had described Fortify as in a “desperate” financial position. He recommended that Thrive needed to “stand strong and the tables could turn around soon,” possibly even giving Thrive a chance “to purchase the building directly from the lender.” The discussion backfired. The arbitrator cited the text messages from Finney, as proof that Thrive was not operating in good faith, and ordered Thrive to pay the building owner millions. "The Biblical adage, 'you reap what you sow,' would appear to apply here," the arbitrator wrote in one document. Notably, it’s a proverb that could apply to Fortify as well. **THRIVE, ALIVE** On a sunny Thursday, a readerboard saying “1184 HARD WORKING NEIGHBORS STARTED HERE” stood outside Thrive in downtown Spokane. The Spokane location is still humming with activity. The organization is still taking donations. Finney said he hasn’t talked to the current tenants at Thrive about the behind-the-scenes turmoil. “When most folks come and stay with us, they sign a 90-day agreement, and sometimes we renew those,” Finney said. “We have every reason to believe we can keep them housed until they’re ready for the next step, for stable housing.” In September 2024, Thrive opened another location in a former hotel in Tacoma. They’re about ready to launch a second location on the north side of Spokane. “We are about to open up 48 new apartments that we've been in development for the last about 24 months, and those are set to get our certificate of occupancy at the end of next month,” Finney said. Crocker, the receiver who now runs Thrive, can’t promise the nonprofit will live on, but she sees possibilities. “We really are excited about the apartments opening,” Crocker said. The immigrants at Thrive’s downtown location who have incomes will have a chance to apply for a permanent spot in these apartments. Finney even believes that the relationship with Fortify could be healed. “Even though it's been a pretty difficult year and a half, I still hope that we can get back to the point where we all could really work together and find something that is a solution,” Finney said. After all, America is the land of second chances. ### Washington reins in police leadership URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/washington-reins-police-leadership/ Last updated: 2026-04-10T17:55:10.000Z On this week’s episode, Aaron Hedge was joined by Debbie Novak, an activist with the [Washington State Coalition for Police Accountability](https://wcforpa.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). They talked about the Law Enforcement Leaders’ Bill ([SB 5974](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5974&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co)), what it does, and the lawsuit by four Eastern Washington sheriffs – including Sheriff John Nowels of Spokane County – that opposes the bill. They also discussed some resources and ways to get involved, which you can find below: - Learn from and get involved with the [Know Your Rights Camp](https://www.knowyourrightscamp.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). - You can watch the meetings for the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission [here](https://cjtc.wa.gov/washington-state-criminal-justice-training-commission/wscjtc-commission-board-and-meetings?ref=rangemedia.co). Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Way Down in the Hole URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/way-down-in-the-hole/ Last updated: 2026-04-12T17:36:56.000Z When Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown walked into office two years ago, the city was in [deep financial trouble](https://www.inlander.com/news/the-citys-deficit-has-been-resurrected-whos-to-blame/article%5F1216de65-bdef-5d5a-bbdd-10536e4a36e0.html?ref=rangemedia.co). The [pandemic](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-caused-the-u-s-pandemic-era-inflation/?ref=rangemedia.co), inflation and generous union contracts had left Spokane staring down a mammoth budget deficit. Two years later, the city of Spokane is still trying to tunnel its way out of the hole. “This has taken the vast majority of every waking — and sometimes sleeping — moment," City Administrator Alex Scott said at a September 2025 budget meeting. "It's really all budget, all the time.” But no big cost has taken the city by surprise, he explained, like what’s happened with the cost of jailing people in Spokane. The price tag of housing prisoners for the city of Spokane had more than doubled. The PowerPoint slides presented at the meeting tallied up the damage: The city’s bills for jailing inmates in Spokane County’s facilities spiked from $4.2 million in 2021 to a projected total of over $9 million in 2025\. By the time the final bill for 2025 hit, the number had increased to $10 million: a nearly 140% increase in just four years. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-f0d2232a-8db0-43ce-8c74-2bb62988a1e6.jpeg) For years, the cost of incarceration in Spokane was relatively flat. But after 2023, the costs began careening out of control. (**Data visualization by Daniel Walters)\]* Yet the city doesn’t control the local jails. The county does. Like a wife growing increasingly horrified watching her husband drive, the city has been stuck asking questions and shouting advice from the passenger seat. And that hasn’t necessarily been ideal for their fraught relationship. “When it comes to jail costs — and you can quote me on this, I don’t care — there’s been a lot of historical distrust,” City Council President Betsy Wilkerson told RANGE. “Because the county runs it, there hasn’t been as much transparency for how the costs are assigned and how they come up with it.” Over the last seven months, the city conducted its own internal audit of jail spending. The audit [results](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/agendas/2026/03/finadm-agenda-2026-03-23.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), announced last month, faulted both the city and the county for not consistently collaborating to "proactively manage jail service costs." Yet the audit did not find any financial wrongdoing and didn’t provide a clear answer to the critical question: Why, exactly, had the price tag for Spokane’s prisoners gone up so sharply? And as the city was working on the audit, the problem has gotten worse. A lot worse. **LAW OF INFLATION** In his office across from the Spokane County Courthouse, Senior Director of Law and Justice Michael Sparber bristled at the suggestion that the County wasn’t being transparent. Bald, bearded and speaking with a Woody Harrelson rasp, Sparber motioned to the data visualizations sprawled across a giant TV screen. There are pie charts, histograms, line graphs: stats on jail occupancy levels, criminal charges and local billing agencies since 2021 in the Spokane County Jail downtown and the Geiger Corrections Center in Airway Heights. “What's this? This is all information they can look at,” Sparber said. “Look at the counts. They can do the math. They can be looking at the same things I'm looking at." Sparber has spent 37 years working within the Spokane County detention system. He meets with the city staffers quarterly, but said the city didn’t actually interview him as part of their audit. Brown, for her part, said she doesn’t “just pick up the phone and chat with Mike about stuff like that.” But RANGE did what the mayor didn’t — met with Sparber directly to press him on why the city’s jail costs are so out of control. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they gesture at one: a tale about the rise of gross misdemeanors that the city has to pay for. The amount of these city-funded prisoners has risen since 2021 even as the share of county prisoners has fallen. Combine that with a sharp rise in labor, administrative and medical costs. So just as the pie was getting a lot pricier — Spokane was on the hook to pay for a much bigger slice. From 2021 to 2025, the overall cost of Spokane County jail services rose by 44%. It’s not hard to understand why. Inflation in the aftermath of COVID sent governments at all levels across the nation scrambling to find new revenue. When the cost of living spiked up, unions demanded higher salaries for their members. “The bargaining units just all settled their contracts, which was an increase to everyone across the board,” Sparber said. And just like the city of Spokane’s police and fire departments, vacant corrections officer slots have meant the government has had to shell out millions in extra overtime money to keep the jails staffed. Last year, 13 of Spokane County’s corrections officers made over $40,000 extra in overtime. Michael Egland, a corrections officer at Geiger, made six figures in overtime alone. And medical costs? “Oh, man,” Sparber said. Nearly 40% of the increase in the county’s detention budget since 2021 can be traced to the increase in medical costs. As the drug epidemic worsened wildly in Spokane County in recent years — opioid overdoses in the county [increased sixfold](https://countyhealthinsights.org/county/spokane/dashboard/opioid-dashboard/?ref=rangemedia.co) between 2019 to 2024 — the jail had to deal with impact on incoming inmates, including medication to help inmates detox from opioids safely. “The population we get is a hugely transient population,” Sparber explained. “They're homeless. There's a huge addiction to fentanyl. The jail's a catcher's mitt. We get everything.” Last year the county signed a [pricey renewal](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/11/spokane-county-facing-unfair-labor-practice-compla/?ref=rangemedia.co) with the [lawsuit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/21/spokane-county-files-suit-against-jail-contractor-/?ref=rangemedia.co)\-[plagued](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jul/20/jury-awards-27-million-to-the-estate-of-woman-who?ref=rangemedia.co) jail medical contractor, NaphCare, before [the company](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/29/naphcare-splits-with-spokane-county-on-jail-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) ditched the county halfway through the year. In October, the county selected Mediko Correctional Healthcare as its replacement. Sparber said that, for a month, they had to pay the bill for *both* contractors. But watching all this happen from the outside could be frustrating for the city officials. Brown sent a letter to the county two years ago, urging the jail to take advantage of the state’s “Medicaid Transformation Project” to provide, at no local cost, medication-assisted treatment to Medicaid-eligible inmates for the last 90 days of their sentence. But while Spokane County was officially allowed to take advantage of the project in January, it won’t actually be implemented in Spokane’s jails until July. Sparber blames the delay on switching over medical providers. The new provider is going to be handling the administration burden of the Medicaid project, something Naphcare never agreed to. "We didn't know before, honestly, how we were going to accommodate the billing process,” Sparber said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-0f05007e-d8c7-4cdc-b2f6-ed03f0ce5fff.jpeg) The cost of housing prisoners in Spokane has been spiking up — and so has the share the city has to pay (Data visualization by Daniel Walters) **SPREADING THE BURDEN** But the increasing overall cost of the jail is only half the story. The bigger problem is that Spokane’s *share* of the bill has been increasing too. At one time, for example, the county defrayed the cost of running the jail by bringing in a significant number of prisoners from the US Marshals Service. But, in order to free up jail capacity, Sparber said, the jail reduced that number in recent years. The bill for everyone else went up a bit as a result. The contract works like this: Commit a felony anywhere in Spokane County, and the county will pay for your stay in jail. But commit a misdemeanor inside the Spokane city limits — like driving drunk or stealing property worth less than $750 — and the city’s going to be the one footing the bill. That alone means that the city’s jail budget is going to be a lot more volatile than the county’s. Whenever there’s big pressure to reduce jail numbers, for example, it’s not the people accused of serious assaults and murders who are going to be let out on the streets. It’s those arrested for vandalism, trespassing or [bike thieving](https://www.rangemedia.co/just-how-many-bikes-are-stolen-in-spokane-what-sps-will-do-after-bond-failure/). That’s exactly what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic: while everyone else was locking down, those in lockup were being let out. Facing the threat of a deadly virus spreading like mad in the tight quarters of a jail, a March 2020 court order from Spokane’s Municipal Court resulted in 48 [low-level prisoners](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/mar/17/dozens-released-from-spokane-county-custody-follow/?ref=rangemedia.co) being released. The city of Spokane had spent nearly a decade whittling slowly away at its jail population through diversionary programs like Community Court, but a global pandemic slashed the population of Spokane’s two jails by a full third in a matter of months. In 2021, the city was paying 20% less for detention than it was in 2019\. Book and release policies mean that when the prisoners with misdemeanors were booked into jail, they were often released almost immediately. Sometimes, Sparber said, the cops wouldn’t be out of the jail parking lot before the suspect they’d just booked came walking out. Even after COVID restrictions had lifted, book-and-release remained on the books. "It turns out they just kept adhering to the policy, and eventually the jail population was way down," Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said. If nothing else, that was good for tamping down the city’s jail costs. But other factors were at work: In 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court declared that the state law making simple drug possession a felony was unconstitutional. Inmates with pending possession charges were released. When the state legislature [rewrote the law](https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/robinson/2023/05/16/bill-to-address-supreme-courts-blake-decision-signed-into-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2023, it turned drug possession from a felony to a gross misdemeanor. The result? The city is now on the hook to pay to house drug possession inmates instead of the county. And when you do a “deep dive” into the numbers, Sparber said, it turns out that the change in the drug possession policy did play a real part in the increase of city-funded inmates in Spokane jail. The average number of people in jail on gross misdemeanors increased by 75% from January of 2021 and January of 2026\. During that same time period, the average daily jail population the county was responsible for went up by 8%, but the city’s went up by *97%*. But Matt Boston, the city’s Chief Financial Officer, said Spokane still needs a lot more data to understand what’s happening, including specifics about costs for administration, booking and release, and short-term and long-term medical expenses. The audit recommended that the city push for access to even more granular real-time detail on the inmates. “I wish I could look into a crystal ball and say I knew what that path forward is, but without all of the information in front of me — which seems to be difficult to get from the county — we won't be able to have that discussion,” said Boston. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/04/data-src-image-1c0c5fc1-6805-409b-9d53-c32856a53ff8.jpeg) For 15 years, this has been how Spokane’s jail bill has been calculated. The city of Spokane wants to re-negotiate this deal. (Art by Daniel Walters) **WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE** Last week, top officials from the city and the county came together in the valley for a summit for the Regional Council of Government’s Safe and Healthy Spokane Task Force. They listened to presentations on transforming the region’s criminal justice system, applauded each other, and stood together for team photos. But the conversations around the audit suggest that, underneath all the expressions of can-do spirit, tension simmers between the two municipalities. Recent years have seen a battle over the [regionalization of the 911 system](https://www.inlander.com/news/regional-spokane-911-center-srec-tells-the-city-of-spokane-to-go-its-own-way/article%5Fdbe75811-920c-5051-af9e-7bb155acf9b1.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and the collapse of a [regional initiative on homelessness](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/#:~:text=Cooley%20met%20with,person%20board.). "I'm sure you know that intergovernmental relationships are difficult in Spokane,” Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke said when asked about the county. “It's just like, everything is more opaque because they don't want feedback.” While Wilkerson, the council president, said that transparency from the county has been gradually improving, other councilmembers have said they’ve struggled to get clear answers from the county in a timely manner. In a briefing session last week, the county greeted the audit cautiously, noting the lack of outreach by the city. "It's nice of them to tell us what we all knew, that there was no waste, fraud or abuse,” County Commissioner Josh Kerns said at a briefing last week. “But we could have told them that." Commissioner Mary Brooks (formerly Kuney) said she was happy to talk with the city, but preferred to actually *talk.* "It'd be nicer if we could just pick up the phone and have these conversations," Brooks said. But the city doesn’t just want answers. It wants input. In a letter to county commissioners last month, Brown requested that the city get a seat on committees evaluating vendors and providing Medicaid-funded treatment to inmates. The mayor also directed city staff to create the city’s own internal jail oversight committee Brown wants to renegotiate the 15-year-old jail contract. Right now, she said, the city’s bill for the jail is calculated “per day,” which she believes penalizes the city for having a population with shorter stays. “We get charged for a full day, no matter how much time the person is in the facility,” Brown told RANGE. “If they’re there two hours, it’s one day. If they’re there, 25 hours, it’s two days… That is a change we could make in the contract that would be beneficial to Spokane.” Council Member Paul Dillon said he suspects the city may be getting a raw deal in a lot of areas. “There's just a lot of budget minefields from past agreements scattered across city-county services,” Dillon said. Yet when it comes to the jail, Sparber stressed to RANGE, the city isn’t in charge. “They’re not a partner,” he said. “The county has a responsibility to run the jail. That’s their job.” Sparber said he’s happy to sit down and talk about the contract, though he does think the city is getting a pretty good deal as it is. For example, he suggests, maybe if a prisoner has both a misdemeanor and a felony, the cost could be split 50/50 between the city and the county, instead of the county paying for the whole thing. But Sparber is skeptical that the city is losing much money by being tolled by the number of inmates per day, rather than being charged à la carte. “I would sit down with them and explain all the cost that goes into booking an inmate, the nurses, everyone involved in the booking area, and let's compare that cost to what they're being charged,” Sparber said. After all, the city’s finances had ultimately benefited from years of prisoners being released right after booking. On [October 20 last year,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qYz3NJw9DI&source%5Fve%5Fpath=MjM4NTE&embeds%5Freferring%5Feuri=https%3A%2F%2Fcitizenportal.ai%2F&embeds%5Freferring%5Forigin=https%3A%2F%2Fcitizenportal.ai&ref=rangemedia.co) Spokane’s criminal justice system officially ended that policy. Nowels, the county sheriff, said that some arrestees were “pretty surprised they were getting booked and held and they were gonna have to see a judge” and were pretty miffed about the whole thing. Misdemeanor prisoners who might have been in for a few hours started being jailed for multiple days. The impact was immediate. Just three weeks after the change, Spokane had over 50 more prisoners in jail — a 44% increase in less than a month. The fact that in the same month Spokane City Council passed a [new ordinance](https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-police-gain-authority-to-enforce-new-homeless-ordinance/article%5Fa371995e-3ce6-4fcf-96cb-b9e03d34453f.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that allowed police to arrest some homeless people camping on public property just added to the crowd. The recent spike means that, if trends continue, the 2026 figures risk being even worse — putting Brown in another inevitable budgetary position if she runs for reelection. But Brown argued that just zooming in on the jail itself misses the important larger things. She said the city was working on a lot more to improve the quality of life for the community, like [outreach teams](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/314/Housing-Homelessness-Program?ref=rangemedia.co) and a daytime navigation center to help the homeless find the right services. “To me, focusing just on the jail is a limited perspective when we're trying to do this big picture transformation,” Brown said. *Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the Regional Council of Governments.* ### Judge to hear motion of dismissal in Spokane 9 federal conspiracy case URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-federal-conspiracy-motion-dismiss/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T22:48:27.000Z Is responding to a Facebook post announcing a protest a federal conspiracy? The federal government argues that for nine Spokanites who in June protested outside the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) downtown office to stop two young immigrants from being deported, it was. Those protesters, who were [arrested one month after the protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/), were among hundreds of Spokanites who had responded to a [Facebook call](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) from one of the immigrant’s guardians, the government says, they’d conspired to “Impede or Injure Officers.” Though six of the protesters arrested on federal charges took plea deals last year, the remaining three are asking a federal judge to dismiss the case entirely. On March 2, 2026, defendant Jac Archer, Co-Executive Director of Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR), and their lawyers first submitted the motion. Defendants Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II joined Archer’s motion on March 3 and March 16, respectively. A hearing is set for next week. Archer’s motion claims the federal government’s indictment violated their First Amendment rights by “treating a constitutionally protected protest as a conspiracy and characterizing nonviolent civil disobedience as ‘force, intimidation, or threat.’” The motion to dismiss the charges comes after a judge ruled in late January that one of the two immigrants, Joswar Torres, was [illegally detained](http://rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/?ref=rangemedia.co) on June 11 in violation of his Fifth Amendment rights. He has since been released from ICE custody. The other young man, Cesar Alexander Alvarez, was deported over the summer after describing inhumane conditions at the ICE detention center in Tacoma. The initial Facebook call to protest was made by the Alvarez’ guardian, former City Council President Ben Stuckart. The federal indictment said that post and a later post by Archer urging people to protest constituted proof of a conspiracy between the defendants, stating that protesters “arrived in response to the call.” To convict someone with conspiracy to impede or injure officers, the federal government must prove a three-pronged case: - that an actual conspiracy between two or more people existed - that Archer and other defendants chose to join the conspiracy - that they then “conspired to prevent by force, intimidation or threat, an officer of the United States from discharging her \[or his\] duties,” the motion to dismiss states. Archer’s motion argues that Facebook posts alone should not be considered evidence of a conspiracy: the demonstrators had not agreed on tactics, declared any intent to use force against federal officers or collaborated with Stuckart, Archer and other protesters. And even if Facebook posts did count as a conspiracy, none of the unlawful acts the federal government claim Archer, Forral and Mavalwalla II committed amounted to “force, intimidation, or threat,” under federal law, the motion continues, because the alleged crimes were directed at a bus, not human beings. “The tactics in the calls to action are time-worn and protected methods of civil disobedience,” the motion reads. “Acts of civil disobedience are intended to get the government’s attention and perhaps be a nuisance. But the act of lying, sitting, or standing in front of a government building does not, by any stretch of the imagination, meet the definitions of force, threat or intimidation.” Archer’s lawyer cited [news articles](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/prosecutors-told-prioritize-publicize-cases-tied-trump-immigration-protests-2025-06-12/?ref=rangemedia.co) and a [statement](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-barker1%5Fbarker-steps-down-as-us-attorney-for-eastern-activity-7350949196650213377-QSqB?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAABdLZNwBMQiL4kv8kPIMS4UnQwa-ekQeQ0o) on LinkedIn from the acting US attorney Richard Barker to outline a case of politicized prosecution intended to discourage constitutionally protected speech. “The present Indictment thus fits squarely into the Government’s broad and concerted effort to stamp out all forms of opposition to its actions through vindictive and baseless prosecutions, with no regard for First Amendment rights,” the motion reads. Barker later told Aaron Glantz for [PBS](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/army-veteran-faces-conspiracy-charges-after-participating-in-anti-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) and [*The Guardian*](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/army-veteran-faces-conspiracy-charges-after-participating-in-anti-ice-protest?ref=rangemedia.co) he’d resigned over the case the government had been building against the protesters. “I didn’t feel in this case that a conspiracy charge that would carry a six-year term of incarceration was true to who I was or wanted to be as a federal prosecutor,” he told Glantz. In their response to the motion, Assistant US Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington Lisa Cartier-Giroux and Rebecca Perez argued that the actions of the Spokane 9 “went beyond the expression of a constitutional right.” The government’s attorneys also said the protesters had adequate alternative ways to protest that did not prevent federal officers from performing their duties and alleged that Archer knew the protesters could be arrested for their actions. (Then-Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche is also listed at the top of the response. Blanche has since [been named](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-to-know-about-todd-blanche-trumps-pick-for-acting-attorney-general?ref=rangemedia.co) Acting US Attorney after President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi.) “Defendant Archer chose to be a leader in not just expressing discontent with the actions of government but going far beyond that protected right to trapping officers, along with civilian employees and detainees, inside a building for hours in an effort to force the release of the detainees,” the state's response reads. They also point to [local charges](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) filed against Forral by the Spokane County Sheriff, which are currently working their way through the local court system. The argument in the response cites past rulings to support it, including case law defining when the government is allowed to regulate speech, like when protesters blocked traffic or created “unwelcome noise.” They also compared the case of the Spokane 9 to [*United States v. Payne*](https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Payne-MTD-Denial.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co), where gunmen on Clive Bundy’s Bunkerville ranch allegedly “took sniper positions behind concrete barriers and aimed their assault rifles at the officers.” In that case, the federal government claimed that the gunmen’s actions were a conspiracy to prevent any future law enforcement actions against Bundy or his co-conspirators. (The case was [declared a mistrial](https://lasvegassun.com/news/2025/apr/13/a-decade-of-defiance-the-standoff-at-bundy-ranch-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) after a district court judge found federal prosecutors willfully failed to disclose information and was later dismissed with prejudice.) Cartier-Giroux and Perez called the claims from an unnamed “politically-ambitious and power-hungry former interim United States Attorney” (apparently Barker) insinuating that the prosecution is politically motivated “irrelevant.” In a response to the federal government’s response, Archer’s attorneys pushed back against the comparison to *US v Payne*, stating “the present case could not be further from the facts in Payne. … While prior prosecutions under this statute have all involved true threats of bodily harm or actual physical force employed against federal officers, none of this is even alleged in the present conspiracy charge.” Some crimes Archer and the other members of the Spokane 9 were accused of — like vandalism, trespassing or failure to disperse — may have been illegal. But those smaller crimes are not what they’re charged with. And their actions, Archer’s response argues, do not meet the standard for conspiracy. “If they did virtually all activities protesting federal actions could be considered federal felonies. Picketing, sit-ins, distributing pamphlets, loud speeches and harsh criticism can all interfere with an employee’s productivity,” the second response reads. “But coercion, pressure and obstruction do not equate to physical force, nor do they lose First Amendment protections.” Forral’s attorney Andrea George has filed an additional motion, in the event Archer’s motion fails, to strike two of the three counts of conspiracy they’re being charged with. Essentially, this motion argues that the indictment lacks necessary specificity in who the exact federal officers the defendants are accused of injuring or impeding and whether or not those officers count as officers at all, under the hundred-year-old code they were indicted under. It also doesn’t specify what exactly the defendants did that rises to the level of federal conspiracy. Forral’s motion is also supported by Mavalwalla II and Archer, which means that, in the case the motion to dismiss fails but the motion to strike passes, it would strike the charges for the entire trio. A response from Cartier-Giroux and Perez to Forral’s motion to strike the counts says they provided the defense with an FBI report, in addition to the indictment, that named 14 federal employees who had been at the facility that day, as well as ample security footage as evidence of their claims Forral impeded officers. The response stated the federal government had provided a “mountain of specific, detailed evidence,” in support of their claims. A hearing on Archer’s motion to dismiss is scheduled for April 14, and if that fails, a hearing for Forral’s motion would immediately follow. ### Sister of sheriff shooting victim sues county, deputies URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sister-of-sheriff-shooting-victim-sues-county-deputies/ Last updated: 2026-04-07T01:36:01.000Z Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies killed Dawn Hegel’s brother Donald two years ago. Now, she’s suing for damages. Her lawsuit, filed March 27 in Superior Court, says the county and three sheriff’s deputies used "unnecessary violence and excessive force,” when they killed her brother in March 2024. The three deputies who shot Donald Hegel are named in the suit: Josiah Loos, Samuel Turner and Travis West. The lawsuit — filed almost exactly two years after Donald’s death — seeks damages for Dawn’s losses in the wake of her brother’s killing, including “pain, suffering, terror and physical and emotional distress” and “loss of love and companionships,” among others. “It ain't gonna bring my brother back,” Dawn told RANGE this week, adding that she wants criminal charges filed against the deputies who shot Donald. Though she was at the scene where her brother was killed, she didn’t see it happen and has many questions about his death, which RANGE [detailed](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-shooting-spokane-sheriff-independent-prosecutor/) last year. Dawn is represented in the lawsuit by the prominent personal injury and civil rights attorney Rondi Thorp. Thorp, who did not immediately return a request for comment, also represents the family of Joshua Musselman, who [was killed](https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/) by Spokane Police in late December 2024 and has [won](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/28/spokane-agrees-to-37-million-settlement-with-child/?ref=rangemedia.co) [a number of](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-city-council-settlement-man-shot-killed-police/293-ecc9bc32-2080-41d5-a967-b4f367a24b12?ref=rangemedia.co) [large settlements](https://www.trialnewsonline.org/trialnews/february%5F2023/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1856000&ref=rangemedia.co#articleId1856000) for families of victims of Spokane police violence. The lawsuit notes the Hegels were close when Donald was alive. “They spent holidays, birthdays and special occasions together,” it says. “As a result of the shooting and loss of her brother, Dawn Hegel has suffered and continues to suffer emotional harm.” It does not specify an amount of money to be paid for damages. The court ordered the defendants to appear before Judge Maria L. Polin at 8:30 am on June 26. Spokane County deputies killed Donald at a friend’s house in Deer Park when they responded to a Stevens County warrant for his arrest over an allegation that he had raped a child. He [had not appeared in court](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-shooting-spokane-sheriff-independent-prosecutor/#:~:text=The%20deputies%20arrested,bond%20was%20forfeited.) to face those allegations. During an hourslong standoff with Donald, the deputies reported they thought he was holding a gun. They later discovered the object in his hands had been a cigarette lighter that looked like a gun. The lawsuit also alleges that the deputies failed to try to save Donald after they’d shot him. “This should have been a safe place,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, he experienced unthinkable pain, suffering and fear for the imminent loss of his life while no one came to his aid after shooting him.” Dawn told RANGE she still wants authorities to bring criminal charges, but then-Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell declined to do so when the case crossed his desk early last year. During his decade-long tenure, Haskell has not prosecuted a single police killing. The only time a Spokane-area law enforcement officer has ever been prosecuted was for the 2006 killing of [Otto Zehm](https://www.spokesman.com/topics/otto-zehm/?ref=rangemedia.co). In that case, the prosecutors were federal attorneys, not local ones. Dawn has been seeking information about her brother’s death through body camera footage and documents for more than two years. She said some information has been trickling out, but it’s frustratingly slow. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the county to fulfill her requests for information. During her time investigating her brother’s killing, Dawn has become an active advocate for police accountability in Washington state, working with the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability to [push legislation](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-accountability-proposals-coming-to-wa-legislature/) to establish more stringent controls on cops in the state. Neither Spokane County spokesperson Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter nor Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mark Gregory responded to a request for comment by press time. ### Crypto kiosk ban on the table in SpoVal URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/crypto-kiosk-ban-on-the-table-in-spoval/ Last updated: 2026-04-06T17:35:06.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Most public meetings we normally cover are cancelled for the Easter holiday, so CIVICS is SHORT this week. Some things that stick out to us include: - The Spokane Valley City Council [is considering](https://www.rangemedia.co/crypto-kiosk-ban-on-the-table-in-spoval/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers-,Crypto%20kiosk%20ban%3F,-Cryptocurrency%20is%20a) a prohibition on ATMs that allow users to move digital currency. - The Spokane County Planning Commission [is weighing](https://www.rangemedia.co/crypto-kiosk-ban-on-the-table-in-spoval/#:~:text=Critical%20areas%20amendment) an unspecified amendment to the county’s policy that manages critical natural areas. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/crypto-kiosk-ban-on-the-table-in-spoval/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20County%20Planning%20Commission,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/crypto-kiosk-ban-on-the-table-in-spoval/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Airport%20Board,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/crypto-kiosk-ban-on-the-table-in-spoval/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, April 9 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Critical areas amendment Spokane County is home to vast areas set aside for the protection of wildlife habitat, wetlands, aquifer recharge and an array of other environmental concerns, and it’s required by the state’s Growth Management Act to have a plan for maintaining them. The commission will workshop an unspecified amendment to the county’s policy that contains this plan, called the Critical Areas Ordinance, which you can read [here](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/20132/CAO-2018-final?bidId=&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, April 9 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Committees to talk expansion contracts, purchases The Airport Board’s engineering and finance committees will consider construction contracts for various projects and whether to purchase two snow removal tractors. One of the most important construction projects is the expansion of parking facilities, which was a top priority for former Spokane Airports CEO Larry Krauter. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 8 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Crypto kiosk ban? Cryptocurrency is a relatively unregulated form of money that allows users to bypass the traditional hoops associated with bank accounts. One of the drawbacks is that it provides opportunities for scammers, and one of the most vulnerable choke points of this system is the “virtual currency kiosk,” essentially an ATM where users can add money to their digital wallets. Last year, the city of Spokane [banned](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/06/17/spokane-city-council-votes-to-prohibit-virtual-currency-kiosks/?ref=rangemedia.co) the kiosks from the city limits because scamming had become a real problem. It has in Spokane Valley, too. “The Spokane Valley Police Department has been tracking and investigating crimes involving cryptocurrency ATMs, and Spokane Valley residents have fallen victim to fraudulent schemes involving virtual currency kiosks,” according to a city memo on the problem. “This creates a significant public safety and welfare issue that is affecting citizens.” So the city council there may follow Spokane’s suit and prohibit the kiosks there. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 7 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Journalism in the current moment URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/journalism-current-moment/ Last updated: 2026-04-03T17:44:44.000Z Erin, Luke, and Daisy went on the air for this week’s episode! They talked about ethics in journalism, their reporting processes, the months-long, complicated nature of recent investigative reporting, and more. Find relevant articles below: [The Work Isn’t For EveryoneLatinos en Spokane blames its disappearing staff on lost funding. 10 former workers point to another cause: toxic leadership.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-131.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/LES-Art-7-1.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-work-isnt-for-everyone-latinos-en-spokane/) [Why we investigated Latinos en SpokaneAfter 9 months of conversations with former employees at one of Spokane’s most outspoken organizations for undocumented people, we can’t justify ignoring their complaints just because LeS’s work is important![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-134.png)RANGE MediaLuke Baumgarten![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/LES-Art-6.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/why-we-investigated-latinos-en-spokane/) [Este trabajo no es para todosLatinos en Spokane señala la pérdida de fondos como la razón de personal reducido. 10 extrabajadores señalan otra causa: liderazgo tóxico.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-132.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/2-2.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/este-trabajo-no-es-para-todos/) [¿Por qué investigamos a Latinos en Spokane?Después de 9 meses de conversaciones con exempleados de una de las organizaciones que más aboga para personas indocumentadas de Spokane, no podemos justificar ignorar sus quejas solo porque el trabajo de LeS es importante.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-133.png)RANGE MediaLuke Baumgarten![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/3-2.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/por-que-investigamos-a-latinos-en-spokane/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### WA DOL shared data with Border Patrol for Eastern WA civil immigration enforcement in apparent state violation URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-dol-data-border-patrol-civil-immigration-kwwa/ Last updated: 2026-04-04T04:36:50.000Z **This story was published in partnership with the* [**University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights*](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/?ref=rangemedia.co)**, who provided data analysis.* On the morning that roofer Arnoldo Tiul Caal was taken by federal Border Patrol agents to their office in North Spokane — just after dropping his 11-year-old daughter Karla off at school — he had an “unnerving sense they were being followed,” [*The Spokesman-Review* reported](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/22/border-patrol-detains-10-year-old-spokane-girl-and/?ref=rangemedia.co). They had been. According to records recently obtained by RANGE, the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) shared Tiul Caal’s driver’s license data with an account associated with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just two days earlier. On January 7, CBP twice searched the DOL’s database for Tiul Caal’s license plate number using the national data-sharing platform Nlets via access granted by the Washington State Patrol’s ACCESS platform. Two days after that, Tiul Caal was pulled over by Border Patrol agents. Then one day later, he and his daughter were detained and transported to a [notorious](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrant-families-allege-children-held-by-ice-face-unsafe-and-unsanitary-conditions?ref=rangemedia.co) immigration facility in Dilley, Texas. Like the [majority of people](https://www.cato.org/blog/5-ice-detainees-have-violent-convictions-73-no-convictions?ref=rangemedia.co) detained under President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, Tiul Caal had no criminal record or pending charges. His detainment was civil, in response to missed check-ins for ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program, [CBP told reporters](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2026-01-30/border-patrol-cites-missed-check-ins-in-arrest-of-spokane-asylum-seeking-family-child-reportedly-sick?ref=rangemedia.co). Tiul Caal and his daughter have [since been released](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/back-from-dilley-ice-facility-wa-11-year-old-and-dad-tell-their-story/?ref=rangemedia.co) from detention in Dilley after [pro bono lawyers](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/09/how-a-texas-lawyer-unknown-to-them-stepped-in-to-f/?ref=rangemedia.co) successfully argued that they had been unlawfully detained. But because Tiul Caal’s detainment was an act of civil immigration enforcement, sharing his driver’s license data — which included his home address and identifying photos — with federal immigration agents was an apparent violation of the Keep Washington Working Act (KWWA). The KWWA prohibits the DOL, the Washington State Patrol (WSP) and other state and local agencies from using state government “funds, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, enforce, cooperate with, or assist in the investigation or enforcement,” of civil federal immigration violations. Washington state officials have been aware of the loophole that allowed CBP access to DOL data since at least January 8\. That’s when the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) published [a report](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/01/08/roadside-assist-washington-states-continued-sharing-of-drivers-information-with-federal-immigration-enforcement/?ref=rangemedia.co) verifying nine cases where Washington drivers had their license plate number in the DOL database searched by federal agents. In at least seven of the nine cases, the arrests were civil detainments, not criminal. “These folks are real Washingtonians who have been affected. They're people with lives and families and communities and rights, and they have been harmed by the fact that the DOL allows these agencies to access its data for civil and not criminal immigration enforcement,” UWCHR’s director, Professor Angelina Snodgrass Godoy said at a January 8 press conference about the report. “The reason I draw this distinction between civil and criminal immigration enforcement is not because criminal immigration enforcement is any less disruptive to lives and families — I don't actually believe that's the case — but because that distinction is embedded in state law, when the legislature says no cooperation for civil immigration enforcement, it's then up to state agencies to build a system that complies with that mandate.” All nine cases identified by UWCHR were immigrants detained on the western side of the state. Tiul Caal’s case represents the first confirmed instance where DOL and WSP shared data with federal immigration agencies for civil enforcement in Eastern Washington. RANGE has also identified three other cases in Spokane County where CBP searched immigrants’ license plates in the WSP database prior to detainment: two family members of Tiul Caal and a man from Spokane Valley. At least one of those cases was also a civil detainment. On December 28, a 34-year-old family member of Tiul Caal’s was detained by Border Patrol agents after having the license plate for a car he shared with a third family member searched in the Nlets system by CBP six times in the month leading up to his detainment. The searches started on November 29, 2025 and continued through December 22, 2025 — six days before he was detained. The 34-year-old had one prior arrest for a DUI that was pled down to a reckless driving charge, but the arresting documents from Border Patrol list the statutes making him subject to removal as solely civil charges for being present in the United States without authorization and not carrying valid documents. In a statement to RANGE, Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Jason Givens wrote that the arrests of the three men were the result of “targeted enforcement operations for being illegally present in the United States.” Givens wrote that the men had criminal histories including domestic violence, multiple assault charges, multiple protective order violations, burglary, resisting arrest, malicious mischief and DUI. He did not respond to clarification by press time as to which specific charges each person had, but Washington court records show no felony convictions for the 34-year-old or the Spokane Valley man, while the third man is the only one of the men with felonies. No state or local law enforcement agency participated in or cooperated with Border Patrol in the three arrests, Givens wrote, though Nlets records show the three men were searched by CBP a total of eight times from the end of 2025 through January 2026\. “The arrests were the result of targeted, intelligence-driven, enforcement operations by Spokane Sector Border Patrol agents,” Givens wrote. “CBP is targeting people who are in the country illegally. We will continue to enforce the laws of our nation.” ### Going in through the backdoor Despite historic efforts from advocates across the state pushing for the state officials to curb illegal data-sharing, Border Patrol has continued to have access to search Washington DOL data through the Nlets platform. In 2018,[*The Seattle Times*](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/times-watchdog/washington-state-regularly-gives-drivers-info-to-immigration-authorities-inslee-orders-temporary-halt/?ref=theurbanist.org) uncovered proof that the DOL was regularly sharing Washington residents’ personal information with federal immigration authorities — a practice then-Governor Jay Inslee [apologized](https://mynorthwest.com/local/gov-inslee-angered-at-dol/867640?ref=rangemedia.co) for and promised to stop. Thus began a game of whack-a-mole. In July of 2025, reporters with [KING 5 in Seattle](https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/investigators/exclusive-washington-state-agency-department-licensing-shares-private-driver-data-with-ice/281-910b35d8-e1fd-4b30-9ceb-00e6708f3b24?ref=rangemedia.co) discovered that the DOL was still allowing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to search DOL license plate data through a backdoor, and that an account registered to ICE had been making thousands more searches under the new Trump administration than they had under former President Joe Biden. The DOL said they revoked ICE’s backdoor access in [August 2025](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/wa-cuts-off-ice-access-to-data-system-used-for-immigration-enforcement/?ref=rangemedia.co), but in January 2026, the UWCHR [report](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/01/08/roadside-assist-washington-states-continued-sharing-of-drivers-information-with-federal-immigration-enforcement/?ref=rangemedia.co) showed that ICE had been searching DOL data at least into November, this time through a new backdoor: the Nlets system. State officials [said they cut ICE access](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/08/ice-searched-wa-drivers-license-data-into-november-report-finds/?ref=rangemedia.co) to Nlets in mid-November, but that they would allow Border Patrol continued access, because it’s necessary for CBP’s work at the border and airports. However, the UWCHR report revealed that at least through the end of 2025, CBP was using the DOL data in civil immigration enforcement. The Tiul Caal case shows the practice has continued into 2026\. A joint statement from WSP and DOL after the January UWCHR report stated that they “are reviewing CBP’s use of Nlets, what actions other states have taken, and are looking at all options to protect Washingtonians while also protecting public safety.” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, who called Tiul Caal and his daughter’s detainment “wrong and un-American,” in a statement to the [*Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/23/governor-elected-leaders-and-parents-react-to-immi/?ref=rangemedia.co), did not respond to multiple requests for comment by press time. The Attorney General’s Office — which is [currently suing](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/washington-state-sues-adams-county-stop-illegal-federal-immigration-enforcement?ref=rangemedia.co) the Adams County Sheriff’s Office for KWWA violations — did not respond to questions from RANGE about whether the DOL sharing Tiul Caal’s data with CBP constituted a KWWA violation. Spokesperson Mike Faulk cited attorney-client privilege between the DOL and the Attorney General’s office. City spokesperson Erin Hut said in a written statement to RANGE that the mayor is concerned about the issue and will be looking into it further. Spokane City Council Member Zack Zappone described the data-sharing as “concerning,” and wrote in a statement that, “Government should be taking safeguards to protect people in our community, not put them at risk.” Michael Cathcart, the lone conservative on the Spokane City Council, criticized what he sees as the state’s “inconsistency and false promises.” “Washington has taken a strong public stance against federal cooperation, even going so far as to sue local jurisdictions for perceived violations. At the same time, it continues to maintain access to DOL systems because it understands those systems cannot be fully shut down without real public safety consequences,” he wrote, in part. “But the bigger issue with trust may not even be about formal access. A back door into the DOL system was apparently left open for years, potentially exposing sensitive data in ways that run directly against the intent of federal privacy laws like the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. We still do not fully understand the scope and impacts of that exposure. These contradictions create false commitments by many public officials that likely does a lot more harm than good and undermines public trust across the board including immigrant families.” ### Spokane County Sheriff will do security for FIFA URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/ Last updated: 2026-03-30T18:26:10.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council [could approve](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=though%2C%20not%20council!-,Affordable%20housing%20projects,-The%20city%20needs) about $2.5 million in federal funding to go towards affordable housing projects across the city, including 22 new units in Lincoln Heights. - The Public Safety & Community Health Committee [will discuss](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Speed%20%2B%20red%20light%20camera%20statistics) traffic camera infractions, public defender caseload standards and spending another $250,000 on case management for ‘high utilizers,’ of emergency services. - The Spokane Transit Authority [is holding](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=%3F/5%20peppers-,Special%20board%20workshop,-On%20Thursday%2C%20the) a mystery special workshop meeting this week, details to be announced. - Spokane County is scheduling a [public hearing](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Public%20hearing%20for%20West%20Plains%20aquifer%20protection) on April 14 for a ballot measure that would create a protection district for the contaminated West Plains aquifer. - The Spokane County Sheriff [has received](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=More%20than%20%24725K%20for%20sheriff%E2%80%99s%20office%20to%20do%20security%20at%20World%20Cup) a $725,000 grant from the federal government to send deputies to the World Cup in Seattle in June and July to supplement security at the massive sporting event. - Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis [will present](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=OD%20deaths%20down%20from%20%E2%80%9824%20but%20up%20from%20previous%20years) the city council data showing a decline in opioid overdose deaths in 2025 from 2024. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Valley%20City%20Council-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Council%20Committees-,Public%20Safety%20%26%20Community%20Health%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Spokane%20Transit%20Authority%20Board%20of%20Directors%20%28regular%20%26%20special%20meetings%29) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=Boone%20Avenue%2C%20Spokane.-,Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-sheriff-will-do-security-for-fifa/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Lambdin to the library Former City Council Member Shelby Lambdin, who was appointed to briefly fill a Spokane council seat before the election last year, could find herself reappointed again tonight — to the Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees, though, not council! ### Affordable housing projects The city needs to spend about $2.5 million in funding from the federal government on affordable housing projects that “increase and/or preserve the supply of affordable housing units serving extremely-low (30% of Area Median Income) and very-low-income households (below 50% of Area Median Income) in the City of Spokane,” according to the [notice of funding availability](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/chhs/funding-opportunities/chhs/2025-11-14/2026-home-investment-partnership/2026-home-investment-partnership-rfp.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). Tonight, the council could vote to approve the projects the funding will be spent on, following recommendations from the CHHS board: - $1,191,000 to [Proclaim Liberty](https://www.spokanejournal.com/articles/16668-bethany-presbyterian-church-project?ref=rangemedia.co), a project spearheaded by Bethany Presbyterian Church that plans to put 22 units of affordable housing in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood - $341,025 to the Volunteers of America for rehabilitating [Alexandria’s House](https://voaspokane.org/locations/alexandrias-house/?ref=rangemedia.co), a licensed maternity group home in Spokane for pregnant and parenting homeless teens. - $352,200 to [Take Up The Cause](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jul/01/new-spokane-housing-organization-take-up-the-cause/?ref=rangemedia.co) for rehabilitation of the [Beloved Sunset](https://www.krem.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-inland-northwest/new-apartments-open-low-income-spokane-families/293-83cc725c-c475-4187-9aef-1a8971643bf2?ref=rangemedia.co) apartments, which have more than 50 units for low-income families and individuals under 60% of the area median income - $152,725 to Trinity Transitional Housing to rehabilitate [Maxwell House](https://trinitytransitionalhousing.com/maxwell-house?ref=rangemedia.co), which has units available for women with children to “rebuild their lives after treatment or incarceration.” - $420,000 to [Vasilenko](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/crystal-ridge-south-preliminary-long-plat/?ref=rangemedia.co) for attached townhomes at South Crystal Ridge ### New festival streets Last summer, the Spokane City Council passed a law that identified “festival streets,” in the city and gave those streets access to a new, stream-lined closure process with standardized traffic control requirements and potential cost reductions for both event organizers and the city. Basically, the ordinance made it easier to hold events like Tacos y Tequila, Spokane Pride and Terrain’s Bazaar. Tonight, the council will hold a first reading on an update to the ordinance that would expand the section of Garland Avenue designated for festivals, and add a section of Sprague Avenue to the list. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 30 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, April 2 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Speed + red light camera statistics It’s time for the monthly update on how many violations the city’s speed and red-light violation-triggered cameras captured last month. In February of 2026: - The red light cameras captured 1,923 violations, up 438 from the same time frame in 2024\. This increase is partially attributed to new cameras coming online at Division and Magnesium. - The speed cameras captured 1,856 violations, up 258 from the same time frame in 2024\. This increase is attributed to a fully operational system, plus three new cameras — though cameras at Adams Elementary have since been shut down. - Cameras at eastbound Mission and Greene captured the highest amount of red light violations with 380 last month, 169 more violations than the next highest intersection, which was northbound Freya and 3rd with 211. - Cameras at southbound Nevada and Longfellow caught the highest amount of speeding violations with 428 last month, 149 more than the next highest, which was 279 violations at northbound Regal and Ferris. ### Public Defender caseloads No additional information is provided in the agenda, but there will be a discussion on Public Defender caseload standards. This comes after the state lowered the number of cases public defenders were allowed to take at once — an effort to fight burnout and attrition that created the need to hire more public defenders. Local governments across the state have said this creates financial hardship, as they bear most of [the brunt of public defender costs](https://www.investigatewest.org/wa-legislatures-budget-doubles-public-defense-funds-but-counties-say-its-still-not-enough/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### ‘High utilizer’ Also up for discussion is a contract amendment that would pay Consistent Care Support Services an additional $250,000 to operate the Hot Spotters program downtown for a second year of services. Hot Spotters is the program intended to provide “intensive case management,” for the people the city has designated as ‘high utilizers’ — individuals who have substance use disorder and “frequently interact with emergency services, law enforcement, and healthcare systems in the community.” This $250,000 was approved in the current year’s budget and brings the total contract amount with Consistent Care Support Services to $625,000. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 30 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### $2M Fancher Property purchase for conservation futures The Parks, Recreation & Golf Department wants to spend $2 million on a 78-acre property, called the “Fancher Property,” near Minnehaha, the Beacon Hill Conservation Area and the Centennial Trail for the conservative futures program. That program, which voters approved in 1994, currently preserves more than 9,000 acres in the county from development. The Fancher Property sits in an area that is quickly developing, according to the agenda sheet. The purchase would protect established hiking trails and wildlife habitat. ### Remaking the SREC board After the City of Spokane and Spokane County agreed last year to phase out emergency phone call services from the city from the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications over the next two years, the board is making some of the first official moves in the transition. Namely, the board is asking the BOCC to remove Spokane city representatives from the board and the finance committee. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 31 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public hearing for West Plains aquifer protection The county is considering asking voters to approve a protection district for the West Plains aquifers, which are contaminated with forever chemicals stemming largely from airport operations at Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. It has scheduled a public hearing on April 14 at 2 pm at the Commissioners’ Hearing Room in the Public Works Building for a ballot measure that voters would weigh in the August primary election. Most people who live in Eastern Washington are served by the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer, an entirely separate water source that has for four decades been preserved by a protection district, a taxing district that funds preservation and educational efforts. The West Plains aquifer — which provided water to Airway Height residents before the contamination was detected s – does not have any such protection. Some private well owners in the rural areas between Spokane and Airway Heights still drink from the aquifer. ### More than $725K for sheriff’s office to do security at World Cup The FIFA World Cup is going to Seattle in June and July — and the Spokane County sheriff is getting hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide security. The sheriff’s office received a grant of $726,158 from the Department of Homeland Security to help with security during the six matches that will take place at the Seattle Stadium during the event, which is one of the largest sporting competitions in the world. It’s not clear in the agenda material whether they’ll do security at the free Spokane watch parties or potential practices in Spokane or actually go to Seattle. But the agenda item says deputies will “support the safe execution of World Cup activities and bolster security capabilities at official FIFA-designated locations,” according to the agenda sheet. The BOCC has to approve the funding. ### $1M to replace damaged golf netting at LL driving range The board is set to approve $1 million in bond funding to replace netting at the driving range at the Liberty Lake Golf Course, which was damaged in a December wind storm. The funds are to be paid back from the Golf Fund over the next 20 years. The replacement contract will likely go to Tulalip-based Net Services, LLC, a national firm that builds barriers for golf courses and other sports complexes. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 31 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors (regular & special meetings) ?/**5 peppers** ### Special board workshop On Wednesday, the Spokane Transit Authority will hold a special board workshop from 11:45 am to 1:30 pm. This is listed as in-person with a virtual option. No other details were listed as of publication time, so we don’t know what the workshop will be about or where you can tune in virtually. *Editor's Note: This item has been updated to reflect that April 1 is Wednesday and not Thursday.* > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 1 at 11:45 to 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, April 1 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### OD deaths down from ‘24 but up from previous years Spokane Valley saw a slight reprieve from overdose deaths in 2025 from 2024, according to a presentation Police Chief Dave Ellis will present to the city council. In 2024, 332 people died from opioids; in 2025, the number was 263\. That’s still more deaths, however, than 2022 (233) and 2023 (215) according to the presentation. The average of all four years was 263, representing an overall upward trend. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 31 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Catch up on this week’s CIVICS! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/catch-up-on-civics/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T18:34:37.000Z On this week’s episode, Val and Aaron went on the air to catch you up on local news! They talked about some items from this week’s CIVICS agenda, including: - A $120,000 contract for Mujeres in Action to provide SPD with cultural competency training and language access services (which passed); - Info on the Spokane County sheriff’s proposal to charge fees for requesting body camera footage from law enforcement. [$120,000 for Mujeres in Action to train copsCIVICS: Plus, PFAS clean-up updates, a jail cost audit and $$ for county bodycam footage.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-128.png)RANGE MediaAaron Hedge![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Tobin-image-1.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/) They also talked about PFAS clean-up updates, reopening the STA double decker bus crash investigation, and the March 20th memorial for Otto Zehm, who was killed by police 20 years ago. Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Your county needs you URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/your-county-needs-you/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T23:12:10.000Z Volunteer county boards and commissions serve as a conduit for citizen input, from gathering and analyzing information to making recommendations to county commissioners. These bodies impact everything from housing and development to how sheriff’s deputies are disciplined. Spokane County has 31 volunteer boards and commissions that currently have 49 vacancies overall. Requirements for applicants usually include that board/commission members be residents of Spokane County, and if applicable, reside in the area they represent. Members serve without compensation unless otherwise noted. Meeting dates, times and frequency varies with each board. Boards and commissions also have individual requirements. For example, applicants for Civil Service commissioners must have lived in the county for at least two years immediately preceding their appointment and must not work for the county. Members must be registered to vote as well. At the time of appointment, only three of the five commissioners can belong to the same political party and political affiliation must be declared. If you’re interested in applying, call Ginna Vasquez in the Spokane County Commissioners' Office at 509-477-2265\. [Applications](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4895/Board-and-Commissions-Application-PDF?bidId=&ref=rangemedia.co) must be submitted to the Spokane County Commissioners' Office. Below are some examples of current volunteer openings. For a complete list, see the county’s [website.](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/921/Boards-Commissions?ref=rangemedia.co) [A visual guide to the power the Spokane County Commission wields – RANGE MediaThe boards and commissions that make the county work and what could change across the county if Al French loses his reelection bid.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-122.png)RANGE MediaErin Sellers![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/option-1-1.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-commission-bocc-election/) ### [Civil Service Commission](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1144/Civil-Service-Commission?ref=rangemedia.co) (One vacancy) What: According to the website, “The Commission has the responsibility of administering the merit system of employment for the county deputy sheriffs and other employees of the Sheriffs Department. Commissioners review applications and conduct hearings on employee grievances. The commission conducts monthly public meetings, certifies eligibility lists, investigates complaints about enforcement of the Civil Service system. Conduct hearings regarding discipline of Civil Service employees, keep records, and certify Sheriff payroll. They also provide selection of Sheriff personnel based on merit.” When: The Commission meets the second Tuesday of every month at 1 pm and as needed. Meetings may be held in various locations. See the [Civil Service ](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/4894/About-Civil-Service?ref=rangemedia.co)website for information for the location of each monthly meeting. ### [Aging & Long-Term Care of Eastern Washington Planning and Management Council (PMC)](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/5928/Aging-Long-Term-Care-of-Eastern-Washingt?ref=rangemedia.co) (One vacancy) What: PMC members review current information about issues facing older adults and people with disabilities in the community. Volunteers advocate for those with the greatest health, economic and social needs, give oversight and work with agencies and organizations for program development and planning. When: March 27, April 24, May 22, June 26, July 24, Sept. 25, Oct. 23 and Nov. 20\. All meetings begin at 10 am, except for the November 20, 2026, meeting scheduled to begin at 9 am, 1313 N Atlantic St., Ste 3000, Spokane, WA 99201\. Additional remote access will be provided for participants and members of the public who may wish to attend remotely. ### [Housing & Community Development Advisory Committee](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1199/Housing-Community-Development-Advisory-C?ref=rangemedia.co) (Three vacancies, two at-large, one for the town of Waverly) What: Provide citizen representatives of Spokane County with the opportunity to participate in, comment on and review all funding proposals for the Housing and Community Development Division. When: Meetings are the second Thursday of each month, 4 pm at the Spokane County Public Works Building. ## Other Boards and Commissions Vacancies (accepting applications until filled): ### **District No. 1** - [**Parks and Recreation**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1686/Parks-and-Recreation-Advisory-Committee?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 vacancy ### **District No. 4 (Formerly Dist. 2)** - [**Solid Waste Advisory Committee**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1270/Solid-Waste-Advisory-Committee?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 At-Large vacancy - [**Veterans Advisory Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/3951/Veterans-Advisory-Board-VAB?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 vacancy - [**Fair Expo Advisory Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1179/Fair-Expo-Advisory-Board?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 vacancy - [**Accessible Community/Elections Advisory Committee**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1128/Accessible-Communities-Advisory-Committe?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 18 vacancies - [**Behavioral Health Advisory Board**](http://www.spokanecounty.org/3004/Behavioral-Health-Advisory-Board?ref=rangemedia.co)\- - 1 vacancy Adams County - 1 vacancy Ferry County - 1 vacancy Lincoln County - 1 vacancy Pend Oreille County - 1 vacancy Spokane County - [**Board of Equalization**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1988/Board-of-Equalization?ref=rangemedia.co) **\-** 1 vacancy - [**Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1148/Developmental-Disabilities-Board?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 2 vacancies - [**Fair Expo Advisory Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1179/Fair-Expo-Advisory-Board?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 vacancy for District #4 - [**Horticulture Pest and Disease Board**](https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=2cbaed20c2c24309JmltdHM9MTY5NTE2ODAwMCZpZ3VpZD0xZjk4ODhmNi00OGZmLTYxZjItMDA1Yy05YTI3NDlkMjYwMzYmaW5zaWQ9NTE5Mw&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=1f9888f6-48ff-61f2-005c-9a2749d26036&psq=Horticulture+Pest+and+Disease+Board%2c+Spokane+County&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3Bva2FuZWNvdW50eS5vcmcvNDk1OS9Ib3J0aWN1bHR1cmFsLVBlc3QtYW5kLURpc2Vhc2UtQm9hcmQ&ntb=1&ref=rangemedia.co)\- 4 vacancies - [**Joint Spokane County & City Airport Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1205/Joint-Spokane-County-City-Airport-Board?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 County vacancy after 4/1/26 - [**Spokane County Noxious Weed Control Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1211/Noxious-Weed-Control-Board?ref=rangemedia.co)\- 1 vacancy Weed Board District #3 (Fairfield/Spangle Area) - [**Spokane Regional Health District Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1279/Spokane-Regional-Health-District-Board?ref=rangemedia.co) **\-** 1 vacancy for Tribal Communities - [**Solid Waste Advisory Committee**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1270/Solid-Waste-Advisory-Committee?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 At-Large vacancy, District #4, 1 Business vacancy - [**Veterans' Advisory Board** ](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/3951/Veterans-Advisory-Board-VAB?ref=rangemedia.co) \- 1 vacancy, County Commissioner District #4, - [**Spokane Regional Law and Justice Council**](https://www.spokanecounty.org/5686/Spokane-Regional-Law-Justice-Council?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.spokanecounty.org/875/Council?ref=rangemedia.co)\- 3 vacancies, (1) for Community Representative, Position #2, (1) for the Chair, Racial Equity Committee/Representative (Position #3) and (1) for At-Large Victim Advocate Community Representative. - [**Water Conservancy Board**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1282/Water-Conservancy-Board?ref=rangemedia.co) **\-** 1 vacancy ### Students Lead the Way URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/students-lead-the-way-ice-protest/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T00:15:14.000Z A wave of student voices carried across Spokane this weekend as dozens gathered for a student-led “ICE Out” protest, marching from Franklin Park to B.A. Clark Park in a show of solidarity and much-needed optimism. Organized largely by local high school students, the march was weeks in the making. Student organizers said planning began in early February, building on the success of a previous student walkout on [January 13](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-the-kids-are-alright/). Many participants said they are already looking ahead to Saturday’s “No Kings” third national mobilization, where they plan to show up again. The sunny weather made it easy for families and community members to join in as they filled the sidewalks, chanting and carrying handmade signs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-4d9659c2-4b6b-4fe8-b79b-5bd49285581b.jpeg) Community members join students as they wait to cross the street. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). Despite the seriousness of the issue, groups of friends laughed between chants while others rested on park benches, soaking up the sun. Taking a break after standing for hours, Maddie McGee sat with Mac McGee and friend Chris Skogley on a bench slightly removed from the main crowd. “We’re here because the children in our communities are not safe,” Maddie McGee said. “I’m Indigenous. I feel like white people shouldn’t have the right to kick someone else off of land. You shouldn’t even be on it. I think everyone deserves to be here.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-cf92ea57-1365-4b49-95fa-da2e6e83ae46.jpeg) (L to R) Maddie McGee, Mac McGee and Chris Skogley represent the Nevada Heights neighborhood, proudly showing off their signs. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). McGee added that their presence was also personal. “I’m here because my Nana couldn’t protest, even 30 years ago. She died when [pow-wow was still illegal](https://nativephilanthropy.candid.org/events/religious-crimes-code-of-1883-bans-native-dances-ceremonies/?ref=rangemedia.co).” Nearby, other participants echoed a similar sense of shared responsibility. One anonymous protester, holding a sign they picked up at an earlier location kept their message simple. “Everyone is in the same boat,” they said. “I like to come out when I know events like this are happening because I know representation matters.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-e9fd3d09-fe08-4a62-b74b-570f3aed3f52.jpeg) A frequent protester holds a sign given to them at the march. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). For many students, the protest was as much about community as it was about policy. Kylia Holt, who said she learned about the event through Spokane Stand Up on Facebook, described how her perspective has shifted since moving to the area. “Moving here and being surrounded by people who are caught up in immigration makes me more connected,” Holt said. “I feel like it is important for us young people to get this message out and be in solidarity with other generations. It’s so important that we come together.” Annie Rommie, who arrived with Holt, said her reasons for attending were deeply personal. “My family is part of the Haitian community,” Rommie said. “I have a lot of family who are being affected by the policies. I feel like part of me wants to start fighting for others. If I’m capable, I try to help. ” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-0d19ffb9-63b4-47b5-976b-94416c9a7045.jpeg) Kylia Holt and Annie Rommie display smiles after arriving at B.A. Clark Park. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). At the center of the event were student organizers like Ava Swigart, a senior at Lewis and Clark High School, who helped bring the march together alongside other students from across Spokane. As Swigart spoke with friends and fellow students, a passing vehicle revving their engine and waving a Confederate flag briefly cut through the moment. The group watched quietly as it sped by. Responding to the loud interruption, Swigart stated a message they would give to those who disagree with their beliefs: “It’s important to remember that we are all people too.” Sonny Naipo, also a Lewis and Clark senior, agreed, emphasizing that the issue should rise above political divisions. “This should never have been a partisan issue,” Naipo said. “It does not matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat.” Adalyn Torres added, “This isn’t a political issue anymore. It’s a humanity issue. We all need to exercise more empathy.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-019e53d4-c954-4e8d-bcb8-f30ca6e9d1f3.jpeg) (L to R) High school seniors Naipo, Torres, and Swigart hold a “STUDENTS will run the world” sign. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). For some students, the protest was also a continuation of years of involvement in protests. Rai Barker, a senior at Lewis and Clark High School, said they were encouraged to attend by Swigart. Barker said they first attended a protest in 2016 at just eight years old. “I could do more, and that’s why I’m here,” Barker said. “I hope that more people come. We’re trying to prove that we need to love people even if they’re not here legally. ” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-c1e1cdd4-de34-4e22-91bc-b1745f7eade2.jpeg) Rai Barker, a Lewis and Clark senior, holds the mic to lead fellow students in chants. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-60db0a1b-294f-4ce8-a9a9-08c049e00d24.jpeg) The father-and-daughter duo cheers on with the rest of the crowd. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-380cde1a-129c-4e59-8378-426ce4ab7c4f.jpeg) A protester wears a “Singing Resistance Spokane” shirt as they keep the beat with marching chants. (Photo/ Sandra Rivera). ### $120,000 for Mujeres in Action to train cops URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/ Last updated: 2026-03-23T23:19:08.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council could approve a $120,000 contract for local Latine and immigrant-serving nonprofit Mujeres in Action to provide SPD with [cultural competency training](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Cultural%20competency%20and%20language%20access%20at%20SPD) and language access services on domestic violence and sexual assault calls. - The Finance and Administration Committee will review an [audit report](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=section%20of%20CIVICS.-,Jail%20cost%20audit,-Over%20the%20last) on how much the county is charging the city of Spokane for jail services. Spoiler alert: it comes with recommendations for more transparency. - Public works officials with the county and the city will deliver status updates about the state-mandated PFAS cleanup at Spokane International Airport. See the city’s presentation [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=/5%20peppers-,PFAS%20cleanup%20update%20from%20airport,-Officials%20from%20Spokane%E2%80%99s) and the county’s [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers-,PFAS%20cleanup%20update%20from%20airport,-Officials%20from%20the). - The BOCC is hosting a [public hearing](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Public%20hearing%20for%20body%20cam%20fees) about charging requesters for redacted body camera footage — which provides crucial evidence for holding police accountable for abuses of power. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Spokane%20City-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Finance%20and%20Administration%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers-,Agenda%20here,-Monday%2C%20March%2023%20at%203) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Plan%20Commission,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20County%20Planning%20Commission,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Airport%20Board,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Regional%20Health%20District%20Board,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=College%20Avenue%2C%20Spokane-,Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/120-000-for-mujeres-in-action-to-train-cops/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,West%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Cultural competency and language access at SPD The council is set to award a $120,000 contract to Mujeres in Action (MiA), a Latine advocacy nonprofit, to create a pilot program with the Spokane Police Department (SPD). The contract was planned for in SPD’s budget, and the agenda item is sponsored by Council Members Michael Cathcart and Kitty Klitzke. According to the contract, MiA would work to train SPD officers in cultural competency so they can better serve Latine and immigrant communities. MiA, which focuses much of its work on supporting domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, could join SPD on DV or sexual assault calls where survivors have limited English-proficiency. They’re also planning to host collaborative meetings and facilitate community feedback on SPD that could result in recommendations for internal SPD policy changes. ### Arts Commission changes Also up for a vote tonight is an ordinance that would slightly amend the structure of the Arts Commission. The ordinance would codify the addition of a council liaison position on the commission, codify a requirement of an annual work plan from the commission and add a new requirement that the body have two commissioners from each city council district. The ordinance is sponsored by Council Members Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 23 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, March 26 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### PFAS cleanup update from airport Officials from Spokane’s public works department will deliver a presentation on their progress complying with a state-mandated environmental cleanup of forever chemicals on the West Plains. The effort is intended to address the contamination caused by firefighting compounds used on both the SIA and Fairchild Air Force Base campuses. Specifically, the presentation will describe the plan SIA, Spokane County and the city of Spokane submitted to the Department of Ecology. Ecology must approve the plan before it can be implemented. See more details on the presentation in the Spokane County section of CIVICS. ### Jail cost audit Over the last year, the city of Spokane has wrestled with rising costs at the Spokane County jail. The facility is operated by the county and contracted by the city to provide a certain amount of beds for people arrested in the city. According to [reporting from Spokane Public Radio](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2025-08-01/full-capacity-empty-fund-spokane-cant-afford-to-pay-for-jail-beds?ref=rangemedia.co), the city’s costs have risen significantly in the last few years. In 2021, the city paid about $4 million for roughly 10% of the county’s jail beds, while in 2024, the bill jumped to about $7.5 million for 14% of beds. It was a roughly [78% cost jump](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article%5F7d34ae39-562d-4ebf-8892-4de1865ea3c4.html?ref=rangemedia.co) for the city, while Spokane County’s costs rose only 10%. The city’s rising bill — combined with concerns over cost transparency from the county — spurred city management to request an audit from the Internal Audit Office. The auditor is going to present a full report at today’s committee meeting, but here are few highlights: - Both the city and the county have, at times, failed to uphold their end of the interlocal agreement governing jail costs. - Required quarterly oversight meetings were not held. - The county’s cost model doesn’t account for differences in stay length or service intensity, which means the city could be seeing higher costs for short-term bookings. The auditor’s office recommends that the city start enforcing the contract terms and reestablish the quarterly oversight meetings. They also recommend the city renegotiate the cost model to “a more equitable model that reflects usage intensity,” and request more detailed reports from the county. The full 32-page report can be found starting on page 30 of the committee agenda. Mayor Lisa Brown also submitted a letter outlining steps she has asked city staff to take in response to the audit findings, including: - Establishing an internal Jail Oversight Committee to review the city’s contract, review the county’s quarterly reports and evaluate the consistency of the county’s cost schedule. - Requesting view-only access to how many people booked on misdemeanors from the city are actually being held in the county jail. - Requesting a seat on all county Request for Proposal committees related to the jail to help decide which contractors service the jail - Requesting a seat on the Medicaid Transformation Project team to expand reentry services for incarcerated people. - Presenting the audit finding reports to the [Safe & Healthy Task Force](https://safehealthyspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), the group [working to make recommendations](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-a-private-group-is-trying-to-find-ways-to-fix-spokane-s-behavioral-health/article%5F7190fedb-7a31-452b-b5b6-b96289bc4492.html?ref=rangemedia.co) ahead of potentially running a tax on the ballot to fund a new jail, which failed last time. ### New Biennium Budget priorities This December, council will vote on a new biennium budget that will last for two years (because that’s how the whole “biennium” thing works). They’re starting to talk about funding priorities now, and have to take final action on outlining their priorities by the end of June. Tune in today if you want to hear their first discussion on the funding priorities. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 23 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 23 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, March 25 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### PFAS cleanup update from airport Officials from the county’s public works department will deliver a presentation on their progress complying with a state-mandated environmental cleanup. The effort is intended to address forever chemicals contamination on the West Plains caused by firefighting compounds used on both the SIA and Fairchild Air Force Base campuses. Specifically, the presentation will describe the plan SIA, Spokane County and the city of Spokane submitted to the Department of Ecology. Ecology must approve the plan before it can be implemented. The presentation will detail three proposals in the plan: - The first proposal seeks access to the city of Spokane’s Garden Springs clean water station, to deliver pitcher filters to people whose wells are contaminated and to use a state grant to start installing “point of use” filters in the homes of people whose wells are contaminated. Even folks whose wells are not currently contaminated will be eligible to receive free water. - The second proposal tries to establish a uniform procedure for testing drinking water wells. - The last proposal seeks to create a communications framework to nurture relationships with owners of contaminated wells. Though some at SIA [continue to blame](https://www.rangemedia.co/pfas-spokane-airport-safe-water-west-plains/) Fairchild for most of the contamination, it is complying with an order from the state Department of Ecology to clean up the contamination and provide clean water to people who have drinking water wells in the groundwater. The cleanup is a years-long project. The city of Spokane and Spokane County, which own SIA on a joint basis, are also legally liable for the contamination. ### About $1M extra needed for mental health facility The county’s Department of Regional Law & Justice is building a care facility, but its construction will cost nearly $1 million more than originally budgeted. The new proposed $14,160,495 budget was largely driven by new building requirements, rising construction costs and changes to the project design. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 24 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public hearing for body cam fees The BOCC will host a public hearing about the sheriff’s proposal to charge the public when they request body-worn camera footage that requires redactions according to a formal fee schedule. That kind of footage is subject to public records laws in Washington and is instrumental in holding police accountable for their work in the field. But the footage can be redacted for a number of reasons, and it takes a lot of time and labor for records custodians to review it for redactions. According to a presentation document, police can redact body camera footage that shows: - Area of a medical facility, counseling or therapeutic program office where a patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported during treatment - Protected health information - Images of minors - Images that are highly offensive to a reasonable person, such as images of deceased or seriously injured persons - Communications from a victim or witness of an incident involving domestic violence or sexual assault - Identifiable location information of a community-based domestic violence program - Persons with apparent mental illness in crisis or who are detained for a mental health evaluation ### $4M for consulting re: MeadowWood, Liberty Lake gold courses The Department of Parks, Recreation & Golf is asking the BOCC to approve Turner & Townsend, a large project management consultancy, to serve MeadowWood and Liberty Lake golf courses. The $4 million that might be spent on the contract would come from the Spokane County golf fund. ### $1.4M on the table for Staley Road project The board is set to approve about $1.4 million in spending to improve Staley Road between Monroe and Dalton roads. The project wants to replace guardrails, regrade the road and install new signs and pavement markings. About $1.2 million of the cost would come from state funding; the remainder would be paid for by the county. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 24 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Comprehensive plan workshops The commission will host workshops on two elements of the comprehensive plan: cultural resources and capital facilities. There are no other details in the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, March 26 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, March 26 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Program updates There’s not a lot of specific information, we wanted to note a couple important presentations on the agenda. - SRHD’s Treatment Services Director Misty Challenor will deliver an update about her program, which has been in the board’s crosshairs in recent years but, in a reversal, was instead was [eyed for expansion](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/#:~:text=Treatment%20Services%20expansion) last year - Mark Springer, the program manager for Communicable Disease Investigation and Prevention, will update the board on tuberculosis treatment in Spokane County > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, March 26 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Changes to bullying policy/procedure The board will hold a second reading of changes to the district’s Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying policy and procedure. If adopted with the revisions, the policy and procedure would now only address “student on student issues,” according to the agenda materials. For instance, one of the revisions redefines who an “aggressor” is, limiting it only to a student. Other revisions include requiring the Compliance Officer to also receive and keep copies of informal complaints and requiring staff members who receive written reports of a possible policy violation to “promptly notify” the Compliance Officer. You can view the full revisions on the documents attached to the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 23 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 23 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑/**5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, March 25 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Trump policies hollow out local Haitian church URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trump-policies-hollow-out-local-haitian-church/ Last updated: 2026-03-22T17:24:02.000Z The top floor of a blocky Perry District office building was full of praise on a recent Sunday morning. Two Haitian women — one whose jet-black hair spilled over her shoulders, one whose platinum locks were pulled back in a crocheted, eggshell bandana — held microphones at the lectern and led the congregation in longing French and Haitian Creole hymns. A woman in a white blazer with gold jewelry gleaming swayed with her hands to heaven. A tall man in his 20s in a fresh burgundy suit scrolled on his phone between glances at the sheet music. Several young teenagers fidgeted in the red-upholstered chairs behind their guardians. On a table in the back sat a basket full of Haitian hot sauce a woman had brought in for people to sample. The woman in the blazer, Guilda Ouelette, gave testimony: her husband had just recovered from a pulmonary embolism. He was not with them, but it seemed he was going to pull through. The pastor, Luc Jasmin, stepped to the lectern after her: “We’re so happy to hear about Brother Bernard.” But the room was not full of people. As he preached about Christian blessings, Jasmin looked over a small sea of red upholstery, about 50 empty chairs that, a year ago, would have been filled. The 15 people who were here were the safe ones. While Brother Bernard was convalescing, much of the rest of Jasmin’s congregation was in hiding. “We lost close to 70% of our congregation” to Trump immigration policies, Jasmin had said in an interview before the service. Who were the people who might have filled the chairs if not for the second Trump presidency? Young Haitians — people who are at a much earlier stage in their immigration journey than the folks worshipping at Maranatha that Sunday. Jasmin described them: “You find an 18- or 20-year-old thinking, ‘I just graduated from high school and I can't go to college, and all my hopes, my dreams are gone,’” Jasmin said, reciting the story he’s heard from so many of his country’s people. “So they go through five different countries. They wait a long time in rocks and mountains and deserts. Hundreds die on the way. They have to see somebody dying. All they want is to get to a place where they think they're gonna be safe. In some countries, \[traffickers\] rape them, they abuse them. Finally they get to the border. They give you a piece of paper and say, ‘You’re going to court in six months.’ So you go there, you could take the paper and you could work.” They find someone like Pastor Luc, whose family runs a nonprofit that helps Haitian refugees navigate housing and education so they can start building a life. “And all of a sudden a president comes in and says, ‘Well, stop all that. Everybody that was legal, you’re not worth anything.’” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-038f400e-93a6-4e77-894c-169273f1db7d.png) **Pastor Luc Jasmin, of Maranatha Evangelical Church. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* He was describing the experience of hundreds of thousands of Haitian refugees who came to the US under a special asylum program called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that allows them to work in the US until things are better in their home country. Things are not better in Haiti. After a series of natural disasters and political crises, the country’s government has fallen to street violence, and gangs are said to run 80% of the capital city Port au Prince. Still, Trump wants to send them back — or to the notorious Salvadoran prison CECOT, where many Haitians have been deported under his administration. After spending his campaign elevating racist lies about Haitian immigrants eating their neighbors’ pets in Springfield, Ohio, he issued an executive order ending their TPS status last year. A judge stayed that order February 2, but the community is still in limbo. Jasmin doesn’t know of any Haitians who’ve been deported from Spokane, which has experienced some targeted immigration actions, though less than some hot spots like Minneapolis or Chicago. But local Haitians are still afraid for their status: the judge’s stay on the Trump order could be overturned, and they could be sent away at any time. “They're very cautious, even on Sundays,” said Claud Jasmin, Luc’s brother, who came to the US in the aughts and plays the keyboard during services at Maranatha. “I can understand that because I went through being undocumented for some time when I first came here years ago.” Jasmin founded the Eglise Evangelique Maranatha Church in 2019 after a long career in accounting (he still has his family-run accounting firm) as a multi-lingual respite for refugees fleeing escalating violence in their home countries. It’s become a staging ground to help Haitians who came to Spokane under TPS and are trying to stay under the Trump administration’s radar. “This is the first time in the story of America that the church is not sacred ground anymore,” Jasmin told RANGE. “The church is a fugitive land. But now even the priests are being beaten.” Jasmin is broad-shouldered and towering, and he’s dressed as snazzily as his flock. At the Sunday service, he wore an ironed blue dress shirt, pleated trousers held up by suspenders and a newsboy hat. Sitting under the Haitian flag hanging over his office desk before the sermon, he tented his long fingers and described what was happening in his home country: When his people call family members back home, they hear screaming and gunshots in the background, often from American-made weapons. They cannot safely return there. He said Trump’s order is designed to push Haitians back out of the country before they can establish themselves because he’s afraid of minorities working hard and gaining status. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-3c30c874-a7cb-476f-82b1-6127e71c5341.png) **Guilda Ouelette worships at a recent Sunday service at Maranatha Evangelical Church in the Perry District. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* “You have elite Haitians right here in the United States in every single position,” he said. His family is an example of this. The Jasmins have become a household name in Spokane. They run this church, an accounting business and nonprofit that organizes housing for Haitian refugees and this church. Luc Jasmin III, pastor Luc’s son, sits on a slate of local and state governing boards and has run for city council. His brother Claud, who translates the services at Maranatha, had a long career as an organist for churches in Boston before moving to Spokane during the pandemic. He’s also an American citizen. “The mentality of Trump is not to let these Haitians get to be here five years,” Jasmin said. “Because if you spend five years here, you're gonna have wealth and you're gonna have built a life.” The back-and-forth nature of their status has been painful for Haitians using TPS in Spokane. “I don’t know if it will be safe to go to work,” said Sandy, a TPS recipient and nurse whom RANGE is identifying only by first name to protect her safety. She spoke at a fundraiser for TPS recipients at the First Presbyterian Church downtown in early February. Hundreds of supportive people were there — immigrants and non — creating a safer environment for TPS recipients to show their face in public. Luc Jasmin said he was encouraged by the show of support. “I'm so happy and so surprised that the community received the Haitians that way,” Jasmin said. “Because you know, before Pastor John decided to do that, the community was down, really down, my brother. Really down. After the video everybody's talking and everybody has hope.” He wants to create an online presence for Maranatha, and he has shifted his focus more to providing services for people who can’t leave their homes for fear of being nabbed in the street on the way to church, work or the grocery store. “This is the underground movement we are doing, and I love doing it because we help each other survive,” he said. ### And I will always remember you*... URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/and-i-will-always-remember-you/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T14:57:16.000Z On this week’s episode, Erin Sellers and Daniel Walters went on the air to talk about Daniel’s most recent article: [John Stockton’s Not Dead](https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-basketball-ai-slop/). Daniel’s article title is a play on the clickbait “news headlines” from fake AI fan pages that have recently appeared on Facebook. More specifically, it’s a reference to a fake headline that claims John Stockton – a former NBA player and Gonzaga alum – died. (He didn’t.) Because some of these headlines use real info with slight changes, it’s important to use a critical eye when viewing news, social media posts, and other forms of media. One example of this is a headline claiming that Netflix announced a documentary on Gonzaga. The reality? There *is* a documentary on Gonzaga basketball, but it’s through [Tubi](https://gozags.com/news/2026/3/5/mens-basketball-gonzaga-the-slipper-still-fits-available-at-midnight.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co). Read Daniel's article below: [John Stockton’s Not DeadFake AI slop Facebook fan pages hawk constant lies about Zags Basketball![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-121.png)RANGE MediaDaniel Walters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/data-src-image-0e1a2c22-b2ff-4afa-b3d2-06e529702f9f-1-1.jpeg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-basketball-ai-slop/) Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### John Stockton’s Not Dead URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-basketball-ai-slop/ Last updated: 2026-03-19T19:31:45.000Z If you believe everything you see on Facebook, Gonzaga men’s basketball coach Mark Few has had quite the basketball season. To start with, as the Zags Pride Basketball fan page claims, there was the diagnosis of [Stage IV brain cancer](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02GBRHDxKYVyP72oD8XRLVvuUqi1PeB1PoT2LXXLt3cfzgXbJcyAMzEoncwawdwm97l&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZbpfeZlDr3dTVpEDBwdK%5FOqr631cDA8XsQMwQjl3IY-HSPG49SWlFDswfWyE7gvSAt%5FOUvxJHsW-YzT3Lq64tkhQIzBLXsTYY%5FncsK0oq6Abz7fvvZvYpw9UFXdDJCsZukza76e75QVRclOcaXkcIEcoBOtVbAueaqiUVcN67i28iqKZR9bL10uZHtr93LrqWJjX7olj0frAhrYNItuDi0q&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) — the [same disease](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02g5BtonMHnCYMUqLzGhvkAY9Lb9NRYr2Tdq66uMLo8ZT3UD8dWeG7eisnDrGuezj7l&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZaDo%5Fm6sNPyI84Bq3gqCmLPkoVZ%5FY1YhgZpGpOMhp78QJvkNT8seEtKZ3yOx5LXVWr81fynxrRAwUtLSYU%5FxBJ-ovmDH8KUqevcNXvzzLr4fivAPSTSmsasWP3Y-YSFBBnzO-Tr1suKtEiTDSiKroNcMdBeHiqupHUzciBsMTbjWfZyx0K6Dk0Nvis-k-9GpLirhd-qhaGI564p79cHYv6u&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) that other fan pages claim Gonzaga alum [Adam Morrison](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid05Zuxwt6JzyrNFTST34QVEFEz68Sc3NxH68o5KVxBTKxZYA8xut6sanemyCCyXSvKl&id=100089202862226&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZYLjvSKj1mPBfwYJjwWalukdps80ThGHCh8i3Xk9vbX3VVKvxtOGJGqazWy5YzuIGIUmWqS6cIBgLWHy76CYlZmu3R1wp9U3juLStWX4hn3u0i7txP86PlnO6mo-zGJ3z559TudfZUmrKUjU7XD-GhcpCx6uEWx7TIHEofO6AlqW45IgS4zQ8DjmSE5%5F9CFSh4&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) contracted before his untimely death. Sure, Few may have been [reeling](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02MMXkM4XireYzEn1EbYxndJvR5x9NRqvLHLagdewCsCEht3WRerQa1siM8TBzw5qMl&id=61586219483703) over the deaths of NBA star [John Stockton](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02kuCitBrLHDyzeC2JDKgT296TYdGuqNTH7vkUVE16bdYiR2Z7CVs3KVH87ZofUhMCl&id=61586099106389&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZY8VLfaL4honqlFSlhru%5FaD06VKrVnz3pT3fD5SdXXmhnoY48kkj24mirYzP2LCeqgFyMHBvH3SEJuIOM66QxSCZ27eWbwFQFJJuP8Gf2-MzmwRigf9cH4WpSnCc9HiHa3MJ-V3-wHfT0ebWg4hQ0Q5YMYTyC8-wdoduzmCB-QgLA&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) and the team’s ball [boy](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02As7yJmGB55TSjEaeCnrDgtcQCeykvcTZdYZQpNjc7bwYGvAfWyV9vMgYxnR2wqPUl&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZb%5Fj%5FIrMeLnG5-s6rp9bzR8WqJYr9X2rkRWc1-jcWItvaImLuIgIi0Pm0WBIDqcjME%5Fhr%5Fxy15Ej%5FgDtw%5FvJ5uLTEea0p-dYHbQLhVrfDIiRRXyUw8w-ZkrmVbf4Ay1S0GFwM6ZxcxIUkW4t1C8HJ1TvLZ2D%5F72N2kuKQqAKzX3wsu9oRc1DLtY%5FrbhXPrsdkf2wdlpeQ4zzyQqZO2Ep3BZ&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) and two former Gonzaga stars killed in a California avalanche and that little boy from the [Shriners Children’s Hospital ads](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid0YFy5dw6kUchrXXh6kSKYfrNgSkZcEXoqswDiKw6hdhsiEbDmCWoRsZj9Gg89Y1cxl&id=61585735327739). But all those tragedies didn’t stop Few from getting up and delivering a stirring rendition of the [National Anthem](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02JoDpku3NmrpcnNXWbRePu8YSrb2hHDsccgYpWWeeQoDJyMdEvXcpYaXN5tEw7wVfl&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZZ-Qm9lO9uzEZr8n3iv18qdWHUm24c4FneWQRgcVyOpVbBsqPxnxlxbywJI1Q6a6xIUnV9o4wLs4e2ippPB%5FG8fbsgNAelKbKVfNJhOsk-YYlasPxGedb0COiQ5GqZywLnqjp%5FEvJTUd0Ifyy1AcW7Wv9pcEBfPtrsQxY-1u0LXYkFEqGTAUZns6KRv7rK4B8qQT5cWgI3LZV-8MWnhDDCP&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) that brought the whole arena to tears. Few was undaunted, regaled the Facebook pages: He’s gone toe-to-toe with [Whoopi Goldberg](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid028AJ1J2YWQuwu2wrDbEEJKVHmritTt1a3EHcTV8jtVkh7w2AzMwaZKpAYhq3R7JZ4l&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZaoIZQ1do5SqeBedCTKKp-ffu63p0L2NtGhZgmGar79xcy4e3-P6g%5FwTyisjuuqRBAPGPJ3XapTRc4KNjFZJblU5vfdyhiSrflsvQ4Epu4SEnFf6te-mz56d5JFcsa8lDENV2rDKbsr5ccGh0kvyZ9FpBJTaHS%5FQ9vFSOS522PH1il4W79%5FWsxnPkuEjgigbsoN8%5FL1u83oFXTXg6R%5FApeV&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) and [Joy Behar](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02uPrEiRTg9z5Q8KDVA2PQ23sUZ6wJUq61desWd9pWQtKB4VThetze1U8ZTBJZZfDXl&id=61586099106389&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZbhSprfv4vOwkyiQq-xUWLg22PbG0RpxqRMTtTSKWi8fe3z8tqkktjOip20FDVW5yIVt5e4X0uC-lj-WhN9PTxuLQ4YYO1yOFtTf5X3XMcdsMhYDfzz-BZ8swKB7LQfN2db2JpYtgUxrC-fN9V9MIeBzNSbDPmSkFKoZH80lEYanydqoDG7BGqwk0RspUogZl7-U9S7MAT7Vc7RpZznF1b4&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) on The View, White House Press Secretary [Karoline Leavitt](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02zDRgPYfRG7zZnCa2s8iDMvivuETqNaUMNDQXsWtyATyHtiqdWkYV8rnf75pwBbqql&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZaw1HKM5cGN5jKxTGUGDd7J870ZS3j-YkCFmOLAJL3LIvxH0iqBuNhcoRVNq8usNfSj1hLq%5FY%5Fh%5FDDXOe7N3vYBkYottLpF8e0ggd1cTUDWbAAkoXVViQj6dvlODpZqjmZ9XwM045XPqO4uOQjraY6L5V-wczJlXfTz-A79U5VR6EmOO0CQhggPg24DXUgt2U-mGUjpjl%5FJKVaresfpqjMO&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R), sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, former First Lady [Michelle Obama](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02pfx5CtwoxutqGox5gJiBFqJSiYFFeBRhcvuxwuxhnQnCZCFFhSCBxQ2CKDUvHNrgl&id=61586099106389&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZYP3BcuXpinkEePcG2hfRC0TCMgeYZjx%5FVzmBKcdd5VylCBQz4lb9N5RhhILeQo4dzw2e-Q8-UQy7X-wczxow%5FuXutZTvs983zbAZavXVbVYPJEzk4mHL2Y8MozHUpLP062pkfGnTq8FHUl47UPGkTfr8rmtrFtmkeDtxLiTHTLXvrQ2fr5vXQdAuul5OT1rxxzmUCMnJj9-tLvF%5FOPVVMU&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R), and, for some reason, Australian politician [Fatima Payman](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02pLHyAtNaYCyXnCrxi6TQdGQR39rZZXMpYhFxKzAbeX6hynxSmTccFjLcRPcPLvCrl&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZY-KN67jbNOsWdHDtyk64-HW7efZhUGP29ksUxkxpCJq3tYwkGEojSiv-JkNRzcEU4a98OlNxPyV2a6OedIaj5qLzHd6BRqBPCyTguaN-A9iIDqQe0hhew8aOgJrrYIwPeal5XnJqMD56Xp2XrUQpSAaoYNPdr4gQAibpGsjhxMMpwaWGTGljzB1of%5FEMGGX5YEwFLs3eJ7q4cQZ2YYrPqF&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R). When even President Donald Trump himself threatened him in a late-night phone call, Few refused to back down. Of course, the hacks in the legacy media won’t write about any of this. They won’t talk about Mark Few’s principled refusal to wear a [gay pride jacket](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid027c5RNEtzYZY2wWP1VgDufKX5AeDLwbEKLCc8oMFPkMvjich6CWUvs88CYGy2bVV9l&id=61585735327739&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZamj3a9Wmopj-6c8aYHuwVTWyjL9dyDUDxbkK9s%5FfU91toHKo3U14kgM7H5hyjzyXXJAh7-dYDaaRlc8InXh6sRWkkrxbW68LHc3K2v9ZrfDZVhmwHqc2UC0z8%5FEk7ZYI65QkXR9on11RXQYPidJMFXtGCRIcdXAaS1OZYxa8gKegUGP4vaVdVW-uWdE6HSWA%5F%5Fwfm4bxfUGeaYpj0irrQJ&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R). They don’t want to tell you about the $900 tip that Mark Few gave his waitress or the brand new SUV he bought for the janitor who helped him change his tire. They refuse to report on the $2 million Few gave to donate to local [homeless shelters](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02gsP9za3Z7yrqk1Hfar9kyqoEkBwiVn3G33AzfL9rz3QLnJts1QxVUQcv6hLFthJvl&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZZbKTh7OoCt5%5FcLKYtfKc5zmowboqNXwGBE17uk3YD1flZAEzbp8NzwjreaOzGExJfBqWT0yWaj0RCHQ0DUfoZNCvIKaJPwG-s0t4OhZhdOuywYt-zyjQtNFNKqBc8Ab8cKFG20s4n63-7OGf6QLk7BL9j6S-WdNnZpgMmm%5FiIaLDE4A8jVyy2n-eNSmZdfSP5agwp2%5FEcWYraWbhDrTx1w&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) or the $10 million [he gave](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZaNN3O1pqU-i0T2Vy7FEQ4QXO%5F35K7FHDVdompMhyG3Jyz-lN3HLGohN9sBAUXxxTIsbiiUmp9GGbnZRnKgntPtakJgPzRl3m-2e%5F6bcCRmK0DAAg0m2c3GxsmP6W4nHkUqtSVZ%5FNIa2e6nvmJO-40Ex5osrOu7nRb3CBTy-ZOyoA&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=-UC%2CP-R) to victims of the American missile attack that destroyed an Iranian school. Only these Facebook pages will tell you about the time that Mark Few used his vast fortune to [purchase](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid0hWjc83d3QwGcBu4guRK7wNaJarbMrB9pSZFt26LKJeV74rhv95BFDAnNtsTkVyokl&id=61585735327739&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZak-fEje1cUpQLkZRxt2bj5ISo2Sbs7%5Fhyx3Q7GCBm1rQwrRXYYQ5H2kM7h80diwrN21kQw8fHzbNl5AGBmhn%5FIzboNYXsRQ8Zuuywg9WguPKkN5asikfGCgXQwCEpdHaPogWZHHfz9AfgNvfrFzYCn8sw7ZNhN2szZ%5Fhb3Uxxp4hNNBKf54MugCl1eg0Xb5cZPlF40JnOzOb7T-AGM5d8H&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) a luxury hotel after it had disrespected him, just like in the first chapter of *Crazy Rich Asians*. Only Facebook will reveal that a [horrific car accident](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid0dnpvKNWc2WQLZYM9AUCXCK8kPZE1vZBBkaCMqqoHXzrXxan7Zf1RdwuWT8cnsp41l&id=61586192036809) left Mark Few’s wife in critical condition, and only Facebook will tell you about how her [tiny black bikini](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid0Xkb4VEssYon3eMBxjNtx8Jv6FBBFQ7yEi87tBuy9eaubM6cFjURC9VER9URwzkAWl&id=61585666107737&%5F%5Fcft%5F%5F[0]=AZaGiGLDFm76VzjPhG1xBIPqr-G4C42lakNyhZGVhye%5F3kzjVNdztgJBSwWVpN6axT-xuR0CBqITUf8FnTm4OFTSZd7I674E2T-vQK1jhivJzRSLk9db4QnGHT1bLxDIKR3H5Tuf5hVKUgoJzmRHiqthmizPQXuS3uBC222wx%5FNgue99MLELv7p3AeGlv7NfF9BtZwRH9q%5FAff06P5w32UNp&%5F%5Ftn%5F%5F=%2CO%2CP-R) photos had set social media ablaze. Yet amid all this chaos and tragedy, Few can take solace in one thing: absolutely none of these stories are true. **FAKE FANS** In the last four months, at least a half-dozen fake Gonzaga fan pages on Facebook — with names like “[Northwest Hoops Family](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585735327739),” “[Gonzaga Court Zone](https://gyazo.com/07a8a27d85c2022b4fea779f975eb44c?ref=rangemedia.co)” and “[Street to Court](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586219483703)” — have been racking up thousands of likes. Many of the posted stories are ridiculous on their face, (“Michael Jordan selects Gonzaga star Braden Huff as the face of the Air Jordan empire!”) yet other fake stories on the pages have fooled Spokane attorneys, teachers and politicians. Fake clickbait news stories are hardly a [new phenomenon](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/how-macedonia-became-a-global-hub-for-pro-trump-misinfo?ref=rangemedia.co): A decade ago, BuzzFeed News — back when BuzzFeed News was a thing — published an investigation revealing that Macedonian teens were churning out fake right-wing clickbait content on Facebook in the run-up to the 2016 election. American clicks generate more ad money, and in countries like Macedonia, $100 per day goes further. "If Trump loses I plan to redirect my site to sports," one Macedonian teen told BuzzFeed. But in the last few years, something shifted: big AI has made it incredibly easy to shovel out metric tons of fake content. At one time, creating a fake photo took significant talent and time. Now, a deepfaked picture of Mark Few or John Stockton in a hospital gown can be generated with a few keystrokes. Where fake news was once national, it can now be hyperlocal, targeting specific fanbases. RANGE’s investigation reveals [numerous](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DoL268P3NV3DvZa1kIU4K5pUoKNP02-efvW-g6ke3fA/edit?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co) similar fake slop pages for other college sports teams across the country: Of the top 32 seeded teams in the NCAA tournament, at least 27 have been targeted by the same brand of Facebook pages pumping out a steady stream of false clickbait stories. That includes all the top four seeded states [Duke](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089221881117), [Michigan](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585493949652), [Florida](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586512460714&sk=about) and [Arizona](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587393617809). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-b62257a6-451c-49fb-a0c3-4579129bb70a.jpeg) Facebook spammers out of Vietnam have created fake fan pages for at least 30 different teams in the 2026 March Madness tournament. **Daniel Walters illustration.* The top football teams in every NFL division, including the [Seahawks](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61585778966065), have the same brand of fake fan page on Facebook. So do a slew of NBA and Major League Baseball teams. (See our spreadsheet with links to many of the fake pages [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DoL268P3NV3DvZa1kIU4K5pUoKNP02-efvW-g6ke3fA/edit?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co).) This is an international operation: nearly every page, according to Facebook’s page transparency data, is being managed out of Vietnam. It appears to be the same operation identified in an investigation by BBC Wales last week. New pages were being created almost daily to put out fake stories, using deepfaked photos to portray British politicians like Nigel Farage in a hospital bed or storming off of a news show. [These Ai generated photos](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/bfcb/live/c3f5cd20-18b1-11f1-b048-c9424b2cf5fd.png.webp?ref=rangemedia.co) of, say, former prime minister Boris Johnson confronting someone on a BBC news show look almost identical to the [faked photos](https://gyazo.com/d6c4c38dc37528f6475a09f461fd1d20?ref=rangemedia.co) of Mark Few on the View, which show Few in the same position, standing over a seated host, finger wagging in righteous indignation. Last month, Gonzaga’s communications staff took the step of putting out a warning about these kinds of pages on social media. “Did you hear about Gonzaga’s new $3.2-billion upgraded arena?” the post [said](https://www.gonzaga.edu/news-events/stories/2026/2/24/fighting-fake-gonzaga-news?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Did%20you%20hear%20about%20Gonzaga's,a%20result%20of%20AI%20clickbait.). “An article online will tell you all about this new addition, even though the story is not true, but rather a result of AI clickbait.” **TIFFS, RANTS OR BUTTS** Savvy social media users have seen plenty of reasons to be suspicious. The titles of several Gonzaga pages hint that their creators do not have a strong sense of where Gonzaga is located (“[Provo Pioneers](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586192036809&sk=about)”) or a strong sense of the English language (“[Ball is College](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089202862226&sk=about)”). The monitor on a picture of Few recovering from surgery, one commenter pointed out, showed his heart rate as “10.” And then there’s the fact that, just two weeks after “Zags Pride Basketball” claimed John Stockton had died, the same page announced that Stockton, apparently having conquered death and risen again, was praising Donald Trump. But plenty of smart people were tricked by other posts. Coeur d’Alene Councilman Dan English liked a fake post claiming that Gonzaga power forward Graham Ike had announced the birth of his first child. Former Spokane City Councilman and current state legislative candidate Jonathan Bingle liked a fake post about Netflix announcing a Gonzaga documentary. That mistake, at least, was understandable: Gonzaga *did* recently have a documentary released, though on [Tubi](https://gozags.com/news/2026/3/5/mens-basketball-gonzaga-the-slipper-still-fits-available-at-midnight.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co), not Netflix. Bingle told RANGE he probably clicked “like” while browsing Facebook late at night, but said he began to get suspicious when he saw other posts about Mark Few making particularly conservative statements. But Bingle says that he’s heard from people who have been fooled by even some of the more outlandish claims. “Somebody the other day was like, ‘Did you know, John Stockton had brain cancer?” Bingle said. “With the rise of AI and the ability to generate quick content and quick images, it has created a new avenue for something like that." Getting fooled by these fake sites is a bipartisan affair. Robin Ball, former state committeewoman with the Spokane County Republican Party, liked a post about Mark Few refusing to wear a gay pride jacket. Dan Lambert, former state committeeman for the Spokane County Democrats, shared a fake post about Gonzaga players spontaneously coming together after defeating Oregon State to sing the school’s traditional fight song with “raw, unfiltered emotion.” “Thank you, Gonzaga!” Lambert wrote. Informed by RANGE that the post was fake, Lambert was gobsmacked. To him the picture *looked* real. He could see players he recognized. “Is it getting to the point where you basically have to fact-check everything you look at?” Lambert said. **“**I liked it because they had their hands over their hearts. Well, it got me.” The lesson, he said, was “don’t let your heartstrings grab your brain cells.” Sometimes all these sites have to do to get engagement is ask for it. “Gonzaga Court Zone” posted 63 times in the last four months “SAY YES IF YOU LOVE Gonzaga Bulldogs.” But other times these pages play the old clickbait classics. Newborn babies. Heartwarming displays of sportmanship, generosity or patriotism. Tirades, whether against the transfer portal or in praise of Donald Trump. Sickness. Death. A particularly grotesque post on [one fake fan page](https://gyazo.com/61c9203cb6cc88f9cd78cd3c93d42c08?ref=rangemedia.co) claimed that a UCLA Bruins player had been shot and killed on the UCLA campus — a campus familiar with [school shootings](https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-la-mainak-sarkar-ucla-shooter-20160602-snap-story.html?ref=rangemedia.co). *(Editor's Note: the UCLA fan page has since been taken down following publication.)* There is, of course, a more ancient and primal way of driving viewership: Butts, and rumors of butts. “Gonzaga Bulldogs swimmer shocks the world by going cheeks completely out during bold university photoshoot,” announced one post, complete with a picture of a woman wearing a one-piece Gonzaga swimsuit. At least 20 other pages with identical images of the same “woman” in the same pose, wearing the same outfit but with different colors and team logos — like the Iowa Hawkeyes, Texas Longhorns, Texas A&M, the BYU Cougars, Oregon Ducks and the LSU Tigers. But nothing, of course, gets Facebook users in a tizzy like a good ol’ culture war. A “Street to Court” [post](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02ApHHMVe2wBHSA5ELfLx7PUyHAQDKzfxnrpSwKFQZAszM1YCpGW8zn3ZhaHSKg9Vol&id=61586219483703) about an unnamed Gonzaga player saying he refuses to turn "basketball into a political circus" by wearing an "LBGT armband" got over 1,100 likes. Search “[LGBT armband](https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=lgbt%20armband)” on Facebook, and you’ll find variations of the same post written countless times with other celebrities, like a sports star Mad Libs. Besides athletes playing for teams like the Duke Blue Devils, the New England Patriots, and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, other fake posts name musicians like Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan as being part of the anti-armband resistance. Sometimes the clickbait machine goes haywire: one post that spells basketball, “basetbal,” claims that Bruce Springsteen is a professional golfer who plays for the "Iowa State Cyclones." Cyclones golf pro Bruce Springsteen, you better believe, won’t be wearing an “LGBT armband.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-13411bcf-ea55-4782-8fe9-7dee64f05fd3.png) Either this lady has dozens of identical siblings and they all decided to swim for different universities, or something hinky is going on here… **Facebook search screenshot* **SPAM A LOT** An entire [cottage industry](https://www.404media.co/where-facebooks-ai-slop-comes-from/?ref=rangemedia.co) has sprung up around AI slop spam on Facebook, the tech journalism site 404 Media detailed in 2024\. In India, Vietnam and the Philippines, social media influencers tout ways to make money by taking advantage of the Facebook algorithm. It isn’t just the fact that small amounts of money can go a lot further in those places, wrote Jason Koebler, co-founder 404 Media, it’s the way that the sites provide very little oversight internationally. “American tech giants are obsessed with conquering and colonizing the entire world with products that are half baked and are extremely poorly moderated in languages that are not English,” Koebler wrote. Tools like FewFeed, an app from a Filipino developer, allow users to automate spam — scheduling bulk posts across a wide variety of pages, duplicating viral posts from other pages, even snagging abandoned pages with high follower counts. “Another, even more powerful spam tool is marketed by a Vietnamese company with dozens of employees, 24/7 tech support, has a brick-and-mortar office in Hanoi, and which throws conferences and events about ‘marketing’ on Facebook,” wrote Koebler. Sometimes Facebook would pay the creators of viral content directly, through monetization programs. Facebook does not disclose the exact figures needed to start getting monetized, but several user pages cite 5,000 followers as an important threshold. Almost all the fake sports fan pages identified by RANGE have at least 5,000 followers. But in other cases, spammers try to convince readers to click a link to an ad-laden page off site. Readers who click a link on the fake Gonzaga fan pages, for example, to see exactly *which* star player Few had kicked off the team, will be sent through a slew of recently registered domains — with nonsense names like “Vireon” “Brizomist” and “Clayglow” — and redirected to sites like Daily 24 World, a massive fake news slop trough. But behind those sites, according to their admin pages, is a Vietnamese site called LiveXTop, a bad actor responsible for numerous fake news stories in the last year. In the past two years, fact-checkers have called out LiveXTop for viral claims about a celebrity [boycotting](https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.666D963?ref=rangemedia.co) Pride month, a football player [starting a horse sanctuary](https://sports.yahoo.com/article/fact-check-football-player-saquon-051356270.html?ref=rangemedia.co), heartthrob singer Josh Groban [confronting Trump](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-josh-groban/?ref=rangemedia.co), and [Stephen Colbert rescuing abandoned twins](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/twins-stephen-colbert-late-show/?ref=rangemedia.co). Sometimes the users spreading these sorts of stories know from the get-go they’re bullshit. Lambert, the former Spokane County Democrats committeeman, acknowledged sharing some fake news stories he knew were fake, simply because he found them funny. Yet other stories he could swear were real. Lambert had seen a post from Zags Pride Basketball featuring Gonzaga star Braden Huff hugging a Pepperdine player after the game, a heartwarming gesture of sportsmanship. Lambert was sure it was true. He recalled seeing it happen on TV and everything. But it had never happened. Huff was out with a knee injury and hadn’t even played that game. A goofy spam Facebook page had effectively rewritten his brain with false memories. “That’s some high-tech stuff,” Lambert said. “It would make Pavlov blush.’ 🏀 If you want to get in on the March Madness fun — no AI slop required – you can join the RANGE bracket challenge [here](https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=277&from=espn&context=GROUP%5FINVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=8ca717c9-f97a-43fb-87bd-364351031ac8&joinKey=37b19816-109a-3210-ad10-9e83bbb3c97d&ref=rangemedia.co), passcode “range.” ### Mini CIVICS for the Tri-Counties URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pend-oreille-stevens-ferry-county-city-council-commissioners/ Last updated: 2026-03-17T23:43:21.000Z We’re publishing this special Tri-County edition of CIVICS as a standing resource for the important meetings that happen in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties. Though we won’t send out regular newsletters (at least until we’ve grown into a vast news empire), this gives you a general idea of what public meetings happen in the more rural areas of Eastern Washington. ### Pend Oreille County **Board of County Commissioners** The [Board](https://www.pendoreille.gov/board-county-commissioners?ref=rangemedia.co) typically meets every Monday and Tuesday in the Courthouse located at 625 West 4th Street, Newport, WA. Meetings sometimes also occur on Thursdays. Public Comment is typically scheduled at 10:15 am every Monday, except on holidays. [Agendas](https://www.pendoreille.gov/meetings/recent?field%5Fsmart%5Fdate%5Fvalue%5F2=&field%5Fsmart%5Fdate%5Fend%5Fvalue%5F2=2026-03-06&combine=&boards-commissions=166&ref=rangemedia.co) are posted every Friday for the following week. **City of Newport** [Council](https://newport-wa.org/city-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) meets on the first and third Monday of each month at 6 pm at Newport City Hall, 200 S. Washington Ave. If Monday is a holiday, meetings are the following Tuesday. **Town of Cusick** [Council](https://www.townofcusick.com/towncouncil/meeting/council-meetings-2026?ref=rangemedia.co) meets the first Tuesday of each month at 6 pm at Cusick Town Hall and Community Center at 111 First Ave and can be joined virtually via [Zoom](https://www.townofcusick.com/towncouncil/meeting/council-meetings-2026?ref=rangemedia.co). The Town Hall is open Monday through Thursday, 9 am to 3:30 pm (closed 12-12:30 pm for lunch). Agendas and meeting minutes can be found [here](https://www.townofcusick.com/meetings/recent?ref=rangemedia.co). **Town of Ione** Council meetings are the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7 pm in council chambers on 208 Blackwell St. The clerk's office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4 pm and can be reached at 509-442-3611\. **Town of Metaline** Council meets the second Wednesday of every month at 7 pm in council chambers at 101 Housing Drive, Metaline. The Town Hall is open Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 1 pm and can be reached at 509-446-4641. **Town of Metaline Falls** Council meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at 6 pm in Town Hall at 201 E. 5th Ave. The Town Hall is open Monday and Wednesday from 10 am to 2 pm; Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 3 pm and can be reached at 509-446-2211. ### Stevens County **Board of County Commissioners** The [Board](https://www.stevenscountywa.gov/20842/Commissioners?ref=rangemedia.co) meets Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 am to 4:30 pm at 230 East Birch Avenue, Colville. Public attendance is welcome and encouraged both in person and virtually, but virtual access requests should be made at least 30 minutes before the meeting. Weekly [agendas](https://www.stevenscountywa.gov/list.aspx?categoryid=10153&ref=rangemedia.co) are prepared the previous Friday. To be notified when the agenda is posted to the web site, [sign up for e-Notifications](https://www.stevenscountywa.gov/notify.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co). Contact the board at 509-684-3751 or [commissioners@stevenscountywa.gov](mailto:commissioners@stevenscountywa.gov). **City of Colville** [Council](https://www.colville.wa.us/pview.aspx?id=35814&catid=462&ref=rangemedia.co) meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6 pm at [City Hall](https://www.colville.wa.us/faqs.aspx?categoryid=0&ref=rangemedia.co), 170 South Oak Street. [Agendas](https://www.colville.wa.us/agendalist.aspx?categoryid=13562&ref=rangemedia.co) can be found online before the meeting. The city can be reached at 509-684-5094. **City of Kettle Falls** [Council ](https://www.cityofkettlefalls.org/government?ref=rangemedia.co)meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7 pm at City Hall, 580 Meyers Street. [Agendas](https://www.cityofkettlefalls.org/citycouncil?ref=rangemedia.co) can be found online before the meeting and the city can be reached at 509-738-6821\. **City of Chewelah** [Council](https://www.cityofchewelah.org/citycouncil?ref=rangemedia.co) meets the first and third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm at City Hall, 301 East Clay Avenue - Room 104\. [Agendas](https://www.cityofchewelah.org/meetings/recent?boards-commissions=98&combine=&department=All&field%5Fsmart%5Fdate%5Fend%5Fvalue=&field%5Fsmart%5Fdate%5Fvalue%5F1=&ref=rangemedia.co) can be viewed online before the meeting. ### Ferry County **Board of Commissioners** The [Board](https://www.ferry-county.com/government/board%5Fof%5Fcommissioners/index.php?ref=rangemedia.co) meets Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 am to 4 pm, 290 East Tessie Avenue, Republic. Hearings can be attended in-person or virtually. To get the link and have agendas emailed, call the board clerk, April Drennan, at 509-775-5225 Ext. 2101 or email [FCCOClerk@co.ferry.wa.us](mailto:FCCOClerk@co.ferry.wa.us). **City of Republic** Republic is the only incorporated city in Ferry County.Its [Council](https://www.cityofrepublic.org/city-council-1?ref=rangemedia.co) meets the first and third Monday of each month at 5 pm at 987 South Clark Avenue. If meetings fall on an observed holiday, the meeting will be held Tuesday of that week. [Agendas](https://www.cityofrepublic.org/meeting-minutes-agendas?ref=rangemedia.co) can be viewed online before meetings. Reach the city at 509-775-3216. ### Seis años después, los síntomas de COVID persisten en muchos trabajadores agrícolas latinos en Washington URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/seis-anos-despues-los-sintomas-de-covid-persisten-en-muchos-trabajadores-agricolas-latinos-en-washington/ Last updated: 2026-06-16T23:16:27.000Z 🔗 [To read in English, click here. ](https://www.rangemedia.co/six-years-later-covid-symptoms-linger-for-many-latino-farmworkers-in-washington/) A la mañana siguiente, le dolía mucho la cabeza y los pulmones. Unos días después, dio positivo en la prueba de COVID-19, una enfermedad de la que, según él, todavía no se ha recuperado del todo cinco años después. “Todavía siento como si tuviera flema en los pulmones,” dijo Muñoz. El COVID persistente entre los trabajadores agrícolas latinos se ha convertido en un tema recurrente en Washington. Según una investigación del Centro Latino para la Salud de la Universidad de Washington, se estima que el 41,2 % de los trabajadores agrícolas padecen COVID persistente, una de las tasas más altas en comparación con otras profesiones. Una teoría apunta a que el acceso tardío a la vacuna se debe a problemas económicos o a la desconfianza de vacunarse. Christine Jaquish, médica del Mid-Valley Hospital and Clinic en Omak, describe el COVID persistente como una afección que se presenta después de que una persona ha tenido el virus y continúa sintiendo una variedad de síntomas diferentes y duraderos, a pesar de dar negativo en la prueba. “Los síntomas siguen afectando al funcionamiento diario del paciente, a su calidad de vida y a su capacidad para volver a la escuela o al trabajo,” dijo Jaquish. ## ‘Sentía que la cabeza me iba a explotar’ Confundido, observaba a su madre recoger tierra, besarla y bendecirla. Su padre, arrodillado sobre el suelo, también bendecía cada cosecha: maíz, semillas de calabaza, frijoles pintos. “Yo era muy joven cuando hacía eso, así que simplemente lo miraba preguntándome qué estaría diciendo,” dijo Muñoz. “Eso es algo que nunca olvidaré.” Muñoz, ahora 75 años, dijo que la conexión que su familia tenía con la naturaleza lo hace sentir honrado de trabajar como campesino. Comentó que escribe sus propias canciones sobre el campo y las canta mientras trabaja, a pesar de que no escribe bien y no sabe leer. Según contó, Muñoz asistió a la escuela durante dos años antes de que lo sacaran para trabajar con su padre, ganando 18 centavos al día. “Me inspira la tierra, los animales,” dijo. “Por ejemplo, hoy, al volver del trabajo, vi las ramas y los árboles; parecían casi como si estuvieran peleando. Estas cosas me resultan poéticas.” En 1994, Muñoz emigró de México a Oregón, donde se dedicó a piscar las fresas, y con el tiempo empezó a ir y venir entre Oregón y los campos de Pasco durante las temporadas de uvas y moras. El trabajo es duro, dijo, pero gratificante. “Es una belleza la agricultura” dijo Muñoz. Su compromiso con el campo no cambió cuando se enfermó en el año 2021\. Al principio, no se dio cuenta de la gravedad de sus síntomas. Al día siguiente de que comenzaran los mareos, llamó a su supervisor para decirle que no iría a trabajar, suponiendo que tenía un resfriado. Muñoz se quedó en casa tres días antes de ir al hospital, donde dio positivo por COVID-19. “No me di cuenta de que era tan grave, pero una vez que lo supe, decidí a manejar hasta la casa de mi hija en Vancouver porque no me sentía lo suficientemente bien como para estar solo,” dijo. Unos días después, mientras su hija estaba en el trabajo, Muñoz dijo que la llamó con dificultades para respirar, sintiendo que podía morir. “Sentía que la cabeza me iba a explotar y que me fallaban los pulmones,” dijo. Muñoz no trabajó durante varios meses después de su diagnóstico. A pesar de los remedios caseros y la medicación, sigue experimentando efectos persistentes que dificultan su vida diaria y el trabajo de campo, que es físicamente exigente. “Antes era corredor, pero ahora siento las piernas débiles. Ya no puedo correr,” dijo Muñoz. “También hay momentos, durante unos tres segundos, que se me olvida dónde estoy, y todavía siento mucha flema en los pulmones.” Muñoz recibió la vacuna contra el COVID-19\. Pero el Dr. Leo Morales, profesor de medicina en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Washington, dijo que los síntomas de el COVID persistente han sido constantes entre los latinos, incluidos los que trabajan en el campo, en parte porque muchos tardaron en acceder a la vacuna, algunos por desconfianza, otros por falta de seguro y por la inaccesibilidad. Morales fue una de las investigadoras principales del estudio del Centro Latino para la Salud de la Universidad de Washington. “En Latinoamérica, las vacunas son una estrategia muy conocida. La gente vacuna a sus hijos y se vacuna a sí misma. Sin embargo, existe cierto escepticismo en la comunidad latina,” afirmó Morales. “Existe la preocupación de que ‘la vacuna te contagiará la enfermedad’. Esa es una de las inquietudes… pero lidiar con las complicaciones derivadas de la falta de vacunas es mucho más costoso,” dijo. Otro estudiar, parte del Estudio de Salud de los Trabajadores Agrícolas de California de 2022 informa que las malas condiciones de vida (especialmente para quienes viven en viviendas para trabajadores agrícolas) y la alta prevalencia de enfermedades, como la diabetes y la obesidad, también pueden aumentar el riesgo de padecer COVID-19 grave y COVID persistente. “Los beneficios para la salud se traducen en productividad, paternidad, en fin, en todo tipo de actividades,” dijo Morales. “Los impactos pueden ser significativos”. ## Años después, los problemas respiratorios (y las facturas del hospital) persisten En su casa en Sunnyside, los trabajadores agrícolas Lorena Avalos y su esposo, José León, estaban sentados a la mesa del comedor un día del mes pasado. Avalos jugueteaba con un inhalador mientras León recordaba cómo el coronavirus lo había llevado al hospital dos años atrás. La pareja había recibido la vacuna contra el COVID. “Me da miedo volver a acabar en el hospital,” dijo Leon. Antes de contraer el COVID-19, Leon afirmó que gozaba de buena salud y que rara vez se enfermaba. Incluso durante el primer año de la pandemia, evitó el contagio. Dijo que no fue hasta meses después de vacunarse que enfermó gravemente. “Sentía que no podía respirar. Cuando fui al hospital, me pusieron un respirador para ayudarme a respirar,” dijo Leon. “Y luego terminé en el hospital de nuevo un mes después.” Después de eso, según contó, los médicos le diagnosticaron asma. Luego desarrolló neumonía. “No tenía nada de esto antes del COVID,” dijo. Avalos afirmó haber dado positivo por el virus en cinco ocasiones y haber tenido problemas respiratorios desde su primera infección hace cuatro años. También ha participado activamente en la comunidad a través de la organización United Farm Workers, ayudando a organizar y defender los derechos de los trabajadores agrícolas, y se ha pronunciado abiertamente sobre los problemas a los que se enfrentan estos trabajadores. Avalos dijo que ha tenido casos de COVID con solo unos meses de diferencia. “Me contagiaba de COVID cada pocos meses.” Ambos dependen ahora de inhaladores para controlar los síntomas persistentes. Como no tienen seguro médico, pagan de su propio bolsillo, a pesar de que ya les resulta difícil cubrir los gastos mensuales. Cada inhalador cuesta unos 120 dólares, según León. Además, León sigue pagando sus facturas de hospitalización. “Uso (mi inhalador) al menos tres veces por semana. En cuanto se me acaba, voy a comprar otro,” dijo. Según el Departamento de Salud del Estado de Washington, actualmente hay aproximadamente 228.588 trabajadores agrícolas en el estado. El Instituto de Políticas Públicas del Estado de Washington estima que al menos el 39% de ellos no tienen seguro médico. Según GoodRx, la vacuna contra el COVID-19 puede costar más de 200 dólares sin seguro médico, además de una tarifa administrativa. El año pasado, se presentó en la Legislatura un proyecto de ley para abordar la equidad en la cobertura de salud, reconociendo que los inmigrantes —incluidos muchos trabajadores agrícolas— carecen de seguro médico de manera desproporcionada. El proyecto habría ampliado el acceso a la atención médica para las personas excluidas de los programas federales. Fue remitido a comisión en 2025, pero no se aprobó antes de que finalizara la sesión. Este año, los legisladores volvieron a presentar un proyecto de ley más amplio sobre la negociación colectiva de los trabajadores agrícolas, que habría extendido los derechos sindicales a todos los trabajadores agrícolas del estado, pero no prosperó. El proyecto de ley no incluía disposiciones sobre atención médica. Por ahora, trabajadores como Avalos y León andan controlando sus síntomas por su cuenta. Dicen que han modificado su dieta con la esperanza de evitar más visitas al hospital y aliviar sus problemas respiratorios. Muñoz también intenta mantenerse activo. Camina por la ciudad, trata de comer saludable y escribe letras inspiradas en lo que ve en los campos mientras migra por el noroeste del Pacífico. Dijo que su nieta se hizo enfermera después de verlo luchar contra el COVID-19 y que ahora a menudo le aconseja sobre cómo proteger su salud. “Intento mantenerme activo todos los días para poder mantenerme sano y seguir trabajando en los campos creados por Dios,” dijo Muñoz. *Este reportaje forma parte de una beca de periodismo patrocinada por la Association of Health Care Journalists y financiada por el Commonwealth Fund.* [*Monica Carrillo-Casas*](https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/directory/wsu-profile/m.carrillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, reporting on northeastern rural communities for the* [*Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/staff/monica-carillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, is with the* [*Washington State Murrow Fellowships*](https://murrow.wsu.edu/student-work/experiential-learning/news-fellowship/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a local news program* [*supported*](https://news.wsu.edu/news/2023/08/10/murrow-college-to-lead-2-4-million-effort-to-support-washingtons-local-news/?ref=rangemedia.co) *by state legislators.* ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/8717536b-2273-4db6-8af9-c5afa6641253.jpg) ### Six years later, COVID symptoms linger for many Latino farmworkers in Washington URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/six-years-later-covid-symptoms-linger-for-many-latino-farmworkers-in-washington/ Last updated: 2026-03-16T23:55:07.000Z 🔗 [Para leer en español](https://www.rangemedia.co/seis-anos-despues-los-sintomas-de-covid-persisten-en-muchos-trabajadores-agricolas-latinos-en-washington/) The dizziness started while Baldomero Muñoz was working in the blueberry fields of Oregon. That didn’t stop him. He kept picking. By the next morning, his head was pounding and his lungs hurt. A few days later, he tested positive for COVID-19 – an illness he says he still hasn’t fully recovered from five years later. “I still feel like there’s phlegm stuck in my lungs,” Muñoz said in Spanish. Long COVID among Latino farmworkers has become a recurring story in Washington. According to research from the University of Washington Latino Center for Health, an estimated 41.2% of agricultural workers report long COVID – one of the highest rates compared to other professions. One theory is delayed access to the vaccine because of financial concerns or hesitancy to get the shot. Christine Jaquish, a physician for Mid-Valley Hospital and Clinic in Omak, describes long COVID as a condition after an individual has had the virus and continues to feel a variety of different and lasting symptoms, despite testing negative. “The symptoms are still impacting the patient’s daily function, quality of life and ability to return to school or work,” Jaquish said. ### ‘I felt like my head was about to explode’ Confused, he would watch his mom scoop up dirt, kiss it and give it a blessing. His dad, kneeling on the soil, also would bless every crop they would harvest – corn, pumpkin seeds, pinto beans. “I was so young when he would do that, so I would just look at him wondering what he was saying,” Muñoz said. “That’s something I’ll never forget.” Muñoz, now 75, said the connections his family had with nature makes him feel honored to work as a farmworker. He said he writes his own songs about the fields and sings them as he works, even though he can’t write well and doesn’t know how to read. Muñoz attended school for two years before he was pulled out to work with his dad, he said, earning 18 cents a day. “I’m inspired by the dirt, the animals,” he said. “Like today, when I was coming from work, I saw the branches and the trees; they almost looked like they were fighting – these things can be poetic to me.” In 1994, Muñoz migrated from Mexico to Oregon, picking strawberries, and eventually started going back and forth between Oregon and the fields of Pasco for the grape and blueberry seasons. The work is hard, he said, but meaningful. “Working in the fields is a beautiful thing,” Muñoz said. That commitment to the fields didn’t change when he got sick in 2021\. At first, he didn’t realize how serious his symptoms were. The day after the dizziness began, he called his supervisor to say he wouldn’t be coming in, assuming he had a cold. Muñoz stayed home for three days before going to the hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19. “I didn’t realize it was that serious, but once I knew, I decided to drive to my daughter’s house in Vancouver because I wasn’t feeling well enough to be on my own,” he said. A few days later, while his daughter was at work, Muñoz said he called her struggling to breathe, feeling like he might die. “I felt like my head was about to explode and my lungs were failing me,” he said. Muñoz didn’t work for several months after his diagnosis. Despite home remedies and medication, he continues to feel lingering effects that make daily life, and physically demanding fieldwork, more difficult. “I used to be a runner, but my legs feel weak now. I can’t run anymore,” Muñoz said. “There are also times, for about 3 seconds, that I forget where I am, and I still feel a lot of phlegm in my lungs.” Muñoz got the COVID-19 vaccine. But Dr. Leo Morales, professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said symptoms of long COVID have been consistent for Latinos, including those who work in the fields, in part because many were late to access the vaccine – some because of hesitancy, others for lack of insurance and accessibility. Morales was one of the lead researchers on the University of Washington Latino Center for Health study. “In Latin America, vaccines are a very well understood strategy. People vaccinate their children, and they vaccinate themselves. However, there is a certain strain of skepticism that flows through the Latino community,” Morales said. “There’s, you know, ‘The vaccine will give you the disease.’ That’s one concern … but dealing with the complications of lack of vaccines is much more expensive,” he said. Another [study](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jrh.12796?ref=rangemedia.co) conducted as part of the 2022 California Farmworker Health Study, reports poor living conditions (especially those living in farmworker housing) and high prevalence of illnesses, like diabetes and obesity, can increase the risk of severe COVID-19 and long COVID. “The health outcomes translates into productivity, parenthood, you know, every form of activity,” Morales said. “The impacts can be significant.” ### Years later, breathing problems (and hospital bills) remain At their home in Sunnyside, farmworkers Lorena Avalos and her husband, Jose Leon, sit at their dining room table one day last month. Avalos fidgets with an inhaler while Leon recalls how the coronavirus landed him in the hospital two years ago. The couple had received the COVID vaccination. “I’m scared I’ll end up in the hospital again,” Leon said. Before getting COVID-19, Leon said he was relatively healthy and rarely got sick. Even during the first year of the pandemic, he avoided infection. He said it wasn’t until months after he was vaccinated that he became seriously ill. “I felt like I couldn’t breathe. When I went (to the hospital), they put a ventilator on me to help me breathe,” Leon said. “And then I ended up in the hospital again a month later.” After that, he said, doctors diagnosed him with asthma. Then he developed pneumonia. “I didn’t have any of this before COVID,” he said. Avalos said she has tested positive for the virus five times and has struggled with breathing problems since her first infection four years ago. She has also been active in the community through the United Farm Workers, helping organize and advocate for farmworker rights, and has been vocal about the issues farmworkers face. Avalos said she’s gotten COVID cases just months apart. “I was getting COVID every few months.” Both now rely on inhalers to manage lingering symptoms. Because the couple doesn’t have health insurance, they pay out of pocket, despite already finding it difficult to pay monthly expenses. Each inhaler costs about $120, Leon said. Leon also still is paying his hospitalization bills. “I use (my inhaler) at least three times a week. The minute I run out, I go and get another one,” he said. According to the Washington State Department of Health, there are approximately 228,588 farmworkers in Washington State today. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy estimates at least 39% of them don’t have insurance. The COVID vaccine can cost more than $200 without insurance, with an additional administration fee, according to GoodRx. Last year, [a bill](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1482&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) was introduced in the Legislature to address health coverage equity, recognizing that immigrants – including many farmworkers – are disproportionately uninsured. The bill would have expanded access for people excluded from federal programs. It was referred to committee in 2025 but did not pass before the session ended. Legislators this year reintroduced a broader farmworker collective-bargaining bill that would have extended union rights to agricultural workers statewide, but it did not move forward. The bill did not include healthcare provisions. For now, workers like Avalos and Leon are left managing their symptoms on their own. They say they have changed their diets in hopes of avoiding additional hospital visits and easing their breathing problems. Muñoz, too, tries to stay active. He walks around town, eats healthy foods and writes lyrics inspired by what he sees in the fields as he migrates across the Pacific Northwest. He said his granddaughter became a nurse after watching him struggle through COVID-19 and now often advises him on how to protect his health. “I try to stay active everyday so I can stay healthy and continue working in the fields created by God,” Muñoz said. *This story is part of a reporting fellowship sponsored by the Association of Health Care Journalists and supported by the Commonwealth Fund.* [*Monica Carrillo-Casas*](https://news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu/directory/wsu-profile/m.carrillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, reporting on northeastern rural communities for the* [*Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/staff/monica-carillo-casas/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, is with the* [*Washington State Murrow Fellowships*](https://murrow.wsu.edu/student-work/experiential-learning/news-fellowship/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a local news program* [*supported*](https://news.wsu.edu/news/2023/08/10/murrow-college-to-lead-2-4-million-effort-to-support-washingtons-local-news/?ref=rangemedia.co) *by state legislators.* ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/240fe407-1ab0-4ca7-a640-d32ded44e449.jpg) ### Urbanism and affordable housing at Spokane City Council URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/ Last updated: 2026-03-17T17:35:35.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council is taking a look at a spread of affordable housing legislation tonight, including approving a tax exemption to turn a parking lot into housing and a law to waive some fees for new “streateries” and “parklets.” - The Urban Experience Committee will discuss an update on the city’s most recent comprehensive homelessness analysis, plus a slate of new affordable housing projects recommended for funding. - Spokane Valley is setting a public hearing to discuss its emergency ordinance codified in February that bans battery energy storage facilities from the city. - Spokane County voters may get a chance to approve a protection district for the contaminated aquifers that run under the West Plains. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Lake%20City%20Council-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Urban%20Experience%20Committee%20%28Spokane%20city%29) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Bicycle%20Advisory%20Board,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/urbanism-and-affordable-housing-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=attendance%20here.-,Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Parking 2 People [In 2023](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/mar/01/spokane-city-council-approves-pavement-to-people-o/?ref=rangemedia.co), Spokane became [the first city](https://my.spokanecity.org/economicdevelopment/incentives/parking-2-people-incentive/?ref=rangemedia.co) in Washington to adopt a tax incentive approved by the Washington State Legislature that would allow developers to turn parking lots or other underdeveloped lots into residential housing without having to pay sales or use taxes on the construction of residential improvements — on the condition that at least 50% of the units in the new construction are reserved for affordable multifamily housing. Tonight, council could approve the tax deferral for the Northeast Public Development Authority to create a mixed-use building with at least 25 housing units at 3011 E. Wellesley Avenue in Hillyard. There would also be commercial units on the ground floor. In order to be eligible for the tax credit, work must be completed on this project within three years. ### Safe Streets funding spend Council could also approve an expansion of an existing contract with DOWL Consulting Services to spend $163,838 from the Safe Streets For All Fund. If approved, DOWL consulting would use $75,000 of that to conduct a speed control pilot study on Maple and Ash, and work on amendments to the traffic control plans for 2026 and 2027. ### Affordable housing funding priorities Previously known as the [1590 fund](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/citycouncil/interest-items/2020/10/1590-infographic-2020-11-04.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) — in reference to the state law that allowed the city to collect the sales tax to seed it — the [HEART fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co) spending priorities are set to be approved today. In general, the rules governing the fund state that 70% must be spent on things like building affordable housing, supporting or acquiring behavioral health facilities and funding operation of these facilities. The other 30% can be spent on the [“Legal Services and Relocation Fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co),” — which helps tenants relocate if landlords violate habitability requirements — and costs related to operating behavioral health and housing-related services and programs. The specific item up for a vote today would set the priorities for the committee reviewing proposals for the funding and state that a minimum of 80% of the 70% of revenue earmarked for capital expenses should exclusively fund affordable housing projects and not behavioral health projects. Last week, the council approved an amendment from Council President Betsy Wilkerson that lays out 10 specific types of projects the council wants to fund from HEART dollars this year: 1. Constructing mixed-use housing 2. Constructing new units of affordable housing 3. Creating permanently affordable housing, defined as maintaining affordability for households earning up to 60% of AMI for at least forty (40) years for rental housing and for at least twenty-five (25) years for owner-occupied housing 4. Addressing the racial wealth gap through increasing homeownership for populations that have historically been subject to discrimination in housing markets or housing policy 5. Distributing attainable housing throughout the city, in a variety of neighborhoods and in closer proximity to services such as parks and open space, schools and grocery stores 6. Constructing units that are safe and accessible, regardless of age, physical ability or stature 7. Projects which include anti-displacement strategies 8. Constructing or rehabilitating new units of affordable housing, that would break ground for construction within 12 months and/or be “move-in ready” within 18 months. 9. Constructing new units of affordable housing that allow for occupant homeownership, rent-to-own leases, or cooperatively-owned multi-family projects. 10. The provider must document a realistic and achievable capital stack strategy that identifies prospective follow-on funding sources, including Housing Trust Fund opportunities, and provides evidence of alignment with eligibility criteria, application timelines and project readiness benchmarks ### Parklets, streateries and sidewalk cafes Tonight, the city council will vote on an ordinance that’s aiming to “encourage the activation of public spaces,” by making it easier and cheaper for businesses to take over sidewalk chunks, parking spots or loading zones to use as “parklets,” “streateries” and “sidewalk cafes.” The common denominator of these cutesy names is that they put something else — like seating — in what was either a parking spot or an extra chunk of sidewalk. Here’s photos of a few examples that were included in the committee agenda where this was briefed: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-8e996d8d-5346-4544-b779-9c02c39ae9c5.png) **A “streatery,” that extends the adjacent businesses’ seating into the parking spot in front.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-acb8d3bc-6b25-491a-af7a-2a2a8ca99613.png) **The permitted sidewalk cafe at The Yards in Spokane.* While all these uses have technically been allowed since 2017, few streateries and sidewalk cafes — and no parklets — have actually been permitted, which the city thinks is due to a high upfront cost to set up the spaces on top of city fees and noticing requirements. The ordinance would waive two fees until December 31, 2027: the annual $150 licensing fee for sidewalk cafes, parklets and streateries and a new annual $100 outdoor alcohol service fee. It also eases the notice requirement, moving it back from a minimum 10-day notice period to a maximum 10-day comment period that just requires a business to post their intent to take over the spot to a visible public area, rather than having to mail it to every property owner, tenant and building manager. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 16 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 16 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Longitudinal look at homelessness There’s no additional data included in the packet, but today, CHHS Director Dawn Kinder is set to present an update on the longitudinal systems analysis (LSA) report to the council. The LSA is a [more comprehensive and accurate](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/) way of studying how many people use homelessness services and their outcomes. Earlier this year, Kinder [presented preliminary data](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/#:~:text=Homelessness%20update), which we discussed with her and former RANGE reporter and current Waters Meet storyteller Carl Segerstrom on [The Pod](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-housing-conversation/) in January. ### Funding for home investment The city is set to receive about $2.5 million in funding to be used on affordable housing projects that “increase and/or preserve the supply of affordable housing units serving extremely-low (30% of Area Median Income) and very-low-income households (below 50% of Area Median Income) in the City of Spokane,” according to the [notice of funding availability](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/chhs/funding-opportunities/chhs/2025-11-14/2026-home-investment-partnership/2026-home-investment-partnership-rfp.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co). The CHHS board has reviewed application and recommended the following projects to the council to be funded: - $1,191,000 to [Proclaim Liberty](https://www.spokanejournal.com/articles/16668-bethany-presbyterian-church-project?ref=rangemedia.co), a project spearheaded by Bethany Presbyterian Church that plans to put 22 units of affordable housing in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood - $341,025 to the Volunteers of America for rehabilitating [Alexandria’s House](https://voaspokane.org/locations/alexandrias-house/?ref=rangemedia.co), a licensed maternity group home in Spokane for pregnant and parenting homeless teens. - $352,200 to [Take Up The Cause](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/jul/01/new-spokane-housing-organization-take-up-the-cause/?ref=rangemedia.co) for rehabilitation of the[ Beloved Sunset](https://www.krem.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-inland-northwest/new-apartments-open-low-income-spokane-families/293-83cc725c-c475-4187-9aef-1a8971643bf2?ref=rangemedia.co) apartments, which have more than 50 units for low-income families and individuals under 60% of the area median income - $152,725 to Trinity Transitional Housing to rehabilitate [Maxwell House](https://trinitytransitionalhousing.com/maxwell-house?ref=rangemedia.co), which has units available for women with children to “rebuild their lives after treatment or incarceration.” - $420,000 to [Vasilenko for attached townhomes at South Crystal Ridge](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/crystal-ridge-south-preliminary-long-plat/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 16 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🌶️**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 17 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Ballot measure for West Plains aquifer protection The county wants to place an item on August primary ballots that would create a protection district for the underground water that feeds much of the rural rural areas between Spokane and Airway Heights. The aquifers out there are contaminated by forever chemicals. The protection district would allow the county “to collect funds for water-related activities such as construction of infrastructure, planning and education programs.” It’s the same mechanism that funds protection of the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer, which feeds half a million people in Spokane County. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 17 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session 🌶️**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 17 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane School District Board of Directors ~~🌶️~~🫑**/5 peppers** ### What’s next for the school/park levies we passed? The public can tune in on a presentation that will give them an update on Together Spokane, the partnership between distinct entities focused on [“the future of our city’s parks](https://www.togetherspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=What%20is%20Together%20Spokane?,deliver%20clear%20value%20for%20families), schools, and neighborhoods.” The update to the board is expected to include timelines, key updates for the project’s phase one and a planning overview for the next two phases. The presentation slides are available on the agenda. ### “Revising school district officers” The board could also approve a resolution to designate people to 16 district officer roles, including a secretary to the board, a Title IX/Staff Civil Rights Officer and Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying (HIB)/Student Civil Rights Officer. The full list can be viewed through the board’s agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, March 18 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### No battery energy storage in SpoVal The city council in February prohibited battery energy storage facilities within the city limits with an emergency ordinance that’s temporary in nature. This week, it will schedule a public hearing about the energy storage technology. The agenda item for this says the city is trying to protect public safety. Battery energy storage allows jurisdictions to store energy from renewable sources like sun and wind, reserving it for periods of high demand. The main knock on renewable energy is that it’s intermittent, meaning no electricity is generated when the sun hides behind clouds or the wind stops and battery energy storage is the solution to this. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 17 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 17 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Resurrecting the bogeymen URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/resurrecting-the-bogeymen/ Last updated: 2026-04-07T15:18:02.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News*](https://favs.news/spokane-pastor-matt-shea-leading-anti-muslim-communist-movement/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* On a recent flight home, Spokane Valley City Council member Al Merkel found himself sharing a first-class armrest with an unexpected seatmate: Christian supremacist Matt Shea, the former state representative of Spokane Valley, who was ousted in 2020 from the Republican caucus over accusations of domestic terror. Merkel was coming back from visiting his father in the Carolinas; Shea was returning from the rhetorical front lines of a spiritual war against the forces of jihad and communism, phantom threats that have loomed large in his mind for decades. He knew this war was about to break into the physical realm in deadly fighting between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Specifically, he’d been flying from American city to American city training pastors and Christians on how to fight Muslims and leftists. Merkel and Shea talked. Having moved in the same Republican circles for years, Merkel told RANGE it would have been awkward not to. The council member was surprised by the nuance of the conversation. Shea, who now pastors a Spokane church, didn’t seem the right-wing extremist Merkel had come to expect in the proudly anti-Muslim apostle. In fact, Shea agreed with Merkel that Jessica Yaeger, Merkel’s colleague on the council, had gone too far when she’d declared herself a “proud Islamophobe" on social media. Average Muslims, they agreed, are okay, Merkel said. “Maybe he was tailoring his message for me, knowing what I might say,” Merkel said. “But in order to do that, you still have to have some comprehension, right?” But Shea does not have nuanced views on Islam and communism; his statements on the religion and the economic system stretch back decades. For nearly as long, Shea has been warning anyone who will listen that, if Christians don’t act, “Western civilization” will fall. For years, Shea has worked to build a national and even international audience for his views, without finding the kind of viral fame many others have. Shea does have powerful admirers, though, and in this latest barnstorming tour of America he's working as a spokesperson for the [multi-million-dollar conservative nonprofit America’s Future](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131549794?ref=rangemedia.co), chaired by former [General Michael Flynn](https://www.rangemedia.co/matt-shea-michael-flynn-spokane/), who was ousted from the first Trump administration. ### The tip of the spear Shea’s tour included speeches at large churches. He [went on](https://open.spotify.com/episode/63pcOpHJKe4XFe0GcjTPXl?ref=rangemedia.co) former CBS journalist Lara Logan’s far-right podcast. (As of the organization’s latest tax filing, Logan was also a board member of America’s Future). [Brian Noble](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiatives-to-erode-student-privacy-are-pushed-by-a-wa-think-tank-led-by-spoval-pastor/), who runs a think tank partly dedicated to anti-Islamic sentiment, hosted Shea on his podcast. In January, Shea [connected](https://rumble.com/v74drli-shea-1.html?ref=rangemedia.co) with ousted Trump advisor Steve Bannon on Bannon’s far-right podcast *War Room*, which [in 2023 topped](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/technology/podcasts-steve-bannon-war-room-misinformation.html?ref=rangemedia.co) the Brookings Institution’s list of shows spreading misinformation. “We educate, we equip and we empower pastors and citizens,” Shea told Bannon*.* Bannon approvingly compared Shea to the political operative Frank Gaffney, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center [named](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/frank-gaffney-jr/?ref=rangemedia.co) “one of America’s most notorious Islamaphobes” and heaped praise on Shea for sharing “legendary” expertise on Islam with Flynn. (Shea has no formal theological training.) It’s rare that Shea allows himself to be interviewed, and he never talks to reporters, but, according to him, this is not a normal time. Shea, Bannon and other Christian nationalist figures believe Islam is on the verge of collapse and Christ is about to return to Earth. But a victory for Christians requires action, so the most tangible goal of Shea’s national campaign was to push a ballot measure in Texas that would advise lawmakers to ban Sharia law over the finish line. There is no more potent battlefield in this war than that state, where GOP lawmakers [are waging](https://redcircle.com/shows/fbed712f-0027-40af-a33b-fd9de05efc5c/ep/f2fb3295-b16c-4709-ace4-ba26b23f62a8?ref=rangemedia.co) a coordinated campaign of anti-Muslim bigotry and where Shea spearheaded efforts by a conservative group to advance the anti-Islamic ballot measure. On March 3 of this year, [95% of Texans](https://texasscorecard.com/state/republican-voters-overwhelmingly-back-ban-on-sharia-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) ended up supporting the measure. This followed a ban on faith-based Islamic communities in the state passed by the Texas legislature and signed by Governor Greg Abbott into law in 2025\. “What \[the measure\] basically said is that it's illegal for Sharia to be the basis of any law in the country,” said Terry Kyllo, a Lutheran minister and executive director of [Paths to Understanding](https://pathstounderstanding.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), an organization dedicated to strengthening relationships between Christians and Muslims in Washington state. “Well, that's stupid because the US Constitution explicitly states that \[the Constitution\] is the law of the land.“ The bill led to an [explosion of anti-Muslim hate](https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/islamophobia-takes-center-stage-in-the-lone-star-state/?ref=rangemedia.co) on social media and has become part of model legislation advanced by far-right lawyers. Sharia, which is translated roughly as “the way,” is not a system of law but a [moral code](https://islamophobia.org/anti-prejudice-tools/everyday-values-most-americans-are-already-familiar-with-islams-sharia/?ref=rangemedia.co) that some Muslims adhere to, much in the same way some Christians follow the Ten Commandments. Though there is escalating fear among people who adhere to Shea's scorched-Earth version of Christianity that their ways of life are being sidelined, there has perhaps never been a time in the US when corporations and followers of Jesus have been more powerful. Corporate wealth in the US [has never been](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/03/the-wealth-of-the-top-1percent-reaches-a-record-52-trillion.html?ref=rangemedia.co) more robust. And though Americans are leaving organized religions in droves, Christian radicals have [never had more control](https://kettering.org/project-2025-the-blueprint-for-christian-nationalist-regime-change/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20plan%20is%20ambitious.,being%20enemies%20of%20our%20republic.) over the American government. Of the 535 seats in the US Congress, zero are held by communists, though four are held by Muslims, all in the House. About 20,000 thousand Americans — a little more than .005% of the population — were registered with the Communist Party USA in 2024, a party leader told [C-SPAN](https://www.c-span.org/program/washington-journal/joe-sims-on-communist-party-usa-and-campaign-2024/643328?ref=rangemedia.co) that year. While Islam is the third-largest religion in the US — behind Christianity and Judaism — only about 4.5 million Americans identify as Muslim, or a little more than 1%. Shea insists Muslims and communists are a threat here in Washington, too. There are no communists in the Washington state legislature, and only two of nearly 150 state lawmakers identify as Muslim. More than 50% of the state population is Christian, while the most generous estimates say the Muslim population is less than 2%. Still, the anti-Muslim fearmongering central to Shea’s worldview — coupled with the much larger, better resourced megaphone supplied by America’s Future — could mean actual harm in Muslim communities across the country and here in Washington. Sheikh Adam Jamal, an imam with the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, said the community he represents is afraid of being identified as Muslim in public because of the anti-Islamic rhetoric that has resurfaced under the presidencies of Donald Trump. The problem is so acute, Jamal said, that it’s difficult to get Muslims in Washington to respond to opinion surveys or talk to the press. He pointed to an inquiry from a Seattle television station. “I remember asking so many people to speak to reporters,” Jamal told RANGE. “They said the last thing we want is to incur more discrimination and more injustice against us because we've spoken out for — and multiple people said this — crazy people to come after us because we said something.” ### Equipping the spiritual ranks The anti-Islam project of Christian nationalism is two-fold. Participants start by straw-manning Islam as not just a religion, but as a totalitarian political project to control the world. Simultaneously, Christian nationalists like Shea insist Christians should be in control of every influential sector of society. “There's nothing that they say about Islam that isn't true about \[their version of\] Christianity,” said Shane Burley, a Portland journalist who covers antisemitism on the far right, including among churches affiliated with Shea’s. Shea didn’t respond to a request for comment on this story, and has been vague in his media appearances about exactly what his anti-Muslim campaign intended to do. But video recorded December 8, which RANGE obtained, shows one of Shea’s speeches during the campaign in which he describes “communist” and “jihadi” forces as “working in lock step” to “do violence in the country.” The groups he named included a mostly defunct leftist firearms organization called the John Brown Gun Club; Indivisible, a progressive organization that was instrumental in peaceful No Kings protests last year; and, of course, antifa, a leaderless movement that mobilizes in opposition to fascism. It’s unclear how the groups are connected to jihad or communism. He said this collusion was evident in recent mass protests against [violent and likely illegal](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/us/ice-federal-agents-less-lethal-weapons?ref=rangemedia.co) immigration enforcement by federal agents, including No Kings. He did not provide sources to support these claims. Speaking before an audience of Eastern Washington conservatives at the December 8 event hosted by the right-wing Northwest Grassroots Coalition, Shea painted an apocalyptic picture of a world governed by progressive structures. He suggested former President Joe Biden had given Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan to China so China would undermine US elections in favor of Democrats. He said Barack Obama was planted by jihadi and communist networks to mesmerize unthinking lefties. He said those same forces are installing Muslim sleeper cells in the US to attack at a strategic time. He said vaccine mandates during the COVID pandemic were a tactic to create a list of targets who wouldn’t comply. He said leftist gun clubs are organizing in concert with antifa and queer rights groups to commit violence against Christians. He gave his audience the website addresses of the organizations he'd pointed out and encouraged them to do their own investigating. He said when leftist groups have planned a protest, Christians should show up to the site the day before and worship the Lord and take communion — “and see what happens.” He said pastors should tell their congregants to support Donald Trump, as he did with his congregation during the 2024 presidential campaign. He acknowledged that his enemies were “a bunch of old hippies, usually,” but asserted that those hippies “want to overthrow the United States government and the Constitution before they die.” He identified specific reporters who criticized Shea and Flynn as "propagandists" for antifa and called for them to be investigated. (He pointed to projected images on a wall and called the reporters “that guy,” but it’s unclear in the video who the reporters are.) He encouraged the attendees to “fight back” against the forces he’d illustrated, but he said they needed to be trained. It was not clear precisely what kind of training Shea was referring to, but he encouraged the audience to “text me or email me” to learn more. Shea gained some of his notoriety in the 2010s for boosting a training program that groomed young men for “biblical war” known as [Team Rugged](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/13/matt-shea-biblical-war-washington-team-rugged?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Fringe end times theory Shea’s war against Islam broke into the physical realm when, on February 28, Trump’s Defense Department started an unsanctioned war against Iran, decapitating the country’s leadership and bombing a school where dozens of children died. The action dramatically escalated tensions in the Middle East between Israel and its Muslim neighbors. And it comported with Shea’s end-times worldview. A former soldier and politician, he belongs to a movement of charismatic evangelical churches called the New Apostolic Reformation, which sees these developments as central events in the Christian effort to establish God’s kingdom on earth, tilling the ground for a 1,000-year reign of Christ. Other sectors of Christian nationalism oppose the war, but the NAR is one of the most influential forces driving the American agenda under Trump. Paula White-Cain, an NAR apostle (like Shea), is Trump’s spiritual adviser. Trump Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth belongs to another branch of Christian nationalists led by the Moscow dominionist pastor Doug Wilson, who believes Christians should run every country in the world (though they don’t believe in ushering in the 1,000-year reign). On the Sunday before the February 28 attacks on Iran, [Shea told](https://rumble.com/v75spbg-sunday-february-15th-live-service-on-fire-ministries.html?ref=rangemedia.co) his congregation the war was just around the corner and that they should anticipate it with joy. “I’m a warrior kind of guy,” he said, striding across the stage at his downtown church On Fire Ministries. “When I see a fight coming, I get excited.” ### A special KYRS Spring FUN(d) Drive episode! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/kyrs-spring-fund-drive/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T17:16:04.000Z We had a two-hour special show this week for the KYRS Spring Fund Drive, led by Erin and Pascal! During the first hour, Aaron Hedge and Daniel Walters joined to talk about their reporting processes. Daniel told a story about an interesting letter he found and how that led to him doing some journalistic work, while Aaron talked about his reporting processes for some of his early RANGE stories. During the second hour, Luke joined to talk about his career in journalism, how he’s seen the journalism field shift over time, and more. Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Grieving mom wishes Spokane Valley fixed city’s worst intersection before it killed her son URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/grieving-mom-wishes-spokane-valley-fixed-citys-worst-intersection-before-it-killed-her-son/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T20:38:19.000Z 🛣️ This story is the first in a series we're calling "Accident by Design." For more on the series, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/accident-by-design/). It's nearly 2 am on June 26, 2023, and Sakeleanna Adame is in her 2020 Highlander blasting 45 miles an hour for the intersection of Bowdish Road and 16th Avenue in Spokane Valley. Buttons with photos of Bryce — her firstborn son — are pinned to her chest. She knows the speed limit is 35\. She knows there’s a stop sign peeking out from behind the utility pole**.** She ignores both. She’s angry, she’s broken, she wants to understand what happened, she wants to feel what her son experienced in his final moments. She wants to know. She has to know. Then she hits the patch of road where Bryce went off the road a year earlier. *Bam.* The bottom of the front end of her Highlander — an SUV designed to withstand rough roads — slams against the “Bowdish bump,” a slope in the asphalt that neighbors say has caused a slew of serious accidents since 2014\. In that moment, she’s certain: The street itself killed her son. Multiple factors conspired to kill Bryce Prince Adame. His friend in the driver’s seat — a teen with a history of reckless driving, who’d been smoking weed earlier that day. A dark January night made darker by the freezing fog. A wide road free of sidewalks that goaded cars to drive faster. The stop sign often obscured by a utility pole and tree foliage. And the Bowdish bump. The Kia that Bryce had been riding in on January 23, 2022, was much lighter than Sakeleanna Adame’s Highlander. The tires were small, and the bottom of the car’s body was closer to the ground. It’s unclear how fast the Kia was going, but it was fast enough that the bump sent it into an uncontrollable spin — across the road nearly 100 yards, rolling over large landscape boulders in a nearby lawn, then crunching into a pine tree. Bryce was in the back seat, his head pinned by the mangled metal of the crushed roof. Cops had to wait for the firefighters to extract him from the wreck. Adame remembers her son’s final moments in the hospital, his hair slicked back with his blood, black stitches gashing across his “beautiful face.” She held his hand and felt the warmth drain from his body. In 2023, Adame filed a lawsuit against the driver — her son’s friend — but also with Spokane County and the city of Spokane Valley for failing to fix the intersection. The public often debates over traffic tragedies through the lens of personal responsibility — blaming bad drivers, drunk drivers and stupid drivers for road fatalities. But there’s another angle: one that also directs blame at engineers and politicians — the people who allow dangerous roads to fester. While Spokane Valley leaders have long touted the city’s ability to run a lean government, it has often struggled to fund street projects to fix or improve roads. Bryce wasn’t the first victim of the Bowdish and 16th intersection. By Spokane Valley’s own count, there were 55 accidents at or directly near that intersection between 2010 and 2021. In a deposition for Adame’s lawsuit, Spokane Valley Traffic Engineering Program Manager Jerremy Clark acknowledged that no other intersection he’d ever analyzed in Spokane Valley had a higher crash rate. Yet Spokane Valley’s attorneys have argued that the Bowdish bump was “unremarkable” and that, because the most serious accidents involved speed or intoxication, the drivers bore the blame. They pointed to the “stop ahead” sign meant to alert drivers a stop was coming up. But Adame’s expert, safety engineering consultant Steven Wiker, argued in court documents that if a driver failed to stop at the stop sign, a Kia going just five miles over the speed limit could be launched. And because the stop sign was partly hidden behind a utility pole — obscured by “defective placement” — many drivers missed it. Adame said the real target of the lawsuit wasn’t her son’s friend. She can forgive him. Teens do stupid and dangerous things. Her deeper anger is with the city of Spokane Valley. Neighbors had complained about the intersection for a decade before it was finally renovated in 2024 — and it wasn’t even the first time an intersection in the Valley has killed speeding teenagers by launching them into a tree. “They *knew*, and they're *adults*,” Adame said. “They knew … They failed me. They failed my son. They failed my community.” **ROAD TOLLS** Amid the litigation, the city of Spokane Valley was reticent to comment at length to RANGE’s questions, other than providing a [link](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/701/Bowdish-Road-Improvements?ref=rangemedia.co) detailing the city’s work on the intersection since 2024\. But former-Spokane Valley City Council Member Arne Woodard said the city of Spokane Valley has been sued over these kinds of accidents more than once. Typically, the driver was speeding and intoxicated. “Sometimes, as a government, we look like we’re the big bad wolf because we refuse to pay for other people's poor judgment or lack of discipline,” Woodard said. “They want us to pay out millions of millions of millions of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars that have come into us, *frugally.”* Frugality was embedded in Spokane Valley’s origin: The city was formed in 2003, partly as a way to keep taxes low. But as the population began to rapidly grow, the Valley found that many of the roads inherited from the county weren’t cutting it anymore. "You don't even want to know how many intersections in the valley are in dire need of drastic improvements," Woodard said. But the chosen funding stream for road maintenance — landline telephone taxes — dwindled as the landlines did. In 2018, the *Spokesman-Review* reported that the Valley’s then-Deputy City Manager John Hohman said the Valley had a "reactive pavement management program,” driven by fixing the worst-of-the-worst problems instead of planning ahead. To upgrade arterial roads like Bowdish, they frequently had to rely on state and federal grants. But grants come with red tape and additional delays. “Arterials are grantable,” Woodard said, “but you have to prioritize all your projects, and get them included in the transportation master plan of the area, and then it goes to the state, and the state has to approve it, blah, blah, blah, blah…” Even when the council found extra funding for street maintenance, it didn’t mean the funding would *stay* found. In 2023, Woodard successfully convinced Spokane Valley to pass a $20 car tab fee to pay for better roads — only for the [council to turn around the next year](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/feb/27/spokane-valley-will-get-larger-police-force-at-the/?ref=rangemedia.co) and raid the street projects fund in order to pay for more sheriff’s deputies. Bad roads, he pointed out, mean cops and firefighters will spend a lot more time responding to collisions. “I'm all for law enforcement, but law enforcement doesn't necessarily trump infrastructure,” Woodard said. **THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD** Neighbors near the Bowdish and 16th intersection have felt the impact of bad road design hit home. Repeatedly. Mary Lou Peck, who lives just past the intersection on Bowdish, recalled how, in February 2014, a speeding woman trying to outrun police lost control, crashed into a truck and veered into the corner of her house, smashing through brick and drywall. Three months later, another driver died after hitting the same spot and plowing into a tree in her yard. Former Airway Heights firefighter Garth Werner, a light sleeper, was the first neighbor at the accident scene, as usual. The car was still running. Werner reached into the car, turned off the ignition, and then looked to see if the driver could be saved. “I checked his carotid,” Werner said. “He was pulseless.” The driver, Esteban Alejandro Apodaca, a 34-year-old father, was dead. After Apodaca’s death, Werner wrote in an affidavit for Adame’s suit, he had "talked to a Valley City Councilman, City firefighters and police” about the problems with the intersection. "Everybody, including the city of Spokane Valley, knew about this problem on Bowdish Road, but most people were scared to talk about it,” he wrote. In 2017, after twins Gordon and Marcus Hill hit the Bowdish bump and crashed into a tree near the Peck’s house, neighbors appeared on a KXLY news [broadcast](https://www.kxly.com/news/local-news/one-man-in-hospital-brother-in-jail-after-crashing-car-into-tree/article%5Fbf833cc3-3f59-5817-b397-3327b5bdb591.html?ref=rangemedia.co) calling for the city to take action. It wasn’t a new issue for neighbors. On Spokane News, a community Facebook page that shares police scanner traffic, the phrase “Bowdish and 16th, Vehicle Collision Reported” cropped up like a [mantra](https://www.facebook.com/profile/100051405574530/search/?q=16th%20Bowdish%20collision) for years. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-dbcebb2f-7404-4724-a35a-d5a141a15576.jpeg) A series of Spokane News posts shows the considerable frequency of car crashes at Bowdish and 16th. **Facebook screenshots.* Commenters called the intersection “notorious,” the "worst four-way stop in the Valley," and complained about people [missing the stop sign](https://www.facebook.com/SpokaneNews/posts/pfbid02n4aZywZsLA5jFiaxWcnhgFJfsDADB2A81RKYXDDG4bbsRcGUEQAjpq57xy8dMS7ol?comment%5Fid=10155292417795706). They repeatedly called for a [light](https://www.facebook.com/SpokaneNews/posts/pfbid0zD6TvaG9g2GGaPJ3FPRn4nECfCPg6Es7aLMLDimFnrJ7YprGsncASy6e32e1wKM1l?comment%5Fid=10153814084715706), a roundabout — *something —* to fix it. Records obtained by RANGE through a request to Spokane Valley show citizens in [2019](https://gyazo.com/b47f90b22bec9b6b7bd4711e9b02929b?ref=rangemedia.co) and [2020 ](https://gyazo.com/d14bef5a637fcd98598f58867103e07a?ref=rangemedia.co)officially asking about installing traffic lights or a roundabout at the intersection to deal with the high number of car crashes at the intersection. Instead, Valley staff trimmed a tree and tweaked the size of the stop signs, but nothing more. Meanwhile, neighbors took their own defensive measures. Peck said her next-door neighbor’s insurance company required him to put in large boulders in front of his house to shield against future runaway cars. These were the rocks hit by the Kia in 2022, in the [accident ](https://www.facebook.com/SpokaneNews/posts/pfbid0yoHcUPjHHqQ96qorjsSwEhmmBpdDuASjRGhDsVeijmQjnmA43UWMGNL2inhy6wypl)that killed Bryce. Days after Bryce’s death, neighbors showed up in force at the Spokane Valley City Council meeting to, once again, plead for something to be done. “It’s very, very horrific right now,” Werner told the council. He explained in detail how drunk or reckless drivers would miss the stop sign, and the bump would send drivers careening into houses. University High School students were holding candlelight vigils in the Pecks’ yard, and Werner worried that the kids could be hit if there was yet another runaway car. “Grind down the incline. … Put in a light. Put in a roundabout. *Something*,” Werner urged. “With the growth of the valley right now … traffic is getting worse and worse and worse, and we’re going to have more and more of these incidents happening.” As if to emphasize his point, there was another collision at the intersection [two weeks later](https://www.facebook.com/SpokaneNews/posts/pfbid08RuaieLLNLeFtnBt3yqNbbDmAyP37KP6WXgF64CkQaMViJhSXjMHPq27vpat74e5l), and another[ six weeks after that](https://www.facebook.com/SpokaneNews/posts/pfbid0yoHcUPjHHqQ96qorjsSwEhmmBpdDuASjRGhDsVeijmQjnmA43UWMGNL2inhy6wypl). Neighborhood concerns hadn’t been entirely ignored. Woodard said the city has discussed improving Bowdish since 2016. By 2020, a vague attempt at making Bowdish safer was made official: the city included adding sidewalks from Ninth Avenue to 16th in its six-year plan, with the potential for a traffic light or a roundabout. Sidewalks are not only safer for pedestrians — they also slow down drivers by making roads seem narrower. But all that needed funding. The city applied for a Safe Routes to School grant from the state of Washington in 2020\. It took two years before Spokane Valley was awarded the money, and another two years for construction on the roundabout to begin. Pressed by Adame’s attorney in a deposition, city staffers presented a checklist they needed to run through before construction could begin: council funding approval, design schematics, a topographic survey to map out the property and right-of-way access approvals. The city completed the roundabout at 16th Avenue in October 2024 — more than 10 years after Apodaca’s death and more than two years after Bryce’s. Even then, the roundabout was prone to low-speed fender benders, triggering another renovation of the intersection in 2025\. But Adame sees the problem with Spokane Valley’s approach to road safety as much broader than just one bad intersection. “Look at the ‘Ponderosa jump,” she said. “They knew that was a problem too, and they didn't fix that." **DOOMED TO REPEAT IT** Take a six-minute drive south from Bowdish and 16th, and you’ll come to the intersection of Bates Road and Ponderosa Drive, where another version of this story played out a decade earlier: A dangerous road with a bad reputation. Frustrated neighbors. Lack of city action. Reckless U-High students killed in an auto accident. A lawsuit from grieving parents. In that case, the road was called the “Ponderosa jump,” a dip in the road that allowed daredevils to get some air if they drove fast enough. Two 15-year-old passengers, Josie Freier and McKenzie Mott — died in 2013 after their car went off the jump at 70 miles an hour and hit a tree. Nearby neighbors like Tom Towey and his wife had been complaining about the reckless drivers on the road for years, but nothing had been done — despite the fact that Towey was the mayorof Spokane Valley at the time. After those two deaths, however, it only took one week of a road closure, a bit of asphalt and $25,000 to put in a fix. The price of not improving such dangerous pieces of infrastructure can be much higher. In 2015, Freier’s and Mott’s parents sued the driver, [Spokane County and Spokane Valley](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=7410270&caseNumber=201502048273&subNum=1.0&pageNum=8&ref=rangemedia.co). After nearly two years battling in court, the suit was settled for an undisclosed amount. The night of Bryce’s death, Werner said, he called local firefighter Rick Freier to make sure he wasn’t going to be the one responding to the car crash. He didn’t want to put Freier through it. Freier’s daughter had died the same way as Bryce. In an interview with RANGE, Freier resisted simple apportionments of blame. A city can’t cover everything in “bubble wrap,” Freier told RANGE, but it can save lives by intervening in the right place. “Don't ignore the warnings,” he said. “If you've got a particular area that causes problems ... it could be just a minor thing here, a minor thing there, and then all of a sudden it's not a minor thing anymore.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/data-src-image-636fe4fb-4c76-48a3-83ac-465c9be6372d.jpeg) Sakeleanna Adame holds stickers she had made memorializing of her son, Bryce Adame, after his 2022 death at a Spokane Valley intersection. **Photo by Daniel Walters.* **ASPHALT AND TEARS** Freier and his wife met with Adame after her son was killed. What they talked about is too personal to share, Freier said, but there is a grim understanding that can be shared between two families who experienced the same kind of nightmare. "We're part of the same awful club,” he said. “You reach out and try to find someone that survived and ask them how.” When grief is deep enough, it eats at your body as well as your mind. Adame dropped to 104 pounds. She couldn’t work, so her family had to dip into their 401k. She slept in her son's room for three months. Years have passed, and she still doesn’t want to go through the dirty clothes in his hamper — she knows his smell lingers in the threads of his sweaters. She’s memorialized her son in countless ways. Adame hung the initials LLB — Long Live Bryce — on a silver necklace draped around her neck and pressed them in a decal onto her front windshield. She planted a limelight hydrangea at his gravesite, sprinkled with his ashes. When the tree Bryce collided with was removed after the city began rehabbing the street, she asked Werner to cut out a vertical chunk of the trunk with his chainsaw. For a long time, she didn’t understand why she wanted it. Finally, she got it: She wanted it because it was the last place her son was alive. That piece sits in a secret garden in her house, surrounded by tealights. “The pain is so deep, you can't reason with it until it hits you,” she said. The beauty of Bryce’s life is forever enmeshed with the tragedy of his death — the way the glass from the Kia remains embedded in the wood of the tree trunk. Today, Adame stands at the intersection of Bowdish and 16th, tears gliding down her cheeks. She avoided this place for a long time, taking the long way around to drive her daughter to middle school. The Bowdish bump is gone. The intersection has been fully transformed by a dozen traffic calming measures: sidewalks, bright neon yellow pedestrian signs, yield signs with blinking red lights, clear crosswalks and a massive roundabout. In its own way, this far-safer intersection stands as another physical memorial to Adame’s son. Maybe Bryce’s death, despite the cruelty of it all, means others will live. Maybe that is a part of his legacy. “I want a sign there, in memory of Bryce, so everybody knows his story,” Adame said. “Going forward, maybe now no one else will have to go through what my family and my community has gone through.” But for her son? “They were too late, you know?” she said. “They were too late.” Is there infrastructure in your neighborhood or on your route that creates “accidents?” Where are the most dangerous places to drive, walk or bike in the Inland Northwest? Email [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co) with the subject line “Accident by Design,” or badger reporter Daniel Walters on Signal at 509-720-8388. ### Este trabajo no es para todos URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/este-trabajo-no-es-para-todos/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T18:07:34.000Z FUENTES DE INFORMACIÓN: Al informar esta serie, entrevistamos a 10 exempleados y contratistas que trabajaron en Latinos en Spokane entre 2020 y 2025\. Debido a preocupaciones de inmigración y temores de represalia, la mayoría de esas fuentes solo pudieron hablar con RANGE de manera anónima, como fuente no atribuible o bajo el uso de un seudónimo. 🔗 Para leer por qué escribimos este informe, haga clic [aquí](https://www.rangemedia.co/por-que-investigamos-a-latinos-en-spokane/). En los últimos cinco años, la organización local sin fines de lucro Latinos en Spokane (LeS) se ha convertido en una de las organizaciones principales que defiende a los latinos en el este de Washington. Su sitio web cuenta con docenas de notas de prensa que destacan sus esfuerzos en defensa de los inmigrantes, sus festivales y eventos culturales, su defensa para acceso lingüístico, protección de los inmigrantes y derechos laborales. Dos de las investigaciones más impactantes de RANGE sobre las terribles condiciones laborales que enfrentan muchos inmigrantes surgieron gracias a LeS. Escribimos sobre su labor para mantener a los agentes de la patrulla fronteriza fuera de los salones de clase. En 2025, mientras se intensificaban los esfuerzos de deportaciones masivas del presidente Donald Trump, continuamos cubriendo sus actividades de defensa, incluyendo esfuerzos para presionar al ayuntamiento de Spokane para que aprobara una resolución en apoyo de la ley que otorga protecciones a los inmigrantes conocida como Keep Washington Working Act y pedirle que denuncie los arrestos violentos de inmigración. También informamos a la comunidad sobre las sospechas de la directora ejecutiva, Jennyfer Mesa, de que agentes federales la vigilaban. Durante el caos del primer año del segundo mandato de Trump, LeS promovió servicios legales gratuitos para inmigrantes; organizó clínicas legales mensuales en colaboración con Inland Empire Legal Aid, The Way To Justice y Washington Courts; y recaudó fondos, solicitando donaciones para mantener los servicios legales a través de su departamento Poder Legal. En una publicación de Instagram titulada "2025 Wrapped", LeS destacó la labor de Poder Legal, escribiendo que el departamento había brindado servicios de inmigración a 405 personas, organizado ocho clínicas de inmigración y 11 clínicas legales, entre otros logros. La organización, cofundada y dirigida por Mesa, también continuó brindando otros servicios cruciales para los latinos locales, como eventos comunitarios, talleres financieros, clínicas de impuestos, gestión de casos a través de su programa de trabajo social conocido como Community Comadres y la distribución gratuita de alimentos frescos a través de El Mercadito. Las publicaciones en redes sociales presentan la imagen de una organización sin fines de lucro que trabaja arduamente, y con éxito, para atender a clientes que se han vuelto aún más vulnerables debido a una administración presidencial hostil. Sin embargo, detrás de las escenas, LeS se estaba convirtiendo en un pueblo fantasma. De acuerdo con el Informe Anual del 2024 de la organización, había 18 personas que formaban parte del equipo al final del año. En junio de 2025, esa cifra bajó a 14 empleados, según una entrevista que la directora ejecutiva, Jennyfer Mesa, concedió al Spokane Journal of Business. Al momento de la publicación de esta historia, al menos 12 de las 18 personas que aparecían en el Informe Anual ya no estaban: algunas renunciaron, otras fueron despedidas y otras, a resultado de recortes. Otras cuatro personas que fueron contratadas después de la creación del Informe Anual también se han marchado. Mesa y la junta directiva sostienen que muchos de esos trabajos y contratos fueron terminados debido a recortes de presupuesto. Pero no respondieron a preguntas directas durante una entrevista con RANGE ni a un correo electrónico mandado después que les preguntaba cuántos puestos habían recortado en el último año. “No creo que sea la rotación de personal. Creo que se debe más a nuestra financiación. Dependemos de la financiación”, le dijo Mesa a RANGE. “Tuvimos que hacer algunos despidos este año. No somos los únicos. Amazon y otros millonarios también. Estamos trabajando como podemos y hemos tenido que hacer recortes de personalporque simplemente no pudimos sostener el programa por falta de financiación”. La junta agregó que los recientes recortes de fondos y reducción de subvenciones han creado uno de los mayores desafíos que la junta ha enfrentado al tener que decidir qué programas priorizar para la comunidad. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/Untitled-design-4-1.png) Una foto de la página del personal de 2024 con “X” marcando los empleados y contratistas que ya no están. RANGE recibió la foto por parte de un empleado que dejó de trabajar en LeS a fines de 2025\. Mientras escribíamos esta historia, otro empleado se fue [aparentemente en buenos términos.](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVCLnPcEhXG/?igsh=dTNzaW5xY3M4a3ho&ref=rangemedia.co) Si bien Mesa y la junta no respondieron preguntas sobre cuántos trabajadores fueron despedidos o renunciaron en el último año, RANGE confirmó al menos cuatro, así como una contratista que dijo que Mesa no renovó su contrato inesperadamente y sin previo aviso. En mayo de 2025, líderes comunitarios y extrabajadores de LeS comenzaron a comunicarse con RANGE para hablar sobre un ambiente de trabajo frenético y, para algunos, cada vez más tóxico, y una gestión con estilo adversario detrás de las escenas. Hemos entrevistado a 10 empleados o contratistas que han trabajado para la organización durante puntos que van desde "el principio" hasta finales de 2025\. La mayoría de las personas que entrevistamos pidieron permanecer en el anonimato o usar seudónimos, por motivos de inmigración o temores de represalias por parte de Mesa. Los únicos exempleados que estuvieron dispuestos a usar sus nombres fueron Santos Hernández, quien ahora trabaja para un despacho grande de inmigración sin fines de lucro en California; Richard Martínez, quien ahora trabaja en el sector laboral; y Jorge Guerrero, quien inicialmente habló con nosotros de forma anónima, pero al final estuvo dispuesto a dar su nombre. Para aquellos que decidieron no dar su nombre públicamente para el reporte por temor a represalias, esas preocupaciones parecen haber estado justificadas. Mientras RANGE trabajaba en este informe, Mesa se enteró de que habíamos entrevistado a una excontratista de LeS, a quien identificamos como Alicia (seudónimo), quien ahora trabajaba para otra organización. Mesa llamó al director ejecutivo y presidente de la junta directiva de esa otra organización e intentó que rompieran vínculos con la contratista. Mesa niega esta acusación, pero la directora ejecutiva y el presidente de la junta directiva de la otra organización, quienes también solicitaron el anonimato para proteger la identidad de Alicia, corroboraron la historia de la contratista. El presidente de la junta dijo que les desaconsejaron trabajar con Alicia. Días después de esta conversación, LeS le pagó a un abogado para que le enviara a Alicia una carta de cese y desistimiento, amenazando con “agravar aún más la situación” si continuaba hablando sobre su experiencia en LeS con periodistas o con excompañeros de trabajo. Otra persona, también contratista, mostró a RANGE pruebas de que Mesa le amenazó con tomar acción legal si no devolvía un pago que recibió por el trabajo que realizó. Otros activistas comunitarios han descrito haber visto represalias similares por parte de Mesa, como una joven organizadora que declaró a RANGE que Mesa había llamado a su jefe para quejarse después de que la activista organizara una protesta contra las violaciones de los derechos de los inmigrantes sin incluirla. **Sobrecarga laboral y mal pagado** Los miembros del personal de LeS que pudimos entrevistar describieron que amaban la misión de la organización y el trabajo que estaba tratando de lograr, pero que enfrentaban duras críticas, largas horas y los estándares de trabajo imposibles de Mesa. Por su parte, Mesa afirmó que su trabajo no es fácil y que no puede complacer a todos. Señaló que el clima político federal es una dificultad para LeS. “Desde 2025, sin duda hemos enfrentado muchos desafíos a nivel federal”, dijo Mesa. “Hay necesidades extremadamente altas en nuestra comunidad y muy pocos recursos y capacidad para responder, pero estamos haciendo lo que podemos. Creo que hemos formado un equipo muy sólido”. Le preguntamos a Mesa exactamente qué tan grande es ese equipo actualmente, incluyendo cuántos empleados y contratistas trabajan en los distintos departamentos. Dijo que nos volvería a contactar con esas cifras, pero nunca lo hizo. Para algunos, trabajar con LeS había sido un trabajo de sus sueños**,** uno por el que estaban dispuestos a dejar atrás sus vidas, como Santos Hernández y Alicia, quienes se mudaron a Spokane desde Texas y Arizona, respectivamente. Otros se unieron a la organización después de responder a un anuncio de trabajo o a través de una amistad con Mesa que se convirtió en un trabajo o contrato. Sin embargo, una vez que empezaron, el ambiente laboral era diferente al que se les presentó antes de que fueran contratados. Casi todos los exempleados y contratistas con los que hablamos dijeron que los presionaban o les pedían directamente que hicieran trabajo extra durante su tiempo libre y sin pago. Algunos dijeron que Mesa creaba un ambiente laboral tóxico, exhibiendo favoritismo y castigando a los empleados que no la invitaban a salir socialmente. Uno describió haber sido contratado bajo engaños, con la promesa de un puesto de tiempo completo durante meses. Otra persona describió haber recibido llamadas constantes fuera del horario laboral y durante los fines de semana, y sentir que tendría problemas si no trabajaba horas extra sin pago. Cuando Richard Martínez se conectó por primera vez con LeS, trabajaba como agente de préstamos en un banco local. Recordó haber contactado a Mesa para ofrecer sus servicios, ya que era bilingüe y quería ayudar a la comunidad. Al principio, la relación era informal: Martínez referiría a clientes latinos que necesitaban otros servicios a LeS, y Mesa referiría clientes de LeS que necesitaban préstamos con Martínez. “Después de trabajar juntos, intercambiando clientes durante varios meses, ella vino a mí y me dijo: 'Oye, me encanta tu personalidad. Me encanta cómo tratas a los clientes. No he recibido nada más que excelentes críticas”, dijo Martínez. En 2022, Mesa le propuso unirse a LeS como gerente de proyectos para pequeñas empresas, ayudando a los clientes a solicitar licencias y permisos mientras manejaban otros trámites gubernamentales complejos relacionados con empezar un negocio. Martínez trabajaría a tiempo parcial durante junio, 30 horas, pero Mesa le prometió que aumentaría a tiempo completo en julio, según Martínez. RANGE ha revisado los correos electrónicos entre Mesa y Martínez que confirman que esta fue la oferta. Aceptó el trato y comenzó a desarrollar el programa de apoyo a pequeñas empresas desde cero. Martínez se involucró con agencias estatales y organizaciones locales como Spokane Regional Health District, creando contactos que le permitieran ayudar a sus clientes. Su primer mes pasó volando. "Empezó genial, no voy a mentir", dijo Martínez. "Fue divertido". Sin embargo, pronto llegó julio. En ese momento, Martínez dijo que Mesa aumentó su carga de trabajo, pero se negó a aumentar sus horas. "Necesito que te encargues de las redes sociales", recuerda Martínez que Mesa le dijo. Mesa quería que publicara consejos para pequeños negocios, recordatorios de sus servicios y horarios, y que editara videos promocionando pequeños negocios en la red de LeS. Mesa se negó a responder preguntas sobre Martínez o su trabajo, tanto en una entrevista en persona como igual que después por correo electrónico. "No soy experto en redes sociales", dijo Martínez, pero lo intentó de todos modos. Había pasado horas visitando pequeños negocios y grabando contenido para redes sociales. Pero Martínez dijo que Mesa le pidió más, diciéndole que produjera tres videos a la semana. “Entonces le dije: ‘Mira, no creo que pueda producir eso además de manejar Facebook, Twitter e Instagram’. Incluso quería que manejara TikTok”, dijo. Aunque el trabajo en redes sociales no estuvo en la descripción del puesto, la cual RANGE revisó, él dijo que lo intentaría si Mesa cumplía su promesa de aumentar sus horas a tiempo completo. De nuevo, ella se negó. Martínez intentó equilibrar las exigencias de redes sociales con sus tareas laborales habituales, pero después de unas semanas en las que solo publicaba un vídeo de un pequeño negocio por semana, "Ella vino a mí y me dijo: '¿Por qué no haces más?'", él dijo. “‘No puedo físicamente’”, recuerda haber respondido Martínez. “‘No me estás dando las horas que necesitaba, que me prometiste y no me vas a pagar más… lo siento, no voy a quedarme aquí sentado esforzándome al máximo sin tener más dinero ni más horas’”. Luego, dijo que Mesa le dijo que podía grabar videos durante los fines de semana o en su tiempo libre cuando visitaba restaurantes locales. Cuando Martínez se negó a trabajar sin paga, él dijo que ella le dijo que no estaba "comprometido con la causa". Le preguntamos a Mesa sobre cada descripción que Martínez hizo de sus acciones y comportamiento, pero se negó a dar detalles. Durante nuestra entrevista, negó en general haberle pedido a Martínez o a cualquier otro miembro de LeS que trabajara horas extras sin paga. Después de unos tres meses de trabajo, pidió una vez más el salario de tiempo completo que él y Mesa habían acordado antes de ser contratado. “Le dije: ‘Oye, ¿puedo ver el contrato una vez más? Porque no me pagan como corresponde y me prometiste esto. Te estoy diciendo que aún tienes que cumplir con tu parte del trato’”, dijo Martínez. Martínez dijo que, al empezar, Mesa le dijo que se suponía que la subvención que pagaba su trabajo cubriría su salario durante todo el año. Pero en esa última conversación, Mesa alegó que la subvención no se había renovado y que no podía ofrecerle más sueldo ni más horas. Entonces, Martínez comentó que Mesa empezó a criticar su desempeño, diciendo que no estaba haciendo lo suficiente dentro de sus 30 horas. Al final, me dijo: "¿Sabes qué? Podría hacer tu trabajo mucho mejor que tú... Podría producir muchos más videos y hacer todo lo que tú haces, *y* hacer mi trabajo mejor que tú", dijo Martínez. Según Martínez, Mesa luego lo despidió, diciéndole que terminara sus citas del día, dejara su computadora portátil y entregara sus contraseñas. “Y yo como: ‘Si me despides, de ninguna manera voy a ir a esas citas. Si crees que puedes hacer mejor mi trabajo, ve y atiende todas esas citas’”, dijo Martínez. “Y eso fue todo”. Nunca regresó a LeS. Más tarde, se enteró de que Mesa estuvo menospreciando su tiempo allí ante el personal. "Me describió mal, como diciendo: 'Oh, se fue por capricho, no le importábamos y simplemente se fue'". Alicia, quien más tarde fue contratada para realizar el mismo trabajo que Martínez, confirmó que Mesa le habló mal del desempeño laboral de Martínez y de su nivel de compromiso con la organización. Cuando RANGE le preguntó explícitamente a Mesa si había hecho comentarios negativos sobre el trabajo de Martínez, Mesa dijo dos veces que no tenía comentario al respecto. Martínez ahora trabaja en el área laboral, ayudando a otros trabajadores necesitados, con un enfoque en clientes que hablan inglés como segundo idioma. Desde que se fue, Martínez dijo que ha estado al tanto de LeS. Se dio cuenta de que la persona que Mesa contrató para reemplazarlo duró menos de un año antes de irse. Se enteró de que a Alicia, la tercera persona en ocupar ese cargo, le terminaron el contrato antes de tiempo. Le preocupaba una Community Comadre que había dejado atrás, quien le había hablado de sus problemas con Mesa. RANGE entrevistó a la Community Comadre, quien trabajó en LeS durante algunos años. Pidió permanecer en el anonimato por temor a represalias. La comadre describió el ambiente laboral como "tóxico" y dijo que Mesa les prometió cierta cantidad de dinero por su trabajo en un contrato que conectaba a los clientes con beneficios de asistencia basados ​​en los ingresos, pero luego "cambió de opinión y dijo: 'No, el dinero será diferente'". La comadre se defendió, envió a Mesa una factura por el monto original prometido y recibió el pago correspondiente. Pero luego descubrió que a sus compañeras comadres les habían pagado menos. Esta no fue la única vez que la comadre fue testigo de discrepancias salariales. “\[Mesa\] cambiaba de opinión; te decía: ‘Quiero pagarte $20’, y luego, cuando llegabas a cobrar, te decía: ‘Oh, no, te voy a pagar $12’. Esto no es justo”, dijo. Cuando se le preguntó a Mesa si alguna vez les había prometido a empleados o contratistas una cantidad y luego les había pagado menos, ella respondió: “No, tenemos contratos vigentes. También tenemos confirmación de que ‘puedes aceptar el empleo o no’”. Las personas que trabajaron para LeS más recientemente que Martínez y la Community Comadre describieron un entorno de trabajo similar. Cuando entrevistamos inicialmente a Jorge Guerrero, quien trabajó en LeS en 2025, pidió permanecer en el anonimato. Estaba buscando trabajo tras ser despedido de LeS y le preocupaba que, si Mesa descubría que había hablado con la prensa, ella tomaría represalias y afectaría negativamente su búsqueda de empleo. “Ella sabe cómo contar una historia, cómo vender una narrativa… Es capaz de poner todos los puntos sobre las íes para asegurarse de poder derribar algo atacando la personalidad de alguien”, dijo. Guerrero también tenía sentimientos complejos sobre su trabajo allí. Admiraba a Mesa, describiéndola como "increíble", "una mente brillante" y alguien con "muchas cualidades positivas". Seis meses después, cuando volvimos a hablar con él, había decidido que quería dar su nombre públicamente. Él trabajó en LeS como organizador en las áreas de inmigración y justicia ambiental, enfocado en defender los derechos laborales, la equidad en salud y las oportunidades económicas para los inmigrantes indocumentados en Washington. Se incorporó en el otoño de 2024 y dejó el cargo en mayo de 2025, poco después de planificar y orquestar la celebración delDía del Trabajador de LeS. Guerrero dijo que su decisión de ofrecer retroalimentación honestasobre los preparativos del Día del Trabajador provocó su despido. Primero, Mesa le pidió a última hora que cancelara una sesión de planificación con otros colaboradores externos porque estaría demasiado ocupada para asistir. Guerrero dijo que quería respetar a quienes habían reservado tiempo para estar allí, así que cambió la reunión de planificación por un recorrido a pie por la ruta que llevaría la marcha del Día del Trabajador. Al día siguiente, Guerrero dijo que Mesa lo amonestó por faltarle al respeto porque fue a la caminata sin ella. La medida disciplinaria de Mesa llegó el mismo día en que un amigo de Guerrero fue detenido violentamente por ICE. Estuvo a punto de renunciar, pero no quería dejar a LeS abandonado el Día del Trabajador. Planeaba irse inmediatamente después. “El Día del Trabajador llegó y todo salió de maravilla. \[Mesa\] incluso me dejó el \[próximo\] día libre”, dijo Guerrero. Después de tomarse el día para asimilar el exitoso evento y el trabajo que LeS estaba realizando, decidió quedarse en LeS y “seguir luchando”. Aun así, también estaba reflexionando sobre el mes previo al primero de mayo, lleno de reuniones canceladas, problemas de comunicación y expectativas de largas horas de trabajo. Entonces Guerrero —cuyo trabajo implicaba abogar por mejores condiciones laborales para los trabajadores latinos en todo el estado— decidió que también pediría cambios para él. Le escribió una carta de tres páginas a Mesa, que RANGE revisó, y se la entregó el 6 de mayo. Al escribir la carta, Guerrero dijo que fue especialmente cuidadoso con sus palabras y se esforzó por identificar también los aspectos en los que él debería haber actuado mejor. “Quiero comenzar diciendo que respeto tu liderazgo y todo el trabajo que realizas. Sé lo comprometida que estás con nuestra misión y aprecio tu pasión y la dirección que brindas. También quiero reconocer la importancia de la comunicación y la planificación en mi función, y asumo toda la responsabilidad por no mantenerte siempre informada”, comenzaba la carta. “También quiero ser transparente sobre algunas cosas que he mantenido en silencio”. Guerrero describió entonces los problemas clave que enfrentaba, como la microgestión, los problemas de comunicación y las desviaciones de última hora por parte de Mesa con respecto a planes previamente acordados. También comentó que se sentía abrumado por la presión de Mesa para realizar más trabajo relacionado con la inmigración, como los talleres de "Conoce tus derechos", y la necesidad de completar los requisitos para una importante subvención que LeS había recibido del Washington State Department of Health, que financió su puesto antes del plazo que se acercaba. “Trabajo constantemente más de 40 horas a la semana intentando cumplir con las exigencias de este puesto, pero aun así me encuentro quedándome corto”, escribió. “Sé que este puesto requiere crecimiento y adaptación, pero la cantidad y el ritmo de trabajo, junto con las múltiples expectativas de los distintos departamentos, a menudo se sienten inmanejables”. Guerrero le dijo a RANGE que eligió ser vulnerable: “En este momento, me siento abrumado”, escribió, “me importa este trabajo y quiero tener éxito en este rol, pero no siento que tenga espacio para crecer y cometer errores”. Guerrero terminó la carta agradeciendo a Mesa por escucharlo y manifestando su compromiso de crecer y trabajar mejor con ella. Le entregó la carta a Mesa en una reunión y consideró que la conversación posterior fue positiva. Trabajó el fin de semana siguiente, asistiendo a una conferencia a la que Mesa le pidió que asistiera el sábado y el domingo. Descansó el lunes y el martes para equilibrar sus horas. El miércoles por la mañana su perro se estaba muriendo. Le habían dicho que la política de LeS le permitía flexibilidad con su horario, pero a las 10:30 de ese miércoles, elcontratista de Recursos Humanos de LeS envió un correo electrónico preguntándole si iría ese día. Guerrero respondió que estaría allí después de las 11:00\. A las 11:00, la clínica veterinaria tuvo que proceder con la eutanasia. Llevó a su familia a casa y se apresuró a ir a trabajar. Más tarde ese mismo día, recibió un segundo correo electrónico de Recursos Humanos programando una reunión para el día siguiente, jueves 15 de mayo. Durante esa reunión, poco más de una semana después de haber entregado a Mesa su carta en la que describía sus preocupaciones con el ambiente de trabajo, pero también reconocía que había pedido espacio para crecer y convertirse en un empleado más efectivo, Jorge Guerrero fue despedido. Dijo que Mesa le dijo que no se comunicaba bien durante la reunión. También lo acusó de traicionar su confianza al llevarse plantas y flores como regalo para su esposa, hermana e hija —todas madres—, que él creía que eran sobras de un evento del Día de las Madres. Guerrero dijo que se disculpó y se ofreció a devolver las plantas. Guerrero dijo que su carta de despido indicaba que había robado de LeS. No mencionaba que se tratara de plantas que se llevó por error. Mesa se negó a mostrarnos la carta de despido, y Guerrero no pudo encontrar su copia antes del plazo de prensa. Mesa también se negó a responder preguntas específicas sobre el despido o empleo de Guerrero. En una entrevista con RANGE en el verano de 2025, Guerrero lloró al describir la última reunión en LeS. Dijo que aún sentía mucho respeto por Mesa, pero que temía hablar de su experiencia allí debido a la carta de despido que lo acusaba de haber robado a la organización. “Tengo miedo porque es muy querida y respetada, y luego sigue atacando mi persona públicamente”, dijo. “Le di todos los altavoces, mis megáfonos, el equipo de DJ que tenemos para eventos, las llaves. Todo está ahí. Pero faltaron tres flores. ¡Madre mía! Y fue por error”. Cuando llegó febrero de 2026, Guerrero tenía una perspectiva diferente. Ahora quería hablar públicamente, quería alzar su voz con la esperanza de que la situación cambiara para los compañeros de trabajo que dejó atrás. **Microgestionados** Los extrabajadores dijeron que no era solo la cantidad de trabajo que se les pedía que hicieran, sino también cómo se les pedía que lo hicieran. "Es una microgestora masiva", dijo Hernández, exrepresentante de Poder Legal acreditada por el Department of Justice. "Solía ​​bromear diciendo: 'No, no necesito que elijas el color de mi ropa interior'". F.C., una persona contratista que trabajó con LeS durante aproximadamente tres años, pidió que se le hiciera referencia solo bajo un seudónimo. F.C. dijo a RANGE que uno de los programas clave de LeS fue su idea (RANGE acordó no identificar directamente ese programa para proteger su identidad debido a preocupaciones de represalias), pero tan pronto como despegó, Mesa se negó a darle crédito y comenzó a microgestionar su trabajo en el proyecto. “No podía invitar a vendedores si no le gustaban. Me pidió que creara una cuenta de Instagram y no podía publicar nada sin su aprobación, pero le enviaba material y ella esperaba hasta el último minuto para decir que sí o que no”, dijo F.C. Los 10 trabajadores con los que hablamos describieron lo mismo: Mesa creaba un atascamiento al exigir entregas específicas bajo plazos ajustados y luego no aprobaba ni se involucraba con su trabajo a tiempo. Se saltaba reuniones, ignoraba correos electrónicos y posponía las tareas, a veces hasta demasiado tarde. Si los empleados intentaban completar la tarea por su cuenta, Mesa les decía que estaba mal. “Ella le dice a todos los que entrevista que no es una microgestora”, dijo Perla, una empleada que trabajó en LeS durante más de un año y pidió usar un seudónimo debido a su estatus migratorio y preocupaciones por represalias. “Pero durante mis primeras semanas, descubrí que era mentira. Le gusta tener voz en todo”, nos dijo Perla, y añadió que Mesa se enojaba si el trabajo no se hacía exactamente como ella deseaba. “Sentía que no podía hacer nada sin recibir algún tipo de reprimenda”. “Ella critica y dice: ‘No aprobé esto y aquello’. Pero si no lo haces, también está mal”, dijo F.C. “Simplemente no estoy acostumbrada a ese tipo de trabajo. No es muy profesional”. “No hay compromiso”, dijo Guerrero. “No se respeta el punto de vista, la perspectiva ni el pensamiento de la gente”. “Para cada cosa que yo hacía, tenía que enviar un correo electrónico para obtener aprobación. Su aprobación tardaba semanas”, dijo Alicia. “Si publicaba algo \[en redes sociales\] y no le gustaba el color, me regañaba diciendo: '¿Por qué lo publicaste sin mi permiso?'”. “Yo dirigía un departamento”, continuó, “pero no podía hacer ciertas cosas sin su permiso”. Esto le dificultaba tomar la iniciativa o avanzar oportunamente en su trabajo. Mesa argumentó que lo que los extrabajadores describieron como microgestión era en realidad tutoría. “Como directora ejecutiva, cuando alguien llega, debo brindarle amplias oportunidades para capacitarse. No hay un manual ni un título en organización. Hay que aprender a hacerlo. Y eso también significa acompañar a la gente a las reuniones", dijo Mesa. También describió que conectaba a los empleados con un mentor de la comunidad para ayudarlos a desarrollarse. Respecto a las acusaciones de que Mesa requería tener aprobación final de publicaciones en redes sociales y de correos electrónicos, ella lo describió como un flujo de trabajo estándar. “Si publicas, por ejemplo, en nombre de la organización, tenemos que revisarlo”, dijo. “Tenemos que darle otro vistazo a cómo escribes los correos electrónicos, porque representas a la organización. Y no solo es LeS, sino también en cualquier otro lugar donde trabajes; tendrás esa supervisión”. Una de sus mayores responsabilidades como directora ejecutiva, dijo Mesa, era garantizar que las subvenciones y los contratos se completaran. "Ese es mi trabajo, no microgestionar", dijo. "Si tengo que microgestionarte, entonces es muy difícil para nosotros como organización". Para Cynthia, una exempleada que trabajó en LeS durante más de dos años y que pidió usar un seudónimo por temor a represalias, el momento más pacífico en LeS fue el año pasado, cuando Mesa tomó un sabático de tres meses. “Todo era tranquilo, era muy agradable. De hecho, me daban ganas de ir a la oficina a trabajar”, ​​dijo. “Cuando ella no estaba, sentía que todos trabajábamos bien. Podíamos comunicarnos. Lográbamos hacer cosas que no podíamos hacer porque ella se interponía”. Los trabajadores dijeron que cuando Mesa microgestionaba cosas como publicaciones en redes sociales, era molesto, pero a veces había más en juego, como cuando intentaba controlar el departamento legal. Hernández afirmó que Mesa intentaba controlar los casos legales en los que trabajaban, pidiéndoles que pusieran a un lado los casos que trabajaban al momento para priorizar a personas que Mesa seleccionaba personalmente. Otra persona, que pidió ser identificada solo bajo el seudónimo F.E. y que anteriormente trabajaba con LeS, dijo haber presenciado a Mesa instruyendo al personal para que llenara documentos importantes para clientes que no estaban legalmente autorizados a manejar, lo que ponía en riesgo tanto a los clientes como al personal. Hernández, Alicia y Cynthia también confirmaron que en algún momento, Mesa pidió a empleados sin capacitación jurídica que se encargaran de la admisión de clientes, lo que incluía la revisión de documentos legales privados, algo que Mesa ha negado. Cuando le dijeron que RANGE había revisado una foto tomada por un extrabajador de los formularios de admisión apilados en la mesa de la cocina comercial, Mesa se negó de nuevo a comentar sobre "asuntos legales o cualquier cosa de la organización relacionada con las admisiones legales". Luego dijo: "¿Hay una foto? Genial", y se rio. "Simplemente no tiene ni idea de lo que hace y no escucha \[al personal\]", dijo F.E. "Es demasiado impulsiva". **En privado** En público, Mesa se presenta como una defensora que está dispuesta a luchar hasta el final por los inmigrantes locales. A puerta cerrada, su personal dijo que ella era diferente. En las reuniones de personal, los trabajadores dijeron que ella los menospreciaba, los criticaba y les gritaba delante de sus compañeros. Cynthia dijo que la manera más fácil de saber que alguien del personal estaba en problemas era cuando Mesa los convocaba para hablar en privado. A veces se podía oír a Mesa gritándole a una persona dentro de su oficina. "Creo que todo depende de lo que consideres gritar, pero no, yo no le grito a mi personal", dijo Mesa. “Existe una profunda desconexión entre su imagen en redes sociales y su verdadera identidad”, escribió Alicia en una declaración a RANGE. “Mientras que la primera defiende a los más vulnerables a diario, la segunda castiga a cualquiera que se atreva a desafiar su autoridad”. Ese fue un tema común en todas nuestras entrevistas: el personal consideró que Mesa sentó un precedente claro: cualquiera que la desafiara o no le agradara socialmentesería castigado. Ya sea que Alicia no invitara a Mesa a su cumpleaños, que Hernández se negara a priorizar a ciertos clientes legales a petición de Mesa o que Guerrero le leyera una carta solicitando expectativas laborales más claras, las consecuencias de sus supuestas ofensas quedaron claras casi de inmediato. “La gente que alzaba su voz, ella encontraba una manera de deshacerse de ellos”, dijo F.E. Cuando se le preguntó si esto era cierto, Mesa respondió: “Creo que si fuera cierto, podrían recurrir a los canales adecuados y denunciarme ante L&I, denunciar a la organización. Hay canales adecuados para eso. Mi trabajo como directora ejecutiva es asegurar que estemos gestionando nuestras finanzas, que nuestros recursos lleguen a donde deben ir y que cumplamos con nuestros contratos y subvenciones”. En el pasado, Mesa ha criticado abiertamente a L&I. En 2024, Mesa declaró a RANGE esto sobre L&I:“La mayoría de los trabajadores tienen miedo de comenzar este proceso y muchos de los que sí lo comienzan a veces no tienen por sí solos los recursos para seguir luchando contra un sistema roto como este”, dijo Mesa.“Situaciones como la de Francisco ocurren en todas partes y eso tiene un precio… Organizaciones como la nuestra son a menudo la única red de seguridad para los trabajadores indocumentados porque L&I se muestra renuente a aceptar sus casos, o es un laberinto al navegar”. En la misma entrevista, Mesa le dijo a RANGE que creía que el sistema L&I no funcionaba adecuadamente para las personas que trabajan empleos contingentes: contratistas, aquellos que trabajan informalmente y, especialmente, los trabajadores indocumentados. Tras el despido de Guerrero, Cynthia comentó que todos los que quedaron en LeS tenían mucho miedo como para decir algo. Consideró refutar algunas decisiones de Mesa que ella consideraba presentaban problemas éticos, pero al final decidió no hacerlo y se enfocó en seguir ayudando a su comunidad mientras pudiera. Incluso después de separarse de LeS, Cynthia tenía miedo de hablar porque había escuchado a Mesa hablar mal de extrabajadores como Hernández y Alicia, “tratando de desacreditarlos”. "Eso da un poco de miedo", dijo Cynthia. "Sé que tiene contactos legales en Seattle y me da un poco de miedo que ellatambién vaya tras de mí". En total, los 10 extrabajadores que RANGE entrevistó compartieron historias muy similares. Al comenzar, cada uno creía firmemente en la misión de LeS. Muchos describieron su profundo cariño por sus clientes y compañeros de trabajo, y siguieron preocupándose por ellos incluso después de dejar la organización sin fines de lucro. Durante todo el año, Perla sintió un miedo creciente al ver a cada vez más compañeros marcharse. Finalmente, le llegó el turno. "Una parte de mí sentía que esto iba a ocurrir. Solo quería creer que no me iba a pasar a mí", dijo. Aun así, incluso después de dejar la organización, Perla quiere lo mejor para LeS. “Hacen un trabajo excelente”, dijo. “Solo creo que necesitan un líder que sepa liderar y empatizar con la gente, no imponer”. Cynthia repitió ese sentimiento. “Siento un gran cariño por LeS como organización, en general, más allá de Jennyfer”, dijo Cynthia. “Todos nos quedamos allí todo el tiempo que pudimos porque sentíamos la necesidad de ayudar a nuestra comunidad”. Durante nuestra entrevista, hicimos preguntas específicas para intentar comprender las diversas razones de la rotación de personal en LeS, como: “¿Cuántos empleados tienen actualmente en plantilla?” y “A lo largo de 2025, hubo una reducción de personal. ¿Cuánto de esa reducción se debió a que subvenciones se terminaran o recortes, cuántas personas renunciaron y cuántas fueron despedidas?". Mesa inicialmente aceptó proporcionarnos estas cifras y responder a preguntas adicionales enviadas por correo electrónico. Una hora después de la fecha límite de publicación que le dimos a LeS, recibimos un correo electrónico de la junta directiva —enviado desde la dirección de correo electrónico de Mesa— que no respondía a ninguna de las preguntas directas o de seguimiento que le hicimos. En lugar de eso, destacaba la importancia de su trabajo, su excelente paquete de beneficios y sus consultores de recursos humanos, que no confirmaron si aún tenían contrato. Incluimos una lista completa de las preguntas que enviamos al final de este artículo. “Alentamos a todos los trabajadores a buscar apoyo a través de L&I u otras agencias que supervisan asuntos laborales”, decía el comunicado. “Cuando hemos tenido que despedir empleados, ha sido porque no cumplieron con las expectativas de desempeño laboral, no realizaron funciones laborales esenciales o comprometieron los intereses de la organización y, sobre todo, los intereses de nuestros clientes vulnerables”. En persona, Mesa dijo que “no todo el mundo puede realizar ese tipo de trabajo”. La situación actual en LeS ha afectado negativamente a los trabajadores latinos que hablaron con RANGE, dejando a muchos sin su única fuente de ingresos en una economía incierta y un clima político peligroso donde podrían ser detenidos e interrogados solo por su etnicidad. Esos mismos trabajadores expresaron temores de que la alta rotación y el caos detrás de escena en LeS también han dejado a las personas vulnerables que dependen de la organización para obtener servicios necesitando más. *Reportaje adicional por Luke Baumgarten.* #### ****Preguntas de seguimiento sin respuesta que enviamos:** ****Seguimientos acordados** Preguntamos: "¿Actualizó LeS la dirección de Poder Legal con el Departamento de Justicia después de la mudanza a 1309 W. Dean?" - Jennyfer dijo que lo comprobaría. Preguntamos: “Santos Hernández nos mostró una carta de renuncia que entregó al presidente de la junta directiva, David Castro, en el otoño de 2024\. ¿Algún miembro de la junta estaba al tanto de esa conversación o de los problemas que planteó Santos? De ser así, ¿los investigaron?". - Lupe dijo que revisaría esto. ¿Cuántos empleados tienen actualmente en plantilla (si es posible, diferencien los de tiempo completo y los de tiempo parcial)? ¿Cuántos contratistas tienen contrato con LeS actualmente? - Jennyfer aceptó comprobarlo A lo largo de 2025, hubo reducción de personal. ¿Cuánto de esa reducción se debió a que subvenciones se terminaran o recortes, cuántas personas renunciaron y cuántas fueron despedidas? ¿Cuántos contratos se terminaron anticipadamente o no se renovaron en 2025? - Jennyfer aceptó comprobarlo ¿Por qué decidió LeS responder inicialmente al reclamo de desempleo de Santos diciéndole al estado que había renunciado? - Jennyfer dijo que lo revisaría con recursos humanos. ¿Cuándo entró Loi Lumala como abogado supervisor? - Jennyfer dijo que lo comprobaría. ¿Fue Richard Martínez ascendido a jornada completa? - Jennyfer dijo que lo comprobaría. ****Preguntas adicionales** - ¿Cuántas personas trabajan actualmente en Poder Legal? ¿Cuántos son contratados? - ¿Cuántas personas trabajaban en Poder el 11 de junio de 2025? ¿Cuántos eran contratistas? - Todavía hay una vacante de abogado a tiempo completo publicada en el sitio web. ¿Sigue LeS buscando un empleado a tiempo completo para ese puesto? ¿Aún hay presupuesto para ese puesto? - Además de la carta de cese y desistimiento enviada a Alicia, otro contratista mostró pruebas a RANGE de que Mesa le amenazó con acciones legales si no devolvían el pago recibido por el trabajo realizado. ¿A cuántos contratistas o exempleados ha amenazado Mesa legalmente? Si tuviera que estimar, ¿cuánto dinero se ha gastado en pagar a abogados para que envíen amenazas legales a exempleados? - En nuestra entrevista, usted dijo que "Karla Tiul es una clienta VIP". Su sitio web indica que solo acepta casos legales a través de referencias de WA Mass. ¿La familia Tiul Caal también fue referencia de WA Mass? De no ser así, ¿cómo decide qué casos adicionales aceptar? - ¿Seguían ofreciendo clínicas legales de inmigración gratuitas el segundo jueves de cada mes a partir del 14 de julio de 2025? En ese momento, su sitio web indicaba que sí. - Debido a las acusaciones de microgestión de empleados, incluyendo aquellos contratados para puestos directivos, preguntamos a la junta directiva qué medidas está tomando la organización para garantizar que un futuro Director Ejecutivo y Director de Desarrollo no sufran una microgestión similar por parte de Mesa, quien asume un nuevo cargo, pero aún tiene una enorme influencia dentro de la organización. Los integrantes de la junta no dieron una respuesta directa. ¿Estarían dispuestos a responder a esa pregunta ahora? ****Alegaciones específicas** No dieron comentarios a muchas preguntas relacionadas con Recursos Humanos, y eso está bien. Sin embargo, debido a la seriedad y franqueza de algunas afirmaciones, vamos a volver a preguntarlas: - Richard Martínez dijo que lo contrataron después de ver su trabajo en otra empresa y de colaborar con él en referencias comunitarias. Dijo que lo invitaron a ser gerente de proyectos para pequeñas empresas y que solo tenían elogios para él sobre su trato con los clientes antes de incorporarse. ¿Es cierto? - Martínez dijo que usted aumentó su carga de trabajo en julio, pero no le dio las horas adicionales prometidas. ¿Es cierto? De ser así, ¿por qué? - ¿En ese tiempo le pediste a Martínez que produjera 3 vídeos por semana para las redes sociales? - Erin comenzó a hacer esta pregunta y fue interrumpida: ¿Alguna vez le dijiste a Martínez que podías hacer su trabajo mejor que él? - ¿Alguna vez les dijiste a las community comadres que les pagarían una cantidad por trabajar en un contrato de subvención y luego les pagaste una cantidad menor? - Jorge Guerrero dijo que durante el mes previo al primero de mayo, usted canceló varias reuniones, incluyendo una que consideró imposible cancelar por respeto a los socios comunitarios, por lo que organizó una caminata con ellos. Dice que luego lo amonestó por faltarle al respeto por ir a la caminata en lugar de cancelar la reunión. ¿Disputa o tiene algún comentario sobre esa descripción de los hechos? - ¿Esperaba que Jorge trabajara más horas o fuera de su horario habitual antes del primero de mayo? ¿Era un empleado exento? - Hemos revisado la carta de tres páginas que Jorge le escribió ofreciéndole comentarios. Él cree que lo despidieron, al menos en parte, debido a esa carta. ¿Es cierto? ¿Fue esa carta parte del motivo de su despido? - Jorge dice que su carta de despido menciona el robo como motivo. Él cree que la acusación de robo se debe a plantas que tomó accidentalmente y se ofreció a devolver. ¿Es eso lo único que LeS alega que robó? - Nos dijiste que no gritas delante del resto del personal. Otro empleado comentó que hubo ocasiones en las que llamó a miembros del personal a su oficina y gritó tan fuerte que todos los demás pudieron oírlo. Esta es una pequeña pero importante distinción, y queremos ofrecerte la oportunidad de comentar: ¿Crees que has alzado la voz lo suficiente al disciplinar a un empleado o contratista como para que el resto de la oficina pudiera oírlo? - En general, los extrabajadores con los que hablamos comentaron que la rotación de personal en LeS ha dejado en la estacada a las personas vulnerables que dependen de los servicios de la organización. ¿Cree que la reducción de personal a lo largo de 2025, independientemente de la causa, ha afectado negativamente la capacidad de LeS para servir a su comunidad? - Dado que nos dijo que la reciente reducción relativamente drástica de personal se debe a la pérdida de financiación, esperamos al menos identificar a los empleados y contratistas que se perdieron debido a recortes. - Estos son los trabajadores en su informe anual de 2024 que creemos que ya no trabajan para la organización. ¿Podría decirnos quiénes se fueron debido a recortes de personal y quiénes por otras razones? - Si no se siente cómodo comentando sobre empleados específicos: parece que 12 de las 18 personas en su informe anual de 2024 en la sección "Nuestro Equipo" han dejado la organización. Esa lista parece ser una mezcla de empleados y contratistas. ¿Podría decirnos cuántas de esas 12 salidas se deben a recortes de fondos? Incluya tanto a los empleados despedidos como a los contratos no renovados, si es posible. - También nos hemos enterado de que cuatro personas contratadas después de la publicación del informe anual en julio de 2025 también se marcharon. ¿Cuántos empleados y contratistas han contratado y cuántos siguen en la organización desde entonces? ### ¿Por qué investigamos a Latinos en Spokane? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/por-que-investigamos-a-latinos-en-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-03-17T00:26:48.000Z El día que Erin Sellers me comentó que algunas fuentes de información la contactaron para hablar sobre una cultura laboral tóxica en Latinos en Spokane, fue aproximadamente una semana después de que la directora ejecutiva de esa organización, Jennyfer Mesa, se acercó a mí en una reunión de una junta en la que ambas participábamos y, con lágrimas en los ojos, me agradeció por los informes que nuestro equipo en RANGE había estado haciendo. Habíamos estado cubriendo a ICE con la mayor atención posible durante meses y acabábamos de publicar artículos sobre el violento arresto de Martín Díaz y los propios temores de Mesa de que agentes federales la estaban vigilando. Me puse un poco emocional y le agradecí que se tomara el tiempo para decirme que nuestro trabajo estaba ayudando. "Nadie en Spokane cuenta la historia de los inmigrantes como tú", me dijo, antes de regresar a su asiento. No estaba tomando notas, pero recuerdo sus palabras. Significaron mucho. Esto pasó la primavera pasada, a principios del segundo mandato de Trump. Cuando Sellers me contactó unos días después, pensé en esa interacción y respiré hondo. La ventaja de ser una sala de redacción comunitaria es que tenemos un nivel de confianza que no se puede comparar con algún otro; eso lo baso en mi experiencia con el periodismo. La desventaja no es realmente una desventaja: la confianza que la gente tiene es, en realidad, una expectativa: nuestros lectores esperan que luchemos por ellos, sin importar contra quién luchemos. Sin miedo ni favoritismo, como dice el dicho. Le hice preguntas básicas que haría cualquier editor. ¿Por qué nosotros? Habían visto el excelente reportaje de Sellers sobre nuestra organización local de Planned Parenthood y esperaban que pudiera ayudar. ¿Cuáles eran las acusaciones específicas? Las fuentes no habían sido muy comunicativas todavía, pero parecían serias y se centraban, no en la organización en su conjunto, sino en el comportamiento de la propia Mesa. ¿Con cuántas personas habíamos hablado? “Tengo dos personas, pero creo que hay más personas que quieren hablar”, respondió Sellers, “¿Qué debo hacer?” Sentí que mi alma salía de mi cuerpo cuando me preguntó eso. Si decidíamos investigar a fondo, sabía que sería muy difícil navegar no solo el reportaje, sino también las implicaciones para la comunidad. Considere una docena de posibles resultados de una investigación de LeS. Todos parecían brutales y caóticos. Intenté imaginar qué tipo de comportamiento atroz, y contra a cuántas personas, se necesitaría para justificar la interrupción de una organización tan importante en un momento tan crucial. Al mismo tiempo, sabía por experiencia propia que Mesa tiene un temperamento explosivo. La he visto usarlo docenas de veces para exigir responsabilidades a personas y organizaciones poderosas. Nunca basaría una investigación en interacciones externas que había presenciado, pero tampoco podía fingir que desconocía lo devastadora que puede ser su fuerza de voluntad. Regresé a mi cuerpo. Erin seguía mirándome fijamente. ¿Qué debía hacer? Dije lo más evasivo que se me ocurrió. “Encuentra más”, dije. Si íbamos a seguir con esto, necesitábamos más que dos voces. “Está bien”, respondió ella, “¿cuántos?” Dado que LeS cuenta con un equipo mayoritariamente inmigrante y apoya con orgullo a las personas indocumentadas, supuse que muchas, si no todas, nuestras posibles fuentes solicitarían el anonimato. Como sala de redacción centrada en servir a quienes tienen menos poder, nos sentimos cómodos con el anonimato en situaciones como esta, pero lo compensamos con el volumen de información. Me gusta tener tres fuentes anónimas en situaciones donde solo una que dé su nombre sería suficiente. No sería fácil encontrar tantas voces entre una base de trabajadores inmigrantes en los Estados Unidos de Trump. También intentaba sopesar el posible daño futuro a los trabajadores si no publicábamos, contra el daño al trabajo vital que realiza LeS si lo hacíamos. Me pregunté cuántas personas tendrían que haber sido perjudicadas para justificar arrastrar a LeS por una investigación pública. No tenía ni idea de cómo cuantificarlo. “Va a tener que ser abrumador”. /// Sellers les preguntó a sus dos primeras fuentes por personas que pudieran corroborar sus historias, o que pudieran tener historias propias, y surgieron más nombres. Poco después de que empezó a contactar a esas personas, recibí una llamada de Mesa, y luego mensajes de texto. Alguien le había dicho que Erin había estado haciendo llamadas y quería respuestas. Las investigaciones duran meses y nos gusta llevarlas a cabo con discreción, por dos razones importantes: 1) Veracidad. Cuanto más tiempo te tardes (dentro de lo razonable), más cerca de la verdad se estará. 2) Reducción de daños. Como sala de redacción comunitaria, no queremos generar estrés innecesario en ninguna organización. Y, como alguien que podría verte en el supermercado, no quiero que sepas que te estoy investigando hasta que sepa que hay un problema que debemos discutir. Cuando Mesa nos contactó, aún teníamos que hablar con mucha más gente antes de estar seguros de que había una historia que contar. Conseguir esas entrevistas nos llevaría la mayor parte del resto de 2025\. Erin entrevistó a su última fuente (hasta la fecha) la semana pasada, mientras nos preparábamos para publicar. Investigaciones como esta toman mucho más tiempo de lo que la mayoría cree. Entonces me hice el tonto. Le dije a Mesa que nos pondríamos en contacto con ella si decidíamos seguir adelante con la historia, lo cual era cierto, pero no sirvió de nada. Mesa ya sabía que la estábamos investigando, y hacerme el tonto hizo más daño que bien. Me arrepiento de haber tomado esa decisión. Sin embargo, antes de que me diera cuenta del error, Mesa nos interrumpió: "Pueden hablar con mi abogado". Un mes después, me volvió a enviar un mensaje de texto, dándome el nombre de ese abogado. "Yo y LES ya no hablaremos con RANGE", escribió. Ojalá no hubiera sido así, pero me ayudó a darme cuenta de que le debía más a esta historia. Si íbamos a investigar las preocupaciones de la gente, no podía permitirme asumir un papel pasivo. Sellers seguía siendo la escritora, pero yo necesitaba asistir a todas las entrevistas que pudiera. Quería mirar a la gente a los ojos. Quería hacer mis propias preguntas. Me alegro de haberlo hecho, porque aunque Erin terminó con 10 voces que contaban historias muy similares (y muchos documentos para respaldarlas), nuestra investigación con fuentes más profundas hasta la fecha, no fue la cantidad de historias lo que me resultó abrumador. Lo más abrumador fue escuchar la voz de Jorge Guerrero finalmente quebrarse al final de una larga entrevista con nosotros, con lágrimas en los ojos, hablando de las esperanzas que tenía al conseguir el trabajo en LeS y de cómo esas esperanzas se habían visto completamente frustradas. Y cómo había intentado enmendar sus propios errores y ofrecer comentarios constructivos a Mesa para mejorar toda la organización, solo para ser despedido por lo que, a Erin y a mí, nos parecían motivos no genuinos. Fue abrumador escuchar a la mujer a quien llamamos Alicia contar cómo su conflicto con Mesa no solo provocó la terminación de su contrato en LeS. El conflicto la persiguió mientras Mesa intentaba que su nuevo cliente también cancelará el suyo (un hecho queel nuevo cliente de la contratista confirmó). La cantidad de personas y las similitudes de las historias que contaban fueron suficientes para ir a imprimirlas. Fue la agonía de la gente que describía cómo lo que creían que era un trabajo soñado se convirtió en una pesadilla lo que me hizo ver que publicar era nuestro deber. /// Para el crédito de LeS, respondieron a nuestra solicitud de comentarios cuando Sellers y yo finalmente los contactamos para presentarles nuestros hallazgos. Nos reunimos en sus oficinas el 2 de marzo por la mañana. Asistió toda la junta directiva, incluyendo a Mesa, junto con miembros del personal, incluyendo a una mujer a la que llamaremos Mónica G. No habían traído a su abogado. Mesa se mostró tranquila y respondió a nuestras preguntas con naturalidad, pero también tuvo momentos de frustración, llamando a las acusaciones "TMZ" (en referencia al sitio web que se enfoca en chismes e historias de celebridades). En dos ocasiones nos preguntó por qué no habíamos intentado hablar con el personal actual, que presumiblemente estaba contento con la cultura de LeS. Dijimos que estaríamos encantados de entrevistar a cualquiera con quien pudiera ponernos en contacto, petición que rechazó en dos ocasiones. Para entonces, Sellers ya había escuchado de varios exempleados que, mientras estaban en LeS, les habían advertido sobre la investigación y les habían dicho que no hablaran con nosotros. Pensé que tal vez la organización sabía con cuántas personas habíamos hablado y había acudido a la mesa para intentar mitigar los daños. No fue así. La junta directiva se presentó para demostrar que creía en la versión de Mesa. Cuando Mesa nos pidió que identificáramos a sus acusadores, y mencionamos a tres fuentes y a una cuarta persona que aparece en nuestro artículo bajo un seudónimo (sus temores son por las autoridades federales, no por LeS), Mesa respondió: “Sí, no me sorprende”. Un par de miembros de la junta directiva frente a mí expresaron su apoyo para Mesa. El mensaje que LeS quería transmitir es que estos eran alborotadores, no denunciantes. Es posible que sea cierto, y que RANGE pasó 9 meses siendo engañado por un grupo con intereses personales. Pero una entrevista en persona implica mucho más que lo que aparece en la página. Aunque no obtuvimos muchas respuestas útiles el 2 de marzo, sí pudimos comprender mejor la cultura de la oficina. También respondieron a nuestras preguntas de manera evasiva: cuando preguntamos sobre acusaciones serias y específicas de gritarles a empleados y comportamientos que podrían considerarse acoso, Mesa señaló el generoso paquete de beneficios de la organización y la junta asintió. En un caso, Mesa negó categóricamente haber hablado mal de sus excompañeros y haber tolerado ese tipo de comportamiento en su personal. Ninguno de los miembros del personal que nos acompañó a la mesa habló, excepto Mónica G., quien en más de una ocasión hizo comentarios despectivos sobre Richard Martínez y otros exempleados que mencionamos. Cuando Erin empezó a preguntar sobre el horario de Martínez, Mónica la interrumpió: "Disculpe la interrupción, pero ¿dijo cuánto tiempo pasaba viendo películas en el trabajo?". Mesa le pidió que no hablara del tema. Es un pequeño detalle, pero desmiente la afirmación de Mesa de que el personal no chismea sobre los exempleados. También percibimos claramente que Mesa cree que debería poder actuar bajo un conjunto de reglas diferentes a las que solicita públicamente a otras organizaciones e instituciones. En la historia de Erin, leerán cómo Mesa nos indicó que los trabajadores con quejas por falta de pago o maltrato deberían recurrir a los canales estatales adecuados, como el Departamento de Trabajo e Industrias. Esto me dejó sin palabras. Como escribe Erin, RANGE cubrió las deficiencias de L&I en 2024\. Mesa no solo fue una fuente en esa historia. Fue ella quien nos brindó ese punto de vista, señalando lo mal equipado que está L&I para brindar apoyo, particularmente a los trabajadores indocumentados. Tener ese recuerdo claramente y luego escuchar a Mesa decir el 2 de marzo que los contratistas o empleados, algunos con un estatus migratorio frágil, que habían acusado a LeS de violaciones laborales deberían simplemente pasar por los canales gubernamentales apropiados, fue una experiencia verdaderamente surrealista. A su crédito, el equipo de LeS nos dio casi dos horas para hacer nuestras preguntas. Lo que nadie nos dio fue mucho reconocimiento de que la organización comprendía que se había causado un daño real, y no solo a trabajadores. Cada extrabajador que RANGE cita es miembro de la misma comunidad que LeS se creó para proteger. Nada en sus respuestas nos dio la sensación de que la organización planeaba hacer las cosas de manera diferente en el futuro. /// Pero hay algo que definitivamente está cambiando. Nos comunicamos con Mesa y la junta el miércoles 28 de febrero. El jueves por la mañana, solicitaron una reunión el lunes (2 de marzo). Luego, alrededor de las 9 p.m. de esa noche, LeS anunció que Jennyfer Mesa dejaría su cargo como Directora Ejecutiva y asumiría el cargo de líder de "Iniciativas Estratégicas", con dos prioridades: "liderar la campaña de capital para nuestro futuro edificio, el Proyecto de Desarrollo Comunitario SOMOS y las políticas y la defensa de la inmigración". La organización anunció que planea contratar a un nuevo director ejecutivo y también a un director de desarrollo. Esto es común. A menudo, las organizaciones fundadas por un líder dinámico descubren que, a medida que maduran, es necesario incorporar líderes con diferentes habilidades y experiencia. A veces, los fundadores permanecen en un puesto más definido que les permite retomar la pasión que los hizo tan dinámicos en un principio. Cuando se ejecuta bien y el líder saliente acepta su nuevo rol, esta puede ser una situación ideal. Pero las juntas directivas deben asegurarse de que esos nuevos líderes tengan tanto el poder otorgado por la organización como el poder cultural para dirigirla como consideren oportuno. Esto requiere necesariamente despojar de poder al fundador y tomar medidas para cambiar la cultura de la empresa de modo que quede claro, e incluso se celebre, que el poder, de hecho, ha cambiado. Sin embargo, después de escuchar de nuestras fuentes lo exhaustivamente que le gusta a Mesa controlar cada nivel de trabajo en LeS, estaba ansioso por preguntarle a la junta si habían tomado medidas para garantizar que Mesa no intentara simplemente microgestionar a su nuevo jefe de la forma en que las fuentes afirman que ella hace con el personal. La junta directiva dijo que llevaba más de un año trabajando en esta transición, pero no respondió a mi pregunta como si hubieran considerado estas implicaciones. Espero que lo hagan, tanto por el bien de Mesa como por el de los nuevos líderes que se contratarán para reconstruir la organización. Todavía creo firmemente que Spokane necesita una organización como LeS, pero después de nueve meses de reportaje y una conversación decepcionante con los líderes, también creo que la única forma en que LeS puede ser la organización que Spokane merece es reconocer sus errores y cambiar. Admito que me preocupa que nuestra información aquí tenga consecuencias catastróficas para LeS. Más financiadores podrían retirar su dinero, o algo peor. Pero este informe también llega cuando la organización ha decidido reestructurarse, y dormiré muy tranquilo sabiendo que cualquier candidato para esos puestos de liderazgo tendrá una idea de la dinámica de poder en la organización y de algunos de los daños muy reales que se han producido. Espero que esto no haga que la gente se abstenga de solicitar esos puestos. Al contrario: espero que utilicen nuestros informes para comprender mejor el trabajo que hay que hacer. Espero aún más firmemente que los líderes que la junta decida contratar tengan una visión sólida de cómo construir la cultura de cuidado y apoyo dentro de la organización que la organización siempre ha buscado construir en el mundo en general. En nuestra entrevista, la primera pregunta que le hicimos a Mesa y a la junta fue por qué cada uno de ellos hace este trabajo. José Barajas Zapeda, un arquitecto que conozco desde hace más de una década como artista y como uno de los principales impulsores del movimiento parklet de Spokane, se puso emocional al hablar de su infancia en el norte de Idaho. “Fue un gran desafío.Era una de las pocas personas morenas. Y no quiero que mi hija pase por eso. Por eso estoy entusiasmado con el futuro, con lo que LES está haciendo con el proyecto Somos y con el gran impacto que estamos teniendo en esta comunidad.” Más tarde, cuando nos íbamos, le di las gracias a Barajas, a quien llaman Lupe: “Sé que fue duro”. No estábamos grabando en ese momento, pero nunca olvidaré sus palabras. “Solo espero”, dijo, con la voz tan entrecortada que apenas pude oírlo, “que hagas lo correcto”. Realmente también espero que hayamos hecho lo correcto. Espero que el trabajo de Barajas tenga tanto éxito que su hija pueda crecer en un mundo mucho mejor gracias al trabajo que él y LeS están haciendo. Espero con la misma fuerza que el trabajo de RANGE tenga tanto éxito que nadie tenga que sufrir condiciones laborales deshumanizantes solo para hacer un trabajo que ama. /// Al final, los periodistas no son fiscales. Los editores no son jueces. El periodismo no es un sistema legal. Los periodistas ponen un foco de atención. Nuestra labor es destacar lo que creemos que es bueno y malo de nuestra sociedad, los motivos de preocupación y los motivos de esperanza. Tenemos total discreción sobre las denuncias que investigamos. Podríamos haber optado por no investigar a LeS, pero entonces no podríamos, en conciencia, pretender ser una sala de redacción dedicada a ayudar a todos los trabajadores. Como lo expresó Sellers en su correo electrónico pidiendo comentarios a Mesa: “Como periodista, habría sido irresponsable e injusto de mi parte no tomar en serio las acusaciones de violaciones de los derechos de los trabajadores solo porque provenían de extrabajadores de una organización que realiza una labor importante para nuestra comunidad”. No decidimos quién es culpable y quién es inocente. Con organizaciones comunitarias como LeS, la comunidad lo decide. Por lo tanto, la comunidad a la que sirve Latinos en Spokane será el árbitro final de esta saga. De ellos depende decir si tenemos la historia correcta. En RANGE, creemos que servimos a esa misma comunidad, junto con otras. Servir mejor a la comunidad latina en Spokane es tan importante que contratamos a Daisy Zavala Magaña para que conectara con hispanohablantes. Si esa comunidad nos dice que nos equivocamos con esta historia, haremos todo lo posible por reconocerlo y corregirlo. Como siempre, quienes lean esto pueden escribirme directamente aquí. 🔗 Lea nuestra primera historia de esta investigación aquí. ### Want sheriff body cam footage? It could cost you URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/ Last updated: 2026-03-09T18:18:05.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City could finally [pass the rules](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=against%20the%20county.-,Rules%2C%20at%20last%3F,-It%E2%80%99s%20the%20second) that govern them for 2026, more than three months into the year. - The Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee will discuss a [new ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Reserved%20residential%20disabled%20parking) to allow Spokanites with disabilities to reserve a free street parking spot near their house. - Spokane County sheriff [wants to](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Potential%20fees%20for%20body%20cam%20requests) establish a fee schedule for releasing body camera footage to people who request it, citing the time it takes for records custodians to review and redact the videos. - The Central Valley School District will weigh in on a [proposed change](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Vote%20on%20transgender%20athletes%20up) to policies related to school sports that says transgender students shouldn’t be allowed to play. The state has a law against this, so the vote is merely ceremonial. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Valley%20City%20Council-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Public%20Infrastructure%2C%20Environment%2C%20and%20Sustainability%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Public Facilities District](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Public%20Facilities%20District,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Airport%20Board,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,West%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/want-sheriff-body-cam-footage-it-could-cost-you/#:~:text=Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council%20%28special%20meeting%29) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Council staff structure consultant contract Tonight, the council will vote on a $64,500 contract with Matrix Consulting Group. Matrix won the bid to do an organization analysis of the council staff to help the council decide which (if any) council staffers should [have their positions cut](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/#:~:text=A%20Big%20%E2%80%98Ole%20B), after [budget negotiations](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-budget-meetings-inaccessible/) last year. They’re also planning to do other stuff, like create an office handbook that formalizes roles, responsibilities and expectations. The whole process is slated to take 10 weeks, once the $64,500 contract is approved. ### Flashbang injury Also on the agenda for tonight is the approval of a $425,000 settlement for Sierra Athos, who was injured in “a joint training with Spokane County Sheriff’s Office,” in 2023\. Athos’ Facebook page shows her being sworn into the Eastern Washington University Police, and in 2024, she posted about still being unable to walk after being hit by a flashbang grenade. If this settlement is passed, it will resolve Athos’ claims against the city, but she may still have claims against the county. ### Rules, at last? It’s the second week of the third month of the year, and the council may finally decide on the ruleset that will govern (the rest of) their year. Last week, they passed the portion of the rules that would move future meetings to Wednesday nights, with agenda review and committees happening on Tuesday, starting in July. They also passed amendments to the package that would change the process of how an ordinance becomes a law, shortening the time from committee introduction to passage, while allowing for more public comment throughout the process. Council Member Sarah Dixit posted [an explainer video from staff](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVR3yhEkjnB/?igsh=MWlvdTM3eDAycmh0cA==&ref=rangemedia.co) on the new flow of an ordinance. Tonight, they’ve got one last amendment on the table from Council Member Zack Zappone that further clarifies the public comment procedure and timeline. If the Zappone amendment is passed without a rules suspension, it would defer the final rules vote one more week. ### HEART Funding Previously known as the [1590 fund](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/citycouncil/interest-items/2020/10/1590-infographic-2020-11-04.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) — in reference to the state law that allowed the city to collect the sales tax to seed it — the [HEART fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co) spending priorities are going to be approved today. In general, the rules governing the fund state that 70% must be spent on things like building affordable housing, supporting or acquiring behavioral health facilities and funding operation of these facilities.The other 30% can be spent on the [“Legal Services and Relocation Fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co),” — which helps tenants relocate if landlords violate habitability requirements — and costs related to operating behavioral health and housing-related services and programs. The specific priority setting up for a vote today would set the priorities for the committee reviewing proposals for the funding. While the original draft left the priorities blank, an amendment from Council President Betsy Wilkerson lays out eleven specific kinds of projects the council wants to fund from HEART dollars this year: 1. Constructing mixed-use housing 2. Constructing new units of affordable housing 3. Creating permanently affordable housing, defined as maintaining affordability for households earning up to 60% of AMI for at least forty (40) years for rental housing and for at least twenty-five (25) years for owner- occupied housing 4. Addressing the racial wealth gap through increasing homeownership for populations that have historically been subject to discrimination in housing markets or housing policy 5. Distributing attainable housing throughout the City, in a variety of neighborhoods and in closer proximity to services such as parks and open space, schools, and grocery stores 6. Constructing units that are safe and accessible, regardless of age, physical ability or stature 7. Constructing units that use less net energy and require less maintenance in order to reduce long term costs of ownership. 8. Projects which include anti-displacement strategies 9. Constructing or rehabilitating new units of affordable housing, that would break ground for construction within 12 months and/or be “move-in ready” within 18 months. 10. Constructing new units of affordable housing that allow for occupant homeownership, rent-to-own leases, or cooperatively-owned multi-family projects. 11. The provider must document a realistic and achievable capital stack strategy that identifies prospective follow-on funding sources, including Housing Trust Fund opportunities, and provides evidence of alignment with eligibility criteria, application timelines, and project readiness benchmarks A second amendment proposed by Wilkerson cuts number 7 from the list, winnowing it down to 10 priorities. Both Wilkerson amendments also state that a minimum of 80% of the 70% of revenue earmarked for capital expenses should exclusively fund affordable housing projects and not behavioral health projects. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 9 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, March 12 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Airport Property Purchase The committee will be discussing a resolution giving the Spokane Airport Board the authority to purchase residential property at 10614 W 59th Avenue and acquire first right of refusal on an adjoining property. This purchase is part of remediation efforts after a fuel spill was discovered to have been impacting the property. ### Reserved residential disabled parking Also up for discussion is an ordinance that would establish an official on-street, residential parking program for people with disabilities. If passed later, this would allow Spokane residents with a permanent disability identification card or licence plate to reserve a street parking space near their house. The parking space could be between 8 and 18 feet, and would cost the city roughly $400 per spot for the sign installation and staff time. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 9 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, January 7 at 12:30 pm* > *Board Room, 720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️**🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Potential fees for body cam requests The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is asking the BOCC to consider charging the public when they request body-worn camera footage that requires redactions according to a formal fee schedule. That kind of footage is subject to public records laws in Washington and is instrumental in holding police accountable for their work in the field. But the footage can be redacted for a number of reasons, and it takes a lot of time and labor for records custodians to review it for redactions. According to a presentation document, police can redact body camera footage that shows: - Area of a medical facility, counseling or therapeutic program office where a patient is registered to receive treatment, receiving treatment, waiting for treatment, or being transported during treatment - Protected health information - Images of minors - Images that are highly offensive to a reasonable person, such as images of deceased or seriously injured persons - Communications from a victim or witness of an incident involving domestic violence or sexual assault - Identifiable location information of a community-based domestic violence program - Persons with apparent mental illness in crisis or who are detained for a mental health evaluation The fee schedule will also be discussed at the BOCC’s legislative meeting at 2 pm March 10\. A public hearing about the fee schedule is set for 2 pm on March 24\. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, March 11 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Board appointment The BOCC will likely reappoint Dawn Wynne as a Spokane County At-Large representative on the Historic Landmarks Commission. ### More than half a million in vehicle spending The Public Works Department is requesting the BOCC to approve bids from Corwin Ford totalling $613,771 in truck purchases. The trucks include: - Eight Ford Maverick XL all wheel drives - Eight F250 Super Cab 4x4s - Two Ford Ranger 4x4 crew cabs > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 6 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, March 11 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane|* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** There’s very little information in the agenda sheet, but the district will discuss its policy banning harassment, intimidation and bullying and its relationship with the CHAS Health Clinic. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 9 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Vote on transgender athletes up Central Valley School District will discuss its policy positions on a variety of potential amendments to the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) rules. [WIAA is](https://www.wiaa.com/about-us/?ref=rangemedia.co) a nonprofit founded to preserve “equitable playing conditions between high school sports teams in Washington,” and every year, they decide on rule changes. One of the rule changes on the table that CVSD is discussing this week is a vote to limit transfender athletes participation in sports. However, because the state of Washington allows transgender athletes in public schools to play sports according to their gender identity, the vote WIAA is holding is purely non-binding and advisory. While CVSD is slated to discuss the whole batch of proposed amendments, they’ve paid special attention to transgender kids over the last few years, trying to get them [banned from sports](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-valley-cvsd-trans-athlete/) both in [WIAA lobbying](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/nov/19/central-valley-school-board-takes-stance-on-transg/?ref=rangemedia.co) and[ asking the federal government](https://www.kxly.com/news/central-valley-school-board-drafts-letters-requesting-investigation-into-state-and-wiaa-transgender-athlete-policy/article%5Fc2ac2986-80af-499f-9853-8ec85a4ce827.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to investigate Washington’s state position on transgender athletes’ sports participation. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 9 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Road* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, March 11 at 8:00 a.m.* > *Orchard Center Elementary School* > *7519 E. Buckeye Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council (special meeting) **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Comprehensive plan update City staff will present an update to the city council on its progress toward implementing the long-term plan that will govern the way Spokane Valley is developed between this year and 2046\. The plan has three main elements: economic, land use and natural resources. The planning process is dictated by Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA) and applies to all local governments. Cities can choose to emphasize the way they grow — whether that focus is on dense urban infill or expansion into urban growth areas. But the planning process must meet several specific metrics, including a public participation schedule and planning for climate change. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 10 at 5 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Wave after wave URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/wave-after-wave/ Last updated: 2026-03-06T15:05:38.000Z On this week’s show, Aaron and Daniel interviewed investigative journalist Michael Edison Hayden. The three talked about far-right extremism in Idaho, how the new strain of Kootenai County white nationalism differs from the Aryan Nations of the past, and the big fracture points within the North Idaho fringe. Michael is a former senior investigative reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center. His first book – [*Strange People on the Hill*](https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-edison-hayden/strange-people-on-the-hill/9781645030607/?lens=bold-type-books&ref=rangemedia.co) – focuses on how extremist ideology changed a small, West Virginia town and comes out in April 2026\. His recently published story with [Mother Jones](https://www.motherjones.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) – called [*“Who the F Are These Men?”*](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/coeur-dalene-cda-idaho-donald-trump-kootenai-county-republicans/?ref=rangemedia.co) – is an in-depth investigation on far-right extremism in Idaho. Founded in 1976, *Mother Jones* is a newsroom that “investigates the big stories that may be ignored or overlooked by other news outlets, including about democracy and voting rights, racial justice, reproductive rights, and food and agriculture.” Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=HBLzA5keaaDnQFpR&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Newport latest victim in years-long series of INW cybertheft URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/newport-latest-victim-in-years-long-series-of-inw-cybertheft/ Last updated: 2026-03-05T22:44:46.000Z *This story by Don Gronning and Gabrielle Feliciano of* The Newport Miner*.* NEWPORT — City officials in Newport learned February 11 that $330,000 in city funds was stolen in what officials described as a sophisticated online scam. The money was sent to a fraudulent account, with staff thinking it was a legitimate vendor, Newport Mayor Keith Campbell said. *The Spokesman* reported that a staffer thought they were paying the Association of Washington Cities, Newport’s insurer.. “This is a deeply concerning situation,” Campbell said in the Feb. 26 new release announcing the crime. “We recognize that this could represent a significant loss of taxpayer dollars.” He said during a March 2 city council meeting that the city did not suspect any foul play by city employees. Newport is the third Pend Oreille County municipality in the last four years to suffer a big financial loss through theft. In 2022, more than $200,000 was stolen from the Town of Cusick by Luke Servas, a former council member and town clerk. He pleaded guilty and is serving a 51-month sentence in a federal prison. Last year the Town of Metaline lost more than $100,000, allegedly through misappropriation by a city employee, Kelly Flanagan, who was arrested by the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office. That case was turned over to the FBI. Small governments tend to be more vulnerable to fraud and loss than larger governments, said Adam Wilson of the Office of Washington State Auditor, and that is not unique to Pend Oreille County. “There are simply fewer staff to perform the cross-checks and divisions of responsibility that can detect fraud or errors,” he said. “A small city may have one or two people doing everything. They may have to rely on the mayor or city council members to monitor their finances, the success of which might depend on how much time these usually-volunteer officials have to devote to the task, their financial expertise or their willingness and availability to seek out training.” Campbell told *The Miner* the loss might be covered by insurance, but it wasn’t known yet if it met certain conditions required for coverage. The city has no specific cybercrime insurance. He said law enforcement, including the FBI and Liberty Lake Police Department, is conducting an ongoing investigation. There is no indication that individuals’ personal information was taken; the loss appeared to be limited to municipal financial transactions. “We take our responsibility to safeguard public funds extremely seriously,” Campbell said in the news release. A few dozen concerned citizens attended the Newport City Council March 2 meeting in person and over Zoom Monday night. Kristen Yake, co-owner of My Sidewalk Café in downtown Newport, was the first of four audience members to address the council. Yake asked the council about the city’s current policies related to cybercrime. She also asked which employee or employees, if any, had fallen for the scam and whether the city had taken any disciplinary action against them. While he said he could not elaborate on much due to the ongoing investigation, Campbell responded that the city did have policies related to cybercrime in place, which will be updated in order to prevent another case like this one. “The staff part, the policies and procedures, that's the investigation we want to get going,” Campbell said. “That takes a little bit more time.” Another audience member, Chris Johnson, asked the council similar questions about the city’s policies, saying that another cybercrime could occur anytime. Campbell responded with a similar answer. “If I could divulge every single thing, I would, and I still want to,” Campbell said. “But it's just one of those things you have to kind of wait for.” Leslie Maki asked how the city will recoup the $330,000\. The city is exploring its options, Campbell said. The theft comes at a time when the city is financially vulnerable. Because council members voted last year to implement a lesser water-sewer rate increase out of consideration for taxpayers, council member Nathan Longly said the city has in its budget only a fraction of what was stolen, meaning it is not an option for recouping all $330,000\. “My concern is the taxpayers,” Maki said. “It's getting expensive out there, and so if we're the ones that have to make up the difference, that's not going to be good.” One last audience member at the Monday night meeting, who did not identify himself before addressing the council, asked if the city had information technology services, recommending those employees be investigated as well. That was also under investigation, Campbell said. Wilson said “not only do these sorts of cyberlosses occur across local governments in Washington state, but they are common across the globe,” Wilson said. Since 2016 the total of all cyberlosses at all government types in the state has surpassed $38 million. In 2023 $3.4 million was stolen from governments by cybercrime in Washington, $2.4 million in 2024 and $1.5 million in 2025, Wilson said. “Over those three years, governments reported recovering a total of $2.5 million,” he said. “We also should note the amount of money recovered may increase over time. “Governments are required to report the loss incident immediately, and they don’t always know yet whether they will see some recovery from their bank or insurance. We update the amounts recovered in our next regularly scheduled audit.” ### Why we investigated Latinos en Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/why-we-investigated-latinos-en-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-03-17T00:17:02.000Z **The day Erin Sellers told me sources had approached her about a toxic work culture** at Latinos en Spokane, it was about a week after that organization’s Executive Director, Jennyfer Mesa, walked up to me at a meeting of a board we both sat on, and, with tears in her eyes, thanked me for the reporting our team at RANGE had been doing. We had been covering ICE [as closely as we could](https://www.rangemedia.co/tag/immigration/page/3/#:~:text=4%20APR%202025-,IMMIGRATION,by%20AARON%20HEDGE%20/%2021%20MAR%202025,-IMMIGRATION) for months, and had just published stories about the [violent arrest of Martin Diaz](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) and [Mesa’s own fears](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-surveillance-immigration-activist-deportation/) that she was being surveilled by federal agents. I got a little emotional myself, and thanked her for taking the time to tell me our work was helping. “No one in Spokane is telling the immigrant story like you,” she told me, before walking back to her seat. I wasn’t taking notes, but I remember her words verbatim. They meant a lot. This was last spring, early in Trump’s second term. When Sellers came to me just a few days later, I thought of that interaction, and took a deep breath. The benefit of being a community newsroom is a level of trust unlike any I’ve experienced in journalism. The downside isn’t really a downside: the trust people have is actually an expectation — our readers expect us to fight for them regardless of who the fight is against. Without fear or favor, as the old saw goes. I asked the basic editor questions. *Why us?* They had seen Sellers’ stellar [reporting](https://www.rangemedia.co/planned-parenthood-washington-union/) on our local Planned Parenthood, and hoped she could help. *What were the specific allegations?* The sources hadn’t been very forthcoming, yet, but they seemed serious, and they seemed to center, not on the organization as a whole, but on the behavior of Mesa herself. *How many people had we spoken with?* “I have two people, but I think more want to talk,” Sellers replied, “What should I do?” I think my soul left my body when she asked that. If we decided to dig in, I knew it would be really difficult to navigate not just the reporting, but the implications to the community. My mind pinballed around to a dozen possible outcomes of an investigation of LeS. Every single one of them seemed brutal, and messy. I tried to imagine what kind of awful behavior — and to how many people — it would take to justify disrupting such an important organization at such a pivotal moment. At the same time, I knew from personal experience that Mesa has an incandescent temper. I’ve seen her wield it dozens of times in service of holding powerful people and organizations to account. I would never hinge an investigation on outside interactions I had witnessed, but I also couldn’t pretend I didn’t know how devastating Mesa’s force of will can be. I returned to my body. Erin was still staring at me — *What should I do?* I said the most decisively noncommittal thing I could think of. “Find more,” I said. If we were going to pursue this, we needed more than two voices. “Okay,” she replied, “how many?” Because LeS has a largely immigrant staff and proudly supports undocumented people, I assumed many if not all of our potential sources would request anonymity. As a newsroom focused on serving those with the least power, we are comfortable granting anonymity in situations like this, but we balance it with volume. I like to have three anonymous sources in any situation where one named source would suffice. That many voices wouldn’t be easy to find amid an immigrant worker base in Trump’s America. I was also trying to weigh the potential future harm to workers if we didn’t publish against the harm to the vital work LeS does if we did publish. I asked myself how many people would need to have been harmed to justify dragging LeS through a public investigation. I had no clue how to quantify that. “It’s going to need to be overwhelming.” /// **Sellers asked her first two sources** for people who could corroborate their stories, or who might have stories of their own, and came back with more names. Soon after she began contacting those people, I got a phone call from Mesa, followed by texts. Someone had told her Erin had been making calls, and she wanted answers. Investigations take months and we like to conduct them quietly, for a couple of important reasons. 1) Truth. The longer you take (within reason), the closer to the truth you get. 2) Harm reduction. As a community newsroom, we don’t want to create unwarranted stress for any organization. And, as a dude who might see you in the grocery store, I don’t want you to know I’m looking into you until I know there’s a problem we need to discuss. When Mesa reached out, we still had so many more people to talk to before we would be confident there was a story to tell. Getting those interviews would take most of the rest of 2025\. Erin interviewed her final source to date just last week, while we were actively preparing to publish. Investigations like this take so much longer than most people realize. So it was here I played dumb. I told her we would reach out if we decided to go through with a story, which was true, but it wasn’t helpful. Mesa already did know we were looking into her, and playing dumb did more harm than good. I regret making that choice. Before I even realized the error, though, Mesa cut us off, “Y’all can talk to my attorney.” A month later she texted again, giving me that attorney’s name. “I and LES will no longer speak to RANGE,” she wrote. I wish it wouldn’t have gone like that, but it helped me realize I owed more of myself to this story. If we were going to look into people’s concerns, I couldn’t allow myself to take a passive role. Sellers was still the writer, but I needed to sit in on as many interviews as I could. I wanted to look into people’s eyes. I wanted to ask my own questions. I’m glad I did, because although Erin ended up with 10 voices telling very similar stories (and plenty of documents to back those stories up) — our most deeply sourced investigation to date — it wasn’t the number of stories that proved overwhelming to me. What became overwhelming was hearing the lone voice of Jorge Guerrero finally crack at the end of a long interview with us, tears welling at the corners of his eyes, talking about the hopes he had when he got the job at LeS, and how completely those hopes had been crushed. How he had tried to atone for his own mistakes and tried to offer constructive feedback to Mesa to make the whole organization better, only to be fired on what seemed — to Erin and I — like spurious grounds. It was overwhelming hearing the woman we are calling Alicia recount how her conflict with Mesa didn’t just lead to the termination of her contract at LeS. The conflict followed her as Mesa tried to get her new client to cancel their contract, too (a fact the contractor’s new client confirmed). The number of people and the similarities of the stories they told was enough to go to print. It was the agony on people’s tongues describing how what they thought was a dream job turned into a nightmare that made — for me — going to print our duty. /// **To LeS’ credit, they responded to our request for comment** when Sellers and I finally reached out to present our findings. We met at their offices Monday morning. The whole board showed up and so did Mesa, along with staff members, including a woman we will call Monica G. They hadn’t brought their lawyer. Mesa was subdued and answered our questions matter of factly, but she also had moments of frustration, calling the allegations “TMZ.” Twice she asked why we hadn’t tried to speak with current staffers who were presumably happy with the culture at LeS. We said we would be more than happy to interview anyone she could put us in touch with, a request she twice waved away. By this point, Sellers had heard from multiple former workers that while they were at LeS, they had been warned about the investigation and told not to talk to us. I had thought perhaps the organization had heard how many people we had spoken with and had come to the table to do damage control. They had not. The board had shown up to demonstrate they believed Mesa’s version of events. When Mesa asked us to name her accusers, and we named three named sources and a fourth person who appears in our piece under a pseudonym (that person fears are with federal authorities, not LeS), Mesa responded “yeah, not surprising there.” A couple of the board members across from me shook their heads. The message LeS wanted to deliver is that these were troublemakers, not whistleblowers. There’s a chance that’s true, and that RANGE spent 9 months getting hoodwinked by a group with an axe to grind. But there’s more to an in-person interview than the quotes that make the page. On Monday, while we didn’t get many useful answers, we did get some insight into the office culture. They also answered our questions evasively: when we asked about serious, specific allegations of yelling at employees and behavior that might be considered harassment, Mesa pointed to the organization’s generous benefits package and the board nodded along. In one case, Mesa categorically denied speaking ill of former colleagues herself and tolerating that kind of behavior in her staff. None of the staff members who joined us at the table spoke, except Monica G., who more than once made disparaging remarks about Richard Martinez and the other former employees we named. When Erin began to ask about Martinez’ work hours, Monica cut in “sorry to interrupt, but did he say how much time he spent watching movies at work?” Mesa shushed her. It’s a small detail, but it undercuts Mesa’s assertion the staff doesn’t gossip about former employees. We also got a clear sense that Mesa believes she should get to play by a different set of rules than the rules she is on the record asking for from other organizations and institutions. You will read in Erin’s story how Mesa told us workers with complaints about not being paid or being treated poorly should use the proper state channels, such as L&I. This floored me. [As Erin writes](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-work-isnt-for-everyone-latinos-en-spokane/#:~:text=When%20asked%20if%20this%20was%20true), RANGE covered the shortcomings of L&I with regards to immigrant communities in 2024\. Mesa wasn’t just a source on that story. She’s the one who gave us that angle, pointing out how poorly equipped L&I is to support immigrants — and especially contract workers. To have that memory clearly in my mind and then to hear Mesa say on Monday that contractors or employees — some with fragile immigration status — who had accused LeS of labor violations should just go through the proper government channels was a truly surreal experience. To their credit, the LeS team gave us nearly two hours to ask our questions. What no one gave us, was much acknowledgement at all that the organization understood real harm had been done — and not just to random workers. Every former worker RANGE cites is a member of the very community LeS had been created to protect. Nothing in their responses gave us a sense that the organization planned to do things differently in the future. /// **One thing is definitely changing, though.** We had reached out to Mesa and the board on Wednesday, Feb. 28\. By Thursday morning, they had requested meeting on Monday. Then, around 9 pm that night, LeS announced that Jennyfer Mesa would be stepping down as Executive Director and into a role leading “Strategic Initiatives,” with a focus on two priorities: “leading the capital campaign for our future building, SOMOS Community Development Project, and Immigration policy and advocacy.” The organization said it plans to hire a new ED and also a Development Director. This is common. Often organizations who are founded by a dynamic leader find that, as they mature, it’s necessary to bring in leaders with different skill sets and experience. Sometimes the founders stay on in a more defined role that allows them to get back to doing the passion work that made them so dynamic in the first place. When executed well, and when the outgoing leader embraces their new role, this can be an ideal situation. But boards absolutely must make sure those new leaders have both the power sanctioned by the organization *and* the cultural power to run the organization as they see fit. That necessarily requires stripping power from the founder, and taking steps to change the company culture so it’s clear — even celebrated — that power has, in fact, shifted. After hearing from our sources how exhaustively Mesa likes to control every level of work at LeS, though, I was eager to ask the board if they had taken steps to ensure Mesa wouldn’t just try to micromanage her new boss the way sources claim she micromanages staff. The board said they had been working on this transition for over a year, but didn’t react to my question like they had considered these implications. I hope they do, both for Mesa’s sake, and the sake of the new leaders who will be hired to build the organization back. I still believe strongly that Spokane needs an organization like LeS, but after 9 months of reporting and one disappointing conversation with leadership, I also believe the only way LeS can be the organization Spokane deserves is to own its mistakes and change. I admit, I am concerned that our reporting here will lead to a catastrophic outcome for LeS. More funders could pull their money, or worse. But this report also happens to come when the organization has chosen to restructure itself, and I will sleep very well at night, knowing that any prospective candidate for those leadership positions will have a sense of the power dynamics in the organization and some of the very real harms done. I hope this doesn’t lead people to shy away from applying for those positions. On the contrary: I hope they use our reporting to gain a deeper sense of the work that needs to be done. I hope even more strongly that the leaders the board decides to hire have a strong vision for how to build the caring and supportive culture *inside* the organization that the organization has always sought to build in the world at large. In our interview, the first question we asked Mesa and the board is why each of them do this work. Jose Barajas Zapeda, an architect I have known for over a decade as an artist and as one of the prime drivers of Spokane’s parklet movement, became emotional speaking about his childhood in North Idaho. “It was super challenging. I was one of the few brown people in that town. And I don't want my daughter to go through that. That's why I'm excited about the future, about what LES is doing with the Somos project and the big picture that we're helping out this community so much.” Later, as we were leaving, I thanked Barajas, who goes by Lupe, “I know that was hard.” We weren’t recording at that point, but I’ll never forget his words. “I just hope,” he said, his voice breaking so much I could barely hear him, “you do the right thing.” I really hope we have done the right thing, too. I hope that Barajas’ work is so successful that his daughter gets to grow up in a world much improved by the work he and LeS are doing. I hope just as strongly that RANGE’s work is so successful that nobodywill ever have to suffer dehumanizing working conditions just to do a job they love. /// **Ultimately, reporters are not prosecutors.** Editors are not judges. Journalism is not a legal system. Journalists are a spotlight. It’s our job to highlight what we believe to be the good and the bad of our society, the reasons for concern and the reasons for hope. We have complete discretion over the claims we investigate. We could have chosen to not investigate LeS, but then we couldn’t in good conscience pretend to be a newsroom dedicated to helping all workers. As Sellers put it in her email asking Mesa for comment, “As a reporter, it would have been irresponsible and unfair of me not to take allegations of workers’ rights violations seriously just because they were coming from former workers of an organization doing important labor for our community.” We don’t decide who is guilty and who is innocent. With community-serving organizations like LeS, the community does that. And so the community Latinos en Spokane serves will be the ultimate arbiter of this saga. It’s up to them to say whether we got this story right. At RANGE, we believe we serve that same community, along with others. Better serving the Latino community in Spokane is so important we hired Daisy Zavala Magaña to connect with Spanish speakers. If that community tells us we got this story wrong, we will do everything in our power to own that wrong and correct it. As always, anyone reading this can email me directly [here](mailto:luke@rangemedia.co). 🔗 Read our first story in this investigation [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-work-isnt-for-everyone-latinos-en-spokane/). ### The Work Isn’t For Everyone URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-work-isnt-for-everyone-latinos-en-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T17:20:14.000Z ****SOURCING INFORMATION**: In reporting this series, we interviewed 10 former employees and contractors who worked at Latinos en Spokane between 2020 and 2025\. Because of immigration concerns and fears of retaliation, most of those sources were only able to talk to RANGE on background, anonymously or under the use of a pseudonym. 🔗 For a column on why we wrote this, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/why-we-investigated-latinos-en-spokane/). In the past five years, local nonprofit Latinos en Spokane (LeS) has made a name for itself as one of the premier regional organizations advocating for Latino people in Eastern Washington. Their website boasts dozens of media articles highlighting their immigrant defense efforts, their cultural festivals and events, and their advocacy work around language access, immigrant protections and workers’ rights. Two of RANGE’s most [powerful](https://rangemedia.co/wa-worker-protection-measures-undocumented-labor-and-industries/?ref=rangemedia.co) [investigations](https://rangemedia.co/essential-but-unprotected/?ref=rangemedia.co) into the horrific labor conditions many immigrants live under were the direct result of tips from LeS. We wrote about their work to[ keep border patrol agents out of classrooms](https://rangemedia.co/border-patrol-agent-spanish-immersion-class-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co). In 2025, as President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts ramped up, we continued to cover their advocacy, like [lobbying](https://rangemedia.co/city-council-immigration-solidarity-resolution/?ref=rangemedia.co) the Spokane City Council for a resolution in support of the Keep Washington Working Act, and speaking out against [violent](https://rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/?ref=rangemedia.co) [immigration](https://rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/?ref=rangemedia.co) arrests. We also reported on executive director Jennyfer Mesa’s[ suspicions that federal agents were surveilling her](https://rangemedia.co/ice-surveillance-immigration-activist-deportation/?ref=rangemedia.co). Through the chaos of the first year under Trump’s second term, LeS advertised free legal services for immigrants; hosted monthly legal clinics in partnership with Inland Empire Legal Aid, The Way To Justice and Washington Courts; and fundraised, asking for donations to sustain legal services through their Poder Legal department. In a “[2025 Wrapped](https://www.instagram.com/p/DS8fwPBEpo%5F/?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co)” post on Instagram, LeS highlighted the work of Poder Legal, writing that the department had provided immigration services to 405 people, hosted eight immigration clinics and 11 legal clinics, among other accomplishments. The organization, founded and headed by Mesa, also continued to provide other crucial services for local Latinos, like community events, financial workshops, tax clinics, case management through their Community Comadre social worker program and fresh, free food distribution through their Mercadito Cultural Market. Social media posts paint a picture of a nonprofit working hard — and succeeding — at stepping up to care for clients made even more vulnerable by a hostile presidential administration. Behind the scenes, though, LeS was becoming a ghost town. In the organization’s 2024 Annual Report, 18 people were listed as being part of the team at the end of the year, pictures of their smiling faces stacked in rows. In June 2025, that number was down to [14 employees](https://www.spokanejournal.com/articles/17209-latinos-en-spokane-aims-to-expand-health-housing-access-with-10m-community-hub?ref=rangemedia.co), according to an interview executive director Jennyfer Mesa gave the *Spokane Journal of Business*. As of publishing, at least 12 of the 18 people in the Annual Report were gone: some quit, some laid off, some fired. Four other workers who were hired after the Annual Report was created had also started jobs but already left. Mesa and the board contend many of those ended jobs and contracts were due to budget cuts, though they didn’t respond to direct questions in the interview or an email after asking how many positions had been cut in the last year. “ I don't think it's turnover. I think it's more of our funding. We are contingent upon funding,” Mesa told RANGE. “ We did have to do some layoffs this year. We're not the only ones. So did Amazon, some other millionaires. We're working as we can and we've had to do layoffs because we just simply couldn't sustain the program because of funding.” Board members added that recent funding cuts and grant reductions have created one of the biggest challenges the board has faced as they decide which programs to prioritize for the community. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/Untitled-design-4.png) **A photo of the 2024 staff page with “X”s drawn through employees and contractors no longer there, sent to RANGE by a worker who stopped working at LeS in late 2025\. While we were writing this story, another employee left,* [**seemingly on good terms*](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVCLnPcEhXG/?igsh=dTNzaW5xY3M4a3ho&ref=rangemedia.co)**. We have blurred names and faces upon request.* While Mesa and the board wouldn’t answer questions of how many workers had been fired or quit in the last year, RANGE has confirmed at least four, as well as a contractor who said Mesa failed to renew her contract unexpectedly and without notice. In May 2025, community leaders and former workers from LeS began reaching out to RANGE, talking about a frantic and, to some, increasingly toxic work environment and adversarial management style behind the scenes. We’ve now interviewed 10 employees or contractors who have worked for the organization at points ranging “from the beginning” to late 2025\. Most of the people we interviewed asked to remain anonymous or use pseudonyms, citing immigration purposes or fears of retaliation from Mesa. The only former employees who were willing to use their names were Santos Hernandez, who now works for a large nonprofit immigration firm in California; Richard Martinez, who now works in labor; and Jorge Guerrero, who initially spoke to us anonymously but is now willing to speak on the record. For those who stayed off the record for fear of retaliation, those concerns appear to have been justified. While RANGE was reporting this story, Mesa found out we had interviewed one of LeS’ former contractors, a person we are identifying as Alicia (a pseudonym), who was now working for a different organization. Mesa called the executive director and board president of that other organization and tried to get them to sever ties with the contractor. Mesa denies this allegation but the executive director and board president of the other organization, who also asked for anonymity to protect Alicia’s identity, corroborated the contractor’s story. “We were encouraged not to continue working with \[Alicia\],” the board president said. Days after this conversation, LeS paid a lawyer to send Alicia a cease and desist letter, threatening to “escalate matters further,” if she continued to speak about her experience at LeS with reporters or former coworkers. Another contractor showed RANGE proof that Mesa threatened them with legal action if they did not return a payment they had received for completed work. Other community activists have described seeing similar retaliatory behavior from Mesa, like a young organizer who told RANGE that Mesa had called her boss to complain after the activist organized a protest against immigrant rights violations without including her. ### Overworked and underpaid The staff members at LeS we were able to interview described loving the organization’s mission and the work it was trying to accomplish, but facing harsh criticism, long hours and impossible working standards from Mesa. For her part, Mesa said that her job isn’t easy and she can’t make everyone happy. She pointed to the federal political climate as causing difficulty for LeS. “Since 2025, we’ve definitely had a lot of challenges at the federal level,” Mesa said. “There are extremely high needs in our community and very little resources and ability to respond but we’re doing what we can. I think we’ve developed a very strong team.” We asked Mesa exactly how big that team currently is, including how many staff and contractors work in various programmatic departments. She said she would get back to us with those numbers, but never did. For some, working with LeS had been a dream job — one they were willing to uproot their lives for, like Santos Hernandez and Alicia, who moved to Spokane from Texas and Arizona, respectively. Others joined the organization by responding to a job posting or through friendship with Mesa that turned into a job or contract Once they started though, the working environment was different than was presented prior to their employment. Almost every former employee and contractor we talked to said they were pressured or directly asked to perform extra work for free on personal time. Some said that Mesa created a toxic work environment, playing favorites and punishing employees who didn’t invite her out socially. One described being hired under false pretenses, with the promise of a full-time position dangled over his head for months. Another described being called constantly after hours and on the weekends, and feeling like she’d be in trouble if she didn’t work extra hours for free. When Richard Martinez first connected with LeS, he was working as a loan officer for a local bank. He remembered reaching out to Mesa to offer his services as someone who was bilingual and wanted to help the community. At first, there was an informal relationship where Martinez would refer Latino clients in need of other services to LeS and Mesa would refer LeS clients in need of loans to Martinez. “ After working with each other, sending people back and forth for several months, she came to me and was like, ‘Hey, I love your personality. I love the way you deal with clients. I've had nothing but great reviews,’” Martinez said. In 2022, Mesa asked him to join LeS as the small business project manager, helping clients apply for business licenses and permits while navigating other complex government paperwork involved with starting a business. He would work part-time at 30 hours for the month of June, but Mesa promised that would bump up to full-time in July, Martinez said. RANGE has reviewed emails between Mesa and Martinez that confirm this was the offer. He took the deal, and began building the small business support program from the ground up. Martinez made inroads with state agencies and local organizations like Spokane Regional Health District, creating contacts that could help him help clients. His first month flew by. “It started off great, I’m not going to lie,” Martinez said. “It was fun.” Soon, though, it was July. At that time, Martinez said Mesa increased his workload, but refused to increase his hours. “I need you to start running social media,” Martinez remembered her telling him. She wanted him to post small business tips, reminders of his services and hours, and edited videos promoting small businesses in the LeS network. Mesa refused to answer questions about Martinez or his work both in an in-person interview and in follow ups over email. “I’m not a social media expert,” Martinez said, but he tried anyway. He’d spent hours at a time visiting small businesses and recording content for social media. But Martinez said Mesa asked for more, telling him to produce three videos a week. “ So I told her, I was like, ‘Look, I don't think I could produce that on top of running Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.’ She even wanted me to run TikTok,” he said. Even though social media work wasn’t in his job description, which RANGE has reviewed, he said he’d try, if Mesa would honor her promise and increase his hours to full-time. Again, she said no. Martinez tried to balance her social media demands with his regular job duties, but after a few weeks where he only posted one small business video a week, “She came to me and she was like ‘Why aren’t you doing more?” he said. “‘I physically can’t,’” Martinez recalled responding. “‘You’re not giving me the hours that I needed that you promised me and you’re not going to give me any more pay … sorry, I’m not going to sit here and bust my butt for no more money or no hours.’” Then, he said Mesa told him he could just record videos on the weekend or on his personal time when he visited local restaurants. When Martinez refused to work for no pay, she told him he wasn’t “dedicated to the cause,” he said. We asked Mesa about every characterization Martinez’ made about her actions and behavior, but she declined to discuss specifics. During our interview, she did deny in general asking Martinez or any other LeS member to work extra, unpaid hours. After about three months of work, he asked one more time for the full-time pay he and Mesa had agreed to before he was hired. “ I was like, ‘Hey, can I see the contract one more time? Because I'm not getting paid accordingly and you promised me this. I'm trying to tell you that you still have to uphold your end of the bargain,’” Martinez said. Martinez said he was told by Mesa when he started that the grant he was paid through was supposed to cover his salary for the whole year, but in that final conversation, Mesa now claimed the grant hadn’t been renewed and she couldn’t offer him more pay or more hours. Then, Martinez said she started to critique his performance, stating he wasn’t doing enough within his 30 hours. “ Finally, she was like, ‘You know what? I could do your job a lot better than you … I could produce a lot more videos and do all the stuff that you do *and* do my job better than you can,’” Martinez said. According to Martinez, Mesa then fired him, telling him to finish his appointments for the day, leave his laptop and turn over his passwords. “ I was like, ‘If you just let me go, there's absolutely no way I'm gonna go and do those appointments. If you think you could do my job better, you go and do all those appointments,’” Martinez said. “ And then that was it.” He never returned to LeS. Later, he heard Mesa was disparaging his time there to staff. “She painted me in a bad light as far as, ‘Oh, he just left on a whim, he didn’t care about us and he just left.’” Alicia, who later contracted for the same work Martinez had been doing, confirmed that Mesa spoke poorly to her of Martinez’s job performance and level of commitment to the organization. When asked explicitly by RANGE if she made negative comments about Martinez’s work, Mesa said twice, “no comment.” Martinez now works in labor, helping other workers in need, with a focus on clients who speak English as a second language. Since leaving, Martinez said he has kept tabs on LeS. He noticed when the person Mesa hired to replace him lasted less than a year before they left. He heard when Alicia, the third person to hold that title, had her contract terminated early. He worried about a Community Comadre he had left behind, who had talked to him about issues she was having with Mesa. RANGE interviewed that Community Comadre, who worked at LeS for a few years. She asked to remain anonymous due to concerns of retaliation. The comadre described the work environment as “toxic,” and said Mesa promised them one amount of money for their work on a contract connecting clients with income-based assistance benefits, then later “she changed her mind and said, ‘No, the money will be different.’” The comadre stuck up for herself, sending Mesa an invoice for the original, promised amount and was paid accordingly, but later found out that her fellow comadres were paid less. This wasn’t the only time the comadre witnessed pay discrepancies. “\[Mesa\] would change her mind; she’d tell you, ‘I want to pay you $20,’ and then later when you come in to get paid, she’d say, ‘Oh no, I’m gonna pay you $12.’ This is not fair,” she said. When asked if she’d ever promised employees or contractors one amount and then paid less, Mesa said, “ No, we have contracts in place. We also have confirmation of, ‘You can accept employment or not.’” People who worked for LeS more recently than Martinez and the community comadre described a similar work environment. When we initially interviewed Jorge Guerrero, who worked at LeS in 2025, he asked to remain anonymous. He was on the job hunt after being terminated from LeS, and was worried that if Mesa found out he spoke to the press, she would retaliate and negatively impact his employment search. “She knows how to tell a story, how to sell a narrative … She’s able to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ to make sure that she’s able to tear down something by attacking someone’s character,” he said. Guerrero also had complex feelings about his employment there. He had looked up to Mesa, describing her as “amazing,” “a brilliant mind” and someone with “a lot of positive attributes.” Six months later, when we spoke to him again, he had decided that he wanted to be on the record. He worked at LeS as an immigration and environmental justice organizer, [focused on](https://www.instagram.com/p/C-WI%5FwASm2O/?igsh=MXdlcXBoYXllZmpiOQ==&ref=rangemedia.co) advocating for workers’ rights, health equity and economic opportunities for undocumented immigrants in Washington. He was brought on in the fall of 2024 and gone by May 2025, shortly after he planned and orchestrated LeS’ May Day celebration. Guerrero said it was his decision to offer honest feedback about the preparation for May Day that got him fired. First, Mesa asked him to cancel a planning session with other outside collaborators at the last minute because she was going to be too busy to attend. Guerrero said he wanted to respect the people who had set aside time to be there, so he changed the planning meeting into a walking tour of the May Day march route. The next day, Guerrero said, Mesa wrote him up for being disrespectful — for going on the walk without her. Mesa’s disciplinary action came the same day that one of Guerrero’s friends was violently detained by ICE. He almost quit, but he didn’t want to leave LeS in the lurch for May Day. He planned to leave right after. “May Day happened, everything went fantastic. \[Mesa\] even gave me the \[next\] day off,” Guerrero said. After taking the day to absorb the successful event and the work LeS was doing, he decided to stay at LeS and “remain in the fight.” Still, he was also reflecting on the month leading up to May Day, full of canceled meetings, communication issues and expectations of long work hours. So Guerrero — whose job involved advocating for better working conditions for Latino workers across the state — decided he would ask for change for himself, too. He wrote a three-page letter to Mesa, which RANGE has reviewed, and gave it to her on May 6\. In writing the letter, Guerrero said he was especially careful with his wording, and took pains to identify the places he should have done better as well. “ I want to start by saying I respect your leadership and all the work that you do. I know how committed you are to our mission, and I appreciate your passion and the direction you provide. I also want to acknowledge the importance of communication and planning in my role, and I take full responsibility for not always keeping you updated,” the letter began, “ I also want to be transparent about some things that I've been staying quiet about.” Guerrero then outlined key issues he was having, including micromanagement, communication issues and Mesa deviating from agreed-upon plans at the last minute. He also said that he was feeling pulled between pressure from Mesa to do more immigration-related work like Know Your Rights workshops, and also needing to complete the requirements for a large grant LeS had received from the Washington State Department of Health that funded his position before an upcoming deadline. “ I consistently work over 40 hours a week trying to meet the demands of this position, but still find myself falling short,” he wrote. “ I know this role requires growth and adaptation, but the amount of and pace of work combined with the multiple expectations across departments often feels unmanageable.” Here, Guerrero told RANGE he chose to be vulnerable: “Right now, I feel overwhelmed,” he wrote, “ I care about this work and I want to be successful in this role, but I do not feel like I have space to grow and make mistakes.” Guerrero finished the letter by thanking Mesa for listening to him and stating that he was committed to growing and working better with her. He gave the letter to Mesa at a meeting, and thought the conversation afterward went well. He worked the following weekend, going to a conference Mesa asked him to attend on Saturday and Sunday. He took Monday and Tuesday off to balance his hours. On Wednesday morning, his dog was dying. He had been told LeS policy allowed him to flex his hours, but by 10:30 that Wednesday, LeS’ HR contractor sent him an email asking him if he was coming in for the day. Guerrero responded that he would be there after 11 a.m. At 11, his dog was put to sleep at the clinic. He took his family home and then rushed to work. Later that day, he received a second email from HR scheduling a meeting for the next day, Thursday, May 15\. During that meeting, just over a week after he had handed Mesa his letter outlining both concerns with the work environment, but also acknowledging he had asked for space to grow and become a more effective employee, Jorge Guerrero was fired. He said Mesa told him he was a poor communicator in the meeting. She also accused him of breaking her trust by taking home plants and flowers as a gift for his wife, sister and daughter — who were all mothers — that he thought were leftovers from a Mother’s Day event. Guerrero said he apologized and offered to bring back the plants. Guerrero said his termination letter stated he had stolen from LeS. It did not state that it was plants taken by mistake. Mesa declined to show us the termination letter, and Guerrero was not able to locate his copy by press time. Mesa further declined to answer specific questions on Guerrero’s termination or employment. Speaking to RANGE in summer 2025, Guerrero teared up as he described the final meeting at LeS. He said he still had a lot of respect for Mesa, but was afraid to speak up about his experience there because of the termination letter that claimed he stole from the organization. “ I'm afraid because she is very well liked and very well respected, and then she continues to attack my character in a very public fashion,” he said. “I gave her all the speakers, my megaphones, the DJ stuff that we have for events, the keys. Everything’s there. But three flowers came up missing. Gosh, man. And it was by mistake.” By February 2026, Guerrero had a different perspective. He now wanted to be on the record — he wanted to speak up in hopes that conditions could change for the co-workers he left behind. ### Micromanaged It wasn’t just the amount of work they were being asked to do, former workers said — it was also how they were asked to do it. “She is a massive micromanager,” said Hernandez, the former Department of Justice accredited representative in Poder Legal. “I used to joke that, ‘No, I don't need you to pick out the color of my underwear.’” F.C., a contractor, who worked with LeS for about three years and asked to be be referred to only under a pseudonym, told RANGE that one of LeS’ key programs was her idea — which RANGE agreed not to directly identify to protect her identity based on concerns of retaliation — but as soon as it got off the ground, Mesa refused to give her any credit and began micromanaging her work on the project. “I couldn’t \[invite\] vendors if she didn’t like them. She had me create an Instagram and I couldn’t post anything without her approval, but I would send her stuff and she would wait until the last minute to say yes or no,” F.C. said. All 10 workers we talked to described the same thing: Mesa would create a bottleneck by demanding specific deliverables on tight deadlines, then wouldn’t approve or engage with their work in a timely fashion. She would skip meetings, ignore emails and put things off, sometimes until too late. If employees tried to complete the task on their own, Mesa would tell them it was wrong. “She says to everybody she interviews that she’s not a micromanager,” said Perla, an employee who worked at LeS for more than a year and asked to use a pseudonym because of immigration status and retaliation concerns. “But in my first weeks, I found that was a lie. She likes to have a say in everything,” Perla told us, saying Mesa would get mad if work wasn’t done to her exact desires. “I just felt like I couldn’t do anything without getting some kind of reprimand.” “She’ll criticize and be like, ‘I didn’t approve this and that.’ But then if you don’t do it, it’s also wrong,” the F.C. said. “I just am not used to that kind of work. It’s not very professional.” “There's no compromise,” said Guerrero. “There's no respect for people's point of view or perspective or thought process.” “For every single thing that I did, I would have to send an email, get approval. Her approval would take weeks,” said Alicia. “If I posted something \[on social media\] and she didn't like the color, she would give me a hard time like, ‘Why did you post it without my permission?’ “ I was running a department,” she continued, “but I couldn't do certain things without her permission.” It made it difficult for her to take initiative or make timely headway on her work. Mesa argued that what the former workers described as micromanaging was actually mentorship. “As executive director, when somebody comes in, I have to provide ample opportunity for them to get training. There is no playbook or degree that you get in organizing. You have to learn how to do this. And that also means that you have to accompany people to meetings,” Mesa said. She also described pairing employees with a mentor in the community to help them develop. When it came to accusations that Mesa required final approval of social media posts and emails, she described that as standard workflow. “If you are posting, for example, on behalf of the organization we do have to have a second look,” she said. “We do have to have a second look of how you write emails, because you’re representing the organization. And that’s not just LeS, that’s everywhere else you work, you’re going to have that oversight.” One of her biggest responsibilities as executive director, Mesa said, was to ensure that grants and contracts were completed. “That is my job — not to micromanage,” she said. “If I have to micromanage you, then that’s super hard for us as an organization.” For Cynthia, a former employee who worked at LeS for more than two years and who asked to use a pseudonym due to concerns of retaliation, the most peaceful time at LeS was last year, when Mesa was on a three-month sabbatical. “It was calm, it was so nice. I would actually want to go into the office and work,” she said. “When she was gone, I felt like we all worked well. We were able to communicate. We were able to get stuff done that we couldn’t because she kept getting in the way.” When Mesa micromanaged things like social media posts, workers said it was annoying, but the stakes were sometimes higher, like when she tried to run roughshod over the legal department. Hernandez said Mesa would try to control what legal cases they were working on, asking them to put aside ongoing cases for people Mesa handpicked. Another former employee, who asked to be referred to only under the pseudonym F.E., said they witnessed Mesa instructing staff to fill out important documents for clients that they weren’t legally allowed to handle, which put both the clients and the staff at risk. Hernandez, Alicia and Cynthia also confirmed that Mesa asked employees with no legal training to take on client intakes at one point, which included reviewing private legal documents, which Mesa has denied. When told that RANGE had reviewed a photo taken by a former worker of intake forms piled on the commercial kitchen table, Mesa again refused to comment on “ legal matters or anything from the organization that has to do with legal intakes.” Then she said “There’s a picture? Great,” and laughed. “ She just doesn't know what the hell she's doing and she's not listening \[to staff\],” F.E. said. “She’s too loose of a cannon.” ### Behind closed doors In public, Mesa presents as an outspoken champion willing to go to the mat for local immigrants. Behind closed doors, her staff said she was different. At staff meetings, workers said she would belittle them, criticize them and yell at them in front of their peers. Cynthia said the easiest way to tell someone on staff was in trouble is when Mesa would pull people in for closed-door meetings. Occasionally, that person would be in so much trouble, Mesa could be heard yelling at them from inside her office. “I think it all depends on what you consider yelling, but no, I don't yell at my staff,” Mesa said. “There is a profound disconnect between her social media persona and the reality of who she truly is,” Alicia wrote in a statement to RANGE. “While the former advocates for and champions the most vulnerable on a daily basis, the latter punishes anyone who dares to challenge her authority.” That was a common theme throughout all of our interviews: Staff felt that Mesa set a clear precedent that anyone who challenged her, pushed back or got on her bad side socially would be punished. Whether it was Alicia not inviting Mesa to her birthday, Hernandez refusing to prioritize certain legal clients at Mesa’s request or Guerrero reading her a letter asking for clearer work expectations, the consequences for their perceived offenses were made clear almost immediately. “ The people that would speak up, she would find a way to get rid of you,” F.E. said. When asked if this was true, Mesa responded, “ I think if it was true, they could go through the proper channels and they can report me to L&I, report the organization. There's proper channels to that. My job as an executive director is to ensure that we are operating our finances, that our resources are going into where they needed to go to, and that we are complying with our contracts and grants.” In the past, Mesa has been an outspoken critic of L&I, especially for Latino workers. In 2024, [Mesa told RANGE of L&I](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-worker-protection-measures-undocumented-labor-and-industries/#:~:text=According%20to%20a,this%2C%E2%80%9D%20Mesa%20said.): “Most workers are scared to start this process and those who do, don’t have the resources alone to keep pushing through a broken system like this,” Mesa said. “Situations like [Francisco’s](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-worker-protection-measures-undocumented-labor-and-industries/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CSituations%20like%20Francisco%E2%80%99s%20happen%20everywhere%20and%20there%E2%80%99s%20a%20price%20to%20that%2C%E2%80%9D%20Mesa%20said.%20%E2%80%9COrganizations%20like%20ours%20are%20often%20the%20only%20safety%20net%20for%20undocumented%20workers%20because%20L&I%20is%20reluctant%20to%20take%20their%20cases%2C%20or%20it%E2%80%99s%20a%20maze.%E2%80%9D) happen everywhere and there’s a price to that … Organizations like ours are often the only safety net for undocumented workers because L&I is reluctant to take their cases, or it’s a maze.” In the same interview, Mesa [told RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-worker-protection-measures-undocumented-labor-and-industries/#:~:text=Mesa%20believes%20the%20L&I%20system%20is%20broken%20for%20people%20working%20contingent%20jobs%2C%20those%20working%20under%20the%20table%20and%20especially%20workers%20who%20are%20undocumented.) that she believed the L&I system is broken for people working contingent jobs: contractors, those working under the table and especially workers who are undocumented. After Guerrero was fired, Cynthia said that everyone who was left on staff was too scared to say anything. She thought about pushing back on a few of Mesa’s decisions that she had ethical issues with, but ultimately decided not to, and focused on trying to continue helping her community for as long as she could. Even after she separated from LeS, Cynthia was scared of speaking out because she had heard Mesa talk poorly of past workers like Hernandez and Alicia, “trying to discredit them.” “That’s kind of scary,” Cynthia said. “I know she has legal connections in Seattle and I’m just kind of scared that she would go after me, too.” All told, the 10 former workers RANGE interviewed shared very similar stories. When they started, each believed strongly in the mission of LeS. Many of them described caring deeply for their clients and their co-workers, and continued to worry for them even after leaving the nonprofit. All year, Perla felt a creeping sense of dread as she watched more and more of her co-workers disappear. Eventually, it was her turn. “Part of me felt like it was coming. I just wanted to believe it was not gonna happen to me,” she said. Still, even after she left the organization, Perla wants the best for LeS. “They do great work,” she said. “I just think they need a leader that knows how to lead and empathize with people, not dictate.” Cynthia echoed that sentiment. “I have a lot of love for LeS as an organization, as a whole, outside of Jennyfer,” Cynthia said. “We all stayed there for as long as we could because we all felt like we needed to help our community.” During our interview, we asked specific questions to try to understand the various reasons for LeS’ turnover, like “How many employees are currently on staff,” and “Over the course of 2025, there was a staff reduction. How much of that staff reduction was due to grants ending or layoffs, how many people quit, and how many people were fired?” Mesa originally agreed to get us these numbers and respond to additional questions sent via email. An hour after the publication deadline we gave LeS, we got an email from the board — sent from Mesa’s email address — that did not answer any of the direct questions or follow-ups we asked and instead pointed to the importance of their work, their great benefits package and HR consultants that they would not confirm they still had on contract. We’ve included a full list of the questions we sent at the bottom of this story. “We encourage all workers to seek support through L&I or other agencies that oversee workplace matters,” the [statement](https://www.canva.com/design/DAHDBjZcL6k/za2tdiUC9Gdw4sfv2fSWGg/view?utm%5Fcontent=DAHDBjZcL6k&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=link2&utm%5Fsource=uniquelinks&utlId=h199fc2054b) read. “When we have had to terminate employment, it has been because employees did not meet work performance expectations, failed to perform critical job functions, or compromised the interests of the organization, and most importantly, the interests of our vulnerable clients.” In person, Mesa said that “not everyone can handle that kind of work.” The ongoing situation at LeS has negatively affected the Latino workers who spoke to RANGE, leaving many without their sole source of income in an uncertain economy and dangerous political climate where they could be stopped and questioned just because of their ethnicity. Those same workers voiced fears that the high turnover and chaos behind the scenes at LeS has also left the vulnerable people who rely on the organization for services needing more. *Additional reporting contributed by Luke Baumgarten.* COMING NEXT: A close look at the impact of downsizing at Poder Legal, the team intended to address emergent legal concerns for Spokane’s underserved immigrant and refugee population, including undocumented people. #### Unanswered follow-up questions we sent: ****Agreed-to followups** - We asked “Did LeS update Poder Legal’s address with the DOJ after the move to 1309 W. Dean?” - - Jennyfer said she would check - We asked “Santos Hernandez showed us a resignation letter he took to board president David Castro in the fall of 2024\. Was any of the rest of the board aware of that conversation or the issues Santos raised? If so, did you look into them?” - - Lupe said he would look back at this - How many employees are currently on staff (Break out full time vs part time if possible)? How many contractors have contracts with you currently? - - Jennyfer agreed to check - Over the course of 2025, there was a staff reduction. How much of that staff reduction was due to grants ending or layoffs, how many people quit, and how many people were fired? How many contracts were ended early or not renewed in 2025? - - Jennyfer agreed to check - Why did LeS initially respond to Santos’ unemployment claim by telling the state he quit? - - Jennyfer said she’d check with HR consultant - When did Loi Lumala come on as a supervising attorney? - - Jennyfer said she’d check. - Was Richard Martinez ever bumped up to full time hours? - - Jennyfer said she’d check ****Additional Questions** - How many people are currently employed at Poder Legal? How many people are contracting? - - How many people were employed at Poder on June 11, 2025? How many were contractors? - There is still a full-time attorney position posted on the website. Is LeS still trying to find a fulltime employee for that role? Is there still budget for that role? - In addition to the cease and desists sent to Alicia, another contractor showed RANGE proof that Mesa threatened them with legal action if they did not return pay they had received for work completed. How many contractors or former employees has Mesa sent legal threats to? If you had to estimate, how much money has been spent on paying lawyers to send legal threats to former workers? - You said in our interview that “Karla Tiul is a VIP client.” Your website states that you only take on legal cases through WA Mass referrals. Were the Tiul Caal family WA Mass referrals? If not, how do you decide which additional cases to take on? - Were you still hosting free immigration legal clinics on the 2nd Thursday of every month as of July 14, 2025? At that time, your website said that you did - Because of the allegations of micromanaging employees, including those hired in management roles, we asked the board what steps the organization is taking to ensure the new future Executive Director and Development Director don’t experience similar micromanaging by Mesa, who is moving into a new role but still has tremendous sway within the organization. The board members didn’t really give a direct answer. Would you be willing to answer that question now? ****Specific allegations** You blanket no-commented many HR questions, and that is absolutely okay. Because of the seriousness and directness of some of the statements, though, we are going to ask them again: - Richard Martinez said you hired him after seeing his work with a different company and partnering with him on community referrals. He said that you invited him to come on as the small business project manager and had nothing but great things to say about the way he handled clients before coming on. Is that true? - Martinez said you increased his workload in July but didn't give him the additional hours promised. Is this true? If so, why? - - At that time, did you ask Martinez to produce 3 videos a week for social media? - We’ve talked about Martinez at length, but Erin started to ask this question and was interrupted - did you ever tell Martinez you could do his job better than him? - Did you ever tell community comadres they would be paid one amount for work on a grant contract, and then pay them a lower amount? - Jorge Guerrero said in the month leading up to May Day you cancelled multiple meetings including one he felt he couldn’t cancel in deference to community partners, so he held a walking route tour with those partners instead. He says you then wrote him up for being disrespectful for going on the walk rather than cancelling the meeting. Do you dispute or have any comments about that description of events? - Did you expect Jorge to work longer hours or hours outside his normal hours leading up to May Day? Was he an exempt employee? - We’ve reviewed the three-page letter Jorge wrote you offering feedback. He believes he was terminated at least in part due to that letter. Is that true? Was that letter part of why he was fired? - Jorge says his termination letter lists theft as a termination reason. He thinks the theft allegation is for plants he took accidentally and offered to return. Is that the only thing LeS alleges he stole? - You told us you don’t yell at people in front of the rest of the staff. We have a quote from another employee who said that there were times you pulled staff members into your office and yelled so loud everybody else could hear. This is a small but important distinction and we want to offer you the chance to comment: Do you believe you have raised your voice loudly enough when disciplining an employee or contractor that the rest of the office could hear? - In general, the former workers we talked to said turnover at LeS has left vulnerable people who rely on the organization for services in the lurch. Do you believe that the staff reduction across 2025, regardless of the cause, has negatively impacted LeS’ ability to serve its community? - Because you told us the recent relatively drastic reduction in staff is due to loss of funding, we are hoping to at least identify employees and contractors who were lost due to downsizing. - These are the workers highlighted in your 2024 annual report whom we believe no longer work for the organization. Can you tell us who was lost through downsizing and who was lost for other reasons? - ****If you don’t feel comfortable commenting on specific employees:** it appears that 12 of the 18 people listed in your 2024 annual report under “Our Team” have now left the organization. That list appears to be a mix of employees and contractors. ****Can you tell us how many of those 12 departures are because of reductions in funding? Include both employees laid off and contracts not renewed, if possible.** - We have also heard that 4 people hired **after* the annual report was published in July 2025 have also left. Between then and today, how many employees and contractors have you hired, and how many are still with the organization? ### Cómo obtener ayuda financiera de Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/asistencia-sirc/ Last updated: 2026-08-14T17:47:27.000Z [How to access aid through Spokane Immigrant Rights CoalitionThe city approved $100k to support immigrants this week. Here’s what you need to know.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-96.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Web-photo-2.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/access-aid-sirc/) El concejo municipal de Spokane aprobó un acuerdo con Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition (SIRC) el 23 de febrero para otorgar $100,000 destinados para asistencia de emergencia a inmigrantes y refugiados bajo el Community Justice Fund, el fondo de ayuda de la coalición. El apoyo de la ciudad llega mientras Estados Unidos entra al segundo año de la segunda administración de Trump, que ha estado plagada de operativos migratorios más violentos y en ataques contra las comunidades inmigrantes, incluso en Spokane. El contrato fue aprobado con una votación de 6 a 1\. El concejal Michael Cathcart fue el único voto en contra. Los $100,000 reforzaron el fondo existente de SIRC, ahora conocido como el Community Justice Fund. Aquí le explicamos qué necesita saber para acceder a él: ### **¿Quién puede aplicar y dónde?** El Community Justice Fund brinda apoyo a los inmigrantes que residen en el condado de Spokane, independientemente de su estatus migratorio, según el formulario para solicitar ayuda. Familiares, líderes comunitarios y abogados también pueden solicitar asistencia en nombre de un inmigrante que la necesite. La solicitud señala que, para ser elegibles, los solicitantes deben haber explorado primero otros recursos comunitarios y proporcionar documentación o explicación de esos intentos. Para enviar una solicitud, vaya a: https:[//www.mcasspokane.org/https/wwwsircwacom](https://www.mcasspokane.org/https/wwwsircwacom?ref=rangemedia.co) Actualmente, la aplicación solo parece estar disponible en inglés. ### **¿Para qué puedes solicitar ayuda?** Las solicitudes de asistencia financiera deben ser para necesidades urgentes o inesperadas que puedan afectar la seguridad, la salud, el estatus legal o la capacidad de una persona para cumplir con sus obligaciones legales, según la solicitud. Los gastos elegibles enumerados en el formulario incluyen, entre otros: - Transporte de emergencia a la corte de inmigración y otras citas legales requeridas - Costos de comunicación urgente, incluyendo llamadas a un familiar detenido o para coordinar la representación legal - Pagos para citas médicas requeridas como parte de casos de inmigración - Gastos de alojamiento temporal o necesidades de vivienda por motivos de seguridad o desplazamiento - Costos de corto plazo para el cuidado de los niños - Servicios de interpretación para citas legales o atención médica Bajo circunstancias atenuantes, SIRC también puede considerar asistencia de una vez para la renta. Esos hogares tendrían que cumplir con los siguientes requisitos: tener menores en el hogar, que su proveedor principal esté detenido y que puedan demostrar que tienen necesidad financiera a través de referencias de organizaciones. ### **¿Qué pasa con otras solicitudes?** El contrato de la ciudad con SIRC [permite ayuda y asistencia de emergencia](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-immigrant-rights-coalition-contract-aid/) conforme a lo establecido en una carta de septiembre de 2025\. Dicha carta describe asistencia para necesidades básicas como vivienda, atención médica y servicios públicos, entre otras. Sin embargo, SIRC confirmó con RANGE en un correo electrónico que el alcance del trabajo de la coalición había cambiado después de que se envió la carta y que los costos de los servicios públicos ya no eran elegibles. Según el formulario, los fondos de SIRC no se pueden usar para cosas como reembolsos, facturas que no sean de emergencia, gastos de vida continuos y no urgentes como comida, ropa o gasolina, servicios públicos y solicitudes que no estén directamente relacionadas con la situación de emergencia del solicitante. En cuanto la representación legal, el contrato impide que la coalición utilice fondos públicos para cubrir esos gastos y también actividades de cabildeo. Sin embargo, SIRC informó a RANGE que podría proporcionar dicha asistencia según la disponibilidad de otras fuentes de dinero. ### **¿Cuánta ayuda puedes solicitar?** A partir del 25 de febrero, no había límites en la cantidad que las personas pueden solicitar, informó SIRC a RANGE. Pero SIRC dijo que eso podría cambiar dependiendo de la necesidad y las preocupaciones de equidad, aparentemente refiriéndose alos requisitos del acuerdo para garantizar la equidad y la inclusión en el desembolso entre las comunidades inmigrantes y refugiadas de Spokane. ### **¿Qué datos recopilará SIRC de usted?** La coalición debe recopilar datos sobre la nacionalidad, el código postal, el tamaño de la familia y en qué se usaría el dinero, según el acuerdo con la ciudad. Esto garantiza que los desembolsos sean inclusivos y equitativos entre las comunidades inmigrantes, según un documento municipal. La solicitud también pide a las personas que verifiquen su elegibilidad, la naturaleza de su emergencia y que exploraron otros recursos. No se requiere la divulgación del estatus legal de alguien como parte de la solicitud y el formulario asegura que la información del solicitante es confidencial. ### **¿Cuál es el plazo para recibir una respuesta?** SIRC le dijo a RANGE que intenta brindar una respuesta a los solicitantes dentro de la semana en que se manda la solicitud, pero que todo depende de la cantidad de solicitudes presentadas y la disponibilidad de fondos. Las solicitudes presentadas por organizaciones comunitarias, iglesias o agencias se procesarán rápidamente, ya que permiten una confirmación más rápida, según la aplicación. ### How to access aid through Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/access-aid-sirc/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T18:05:35.000Z [Cómo obtener ayuda financiera de Spokane Immigrant Rights CoalitionLa ciudad aprobó $100,000 para brindar apoyo a los inmigrantes la semana pasada. Esto es lo que necesitas saber.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-95.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/Spanish.png)](https://www.rangemedia.co/asistencia-sirc/) The Spokane City Council approved[ an agreement](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-immigrant-rights-coalition-contract-aid/) with the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition (SIRC) on February 23 to give $100,000 in assistance to immigrants and refugees under the coalition’s Community Justice Fund. The city’s support comes as the U.S. enters its second year of Trump’s second administration, which has been fraught with more violent immigration enforcement and attacks against immigrant communities, including in Spokane. The contract was approved on a 6-1 vote. Council member Michael Cathcart was the only vote against. The $100,000 bolstered SIRC’s existing fund, now known as the Community Justice Fund. Here’s what to know about accessing it: ### **Who can apply and where?** The Community Justice Fund provides support to immigrants who live in Spokane County, regardless of legal status, according to the aid request form. Family members, community leaders and lawyers can also request assistance on behalf of an immigrant who needs aid. The application notes that to be eligible, applicants must have explored other community resources first and provide documentation or explanation of those attempts. To submit a request, go to: [https://www.mcasspokane.org/https/wwwsircwacom](https://www.mcasspokane.org/https/wwwsircwacom?ref=rangemedia.co) Currently, the application only seems to be available in English. ### **What can you request assistance for?** Requests for financial assistance must be for urgent or unexpected needs that would impact someone’s safety, health, legal status or ability to fulfill legal obligations, according to the application. Eligible expenses listed in the form include but are not limited to: - Emergency transportation to immigration court or other required legal appointments - Urgent communication costs, including for calling a family member in detention or to coordinate legal representation - Payments for necessary medical appointments required as part of immigration cases - Expenses for temporary lodging or housing needs due to safety concerns or displacement - Costs for short-term child care - Interpretation services for legal or healthcare related appointments SIRC may also consider one-time assistance for rent under extenuating circumstances for eligible households that: have children, have their primary provider in detention and can show they have financial need through organization referrals. ### **What about other requests?** The city’s contract with SIRC [allows for emergency aid](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-immigrant-rights-coalition-contract-aid/) and assistance in line with what’s in a September 2025 letter of intent. That letter outlined assistance for basic needs such as housing, health care and utilities, among other things. However, SIRC told RANGE in an email that the coalition’s scope of work had changed after the letter was sent and utility costs were no longer eligible. According to the form, SIRC funds can’t be used for things like: reimbursements, non-emergency bills, ongoing and non-emergency living expenses like food, clothing or gas, utilities and requests that are not directly related to an applicant’s emergency situation. As for legal representation, the contract restricts the coalition from using taxpayer dollars for that or for lobbying. However, SIRC told RANGE it could provide that assistance based on the availability of other sources of funds. ### **How much assistance can you request?** As of February 25, there were no limits on the amount people can request, SIRC told RANGE. But SIRC noted that could change depending on need and equity concerns, seemingly referring tothe agreement’s requirements to ensure disbursement equity and inclusivity across Spokane’s immigrant and refugee communities. ### **What data will SIRC collect from you?** The coalition is required to collect applicants' nationality, zip code, family size and what they intend to use the money for, under the agreement with the city. This is to make sure disbursements are inclusive and equitable across Spokane’s immigrant communities, according to a city document. The application also asks people to verify eligibility, the nature of their emergency and that other resources were explored. Disclosure of someone’s documentation status is not required as part of the application and the form assures that applicant information is confidential. ### **What’s the timeline for receiving a response?** SIRC told RANGE it tries to provide applicants a response within the week but that getting back to someone depends on the number of applications submitted and funding availability. Requests filed by community organizations, churches or agencies will be fast-tracked as they allow for quicker confirmation, according to the application. ### Plainclothes ICE officer asked for a copy of new ICE-free zone law at Spokane City Hall URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-officer-city-hall-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-03-03T22:16:47.000Z Late into the evening of March 2, the Spokane City Council [passed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/mar/02/spokane-council-limits-ice-actions-on-public-prope/?ref=rangemedia.co) [two ordinances](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-ordinance-dhs-detention-center-spokane/) seeking to limit federal immigration enforcement overreach. The next morning, a plainclothes officer with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) entered City Hall asking for a copy of the “Immigration Enforcement Free Zones” ordinance, according to city officials. Both laws were approved by votes of 6-1: one banned the siting of any new detention facilities within city limits, while the other barred federal agents from using city property for any immigration enforcement activities — including staging and surveillance — without a judicial warrant. The officer wanted a copy only of the second ordinance, Council Member Sarah Dixit said. City spokesperson Erin Hut confirmed that an agent was at City Hall the morning of March 3 and had asked for the new law. “These documents are public record and they were appropriately provided by the city clerk’s office,” she wrote in a statement to RANGE. Dixit said staff told her that the officer flashed their badge at the front desk attendant — who had no indication that they were dealing with a federal official and not the Spokane Police Department (SPD) — who allowed them into the clerk’s office. It wasn’t until the person provided their email to the city clerk that it was clear they were with a federal agency and not local law enforcement. The “abnormal” incident raised questions. Dixit noted the law and any related documents were publicly accessible through the city’s website. “It didn't seem like this person was using intimidation tactics. I think that's why everyone was surprised by this interaction, because it was seemingly normal,” she said. “I think it's a helpful reminder for us to know what other additional security questions should be asked when an officer shows a badge." The interaction prompted city officials to discuss rapidly formalizing precautions to verify the identities of visitors trying to access non-public spaces within the building, Dixit said. These additional protections would include verifying a badge number and ID, and confirming if the person is allowed past the public lobby and into restricted areas. Dixit hoped the new protocol would be implemented by the end of the day to help ensure people felt safe at City Hall, she added. “It's important for us to be accurate in how we're talking about this and describing it, because we don't want to raise any panic in the community,” Dixit said. “We know that there's a lot of misinformation and, when unverified reports happen, it can cause a lot of harm to our immigrant communities.” City Council Member Paul Dillon said he found ICE’s presence at City Hall “extremely alarming,” and added that it wasn’t the first time federal immigration enforcement agents had made a show of power there. In late August 2025, as the City Council was voting on the [Safe and Welcome Spokane ordinance](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/08/26/spokane-city-council-votes-to-extend-protections-against-ice-agents/?ref=rangemedia.co) to [protect ticketed street festivals](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/citycouncil/interest-items/2025/safe-and-welcome-in-spokane-faq.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) and events from warrantless ICE searches, Dillon saw multiple Border Patrol officers standing in the Chase Gallery right outside council chambers as councilors voted on the ordinance. The Spokane Sector of Border Patrol later issued a [statement](https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolSpokane/posts/statement-regarding-safe-and-welcome-in-spokane-ordinance-spokane-wash-the-us-bo/1090798386575270/) asserting that the ordinance would have “no impact to \[their\] border security operations.” According to the statement, “Federal law supersedes local ordinances in matters related to immigration enforcement. U.S. Border Patrol agents, by law, are not required to obtain a warrant to arrest a subject illegally present in the United States … The Spokane Sector Border Patrol does not routinely conduct enforcement operations at public events and would only do so with a specific, lawful reason.” While the U.S. Supreme Court has largely granted federal immigration agents the authority to detain people without a warrant in public under the Trump administration — including [race-based “Kavanaugh stops”](https://news.ku.edu/news/article/supreme-court-ruling-allowing-race-based-immigration-stops-hampers-relief-from-government-misconduct-legal-scholar-argues?ref=rangemedia.co) —[ judicial warrants are still constitutionally required](https://www.wired.com/story/us-judge-rules-ice-raids-require-judicial-warrants-contradicting-secret-ice-memo/?ref=rangemedia.co) for arrests in private areas. The federal government has yet to publish a statement on the Spokane laws passed March 2, but the official ICE account of X posted its opposition last week to similar legislation passed in Everett, Wash., which also banned immigration enforcement activity on city property without a warrant. Accompanied by a photo of Everett City Hall and snippets of their ordinance,[ ICE posted](https://x.com/ICEgov/status/2027527362015883393?s=20&ref=rangemedia.co), in part: “Cassie Franklin, mayor of City of Everett, WA, escalates tension and directs city law enforcement to INTERVENE WITH ICE OPERATIONS AT THEIR OWN DISCRETION — putting everyone at greater risk. … If Mayor Franklin wanted to protect the people she claims to serve, she’d empower the city police with an [ICE 287g partnership](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/17/nx-s1-5707449/local-police-immigration-cooperation-287g?ref=rangemedia.co) — instead she serves criminal illegal aliens.” Regardless of ICE’s presence, Dillon isn’t worried about the legality or enforceability of the ordinances. “We’re standing on firm legal ground and that’s that,” he said. “I invite them to learn more about land use in Spokane.” ### I’m back URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/im-back/ Last updated: 2026-03-16T23:29:31.000Z Hi, I’m Luke Baumgarten, [you may remember me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6jSKetRBU0&ref=rangemedia.co) from such articles as the ones on this website. If you’re familiar with the entire RANGE multimedia universe, you might also remember me as the guy emcee-ing Spokane’s Spiciest in the short-shorts and, more seriously, as the guy who [very publicly laid himself off last year](https://www.rangemedia.co/range-furlough-journalism-funding-local-news/). Well, I’m back. I’ve been back since September, actually. Sorry for not writing sooner. The team has been asking me to do this for a while, and I’ve wanted to, but it’s hard to always know what would be meaningful to say, especially when it doesn’t feel like much has changed. And, in September, it didn’t feel — to me — like much had changed yet. With the help of RANGE’s readers, the rest of the team at [Spokane Workers Cooperative](https://spokanecoop.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) (SWC), and a partnership between Waters Meet Foundation and our bank, this project had survived. I had my job back, and yeah, that was pretty important for me personally. But we made RANGE a worker cooperative because we never wanted this work to live or die with just one person — and especially not one *personality* — so saving my own skin didn’t feel like much to write home about. And *then*. In October, we got word that RANGE was awarded our largest grant ever. Inatai Foundation has been giving us critical support for a few years now, but this was on a whole other level, and allowed us to create something we’ve been [working toward for almost 5 years](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-one-will-protect-us-but-us/): access to our reporting in Spanish. And because life sometimes lines up in exactly the way you hope, the person we were able to hire for that role is the exact person who, as a student journalist in 2021, [wrote the piece](https://www.rangemedia.co/essential-but-unprotected/?ref=rangemedia.co) that demonstrated the deep need for writers who can interview community members in Spanish, Daisy Zavala Magaña. At the time, RANGE was just me in my attic. Daisy was about to graduate from WSU and begin a career that has already taken her to the largest newspaper in our state and then down to Nogales, Arizona reporting on both sides of the border. I’ve dedicated nearly [20 years of my career](https://www.rangemedia.co/terrain-15-years-immersive-spokane-art/) to staunching the brain drain of young, creative, ambitious people from Eastern Washington — mostly in the arts, but increasingly in other fields. It feels weird to say this about a person I had never met in person until a couple weeks ago, but it feels really good to have Daisy back home in Eastern Washington, and I’m *really* proud it was RANGE that helped make it happen. In addition to keeping Spokies in Spokane (and in Daisy’s case keeping scablanders in the scablands), We really want to keep journalists in journalism. I had to leave journalism for almost a decade to build the rest of my life. The dream when I started RANGE was for no journalist who works in this newsroom to have to make that same choice. That’s why it was especially meaningful when Daniel Walters reached out to us. I’d put Daniel’s knowledge of our local politics and governments against anyone’s, but more importantly for me: no one in Spokane has let their own personal earning potential suffer to make sure we all get deeply sourced and informed news about power than him. I lasted eight years as an underpaid reporter in this town. Daniel gutted out 15\. In addition to [all the beautiful things](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-range-its-me-daniel/) Daniel wrote in his introduction column last week, he said one more thing that really stuck with me when we met for coffee to discuss him writing for us. I felt the need to tell him up front that we didn’t have a full-time position for him. He already knew that, he said, and it wasn’t what he needed, at least not right away. After 15 years of reporting on the ground, like many people before him, Daniel was facing the possible end of his career as a journalist. If he had to go out, he told me, “I want to do it covering my home town.” **All of this evidence** has been right in front of me for months each time Val or Sellers would carefully nudge me to write this damn “I’m back” column, but you can’t always see what’s right in front of you. Sometimes you get in your own way. At least I do. Then, a little over a week ago, this whole team — Valerie Osier, Erin Sellers, Aaron Hedge, Pascal Bostic, Daisy, Daniel and I, with Sophia Mattice-Aldous dialing in from Pend Oreille County — sat down for our first editorial meeting together. Also sitting in that day was Sara Kersey, Operations Manager for SWC and a huge part of why we still exist. Our office has a meeting room with eight seats. I never thought RANGE would ever fill it. That week we did. If Sophia had joined us in person, we would have had to find another chair. It was in that room, that day, that the veil I had put over my own eyes wasn’t so much lifted as it was snatched away. The toxic perfectionist in me couldn’t pretend he didn’t see what I think had been obvious to the rest of our team. That this team has grown so strong. We are extremely capable, and we’re increasingly nimble. It kinda seemed like anything was possible. For most of the last two years, I’ve felt like I can’t see past whatever crisis needs handling in the moment. In that editorial meeting, not only could I see past that day, I found myself able to reflect on the profound hardship we had endured. It even felt, for a moment, like I could see the future. I could picture a time where we pack that room every week. I could see a time when we would need to buy a bigger table. Eventually we’ll need to find a larger space entirely. I felt relief, and even a small amount of joy in the room that day. I like being able to imagine a better future. That night, I went home and cried a little. I’ve never been able to accomplish anything meaningful in my life without a ton of help from others. Friends and colleagues, yes, but in this case also *literally tens of thousands* of strangers, many of whom I’ll likely never meet, who love this place, who believe in this place, and who have seen enough value in the ways we’re trying to make institutions work better for people to support those efforts. Sometimes when a veil is snatched like that, you see something you’ve never seen before. That night, I also regained a feeling I should have never lost — the immeasurable gratitude I feel, getting to go to work for this community, every day. ### Final vote on rule changes, restricting immigration enforcement, and kratom ban up for vote URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T19:24:47.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The city council will vote on a slate of new rule changes — notably excluding a controversial rule that would have restricted public testimony at city meetings. - Spokane may ban federal officials from enforcing immigration law on city property. - The kratom ban is up for a vote, *sans* an amendment to regulate and not fully get rid of the mind-altering substance. - The Spokane County Board of Commissioners will award more than $16 million in behavioral health contracts to 15 providers for the coming year. - Spokane police want to award Mujeres in Action a grant to improve communication between police and immigrant communities in Spokane. - Liberty Lake wants to award Dardan Enterprises with a $3.6 million contract to build a new City Hall building. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=Spokane%20City-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=Council%20Committees-,Public%20Safety%20%26%20Community%20Health%20Committee,-/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/final-vote-on-rule-changes-restricting-immigration-enforcement-and-kratom-ban-up-for-vote/#:~:text=attendance%20here.-,Liberty%20Lake%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### The rules are changing! After months of debate, the city council will vote to revise its Rules of Procedure, which govern how the regular meetings are run and the decorum of people attending. One of the biggest changes is the day the city council would meet — currently, the council meets on Monday evenings, but if the new rules are adopted, the council will meet on Wednesdays at 6 pm starting June 9\. Agenda review meetings and council committees would be moved to the Tuesday prior at 11 am. Another big change is a rewrite of Rule 3, which outlines the difference between “legislative” and “adjudicative” hearings. A legislative hearing, defined in the rewrite, is a hearing where the council considers new legislation. Two meetings are required in order to pass a new law, and the public is allowed to testify on it. An adjudicative hearing is one in which the council is settling a dispute between parties. The parties to the dispute are the only people allowed to testify. It looks like one of the most controversial proposed changes — one that would have reduced the amount of time the public is allowed to testify the dais — did not make it to this final version of the rule changes. Monday morning, Council Member Michael Cathcart introduced amendments to the proposed changes clarifying how long people can speak on items. The amendments emphasize that “speaking times allowed on the Pending Agenda: two minutes for Boards and Commissions as a whole, two minutes for Reports, Contracts, and Claims as a whole, and to preserve the option for up to three minutes for each remaining individual item and three minutes for any Second Reading/Final Consideration item.” Other changes include an expedited process for adding legislative items to council agendas to accommodate responses to emergencies, adding a formal way for council members to be notified of special meetings within 24 hours of their start, swapping meeting days of the Public Infrastructure and Environment, and Sustainability and Urban Experience committees. ### Vote to further restrict immigration enforcement in Spokane The council will vote on an ordinance to ban federal officials from enforcing immigration law on city-owned property unless they have a judicial warrant, establishing the entire city as an “immigration enforcement free zone.” The measure is one of [two new laws](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-ordinance-dhs-detention-center-spokane/) proposed by Mayor Lisa Brown that would heavily restrict the federal government from enforcing immigration law. The other bars private land owners from leasing their property to immigration enforcement agencies. ### New priorities for affordable housing spending The council wants to clarify the scope of legally allowed uses for affordable housing funding, administered through the [HEART Fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co) (previously called the 1590 Fund). Agenda literature says the changes create mechanisms for funding distributions to “reflect ALL legally eligible uses of HEART funding and encourage any project or service applying for funding to apply for any eligible use as defined” in state law. The idea is to free up more funding to house people in marginalized communities. As [we’ve noted](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=for%20the%20deets!-,Affordable%20Housing%20spending,-Previously%20known%20as), 70% of this money must be used in creating actual housing and supporting behavioral health services, while the remaining 30% can be used for administrative costs. ### Kratom ban is up for vote The final version of this is a full-on ban of sales that rejects an amendment proposed by Cathcart that [would have simply](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=mid%2DSeptember%20instead.-,Kratom%20ban%20is%20back,-After%20statewide%20kratom) limited sales of the mind-altering substance to people older than 21\. The ban only targets the selling of kratom, not the possession of it. Violations would be considered civil infractions. Additionally, anyone found to be in violation would face "escalating penalties and repeat offender provisions," according to a document in the city agenda. Kratom retailers could have their business licenses revoked or denied if found to be in violation. The Spokane Valley City Council is also considering a kratom ban of their own, as detailed later in this civics report. The vote will follow a failed effort at the state level that would have banned kratom sales to people under 21. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 2 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, March 5 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee **/5 peppers** ### SPD wants better communication with immigrant communities The Spokane Police Department wants to award a contract to Mujeres in Action (MiA), a Latine advocacy nonprofit, that would create channels of communication between police and immigrant communities. The $120,000 contract would pay for monthly reports to generate the following metrics: - number of contacts with domestic violence or sexual assault survivors who have limited-English-proficiency - observations about SPD’s response in the field - officer feedback about MiA’s services during domestic violence calls - community feedback on Spokane Police interactions - number of officers trained on cultural competency and trauma-informed service. ### Recovery court in the works The agenda item does not include much detail, but the Spokane municipal court system is looking to add a recovery court to its community court to serve people “involved in the criminal legal system who suffer from substance use or co-occurring disorders.” > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, March 2 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 3 at 9 am\\* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### $16M-plus in behavioral health contracts The BOCC is set to approve more than $16 million in contracts with 15 behavioral health providers for non-emergency services. Frontier Behavioral Health is the main contractor and represents by far the largest contract with an award of $6,447,537.80\. See a breakdown of all proposals [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2141/files/attachment/20984?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Board appointment The BOCC is set to appoint - Shelley Moore to the Spokane County Community Services Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board. - Derek Baziotis and Stephanie Courtney to the Spokane Regional Health District Board > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 3 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🌶️**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, March 4 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Second read on kratom ban The city council will consider banning local businesses from selling kratom, a stimulant that some medical organizations [say](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prescription-drug-abuse/in-depth/kratom/art-20402171?ref=rangemedia.co) can be addictive and harmful if used irresponsibly. This is the second read on the resolution. Businesses that violate the proposed ban would have to pay a $250 fine on the first violation and $1,000 fines for subsequent violations. ### Nearly $4M on table for Sullivan Road preservation Spokane Valley wants to hire Selland Construction, Inc. to repave, build sidewalks, crosswalks and make other improvements to the stretch of Sullivan Road between 8th and 24th avenues. The project would be funded by a National Highway System grant with no matching requirement for the city. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 3 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### $3.6M for new City Hall The city council is set to give Liberty Lake Mayor Cris Kaminskas permission to hire Dardan Enterprises to construct a new City Hall building for Liberty Lake for a price up to $3.6 million. Dardan said it would be able to complete the project for somewhat less than that, proposing a $3,238,683 price tag. ### Public safety sales tax The city is workshopping a potential ballot proposal that would allow it to collect a .1% sales tax to pay for public safety measures, likely in the form of hiring new police officers. If approved, it would yield $720,000 in revenue. Spokane County is also proposing a .2% tax increase for public safety, which if approved, would funnel $300,000 into Liberty Lake coffers, also for police. The Liberty Lake tax would follow the lead of Spokane Valley, which has raised taxes in recent years to hire more police officers as part of an historic expansion of its police force. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, March 3 at 6 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Millionaire Tax, immigrant work protections, voter privacy bills and more advance in WA legislative session URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/millionaire-tax-immigrant-work-protections-voter-privacy-bills-and-more-advance-in-wa-legislative-session/ Last updated: 2026-03-09T21:56:50.000Z With the Washington State legislative session wrapping up March 12, here’s a look at a few bills that tackle a proposed tax on the rich, home insurance and wildfire risk, voter suppression and privacy, protections for immigrant workers and keeping energy costs low in Spokane. You can sign in for or against or send a message to a legislator on any of these bills through each bill’s summary page. ### [HB 2416](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2025&BillNumber=2416&ref=rangemedia.co) **Spokane’s waste-to-energy facility may get special treatment under state climate act** This one’s specific to us, Spokane. Sponsored primarily by the Spokane delegation to the state legislature, Natasha Hill and Timm Ormsby, this bill would make it so the facility that burns Spokane trash to generate energy would be able to buy carbon credits to offset its carbon footprint on a slower schedule than normal emitters. The rationale behind this is three-fold: 1) the Spokane [Waste to Energy Plant](https://my.spokanecity.org/solidwaste/waste-to-energy/?ref=rangemedia.co) is not a landfill but an energy source. 2) it would impose an unfair burden on energy rate-payers in Eastern Washington. 3.) The other option instead of the WTE plant is basically to truck garbage out of the city, which is not exactly environmentally friendly. The facility is the only one of its kind in Washington and one of only a few across the nation. An assessment by the state Department of Ecology found the plant provides a net reduction in greenhouse gases when compared against other waste disposal centers. The bill has cleared the House of Representatives and is now in committee in the Senate. ### [HB 2105](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2105&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Providing protections for immigrant workers** This proposed legislation would require [employers to notify workers ](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/2105-S2%20SBA%20WM%2026.pdf?q=20260303171436&ref=rangemedia.co)no more than 72 hours after getting a federal agency’s Notice of Inspection for I-9 forms, which include an employee’s immigration status, and other related employee records. The notice would need to be available in English and the five other most commonly used languages in the state, according to a legislative document. The proposed legislation would also require employers to “notify affected workers within 72 hours of receiving results” from inspections., according to the document. “Washington has already taken important steps to ensure clarity in how our state interacts with federal immigration enforcement,” said Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self in a public statement. “My bill builds on that foundation by making sure that when workplace inspections occur, there is clarity, fairness, and protection from retaliation — for workers and for the businesses that rely on them.” The document also notes the state Attorney General could investigate alleged violations and potentially resolve them through conference and conciliation or pursue legal action. Additionally, injured workers could also bring forward civil action. The bill cleared the House. The Senate Committee on Ways & Means held a public hearing February 26. ### [HB 2508](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2508&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) & [HB 1740](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1740&Chamber=House&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) **Independent authorities to hold police accountable for violence** In response to sustained calls for stronger police accountability in 2021, the Washington legislature created a state office charged with investigating police who have killed civilians. It was part of a slate of 12 police accountability bills that have given survivors of deadly police violence, many of whom [hail from Spokane](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-accountability-proposals-coming-to-wa-legislature/), hope that justice will be served for their loved ones. But they don’t believe the state office is enough. The Office of Independent Investigations (OII) can’t investigate killings that happened before it was created. HB 2508 allows the office to investigate killings regardless of the dates they occurred. This bill, with local sponsors Ormsby and Hill, has passed the House of Representatives and is now being considered in a Senate committee. Additionally: the same folks who advocated for the expanded investigative authority have been asking for an additional office of independent prosecutions that would litigate cases the OII determines should be prosecuted. As is, the OII sends its findings back to local prosecutors, who’ve often already decided a case should not be prosecuted. A bill that would have required the office of independent prosecutor, HB 1740, has failed in the legislature, but activists promise to keep fighting for it in future sessions. ### [SB 6079](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6079&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Bolsters resources to reduce insurance policy cancellations and nonrenewals because of wildfire risks** This bill would create the Strengthen Washington Homes Program, which would provide [grants for wildfire mitigation efforts](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/6079-S%20HBA%20CPB%2026.pdf?q=20260303173201&ref=rangemedia.co) in line with certain standards. The program would be administered by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) and would be funded through unspent money from the OIC’s regulatory and fraud accounts, according to a legislative document. As climate change increases wildfire risk, especially in eastern Washington, insurance companies [have been using it](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/14/insurance-companies-using-risk-of-wildfires-to-dro/?ref=rangemedia.co) as an excuse to drop homeowners’ coverage. Not having insurance can put mortgages in default and force foreclosures. The proposed legislation would prohibit insurers from using wildfire risk to disqualify someone from property insurance, as long as the property has a “wildfire prepared standard” or equal designation from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, according to the document. Under the bill, the OIC could carry out pilot projects meant to inform how the program’s would be implemented. The bill already cleared the Senate. It was scheduled for an executive session February 25 under the House Committee Committee on Consumer Protection & Business, but no action was taken. ### [SB 6346 ](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=6346&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) **Establishing a tax on millionaires.** The Millionaires Tax, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle), passed the Senate chamber on a 27-22 vote February 16 and is headed to the House of Representatives for further consideration. Proponents of the tax say it will provide a significant, sustainable funding increase for schools, health care and other essential services, and provide tax cuts for millions of working Washingtonians and small businesses. “People say millionaires and billionaires will go away if this tax is passed, which is just false,” said Jeff DeBray, Eastern Washington Director of [Fuse Washington](https://www.fusewashington.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). This week, [Invest In Washington Now](https://investwanow.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (IIWN), a group supporting the income tax, said it confirmed more than [100 people](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/23/state-senator-former-congressman-among-those-who-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) had been fraudulently signed in against the legislation since they became aware of the issue on February 20\. While House Republicans claim the bill is the most unpopular in state history with more than 100,000 signing in against it, IIWN claims thousands of those are duplicates or fraudulent, with.at least 15,573 duplicate testifiers for the Senate hearing and more than 22,251 duplicates for the House hearing. DeBray said less than 1% of the wealthiest households in the state would pay the Millionaires Tax. If approved, the legislation would levy a 9.9% tax on income above $1 million. Households with incomes of $1 million and below would continue to pay nothing. The Millionaires Tax will also allow for the expansion of the [Working Families Tax Credit](https://workingfamiliescredit.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co), a sales tax rebate for Washington families with low to moderate income levels. ### [HB 1750](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1750&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Creating guidelines for voter suppression and vote dilution claims under the Washington voting rights act.** Sponsored by [Hill](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/natasha-hill?ref=rangemedia.co), HB 1750 would prevent political subdivisions from enacting election policies like changing voting methods or polling locations that unfairly burden minorities and low income voters, regardless of whether there was intentional discrimination. It would amend the existing [Washington Voting Rights Act](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=29A.92&ref=rangemedia.co) to make it easier to challenge electoral systems that might weaken minority groups' voting power. It passed the House 57-37 on February 12\. As of February 25, it passed to the senate rules committee for second reading. ### [SB 5892](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5892&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **Protecting voter privacy** The Trump administration has been trying to gather personal information on voters in several states, going so far as to sue them to produce the information. Senate Bill 5892 — which Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs requested and Senator Marcus Ricelli, D-Spokane, sponsors — would make it a Class C felony for county election officials to disclose the records. Voter registration documents can include drivers license numbers, full social security numbers and birth dates. Supporters of the bill see it as a necessary measure to protect voter registration from an administration that is notorious for retaliating against people, localities and states that vote against President Donald Trump, who’s said the federal government should take control of elections. The bill passed the Senate and is now on the floor of the House of Representatives. ### [HB 2225](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2025&BillNumber=2225&ref=rangemedia.co) and [SB 5984](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5984&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) **Regulating artificial intelligence companion chatbots** Both bills would require companion chatbots to plainly disclose, both at the beginning of the chat and every three hours, that users are interacting with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and not a human. Chatbot operators would be required to create protocols to detect suicidal ideation and self-harm and provide crisis referral information. The bills require more protections for minors like restrictions on manipulative engagement tactics, like simulating a romantic relationship and limits on sexually explicit content. Opponents to the bills have raised concerns about individuals being able to sue companies under the [Consumer Protection Act](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=19.86&ref=rangemedia.co), countering that the measures might broadly regulate AI tools based on rare instances. Other opponents say the bills create the demand for companies to collect sensitive identification information. HB 2225 was placed on second reading by the Senate Rules Committee on February 24\. SB 5984 is in the House Technology & Economic Development committee. The bill has cleared the House of Representatives and is now in committee in the Senate. ### [HB 1974](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1974&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) **To establish and operate land banking authorities** The proposed bill would allow public corporations, public housing authorities and some nonprofits to [operate a land bank](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/Senate/1974-S2.E%20SBR%20WM%20OC%2026.pdf?q=20260303174002&ref=rangemedia.co) so long as they’re allowed to do so under a city or county ordinance or resolution. Land banks are considered public entities that can be created to put vacant or abandoned properties to use, according to the [Center for Community Progress.](https://communityprogress.org/resources/land-banks/lb-faq/?ref=rangemedia.co#what-is-land-bank) Sponsored by Rep. Hill, the piece of legislation also outlines the requirements for local government measures that would allow for the aforementioned entities to hold land banks, according a legislative document. It also lays out what the land bank authority would be allowed to do and requirements for affordable housing, the document notes. The bill also prioritizes transfers of foreclosed properties due to delinquent taxes to land bank authorities and provides tax exemptions. The bill has cleared the House. A public hearing was held February 26 in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means. ### [HB 2239](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2025&BillNumber=2239&ref=rangemedia.co) **Providing Washingtonians and their loved ones with location choices for interment of remains** Legislation allowing families to establish small, private burial grounds on land they own passed the house unanimously on February 12\. According to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Hunter Abell, R-Inchelium, the measure creates a clear legal pathway for property owners to dedicate a limited portion of their land for family burials while maintaining safeguards to protect public health, neighboring properties and future buyers. The bill includes size limitations, setback requirements and recordkeeping standards, and it explicitly prohibits any commercial use or sale of burial plots. "This is about respecting families, respecting the land, and making sure state law works for rural Washington as well as urban areas," Abell said. "I appreciate the strong bipartisan support and will continue working with colleagues in the Senate to see this bill through." HB 2239 moved to the Senate Rules Committee for a second reading as of February 24. *Erin Sellers contribute to this report.* *Editor's note: This story has been updated to say Spokane's waste to energy plant will be on a slower schedule to comply with the state carbon credits law, rather than being exempted from it.* ### An update on the West Plains PFAS crisis URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/update-west-plains-pfas/ Last updated: 2026-02-27T15:38:55.000Z Pascal joined Hedge and Val on the radio this week! The three of them talked about some recent news: The first was about an item on the East Valley School District’s Board of Directors agenda, which was included in our [February 23rd CIVICS](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,East%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers). They held a first reading of a revised board policy that would eliminate the district’s Affirmative Action Program. The second was all about the West Plains PFAS crisis. They talked about Hedge’s recent [article](https://www.rangemedia.co/pfas-spokane-airport-safe-water-west-plains/), where after almost a decade the airport found PFAS in the groundwater, the state is requiring both Spokane County and City to provide affected well owners with safe water. Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=hOgDFejFtCkA%5FBrr&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Writers for West Central remind us of love for community spaces URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/writers-west-central-love-community/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T21:58:56.000Z [West Central Abbey](https://www.westcentralabbey.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) is a lot of things — a church that Reverend Katy Shedlock describes as, “a scrappy, compassionate, wildly creative congregation.” It’s also a venue for dance parties, local music and book launches and a community hub that provides free meals, Narcan kits and produce grown in its garden. But it’s also old. West Central Abbey was built as the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in 1895\. The siding is starting to rot, there are holes in the floors and the only available bathroom is in a separate building about 50 feet away from the chapel. It needs repairs and restorations — meaning it needs money. The abbey received a $50,000 capital gains grant in 2024 from the National Fund for Sacred Spaces, Shedlock said, but it must raise another $50,000 to match it. As part of that effort, the abbey hosted a Writers for West Central fundraiser earlier this month. Local authors and Spokane residents [Jess Walter](https://www.jesswalter.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Thom Caraway](https://www.whitworth.edu/cms/our-stories/thom-caraway/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Leyna Krow](https://www.leynakrow.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) gave readings of their work that tie into the West Central neighborhood, followed by a question and answer session for the audience. “We need a lot more money to fix these problems, so I called some writers. I did not call the writers for their money — everyone knows that writers have none,” Shedlock joked at the February 6 fundraiser. “I called them because writers help us love our places. And these writers … love West Central in some deep and powerful ways.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/02/data-src-image-24503140-f698-4738-8c67-8bc7e2b97267.png) The chapel of West Central Abbey (courtesy photo) Caraway, who serves as Spokane’s poet laureate, read poems based on his experiences living in West Central from his book “[What the Sky Lacks](https://auntiesbooks.com/search?q=what%20the%20sky%20lacks&ref=rangemedia.co).” Krow read from her latest book of short stories, “[Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voices](https://auntiesbooks.com/book/9780593299654?ref=rangemedia.co).” And former *Spokesman* journalist Walter read from his new book “[So Far Gone](https://auntiesbooks.com/search?q=so%20far%20gone&ref=rangemedia.co).” That book briefly features the abbey, as protagonist Rhys Kinnick drops his grandson Asher off there for a chess tournament. When Asher tells his grandfather he has to go to the bathroom and Kinnick replies, “I’m sure they have one in there.” The irony of Walter doing a reading in a church from his latest book where the antagonists are Christian nationalists was not lost on him. “I’m not a religious person, but I sought out the abbey for spiritual reasons,” Walter said. “Once you’re here, you get to know the people and that becomes a community. The people in this book that uphold the values of white supremacy have the same take, except it’s something that is very twisted and fear-based and obviously that’s something that’s still very prevalent and on display in our country right now. “That’s why I think places like the abbey are so important, because you don’t have to be a church-goer to see the value in places that build that sense of togetherness on shared joys and humanity instead of condemnation. Writing and places of faith are examples of where we can go to find comfort and companionship and to share with other human beings.” While the Abbey is still a long way from its goal, — as of this week, it has raised [$16,191](https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign%5Fid=LKBYKV3A2SGXS&ref=rangemedia.co) — the writers’ fundraiser served as a meta reminder of its integral role in the community. “For about a decade, I lived only three blocks from here,” Caraway said. “If you know West Central, then you know it’s a collection of characters. So largely, this is a bunch of poems inspired by those characters and the uniqueness of this neighborhood.” According to the city of Spokane’s website, the West Central neighborhood is one of the city's oldest, dating back to its platting in 1887\. Most of West Central’s residential area was established between 1900 and 1912\. Some of the short stories in Krow’s latest book take place in a not-too-far-off future in a somewhat climate dystopian version of Spokane, where the West Central neighborhood has been renamed “Little Seattle.” In one such story titled “Egret,” a restless young woman named Ruby, recently graduated from college and back at home in Spokane during the summer, goes around the neighborhood with her brother — a character who seems to have magical abilities — as they attempt to resurrect a neighbor’s dog she accidentally killed. “Pretty much anything that you could imagine in the scope of Spokane human experience, it is occurring in West Central at any given time,” Krow said. “We're all living through a sort of ongoing experiment: Can you gentrify a neighborhood while keeping those qualities that made it unique and made it affordable? Can we keep the heart of the neighborhood?" Renovations on the abbey are expected to start in April, Shedlock said. Monetary donations will continue to be accepted during construction on the abbey’s [website](https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign%5Fid=LKBYKV3A2SGXS&ref=rangemedia.co). Another fundraiser, Chords for The Chapel, a concert featuring Floating Crowbar, Caridwen and Greg Spatz and Candace Zari will be held Friday, March 20, 7 pm at West Central Abbey. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased [online.](https://www.westcentralabbey.org/take-action?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Hello, RANGE. It’s me, Daniel URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-range-its-me-daniel/ Last updated: 2026-02-24T21:58:39.000Z Just a half-hour into my first story meeting with the team of RANGE journalists, I was hit with a wave of joy: the feeling that, after years away, I’d finally returned home. *This,* I thought, *this* is what I’ve been missing. I’d spent 15 years aggressively covering politics and education for the *Inlander*, Spokane’s alt-weekly. I’d investigated our former columnist, [Rachel Dolezal](https://www.inlander.com/news/the-real-rachel-dolezal/article%5F68524871-dcaf-5ccb-b898-3939ec89125a.html?ref=rangemedia.co). I dug into a mayoral coverup of a police chief’s [sexual harassment](https://www.inlander.com/news/end-of-story/article%5F32f441dc-43ce-54bd-a7cc-f22cad6a839a.html?ref=rangemedia.co). I told the story of a tech executive who came to Spokane to [defraud investors](https://www.inlander.com/news/the-wizard-of-spokane/article%5F835dedd1-cfd8-5007-ac89-5b7e3c86ae76.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and a tech executive who came to Spokane to try to [save his homeless son](https://www.inlander.com/news/a-tech-executive-from-san-diego-wanders-the-streets-of-spokane-with-one-mission-find/article%5F18490772-1008-5c83-917a-59130891cb02.html?ref=rangemedia.co). In my last years at the *Inlander*, I was going head-to-head with RANGE, trying to out-scoop them on [Camp Hope](https://www.inlander.com/news/camp-hope-officials-say-they-repeatedly-asked-police-for-help-removing-dangerous-residents-that-help/article%5F2911684a-c086-5da7-aff4-c3382da48042.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and [City Hall](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-a-network-of-politicos-tied-to-u-s-rep-cathy-mcmorris-rodgers-are-pulling/article%5Fafdccfed-bfb0-5802-a9d4-7605045a11e5.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Increasingly, I had a sense that this little upstart publication had turned into my most formidable competitor. I left the *Inlander* in 2023 for a remote work position covering “democracy and extremism” throughout the entire Pacific Northwest. For two and a half years, I wrote plenty of deeply and aggressively reported stories about plenty of important topics: [white nationalists](https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/10/25/the-proudest-boy-in-portland/?ref=rangemedia.co) in Oregon, [right-wing lobbyists](https://www.investigatewest.org/secret-recording-shows-how-a-right-wing-idaho-lobbyist-tried-to-keep-a-legislator-in-lockstep/?ref=rangemedia.co) in Idaho, and [unethical plastic surgeons](https://www.rangemedia.co/allegations-gender-affirming-surgeon-stir-fears-trans-patients/) in Washington. But I wasn’t happy. The lack of a physical newsroom, the lack of a shared focus on a place — a single community in all its messiness — made it all feel hollow, and frankly, lonely. But at RANGE, a week in, I have the opposite feeling. It’s everything I love about reporting: being part of a ragtag band of us-against-the-world writers fighting to reveal the truth about our city. Not because it’s perfect or even because we believe we can fix it, but because it’s *ours.* “Local journalist” can sound like you can’t cut it in the big leagues. But for me, I learned that journalism feels the most meaningful when conducted on my own turf, when it’s about the same people we might run into at Rockwood Bakery, or Grocery Outlet, or the Zip's Drive-in. The “local” part of journalism is what makes weathering all the career’s indignities — the bleary all-night writing blitzes, the stale coffee drips, the coins-from-the-couch-cushions salaries, the profanity-packed voicemails from politicians — worth it. And since RANGE understands that like no other publication right now, I’m more than happy to be working for my former rivals. For now, I’ll be working as a freelancer, aiming in particular to cover Spokane County, with inevitable detours into Idaho. Through that all, I want to use the tools of investigative journalism to uncover nuance and challenge our assumptions, not just to stoke outrage. Great reporting, I’ve long believed, should often reveal flaws in heroes and the humanity in villains. Hit me up on Signal, Facebook Messenger, or my RANGE [email address](mailto:daniel@rangemedia.co) with tips. In the past three years, I’ve heard plenty of stories about Spokane. I can’t wait to start telling them again. ### New rules, new council date, new $100k for immigrants URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/ Last updated: 2026-02-24T00:54:04.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council has a long night ahead of them. They’re scheduled to vote on a $100,000 contract to support immigrants and refugees, an ordinance to change council meetings from Mondays to Wednesdays starting later this year and potentially a slate of new rules, depending on what happens at Agenda Review. - Spokane City Council will be doing first readings on a few high-profile things too, including a kratom ban and an ordinance to bar ICE from using public property for any immigration enforcement activity without a judicial warrant. - The council’s Finance and Administration Committee is set to discuss an ordinance to help get more sidewalk cafes, parklets and streateries in the city, plus affordable housing spending, Mayor Lisa Brown’s ordinance to ban detention centers in Spokane and a consulting contract for analyzing the council staff structure. - The county health examiner will present numbers to the BOCC that show drug deaths in Spokane County are still very high but are leveling off. - The East Valley School District board is considering cutting affirmative action from its nondiscrimination policy. This cuts language that commits the district to make no difference in pay scale based on sex, for example. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Valley%20City%20Council-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Finance%20and%20Administration%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Housing%20Voucher%20standards%20changing) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Plan%20Commission,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20County%20Planning%20Commission,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,East%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=1%0ASpokane%20Valley-,West%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-rules-new-council-date-new-100k-for-immigrants/#:~:text=Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council%20%28winter%20workshop%29) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Support for immigrants Tonight, the council could approve a $100,000 contract with the Spokane Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (SIRC), which would put 92% of that funding towards direct emergency assistance for immigrants and refugees in need. SIRC is made up of a coalition of local nonprofits and organizing groups: Nuestras Raices Centro Comunitario, Mujeres In Action, Manzanita House, Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane, Fuse Washington, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Creole Resources, Muslims for Collective Action and Asians for Collective Liberation. The fiscal sponsorship for the group is hosted under Muslims for Collective Action. For all the deets on the contract in Daisy Zavala Magaña’s first story, [read here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-immigrant-rights-coalition-contract-aid/). ### Council Rules Council could adopt their new rule package tonight, and it’s going to be wildly complicated. There are a lot of amendments on the table and we won’t know which ones survive the amendment Hunger Games until after the 3:30 pm Agenda Review. Council has the option to suspend the rules to adopt the amendments, which means the rules would be voted on tonight, but if they don’t suspend the rules while adopting amendments, the vote will be automatically deferred until March 2\. Potentially the most controversial amendment on the table is a proposal from Council Members Zack Zappone and Kitty Klitzke, originally floated by freshman Council Member Kate Telis in a committee meeting, that would sharply reduce public testimony options. Currently, anyone can sign-up for a three-minute testimony slot for each legislative item up for a vote that night, with an additional two minutes upon request. The Zappone/Klitzke amendment would cut that down to each person getting three minutes total to testify on all legislative items. They’ve argued that this would make meetings more accessible to the general public by keeping them shorter. Council Members Michael Cathcart and Sarah Dixit have argued that it instead limits the amount and quality of public input the body would get, with Cathcart pointing out the council often schedules meetings with multiple controversial or important legislative items up for a vote in one evening. When reviewing old CIVICS sections for our website migration, we found a couple of meetings where a LOT was going on, like: - On [October 14, 2024](https://www.rangemedia.co/no-registration-no-rent-raises-city-council-to-vote-on-rental-registry-ordinance/), when they were scheduled to vote on an ordinance to ban unregistered landlords from evicting tenants, a resolution in support of a sales tax measure on the ballot, another resolution in opposition to initiative on the ballot that would ban the state’s cap-and-trade program and ordinances to set new utility rates. - On [June 16, 2025](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/), they were scheduled to vote to end Mayor Brown’s emergency declaration that set a curfew following protests, as well as vote on a slate of new ordinances to change how the city enforced homelessness bans. - On [June 30, 2025](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ban-warranteless-ice-arrests/), they were scheduled to vote on a ban for camping across the whole city, an ordinance banning ICE from most public property and an expansion of the human rights commission. There are other less controversial amendments on the table, including one from Cathcart that would allow people to sign in with position statements and another from Zappone, Klitzke and Wilkerson that would instead change public testimony to what Dixit called on Instagram a “potluck” style, that would see everyone who wanted to testify once before they could come back and testify again. We’re planning to watch agenda review to see what passes. **(A small editorial note:** if council actually wants to make these meetings more accessible, hopefully they won’t suspend the rules to pass a bunch of amendments and then vote on the package tonight before the public has really had a chance to understand or comment on what’s actually up for a vote.) ### Changing the meeting day After more than a [century](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/23/spokane-city-council-considers-new-meeting-day-lim/?ref=rangemedia.co) of meeting on Mondays, Spokane City Council meetings could move to Wednesdays. Originally, the pitch had been to shift meetings to Tuesdays, but tonight, they could instead vote on a package that would set regular legislative meetings for Wednesdays weekly, with Agenda Review on Tuesdays. If passed as is, this would go into effect June 1, however, Wilkerson has an amendment on the table that would start the Wednesday meetings mid-September instead. ### Kratom ban is back After statewide kratom regulation failed to move forward at the state level, the Spokane City Council is [bringing back their proposal](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/#:~:text=First%20read:%20Kratom%20ban) to ban it in the city. Also on the table for discussion at the 3:30 pm Agenda Review is an amendment from Cathcart that would shift the focus from prohibition to regulation, restricting sales to anyone under 21, banning the sale of adulterated or enhanced kratom and banning kratom products marketed towards children. It’s just up for a first reading tonight, with a vote scheduled for next week. ### Immigration enforcement-free zones The ordinance to bar federal immigration agents from using city-owned property for any immigration enforcement activities without a judicial warrant — including staging and surveillance — will see its first reading tonight. It could also be tweaked via a small technical amendment at the 3:30 pm Agenda Review. We covered this in depth last week [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-ordinance-dhs-detention-center-spokane/). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 23 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 16 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Street meat incoming? At committee, the city council members will discuss an ordinance that’s shooting to “encourage the activation of public spaces.” It sounds jargon-y, but in reality the proposal is simple: make it easier and cheaper for businesses to take over sidewalk chunks, parking spots or loading zones to use as “parklets,” “streateries,” and “sidewalk cafes,” by putting something else — like seating — in the spot. Here’s photos of a few examples included in the agenda: While all these uses have technically been allowed since 2017, no parklets have actually been permitted, which the city thinks is due to a high upfront cost to set up the spaces on top of city fees and noticing requirements. The proposed ordinance would waive two fees until December 31, 2027: the annual $150 licensing fee for sidewalk cafes, parklets and streateries and an annual $100 outdoor alcohol service fee. It also eases the notice requirement, moving it back from a minimum 10-day notice period to a maximum 10-day comment period that just requires a business to post their intent to take over the spot to a visible public area, rather than having to mail it to every property owner, tenant and building manager. This is the latest in a series of urbanism-flavored ordinances that seem designed to make the city more people-friendly and less car-centric. ### Detention centers out of Spo The interim emergency ordinance to ban the permitting of new detention centers in Spokane has found its council sponsors in Council Members Paul Dillon, Kate Telis and Zack Zappone. We covered this ordinance in depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-ordinance-dhs-detention-center-spokane/), read for the deets! ### Affordable Housing spending Previously known as the [1590 fund](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/citycouncil/interest-items/2020/10/1590-infographic-2020-11-04.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) — in reference to the state law that allowed the city to collect the sales tax to seed it — the [HEART fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co) spending priorities are going to be discussed today. While there’s no actual draft list of the priorities in the agenda, we do know that by city law, 70% must be spent on things like building affordable housing, supporting or acquiring behavioral health facilities and funding operation of these facilities, while the other 30% can be spent on administration costs and the “[Legal Services and Relocation Fund](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=10.57.100&ref=rangemedia.co),” which helps tenants relocate if landlords violate habitability requirements. ### Consulting on council The body will also discuss a contract with Matrix Consulting Group, which won the bid to do an organization analysis of the council staff to help the council decide which (if any) council staffers should [have their positions cut](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/#:~:text=A%20Big%20%E2%80%98Ole%20B), after [budget negotiations](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-budget-meetings-inaccessible/) last year. They’re also planning to do other stuff, like create an office handbook that formalizes roles, responsibilities and expectations. The whole process is slated to take 10 weeks, once the $64,500 contract is approved. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 23 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Housing Voucher standards changing The Spokane Housing Authority board is considering a resolution to change their voucher payment standards, which would retroactively be in effect January 1, 2026\. There’s no additional info in the agenda as to what they’re considering changing the standards to. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 23 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, February 25 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Drug deaths in county leveling off Deaths due to drug-related causes seem to be slowing, according to a presentation the BOCC will hear from the Spokane County medical examiner Veena Singh. As Singh will present to the board, the levels of those deaths is still very high, but they are “leveling off.” They continue to be largely concentrated among males who are not unhoused and occur in rooms that are shared between multiple people, not on the streets. They typically involve multiple drugs, but fentanyl remains a serious contributor, though that drug has seen a serious decline in use. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 24 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 24 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### ‘Natural Environment’ There’s no additional information, but the commission will host a discussion about how the state’s Growth Management Act deals with the natural environment. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, February 26 at 12:15 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Updating the non-discrimination policy The board will have a second reading on updates to the district’s non-discrimination policy and procedure. The policy revisions include: - Defining the “Protected Status” classification and adding ethnicity, homelessness, neurodivergence and immigration or citizenship status to existing protected classes - What the district’s responsibility is when a complaint is received or in the case of suspected discriminatory conduct Procedural revisions include: - The superintendent has 30 calendar days to respond to a complaint - The board no longer needs to meet with the person who filed a complaint ### Real-time crime for schools The board will also look at a 10-year contract with technology company Axon Fuses that would allow for real-time video sharing and coordination with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Real Time Crime Center, which the Sheriff’s Office recommended. The contract will cost just over $256,000 for the entire length. The data sharing is meant to reduce confusion, delays, and duplicated responses, according to the district’s agenda materials. It also enables law enforcement to access live external camera feeds, but the district can control access through methods like sharing specific incidents and placing time-bound permissions. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 23 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Board to weigh in on limiting girls sports to cisgender players The CVSD board will review proposed changes for the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association policies, one of which is an advisory vote on allowing transgender girls to participate in girls sports. Modeled after an Alaska's program, the proposal is to change sports to an "Open Category" for all students and a "Girls Category" for cisgender girls. Mead School District in North Spokane is one of the districts that submitted the amendment. The proposed policy changes are are somewhat confusing. It reads: “All Students are encouraged to participate in WIAA athletics and/or activities” before going on to say, “participation in the ‘Girls Category’ is limited to students whose biological sex is female.” It does not say anything about transgender boys. The policy change isn't allowed under state law, but the move is part of a longstanding campaign among the more conservative school districts in Eastern Washington to eliminate queer representation in the schools. The districts have broadly sought to [bar](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) trans girls from sports and [queer literature](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-obscene-who-decide-liberty-lake-library-gender-queer/) from school libraries. CVSD board has until mid-March to weigh in on all the proposed amendments before district representatives go on to vote on them. *(Editor's note: this item has been updated to clarify the nature of the agenda item.)* > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 24 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### New school bond may be incoming The board could adopt a resolution to send over a bond proposition for voters to consider during an April 28 special election. The bond would be capped at $220 million and is meant to pay for: - A new high school that would replace East Valley High School - A new middle school to replace East Valley Middle School - Necessary security, safety and infrastructure improvements throughout the district, and other costs ### No more Affirmative Action? The board will also hold a first reading of a revised board policy that would eliminate the district’s Affirmative Action Program. The section cut from the board’s [Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Policy](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/files/DRFUMU7CC5EF/$file/5010%20Discrimination-Free%20Workplace.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) reads: “The district will develop an affirmative action employment plan or program that includes appropriate provisions designed to eliminate discrimination based on protected status. Regarding sex discrimination, the district’s affirmative action employment plan or program must include the requirements to maintain credential requirements for all personnel without regard to sex; make no differentiation in pay scale based on sex; make no differentiation in the assignment of school duties based on sex except where an assignment would involve duty areas or situations such as, but not limited to, a shower room, where persons might be disrobed; provide the same opportunities for advancement for males and females; and make no differentiation in conditions of employment based on sex, including, but not limited to, hiring practices, leaves of absence, hours of employment, and assignment of or payment for instructional or noninstructional duties.” It does not appear that the section is being moved to a separate policy. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 24 at 6 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Changes to sexual harassment policy The district’s sexual harassment policy is also being expanded to specify a list of types of discrimination that must be referred to the district’s civil rights compliance coordinator, including discrimination based on gender identity and expression, among many others. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, February 25 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council (winter workshop) **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### ‘City Vision Statement’ There’s very little information in the city description of the vision statement, but it has been a topic of recent discussion, notably brought to the fore by Council Member Al Merkel who made some interesting statements at a council meeting late last year. He said he had sat next to former state Representative Matt Shea — now a Spokane pastor after having been forced out of the state House Republican caucus over domestic terror allegations — on a plane ride. Shea encouraged Merkel to advance a longer-term vision to better define the public square in the city between Spokane and Liberty Lake, which both have defined city centers that Spokane Valley lacks. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 24 at 8:30 am* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* *Editor's note: this story has been updated to correct the Spokane City Council rules proposal to show that one of the amendments wouldn't have reduced testimony time to five minutes for all legislative items, but three minutes with an extra two on request.* ### City considers funding $100,000 in emergency aid for immigrants URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-immigrant-rights-coalition-contract-aid/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T21:36:33.000Z The Spokane City Council is poised to take a vote Monday evening on an [agreement](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-sustainability/agendas/2026/02/pies-agenda-2026-02-09.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) that would allocate $100,000 to the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition (SIRC) for emergency financial assistance and support to immigrant communities amid the nationwide immigration crackdown. More than 90% of the funding would be given directly to immigrant and refugee families and individuals in need to help[ meet emergency needs like housing,](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-sustainability/agendas/2026/02/pies-agenda-2026-02-09.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) healthcare and utilities. However, the contract would restrict SIRC from using the money to help with legal representation or for lobbying. SIRC members include community-based nonprofits such as [Mujeres in Action](https://www.miaspokane.org/en?ref=rangemedia.co), [Manzanita House](https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), and [Muslims for Community Action and Support (MCAS)](https://www.mcasspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). The coalition would receive the money under its Community Justice Fund. While the coalition itself functions as a collaborative group of organizations working towards the same goal, MCAS is serving as the fiscal sponsor to receive and distribute the city funding. Speaking before the city’s Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee on February 9, Sebastian Ruiz of Mujeres in Action explained the fund was created to respond to time-sensitive needs that would have otherwise lacked support. “This project and our work will prevent families from accumulating future compounding costs and stressors in their lives,” he said. Officials and the public weighed in on the proposed contract during the committee meeting. That afternoon, the council voted 6-1 in favor of suspending the rules and adding the contract to the February 23 consent agenda, accelerating the process to get dollars out quicker. The money that would go to SIRC comes from the Spokane Police Department’s community engagement fund. The funding was previously budgeted for a contract with the [Spokane Community-Oriented Policing Services](https://rangemedia.co/spokane-community-policing-services-cops-city-contract-brady-list/?ref=rangemedia.co) that the nonprofit ultimately rejected after [receiving less funding](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/10/spokane-cops-will-continue-to-receive-city-funding/?ref=rangemedia.co) than they were used to. “The decision to reallocate funds was made after thoughtful discussions among the Mayor, her staff, my staff, and myself. Community-centered policing is a fundamental value of SPD, and using the funds this way strongly aligns with that value,” Police Chief Kevin Hall wrote in an email to RANGE. “Policing is about far more than enforcing the law; it also includes fostering perceptions of safety and trust across the entire community. The decision to allocate the funds in this way supports this vision.” Ruiz noted that 92% of the funds would reach immigrants in need. The remainder would cover administrative fees incurred by MCAS. “So to give you a sense of the eligible expenses that we’ve paid for in the past … we’ve often had to pay for transportation, meaning gas money. We’ve had to pay for temporary lodging. We’ve had to pay for short-term child care or interpretation services for those types of cases, and we’ve also had to pay for necessary medical appointments," Ruiz said. That’s because immigration check-ins or hearings in Tacoma can at times change on short notice, essentially forcing people to drop everything and miss work or school to head to their appointments, he explained. “We even help people cover communication costs with family members that are detained by ICE, so there's a lot of urgent work to be done here,” Ruiz said. ### Public input Overall, the proposal evoked strong support from the public during the committee hearing as residents and community leaders urged city officials to show support for immigrant communities. Pat Castaneda, the executive director of Manzanita House, emphasized the importance of the proposal’s focus on providing emergency aid coupled with accountability standards and procedures that would serve to ensure equity and proper use of funds. “This funding is not an abstract policy. It is immediate, practical stabilization for neighbors facing real crisis,“ she said. Dr. Alyssa Hensley, a public commenter, also expressed support for the contract, making note of ICE's presence in the community and the need to provide a holistic approach to supporting immigrant communities. “You can’t just ban things; you also have to do stuff. So the 100k here, 92% of it, is going to go direct to our immigrant neighbors, and this is a huge help. And frankly, not enough. But please at least do this,” Hensley said. The contract also garnered some opposition. Jennyfer Mesa, executive director of [Latinos en Spokane ](https://www.latinosenspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)(LeS), said she opposed the agreement because the allocation had not been “consulted or shared” with other groups who serve immigrants, including her own organization. “And although the intentions are good, I feel like it should’ve been a broader outreach. A broader discussion with all immigrant-serving groups,” she said. “While SIRC has distributed funds to immigrants — and I have participated with them — simply passing out money right now is not always the greatest solution, especially when we have so many urgencies.“ Mesa also expressed that she held concerns over SIRC receiving the contract because of its designation as a coalition rather than as an established organization or nonprofit, which she said reflected limitations in governance, oversight and fiscal accountability. In a letter sent to council members after the committee meeting, Mesa reiterated her opposition to the contract and her concerns. She claimed SIRC was not immigrant-led, BIPOC-led, or community-based. “As a co-founder of SIRC, I helped form the community group in 2019 and later chose to step away once it became clear that positions for immigrants would not be created and that leadership would remain housed continuously within Fuse, led by non-immigrant leadership,” she wrote. [Fuse Washington](https://fusewashington.org/about-fuse?ref=rangemedia.co) is a grassroots organization and member of SIRC. The majority of the coalition is composed of immigrant- and BIPOC-led organizations. It’s unclear when Mesa split from SIRC. Mesa’s further criticisms of SIRC outlined in the letter included what she described as two occasions in which LeS has had to “correct serious errors made by SIRC representatives in clients’ immigration cases.” She did not provide specific details on these cases to RANGE. LeS clarified their stance in a press release sent to RANGE and other outlets, following media coverage of the contract. “Disagreement within advocacy spaces shouldn’t be framed as hostility or opposition. Immigration advocacy requires collaboration, dialogue, and the ability to hold differing perspectives while working toward systemic change. Redirecting energy toward lateral conflict detracts from addressing the larger structural systems that continue to harm immigrant communities,” the statement reads. The statement also urges strategic and systemic investment by the city, including a transparent public process, prioritization of structural investments like ongoing funding for legal help for immigrant families, and inclusive representation and oversight. SIRC members did not return RANGE’s requests for comment before publishing. ### Responding to needs Following the public testimony and speaking before the committee, Deputy City Administrator Maggie Yates said that the city worked closely with procurement and legal officials in the drafting of the contract. Additionally, she explained that the city had held an informal Request for Proposals process, which is in line with procurement requirements for amounts under $250,000. Mayor Lisa Brown, Council President Betsy Wilkerson (who sponsored the agenda item) and former council member Lili Navarrete convened a roundtable last year with service providers and members of the immigrant and refugee community to discuss needs and how the city could offer support, said Jerrall Haynes, the city's [civil rights and equity director](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-office-civil-rights-jerrall-haynes/). “This fund and the creation of it is just one of the many examples that came out of those conversations,” he said. SIRC has distributed about $30,000 a year to Spokane immigrants since 2021, according to the September letter they sent to the city. But as a result of lost grant funding in 2025, the amount of emergency aid the coalition was able to distribute has notably decreased. “As a result, hundreds of immigrants have been left without this critical helpline to quickly receive dollars in times of crisis,“ the letter reads. During the council’s agenda review meeting on February 9, Wilkerson noted city officials had talked about supporting immigrant communities in the summer of 2025 following federal rulings and uncertainty regarding funding. Around that time, Spokane experienced an uptick in [violent](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) [immigration enforcement](https://www.rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/) and [arrests of anti-ICE](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/) [protesters](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/). Wilkerson said during the council’s agenda review session on February 9 that the first email she received was opposed to the city providing any funds for undocumented immigrants. “Well, we have legal immigrants in our community that need support, and this is where those funds will be going,” she added. Following Wilkerson’s comments, Council Member Michael Cathcart said the funding would also be available to undocumented immigrants based on the language of the agreement. Council Member Sarah Dixit swiftly responded, making note that immigrants pay taxes into the state regardless of their legal status, and should be supported through the funding. A study from the [Washington State Budget and Policy Center](https://budgetandpolicy.org/resources-tools/2025/04/Whats-at-Risk.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) found that undocumented people in Washington paid $997 million in state and local taxes in 2022\. The study also highlights the contributions of undocumented people to various labor sectors in the state, including farms and construction. ### Council's position Cathcart, who voted against suspending the rules and adding the contract to the February 23 agenda, said he requested a substantial legal review and fiscal review regarding the source of funding and other legal questions. “I mean, we can quibble over the size; 100k is still a lot of money, and I think we have a deficit that is existing. It’s growing, and it’s going to be here at the end of the year, and so we have a desperate need for money,” he added. However, the majority of the council appeared supportive of funding the agreement during the meeting. Additionally, some members noted the two weeks between introduction and a vote gave officials adequate time for further review and potential amendments. “I just know that there’s a lot of need in our community right now, and I want to make sure that we can meet that need in our community,“ Council Member Zack Zappone said during the February 9 council’s Agenda Review. Speaking to RANGE, Council Member Paul Dillon noted the reallocation of money for the SIRC contract did not diminish any other funds. He added that city officials would keep an eye on how the funds are disbursed and what the need is. “Everyone deserves to be safe, to feel safe, regardless of where they were born,” he said. “Being able to have this fund allows that rapid response that if something does happen, there’s the ability to move quickly to help support families and people who are going into, quite frankly, what is a disappearing machine.” *Editor's note: this story has been updated to correct the date that the contract will be voted on.* ### ‘We admit it’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pfas-spokane-airport-safe-water-west-plains/ Last updated: 2026-02-27T20:25:13.000Z The two largest local governments in Eastern Washington, which jointly own Spokane International Airport (SIA), are now on the hook to provide clean drinking water to hundreds of West Plains residents whose wells SIA contaminated with forever chemicals. John Hancock, the founder of the West Plains Water Coalition, which has been advocating for clean water for West Plains well owners for years, said this was a long time coming. “The coalition suddenly feels like three years of work has finally blossomed,” Hancock said. “We didn't know when we started where we were gonna end up. So this feels to me like a dream come true.” The Washington Department of Ecology inked an “[agreed order](https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/site/16774?ref=rangemedia.co#site-documents:~:text=Agreed%20Order%20for%20an%20RI/FS%3A%20City%20and%20County%20of%20Spokane)” last month with the city of Spokane and Spokane County that articulates a scope of work to provide well owners either bottled water, home filters or connections to municipal water. The order goes into effect February 20. It will not solve all the problems caused by the contamination. Many on the West Plains maintain large gardens and small farms, and their crops can absorb the chemicals, which are increasingly thought to cause some deadly cancers and other serious illnesses. Since the mandated filters would be installed in homes, it wouldn’t help with water used outside. In 2017, the airport tested wells on its campus and found levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are considered dangerous to human health. The airport’s wells had been drilled in an aquifer that produces drinking water and irrigation to hundreds of households in the rural areas between Spokane and Airway Heights, where SIA is located. 💧 See RANGE’s extensive reporting on the PFAS crisis in our Environment [section](https://www.rangemedia.co/tag/environment/). It’s not clear yet the precise mechanisms through which the governments will start delivering water, but the airport, the city and the county will work it out according to the timeline established in the agreed order. “This is a collaborative effort between the city, county and airport,” city of Spokane spokesperson Erin Hut wrote in a text to RANGE. “It will require resources from all three entities, and we are currently working together on an action plan.” The contamination came from a firefighting compound known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), whose primary ingredient is several forms of PFAS. Not knowing the chemicals were toxic, firefighters at both SIA and Fairchild Airforce Base for years tested AFFF on their tarmacs before washing it into the soil and, ultimately, the groundwater. Both airports were required by the federal government to stockpile and test the foam. Fairchild immediately notified public health officials of its contamination and [stood up](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-pfas-fairchild-epa-water-filter/) limited water provision programs for some affected well owners. [By contrast](https://www.rangemedia.co/airport-ceo-lawmakers-banning-toxic-pfas-chemicals-larry-krauter/), SIA officials told the airport’s governing board of the contamination when they found it in 2017 but did not tell the public. It has not so far provided clean water to anyone. A concerned citizen requested the results from SIA and gave them in 2022 to Ecology, which later ordered the airport to clean up the contamination through a state-mandated process. A decade later, many on the West Plains still don’t have access to clean drinking water; some don’t even know if their well is contaminated. Officials from Spokane County, Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency and an EWU professor have tested dozens of wells and are mobilizing drinking water resources, but those efforts have not served everyone who has a contaminated well. Some airport officials — most notably County Commissioner [Al French](https://www.rangemedia.co/al-french-pfas-timeline/), who has been on the SIA Board throughout his tenure — still deny that the airport put the chemicals into the groundwater. [Extensive studies](https://www.rangemedia.co/pollution-likely-came-from-airport-operations-report-says/) have shown specific instances in which airport firefighters washed it into the soil and the groundwater. Still, French and other airport officials have emphasized firefighting training conducted near its grounds by the US Air Force Air National Guard and similar contamination that was found under nearby Fairchild Air Force Base as the culprits. French did not respond to a request for comment for this story. In a rare public-facing [presentation](https://www.youtube.com/live/y4PjEKpcH48?si=pu8sDrXpEb6M9m-O&t=7118&ref=rangemedia.co) the airport gave on the contamination and cleanup, Lisa Corcoran, the chief development officer for Spokane Airports, said the airport is trying to find sources of PFAS contamination that are not on the SIA campus. “While we did deploy AFFF that has PFAS, it's been at *de minimis* levels compared to, unfortunately, our partners next door with Fairchild Air Force Base,” Corcoran said. Corcoran did not return a request for comment on this story. But Nick Acklam, who manages toxic cleanups in Eastern Washington for Ecology, disagreed. “Ecology is confident that the airport has contributed to PFAS contamination in the West Plains,” Acklam said in an interview. He noted that assertions that the airport might not be complicit in the contamination have made the cleanup process more difficult. “I think it is one of those things that adds a layer of contention to this cleanup,” Acklam said. City Council President Betsy Wilkerson, who represents the city of Spokane on the airport board, told RANGE that the airport does bear some responsibility for the contamination. “SIA is not trying to say that we didn’t have a part to play,” she said. “We admit it.” The public can [submit comments](https://tcp.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=ECah5MUFK&ref=rangemedia.co) about the water provision and other processes outlined in the agreed order until March 20, and the work of getting water to West Plains well owners is expected to begin close to that time. ### The POD: Team RANGE is growing! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/team-range-growing/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T22:03:35.000Z Reporter Daisy Zavala Magaña and freelance reporter Daniel Walters were welcomed by Aaron for this week’s episode! They talk about their hopes, goals, and values in journalism, plus previous stories they’ve covered. **Meet Daisy Zavala Magaña:** Daisy [previously covered immigrant labor for RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-worker-protection-measures-undocumented-labor-and-industries/) as a freelancer, and now she’s our newest full-time reporter! You can read her introduction in both [English](https://www.rangemedia.co/meet-daisy-english/) and [Spanish](https://www.rangemedia.co/meet-daisy-spanish/). **Meet Daniel Walters:** As a longtime reporter, Daniel isn’t new to the journalism field… or RANGE. He’s currently working for us in a freelance capacity, but you may have read his InvestigateWest stories that we’ve republished or heard him on an early [podcast episode](https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/podcast-public-records-daniel-walters-nate-sanford/). Check out this week's *Free RANGE* episode on [YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLetWXNjTQmeTSzMyem5FotW0X%5FiBBIAdP&si=hOgDFejFtCkA%5FBrr&ref=rangemedia.co)! ### Two new anti-ICE laws proposed in Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-ordinance-dhs-detention-center-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T19:13:37.000Z Restrictive zoning laws are proving to be a thorn in the side of progressive politics in Spokane, slowing housing production and limiting projects like neighborhood cafes or day care centers in residential areas — all code the Spokane City Council has been working to roll back. Next Monday, however, new zoning policy could be a strange bedfellow for local electeds looking to combat federal immigration enforcement. On Tuesday, February 17, Mayor Lisa Brown announced a new policy seeking to ban detention facilities in Spokane city limits. The ordinance, which was proposed as an interim emergency measure, would expand city zoning code — which already bans the operation of detention facilities in downtown Spokane — to cover the whole city, effectively prohibiting any private property owners from leasing their land or buildings for the purpose of operating a detention center. “From detaining children to withholding access to health care, serious questions have been raised about the legality of current practices in detention facilities run by \[the Department of Homeland Security\]. We know the Trump Administration is actively moving to expand its detention efforts, and this ordinance is one more step we are taking locally to resist being a part of this agenda,” Brown stated in a press release. Brown [described her proposal](https://perma.cc/8G2A-DGNE?ref=rangemedia.co) as closing a loophole left by [a 2021 state ban](https://www.knkx.org/politics/2021-03-30/wa-state-senate-passes-bill-to-ban-private-for-profit-prisons?ref=rangemedia.co) on new privately-operated detention centers and a previous ban on downtown detention centers that left it theoretically possible for the federal government to buy and operate its own detention center elsewhere in Spokane. In reality, the mayor’s proposal goes even further. Because the 9th Circuit of Appeals [struck down a similar statewide ban in California](https://www.courthousenews.com/california-cant-ban-private-detention-facilities-ninth-circuit-rules/?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2024, and Washington is no longer [enforcing the ban](https://www.courthousenews.com/bulk-of-washington-state-regulations-on-for-profit-prisons-gutted/?ref=rangemedia.co),Brown’s ordinance would do more than just close a loophole, effectively using zoning code to ban all detention centers across the city. It could be voted into law as soon as March 2, council members say — though it is currently scheduled for March 16 — taking effect immediately and staying in place for a full year, after which it could be adopted as permanent code in the city’s Comprehensive Plan update. At that same meeting, the Spokane City Council could also vote to approve [an ordinance](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/02/spokane-council-eyes-icing-ice-out-of-more-public-/?ref=rangemedia.co) to bar federal immigration agents from using city-owned property for any immigration enforcement activities, including staging and surveillance, without a judicial warrant. This ordinance, sponsored by Council Members Paul Dillon, Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis, is scheduled for a first reading on Monday, February 23, pending a technical amendment up for a vote earlier in the day, and a vote on March 2\. Once passed, it would take effect immediately, Dillon told RANGE, though it will take a bit longer to get the signage posted at city property, communicating in multiple languages that the land can’t be used for immigration enforcement. ### What the ordinances would \*not\* do These policy proposals come as the U.S. government has continued to eye expanding federal immigration enforcement operations in Washington. A [competitive lease proposal](https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/ebd754f4b51745d2bfa69f55c88e1387/view?ref=rangemedia.co) was posted on the government contracting website in September 2025 seeking proposals for fully furnished office space in Spokane that could support at least [70 federal law enforcement agents](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/07/federal-law-enforcement-seeks-to-expand-in-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co). The proposal was referenced in [a recent article](https://www.wired.com/story/ice-expansion-across-us-at-heres-where-its-going-next/?ref=rangemedia.co) from *WIRED* detailing expansion efforts across the country, including a new office space in [Tukwila](https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/is-ice-leasing-more-office-space-in-tukwila-heres-what-we-know/?ref=rangemedia.co). Because Brown’s new ordinance only targets detention centers — which are defined by [city code](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=17C.190.520&ref=rangemedia.co) as places for "judicially required detention or incarceration” where people are held “under 24-hour supervision” — it wouldn’t stop the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from leasing more office space. It also doesn’t cancel the department’s current lease at 411 W. Cataldo Ave., in the historic downtown Broadview Dairy Building, despite the fact that immigrants are regularly held there before being bussed to the ICE detention center in Tacoma. That building is not classified as a detention center either, but as a mixed-use space. It is owned by the LLC Shooting the Moon II and [managed by the Goodale & Barbieri company](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/17/spokane-mayor-proposes-ban-on-private-leases-for-i/?ref=rangemedia.co) (which is currently trying to [rent out](https://cbaimage.commercialmls.com/content/upload/photos/pdf/FL/6827c1357b99f93597e03ece%5Fbroadview%5Fflyer%5F411%5Fw%5Fcataldo%5F5.16.25.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) the restaurant space in the same building). DHS’s current lease there [expires in July](https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/inventory-of-owned-and-leased-properties-iolp?ref=rangemedia.co). 👋 If you have proof that any immigrant has been detained at the 411 W. Cataldo Ave. office for at least 24 hours, you can reach us securely on Protonmail [rangemedia4all@proton.me](mailto:rangemedia4all@proton.me) or on Signal at 509-850-0488. While Brown’s ordinance wouldn’t stop private property owners from leasing office space to DHS, it could force the federal government to look outside city limits for a new detention center. The ordinance also can’t stop new detention centers from being opened right outside city limits — that authority would fall to the [County Commissioners](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1123/County-Commissioners?ref=rangemedia.co). DHS [recently posted a presolicitation notice](https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/ed3dc0b591074f3f91dc457621f7229a/view?ref=rangemedia.co) for, “A service provider-owned/service provider-operated detention facility … to provide comprehensive detention, transportation, and food services for ICE detainees located in the Seattle, WA area in support of the ICE Enforcement and Removal (ERO) Seattle Field Office.” The ICE ERO Seattle Field Office oversees much of the Northwest, including all of Eastern Washington, which means that a new facility responding to the notice could be sited in or near Spokane. The posting was for a space with room to house roughly 1,500 men and 150 women, [expanding detention services](https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/immigration-news/ice-exploring-expanded-detention-capacity-pacific-northwest-tacoma/281-46a1a127-2dbe-4b34-93dd-1f3192c59dd7?ref=rangemedia.co) in the region slighty. Because ICE has yet to announce whether it will renew its contract with private for-profit detention center operator GEO Group to continue running the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma — despite repeated [contract failures](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/07/16/nwdc-compliance-theater/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [human](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ninth-circuit-affirms-profit-operator-northwest-ice-processing-center-violated?ref=rangemedia.co) [rights](https://www.theurbanist.org/2026/02/18/ice-tacoma-detention-center-targeted-in-lawsuit/?ref=rangemedia.co) [violations](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/06/suspected-tuberculosis-cases-reported-at-tacoma-immigrant-detention-center/?ref=rangemedia.co) — the most recent contract posting could just be in search of a new operator for that facility, but it also lists capacity requirements [above what the current building can legally house](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/dec/26/ice-posting-suggests-lower-standards-for-wa-detent/?ref=rangemedia.co). In January 2025, the General Services Administration (GSA), which handles leases for federal agencies, [also posted](https://www.highergov.com/contract-opportunity/general-services-administration-gsa-seeks-to-lea-3wa0531-p-b8731/?ref=rangemedia.co) looking to lease at least 2,000 square feet of warehouse space in Spokane. It is unclear what federal agency the warehouse was for, or whether or not a bid has been accepted. The [*Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/13/ice-detention-center-expansion/?ref=rangemedia.co)recently broke the news that the federal government plans to acquire warehouses across the country to hold immigrants, though none were initially planned for Washington. The GSA [roster](https://www.gsa.gov/tools-overview/buildings-and-real-estate-tools/inventory-of-gsa-owned-and-leased-properties?ref=rangemedia.co) of federally leased properties doesn’t currently include any properties in Spokane rented after 2025\. While no awards for DHS leases have been announced for Spokane yet, the federal government has been moving quickly to lease spaces across the country for immigration enforcement, with award notices for other cities [posted daily](https://sam.gov/search/?page=1&pageSize=25&sort=-modifiedDate&sfm%5BsimpleSearch%5D%5BkeywordRadio%5D=ALL&sfm%5Bstatus%5D%5Bis%5Factive%5D=true&sfm%5BagencyPicker%5D%5B0%5D%5BorgKey%5D=100006688&sfm%5BagencyPicker%5D%5B0%5D%5BorgText%5D=047%20-%20GENERAL%20SERVICES%20ADMINISTRATION&sfm%5BagencyPicker%5D%5B0%5D%5BlevelText%5D=Dept%20%2F%20Ind.%20Agency&sfm%5BagencyPicker%5D%5B0%5D%5Bhighlighted%5D=true&ref=rangemedia.co), as part of DHS’s [breakneck](https://www.wired.com/story/ice-expansion-across-us-at-heres-where-its-going-next/?ref=rangemedia.co) and often [secretive](https://www.wired.com/story/ice-expansion-wont-happen-in-the-dark/?ref=rangemedia.co) campaign to scale up. As for the Dillon/Dixit/Telis ordinance, it would not be able to ban libraries and parks from being used by federal immigration agents, because the city charter gives that control solely to the Library Board and Parks Board, respectively. If an amendment from Dillon passes on Monday, the city ordinance would make that clear while also requesting that those bodies pass their own bans. It also wouldn’t require police officers to go toe-to-toe with ICE agents to trespass them, instead creating a civil remedy that allows private individuals the right to sue. You can sign up to testify on these ordinances at future Spokane City Council meetings [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/signup/?ref=rangemedia.co). *Editor's note: this story has been updated to reflect that all individuals would have the right to suit under the second ordinance, not just citizens.* ### Conoce a la nueva reportera bilingüe de RANGE URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/meet-daisy-spanish/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T20:57:39.000Z [Meet RANGE’s new bilingual reporterDaisy Zavala Magaña, who’s covered immigrant labor for us as a freelancer, started this week as the newest full-time member of our team![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-13.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_8056-1.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/meet-daisy-english/) Pensé en varias formas diferentes de cómo presentarme, y consideré escribir algo creativo y luego algo divertido, pero al final decidí que un simple hola era adecuado Me llamo Daisy Zavala Magaña y crecí en Wenatchee. Soy hija de inmigrantes de Michoacán, México, y pasé mis veranos trabajando en los campos de cerezas, algo común para muchos de primera generación como yo. Esto me abrió los ojos a muchas cosas desde muy joven: las diferencias entre clases sociales, el racismo y la explotación laboral. He reportado extensamente sobre los trabajadores agrícolas y temas laborales,incluso para RANGE como reportera independiente, desde que comencé mi carrera en el periodismo en Washington alrededor de 2020\. Me uno a la comunidad de Spokane después de un poco más de dos años trabajando como periodista local en la comunidad fronteriza de Ambos Nogales, que abarca Nogales, Arizona, y Nogales, Sonora, México. Durante mi estancia en la frontera, aprendí mucho sobre la interconexión entre ambas ciudades, el teatro armado sobre la frontera para las cámaras por parte de funcionarios y también sobre las experiencias vividas por migrantes, personas deportadas y solicitantes de asilo. Igualmente importante para mí fue presenciar el impacto de las políticas de inmigración dañinas bajo el liderazgo demócrata y republicano y la manera en la cual algunos periodistas no locales preparan reportes sin contexto, resultando en una narrativa superficial e incompleta. Fue una época formativa para mí como periodista. Pero estoy emocionado de trabajar en Spokane, que es donde comenzó mi trayectoria periodística con dos prácticas (o pasantías) en *The Spokesman-Review* mientras estudiaba en Washington State University. Después de graduarme, trabajé un tiempo en *The Seattle Times* antes de mudarme a la frontera para trabajar en el *Nogales International,* donde fui la única reportera durante un tiempo. Ahora que he regresado a mi estado natal, me gustaría enfocarme en historias que abordan la inmigración, temas laborales, equidad y cualquier otra cosa que nuestra comunidad necesite que se cubra. También me encantaría que me recomendaran libros, música, lugares locales con buen café y buena comida. Personalmente, también disfruto del sudoku y al momento estoy aprendiendo a tocar la guitarra acústica. Comuníquese conmigo a daisy@rangemedia.co o en [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/daisy.zavala.336/). ### Meet RANGE’s new bilingual reporter URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/meet-daisy-english/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T20:56:29.000Z [Conoce a la nueva reportera bilingüe de RANGEDaisy Zavala Magaña, quien ha escrito sobre la mano de obra inmigrante para nosotros como periodista independiente, comenzó esta semana como reportera de tiempo completo![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/icon/8-12.png)RANGE MediaDaisy Zavala Magaña![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_8056.jpg)](https://www.rangemedia.co/meet-daisy-spanish/) I thought about several different ways to introduce myself – I played around with something creative and then something fun – but in the end I just decided that a simple hello might suffice. My name is Daisy Zavala Magaña and I grew up in Wenatchee. Daughter to immigrants from Michoacán, Mexico, I spent my summers working in cherry fields, like many other first-generation kids. This opened my eyes to many things at a young age: class division, racism and labor exploitation. I’ve covered [farmworkers](https://rangemedia.co/essential-but-unprotected/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [labor](https://rangemedia.co/wa-worker-protection-measures-undocumented-labor-and-industries/?ref=rangemedia.co) extensively, including for RANGE as a freelancer, since I began my career in journalism in Washington around 2020\. I’m joining you after spending a little over two years working as a local journalist in the US-Mexico border community of Ambos Nogales, which encompasses Nogales, Arizona, and the neighboring Mexican city in Sonora sharing the same name. During my time on the border, I learned much about the interconnectedness of the two cities, as well as from the border theatrics by officials, and from the lived experiences of migrants, deportees and asylum-seekers. I found just as much value in witnessing the real impact of harmful immigration policies under both Democratic and Republican leadership and the [parachute journalism ](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/communication-and-mass-media/parachute-journalism?ref=rangemedia.co)that accompanies shifts in the news cycle. It was a formative time for me as a journalist. But I’m excited to get to work in Spokane, which is where my career in journalism started with two internships at *The Spokesman* while I was a student at Washington State University. After graduating, I worked at *The Seattle Times* for a bit before heading to the border to work for *The Nogales International*, where I was the only reporter for a time. Now that I’m back in my homestate, I’m ready to dive into stories that touch on immigration, labor, equity and whatever else our community needs to be covered. I would also love recommendations for books, music, local coffee spots and good food. On a personal note, I also enjoy sudoku and learning how to play the acoustic guitar. Reach me at [daisy@rangemedia.co](mailto:daisy@rangemedia.co) or on [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/bydaisy.bsky.social?ref=rangemedia.co). ### The POD: What goes into legislative lobbying? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/legislative-lobbying/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T22:03:45.000Z This week’s episode is all about the Housing and Homeless Advocacy Day, or “HHAD” for short. HHAD is organized by the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA) and the Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund. They bring people across Washington state to Olympia to advocate for housing justice by meeting with their district’s representatives. This episode has 3 parts, and you’re going to hear from organizers, participants, lawmakers, and more. Further, relevant reading: [**‘This city is turning into an eviction mill.’**](https://rangemedia.co/eviction-prevention-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) **(*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*)** [**More info on the WLIHA and HHAD**](https://www.wliha.org/hhad?ref=rangemedia.co) ### The six degrees of an embattled charismatic ministry URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-six-degrees-of-an-embattled-charismatic-ministry/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T01:24:42.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News,*](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co) *a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* Pastor Matt Shea had something to say about accountability in the Christian church during his [February. 1 sermon](https://youtu.be/PGqLf2EKJFw?si=m9aY-11aLtGWRNmo&t=691&ref=rangemedia.co). “There has to be joy in our hearts when God sweeps the house clean,” said Shea, a former state representative who House Republicans, in 2020, ousted from their caucus over domestic terrorism allegations. Now, Shea was speaking in his role as the pastor of the charismatic church he founded in downtown Spokane, On Fire Ministries (OFM). God’s divine justice — whether symbolized by cleansing fire, cleansing flood or, in this case, a diligent housekeeper — is a central motif in charismatic traditions and a popular sermon topic. Pastors like Shea don’t need a newshook to talk about the scouring wrath of the lord, but on this particular Sunday, he had one: A wolf had invaded Jesus’s flock. The occasion for Shea’s sermon: Bethel Church, a California megachurch with extensive connections to OFM, had severed ties with a Los Angeles minister accused of being a false prophet and, perhaps more saliently, sexually and financially abusing his followers for more than a decade. Though Bethel leaders knew about the abuse for years, which they [publicly acknowledged](https://www.bethel.com/news/bethel-statement-on-shawn-bolz-to-alumni?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Shawn%20Bolz%20had,great%20confidence%20in.) on Jan. 25, Bethel continued to platform the pastor, Shawn Bolz, until now. Both Bethel and OFM embody “high-control” religious environments in which the flock of the church must follow the dictates of leaders like Shea, an apostle, and Bolz, a prophet, who claim direct access to the Christian god that normal believers don’t have. This environment allowed Bolz to avoid accountability for many years. Leaders at Bethel had been aware since 2016 that Bolz mined data from parishioners’ social media and, using the information he gathered, performed sham prophecies, convincing some in the Bethel congregation that he was literally talking to God. (The [homepage](https://bolzministries.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) of Bolz’s website now reads, simply, “On a Sabbattical.”) OFM had also known about the abuse for some time. Reading from [a letter](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KDD4RQzH9/) drafted to his congregation by the church’s board of elders, Shea said that OFM had “over the last two years” been ending “certain relationships” with Bethel in light of recent publicity surrounding Bolz, though he did not specify which relationships. (There’s an exhaustive down and dirty by the Christian apologist Mike Winger on the Bolz scandal [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH05S53QlY0&ref=rangemedia.co).) The letter, which was later posted to OFM’s Facebook feed, was careful not to say that the church was formally separating from Bethel, which is one of the most powerful players in a steam-gathering movement to reclaim America for Jesus. Shea acknowledged in his February. 1 sermon that some of his congregants may think OFM is being too harsh by severing ties with Bethel. Shea also alluded to problems similar to those in the Bolz scandal that have cropped up at OFM, which has seen an exodus of top leadership in recent months. Neither Shea nor the letter have gone into detail about those troubles. “Scripture gives us a clear pattern for addressing sin and protecting the Church,” the OFM letter says. “We are committed to following the biblical standards laid out in Matthew 18 and 1 Timothy 5\. At times, we have had to walk that process more than once, and we know some have accused us of lacking grace.” OFM did not return a request for comment on this story, but one thing is almost certain: despite intimate ties to Bethel and its failed accountability structure, OFM will continue to advance God’s kingdom here in Spokane and abroad — and they’ll do it using Bethel’s playbook. Its members will keep hosting large gatherings on the OFM campus on Pacific Avenue and under the clock tower in Riverfront Park, during which they will proclaim Spokane belongs to their deity. They’ll continue instigating [high-profile standoffs](https://www.thestranger.com/news/2025/05/30/80080084/invading-antifa-land?ref=rangemedia.co) with progressive counterprotesters. Shea will continue his forays across the country to convince legislators to [sideline minority communities](https://open.spotify.com/episode/63pcOpHJKe4XFe0GcjTPXl?ref=rangemedia.co) he sees as a threat. It is the OFM way and the way of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). ### What’s up between Spokane and the NAR Shea is one of the loudest Inland Northwest voices of the movement that binds OFM and Bethel together, which is known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). The NAR, which comprises a narrow but increasingly powerful sector of evangelical Christianity, was an [unmistakable](https://theconversation.com/new-apostolic-reformation-evangelicals-see-trump-as-gods-warrior-in-their-battle-to-win-america-from-satanic-forces-and-christianize-it-243002?ref=rangemedia.co) force of support for Donald Trump leading to his second election to the American presidency. It asserts that Christians should control the world. Shea has a radio show dedicated to advancing the NAR’s politics and worldview. He is frequently courted by NAR apostles — the most prestigious rank in its ministry hierarchy — to organize high-profile worship events, including the notorious [Mayday 2025 event](https://favs.news/more-than-20-protesters-arrested-seattle-spokane-church/?ref=rangemedia.co) in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park last spring at which police violently arrested peaceful counterprotesters. And though Shea denies the NAR exists — arguing that the term is part of a leftist campaign to smear everyday Christians — that argument is largely semantic; he himself [was anointed](https://www.youtube.com/live/wJVX105Bfl8?si=lTeHP0B3E%5F--Tttg&t=12200&ref=rangemedia.co) in 2024 as an apostle by the Ukrainian NAR pastor Andrey Shapoval during a four-hour special service at OFM. Whatever term you give it, Shea and OFM are part of a continuum that has powerful nodes everywhere, from Redding, California, to the White House. OFM would not exist in the way that it does without Bethel. That’s because the connections between the churches are not just ideological but financial and physical. OFM, located near Second and Division streets, is part of a campus of low-slung buildings that house a K-12 school, an office complex, conference rooms, ministry spaces and a sanctuary. In 2006, the Bethel elder [Cal Pierce](https://rangemedia.co/healing-rooms-ministry-spokane-cal-pierce-property-taxes/?ref=rangemedia.co), who’d left California for the Inland Northwest in 1999 to reboot an old prayer healing ministry, bought the property for nearly $1 million. (In 2023, Pierce sold the property for $2.4 million, and leased it from the new property owner. With that money, he bought a $1 million home overlooking Long Lake.) He leased parts of the downtown campus to Shea in or about 2021, after Shea had founded OFM. Pierce is a member of Shea’s church. Pierce occasionally preaches at OFM and at Bethel. ### The machine of the apostolic universe The NAR is not a card-issuing, member-focused organization but a loosely-defined term that describes churches that derive their governance structure from the biblical passage [Ephesians 4:11-13](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204%3A11-13&version=NIV&ref=rangemedia.co). At the top of this structure, within any given church, there should be an apostle who establishes, directs and advises ministries. NAR churches work in overlapping networks characterized by shared theological frameworks, conference speaker circuits and organizational partnerships. But they are not formally or legally bound to each other and can nimbly sever connections from each other. NAR doctrine says Christians should take over every sector of social influence in the world and control society from atop them, a philosophy known as dominionism. Trump’s spiritual adviser [Paula White-Cain](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/05/paula-white-cain-trump-faith-office-leader/?ref=rangemedia.co) is an NAR apostle and prophet; [Lance Wallnau](https://religionnews.com/2024/09/13/lance-wallnau-first-to-prophesy-trumps-presidency-is-back-to-vanquish-anti-trump-demons/?ref=rangemedia.co), who’s considered the “father of American dominionism,” was the first prophet who predicted Trump’s rise. He constructed a moral framework by which Christians could support a thrice-divorced real estate mogul who excluded Black people from his properties and had an [abiding friendship](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/31/politics/new-documents-trump-epstein?ref=rangemedia.co) with the late convicted child sex trafficker Jefferey Epstein. The term NAR was coined by late dominionist pastor and intellectual C. Peter Wagner in the mid-1990s. Wagner [wrote](https://brill.com/search?q=theological+bedrock&source=%2Ftitle%2F15299), “Our theological bedrock is what has been known as Dominion Theology. This means that our divine mandate is … to retake the dominion of God’s creation which Adam forfeited to Satan in the Garden of Eden. It is nothing less than seeing God’s kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven.” ### The center of the apostolic universe Bethel, [which boasts](https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2019/06/bethel-church-redding-california-modern-christian-culture/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=its%20megachuch%20of-,11%2C000%20members,-and%20school%20with) a membership of about 11,000, is at the center of that movement. Headquartered in Redding, California, Bethel isn’t a single church but a sprawling organism. Its robust network of satellite churches are far-flung, including to New York City; Whangarei, New Zealand; and Sydney, Australia. There is also an all-online ministry. Its reach has shaped the philosophy, culture and aesthetics of most if not all NAR-style churches, including OFM. Beyond its direct ministry and influence on the NAR movement, Bethel has been enormously influential on broader evangelical culture for conservative Christians for two decades, after it [split with](https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article%5Fshare.aspx?guid=2b16f0f8-9583-48fa-8ff0-e0aea6905273&ref=rangemedia.co) the Assemblies of God. The ministry has a record label [that’s released 27 albums](https://bethelmusic.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) since 2001, a [streaming service](https://www.bethel.online/en/home?ref=rangemedia.co) and a three-year [ministry school](https://bssm.net/?ref=rangemedia.co) that educates nearly 2,000 students. Its members, including [Johnson](https://www.christianbook.com/apps/search?Ntt=Bill%20Johnson&N=2961027&event=BRSRCN%7CM&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=eBOOK-,This%20product%20is%20an%20eBook,Save%2020%25%20%28$1.00%29) and [Pierce](https://www.shop.healingrooms.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), have written a vast literature that describes how NAR churches should operate. Shea has been Bethel’s touchstone in the Inlance Northwest. ### Conflict resolution & a web of connections In his February. 1 sermon, Shea described OFM’s conflict resolution structure, which, like many churches’, emphasizes solving conflict at the lowest level possible. If a conflict can’t be resolved at that level, the issue is brought to increasingly important leaders until the conflict is resolved. Sometimes that rises to a level above a specific church. This process mirrors the military’s system of [non-judicial punishment](https://nlgmltf.org/military-law/2014/non-judicial-punishment-middle-ground-between-admin-proceedings-and-courts-martial/?ref=rangemedia.co), whereby soldiers and sailors who’ve disobeyed orders or broken the law endure a crucible of criticism from their chain of command are often demoted and detained for short periods of time. That system has been roundly criticized by people who say it’s designed to obscure misdeeds, including sexual and financial corruption. “We have a minister that is our covering in this body who we go to when we have a disagreement on something or we can’t solve things here,” Shea said in the Feb. 1 sermon. “His name is Andrey Shapoval.” Shapoval, the pastor and apostle at Flame of Fire Ministries in Orangevale, California, maintains ties to Bethel, including a [prominent speaking engagement](https://www.ffministry.com/blog/from-fear-to-freedom?ref=rangemedia.co) last year in Seattle alongside Ben Fitzgerald, a graduate of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. And Shea has bragged to his congregation at the pulpit about rubbing elbows with NAR pastor Wallnau, the Texas NAR pastor Wallnau, who wrote with Bethel pastor Johnson on one of the founding texts of American dominionism, “Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate,” which describes seven realms of power in American public life and directs Christian to take them over. (Read more about this [here](https://rangemedia.co/dominionism-new-apostolic-reformation-spokane-matt-shea/?ref=rangemedia.co).) These represent only a few of the many connections between OFM and Bethel. ### Highly networked but loosely affiliated None of this shows that OFM was complicit in Bolz’s alleged crimes or even aware of the scandals before they started coming to light in 2016\. The individual ministries in the NAR conform to a relatively rigid hierarchy — apostles and prophets at the top and pastors, teachers and evangelists underneath. This structure allows them to keep problems from breaching the church’s walls. But the larger movement is not hampered by this structure. [Experts describe](https://www.illiberalism.org/christian-nationalism-as-an-illiberal-interpretation-of-religion/?ref=rangemedia.co) the NAR as “highly networked but loosely affiliated,” which allows its churches to mobilize sometimes millions of people toward a larger goal; they are capable of operating under the radar until the moment of execution. The most salient example of this nimbleness: the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol Building, which was largely organized and choreographed by top figures in prominent NAR churches. No one who could have stopped it knew the hours-long attack was planned until the violence — which killed five people — was screaming across the nation’s newsfeeds. This organizing is detailed by the scholar Matthew D. Taylor in his podcast series “[Charismatic Revival Fury](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/charismatic-revival-fury-ep-1-january-6th-and-the/id1441649707?i=1000588776189&ref=rangemedia.co).” By the same token, it also means that when one node in the NAR does something wrong, other ministries can easily cut it off, like a lizard releasing its tail to a predator. This flexibility is especially concerning to [Holly Pivec](https://www.hollypivec.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a prominent Christian apologist and author. “There’s this exposure of coverup culture in large part due to Mike Winger’s video exposé,” she said in an interview. “My concern is, there are leaders in this movement who are celebrating the exposure of this coverup culture.” She worried that “people will leave Bethel and just find another church and think they’re okay and that they’re safe.” ### Part of High Bridge Park set to be leased to American Indian Community Center for $1 a year URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T22:14:25.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council could sign a 50-year lease with the American Indian Community Center to give the AICC a section of High Bridge Park at the rate of $1 a year for 50 years. - Spokane City Council is also set to hold a first reading on a policy that would move council meetings from their traditional Monday night slot to Wednesday evenings. - Spokane’s Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability (PIES) Committee will discuss giving $100,000 to the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition to use on direct, emergency aid to immigrant communities in Spokane. - PIES is also discussing changes to Safe Streets funding and getting an update on the effectiveness of removing parking minimums from building construction requirements. - At a joint meeting between local governments on Thursday, officials at Spokane Airports will publicly discuss their cleanup of the forever chemicals contamination on the West Plains. - The Spokane Valley City Council is set to vote on a resolution that would ban local vendors from selling kratom, a stimulant that some medical experts say can be addictive and harmful. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Subscribe-,Spokane%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) (and [Study Session](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Spokane%20City%20Council%20Study%20Sessions)) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Public%20Infrastructure%2C%20Environment%2C%20and%20Sustainability%20Committee,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Plan%20Commission,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - Board of County Commissioners – [Briefing Session](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Briefing%20Session) and [Legislative Session](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Board%20of%20Spokane%20County%20Commissioners%20Legislative%20Session) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Regional%20Transportation%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Airport Board (committee meeting)](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=live%20streamed%20here.-,Spokane%20Airport%20Board%20%28committee%20meeting%29,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=streamed%20here.-,Mead%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Central%20Valley%20School%20District%20Board%20of%20Directors,-%F0%9F%AB%91/5%20peppers) - [Spokane Valley City Council ](https://rangemedia.co/part-of-high-bridge-park-set-to-be-leased-to-american-indian-community-center-for-1-a-year/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Zoom%20here.-,Spokane%20Valley%20City%20Council,-%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F%F0%9F%8C%B6%EF%B8%8F/5%20peppers) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### SCRAPS board Boards and committee appointments are usually pretty low drama, but we did notice something interesting slated for this week: Spokane is appointing people to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection (SCRAPS) Advisory Board. For the last two years, following a wave of [euthanizations](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/may/16/former-staff-volunteers-claim-scraps-needlessly-eu/?ref=rangemedia.co) and a [lawsuit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/12/former-employee-suing-scraps-for-firing-her-allege/?ref=rangemedia.co), local government officials from municipalities that contract with SCRAPS — like Spokane city and [Spokane Valley](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/mar/12/spokane-valley-city-council-to-review-scraps-contr/?ref=rangemedia.co) — have looked for accountability from the organization. Last year, Council Member Michael Cathcart [told us](https://rangemedia.co/scraps-dogs-ferrari-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) the advisory board was “worthless”; it rarely met, posted no information and wasn’t able to exercise any authority over SCRAPS. Director of Code Enforcement Luis Garcia and Director of Parks and Recreation Garrett Jones formerly represented Spokane on the advisory board, and said they’d made recommendations to SCRAPS for increased transparency, though at the time those recommendations seemed to mostly go ignored. Tonight, council could reappoint Garcia to the advisory board, but could also appoint Cathcart, an animal lover who has spearheaded many of the calls for SCRAPS reform to protect its furry charges. ### 911 Software As part of the new separation agreement with Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, Spokane city is continuing the process to stand up their own public-safety answering point (PSAP) for emergency calls. Tonight, they could pass a nearly $2 million, five-year contract with Carbyne, Inc — paid for presumably with Spokane’s portion of the excise tax that funds SREC — to support 911 and 311 calls. If passed, the contract would expire in May of 2031. ### Rules vote deferred The council is moving to defer a vote on their rules of operation for the year to February 23, nearly two months into 2026\. It seems likely that this is because of a proposal floated during a committee meeting by freshman Council Member Kate Telis to drastically limit public testimony time. The pitch Telis made was to give people three minutes total to comment on all legislative items up for a vote during a single meeting, rather than the current system, which gives people three minutes on each item. For context, tonight they’re voting on eight legislative agenda items, which would mean if you had strong feelings about all eight, you’d have about 23 seconds to spend on each item. This seems to have some support from other council members, like Zack Zappone, who pointed out that most people who sign up to testify on legislative items only sign up for one. Other ideas tossed around during the discussion included moving Open Forum back to the beginning of meetings and holding additional Open Forums/Town Hall meetings monthly out in community spaces. ### Good neighbors Up for a vote is a proposal to modify the city’s good neighbor agreements, which are required when new city-owned or city-sponsored service facilities start operations at a new site. The modification to the existing agreements would add new members to a communication team, including a property owner from the area where an emergency shelter or transitional housing facility will be located and the council chair or other designated representative from that area’s neighborhood council. The other big change is for the city to prioritize removing unauthorized encampments that spring up near facilities or shelters that have existing good neighbor agreements. ### High Bridge Park lease The council will vote to approve leasing a portion of High Bridge Park to the American Indian Community Center (AICC) for 50 years at a rate of just $1 a year. The lease will give the AICC access to build and operate a new community center on the park land, which they’ll have exclusive control over. The lease also requires AICC to build some public improvements on the land, including a public bathroom, parking and a playground. This is the next step in the AICC’s [multi-year process](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/mar/05/american-indian-community-center-seeks-new-permane/?ref=rangemedia.co) of seeking a permanent home for their center, placing it in a spot where tribal members used to gather to fish and trade. ### First-reads: height limits and council day changes Two first-reads on the list for tonight caught our eye. In March 2025, the council passed an interim zoning ordinance getting rid of height limits downtown and allowing for really tall buildings downtown. They passed a six-month extension to that interim ordinance, and tonight, they’re continuing the process to pass another six-month extension, that would keep the height limits off until September 2026\. It’s unclear if any developers have taken advantage of this yet. The other interesting proposal is a first reading on an ordinance to change the meeting days of the Spokane City Council. What’s currently on the table would move council meetings to Wednesday evenings, Agenda Review to the Tuesday prior at 11 am and committee meetings to Tuesday afternoons, effective June 1, 2026\. The day change proposal is in spite of public survey results, where 60.5% of respondents to the council-published survey wanted the meetings to stay on Mondays. Admittedly, the sample size for the survey was small at just 256, but not as small as the sample size who will ultimately make the decision — the seven council members. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 9 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 16 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### How effective was ditching parking minimums? Well, there’s no additional info in the agenda, but we do know that city administration officials will be giving an update to council on “The effectiveness of the elimination of parking minimums,” so today we could find out! ### Emergency aid for immigrants Up for discussion at today’s committee meeting is an agreement that could provide the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition (SIRC) with $100,000 to be distributed by SIRC for emergency aid and assistance to immigrant communities in Spokane. The funding was budgeted for in the 2026 budget, the agenda sheet says, and the agreement will run through the end of the year. SIRC is made up of a coalition of local organizations providing services to immigrant and refugee communities. The members are Nuestras Raices Centro Comunitario, Mujeres In Action, Manzanita House, Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane, Fuse Washington, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, Creole Resources, Muslims for Collective Action and Asians for Collective Liberation. In the letter of intent to the city, SIRC states the funding will be used to: - Distribute funds for aid and emergency assistance, helping people “meet basic needs like housing, healthcare, costs for deportation defense and utilities and gain documentation through the immigration system.” - Advocate for local and statewide policies to support immigrant communities, like social services and protections from deportation. - Deploy a Rapid Response team in collaboration with WA Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) to support undocumented immigrants at the highest risk of deportation. - Focus aid distribution to immigrant families that are the most vulnerable: folks who are undocumented and/or low-income, have limited technology and transportation access or limited fluency in English. ### Safe Streets for All funding update If you were on Reddit posting about how to avoid paying tickets generated by the automated red light or speed cameras in Spokane, we see you. Dollars generated from those tickets seed the Safe Streets for All Fund, which pays for traffic calming measures in the city like stop signs, speed tables and adaptive design measures. A new ordinance up for discussion today would further delineate what exactly the dollars will fund: - 21% on permanent Safe Streets projects - 10% on strategic network initiatives, including but not limited to bike and sidewalk infrastructure - 10% on non-permanent streets projects, like quick builds, crosswalks, speed trailers, asphalt art or painted bump outs. - 2% on maintenance for existing projects - 57% on contractual, administrative and personnel costs - The rest can be spent on other safe streets projects and camera maintenance. The new ordinance would also require that the funds be split as equally between council districts as possible, and forbid the use of Safe Streets dollars on installing improvements that would otherwise be required to be installed by a developer or property owner. So next time you speed or run a red light, consider not taking Reddit’s advice on how to avoid accountability for your risky driving, and instead contribute to making Spokane safer! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 9 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Land Use Strategy For our public planning nerds, consider checking out this week’s Plan Commission meeting, where they’re holding a workshop on PlanSpokane 2046’s Land Use Strategy. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://static.spokanecity.org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, February 11 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### City, County, airport and S3R3 to meet The governments that own Spokane Airports are hosting a meeting to hear updates from airport officials and the leader of the public development authority S3R3 on construction projects and the cleanup of forever chemicals contamination of the West Plains aquifers. It will be a rare window at which the airport itself will address and acknowledge the contamination. The meeting will be held **February 12 at 10 am in the Auditorium of the Spokane Regional Health District at 1101 W College Ave**. You can attend it virtually [here](https://www.youtube.com/@SpokaneCountyWa?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Half a million in state funds to rehabilitate courthouse exterior Spokane County has received a $488,327 grant from the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation to rehabilitate the masonry on the exterior of the courthouse, which is officially a historic building. ### $4M for new maintenance facility for LL and MeadowWood golf courses The Parks, Recreation and Golf Department is asking the BOCC to approve $4 million to build a new 4,600-square-foot maintenance facility for the Liberty Lake and MeadowWood golf course. The department cites a number of deficiency and compliance concerns with the current maintenance building, including inadequate fuel storage and disability access. ### $3.25M in new vehicle purchases The Public Works Department is asking the BOC to buy 23 new vehicles for various programs, They include: - 16 Ford trucks - 2 trucks for herbicide - 3 Western Star dump trucks - 1 paint striper - 1 new lube service truck > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 10 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokan*e > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $605K for improvements to Hastings Rd. The county will likely open bids to build channels, new curbs and new sidewalks on the section of Hastings Road from Wall Street to Graves Road. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 10 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, February 12 at 1 pm* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board (committee meeting) 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Committees considering contracts, purchases The engineering committee is reviewing construction contracts to expand parking at the airport, and the finance committee is considering the purchase of body-worn cameras for airport police. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, February 11 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Work session The Mead School District board meeting is just a work session this week, which means no public comment and no details in the agenda. We did notice that they’re going to be discussing revising their Nondiscrimination Policy. Because there’s no details in this agenda, it’s unclear what revisions are on the table, but because of Mead’s history (see [here](https://rangemedia.co/black-mead-football-players-humiliated/?ref=rangemedia.co), [here](https://rangemedia.co/mead-school-board-will-consider-public-statement-against-transgender-athletes/?ref=rangemedia.co), [here](https://rangemedia.co/mead-school-board-critical-race-theory-gender-library/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [here](https://rangemedia.co/gay-mead-teacher-investigation-resignation/?ref=rangemedia.co)) we’ll be paying attention. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 9 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Connect 2035 to the schools As Spokane Transit Authority moves into their new ten-year plan, Connect 2035, Chief Operations Officer Brandon Rapez-Betty will present to the CVSD board this week on how the past 10-year plan impacted the district community and what they can expect for the next decade. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 9 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Potential kratom ban in the works The city council will consider banning local businesses from selling kratom, a stimulant that some medical organizations [say](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prescription-drug-abuse/in-depth/kratom/art-20402171?ref=rangemedia.co) can be addictive and harmful if used irresponsibly. Businesses that violate the proposed ban would have to pay a $250 fine on the first violation and $1,000 fines for subsequent violations. The proposal comes at a time when the Washington legislature is considering banning kratom sales to people under 21 years old and levying a 95% tax on the drug. The Spokane City Council has also discussed banning kratom, although that policy has been deferred out a few months. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 10 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co). ### The POD: What’s new with RANGE news? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-whats-new-with-range-news/ Last updated: 2026-02-12T00:11:36.000Z This week, Val interviewed Erin and Aaron about their recent stories. Erin talks about their story on a new eviction prevention program that was passed by Spokane City Council. The ordinance passed by a vote of 5-2 and will create this new program by June 1, 2026\. Find the story [here](https://rangemedia.co/eviction-prevention-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co). Aaron talks about a story he and Luke co-wrote about two masked SPD officers who stood in on a healthcare workers’ vigil for Alex Pretti, who was killed by ICE agents. The vigil attendees thought they were ICE agents at first, up until it was confirmed that they were SPD officers. Find the story [here](https://rangemedia.co/spd-masks-healthcare-workers-march/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### ‘This city is turning into an eviction mill.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/eviction-prevention-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-02-19T01:17:22.000Z Tenant and landlord horror stories took center stage at a Monday meeting as the Spokane City Council debated establishing a new eviction prevention program. The ordinance, which passed by a vote of 5-2, directs the city administration to create a new eviction prevention program by June 1, 2026, with a webpage that collates rental assistance programs and legal defense resources like attorneys who will represent tenants for free. It also requires landlords to notify their tenants of the program when they sign or renew leases, any time landlords give tenants notice to pay or vacate and when they raise the rent. Before landlords evict tenants solely for nonpayment of rent, they must now engage in the eviction prevention program, sharing city resources and waiting for at least 30 days before submitting a demand for payment. This only applies to tenants who can’t pay the rent; landlords can still evict people who’ve damaged or committed crimes in the rental, or compromised the health and safety of other tenants. The landlords who spoke against the ordinance at the February 2 meeting said they didn’t want the headache of additional paperwork and worried that city-mandated eviction prevention mediation could delay rent payments for that month. “ This ordinance does not increase affordability. It increases complexity,” said Daniel Klemme, speaking on behalf of the Rental Housing Association of Washington. “Tying eviction rights to a series of notice requirements across tenancy converts a clear issue of nonpayment into a technical compliance trap. A missed notice from long ago becomes a defense to months of unpaid rent today, which complexly pushes out small local housing providers.” Adding the 30-day mediation time would add to what multiple landlords described as an expensive court filing process. Jessica Thompson, a lawyer who represents landlords at the firm Armitage and Thompson, said that it would be “administratively unfeasible” for other reasons too — requiring landlords to notify the city when they send nonpayment notices to tenants would be too burdensome. But tenants and tenants’ rights advocates speaking on their behalf, like lawyers from the Housing Justice Project, saw this ordinance as potential relief for low-income renters being put in impossible situations. One tenants’ lawyer described representing an elderly renter who had to choose between rent and being able to afford anything else after housing costs rose and her fixed income stayed the same. Sabrina Ryan, who had worked to help people living at Camp Hope find housing, told the council about her experience falling behind on rent after she lost her job and then had “a massive cardiac arrest.” She was unconscious in the hospital, recovering from the heart attack and subsequent sepsis and respiratory failure, when her landlord tried to evict her. Luckily for Ryan, a lawyer from a local [right-to-counsel](https://www.wliha.org/2025-public-policy-priorities/right-counsel?ref=rangemedia.co) program took her case and represented her while she recovered, connecting her with resources and keeping her from getting an eviction on her record. But the experience was traumatic, Ryan said. “ I do believe that if what resources were out there were better understood by tenants and landlords, probably a lot of that could have been avoided,” Ryan said in an interview with RANGE. “Having those resources readily available is a huge help, and it’s not a huge lift for a centralized location that the landlords can just print off a paper and provide it.” ### The council position This ordinance is the latest in a series of renters’ protections council has passed in the last three years. In 2024, the [council required](https://rangemedia.co/spokane-rent-raise-ordinance-facts/?ref=rangemedia.co) landlords to give renters six months notice before they hike rent more than 3%. Later that year, they added teeth to a 2023 law that [required landlords](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-rental-units-are-required-to-be-registered-but-not-everyone-knows-that-now-they/article%5F5dae50f3-fb16-5d10-97a6-5ecca1ed05b7.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to obtain a business license and [register](https://my.spokanecity.org/codeenforcement/long-term-rental-registry/?ref=rangemedia.co) their rentals with the city, requiring those conditions to be met before landlords could raise rent or evict tenants. Originally sponsored by Council Members Paul Dillon and Kitty Klitzke, then amended by Dillon, Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis, the goal of the program was to create stability for renters and landlords alike. If tenants know about and can more easily access rental assistance programs, it could be a win-win for both renters and landlords, Dillon and Klitzke stressed: renters keep their housing, landlords are paid their rent and don’t need to proceed with costly eviction filings. Dixit described the program as a cost-effective, upstream approach to addressing the housing crisis in Spokane. “It’s also important to note that it’s much more expensive to house someone after they’ve become unhoused versus helping them stay housed,” Dixit said. “ One emergency expense should not cost someone their house and being able to have housing.” Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Michael Cathcart ultimately voted against the ordinance. For Wilkerson, the policy didn’t go far enough — she wanted to see the city create a housing navigator position to help renters navigate the assistance available. “As a landlord and other landlords I know, the last thing we want to do is lose a tenant. It’s expensive to lose a tenant and expensive to get a tenant,” Wilkerson said. “ I would absolutely be in support of this, if we put in this the housing navigator piece, because when \[tenants\] call or go through the website, then have we been absolved? You just gave ’em the information. Some of ’em can work through it and some of them cannot.” Wilkerson and Cathcart also agreed on one key point: the pool of rental assistance money isn’t limitless. Landlords are required to participate in the monthlong eviction prevention program whether rental assistance money is available to tenants or not, Cathcart stressed, which could cause unpaid costs to pile up. “There’s no guarantee we’ll actually have dollars from the state,” Cathcart said. “ Ultimately, we create a lot of, I believe, false promises and false hope.” Council Member Zack Zappone, who voted in favor of the law, said that while he was sympathetic to landlords’ arguments of lost costs, the priority for him is giving people extra tools to stay housed. “I grew up experiencing housing instability,” he said. “Sometimes just that extra little time is enough to get by and get stable again.” ### ‘This city is turning into an eviction mill.’ The debate over the eviction prevention came the same day that the [*Seattle Times*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/feb/02/eviction-levels-hit-an-all-time-high-in-wa-especia/?ref=rangemedia.co) reported eviction levels have hit an all time high in Washington state for the [second year in a row](https://www.opb.org/article/2024/12/17/eviction-washington-pacific-northwest-housing-spokane-king-evicted/?ref=rangemedia.co). According to data from the state’s Office of Civil Legal Aid, eviction filings in the state are [up 47.6%](https://ocla.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/Appointed%20Counsel%20for%20Indigent%20Tenants%20A%20Proven%2C%20Cost-Effective%20Strategy%20to%20Prevent%20Homelessness%2020201029.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co) from 2019. Evictions remained high in Spokane County too, with 1,794 filings in 2025 — accounting for about 7.5% of the state’s evictions. According to 2024 census data, Spokane County makes up 6.99% of the state’s population, making the region overrepresented in eviction filings. When you break it down by county data, it’s one eviction filing per 309 people. In Spokane County, it’s not just the number of evictions that’s daunting, it’s also the speed at which they proceed, the Housing Justice Project’s lead attorney Hannah Swenson told the council during public comment on Monday. “This city is turning into an eviction mill, and I’m not being dramatic,” Swenson said. “One hundred and seventy cases are filed per month and our county has the fastest moving eviction proceedings in the state.” As a [right-to-counsel attorney](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/07/washingtons-right-to-counsel-law-alters-the-evicti/?ref=rangemedia.co), she represents low-income clients in eviction proceedings, working to keep tenants in their homes, connect them with other resources and keep evictions off of peoples’ permanent records. Free legal services through her firm would be on the list of resources required to be given to tenants by landlords. Swenson described the eviction prevention ordinance as “crucial.” “ We can all agree that a DV \[domestic violence\] survivor with two toddlers should not have to live in her car on Thursday of this week for not getting rental assistance in time. It was awarded three days too late,” Swenson said to the council, describing a client of hers. “She’s gonna be living in her car over $900 of rent from when she was being abused. The landlord’s attorney made $3,000 on that case. That wouldn’t be happening on Thursday if this ordinance had existed last month. We need this.” Even if the rental assistance pool has been depleted, getting lawyers like Swenson and her colleague Joe Ehle — who also testified in favor of the ordinance — before an eviction is actually filed can still help tenants. The requirement for landlords to notify tenants of resources like the [Housing Justice Project](https://www.kcba.org/?pg=HJP-Spokane&ref=rangemedia.co) at the time of leasing, rent raises and first nonpayment notice can help tenants in need connect with free legal help earlier. Then, lawyers can help tenants negotiate settlements or repayment plans with their landlords to avoid legal filings, which are costly for both parties. The new eviction prevention program will buy attorneys and nonprofits more time to find and connect with tenants, and ultimately, keep them from an eviction. “It gives \[tenants\] a chance to avoid the black mark of an eviction on their record and on their credit history forever,” Swenson said at the meeting. Quoting from a constituent email, Telis made a similar point: “ Evictions for these families are rarely the result of unwillingness to comply. More often they stem from miscommunications, confusion about timelines and not understanding the options are available until it’s too late,” she read. “Once an eviction filing occurs, families cannot navigate the process on their own, and the consequences follow them long term, limiting future housing options and increasing instability.” Swenson said she has seen evicted clients forced to survive in places managed by [slumlords](https://rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/?ref=rangemedia.co), their cars or the streets. She and Ehle hope this legislation can be another tool to keep people housed. ”Just last week we were talking with another tenant. She had no plan for where she was going to go that night. She had a son who was, I believe, seven or eight, and another child that was three years old,” Ehle said. “She had fallen behind and needed this assistance. And again, had she simply gotten that hand up to help her get up to where she needed to be, she could have stayed housed.” 🚨 ****Right-to-Counsel funding at risk:** Right now, $3 million of supplementary funding to keep the right-to-counsel program fully staffed up across the state is being debated by the Washington State Legislature. If the supplemental funding is not approved, the program, which serves more than 10,000 people a year, “will lose 17 full-time attorneys and nearly 2,000 individuals facing eviction each year without an attorney,” according to the state Office of Civil Legal Aid. Statewide, the program helped 90% of tenants represented secure permanent housing, and prevented eviction writs from being issued in 74% of cases. In Spokane County, attorneys through the Right-to-Counsel program provided full legal representation in 2,725 cases and gave advice or other services to another 736 people. If continuing to fund these services is important to you, you can [contact](https://leg.wa.gov/help/contact-us/?ref=rangemedia.co) your [state legislature representatives](https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Spokane rallies around Haitian community URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-rallies-around-haitian-community/ Last updated: 2026-09-02T20:59:30.000Z Spend more than a moment with Spokane’s Haitian population — about 500 people — and you’ll find folks who are in many ways just like everyone else here. They work hard. They pay taxes. They explore opportunities. They attend church. They’re proud of who they are. But they are unlike most Spokanites in a very specific way: since the last contest for US president, Haitians have faced a brutally racist campaign of invective by people who are now running the federal government. The then-presidential hopeful Donald Trump, his running mate JD Vance and a bench of their faithful courtiers [insisted](https://www.npr.org/2024/09/10/nx-s1-5107320/jd-vance-springfield-ohio-haitians-pets?ref=rangemedia.co), despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that some Haitian communities were eating people’s pets. That racism has at times [spilled](https://rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-facebook-hateful-comments/?ref=rangemedia.co) into the media feeds of local governments, including in Spokane. That bigotry portended the end of legal status for many Haitians who fled to the US from [systemic gang violence](https://www.amnesty.org/en/projects/gang-violence-in-haiti/?ref=rangemedia.co) in their home country of Haiti, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. Trump ordered that status cancelled early in his second term, a directive that was supposed to take effect February 3, but a federal judge [blocked](https://www.amnesty.org/en/projects/gang-violence-in-haiti/?ref=rangemedia.co) the demise of the status — known as Temporary Protective Status (TPS) — for Haitian immigrants. On February 1, the [First Presbyterian Church of Spokane](https://www.spokanefpc.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) held a special service at which prominent members of Spokane’s Haitian communities — including Pastor Luc Jasmin of [Maranatha Church](https://www.maranathaspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and his children Katia and Luc — were joined by TPS recipients who said they worried about their futures. About 400 people attended the service. Clergy members of Spokane churches explained how everyday folks can stand up for Haitian immigrants. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, who attended the special service, also sent a letter to the Eastern Washington delegation to the US Congress urging them to block the end of TPS for Haitian immigrants. As the situation for Haitians develops in the US, RANGE is gathering their stories. Freelance photographer Sandra Rivera documented scenes from the service. We’re withholding the names of some in the photos to protect them from repercussions from the federal government. Here are some of Rivera’s images. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000020091.jpg) **Haitian and white Christians hold hands in prayer at First Presbyterian. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000020085.jpg) **A Haitian doctor — in the US on TPS status — who has worked in Spokane for years weeps during remarks on his fears about potentially being deported to Haiti. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ![](https://rangemedia.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-5-1024x673.jpeg) **Spokane Christians and people from other faiths pray for Haitian Spokanites here on TPS. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ![](https://rangemedia.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-4-1024x681.jpeg) **Brad Hauge, First Presbyterian Church of Spokane’s director of Intergenerational Ministries and Missions, addresses the congregation at the special service. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/1000020134.jpg) **A Haitian TPS recipient, who’d pleaded at the pulpit for a hug and someone to tell her “everything is okay,” embraces a friend before the special service. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ![](https://rangemedia.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-3-1024x681.jpeg) **Maranatha Church Pastor Luc Jasmin and Reverend Mindy Smith of Whitworth University offer a closing prayer at the special service. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ![](https://rangemedia.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-6-1024x681.jpeg) **Katia Jasmin leads worship at the special service. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* ### Masked SPD officers removed from healthcare workers vigil URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spd-masks-healthcare-workers-march/ Last updated: 2026-02-03T02:33:53.000Z On the evening of January 28, Spokane health care workers and activists marched from Riverfront Park to the county courthouse to honor Alex Pretti, the nurse Border Patrol agents executed on a Minneapolis street last month. Once the march reached the courthouse, the crowd fanned out on the lawn in front of the large wooden doors on the south end of the building. A pair of men stood on the lawn by the western edge of the crowd. Local open government activist Jim Leighty heard the men before he saw them. They spoke in a lingo and cadence he was familiar with from years of police accountability work. “Even when they’re out of uniform,” Leighty said, “cops sound like cops.” He turned to see if he knew them. Leighty said the first thing he noticed were the gaiter masks covering the men’s faces. They were wearing generic-looking tactical clothing with no insignia or other visible law enforcement markings. This kind of gear has been common in civilian gun culture for years. More recently [it has emerged](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/how-ice-dresses-cbp-minneapolis-military-theater-of-war/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=When%20I%20reached%20out%20to,where%20it%20does%20not%20exist.) as an emblem of federal agents deployed to American cities as part of President Donald Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on immigration. Because their faces were covered and they were not wearing uniforms, there was no way to tell who they were: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents? Vigilantes? When Leighty saw the men, he told RANGE, “I thought they were ICE.” So he called the SPD [dialogue team](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/20/spokane-police-officers-at-the-no-kings-protest-we/?ref=rangemedia.co), a unit Hall created that tries to keep protest environments safe by communicating with protest organizers and deescalating tense situations. The team gave him some information he was not expecting: they were not ICE agents. Neither were they vigilantes. They were Spokane city police officers. This was suspicious: the Spokane Police Department (SPD) prohibits its officers from wearing face coverings when doing normal police work. The dialogue team “said they would take care of it, and they did,” Leighty said. “They didn’t waste any time.” Just after the team responded to him, the men were gone. RANGE has yet to hear from Chief Hall or SPD spokesperson Daniel Strassenberg about why the men were at the event or if they will discipline the officers, but it’s unequivocally clear they were violating a policy put in place more than six months ago. In the wake of the [June 11 protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) at the ICE facility on Cataldo Avenue that became one of the biggest Spokane stories of 2025, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall gave an exclusive interview to RANGE, during which [he stated](https://www.rangemedia.co/qa-with-spd-chief-kevin-hall-on-ice-and-the-protests/), unequivocally, “My officers will not wear masks. They will not.” Hall did not return requests for comment by press time for this story, but he characterized the incident as a mistake and said “it won’t happen again” in remarks to the Spokane Public Safety & Community Health Committee on February 2. “They were seen, they were identified. I'll take full accountability for that. I didn't know the officers were there. The incident commander didn't know the officers were there. That communication gap is my responsibility,” Hall continued. “We made it very clear to every single member of the police department — all 454 of them — what the expectations are when it comes to wearing face coverings.” The incident was disturbing enough to Hall that he felt the need to clarify the department’s mask policy. The next day, on January 30, he sent an email to the entire department saying “To be unequivocally clear: face coverings or masks of any kind are prohibited for on-duty Spokane Police Department personnel, regardless of assignment or duties (underline Hall’s).” There are some legitimate uses of face coverings in police work, such as when police might encounter dangerous fumes and need a gas mask. But Hall wrote in his email to his employees that even in these circumstances, officers must get written permission to cover their faces. Neither are SPD officers supposed to be in plain clothes during demonstrations. In our July conversation, Hall [outlined the reason why](https://www.rangemedia.co/qa-with-spd-chief-kevin-hall-on-ice-and-the-protests/): it undercuts the dialogue team. “\[We’re\] embedding uniformed police officers — not undercover officers — into these crowds at these protests,” Hall said, not to intimidate or to gather intel on possible wrong-doing, but “to create dialogue, to have a chat, and get the vibe of the crowd. It starts before the protest even begins. They contact the organizers and they say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna be there. We’d like to help facilitate this and make sure it’s safe for everybody.’” Based on Hall’s comments to council and the way the officers seemed to be monitoring radio communications, it’s likely they were on duty and in violation of these policies. If they were off-duty, and attending as civilians, it’s less clear if that would violate the new policy. From Leighty’s perspective, though, “If they were off-duty, I think that’s worse,” and could be interpreted as intimidation. At the very least, Leighty said, showing up in tactical gear and gaiters to a protest demonstrates bad judgement. “At a vigil where the big concern is masked individuals working for the government who executed a person,” Leighty said, “it’s in very poor taste to show up as a person working for the government wearing a mask.” ### Chief Hall’s email to SPD staff From: "Hall, Kevin" Date: January 30, 2026 at 7:27:05 PM PST To: All Police Cc: "Yates, Maggie" , "Duggan, Andi" Subject: Clarification on Face Covering Policy Team, I want to clarify our expectations regarding face coverings and acknowledge that prior guidance on this issue was not communicated as clearly or consistently as it should have been. That responsibility rests with me. To be unequivocally clear: face coverings or masks of any kind are prohibited for on-duty Spokane Police Department personnel, regardless of assignment or duties, with the sole exception of surgical or N95 masks worn for legitimate medical reasons, such as illness or immune-compromised conditions. Any deviation from this policy must be approved in advance, in writing, by an Assistant Chief and include documented justification. No other exceptions are authorized. This policy does not apply to the appropriate use of gas masks or respirators when operationally required. This message is intended to remove any ambiguity and ensure consistent understanding across the organization. I take full responsibility for ensuring this expectation is clearly set and uniformly enforced going forward, and it will be. Thank you for your professionalism and attention to this matter. Kevin Hall Kevin Hall | Chief of Police | Spokane Police Department ### Joswar Torres, one of the Spokane immigrants detained on June 11, has been released on parole URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-protest-june-11-joswar-torres-alvarez-released/ Last updated: 2026-02-03T01:20:26.000Z After being held for more than seven months in the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma, Spokane resident Joswar Rodriguez Torres has been released on parole and is coming home to Spokane. Western District of Washington Court Judge James Robart ruled on Thursday, January 29 that Torres had been unlawfully detained, in violation of the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment. Late last week, Torres’ chosen Spokane family — a romantic partner and the family of Shelly O’Quinn, a former Republican County Commissioner who had been in the process of applying to sponsor Torres when he was detained — brought him back home to Spokane. Torres, who came to the United States legally in September of 2024 through the humanitarian parole program alongside 21-year-old Cesar Alexander Alvarez, was detained along with Alvarez following a routine check-in at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office in Spokane on June 11\. Their detainment sparked the [anti-ICE protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) that resulted in the arrests of dozens of local protestors and the federal arrests of nine protesters, including former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart, who was Alvarez’ legal guardian at the time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image.jpg) Photo courtesy of Stuckart, left to right: Ann Stuckart, Ben Stuckart, Torres and his partner. With no criminal background and an asylum petition submitted to the courts, Torres’ detainment came as a shock to he and his community. For the last seven months, lawyers hired by O’Quinn and Stuckart have been fighting to free Torres, who they believed was [illegally detained](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/two-refugees-came-here-legally-they-were-detained-/?ref=rangemedia.co). O’Quinn and Alvarez could not be reached for comment by publication, but we will update this story if we hear back. “Ann \[Stuckart\] and I are so glad to have Joswar out of detention and back in Spokane. The judge was clear that he never should have been detained on June 11th,” Stuckart told RANGE in a written statement. “We want to thank those that contributed to his legal defense, protested and advocated for his release. Without a strong community, Joswar would still be wrongfully detained.” This week, the courts granted them a victory. “All persons, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to due process under the Fifth Amendment,” the judgement reads. “Thus, even when the government believes it has a lawful basis for detaining a noncitizen, it remains subject to the requirement to effectuate that detention in a manner that comports with due process.” Because Torres was granted parole status prior to his detainment, any DHS decision to revoke that must be “made on an individualized basis and carried out only after the purposes of the parole have been served.” By revoking Torres’ parole and re-detaining him without any legal justification for the revocation — like criminal conduct or flight risk — DHS had violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process, the judge ruled. Unfortunately, the ruling came too late for Alvarez. At the Tacoma detention facility, both young men faced inhumane conditions, Stuckart told RANGE. On Facebook, he posted that Alvarez and Torres, among other immigrants held at the facility, were “being fed dinner at 1 am and woken up everyday with the words ‘Wake up! Today is self-deportation day.’” In August, it became too much for Alvarez, who was miserable in the facility. Stuckart said the young men’s first lawyer had advised Alvarez that if he chose self-deportation, he could choose to be sent to Colombia, where his brothers lived. But when Alvarez went to court for his self-deportation hearing on August 9, the lawyer didn’t show, Stuckart said. The court informed Alvarez that he had no option: he was being sent back to Venezuela, the country he had escaped and received humanitarian parole from. Frustrated and feeling like their ward had been misled, resulting in a deportation to a country where he wasn’t safe, Stuckart and O’Quinn fired the first lawyer. They hoped to save Torres from the same fate. Under new legal guidance, on December 24, Torres filed the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus, asserting his due process rights had been violated. The judge’s favorable ruling on the writ allowed him to be released from custody less than a month later. A habeas petition may have been an option available for Alvarez, as well, since he was detained under identical circumstances, had he not been advised to self-deport. Despite being deported to Venezuela, Alvarez is now safe with family and checks in with Ann Stuckart daily over WhatsApp. Torres isn’t out of the woods yet. His initial petition for asylum was denied in October by the Tacoma Immigration Court. He appealed the denial in November and is awaiting a court date for his appeal to be heard, but he will now wait with his community instead of in the detainment facility. ### Spokane could pass an eviction prevention ordinance URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/ Last updated: 2026-02-02T19:27:14.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council could pass an ordinance long-awaited by housing advocates that creates a city eviction prevention program to create stability for renters and streamline rental assistance. - Spokane City Council will also hold a first reading of an ordinance to give the American Indian Community Center a 50-year lease of parts of High Bridge Park for just $1 a year. - At the Public Safety and Community Health Committee, the council will discuss an ordinance to ban federal agents from using any city-owned or -controlled property for immigration enforcement purposes. Spokane Police Chief Hall will give updates on SPD’s role in immigration enforcement and a quarterly update on homelessness-related arrests. - Spokane County is finalizing its collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters, the union that represents county employees. The agreement contains a 3% raise for workers. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/)) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) - [Spokane Valley City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-pass-an-eviction-prevention-ordinance/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Preventing evictions Tonight, the council could pass an ordinance designed to help keep renters in their homes. Housing advocates have long argued that the most effective way to help with homelessness is to simply keep people housed. For rent-burdened tenants who are otherwise reliable, one emergency could cause an inability to pay rent that month, leading to an eviction that will follow them forever, making it harder to find new housing. The new Pathways to Eviction Prevention ordinance seeks to create stability for both renters and landlords by establishing an eviction prevention program at the City and requiring landlords to notify their tenants of the program at the time of lease or lease renewal, any time a tenant is given a notice to pay or vacate and any time a rent increase notice is given. This program will be available to traditional renters and tenants living in mobile or manufactured homes. The program is for economic hardship only, and does not include evictions due to damage, illegal activity or behavior affecting the health and safety of other tenants If passed tonight, Spokane will have the program up and running by June 1, posting a list of “city-managed eviction prevention programs and state-funded organizations providing pre-eviction direct legal services,” on the city website. ### High Bridge Park lease The council will hold a first reading of an ordinance that could lease a portion of High Bridge Park to the American Indian Community Center (AICC) for 50 years at a rate of just $1 a year. The lease will give the AICC access to build and operate a new community center on the park land, which they’ll have exclusive control over. The lease also requires AICC to build some public improvements on the land, including a public bathroom, parking and a playground. This is the next step in the AICC’s [multi-year process](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/mar/05/american-indian-community-center-seeks-new-permane/?ref=rangemedia.co) of seeking a permanent home for their center, placing it in a spot where tribal members used to gather to fish and trade. ### Good neighbors Also on the first reading docket is a proposal to modify the city’s good neighbor agreements, which are required when new city-owned or city-sponsored service facilities find a site. The modification to the existing agreements would add new members to a communication team, including a property owner from the area where an emergency shelter or transitional housing facility will be located and the council chair or other designated representative from that neighborhood’s neighborhood council. The other big change is for the city to prioritize removing unauthorized encampments that spring up near facilities or shelters that have existing good neighbor agreements. > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, February 2 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, February 5 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Immigration enforcement and homelessness arrests There’s currently no presentations or previews included in the packet, but Spokane Police Department Police Chief Kevin Hall will be presenting on two key topics at today’s committee meeting: - An update on “law enforcement role in immigration enforcement” — which we’re hoping touches on whether or not SPD will enforce the mask ban that is likely to be passed by the state legislature. - A quarterly report on the Safe and Accessible Public Spaces ordinance, which increased criminalization of visible homelessness. We’re hoping this report includes statistics on how many people were cited or arrested and how many people were connected with services. ### ICE Free Zones Announced last week, council will discuss an ordinance sponsored by Council Members Paul Dillon, Sarah Dixit and Kate Telis that would ban federal immigration officers from using any city property to support warrantless arrests. It would ban agents from using city-owned or controlled property for civil immigration actions, including detainments, surveillance, interviews, staging for actions or coordination. This would include things like City Hall and the libraries, but it would also include vacant lots, parking garages and other city-owned property. The ordinance also requires signage to be posted at all of these properties in both Spanish and English, with a QR-code to translate to other languages. We’re hoping Hall’s update earlier in the meeting also touches on whether or not his officers plan to enforce this. ### SPD didn’t kill anyone in 2025 Hall is also presenting on SPD’s uses of deadly force in 2025, and while SPD has stacked up as one of the deadliest police forces in the country in recent years, it looks like that won’t be the case for 2025. Last year, SPD shot two people — both white men — but both of them ultimately survived. This is a stark difference from 2024, when the department shot six people, killing five, and 2023, when SPD shot two people, who both died. Could be a sign of positive momentum for SPD under Hall? Use of deadly force statistics are available to peruse [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/police/accountability/2013-2025-deadly-force-incidents-and-fatalities.pdf). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, February 2 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Salvation Army set to take over Way Out shelter The BOCC will decide whether the [Way Out Center](https://spokane.salvationarmy.org/spokane%5Fcitadel/news/the-way-out-bridge-housing-center-helps-deliver-independence-to-a-young-life/?ref=rangemedia.co) shelter should be transferred from the auspices of the City of Spokane to the Salvation Army and allow it to serve as an emergency shelter. The shelter is part of local governments’ efforts to transition unhoused people to permanent housing. The change would not affect the $5 million price tag — jointly funded by the county and the city — for the project of operating the center from 2021 through this coming October. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 3 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### County to sign agreement with Teamsters The county and local Teamsters 690 have reached a collective bargaining agreement that will give county workers a 3% raise, alongside a slate of benefits, for the period of July 31, 2026 to June 30, 2028\. The contract will cost the county approximately an additional $388,000. ### $577K for new radios The county’s Department of Public Works says it needs $577,523 to buy new two-way radios. It’s asking the BOCC to approve a bid from Day Wireless, a Spokane-based provider of Motorola radios, to create a new radio system for Public Works employees. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 3 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) # School Boards ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors (special meeting) /5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Friday, February 6 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors /5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, February 4 at 6 pm* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $1.3M bid for improvements to Barker Rd up for vote The city council is set to award Selland Construction, Inc. a $1.3 million contract to add a car lane, sidewalks and bike lanes to the stretch of Barker Road between Appleway and Sprague avenues. The bid is about $600,000 less than the Spokane Valley engineer had projected. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 3 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council /5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, February 3 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The POD: The Housing Conversation URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-housing-conversation/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T15:05:00.000Z Erin and Luke were joined by two guests this week! Dawn Kinder is the Director of Housing and Human Services for the City of Spokane. Carl Segerstrom is the Communications and Storytelling Manager of [Waters Meet](https://watersmeet.foundation/?ref=rangemedia.co). The four of them talked about housing insecurity, the impacts of homelessness, and how Spokane is fighting against it. ### Postal workers given curfew exemption letter not issued since COVID URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/usps-essential-services-letter-ice-trump/ Last updated: 2026-01-29T00:50:38.000Z As tensions in Minnesota were ramping up at the start of the year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) quietly began requiring its workers to carry a letter at all times saying they are providing essential services of the federal government and are exempt from curfews.. The letter, dated January 5, 2026 and signed by Acting US Postmaster General Doug Tulino, almost immediately sparked speculation online by people, including postal workers, who took it to mean the Trump administration might deploy military forces in American streets. “It's because Trump is acting so crazy that USPS thinks we may seriously about to be going to war or something like that \[sic\],” one redditor said in response to a question about the letters in [r/USPS](https://www.reddit.com/r/USPS/comments/1q9i4l3/does%5Fanyone%5Fknow%5Fwhat%5Fthe%5Fdeal%5Fwith%5Fthese%5Fletters/?ref=rangemedia.co). “It’s like they’re expecting WWIII to start soon, but people need their mail whether missile or bomb is raining down on us \[sic\],” another posted. Further down the thread, one redditor wrote, “god, on the precipices of a civil war and we still get junk mail \[sic\].” The last time postal workers received a similar letter was during the COVID-19 pandemic and unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Some replies stated postal workers get letters like these during hurricanes or bad weather, but whether the remarks amounted to jokes about civil unrest or speculation about immigration enforcement, commenters were overwhelmingly confused. Spokane postal workers got the letter January 15 — eight days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Minneapolis woman Renee Good. It instructs law enforcement officials to exempt the letter bearers from curfews when they present it with their USPS ID badge. A memo to employees that came with the letter explains that it’s an effort to “assist employees who may be stopped and questioned by local law enforcement about their activities.” The memo does not specify why the letter was being re-issued now, it only asserts generalities about large-scale emergencies that can trigger local restrictions on movement. “It’s just a re-issuance of our Essential Services letter,” said USPS spokesman Jim McKean. But McKean did not respond to multiple requests for clarification: how often is this letter re-issued? When was the last time it was issued? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1.png) Photos of the Essential Services letter given to Spokane postal employees on January 15\. The supervisor’s contact information is redacted. Local USPS workers weren’t given any additional information or clarification either. “I asked around to some older employees, and they said in their 30-plus years at the post office, the only other time they received anything like this was around COVID,” said one USPS worker who asked not to be named for fear they might lose their job. The online speculation was also fueled by the staggered distribution of the letters: while some workers got the letter right away on January 5, many didn’t receive it until after Good’s killing on January 7, which sparked profound unrest in Minneapolis. In Spokane, the letter got to workers the same day Trump threatened to invoke the [Insurrection Act](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/nx-s1-5678612/minneapolis-insurrection-act-trump-threats?ref=rangemedia.co). While the Essential Services letter was issued several times during the pandemic, those came with robust guidance and information to workers. In a March 30, 2020 [post](https://news.usps.com/2020/03/30/letter-to-the-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) to its employee news website titled “Letter to the Law: How to deal with travel restrictions,” USPS explained why it was issuing the letters and noted that supervisors would be doing a stand-up talk on the matter too. Another [post](https://news.usps.com/2020/06/02/essential-services/?ref=rangemedia.co) on June 2 of that year reminded postal employees to carry the letter and their work identification on them during work and while going to and from work, this time citing “recent civil unrest” in addition to the pandemic. Additional reminders were posted in July and December of that year. According to the worker we spoke to, USPS did not explain to its employees why the letter was being re-issued now. During the week the letter was issued this year, the USPS employee website [featured](https://news.usps.com/2026/page/3/?ref=rangemedia.co) stories on their retirement plan, a warning about phishing attacks and how to use a FSA debit card. In the vacuum of information, USPS employees speculated the letter was issued because of escalating tensions between communities and federal immigration enforcement. About a month before they received the letter, local USPS employees were verbally instructed not to cooperate with ICE officers and were reminded of their duty to protect identities, according to the worker we spoke to. The regional USPS spokesperson, the press contacts at the national American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and representatives of the local APWU chapter did not respond to requests for comment. ### Police reform advocates win legislative concession in Olympia URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/police-reform-advocates-win-legislative-concession-in-olympia/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T00:36:32.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/jim-and-elaine.jpg) *Jim Leighty hands Elaine Simons a handful of ICE whistles before a Washington Coalition for Police Accountability lobby day on January 19\. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* Early in the morning in a conference room in the John A. Cherberg building on the Capitol campus in Olympia, Martina Morris and Jim Leighty began to strategize for their meetings with legislators. Morris, a former professor of statistics and sociology at the University of Washington, was testing arguments against parts of a bill introduced in the legislature that would reform a police training organization created in 1974. “Their best argument for that bill is, ‘We just want balance,’ and that sounds so reasonable to most people,” Morris said. “I was racking my brain yesterday, and I tried to think: ‘What’s a good argument against that?’ So let me try one out on you and see what you think.” It was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Leighty — who lives in Spokane — and Morris were in Olympia for an “advocacy day,” during which they’d seek lawmaker support for the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability’s (WCPA) legislative agenda. They were joined by about 10 other activists from around the state and the WCPA’s lobbyist Paul Benz. Much of their agenda is embodied in a [slate of bills](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-accountability-proposals-coming-to-wa-legislature/) that would impose new restrictions on police. But this day, killing [House Bill 2220](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2220&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) was front of mind. So in meetings with a dozen Democrats in the state Senate and the House of Representatives, the activists introduced themselves: Marilyn Covarrubias, whose son Daniel Covarrubias was [gunned down](https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-native-lives-matter-a-movement-emerges/?ref=rangemedia.co) by Lakewood police as he fled in a lumberyard woodstack. Elaine Simons, whose foster son Jesse Sarey was shot dead by an Auburn cop who is now serving a 16-year sentence for murder. Dawn Hegel, whose brother Donald Hegel [was killed](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-shooting-spokane-sheriff-independent-prosecutor/) by the Spokane County Sheriff in 2024. Then, they made their case. As currently written, the law seeks to place more police representatives on the board of the [Criminal Justice Training Commission](https://www.cjtc.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) (CJTC) and on the hearing panels the CJTC convenes to investigate alleged abuses committed by police officers in the state. These hearing panels have the authority to revoke an officer’s certification, putting them out of a job. The bill would also require the hearing panels to find “clear and convincing” evidence — rather than the existing, looser “preponderance of evidence” — in order to decertify an officer. The hearing panels, which are chosen for specific cases, are currently made up of five people: two community members, two cops and an expert on policing — normally a university professor. HB 2220 would change the makeup of the hearing panels by adding a police officer, making them six-member boards, split evenly between cops and civilians. That’s the balance Morris was telling Leighty about. Morris’s argument is that this notion of balance is a gaslighting effort: the board is already balanced. The expert, Morris told Leighty, “has to be non-law enforcement, but they’re also not just a civilian from the street.” “In the situation where law enforcement stands apart from the community,” she explained, emphasizing that most decisions of the hearing panels have been unanimous, “the tiebreaker comes from a professional.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/benz.jpg) *Lobbyist Paul Benz explains to activists with the WCPA how to present their cases to lawmakers in Olympia. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* The CJTC has convened approximately 10 hearing panels since 2021 and most of them have reached unanimous decisions. The current makeup, because it is an uneven number, allows for a tiebreaker, but the coalition is also worried about deadlock on the hearing panels if the bill were to become law. If three police officers disagree with the expert and two community members, there would be an impasse, and the case would be dismissed with no action. Teresa Taylor, the executive director of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS), which requested the bill, doesn’t see adding another police officer as upsetting the balance. She said that more law enforcement on the hearing panels would make police more confident in the review process and more likely to support the CJTC. “Officers who are observing this … have to do a calculation,” she said, asserting that police agencies in Washington [have a hard time](https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/01/wa-cop-shortage-persists-statewide-lawmakers-gear-olympia/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=WA%20cop%20shortage%20persists%20statewide,Jan%2010%2C%202025) hiring because of the state’s relatively stringent police reforms. They say “‘am I going to be treated fairly in the unlikely event that some circumstance causes me to have a case that goes before that panel?” ### Two of four ain’t bad HB 2220, as written, would not only put more police on the hearing panels. It would also: - Stiffen the evidentiary standard to decertify a police officer from a “[preponderance of evidence](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/preponderance%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fevidence?ref=rangemedia.co)” to “[clear and convincing](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/clear%5Fand%5Fconvincing%5Fevidence?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=%E2%80%9CClear%20and%20convincing%20evidence%E2%80%9D%20is%20a%20medium,employed%20in%20both%20civil%20and%20criminal%20trials.)” evidence. The latter is much harder to reach. - Change the makeup of the full CJTCcommission, that convenes the panels to more heavily represent police. (Right now, at least seven of 21 board members come from the law enforcement community.) - Require the commission to report all training and certifications of police agents in the state to the legislature. Essentially, the bill’s measures would weaken policing reforms hard won by activists — most of whom came to their work through the unspeakable tragedy of losing a loved one to a cop’s bullet, baton or knee — during the watershed year of 2021\. That year, which was marked by the fallout over the Minneapolis 2020 police killing of [George Floyd](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/nx-s1-5396831/george-floyd-five-year-anniversary?ref=rangemedia.co), then-Governor Jay Inslee signed [12 police accountability bills](https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997974519/a-dozen-police-reform-bills-signed-into-law-in-washington-state?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=In%20May%202021%2C%20Washington%20Governor%20Jay%20Inslee,that%20requires%20officers%20to%20use%20de%2Descalation%20tactics) into law. Police lobbies have since fought back to weaken these laws. In 2024, the legislature [weakened](https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/03/15/police-chase-law-washington-state-initiative-2113?ref=rangemedia.co) a police pursuit law, allowing officers more latitude in pulling people over. Such efforts have stuck in the craw of police reform activists. “You have to babysit the previous laws,” WCPA member Debbie Novak told journalists and community members at a press conference on January 5\. “You have to really watch them because there will be things that come up where they try to roll back laws that we already have in place.” Though it supports the reporting requirement in HB 2220, with some caveats, on the whole, the WCPA wants to kill the bill. Most lawmakers seemed receptive, though they generally did not make commitments. But the most anticipated meeting of the day was with the sponsor of HB 2220, Representative Mari Leavitt, D-Pierce County. Leavitt is a relatively conservative Democrat who is sponsoring [legislation](https://techstory.in/washington-legislature-considers-age-verification-mandate-for-adult-websites/?ref=rangemedia.co) this year that would require stronger age verification to view sexually explicit materials on the internet and another bill that would require convicted sex offenders to tell lawmakers when they move. She [has also supported](https://washingtonretail.org/rep-leavitt-brings-statewide-focus-to-public-safety-retail-theft-orc/?ref=rangemedia.co) stricter penalties for retail theft. But Leavitt, sitting in a room with people whose lives had been changed by police violence, gave WCPA a small victory: she planned to strike the provision to require clear and convincing evidence to decertify an officer. She would also get rid of the reforms to the CJTC board itself. It was a far cry from having Leavitt withdraw the bill or get rid of the restructuring of the hearing panels. Benz, the professional lobbyist who organized WCPA’s lobby day and guided its activists through the Capitol, told RANGE in a phone interview that he sees Leavitt’s concession as a victory for the nonprofit. He claimed that this victory was possible in part because the WCPA’s eyes are constantly on legislation, positioning the nonprofit in a way to efficiently effect change. “A credibility point for us is that we just don't work to oppose or pass bills,” he said. “We follow the bill in terms of implementation.” The ultimate win for the coalition, of course, would be to see the bill die in the House Committee on Community Safety, where it [currently sits](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2220&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Executive%20session%20scheduled%2C%20but%20no%20action%20was%20taken%20in%20the%20House%20Committee%20on%20Community%20Safety%20at%208%3A00%20AM). This has not happened — yet — but Benz was proud of the coalition’s work. He noted that he and other members of the WCPA had met with Leavitt a number of times before Advocacy Day, and he’s convinced that these meetings were instrumental in Leavitt’s decision to change the bill. *Correction: Elaine Simons is Jesse Sarey's foster mother, not his stepmother.* ### Mondays no more? Council to discuss meeting Tuesdays, instead. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T19:58:30.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council *could* have a first read on whether or not to ban [kratom](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) tonight, but council members have told us that’s likely getting deferred for a few months. - Mondays no more? At the Finance and Administration Committee, the Spokane City Council will discuss a rules change package that would shift their legislative meetings to Tuesdays, among other other things. - At the Finance and Administration Committee: a presentation on homelessness data, and preliminary results show positive momentum for getting people into permanent housing options! - The Central Valley School District board is considering policy revisions to require sex education that emphasizes abstinence. - The Spokane Regional Health District will vote on “navigators” to help West Plains residents whose drinking water wells are contaminated with forever chemicals through the process of installing filters in their homes. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/)) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Spokane Public Facilities District](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) - [Spokane Valley City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/mondays-no-more-council-to-discuss-meeting-tuesdays-instead/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Procedural items Tonight’s agenda is mostly proposed procedural changes, like updating the list of arterial streets to correctly reflect the current arterial streets, adding a nonvoting member to Community, Housing, and Human Services (CHHS) Board and restoring updates to the fire code that were inadvertently removed when council passed a different ordinance. If the how-the-sausage-gets-made meetings are your favorite, this might be the one for you. ### A first crack at kratom? Technically, the council is scheduled to hold a first reading on an ordinance that would ban kratom — or ban it for those under 21, if an amendment penned by Council Member Michael Cathcart is accepted at the agenda review session. However, council members have told us that the ordinance in its entirety is likely to instead get deferred for a few months as legislation to regulate the drug moves through the state legislature. So if you’re planning to come down to council tonight just for the kratom ordinance, you might want to consider watching the agenda review session at 3:30 pm to see if this makes the final agenda. > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, January 26 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, January 29 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Ethics code changes Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon are proposing a couple of changes to the city’s Code of Ethics, which lays out the process for how complaints against elected or appointed officials will be handled. Here’s the gist of what’s on the table for discussion today: - Often, if a city elected official is currently running for office while holding office, the exact same ethics complaint gets filed to both the city and the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC). The first change would reduce duplicative work by stating that if a complaint with the same allegation is filed to both the city and the state PDC, the city complaint will be rendered moot and the city will defer to the PDC’s findings. - The second change is around the publication of complaints. Currently, ethics complaints can be posted on the website before any investigation or preliminary review has occurred. If the Wilkerson/Dillon ordinance is adopted, complaints would not be published until the city Ethics Commission has concluded their investigation. ### Homelessness update Included in the packet was preliminary data from the city’s 2025 Longitudinal Systems Analysis, a [more accurate form](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/) of measuring homelessness in the city than the Point-in-Time Count. Initial results to be presented by Dawn Kinder indicate some positive momentum for the city. In 2024, over 7,200 people used the city’s homelessness services. In 2025, that was down 11%, with 6,430 people seeking services. Other data points show a higher percentage of people exiting homeless services into permanent housing, and a lower percentage of people returning to homeless services. See the preliminary data below: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image.png) ### Annual rules update Every year, the Spokane City Council votes on changes to their rules of procedure for the year. Today, they’ll be discussing a slate of edits to their regular rules. The biggest change on the table is that, if passed, evening legislative meetings would move from Mondays to Tuesdays, starting on June 1, 2026\. Spokane City Council has been meeting on Mondays for [112 years](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/09/spokane-city-council-again-considers-shifting-meet/?ref=rangemedia.co), according to archived copies of the Official Gazette of the city of Spokane, and initial proposals to change the meeting day were met with significant pushback. The council posted a resident survey asking for input on the potential day change back in September (we’ve yet to see results from that survey, but maybe they’ll be discussed today?) but with former Council Member Jonathan Bingle — who had a conflict on Tuesdays — replaced by freshman Council Member Sarah Dixit, this could be the year the Monday tradition actually ends. Another day change on the table in the rules packet: switching meeting days for the Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee, which currently meets on the third Monday of the month, with the Urban Experience Committee, which currently meets the second Monday of the month. For procedural wonks, there are a few key process changes that could result in better public notification of what the council is actually voting on. If council meetings move to Tuesdays, agenda review sessions will stay on Mondays. This means that there would be time to figure out if the item you care about was amended or deferred, instead of the current system which has folks coming to council just hours after agenda review, often not knowing an ordinance was changed or deferred. The new rules would also create an expedited process for adding year-end budget items and emergency declarations to the legislative agenda. And for folks who were frustrated with the lack of information on the Spokane Police Department’s agenda sheet for the Department of Justice grant earlier this month, this rule change package would also add a mechanism to allow council members to reject agenda items if their agenda sheet hasn’t been fully completed. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 26 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). # MISC City ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 26 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room at 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Sustainability in planning This week, the Plan Commission will join forces with the Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board for their regular meeting. Because the climate board has “a responsibility to advise on climate resilience and greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies,” this will allow the two bodies to get together and chat about how sustainability and climate resiliency should be considered in the Comprehensive Plan’s land use and transportation elements. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, January 28 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, January 28 at 12:30 pm* > *Board Room, 720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Half a million needed for new public works comms Part of Spokane County’s Department of Public Works’ job is to facilitate and conduct winter operations, road maintenance and construction management — work that requires fast and nimble communication. But the radios and tower systems that make that communication possible are old and failing, which can create dangerous working conditions. According to meeting documents, officials believe the system was already past its prime when it was purchased from the sheriff’s office two decades ago. The department is asking the BOCC for more than $577,000 to buy 156 truck radios, 45 handheld radios, new tower equipment and, possibly, one or two new radio towers. ### $1M for affordable senior housing Washington state has awarded Spokane County nearly $1 million to build 85 new units of affordable housing for seniors. The units would be located at 8415 N Wall Street. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 27 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $5.18M for rail bridges between Cheney & Spokane The state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is ready to dole out $5,186,000 in federal money for local rail bridge projects to Spokane County. There’s not a lot of detail in the agenda about precisely what the county will do with that money, but the WSDOT [site](https://wsdot.wa.gov/business-wsdot/support-local-programs/funding-programs/local-bridge-program/local-bridge-program-call-projects?ref=rangemedia.co) dedicated to the funding says it can be used for projects like: - Replacement and rehabilitation - Steel bridge painting - Retrofits to account for seismic activity - Deck resurfacing and repair > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 27 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Professional services, paint and weed killer The board will approve agreements with an unnamed service provider for marketing and advertising for Spokane International Airport, the Airport Business Park and Felts Field; approve a paint purchase for runways and other airport roads; and a purchase of herbicides to be used on all campuses. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, January 29 at 9 am* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Postponing recruitment of administrative officer Amid [employment chaos](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/jan/21/pair-of-unnamed-spokane-regional-health-district-e/?ref=rangemedia.co) at the health district, the board is set to postpone the search for an administrative officer to fill the seat left open by Alicia Thompson, who was [fired last year](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/25/alicia-thompson-fired-as-spokane-regional-health-d/?ref=rangemedia.co). No additional information is available explaining why the board is postponing recruitment. ### PFAS navigators In SRHD’s consent agenda — a set of policies the body will likely accept under one vote — is a “PFA navigator.” There’s almost no information about this item, but it likely comes from the Spokane County PFAS Task Force, which is mobilizing resources to install filters in the homes of West Plains residents whose wells are contaminated with “forever chemicals.” During its inaugural meeting last summer, the task force discussed creating “navigators” to help people determine whether they need a filter and how it should be designed to fit their respective wells. Hundreds of wells on the West Plains are contaminated after Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport, using federally-required fire retardant that contained the chemicals, unknowingly polluted the drinking water supply. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, January 29 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *1101 West College Avenue, Spokane* # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 26 at 6 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Abstinence ‘only sure way’ to avoid STIs, pregnancy The board is set delete language from the district’s policy that would bar it from implementing abstinence-only sex education. It cited 2005 [guidance](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/sexedu-org-tw/sexedguidelines011005.pdf) from the Washington state Department of Health stressing “that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid pregnancy and to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV.” [Stricken from](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/go-boarddocs-com/wa/cvsd/Board-nsf/files/DQJ29W01268B/file/2125-sexual-health-education-cvsd-edits-012626.pdf) the guidelines is the sentence “Abstinence will not be taught to the exclusion of other instruction on contraceptives and disease prevention” — presumably meaning that teachers can tell students abstaining from sex is the only way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted [infections.It](http://infections.it/?ref=rangemedia.co) requires teachers to teach abstinence as a way to avoid pregnancy and STI. The policy does go on to say the district’s sex education would remain consistent with the state’s comprehensive sex education guidelines, which also include contraception and LGBTQAI+-inclusive materials. Studies on abstinence-only sex education have consistently shown that it’s ineffective at convincing young people to abstain from sex and correlates with higher rates of teen pregnancy and birth. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 26 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors (special meeting) 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Exec sessions The board will review applications for employment, but these meetings are executive sessions, which means you can’t attend. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, January 27 AND January 28 at 6:30 pm* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, January 28 at 5 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Tuesday, January 27 at 6 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### County tips off ICE contractor to records request URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/county-tips-off-ice-contractor-to-records-request/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T23:13:38.000Z Less than a month after he requested records on an immigrant transport van from Spokane County, Jim Leighty found himself on the phone with Joan Mell. Mell is a well-known private lawyer, a board member of Washington’s most visible open government advocacy nonprofit and aspiring attorney of Keith Swank, the high-profile Pierce County sheriff who [faces challenges](https://www.chronline.com/stories/washington-sheriff-on-possible-decertification-over-social-media-posts-i-dont-care,387013?ref=rangemedia.co) to his certification. But Leighty had never heard of her. Mell said to Leighty, “I’m making sure you’re not going to hurt my peeps,” he recalled in an interview. Suddenly, it was clear why she was calling *him*. She also represents GEO Group, the prison contractor that runs the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Tacoma and the parent company of GEO Transport, which operates the van Leighty was interested in. Mell wanted to know if Leighty, an open government advocate, was piecing together the vehicle’s routes so he could ambush them. “I would never do something like that,” Leighty recalled telling Mell. He smoothed things over with her. But later, as Leighty thought about the call, something bothered him. How did GEO Group — which last year [wanted to work](https://www.rangemedia.co/private-contractor-ice-no-minimum-wage/) immigrant detainees for $1 an hour at the detention center — know he’d requested the photos? He emailed Mell, who replied that Spokane County had notified GEO Group of the request. Public agencies are allowed to tell someone of a records request they’re named in, a practice known as third-party notification. But the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG) says some governments “weaponize” it to slow down the records release process. Mell confirmed the county’s third-party notification to GEO Group in an interview with RANGE, saying it had sent a form letter to the contractor about Leighty’s request. She also confirmed she represents GEO Group, but she also sits on WashCOG’s board and spoke to RANGE strictly in that role, not as a lawyer representing a client. WashCOG sent RANGE a statement, saying many of its 20 board members are lawyers and are free to represent whom they choose, but “when they are in WashCOG's room, they and their colleagues have the same objective: open government.” “Joan Mell is a valued member of WashCOG's board and its legal team,” the statement went on to say, noting that Mell has represented the coalition in successful open meetings litigation against the state Redistricting Commission. It also said that next week, she will represent the coalition “in the state Court of Appeals in Tacoma, where we are fighting the state Legislature's claim of a secrecy ‘privilege’ to withhold records from the public. At stake is the transparency of the state Legislature, and likely every other legislative body in Washington." ### Mell: some third-party notifications are legitimate Leighty thinks the county was trying to find a way around releasing the records — he’d requested photos of the van taken from automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, but didn’t have a legal reason. The letter would have enabled the company to seek an injunction: a court order that would stop him from requesting photos of the GEO Group vehicle, he said. That would amount to another way to stop the photos from getting out. Such injunctions are not unprecedented. The city of Spokane Valley in 2024 won an injunction against a *Spokesman* reporter and two community activists who were seeking records related to a harassment investigation against Spokane Valley City Council Member Al Merkel. (See the records by searching case number 2420375332 [here](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/PublicViewer/SCAllCasesByCaseNumber.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co).) Mell told RANGE that, given the heated political nature of current events, agencies increasingly use third-party notification, sometimes as a way to block information and sometimes as a way to limit their liability in case the third party is harmed by the release. Speaking in her WashCOG role, Mell said she doesn’t always like it when governments notify third parties. She’s fought governments using different mechanisms to deny requesters information she thinks should be public, she said. She’s paid hundreds of dollars on behalf of reporters who couldn’t afford it to get records, sparking greater transparency, she told RANGE. She even authored [a chapter](https://www.washcog.org/perspectives-9-disclosure-delays-plague-records-requesters?ref=rangemedia.co) in a WashCOG special report spelling out tactics to get around the various ways governments try to delay or hamper public records requests. But, she believes the county’s third-party notification to GEO Group was a legitimate use of that practice. RANGE reached out to Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, asking for a response to Leighty’s assertion that it was trying not to release the photo. We also asked how often the sheriff notifies people of records requests they are named in. The office did not respond by press time, but we will update this story if it does. In the end, Mell was satisfied with Leighty’s explanation and did not seek an injunction. Three days after their call, Spokane County gave Leighty a single ALPR photograph of the GEO Group vehicle. ### A ‘fishing trip’ Mell has represented Geo Group for years; she appears in an in-depth 2012 *InvestigateWest* [investigation](https://www.investigatewest.org/a-rare-look-inside-tacomas-northwest-detention-center/?ref=rangemedia.co) into the Tacoma ICE detention facility. She defended the contractor in an [ongoing lawsuit](https://clearinghouse.net/case/16361/?ref=rangemedia.co) the state of Washington filed against it in 2017, arguing minimum wage laws do not apply to immigrant detainees. When she called Leighty to ask him whether he intended to do something nefarious, she was just being a diligent lawyer, she said. “My role was to figure out what I needed to do legally,” she told RANGE. She said contractors who work for ICE are under threat, which echoes Trump administration [rhetoric](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/01/08/radical-rhetoric-sanctuary-politicians-leads-unprecedented-1300-increase-assaults?ref=rangemedia.co) that immigration officers have faced a drastic escalation of violence from the general community. (Those assertions [have been shown](https://wbhm.org/npr-story/white-house-claims-more-than-1000-rise-in-assaults-on-ice-agents-data-says-otherwise/?ref=rangemedia.co) to be exaggerated.) “If Jim wanted to start targeting my peeps and knocking them off, I should have the right to defend \[them\],” Mell told RANGE. During their phone call, which took place January 6, Mell asked Leighty why he wanted the photos. “I explained to her that it was partly a fishing trip to see what we can get. Also, it looks like they're going to make changes to access,” Leighty told RANGE, referring to a [proposed law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=6002&Initiative=false&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) that would restrict records requests for the images. Specifically, it would require departments to refuse records requests for images and search data from the public and from journalists. It would also require departments to delete the photographs after 72 hours. “I wanted to see, what are the changes gonna be? So kind of a benchmark.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-2.jpg) *A white bus used to take detainees from Spokane to the GEO Group facility in Tacoma parked in front of the Spokane ICE facility on June 11\. (Photo by Erin Sellers.)* In recent weeks, public protests against ICE actions in local communities across the country, including in Minneapolis, have dominated national headlines. In cities across the country, [ill-trained](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/ice-error-meant-recruits-sent-field-offices-proper-training-sources-sa-rcna254054?ref=rangemedia.co) agents have brutally [arrested](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/21/ice-arrests-five-year-old-boy-minnesota?ref=rangemedia.co), [tear gassed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMMeeM9RQU&ref=rangemedia.co), [maimed](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/21-year-old-blind-eye-agent-shot-him-less-lethal-round-california-protest/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [killed](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/renee-good-was-shot-head-autopsy-commissioned-family-finds-rcna255335?ref=rangemedia.co) civilians and immigrants — men, women, children and babies — as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on all forms of immigration. ICE’s deployment in Minneapolis has sparked intense public protests, but they are [largely nonviolent](https://wagingnonviolence.org/2026/01/nonviolent-discipline-is-helping-turn-the-tide-on-ice/?ref=rangemedia.co). Protesters blow whistles, yell at ICE officers to get out of their neighborhoods and mock them when they fall on the ice that covers the city’s winter streets. On the national stage, ICE officers — many of whom wear masks and refuse to identify themselves when interacting with the public — have been named publicly in leaked rosters, as the public tries to learn who they are. (Sheriff Swank [was named](https://wiki.icelist.is/index.php/Washington?ref=rangemedia.co) on one list as an ICE agent, but Pierce County Sheriff spokesperson Carly Cappetto said the list was “false.” She wrote in an email that “laws prevent any police officer working for two separate law enforcement agencies at the same time, and this could not be possible.”) ### A detention facility & a rogue sheriff GEO Group might seem an ill fit for an open government advocate like Mell. The company has sought to [limit government oversight](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/09/16/wa-health-inspectors-on-cusp-of-gaining-access-to-tacoma-immigrant-detention-center/?ref=rangemedia.co) of its Tacoma facility, despite evidence that [a tuberculosis outbreak](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/06/suspected-tuberculosis-cases-reported-at-tacoma-immigrant-detention-center/?ref=rangemedia.co) surfaced there last year and allegations that the facility is [overcrowded](https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/29/think-out-loud-ice-detention-tacoma-washington/?ref=rangemedia.co) and beset by [inhumane conditions](https://www.kuow.org/stories/exclusive-wa-congress-members-flag-deteriorating-conditions-at-tacoma-detention-center-in-letter-to-ice?ref=rangemedia.co). Another unlikely ally of Mell’s: Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank. His jurisdiction includes GEO Group’s detention facility. The openly transphobic sheriff *really* wants Mell to represent him in his normal duties as sheriff, which is normally the province of the elected county prosecutor, rather than a private attorney. But a King County judge said no, ruling that Mell never established an attorney-client relationship with Swank and that he must be represented by Pierce County Prosecutor Mary Robnett. Swank has been a hot topic in the news. He [is accused](https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article312637162.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of altering text messages requested under the state’s public records law. And the state Criminal Justice Training Commission is investigating Swank for posting to Twitter “Do you think it’s time to ban trans people from owning guns?” He aggressively chided the Washington House of Representatives last week during a transphobic testimony on a bill that would enshrine stricter oversight of law enforcement leaders in Washington. It was all lawmakers could talk about during a recent lobby day by the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, deriding the rant to the police reform activists. Meanwhile, the Washington State Republican Party [posted footage](https://www.facebook.com/WAGOP/posts/powerful-and-passionate-testimony-by-pierce-county-sheriffs-office-sheriff-keith/1210043351272798/) of Swank’s testimony to its official Facebook page, referring to it as “passionate and powerful.” “Citizens reach out to me all the time regarding overreach of the government by you,” Swank read from prepared remarks, pointing at members of the Senate Law & Justice Committee. His voice quivered with anger, and he took in shaky breaths. “Some say they finally have a voice because of me, and you want to silence it because I said transgender women are men.” In doing so, Swank [put himself in the crosshairs](https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article314068855.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), which now wants to expel him from membership because of his comments. Not only that: Swank has reportedly come under scrutiny by the state Criminal Justice Training Commission over complaints levied against him during his time as a Seattle police officer. When Swank reached out to Mell to ask about representing him as sheriff, Robnett’s office filed a lawsuit asking the court to bar Mell from representing Swank. Mell countersued in a King County court, arguing that her representation of Swank is protected by the state’s anti-SLAPP law, the Uniform Public Expression Act (UPEPA) and that she had a First Amendment right to represent Swank. Despite the King County ruling, Mell told RANGE, “I currently consider myself his attorney, but I can't even talk to him.” *Editor's note: This story has been updated to say Joan Mell does not talk to Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank.* ### The POD: New Year, More News URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-new-year-more-news/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T19:34:03.000Z Aaron, Erin, Val, and Luke went on the air this week! The four of them talked about two stories they’re working on: **The first story** stemmed from a conversation Hedge had with a local police accountability advocate who put in a public records request for photos generated from Automated License Plate Readers — AKA FLOCK cameras — using the license plate number of a van used by ICE. The van is owned by Geo Group, who not only is contracted to take immigrants to the Tacoma Detention Center, but also runs the center. Along with the single – and only – photo he got back, he also got a call from an attorney representing Geo Group: Joan Mell. She wanted to make sure he didn’t want to hurt – and she actually used this phrase – “her peeps.” **The second story** is a rundown of rumors swirling around the United States Post Office thanks to a vague “Essential Services” letter given to postal workers all over the country, including in Spokane. Val explains how she’s been trying to track down the reasoning behind issuing the letter and how it’s been contributing to online fears of martial law. ### What’s coming in Spokane’s bike and active transportation infrastructure in 2026 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transportation-infrastructure-2026/ Last updated: 2026-01-22T20:38:54.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/dsc_2221.jpg) *Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Overall, 2026 is shaping up to be a good year when it comes to active transportation infrastructure that benefits us all, whether you ride two wheels or four. A river crossing for Children of the Sun and an extension of a Sunset Highway path are on the books for construction in 2026, and this columnist/cyclist is quite excited for both. Experiencing some déjà vu? If so, it’s probably because I wrote [a column](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-bike-network-update-2025-active-transportation/) a year ago that listed those same two projects as the ones I was most looking forward to in 2025. Sadly, the Sunset Highway path wasn’t started at all and the Washington State Department of Transportation made a lot of progress on the Children of the Sun river crossing, but couldn’t get it over the finish line. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1.jpg) *The incomplete Children of the Sun bridge over the Spokane River. (Photo by Lauren Pangborn)* While those two projects remain at the top of *my* favorites list for 2026 (both are major capital projects and form crucial network connections) there are some other solid plans on deck that I can’t wait to ride. **Children of the Sun at the Spokane River.** I hope the bridge – and importantly, the approaches on either end of the bridge – will be completed this year. Once it’s completed, this project will form the most consequential cycling interchange in our county, connecting the Children of the Sun to the Centennial Trail, the upcoming Millwood Trail and an underrated southside trail that parallels Riverton Avenue. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/screenshot-2026-01-27-at-11-11-08-am.png) *East Spokane, where the Children of the Sun will cross the river this year.* **The Sunset Highway path** project is split into two phases: phase 1 runs from Spotted Street to Royal Street. Phase 2 was also bumped a year, so it’s now scheduled for construction in 2027\. While phase two reaches the Spokane city limits, the city of Airway Heights plans to pick up the mantle with [its own bike and pedestrian projects along Highway 2](https://cawh.org/6th-avenue-extension-and-redesign-project/?ref=rangemedia.co) that will connect to the Spokane trails. *West Spokane. Phase 1 is scheduled for construction this year.* **Fish Lake to Centennial Trail connection, phase 1**. A trail network isn’t a network until the pieces connect. Currently, the Fish Lake Trail doesn’t connect to the Centennial Trail, the South Gorge Trail or the Sunset Highway Path, which is where this project comes in. Phase 1 will rebuild, widen and add a buffer to a narrow, cracked, overgrown asphalt path running along Government Way. It will also construct a spur connecting the Fish Lake Trail to Thorpe Road, giving trail users access to the residential developments in that area. Phase 2, which the city is hoping to start construction on this year, will wind down the bluff from Government Way to to Latah Creek. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/screenshot-2026-01-27-at-11-12-12-am.png) *Browne’s Addition and the West Hills neighborhoods. Future projects are dotted and dashed lines, while existing infrastructure is solid. The Fish Lake to Centennial Trail projects connect a whopping four shared-use paths.* **Pacific Avenue greenway, phase 1\.** This phase constructs a bike-friendly route between Howard Street and Sherman Street, adding bumpouts, greenery and most importantly, enhanced crosswalks at Browne Street and Division Street – both major barriers to active transportation. I often refer to Howard Street as the bicycling north-south freeway, so it’s great to see a connection to it. *Downtown Spokane. Eventually, the Pacific Avenue Greenway will provide a pleasant east-west connection between the Ben Burr Trail and downtown.* **Extending Riverside Avenue bike lanes between Monroe Street and Wall Street.** The most interesting part of this one is the two-way cycle track on the north side of Riverside to take care of east-bound folks on bikes near the plaza. Today, those folks have no choice but to mix with the car traffic and the buses pulling in and out of bus bays. *A preliminary render of the cycle track steering clear of STA plaza bus bays.* [**A shared use path**](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/east-wellesley-rebuild-freya-to-havana/?ref=rangemedia.co)**on Wellesley Avenue from Freya Street to Havana Street.** This is a good improvement to an area that’s redeveloping. I wish this had a better connection to the Children of the Sun Trail: the route will be indirect and involve some sidewalk riding, but it will be usable. This unfortunately does not connect directly with the path added to Freya Street last year, but it gets close. *Hillyard area paths. Things don’t quite connect optimally, but projects have to start and end somewhere. Bridging these gaps will take political will in the years to come.* ## Everything else on the books for 2026 - [Traffic calming cycle 13](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/neighborhoods/programs/trafficcalming/2025/cycle-13-traffic-calming-projects-resolution-2025-0005.pdf), another smattering of crosswalks and bumpouts throughout all three districts. - Designation of a few streets as neighborhood greenways. I’m hoping these projects are more substantial than paint and signs, but the meager budgets for each project don’t make me particularly optimistic. - Cook Street between Illinois and Francis avenues in the Bemiss and Whitman neighborhoods ($52,000) - Adams Street from 5th Avenue to 27th Avenue on the South Hill ($88,000) - [Four pedestrian hybrid beacons](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/arterial-pedestrian-hybrid-beacons/?ref=rangemedia.co) that were scheduled for 2025, but were delayed until 2026 for various reasons. - [A safe routes to school project for Flett Middle School](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/flett-safe-routes-to-school/?ref=rangemedia.co), which includes wider bike lanes on Assembly Street and enhanced crosswalks in the area near the VA Hospital. - [Restriped, higher visibility crosswalks](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/high-visibility-crosswalks/?ref=rangemedia.co) at a few dozen intersections across the city. These have been shown to boost safety and are now [the recommended design](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/intersection-design-elements/crosswalks-and-crossings/conventional-crosswalks/?ref=rangemedia.co) by the National Association of City Transportation Officials. - Stop lights where Rowan Avenue crosses Maple and Ash streets in the Shadle Park neighborhood.While stop lights are undoubtedly car infrastructure – they are only necessary because Maple and Ash are such busy roads – these two stop lights will ease the crossings for folks on bikes using Rowan as an east-west route and for Ridgeview Elementary students on foot. Unfortunately, the project could increase vehicle traffic on Rowan too, which would make the corridor *less* friendly for cyclists. Assuming no projects get bumped to 2027, this year will be comparable to last year and keep us trucking toward better active transportation infrastructure. ## What was built in 2025 While I’m still bummed about the Children of the Sun river crossing and Sunset Path delays, we did notch a handful of wins: - A two-way, protected cycle track on Belt Street between Garland and Wellesley avenues - Semi-protected bike lanes on Maxwell Avenue and Lincoln Street - A greenway on Elm in West Central – *the first* [*27x2027*](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) *segment by my estimate!* - A shared-use path on Freya Street next to Esmeralda Golf Course - A contra-flow bike lane on Post in front of City Hall - Protective barriers added to the Riverside Avenue bike lanes - [Traffic calming cycle 12: a smattering of crosswalks, bumpouts and sidewalk ramps across the city](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/cycle-12-traffic-calming/?ref=rangemedia.co) If you find these topics interesting, check out [my unofficial bike infrastructure project tracking tool](https://trello.com/b/eFMhFOsB/unofficial-spokane-bike-infrastructure-project-tracker?ref=rangemedia.co) for projects being done across the county by the various municipalities constructing them. ### Solidarity is survival URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/solidarity-is-survival/ Last updated: 2026-01-19T23:56:50.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/civics-aart-2026-01-19t155242-619.png) People gather in Riverfront Park to mourn Renee Good and protest ICE. Photo by Sandra Rivera. ### Editor's note: Almost exactly five years ago, I wrote a short reflection on this website asking all of us to remember the full legacy and dream of Dr. King. Not just the fight for equality under the law for Black and brown people in this country, but also greater economic equality for working people of all backgrounds. King seemed to realize this would be the harder fight, because it sought to undermine not just the racist social order of America, but to radically redistribute our economic order. The [piece I wrote](https://www.rangemedia.co/we-are-engaged-in-the-class-struggle/) relied heavily on an [earlier essay in *The Paris Review* by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor](https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/01/15/remembering-martin-luther-kings-radical-class-politics/?ref=rangemedia.co), a scholar of black radical traditions, which was focused on King’s anticapitalism. *(If you only have time to read one, read hers.)* King did not believe his work was done after passage of the Civil Rights Act. In American capitalism, freedom under the law is a kind of second class freedom. King’s belief was that economic freedom is so much more powerful. And while that message might seem a little beside the point amid the racial violence plaguing us in 2026, take a closer look: as the United States is becoming more of a crony capitalist oligarchy by the day, it’s also crystal clear that King’s analysis was exactly correct. The erosion of civil rights, the wholesale racist dehumanization of entire groups of people, the wanton murder of unarmed civilians engaging in civil disobedience — every aspect of the racist backsliding King was worried about hasn’t just returned. It has returned turbo-charged and funded by capitalist grievance. Every day we live under this regime of hate proves King’s final days more and more prophetic. Until we achieve a truly egalitarian revolution of our economic order, the civil rights we take such comfort in, no matter how strongly encoded, can be unwound given enough time and money. In other words: solidarity is survival. That’s why it feels appropriate today to publish the following short essay from Judy Rohrer — a middle-class queer white person — on the martyred Renee Good — a middle-class queer white lady — and the importance of using whatever power we have as individuals to block the power of the state from terrorizing those that have even less than us. Because although it may seem like we’re hopelessly far from King’s full egalitarian vision — and hell, even far from where we were in 2021 — the first step remains the same: All of us must put ourselves in harm’s way. We must use our bodies to overwhelm the state’s capacity to oppress. We must all commit to being part of a mass movement of people that cuts across not just racial difference, but also across economic difference. We must do this to not just beat back the horrors currently surrounding us, and to prepare for whatever new horrors might come, but to begin building the conditions where those horrors are vanquished completely, and hopefully forever. ICE is now the best-funded federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The financial resources it commands are staggering. Despite that, what’s happening in Minneapolis shows that all the money in the world cannot beat a determined, mobilized mass resistance. More than ever in my life, we need that mass resistance to spread across the country. Yes, that means Spokane. And yes, that very much includes and even demands middle-class white people stand against this murderous barbarism. And those of us who are middle class, and who are white, need to do even more than stand arm-in-arm. We should stand in front, as human shields. The escalation of state violence requires an escalation of mass resistance. They’ve got the money, but we have the people. After the death of Renee Good, no one in America can pretend they aren’t a potential target of the state, and no one can pretend to think they won’t kill us for resisting, because they already have. It’s still true, though, that there is tremendous strength in numbers. We need every bit of that strength to ensure that 1) try as they might, they can’t kill us all, and because 2) a world where ICE no longer exists is going to take all of us to build. — *Luke* ### Column: **Renée Good knew MLK’s Lesson: White Silence is Violence** There’s been a lot of focus on Renée Nicole Maklin Good as a mom. Parenthood is frequently used to construct a narrative of innocent victimhood, often while other complicating elements of a person’s identity are obscured. Good was a mother of three and her murder at the hands of the state will shape the rest of their lives. She was also a queer race traitor, and we’ve heard less about that. We can’t know [the mind of Jonathan Ross](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/10/will-ice-agent-face-consequences-renee-nicole-good?ref=rangemedia.co) but, as [Autumn Brown](https://open.spotify.com/episode/27PgBPNX82OLiLlrJCsuCI?si=bf76c44813954938&ref=rangemedia.co) said, “Renee Good was not killed despite being white. She was killed because she’s a white woman aligned with the cause of freedom.” I believe her whiteness and queerness stoked Ross’s vitriolic murderous rage. “Fucking bitch” carries a lot of intersecting hateful connotations. Those of us who are queer white women or gender non-conforming people have had those words spit at us by white men. We always know why. Renée Good broke the rules. As the [protest signs](https://youtu.be/6C6Je2av6pA?ref=rangemedia.co) have proclaimed, she was “Good Trouble,” rather than a traditional “good girl.” She loved a woman. They had a queer family — mini-van, dog and all. She stopped that mini-van in the middle of the street. She did that to help interrupt racist, xenophobic state violence. She stopped to help her immigrant Black and brown neighbors. She could have kept driving. All the rules, all the norms, would have had her keep driving. Rule-abiding, complicit white people, civil (law & order) white people, “good” white people… we keep driving. We look away. Not Good. She (and her wife) stopped. It was freezing. Armed federal agents were screaming at her, circling her car. She could have closed her window. Instead, she leaned out, smiled, and with relaxed posture and a calm tone said, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Good refused to be intimidated or provoked by toxic, militarized masculinity. Perhaps it was her faith, perhaps she had [de-escalation training](https://lavenderphoenix.org/protect-our-people/?ref=rangemedia.co). Whatever it was, her response was more than many of us could manage. She had taken to heart Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s lesson: white silence is violence. In his “[Letter from Birmingham Jail](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-csuchico-edu/iege/%5Fassets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf),” King wrote: > “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.” Renée Nicole Good was determined not to be that white moderate. And now thousands are inspired by her moral courage. White people are [getting trained](https://statesatthecore.substack.com/p/community-defense-and-ice-watch) and pouring into the streets in Minneapolis with [whistles](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zXBmpznTPPA1BiiWdvwE9w6R%5FlcA6zN9?ref=rangemedia.co) and cell phones, [red cards](https://www.ilrc.org/redcards?ref=rangemedia.co) and [groceries](https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/general-interest/ice-minnesota-support-immigrant-communities-fundraisers-food-drives-trainings/?ref=rangemedia.co). They have, to quote King again, “grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too small in quantity, but they are big in quality.” Let’s swell those numbers so we are big in quantity and quality. Let’s [form a crowd and stay loud](https://communitywhistle.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). Let’s confront “[the fierce urgency of now.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCm31YLLDSo&feature=youtu.be&ref=rangemedia.co)” Let’s “recognize the urgency of the moment.” Let’s be race traitors. Let’s break unjust laws. Let’s make “[Good trouble](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgFj9mx6YCs&ref=rangemedia.co).” [*Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo*](https://ndlon.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)*!* — *Judy Rohrer* ### Washington scrambles to regulate license-plate cameras that could aid stalkers URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-regulate-license-plate-cameras-stalkers/ Last updated: 2026-01-18T16:00:00.000Z To Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels, the installation of automatic license plate reader cameras has been revolutionary. Flock Safety, a leading supplier of these cameras, brags that they’re used by over 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, and that Flock technology can go beyond simply recording a license plate. Many of their devices can also identify a car’s make, model, color, dents, roof racks, window stickers and even a dog in a truck bed. It’s a nightmare for privacy advocates, but a dream come true for a sheriff with a tight budget. Nowels said it’s saved hundreds of investigative hours, helped drive down auto thefts and made it easier to prosecute criminals. “To replicate this with humans, I would have to have 70 people standing on the street 24/7 and they'd have to have perfect recall for everything they took a picture of for 30 days,” Nowels said. “It’s impossible.” Yet, he’s reluctant to say too much about Flock’s particular vulnerabilities in Washington, knowing the tool could be particularly dangerous in the wrong hands. "I have concerns about this getting into print, because I don't want people to get any ideas,” Nowels said. These images are hypothetically in *everybody’s* hands after a Skagit County judge [ruled in November](https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2025/nov/13/skagit-judge-rules-license-plate-reader-images-are-public-record/?ref=rangemedia.co) that nearly every image these cameras capture in Washington is a public record, available to whomever requests them. "Let's say an ex-boyfriend who's violent decides that he can't find his ex, but he wants to, and he thinks she lives here in Spokane, and he happens to know what car she drives,” Nowels said. In theory, Nowels said, he could submit a records request to Spokane County, asking for every time his ex’s license plate had been recorded by a Flock camera in the past month. With Flock already under fire for its use in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, multiple Washington cities have shut down their Flock camera programs, in part because of these public-record concerns. Washington lags behind nearly half of the states, including [Idaho](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/legislativeanalysis-org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/automatic-license-plate-recognition-systems-summary-of-state-laws.pdf), that have passed laws and regulations around automatic license plate readers. As the 2026 legislative session kicks off in Olympia, legislators have introduced a bill to rein in these cameras by limiting which Flock records the public can access. The bill would [dramatically limit the use](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/lawfilesext-leg-wa-gov/biennium/2025-26/Pdf/Bills/Senate-Bills/6002.pdf) of Flock cameras by both the public and law enforcement. The cameras would be banned outside of hospitals, schools, food banks and churches. They couldn’t be used for immigration enforcement or to track protests. And crucially, only academic researchers would be allowed to make public records requests for the data. But to do that lawmakers must contend with the three conflicting interests: the law enforcement officers who say Flock cameras are vital to protect the public, the civil rights groups who see the cameras as an invasion of privacy, and the public record advocates who worry that cutting off transparency paves the way for government abuse. "That's going to remain probably one of the contentious points of the bill and negotiations moving forward,” said Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma, the bill’s co-sponsor. “There are people that feel very passionately about public records, and they should.” ### How the cameras are being used It was public records, after all, that first revealed information about Flock cameras that outraged civil liberties groups. In May, independent journalists at the tech site 404 Media revealed that records had uncovered cops across the country conducting Flock camera searches on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Flock boasts about giving their users access to “real-time alerts and footage from partners across the country.” But each search leaves a record — an audit trail — in each city or county’s Flock system. Those audit trails also revealed that Texas deputies had searched cameras across the entire country, including [Spokane County](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/), to locate a woman who'd [given herself an abortion](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flock-safety-and-texas-sheriff-claimed-license-plate-search-was-missing-person-it?ref=rangemedia.co). Spokane County has since stopped allowing their Flock network to be accessed by nationwide searches. A University of Washington research project this summer harnessed its own records requests to show that at least eight different Washington state law enforcement agencies had given the U.S. Border Patrol access to Flock images to potentially aid with immigration enforcement. In many states, including Washington, local law enforcement is forbidden from helping federal immigration enforcement. [By the time a Washington superior court](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26223229-20251106-ruling-25-2-00717-29-city-of-sedro-woolley-et-al-vs-jose-rodriguez/?ref=rangemedia.co) ruled on a records case in November that such camera data was open to the public, cities like the Seattle suburb of Redmond had already shut down their Flock cameras. Other cities had to contend with a wave of new records requests. Some were broad and voluminous, creating the kind of financial burden that comes with preserving massive amounts of photos. Other requests were more targeted. One person requested photos taken of his own license plate. Another, Jim Leighty, a longtime Spokane area activist, figured out a way to start tracking ICE using the same kind of cameras ICE had used to track others. He sent a public records request to Spokane County asking for all “camera locations, dates and times for Washington License Plate 72715RP” captured during the first dozen days of December. That vehicle is used by a private company to transport ICE detainees from Spokane to the holding facility in Tacoma, Leighty said, and he wanted to figure out the schedule. “How often is it coming over?” Leighty said. “That could give us an idea of how active ICE can be in our community.” Leighty also intended it as a test: If the government was going to violate the right to privacy of average citizens, it only seemed fair to him that citizens could turn around and demand the same sort of information from the government. Leighty got the record he requested — a single camera hit for the vehicle — after a little less than a month, though he said the county first notified the transport company and called Leighty to ensure that he wasn’t intent on harming anybody. Meanwhile, Thomas Stotts, who runs the private investigation agency Strategic Intelligence Services, made two Flock camera records requests in his attempt to locate a parent who’d fled another state with their children. “As soon as you walk out the door, you have no expectation of privacy,” Stotts said. Washington law gives private detectives some special rights — they are able to look up a person’s license plate number, for instance — but Nowels argues that private detectives don’t have the same level of accountability or training as law enforcement. “I don't know anything about their integrity,” Nowels said. “I'd like to think most people are ethical and moral, but there's plenty of people who aren't. … That's my issue with that information available to just about anybody.” For now, Tony Dinaro, the public records officer for Spokane County, said the county has been attempting to use the existing law to prevent known abusers from looking up specific license plates, by cross-referencing the records requests with a list of all the people who have had protective orders leveled against them. Since Washington’s records laws currently allow the government to decline to release records if the disclosure could endanger a crime victim’s physical safety, Dinaro said, the county attorneys felt they were “definitely on solid ground legally” to deny such a request from an abuser. “That’s our red line,” he said. The trouble is, requests can come in anonymously. A stalker could simply refuse to leave his name. In those cases, Dinaro said, the county plans to contact the owner of the vehicle being tracked, giving them a chance to go to court and say, “I am being stalked … and I don’t want this information released.” ### Shuttering cameras Local governments face another big problem. Flock, as a default, deletes the images off their servers after 30 days. But what if someone makes a last-minute request to the city on Day 29? If the requested pictures get deleted before the city can ask Flock to preserve them, the city could be fined for violating the state’s transparency laws. Trudeau’s bill seeks to fix that vulnerability by cutting off almost all public records access. The bill would slash the amount of time most Flock images could be preserved from 30 days to just three. Nowels worries that such legislative restrictions could make the cameras “completely useless.” Trudeau is well known for supporting measures to restrain law enforcement, including a controversial restriction on vehicle chases. But this latest bill, she notes, is co-sponsored by Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, a former detective who spent 22 years with the Spokane Police Department. “Everyone is happy and unhappy about my current draft, which means we're probably on a good path to compromise,” Trudeau said. Holy sees the bill as an example where a conservative and a progressive can find common ground: libertarianism. Both of them worry about how a tyrannical government might abuse its powers. The proposed bill requires governmental agencies to keep their own logs tracking Flock usage. Yet the fact that it also cuts off the underlying public access to the data in those logs has some public records advocates wary. “Some of the board members have said, as long as the government is receiving information, that should be considered public record,” said Collette Weeks, executive director of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, an organization that advocates for public transparency. Weeks said that the bill “raises 100 questions for me, with each question leading to 100 more.” And Leighty, the Spokane activist, argued that the bill was “locking citizens out, but not actually protecting citizens.” It isn’t clear whether a license plate number included as part of a Flock audit log would still be considered a public record. “It's really just a question of balancing transparency with privacy,” said Tee Sannon, technology policy program director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. The ACLU has warned that audit log data itself is often not enough to identify abuses of the technology and can be vague and misleading. Records first obtained by [Range Media show](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-flock-data/) that more than a dozen Flock searches were made by Spokane County sheriff’s deputies in November with no recorded explanation logged other than the word “investigation.” (Nowels told InvestigateWest that he’s urged his deputies to be more specific with their Flock requests.) So far, the most prominent examples of Flock technology being used for stalking have not involved records requesters — but law enforcement officers. A police chief of a city outside of Atlanta, Georgia, was [arrested](https://apnews.com/article/georgia-plate-readers-stalk-harass-chief-arrested-39adb6f89fc2074da61f2801fef3f180?ref=rangemedia.co) in November for allegedly using the city's license-plate readers to stalk and harass people. In Kansas, a police chief used Flock cameras to track the license plates of his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend over 200 times across five months, according to news reports, while a police lieutenant in a neighboring city used the cameras to track his estranged wife. Nowels is well aware that, in the hands of an unethical sheriff or officer, the technology can be used for evil ends. “I'll be the first one to stand up and say, ‘If you can't use this tool appropriately and ethically and lawfully, it needs to go away,’” Nowels said. “It just does.” Either way, when Washington state legislators drive near the Capitol in Olympia this month, their license plates won’t be recorded by Flock. Last month, Olympia shut off its Flock cameras at the police department’s request, due to the concerns that had been revealed through public records. > [This story](https://www.investigatewest.org/washington-scrambles-to-regulate-license-plate-cameras-that-could-aid-stalkers/?ref=rangemedia.co) was originally published by InvestigateWest. InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Daniel Walters can be reached at daniel@investigatewest.org. ### COLUMN: Why student-led organizing gives me hope URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/column-student-organizing-hope/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T23:08:15.000Z Earlier this week, hundreds of students across Spokane walked out of class in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) agents’ mistreatment of immigrants and the killing of Renee Nicole Good, who was shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. The organizing group — Spokane Students for Human Decency (SSHD) — which formed just over a week ago in response to the news of Good’s death, says that over 1,200 students participated in coordinated walkouts across six schools: - Lewis and Clark High School (LCHS) - North Central High School - Ferris High School - Saint George’s School - Mt. Spokane High School - Gonzaga Preparatory Academy\* Reporter Erin Sellers and I went to LCHS, the school where the walkout idea originated, to witness hundreds of students participate. As we walked down the sidewalk and recorded audio of students chanting, I felt hope for our community — because even with the daily onslaught of horrible news, these teenagers are fighting for a better future for us all. Here’s what I saw: #### They’re building community, in and out of the school Ava Swigart, a senior at LCHS, said the protest idea was born just five days earlier at a lunch table after she and other students saw the headlines emerging from Minneapolis. She looped in other LCHS students, and the group quickly grew, with organizing spreading across multiple schools in the city. Students held multiple meetings over the weekend to discuss logistics, coordinate their message, and understand the consequences they might face. They discussed free speech policies with school district administration, and outlined the repercussions they were and weren’t willing to face — since the walkout was during a class period, the severity of discipline was dependent on whether students stayed on school grounds or not. On the day of the event, students from across the schools stayed in contact through a group chat, checking on each others’ safety. The students built connections in the broader Spokane community. SSHD invited [Feast World Kitchen](https://www.feastworldkitchen.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) to join them at LC. Although they couldn’t bring outside food because of school policy, Swigart said, Feast World Kitchen still showed up to connect with the students and posted a message of support on their [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18AidDuRWY/): ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/screenshot-2026-01-16-at-7-05-58-am.png) Local organizers and community members showed up in solidarity, too, holding signs with messages like “I’m so proud of you,” and chanting alongside the students. #### They’re keeping up the momentum As an organizer and podcast producer, I know that follow up after any action is important: it keeps the momentum going and gives people more ways to get involved. At the LC event, students were encouraged to vote and, if they’re not old enough yet, they were encouraged to sign up for the [Future Voter Program](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/voter-eligibility-resources/future-voter-program?ref=rangemedia.co). This program allows 16 and 17 year olds to be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18\. For those who turn 18 between the August Primary and the November General Election, it allows them to vote in the primary. The day after the walkout, the [SSHD Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/spokane.students.hd/?ref=rangemedia.co), which has now grown to over 1,200 followers, posted next steps for students to take, like registering to vote, volunteering at organizations like [Thrive International](https://thriveint.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Barton School](https://www.spokanefpc.org/barton?ref=rangemedia.co), [Manzanita House](https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) or Feast World Kitchen, contacting their legislative representatives, participating in the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane’s [Young Activist Leaders Program](https://pjals.org/action/?ref=rangemedia.co) and using their dollars to support local immigrant-owned businesses. #### They’re engaging politically and showing solidarity And finally, these kids are becoming politically engaged and our community is supporting them. I knew nothing about activism when I moved to Spokane, but I felt a sense of urgency during the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd and I wanted to get involved. I met so many people – many of whom are organizers – who taught me what it means to show solidarity and met me where I was at. They made me feel welcome and understood. They still do. And the same local organizers who taught me what it means to be politically engaged and show solidarity are doing the same for these students. That support is what gives me hope. When I moved here, I was a high school student just like Swigart, and originally, I didn’t plan on staying. But watching Spokane grow, seeing how organizers younger than me are acting on their values and building the community they want to see, that’s what makes me stay. \* *NOTE: While the student organizing group worked with Gonzaga Preparatory students, the school’s spokesperson Gina Pinnock said in an email to RANGE that there was not “an organized walkout,” on their campus, but rather, “four students briefly left class independently.”* *“The students were addressed in accordance with school expectations,” wrote Derek Duchesne, the principal. “Admin used the moment to talk with the students about how supporting a cause often involves responsibility and personal sacrifice.”* > If you’re as moved as I am and want to hear from the students themselves, take a listen to this week’s Free RANGE episode. Find it [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-the-kids-are-alright/). ### City accepts DOJ police grant, saying police won’t comply with Trump URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/city-doj-police-grant/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T22:59:23.000Z The Spokane City Council, at odds with about two dozen Spokanites at a January 15 special session, voted 5-2 to accept a $1 million police grant from President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ). The grant comes with 39 conditions, the most prominent of which requires Spokane police to give federal law enforcement information on immigrants, presumably so agents can find them. That would violate a state law that prohibits law enforcement in Washington from helping the federal government enforce immigration law. (In any case, Spokane police typically do not collect information on immigrants.) Council members who approved the grant said they would not be bound by those requirements because executive orders and grant provisions don’t supersede city or state legislation. They said they had meticulously consulted with legal counsel and the state Attorney General Nick Brown who told them any retaliation could be battled in court. Still, people who spoke worried about the strings attached to the funding, the liability involved in bucking the wishes of a notoriously vengeful president and what they saw as a lack of transparency in bringing the grant to a vote. Michael Doyle, a community organizer, said the grant carried “enormous risks” during public comments. After the vote was tallied and the meeting ended, he shouted “Democrats are cowards!” The grant will help fund eight new police officer positions already included in the city budget. If the grant had not been accepted, those funds would have been drawn from an already strapped city budget. “I think we'll be ready to fight back” against any action the Trump administration might take against the city if it doesn’t comply, said Council Member Zack Zappone, who voted to accept the grant. He noted other grants to fund programs like social services and housing carry similar stipulations. ”The standard is to fight back instead of not accepting any federal funding.” Public commenters pointed to specific executive orders from the 225 Trump signed in 2025 that the DOJ says the city must follow if it accepts the grant: “Designating fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, taking steps to end cashless bail, prosecute the burning of the American flag, protecting American communities from criminal ‘aliens,’ ending crime and disorder on American streets, strengthening and unleashing America's law enforcement to pursue criminals and protect innocent citizens in full transparencies,” Kaylee Jackman recited. Council Member Paul Dillon said after the meeting that the council had consulted the state attorney general and city lawyers who said Spokane would not have to follow those orders. Executive orders apply to the federal government, not local ones. “ You cannot legislate by grant conditions,” Dillon said in comments from the dais before voting. “ You cannot legislate by executive orders.” On Jan. 16, Dillon acknowledged commenters’ concerns and defended his vote on his official Instagram account. “I voted for the grant because the conditions are unlawful,” he wrote. “They are asking us to provide information that we do not have nor can they coerce us to provide. This is not a bribe nor will this turn SPD into ICE informants. The 10th Amendment says feds cannot force states or cities to carry out federal immigration enforcement actions. Courts across the country, including decisions by Trump appointees, have upheld these rights to not participate in immigration enforcement.” The resolution accepting the grant passed 5-2, the narrowest margin for this type of city legislation, known as a Special Budget Ordinance. Council members Michael Cathcart, the body’s sole conservative, and Sarah Dixit, its newest progressive member, voted no. Both represent District 1, home to Spokane’s poorest neighborhoods. Cathcart worried about financial liability if the city doesn’t abide by the grant requirements “Oftentimes we are told that we can afford things that we cannot or that we don't yet know how we are going to eventually afford,” Cathcart said. Though the funds for the eight new officers are accounted for in the current budget, he worried about how the new salaries would impact future budgets. “You look at the numbers, you look at the deficits, you look at the lack of long-term planning with regards to our budgets. I don't know how we can commit ourselves to this effort today.” The $1 million grant would only offset costs that are already accounted for in the city budget, Police Chief Kevin Hall told the council. He said in the event the Trump administration demands repayment, he would send the money back. Cathcart also expressed skepticism about the supporters’ assertions that the Trump administration would not hold the city to the executive orders. Meanwhile, Dixit worried about being on the hook to the federal government. “It is incredibly frustrating to have that be almost like a ransom, to be held by this federal government to do things that aren't in alignment with our community and in our state, with no guarantees on liability lawsuits,” Dixit said. “It makes me nervous to sign up for that.” The 25 commenters — some experienced activists, others who’d just started protesting this summer — worried that a fickle president might alter the agreement, put a spotlight on Spokane and punish this city. Not one constituent who spoke at the meeting supported the grant. Some also worried that, though Spokane police do not collect information on immigrants, if an immigrant divulges their information without a prompt, the city would then be obligated to give that information to federal officials. “All it takes is for one officer to enter the data in, and now you are at risk and now you are required to report,” said Jim Leighty, a member of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability. Leighty also noted that there are other grants available on the state level to pay for the new officers. Kate Telis, District 2, told RANGE after the vote that police in Spokane can’t share immigrant information with the federal government. “That would be grounds for termination,” she said, before hedging slightly: “Of course, at that point, the information has been shared, so I'm really hoping that \[Police Chief Kevin\] Hall can avoid that at all costs.” Council members who approved the legislation argued that the federal government owes Spokane that money and that any future conflict over the grant would have to play out in court. “Largely lower and moderate income people paid those taxes and they deserve to have them come back to their communities,” said Council Member Kitty Klitzke, who voted to accept the grant. “I will be standing up for that principle. If we get into the situation where we're talking about giving those tax dollars back, I think I would want to fight that too. I would rather fight the Trump administration in court and put myself out there legally.” The vote came as Trump has waged a brutal crackdown on some jurisdictions that don’t comply with the federal government. In Minneapolis, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ()ICE) agents wearing masks and slapdash uniforms have been caught on film [illegally choking](https://www.propublica.org/article/videos-ice-dhs-immigration-agents-using-chokeholds-citizens?ref=rangemedia.co) US citizens, including teenagers; [shooting](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jepdjy256o?ref=rangemedia.co) and [tear gassing](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2026/jan/14/federal-agents-use-flash-bangs-and-teargas-against-protesters-in-minneapolis-video?ref=rangemedia.co) unarmed people; [injuring children](https://www.jalopnik.com/2077210/ice-throws-flash-bang-at-family-car-minneapolis/?ref=rangemedia.co) with flash bang grenades; and thwarting their own foot chases [by slipping on ice](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sa4rf1ivTRg?ref=rangemedia.co). Trump [sent the military](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/nx-s1-5672596/national-guard-trump-attorney-general?ref=rangemedia.co) in cities across the nation to monitor American protesters. And he has [repeatedly threatened](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/nx-s1-5678612/minneapolis-insurrection-act-trump-threats?ref=rangemedia.co) to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows presidents to deploy the military against their own constituents, to put down peaceful protests. In addition to commenters’ concerns about the mechanics of the grant, they also criticized the council on the timing and transparency of bringing the resolution up for a vote. It was a last-minute affair — January 15 was the final day the council could accept the grant, which was awarded late last year. “To have received this grant letter in October only to then be burning the midnight oil with unanswered questions in January is not only embarrassing, it's a failure, one that erodes the trust of your constituents,” Jackman said during her comments. Telis — who was elected in November and was not on the council when the grant was first available for a vote — said it had gotten lost in the shuffle of city government. “We were dealing with budget stuff,” Telis said, “so it fell on the back burner.” Yet another concern for the commenters: growing the police force. “They already have 333 commissioned officers,” said Jade Pettibone, another commenter. “They don't need additional funding and personnel. They need to adequately manage the resources that they have.” Before the public comment portion of the meeting, Hall answered the council’s questions at the dais, saying the grant would partly fund salaries for eight officers who would focus on gun violence. He said whether the council accepted the grant or not, the expansion is a done deal. “I have 10 bodies already lined up for the academy in two weeks,” he said. “They're still gonna get hired. It's still gonna cost that same amount of money for eight officers. We just won't have a million dollars to apply to defer those costs.” ### The POD: The Kids are Alright URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-the-kids-are-alright/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T15:00:00.000Z On Tuesday, Jan. 13, reporter Erin Sellers and producer Pascal Bostic went to Lewis and Clark High School to cover one of the six student-led walkouts planned in the area. These students were rallying to protest ICE’s harm and call for humane treatment of immigrants in our communities. Erin spoke with organizers from Spokane Students for Human Decency – who brought over 1,200 students together across the six schools – about their planning process and why they’re organizing. ### East WA rep wants private cemeteries, English as state language URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-rep-cemeteries-english-language/ Last updated: 2026-01-14T23:53:42.000Z Budget, religious liberty and burial grounds were the tip of the iceberg of what Washington’s 7th District Rep. [Hunter Abell](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/hunter-abell?ref=rangemedia.co), R-Inchelium, discussed in regards to the 60-day state legislative session starting this week. The 7th District covers Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, and some of Spokane and Grant counties. Abell gave RANGE his rundown on the upcoming legislative session. “It's a track meet in pads,” Abell said. “We'll be running and moving quite a bit.” While the state budget will be the main focus of the legislative body, Abell said there are also bills important to him that he wants to advance, like the Jim Judd Memorial Act ([HB 1541](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1541&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co)), which would reconfigure the [Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee](https://governor.wa.gov/boards-commissions/board-commission-profiles/Veterans%20Affairs%20Advisory%20Committee?ref=rangemedia.co) that advises Governor Bob Ferguson on issues affecting veterans, military families and military preparedness. Under the proposed legislation, the 17-member committee must include a member of the National Guard, a tribal member and a veteran with “lived experience,” which could include experience with post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder or homelessness. The bill passed out of the House unanimously last session but got hung up in the Senate, Abell said. “I named it after a local veteran who passed away a number of years ago in Ferry County,” Abell said. “I think it will improve the process by which the governor gets advice on issues that impact veterans throughout the state.” Abell is also sponsoring [HB 2239](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2239&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co), which would allow families to bury loved ones on their own property. “Public cemeteries, of course, have got a public taxpayer piece that goes to their establishment,” Abell said. “Private cemeteries can be established, but there's a pretty significant financial hurdle.” According to the Washington State Department of Licensing, people who want to create a cemetery on their property must have [$25,000](https://dol.wa.gov/professional-licenses/cemeteries/get-your-license-cemeteries?ref=rangemedia.co) in an endowment care fund on top of paying [cemetery fees](https://dol.wa.gov/professional-licenses/funeral-directors/fees-funerals-and-cemeteries?ref=rangemedia.co) that can exceed $1,000. Abell said that HB 2239 will have some guardrails: residents wanting to be buried at home have to own the property, and they must notify their county of the cemetery’s details and to potential buyers if the property is sold. The idea for the bill came from one of Abell’s neighbors in Inchelium, where Abell owns a ranch. Abell said his neighbor came to him several years ago hoping to have his parents buried at their family home, “but it was too expensive for their family to establish a cemetery,” Abell said. Some rural communities don’t have local cemeteries, meaning some rural Washingtonians have to travel a long way to visit their late loved ones. Abell said his neighbor’s parents are dead and buried in Kettle Falls, a 45 minute drive from his neighbor’s house. “This is primarily for folks who live in rural areas,” Abell said of the bill, “people who spend their whole lives on their family farm or the ranch and would really love to be buried out on the south 40 rather than in town, which can end up being farther away.” [HB 2342](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2342&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) would create a religious liberty commission in Washington to advise the governor and the legislature on religious liberty issues This commission would also be charged with hearing and investigating claims of discrimination based on religion and either offering mediation or referring the matter to the state Human Rights Commission. Abell is also working on [HB 2197](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2197&Year=2025&Initiative=False&ref=rangemedia.co) that would declare English as Washington’s official language. He said the bill would be in honor of the United State’s 250th anniversary this year. “This idea that we're a nation of immigrants, we're a melting pot, and part of that melting pot involves having a common language,” Abell said. The bill language also specifies that “no state agency or political or taxing subdivision of the state may be required to provide any documents, information, literature, or other written materials in any language other than English.” It does not prohibit those agencies from using another language where it’s required by state or federal law or at their discretion as long as the record is also published in English. President Donald Trump issued [an executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states/?ref=rangemedia.co) in March establishing English as the official language of the US. It reversed [earlier reforms](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-govinfo-gov/content/pkg/FR-2000-08-16/00-20938.pdf) designed to give people whose first language is not English better access to government services. Some groups, [including](https://www.aaal.org/aaal-ec-statement-on-the-executive-order-designating-english-as-the-official-language-of-the-united-states?ref=rangemedia.co) the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), opposed the order later that month. The AAAL wrote, “the order does not cultivate national values, shared American culture, or national unity. If anything, it could precipitate the direct opposite effect by creating a linguistic hierarchy among languages, which in turn could potentially be divisive.”Although Ferguson has said his goal is to deal with the budget deficit through [cuts rather than increased taxes](https://governor.wa.gov/news/2025/governor-ferguson-announces-supplemental-budget?ref=rangemedia.co), Abell said he is skeptical, citing Ferguson’s [inaugural address](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzVCzJdeBkM&ref=rangemedia.co) in 2025 where he stated that the state couldn’t tax its way out of the deficit. “Then he signed every [tax increase](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/20/ferguson-signs-budget-boosting-washington-state-spending-and-taxes/?ref=rangemedia.co) that the legislature passed,” Abell said. Abell added that he thinks the Democratic majority in the state legislature will seek more tax revenue increases this year as the state faces another multibillion-dollar two-year budget deficit. “My observation is the appetite in Olympia for more taxpayer dollars is really insatiable,” he said, adding that he will fight against what he describes as an ever-expanding state government. “The governor has said he’s producing an all-cuts budget. We’ll see what that looks like,” Abell said. *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### It begins today: Here’s a guide to the 2026 Idaho legislative session URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/idaho-guide-to-2026-legislative-session/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T23:21:19.000Z *This article explains Idaho's legislative session and was originally published by Ryan Suppe from [IdahoEdNews.org](https://www.idahoednews.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Find the original article [here](https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/ednews-education-guide-to-the-2026-legislative-session/?ref=rangemedia.co).* The most consequential 11 weeks for education funding and policy starts Monday, as state lawmakers return to Boise for the annual legislative session. The second session of the 68th Idaho Legislature kicks off Jan. 12 with the governor’s State of the State address, followed by roughly two-and-a-half months of budget and policy debates among lawmakers and advocates. This year’s session is primed for drama: The state faces a revenue shortfall that could [approach an estimated $1 billion](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/11/25/idaho-may-need-to-find-600-million-to-1-billion-for-next-years-state-budget/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=$200%20million%20to%20$284.4%20million:%20the%20estimated,Big%20Beautiful%20Bill%20Act%20championed%20by%20Trump.), and lawmakers will have to figure out how to fill the gap — during an election year. All 105 legislative seats are up for grabs in this year’s May primary and November general elections. As always, education will be a focus of the legislative session and the election. Funding for K-12 represents about half of the state’s budget, and lawmakers play an active role in local school policy, from curriculum standards to teacher credentials and classroom rules. Not to mention, the state governs and mostly funds public colleges and universities. Here’s your guide to following education issues during the session, with key dates, committees to watch and ways you can participate in the lawmaking process: ### **Key legislative session dates** - Jan. 12 – Legislative session convenes. Governor delivers State of the State address. - Jan. 19 – Idaho Education Association’s “Lobby Day.” - Feb. 11 – Homeschool Idaho’s “Legislative Day” (a.k.a. “Pie Day”). - Feb. 16 – Constitutional amendment deadline. - Feb. 16-17 – Idaho School Boards Association’s “Day on the Hill.” - Feb. 26 – Bill introduction deadline. - March 6 – Transmittal deadline (the final date to move bills from the House to the Senate, and vice versa). - March 12 – Target date for JFAC to complete budget-setting. - March 27 – Target date for adjournment, sine die. ### **State of the State address** This year’s session commences with the State of the State address, when the governor reflects on the past year and lays out his priorities for 2026. Republican Gov. Brad Little will deliver his eighth address to the Legislature since assuming office in 2019\. In past speeches, Little has proposed major state investments — in school facilities and state infrastructure like roads and bridges, for instance — as the state welcomed revenue surpluses. But the projected deficit will dampen this year’s address. Still, the address should exhibit its typical pageantry. The governor will be escorted from his second-floor Statehouse office to the House chambers on the third floor, where he’ll speak before a joint session of the House and Senate. Members of the Idaho Supreme Court and Little’s fellow constitutional officers, including State Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield, will also attend. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img_3374-enhanced-nr-1536x1010-1.jpg) *Gov. Brad Little speaking at his 2025 State of the State address. (Brandon Schertler/Idaho EdNews)* The address is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. MST. Idaho Public Television will broadcast the speech and [Idaho In Session](https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/Legislature/?ref=rangemedia.co) will stream it online. Following the governor’s address, Idaho Public Television will host a live analysis by an expert panel that includes Idaho Education News Senior Reporter Kevin Richert. The State of the State address is an opportunity for the governor to highlight his spending recommendations, but the state’s budget is largely up to … ### **JFAC** The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) starts its work Jan. 13 with a review of the governor’s budget proposals. The powerful 20-member committee is evenly represented by the House and Senate, and fulfills the Legislature’s primary constitutional mandates: balancing the budget and funding public schools. Over the next two months, the committee will meet with agency directors to scrutinize their budget requests. JFAC is also responsible for statewide spending decisions, like setting a revenue target and distributing state employee raises, including teacher raises. According to the [committee’s calendar](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/joint/jfac/?ref=rangemedia.co), key education-related budget hearings are scheduled for the week of Jan. 19-23, when JFAC will hear presentations from the Idaho State Board of Education and Idaho Department of Education. JFAC’s leadership will look different in 2026\. Former co-chair Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, who [resigned](https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/horman-resigns-from-legislature-for-trump-administration-post/?ref=rangemedia.co) for a Trump administration post, will be [replaced by Rep. Josh Tanner](https://www.idahoednews.org/news/tanner-takes-position-as-jfac-co-chair/?ref=rangemedia.co), an Eagle Republican who served as House assistant majority leader last session. Tanner will lead the committee with returning co-chair Sen. C. Scott Grow, R-Eagle. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/821a0385-1536x1024-1.jpg) *Rep. Josh Tanner, R-Eagle* JFAC’s target date to complete its work is March 12. Unlike the Legislature’s policy committees, the budget-setting committee doesn’t invite the public to testify on the bills it crafts. But its meetings are streamed on [Idaho In Session](https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/Legislature/?ref=rangemedia.co), and constituents can share their input directly with JFAC members. Click [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/joint/jfac/?ref=rangemedia.co) to see JFAC’s agendas, and to find out which legislators serve on the committee. Click [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/lso/bpa/budgetinformation/?ref=rangemedia.co) for information on budgets. Throughout the session, EdNews will provide regular coverage of JFAC, along with the … ### **Education committees** The Legislature has two policy committees — one in the [Senate](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/standingcommittees/SEDU/?ref=rangemedia.co) and one in the [House](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/standingcommittees/HEDU/?ref=rangemedia.co) — that focus on education and meet almost daily throughout most of the session. Policy committees vet and vote on bills before they advance to the full House or Senate and eventually reach the governor’s desk for his signature or veto. Committees also host hearings that give the public an opportunity to share their view on a particular bill. Last year, the Legislature introduced 790 bills, the highest number over the last seven legislative sessions, and 341 became law. Since 2019, an average of 337 bills have been signed into law each session. Click [here](https://www.idahoednews.org/news/spelling-it-out-how-a-bill-becomes-a-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) to learn about how a bill becomes a law. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img_0718-1536x1024-1.jpg) *Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, is chairman of the Senate Education Committee (Brandon Schertler/Idaho EdNews)* Committee meetings, including meetings of the education committees and others, are open to the public, and they’re streamed on [Idaho In Session](https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/Legislature/?ref=rangemedia.co). Most committees also invite remote testimony for constitutions who can’t travel to Boise. Agendas are posted [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/agenda/?ref=rangemedia.co), and recordings of past meetings are archived [here](https://lso.legislature.idaho.gov/MediaArchive/MainMenu.do?ref=rangemedia.co). Click [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/standingcommittees/SEDU/?ref=rangemedia.co) for information on testifying before the Senate Education Committee and [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/standingcommittees/HEDU/?ref=rangemedia.co) for information on testifying before the House Education Committee. There are also opportunities to meet with lawmakers and advocate for education issues through organized efforts such as … ### **Lobby days** Advocacy groups representing teachers, school board trustees, home-schoolers and others host events each session that allow their members to meet with lawmakers and lobby for education-related issues. These include, among others: - Idaho Education Association’s “Lobby Day” – Jan. 19. - Homeschool Idaho’s “Legislative Day” (a.k.a. “Pie Day”) – Feb. 11. - Idaho School Boards Association’s “Day on the Hill” – Feb. 16-17. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img_2018-1536x1260-1.jpg) *Home-schoolers serve pie at Homeschool Idaho’s annual event at the Statehouse. (Darren Svan/Idaho EdNews)* There are also paid professionals who lobby lawmakers on a daily basis throughout the legislative session. The Idaho Secretary of State maintains a [database](https://sunshine.voteidaho.gov/public/lobbyistmodule/lobbyistdata?ref=rangemedia.co) of registered lobbyists, who are required to report their expenses. Click [here](https://sunshine.voteidaho.gov/lobbyists?ref=rangemedia.co) to track the top spenders. Lawmakers can also be reached directly by email or phone. Click [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/senate/membership/?ref=rangemedia.co) to see the Senate members and [here](https://legislature.idaho.gov/house/membership/?ref=rangemedia.co) to see the House members. Keep in mind that the lawmaking process can move fast, particularly in an … ### **Election year** A common conception among politicos is that election-year legislative sessions are shorter than others — because lawmakers want to get home and start campaigning. There is some truth to this. Since 2016, election-year sessions have been seven working days shorter, on average, than sessions in non-election years. This is excluding the 311-day session in 2021 when the Legislature chose to recess for several months rather than adjourn. Every legislator’s two-year term expires in 2026, and we’ll know which of the 70 representatives and 35 senators are running for reelection mid-session. The candidate filing period is Feb. 23-27. Idaho’s seven constitutional officers — including the governor, state superintendent and attorney general — are also up for reelection this year. The primary election is May 19. Click [here](https://voteidaho.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) for voting information. ### **Key election dates** - Feb. 23-27 – Primary election filing period for federal and statewide offices (Idaho Legislature, U.S. House/Senate, governor, state superintendent, etc.). - March 2-13 – Primary election filing period for partisan local offices (counties, community colleges, highway districts, etc.). - March 13 – Deadline for voters to change party affiliation before the primary election. - April 27 – Early voting begins. - May 8 – Voter preregistration deadline and deadline to request an absentee ballot. - May 15 – Early voting ends. - May 19 – Primary election day. ### Community action, new members and big items tonight at Spokane City Council URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T19:39:57.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council has its first meeting of the year and it’s going to be a doozy with public protests, new members swearing in and a few key items up for a vote, like council committee assignments, an eviction diversion program and a resolution to honor MLK Day and Juneteenth. - Urbanists, stay tuned: Spokane city’s Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee is discussing the Spokane Falls Boulevard rebuild project, which could include shifting part of the boulevard from one-way to two-way traffic. - Spokane County will likely approve a resolution acknowledging its complicity in the “forever chemicals” contamination crisis on the West Plains, stemming from activity at the Spokane International Airport, which it jointly owns with the city of Spokane. - The Central Valley School District is set to change its sexual education policy to align with state law, ensuring students are being taught “medically and scientifically, age appropriate” materials and prohibiting abstinence-only sex ed. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) (and Study Session) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/community-action-new-members-and-big-items-tonight-at-spokane-city-council/) ##### Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** It’s the Spokane City Council’s first meeting of the new year — and freshman council member Sarah Dixit’s first meeting on the dais — and it’s shaping up to be a big one. The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), joined by other groups like Democratic Socialists of America, Veterans for Peace and Spokane Community Against Racism, are holding an action prior to the meeting at 5:30 pm, demanding the city council condemn Trump’s military actions in Venezuela and pass more policies banning compliance between the city and ICE (which is technically already illegal in most circumstances due to the Keep Washington Working Act.) Separately, other community members are rallying to ask the council to pass the resolution drafted by Spokane NAACP president and council communications director Lisa Gardner to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth after the Trump administration removed them as free national park entrance days. And at the top of the meeting, council members Zack Zappone, Kate Telis and Dixit are all getting officially sworn into office for their four year terms. Now on to the actual items on the agenda for the night! ### Consent agenda: a $1.7 million bike path and grants for cops There are three big items we noticed on the consent agenda, which is voted on in a batch at the beginning of the meeting. One is forward movement on a federally-funded project to extend the existing shared-use path on the north side of Sunset Highway, west of Government Way from Royal Street west to Spotted Road. The city engineers estimated this phase of the project could cost up to $3,260,888.50, but if the city accepts the low bid of $1,746,222.50 from Corridor Contractors tonight, they could come in way under budget. Also on the consent agenda are two votes to accept grants for the Spokane Police Department. The first is funding from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, which will be spent on traffic safety patrol hours through September 2026\. Our region is receiving $94,500 and Spokane city’s portion of that is roughly $60,000\. The other grant is $1 million of federal funding over five years from the Department of Justice to be spent on staffing up officers to “increase SPD’s community policing capacity.” The grant will cover roughly one sixth of the costs of the city’s plan to hire 8 new police officer positions by 2030. ### The great seat shuffle Headed into the new year, council needs to make some key decisions, like which council members are going to represent the city on which boards, who’s on internal committees and who’s chairing public committees. They submitted a draft list last month, which we covered [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/), but it’s changed slightly since then. Here’s some highlights of the council seat shuffle, which is set to be approved tonight: - Last time, we noted that senior-most council member and lone conservative Michael Cathcart had been shut out of all committee chair and vice chair positions and all internal workgroups. He’s still likely out of a chairship, but he has now been swapped onto the key internal Council Office Operations Workgroup, replacing Council Member Paul Dillon from the old draft. - Appointments to the key transportation-related boards and commissions look like they’re staying the same, with council members Kitty Klitzke, Zappone, Cathcart and Dixit headed to the Spokane Transit Authority, and Klitzke and Telis to the Spokane Regional Transportation Commission. Dixit, Telis and Zappone will all serve as liaisons to the Spokane City Transportation Commission. - Fans of the parks, libraries and arts, your list has changed slightly: your reps will now likely be Dillon to the Parks Board, Telis to the Library Board and Dixit to the Spokane Arts Commission Board. (Note: the name of this board was updated from Spokane Art Board to Spokane Arts Commission Board at the Briefing Session on Jan 12) - In the first draft, the leaderboard for total number of assignments was topped by Council President Betsy Wilkerson with 15, Zappone with 11 and Dixit with 10\. Now, the distribution is a bit more even: Wilkerson has 13 appointments, Zappone 11, Dixit 10 and everyone else 9\. When you go district by district, District 3 has the most appointments with 20, District 1 with 19 and District 2 with 18. The full list can be reviewed on page 498 of the final agenda. ### Recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth Late last year, Trump’s administration released the list of the eight days where admission to national parks across the country are free. One notable change: Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth had been [dropped from the list](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/06/g-s1-101090/national-parks-fee-free-calendar-mlk-juneteenth?ref=rangemedia.co), replaced instead with Flag Day (which just so happens to be Trump’s birthday). The NAACP [spoke out](https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-condemns-trump-administrations-removal-mlk-day-and-juneteenth-national-parks-free?ref=rangemedia.co) against the changes, with President and CEO Derrick Johnson stating, “Removing MLK Day and Juneteenth from the national parks calendar is more than petty politics — it's an attack on the truth of this nation's history. It's an attempt to erase the legacy of Dr. King, minimize the story of emancipation, and sideline the communities that have fought for generations to make America live up to its promise.” Locally, Spokane NAACP Chapter President Lisa Gardner, who also serves as the council communications director, has led the charge for continued local recognition of the holidays. She penned a resolution that, if passed, would be a formal statement that the city recognizes MLK Day and Juneteenth as key moments in American history. This resolution, sponsored by Wilkerson and Dillon, is up for a vote tonight and can be read in full on page 543 of the agenda. Cathcart has also submitted an amendment that looks pretty similar to the original draft, but has a few tweaks. It would change the title of the ordinance from "Resolution recognizing the importance of cultural celebrations, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, as key moments in American history," to "Resolution recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth as culturally significant milestones in American history," and changes the fifth whereas recital: | Original Draft | Cathcart Amendment | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | “both holidays recently have come under federal scrutiny, with the National Park Service reporting that free entry to National Parks on both MLK Day and Juneteenth has now been removed, **in what is a clear attempt to dilute history and historical changemakers**, and thereby undermine the importance of these holidays in our country’s collective history.” | “both holidays recently have come under federal scrutiny, with the National Park Service reporting that free entry to National Parks on both MLK Day and Juneteenth has now been removed, undermining the importance of these holidays in our country’s collective history.” | The original draft also commits the city to partnering with a list of "culturally based organizations," like the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, The Spokane NAACP and the Juneteenth Coalition. Cathcart's amendment removes the list of organizations to "avoid endorsing specific organizations," and the potential for excluding other cultural organizations. *Editor's Note: This section has been edited to reflect more context on the Cathcart amendment.* ### Eviction diversion While we’ve heard from a few council members that this is likely to be deferred again, we wanted to include it just in case it’s not: the council is scheduled to vote on an eviction diversion ordinance tonight. We covered this in December 2025, before it was deferred for the first time, but the gist is that council members Klitzke and Dillon are sponsoring an ordinance that would create a rental eviction diversion program in Spokane to “prevent homelessness, restore the landlord tenant relationship and ensure safe and healthy rental housing in Spokane.” As evictions due to failure to pay rent continue to climb in the city, this legislation could streamline the process for helping tenants access eviction diversion funds. If passed, the ordinance would require landlords to provide tenants with written notice of all citywide eviction diversion programs both at the time of leasing and during any service of a notice to pay or vacate. An updated list of these programs will also be posted on the city’s website for ease of access for both tenants and landlords. The ordinance also outlines the city’s goal to create a more permanent, city-operated program that would expedite state funds, handle landlord-tenant mediation, help connect tenants with service providers who can intervene early in the eviction process and work to keep tenants in housing and out of homelessness. Klitzke and Dillon have both pointed to the need to streamline the eviction diversion process so that service providers can intervene on behalf of tenants facing evictions at the earliest possible point — rather than when a tenant has already received a notice to vacate — which can help people retain stable housing. ### First read: Kratom ban A new ordinance up for a first read could ban the sale and distribution (not the use) of kratom products within city limits. What is kratom, you ask? According to the agenda documents, it’s “a psychoactive plant containing alkaloids including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) at low levels that can have stimulant and opioid-like effects.” Google says pretty much the same thing, basically: it’s an uncontrolled substance with potential stimulant and sedative effects, [sold as an](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prescription-drug-abuse/in-depth/kratom/art-20402171?ref=rangemedia.co) energy booster or pain reliever. It has potential negative health impacts, like liver toxicity and seizures, and it can also be [extremely addictive](https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local%5Fnews/addictive-spiral-herbal-supplement-kratom-facing-more-scrutiny-in-new-mexico/article%5F96872059-37a7-445e-b346-20fa04507ba4.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Early debates around the ordinance have revolved around whether kratom is a gateway drug to stronger substances, or a harm reduction tool for people trying to stop using opioids like fentanyl. There’s also an amendment on the table sponsored by Cathcart which would shift the purpose of the ordinance from banning sales to regulating sales, restricting the purchase of kratom for those under 21, banning the sale of “adulterated or enhanced kratom,” and prohibiting products attractive to children. We’ll know after the afternoon briefing session whether the Cathcart amendment has been adopted. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 12 at 6 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 16 at 11 am* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### A new Spokane Falls Boulevard Due to aging pavement and underground infrastructure, the section of Spokane Falls Boulevard from Post Street to Division Street is slated to be rebuilt, and the [Complete Streets](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/aug/10/getting-there-spokanes-complete-streets-law-update/?ref=rangemedia.co) ordinance requires that street renovations consider bike and pedestrian infrastructure. At today’s PIES committee, the council will get an update on the Spokane Falls Boulevard rebuild. Options currently being studied include adding bike and pedestrian routes, increasing on-street parking and enhancing business frontages, but the biggest change on the table is converting the segment of the boulevard from Washington Street to Division Street from one-way traffic to two-way traffic. The company hired to advise on project design is now in the second phase of their stakeholder feedback process, with official project design scheduled to begin later this year. Reminder: committee meetings now take public comment, so if you have strong feelings about the Spokane Falls Boulevard rebuild project, you can sign up to provide up to two minutes of comment [here](https://forms.gle/ppdRDj8FuXoYDkSy8?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 12 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, January 14 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center 808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ##### Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 13 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Board appt The BOCC is set to appoint Bryan St. Clair to the VeraIrrigation District No. 15 (also known as Vera Water and Power) Board of Directors. ### PFAS agreement with Ecology up for approval In August, the Washington Department of Ecology added two to the list of responsible parties in the “forever chemicals” contamination crisis on the West Plains: the city of Spokane and Spokane County, which jointly own Spokane International Airport (SIA). Firefighting drills at SIA and Fairchild Air Force Base accidentally contaminated the West Plain aquifer, which provides drinking water to many rural homes. The BOCC will likely approve a resolution acknowledging its responsibility on Tuesday. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 13 at 2 pm* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, January 15 at 9 am* > *Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ##### School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Work session There’s no detail in the posted agenda packet for this work session, so we’ll just highlight the items up for discussion that stuck out to us: - Special Education Report/Update (Policy 2161) Including Isolation/Restraint Information (Policy 3246) - Policy/Procedure 3207 (Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying) Revision Discussion - Nurse Staffing Discussion > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 12 at 7 pm* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Updates to Sex Ed policy As part of the district’s periodic policy reviews, the CVSD board will get a presentation on changes to the [Health/Human Growth and Development](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/go-boarddocs-com/wa/cvsd/Board-nsf/files/DPUMCE5A94E5/file/2125-sexual-health-education-draft-revisions-120825.pdf) and [AIDS Prevention Education](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/go-boarddocs-com/wa/cvsd/Board-nsf/files/DPUMCG5A9695/file/2126-hiv-aids-prevention-education-draft-revisions-120825.pdf) policies. The changes stem from a 2020 law that requires all K-12 schools to provide comprehensive sex education (though the law gave a deadline of 2022). The new policy says students will be taught sex ed that is “medically and scientifically accurate, age appropriate, and inclusive of students” and that abstinence-only sex ed will not be taught. Parents will still get an advanced notice and can opt their kids out. ### New playgrounds for 3 schools Some exciting news for the kids in CVSD: Broadway Elementary, Summit School and Progress Elementary are all getting new play structures and site upgrades in the summer of 2026\. If the board approves the plans now, construction should mostly be done by the 2026-27 school year. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, January 12 at 6 pm* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd* > *Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, January 14 at 8 am* > *Pasadena Park Elementary School* > *8301 E. Buckeye, Spokane* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ##### Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 13 at 6 pm, Special Meeting at 5:15 pm* > *10210 E Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The POD: Analyzing Christian Nationalism URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-analyzing-christian-nationalism/ Last updated: 2026-01-09T15:10:00.000Z This week, reporter Aaron Hedge and producer Pascal Bostic are joined by guest Joan Braune (Gonzaga University) to talk about a new book she co-edited with David M. Gides, [*On Christian Nationalism: Critical and Theological Perspectives*](https://www.routledge.com/On-Christian-Nationalism-Critical-and-Theological-Perspectives/Gides-Braune/p/book/9781032805665?ref=rangemedia.co). Joan Braune discusses Christian nationalism, fascism, and some ways people can recognize and intervene against it. > [**Charlie Kirk’s Pacific Northwest ground game**](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/) **(*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*)** > > [**SpoVal pastor helps push initiatives to erode student privacy**](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiatives-to-erode-student-privacy-are-pushed-by-a-wa-think-tank-led-by-spoval-pastor/) **(*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media and Cassy Benefield,*** [***Fāvs News***](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co)**)** > > [**The battle for a North Idaho city’s identity**](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-battle-for-a-north-idaho-citys-identity/) **(*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media and Jenny Davis, Gonzaga University*)** > > [**Conservative think tank: Immigration ‘undermined Christianity’**](https://www.rangemedia.co/conservative-think-tank-immigration-undermined-christianity/) **(*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media and Cassy Benefield,*** [***Fāvs News***](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co)**)** > > [**Uncivil Disobedience: Theological Perspectives**](https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/uncivil-disobedience-theological-perspectives-9781978713567/new?ref=rangemedia.co) **(*David M. Gides, Nick Braune, Joan Braune, Joshua W. Carpenter*)** > > [**Understanding and Countering Fascist Movements: From Void to Hope**](https://www.routledge.com/Understanding-and-Countering-Fascist-Movements-From-Void-to-Hope/Braune/p/book/9780367696986?ref=rangemedia.co) **(*Joan Braune*)** ### ICE killed a woman. Spokane is grieving and preparing. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-killed-minneapolis-woman-spokane-grieves/ Last updated: 2026-01-09T01:45:36.000Z On the morning of January 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [officer Jonathan Ross shot](https://www.startribune.com/ice-agent-who-fatally-shot-woman-in-minneapolis-is-identified/601560214?ref=rangemedia.co) and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The fallout has rippled across the US, sparking protests in major cities and locally here in Spokane. In the [moments before her death](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/ice-agent-fatal-shooting-south-minneapolis-witnesses/?ref=rangemedia.co), Good, a white [queer](https://www.advocate.com/news/minnesota-ice-killed-wife?ref=rangemedia.co) woman and [mother of three](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/08/renee-good-woman-killed-by-ice-agent-in-minneapolis-was-a-mother-poet-and-new-to-the-city?ref=rangemedia.co), had been driving an SUV down a residential Minneapolis street, where federal agents were swarming for an immigration operation and neighbors were protesting in response. Graphic [videos](https://www.404media.co/dhs-is-lying-to-you-about-ice-shooting-a-woman/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=You%20can%20watch%20three%20videos%20taken%20at%20the%20scene%20and%20posted%20to%20social%20media%20here%2C%20here%2C%20and%20here%2C%20to%20see%20if%20you%20think%20the%20above%20description%20is%20accurate.) of the incident show Good’s vehicle blocking the vehicle of an agent behind her. Two masked men then approached her driver side window, demanding she “get out of the fucking car.” Eyewitnesses reported that the men were also telling her to move her car, giving conflicting instructions to Good. In the videos, Good can be seen pulling away from the agents slowly, turning the wheel to avoid hitting a third agent who was approaching her car. As she pulled away, the third agent fired three times — once through her windshield and twice from the side of the car through her driver’s side window — and within seconds, the car had rolled up the street and crashed into an electricity pole. Its driver had been fatally shot. In the wake of Good’s killing, misinformation spread rapidly across the internet, with some commenters posting photos of the wrong woman and others sharing AI-generated images they claimed were pictures of the shooter’s face (the agent who killed Good was masked). The Department of Homeland Security quickly shared their own lies, [claiming](https://www.404media.co/dhs-is-lying-to-you-about-ice-shooting-a-woman/?ref=rangemedia.co) Good had tried to run officers over in an “act of domestic terrorism,” despite video evidence to the contrary. And even as people across the nation have been trying to get an accurate picture of what happened, on the ground in Minneapolis, the news developed rapidly: Mayor Jacob Frey [told ICE](https://racketmn.com/ice-shooting-killing-minneapolis-mn?ref=rangemedia.co) to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis,” Governor Tim Walz has [ordered](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/07/walz-orders-mn-national-guard-to-prepare-for-possible-deployment-following-ice-killing/?ref=rangemedia.co) the state National Guard to prepare to deploy, the federal government has [barred Minnesota from investigating](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/08/fbi-ousts-minnesota-investigators-from-ice-shooting-probe/?ref=rangemedia.co) the shooting, prohibiting access to evidence and Vice President JD Vance [told the media](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsq4o1VMLuc&ref=rangemedia.co) Ross will have “absolute immunity,” for shooting Good. Separate but related, immigration officers also [swarmed a high school](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/08/after-border-patrol-clash-at-roosevelt-minneapolis-schools-cancel-classes?ref=rangemedia.co) less than three miles away the same afternoon Good was killed, deploying tear gas, roughing people up and handcuffing school employees. As tensions build in Minneapolis amidst escalation from the federal government, it’s important to stay informed with accurate news from local outlets who know their communities best. Here are a few sources we recommend (vouched for by a couple Minneapolis locals we know and trust): - [Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News](https://www.mprnews.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a public news organization - [Racket](https://racketmn.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a “writer-owned, reader-funded, alt-weekly-style publication,” focused on Minnesota news. - [Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), “a nonprofit digital newsroom dedicated to reporting for immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota.” - [Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), an independent, nonprofit news organization based in Minnesota and part of the larger nationwide States Newsroom - [Minnesota Star Tribune](https://www.startribune.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a large daily paper (caveat: it is owned by [a billionaire](https://www.startribune.com/glen-taylor-why-im-proud-to-own-the-star-tribune/600090046?ref=rangemedia.co), albeit a local billionaire.) - Ben Joveland (@benjoveland) on Instagram, a photojournalist for MPR News who was onsite at the shooting ### Local response The brutal federal responses to protests nationwide didn’t stop more demonstrations and vigils from springing up in Minneapolis and [across the country](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/ice-killed-good-protesters-around-the-nation-decry-minneapolis-shooting/?ref=rangemedia.co), including here in Spokane. Photojournalist Sandra Rivera was on scene to document the rapid response vigil, where more than 50 folks gathered at the fountain in Riverfront Park to mourn Good and prepare the community for continued action against ICE. Organizers from Mutual Aid Survival Squad (MASS) and Spokane Community Organized Response Network (SCORN) put up tables with everything from hand warmers, candles, warm drinks to art prints that read “ICE are murderers.” There was a moment of silence for Good and her family, followed by impromptu speeches from organizers and attendees. Looking out over the crowd, Ari Dean, a local organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, spoke about the importance of standing together. “I see a group of people that are willing to fight for each other. I see a group of people that are moved by love for their community and the belief and knowledge that we can have a different world, that we don’t have to live in a world that is characterized by hate and racist violence,” Dean said. “Even if it happens halfway across the country or halfway across the world, violence and injustice matters.” At one point, the crowd chanted useful information folks should know when documenting immigration enforcement action, like: - “What’s your badge number? - Are you a federal agent? - Is that a judicial warrant? - I’m exercising my right to film. - Is that a judicial warrant signed by a judge? - I’m exercising my right to film, and I’m not interfering.” At the end of the event, organizers gave out free whistles that folks can use to alert their neighbors of nearby immigration agents: “Three quick notes let people know of danger or emergency.” *Photos by Sandra Rivera.* ### Get involved Local organizers plan to continue protesting the actions of the federal government, both at large and specifically when it comes to Ross killing Good. We will update this section with action opportunities as they are confirmed. - An ["ICE Out for Good"](https://spokaneindivisible24.substack.com/p/ice-out-for-good-protest) protest will be held on Saturday, January 10 at BA Clark Park from 2 to 4 pm - Various groups have previously planned mobilizations scheduled before the 6 pm Spokane City Council meeting on January 12 focused on US military action in Venezuela and the [federal devaluation](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/06/g-s1-101090/national-parks-fee-free-calendar-mlk-juneteenth?ref=rangemedia.co) of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. - The Spokane Anarchists are holding a March Against ICE beginning at Riverfront Park on January 18 at noon. - Foray for the Arts is hosting a poetry memorial to remember Good by "sharing poetry of love, resistance and defiance," at the Post Street Bridge on Tuesday, January 13 at 7pm. As we’ve documented [increased local surveillance](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock/) at protests (and other news outlets have uncovered [widescale](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/01/ice-going-surveillance-shopping-spree?ref=rangemedia.co) [surveillance](https://www.404media.co/inside-ices-tool-to-monitor-phones-in-entire-neighborhoods/?ref=rangemedia.co) used by the federal government), [here are a few tips](https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-surveillance-digital-privacy/?ref=rangemedia.co) on [protecting digital safety](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/surveillance-self-defense-2025-year-review?ref=rangemedia.co) during protests. ### This is not the beginning or end of ICE violence Good’s killing is the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, though it’s far from the first; since Trump took office in 2025, there have been [at least 15 shootings](https://www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immigration-ice-shootings-guns-tracker/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Using%20Gun%20Violence%20Archive%20data,five%20others%20have%20been%20injured.) associated with immigration action. In September, Silverio Villegas González [was shot](https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/09/22/ice-officer-injuries-nothing-major-deadly-franklin-park-shooting-mexican-immigrant-chicago-video?ref=rangemedia.co) while fleeing agents in a Chicago suburb. In December, Border Patrol agents [shot a man](https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/cbp-border-patrol-agent-shoots-mexican-man-3-times-in-starr-county/?ref=rangemedia.co) on the Mexico-Texas border as they tried to detain him. On New Year’s Eve, an off-duty Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agent [shot and killed a man](https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/northridge-dhs-agent-deadly-shooting-new-years-eve-community-vigil/?ref=rangemedia.co) in California that authorities said raised a weapon. These reports don’t encompass other violence and fatalities at the hands of immigration agents that don’t involve guns, like the [two men hit by drivers of cars](https://news.wttw.com/2026/01/08/driver-shot-minneapolis-least-5th-person-killed-us-immigration-crackdown?ref=rangemedia.co) as they attempted to flee detainment and [a farmworker who fell ](https://news.wttw.com/2026/01/08/driver-shot-minneapolis-least-5th-person-killed-us-immigration-crackdown?ref=rangemedia.co)from a roof during an immigration raid. They also don’t account for violence before 2025; [reporting from *The Trace*](https://www.thetrace.org/2024/08/ice-agents-immigration-enforcement-violence/?ref=rangemedia.co)found ICE agents were responsible for 59 shootings between 2015 and 2021 — 23 of which were fatal. In 2025, [32 people died in ICE facilities](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/04/ice-2025-deaths-timeline?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Thirty%2Dtwo%20people%20died%20in,the%20US%20recently%2C%20seeking%20asylum.), making it the most deadly year for immigrants held in ICE custody since 2004\. [*The Marshall Report* found](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/09/27/ice-trump-california-georgia-death?ref=rangemedia.co) neglect and dangerous conditions contributed to the ghastly death toll. Last year also saw record numbers of violence and federal overreach from ICE in other ways: reporting from *Propublica* found that in 2025 ICE had [detained](https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-detentions-immigrant-kids-family-separations?ref=rangemedia.co) more than 600 immigrant children, held more than [170 US citizens](https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will?ref=rangemedia.co) and [acted with impunity](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-ice-secret-police-civil-rights-unaccountable?ref=rangemedia.co) as a “violent, shadowy police force.” Locally, Spokane saw the impacts of federal violence too, as masked federal agents shoved protesters (and our journalist) at the [June 11 protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) against ICE’s detainment of two young men — Cesar Perez and Joswar Torres — who had come to the United States [legally](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/two-refugees-came-here-legally-they-were-detained-/?ref=rangemedia.co) on a humanitarian parole program abruptly cancelled by Trump. More than 30 people were arrested on local charges related to the protest that day, and nine were later charged with federal crimes. As we were editing this story, we got an alert on our phones: in Portland, Oregon this afternoon, [two people were shot by federal immigration officers](https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/01/portland-police-responding-to-report-of-shooting-by-federal-immigration-agent.html?ref=rangemedia.co). That story is ongoing. *Editor's Note: We edited this story to link to the breaking news of the shooting this afternoon out of Oregon. We also added additional protest events.* ### Police accountability proposals coming to WA legislature URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/police-accountability-proposals-coming-to-wa-legislature/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T00:24:09.000Z In the last decade, Washington has enshrined some of the most progressive cops reforms in the nation. And yet years into the implementation of a dozen police accountability laws passed in 2021, some officers still routinely [kill](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-police-accountability-deescalation/), [injure](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/opo/documents-reports/closing-reports/2024/f23-054-closing-report.pdf), [surveil](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-protests-spokane/) and [sexually assault](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/30/two-spokane-police-officers-resign-amid-investigat/?ref=rangemedia.co) civilians. Aside from the rare resignation, those misdeeds usually go unpunished. The officers involved are sometimes placed on paid leave and later brought back to the same beat they worked before they committed violence. They are rarely prosecuted or punished — sometimes they [are promoted](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/sep/22/city-settles-with-family-of-man-shot-by-police-for/?ref=rangemedia.co). That’s because even with some of the strongest policing restrictions in the US, there are still massive holes in the web of justice. In Spokane, the city’s police department has been [among the top 10](https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/cities?ref=rangemedia.co) deadliest agencies in terms of police violence since the nonprofit Mapping Police Violence started collecting data in 2013, yet not one cop in Spokane County has faced local prosecution for killing a civilian. (In 2012, officer Karl Thompson was convicted of murdering Otto Zehm, but that was a federal prosecution.) Though police killings decreased in 2025, with one compared to six from 2024, Spokane police and county deputies brutally [squashed](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) a protest of federal immigration officers June 11, sparking national headlines and inflaming distrust between activist communities and police. Despite this, Washington sits at the vanguard of police accountability in the US: it bans cops from choking suspects, tracks all uses of physical force, pulls unfit officers’ credentials and has an independent authority to investigate police killings. But activists say the continued violence shows more is needed. In this year’s legislative session, one of the broadest slates of bills since the 2021 reforms is in the works. Some of the policies, like new regulations on surveillance technology, are still being written. Others, like one that would create an independent state office to prosecute officers who kill civilians in ways that violate law or policy, have taken several spins through the legislature without being adopted. The organizers pushing these laws are people who know firsthand the pain that comes when a loved one is killed by police. Activists with the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability (WCPA) on January 5 announced the package of legislation it is pushing during a press conference at the Central Library. All the speakers live in Spokane and work constantly — protesting outside the Spokane County Courthouse, meeting with police officials and lawmakers to press their cases and investigating cases of police violence on behalf of the broader public — to strengthen that web of state regulations. It’s a treacherous path for bills like this to get through the state legislature. In years where there isn’t much appetite for reform, they often just die in committee (the legislative bodies where lawmakers hash out the details of the laws before sending them to the full chamber for a vote). Budgeting agencies can attach heavy price tags to the bills, making it hard for lawmakers to justify during years the state has a large budget deficit — like 2026. Need a refresher on how a bill becomes a law? Check out our explainer on it all [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/how-bill-becomes-law-washington-state-legislature-andy-billig/). “I don't know if it's gonna pass this year,” said Debbie Novak, who leads the Eastern Region of the WCPA, of the independent prosecutor legislation. She mentioned powerful lobbies in Olympia as obstacles to the bill. “They speak of the dollar portion of it. The coalition speaks of the human piece of it, the sanctity of life. We will keep working on that independent prosecutor bill until it passes, however long it takes.” RANGE asked the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC), a prominent police lobby, if it had a stance on any of these proposals. Steven Strachan, executive director of WASPC, did not comment on the individual legislation, but sent the following statement through a spokesperson: “We look forward to working with legislators and community leaders in the upcoming session on thoughtful and bipartisan public safety legislation that focuses on keeping people safe.” (WASPC’s legislative agenda focuses on jail standards and helicopter operations funding.). There’s no way to tell this early which bills are likely to pass, but much depends on the price tags state agencies and organizations assign (which they do via a legislative mechanism called a “[fiscal note](https://www.rangemedia.co/prison-reform-legislation-washington-fiscal-notes/),” an analysis of a bill’s cost that does not account for any money a bill would save the state). With all that in mind, here is a rundown of what you may see in Olympia this legislative session, which will begin on January 26\. (The WCPA organizes them in two categories: priority bills and support bills. We’ll do the same here.) ### Priority bills **Independent prosecution** One of the most prominent 2021 reforms created a state-level office that investigates police killings: the Office of Independent Investigations (OII). The office is still ramping up, but is beginning to investigate a few cases, potentially including the killing of Novak’s son, David, in 2019 by Spokane police. The OII investigates and then it sends its finding back to the local prosecutor. But former Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell [already declined](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2019-08-21/haskell-declines-to-file-criminal-charges-against-cop-involved-in-shooting?ref=rangemedia.co) to prosecute Officer Brandon Rankin for David Novak’s killing, meaning that whatever OII’s finding, it’s unlikely that Novak’s case would be prosecuted here. The city of Spokane [settled](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-91RTwDWsY&ref=rangemedia.co) a wrongful death lawsuit with Novak in 2022 for $4 million, but not only is Rankin still on the job, he was promoted to detective. The independent prosecutor legislation, filed as [Senate Bill 5584](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5584&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) and [House Bill 1740](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1740&Chamber=House&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co), would create another state-level Office of Independent Prosecutor, charged with prosecuting local officers referred by the OII. Novak said this would alleviate perceived and actual conflicts of interest between local prosecutors and local police. “I did not understand, and I'm sure there's not any family in this room today that understood, that when their loved one was killed at the hands of police, the local prosecuting attorney is the one that decides if charges will be filed,” Novak said during the WCPA press conference. “These prosecuting attorneys work on a daily basis with those police officers. There is an inherent conflict of interest, and this has been proven time and time again.” **The AG’s power to probe police agencies** Washington state residents can request documents from police agencies just like any other public body, but the records often take months to come back and can be heavily redacted. You might think that the top cop in the state would have better access. They do not. When the state attorney general (AG) wants to investigate police who use force in ways they’re not supposed to, it must use the same process that journalists, activists or the average citizen use to get records. [Senate Bill 5925](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5925&Initiative=false&Year=2026&ref=rangemedia.co) and [House Bill 2061](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2161&Chamber=House&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co), would give the AG the authority to demand those documents on an expedited schedule, making it more nimble in holding police accountable for violations of law or policy. “We need the attorney general to have the right to go after systemic problems,” Novak said at the press conference. “An example of a systemic problem would be our agency here in Spokane: we have a high number of deaths. … The Attorney General would be able to step in and say, ‘Hey, Spokane Police Department or Spokane County Sheriff, we have authority and we have the right to access your information.’” **Certifying wild-west chiefs and sheriffs** Almost all law enforcement officers must be certified by the state Criminal Justice Training Commission, which sets standards for and trains Washington police (CJTC), to work in Washington. That certification is bestowed after an intensive training process that is rare in the US — few other states have a similar state-level requirement. The only exception to the certification requirement: sheriffs and police chiefs. The top brass at any agency can be sworn in without undergoing the training required of all their employees. [Senate Bill 5364](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5364&Chamber=Senate&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) and [House Bill 1399](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1399&Chamber=House&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) would require the leaders of police agencies across the state — including popularly elected sheriffs who, under current law, are given badges, guns and the authority to commit state violence against citizens without any law enforcement training or certification required — to do the CJTC training. It would also bar volunteer police — like posses, or deputized civilians commissioned for specific police work — from arresting people or exercising state violence. “‘Posse’ is a term that we heard from the Wild West Days, not something that we need in modern-day policing,” said Anwar Peace, who has decades of experience organizing against police violence and is a member of the WCPA, at the press conference. ### Support bills **Masked people — police? — rounding up civilians** Most police are required to identify themselves by name and badge number and show their face when doing normal police work. There are few exceptions, including for undercover work and work in environments that necessitate gas masks. This is not true of some federal agencies, including ones that enforce immigration law. You’ve probably seen videos or heard of masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other supporting officers wearing [civilian clothing](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) and [masks](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/masked-and-unidentifiable-the-risks-of-federal-law-enforcement-operating-without-identification/?ref=rangemedia.co) (or their impersonators) nabbing people off the streets and carting them away behind tinted windows, supposedly enforcing federal immigration law. [Senate Bill 5855](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5855&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) and [House Bill 2173](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2173&Chamber=House&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) would ban federal agents from covering their faces in the field. “It is reasonable for the public to be able to identify if they are talking to a random vigilante, kidnapper or a law enforcement officer who is employed by and who represents the United States,” said Cynthia Manycolors, who introduced the bill at the press conference. (Manycolors’s son Bjorn Manycolors was gunned down by Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies in 2023 as he fled.) “It breaks trust when we, the public, experience officers covering their identity.” **Reining in rampant surveillance** Washington, like 48 other states in the US, is being flooded with automated license plate readers (ALPRs), which snap a photograph of every car that passes them and translates that photograph into searchable data for police agencies. A RANGE [investigation](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock/) found ALPRs in Spokane County, manufactured by Flock Safety, were accessed by federal law enforcement and local agencies as far away as Texas to search for immigrants and at least one woman who was seeking reproductive healthcare. The WCPA is asking lawmakers to support [a law](https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-may-regulate-flock-in-next-legislative-session/) that would limit the amount of time agencies can keep ALPR data, bars them from sharing it with federal law enforcement, limits which departments can access that data to Washington law enforcement agencies and requires them to report how the cameras are used. The law is filed under [Senate Bill 6002](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=6002&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co). It does not have companion legislation in the House of Representatives. “ Most of us never consented to this, and many of us don't even know it's happening right now,” said Jim Leighty, a police accountability activist, at the January 5 press conference. (Leighty’s close friend Craig Johnson was [shot and killed](https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwest/idaho/article236361653.html?ref=rangemedia.co) by a Bonner County sergeant in 2017.) “There are very few laws in Washington that regulate how this data can be used or who is allowed to access it.” **Turning the body cams on** Most police in Washington wear a body camera on their uniform designed to record their interactions with civilians when they’re in the field. But there is no state law that they actually record those interactions. Family members of people who’ve been killed by police, journalists and activists who file requests for body camera footage frequently receive video that cuts off in the middle of or just before a police contact in which someone is harmed or killed. For example, RANGE requested body footage taken by Spokane Sheriff’s deputies before they killed Donald Hegel, culminating an hours-long standoff. The video we got back was about 10 minutes long and shows deputies pulling up to the scene, but the feed was cut off after they exit their vehicles. In other footage we requested from the Cheney Police Department that supposedly depicts a contact with a minor, the entire video is redacted to protect their privacy — even though the minor had died by the time the request was made.. WCPA is asking lawmakers to require police to start filming and recording audio on their cameras from the moment they get a call to the moment that call is over. This law is also still in the drafting process and does not yet have a bill number. “We can no longer afford to have officers in any municipality, in any part of our state and really in the United States think that it's okay to just turn your camera off or turn your mic off,” said Kurtis Robinson, a member of the WCPA, at the press conference. The WCPA will host a series of lobbying sessions in Olympia starting January 19 to convince lawmakers to support these bills. Now what do you do? Call your representatives and tell em’ what you think of these laws! Learn how [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-legislative-representatives/). ### SpoVal set to expand its police force URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/ Last updated: 2026-01-05T18:34:23.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. This week, most Spokane City Council meetings are cancelled, but the county, school districts and a couple of other cities are still meeting. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Many of the governing bodies this week are selecting leadership, most often chairs and vice chair, and appointing members to boards and commissions for 2026\. Pay attention to these positions so you know who to bug when you want something done! - The second phase of SpoVal’s years-long police expansion — which proposes 11 new officers — is coming before the Spokane County Board of Commissioners for approval. - Liberty Lake is set to renew its subscription with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers. - The advocacy group Washington Coalition for Police Accountability will announce its legislative priorities. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane Park Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-set-to-expand-its-police-force/) # Police accountability group to announce leg. agenda The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, which advocates for laws that govern how law enforcement can police communities and how abuses of power can be prosecuted, will announce its legislative priorities for the 2026 state legislative session today. The slate of laws it’s advocating for include: - A law creating a state-level agency that prosecutes police who kill civilians: Senate Bill 5584 and House Bill 1740 - A law expanding the Attorney General’s authority to investigate local police: Senate Bill 5925 and House Bill 2061 - A law regulating the use of [automated license plate readers](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock/) (aka Flock cameras) - A law banning law enforcement officers from masking their faces Several people whose loved ones were killed by police will give remarks. The event will take place at 1 pm on Monday, January 5 on the third floor of the Central Library. ## Spokane Park Board > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/spokane-park-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, January 8 at 3:30 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed via WebEx,* > *Call in: 408-418-9388 Access code: 2491 764 3350* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### New SpoVal police up for approval The Spokane Valley City Council is asking the BOCC to bless its second large expansion of the city’s police force, which is organized under the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. Spokane Valley plans to hire four detectives, three new patrol deputies, a traffic detective, a behavioral health deputy, a school resource officer and a sex crimes detective, for a total of 11 new hires. The expansion is paid for by a property tax hike the city’s voters approved last year, and the resolution before the BOCC is largely a formality.. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 6 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### BOCC to select leadership for 2026 Every year, the board selects a chairperson and vice chairperson from the slate of five commissioners. The chair presides over BOCC meetings and has the power to represent the entire board through their signature on legislation. The vice chair acts on behalf of the chair when the chair is absent. Last year, county commissioners Mary Kuney and Josh Kerns were reselected for the third consecutive year as chair and vice chair respectively. ### $1M to Inland Asphalt for Market Street project The BOCC is set to approve a $1,098,765.43 contract to Inland Asphalt Company to repave and reinstall signs for about a mile on Market Street between Freya Street and mile point 2.45\. It’s part of a $2.5 million improvement project, mostly funded by federal grants. ### Board appointments The BOCC is set to appoint the following people to boards in the county: - Douglas Hughes to position 2 on the Moab Irrigation District Number 20 Board of Directors - Ken Henson to the District 1 seat on the Spokane County Noxious Weed Control Board > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 6 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Leadership selection SRTC will select a chair and vice chair to preside over meetings in 2026\. Chairperson Rod Higgins is retiring from the Spokane Valley City Council, so his position will be open. ### Reducing driving miles Washington state has asked counties to adopt long-term planning strategies to monitor and eventually create policies to reduce the number of miles the average car owner drives. Late last year, SRTC introduced its Vehicle Miles Traveled Reduction Framework, and the board will take action on it this week. It’s part of [a broader effort](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-council-candidates-climate-change-policy/) to reduce carbon emissions in local comprehensive planning. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, January 8 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️/5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, January 8 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). # School Boards ## East Valley School District Board of Directors (special meeting) 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Special meeting for superintendent candidates The board will meet this week to select interviewees for a new superintendent. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, January 8 at 6 pm* > *EVSD Administration Office* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99216* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑/5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, January 7 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Council will select mayor, deputy mayor for 2026 The council will vote in a new mayor and deputy mayor, selected from the seven-member body. The mayor presides over the city council meetings and recommends applicants for public bodies. Unlike the Spokane mayor, the Spokane Valley mayor is a member of the city council and has significantly less executive power. The deputy mayor fills in for the mayor when the mayor is absent. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 6 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Flock cameras on consent agenda Tucked into the slate of decisions called the “consent agenda” — the part the city council generally passes in one motion — is Liberty Lake’s annual subscription to surveillance cameras manufactured by Flock Safety that photograph and log every license plate that passes by. The subscription would cost taxpayers $64,855 for the year. RANGE has reported extensively on Spokane County’s Flock cameras, showing they have been used by outside law enforcement in efforts to locate immigrants, people seeking reproductive health care and protesters. Several city agencies in Spokane County have their own subscriptions. See our Flock coverage [here](https://rangemedia.co/flock?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, January 6 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The POD: Welcome to the 2026 NEWS Year URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-2026-news-year/ Last updated: 2026-01-02T16:00:00.000Z It's 2026! Last year, [we released an episode](https://www.rangemedia.co/free-range-new-year-journalism-spokane/) about our NEWS Year Resolutions. This year, we decided to set another set of resolutions! We also reviewed our top coverage from 2025 and got a bit nerdy about the data. Read on! > [**Dear Gonzaga: A Letter from Assistant Professor Andrea Brower**](https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-andrea-brower-resignation-letter/) (*Andrea Brower, RANGE Media*) > > [**The State of Surveillance in Spokane**](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [**Queer BIPOC organizer arrested on their way to Spokane Pride**](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) (*Erin Sellers and Luke Baumgarten, RANGE Media*) > > [**Immigration officials are arresting people in Washington and warehousing them in Idaho**](https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-spokane-idaho/) (*Aaron Hedge and Luke Baumgarten, RANGE Media*) > > [**CIVICS: Spokane could become the first city to ‘Ban the Address’**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) (*Erin Sellers and Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*) > > [**Congressman Michael Baumgartner’s Spokane Town Hall: The wildest meeting we’ve ever attended**](https://www.rangemedia.co/baumgartner-town-hall-spokane/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [**Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests**](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) (*RANGE Media team*) > > [**9 Spokanites arrested by federal agents in connection to ICE protests**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/) (*Luke Baumgarten, Erin Sellers, and Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*) > > [**ICE agents with no warrant violently arrest migrants**](https://www.rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/) (*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*) ### The POD: A 2025 RANGE News Review URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-range-2025-news-review/ Last updated: 2025-12-24T15:36:01.000Z It’s the last *Free RANGE* episode of 2025! On this week’s episode, the team talked about our favorite stories and projects from this year. Take a look at them below! > [**Immigration officials are arresting people in Washington and warehousing them in Idaho**](https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-spokane-idaho/)(*Aaron Hedge and Luke Baumgarten, RANGE Media*) > > [**Deputies killed Donald Hegel a year ago. His sister is still looking for answers.**](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-shooting-spokane-sheriff-independent-prosecutor/)(*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*) > > [**The people want safer streets — and the electeds are listening**](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/) (*Lauren Pangborn, RANGE Media*) > > [**I laid myself off this week**](https://www.rangemedia.co/range-furlough-journalism-funding-local-news/) (*Luke Baumgarten, RANGE Media*) > > [**How to take action against injustice today**](https://www.rangemedia.co/action-spokane-ice-protest-federal/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [**Q&A with SPD Chief Kevin Hall on ICE and the protests**](https://www.rangemedia.co/qa-with-spd-chief-kevin-hall-on-ice-and-the-protests/) (*Luke Baumgarten and Val Osier, RANGE Media*) > > [**Jordin v. Brayman: Spokane’s first right-to-counsel eviction trial by jury**](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [**The POD: Community Organizing in Spokane**](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-community-organizing-in-spokane/)(Free RANGE *episode*) > > [**Food Resource Map**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-food-snap-help/) > > [**RANGE’s Flock Reporting**](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock/) ### Happy holidays! Here’s all our Flock data URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/public-flock-data/ Last updated: 2025-12-24T00:50:23.000Z Dear Reader, We want to wrap up our investigative series on automated license plate readers with a neat little bow — at least until we get more public records requests back — by putting all the public information we used to write it straight into your hands. If you want to poke around in the data (aka .csv files) or scroll through the county Flock documents yourself, here are the links: - [Spokane County Network Audit](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DfqgjEclM6BzLwIP7fZCw5yW8bySujwu/view?usp=share%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co): a .csv file with more than 2 million searches made on Spokane County cameras from January 1 to June 23, 2025\. This document contains the bulk of the evidence we used to report these stories. (Note: You will likely need a more robust software than Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets for this file. We recommend [Rowzero.com](https://rowzero.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)) - [Spokane County Flock training slides](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a745uIgO74jbfMlbAM7NTM56%5F9RIuMZJ/view?usp=share%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Spokane County authorized users list](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qSvvAE0G86RwJv0RIUzCR9dQ9fpIn7TE?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Spokane County Flock contracts](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qSvvAE0G86RwJv0RIUzCR9dQ9fpIn7TE?usp=share%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Airway Heights records](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17TrA2xgLeyVsey%5FqLis8UnIv%5F-oLnJjH?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Cheney records](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GoCrvWa8ajFgVNGByRew7SVv3bcPKXC2?usp=share%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Liberty Lake records](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EzzV73WNzllpLJcotSTGsgu6uSwZGo%5Fl?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Spokane Valley records](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Zqses7PNp58yiYlnmoVB9DuCtIBz%5FSKa?usp=share%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Spokane City automated license plate reader searching policy](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17g2atz-qmb-OEldJXQcobTxreEAGROv4?usp=share%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) ### How you can request more data yourself You asked us on social media, we’re answering — here’s how you can make your own requests. Flock cameras watch us, but we can [all watch Flock cameras](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/washington-court-rules-data-captured-flock-safety-cameras-are-public-records?ref=rangemedia.co). The data we have so far is for a short period of time with *one* agency — there are many more public agencies that have this data and many instances where you might want or need to access it. Plus, requesting records of local Flock data can hold these agencies accountable so they can’t continue to operate in the dark. To make a request, you’ll have to create a log-in to the jurisdiction you’re trying to request information from. Here are the links to the public records requests portals for the local agencies that have Flock cameras: - [Spokane County](https://spokanecountywa.govqa.us/WEBAPP/%5Frs/%28S%28n2eqxvf5hds0prcuountkbbz%29%29/supporthome.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Spokane Valley](https://spokanevalleywa.govqa.us/WEBAPP/%5Frs/%28S%28zqdgyufq2gysk0mmiq0gtf3e%29%29/SupportHome.aspx?sSessionID=&ref=rangemedia.co) - [Cheney](https://cheneywa.govqa.us/WEBAPP/%5Frs/%28S%282spp2szc1lg5lbqehrplla3x%29%29/SupportHome.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Liberty Lake](https://cityoflibertylakewa.nextrequest.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Airway Heights](https://cityofairwayheightswapd.nextrequest.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) Next, you’ll need to submit a search. The search that got us the data for this investigation back was: “*Pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:* *1\. Organization Audit in Flock. The report should include data logged from the period of January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed. Per Flock's documentation, the Organization Audit is available within the Insights tab and is defined as searches done within the agency.* *2\. Network Audit in Flock. The report should include data logged from the period of January 1, 2025, to the date this request is processed. Per Flock's documentation, the Network Audit is available within the Insights tab and is defined as searches of the organization’s Flock network by any agency in the Flock System.* *Please include all search terms used to search the county’s Flock network and the name of the searching agency. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically. Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.*” We also noted in a later email that we specifically wanted to receive a .csv file and that we were comfortable with the agency doing a blanket redaction on the license plate numbers to get the records back quicker. We currently have an identical request in to the county to get a network audit from June 23 to late November. Other ideas for documents to request include: - Communications from local elected officials including the keywords “Flock” “Flock cameras” or “ALPR.” - Police records associated with case numbers on interesting searches from the network audit - Photos of your own car taken by Flock cameras or searches made for your plate number (you’ll have to provide your license plate to do this) For more ideas, check out this [link](https://www.muckrock.com/foi/list/?q=flock&ref=rangemedia.co) to public records requests relating to Flock that other people have made throughout the country. ### The news behind the news Reporting this series took \*a lot\* of work, in large part because some of the agencies we queried weren’t very cooperative. Here’s some behind the scenes tidbits on how we got the story: #### One day more On June 23, we requested a network audit of Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s (SCSO) Flock cameras. On October 23, four months after we placed the request, we received our first installment of records. That installment was a 100-page .pdf — a file format that’s notoriously difficult to analyze — that included solely search results from January 1, 2025, just the first day in six months worth of requested data. The records office estimated it would take 30 days to give us another installment of records. We did the math — at that rate, it would have taken a full 15 years to get data for six months of Flock searches. After a phone call and some emails, we convinced the records office to give us future installments in bigger chunks in a .csv spreadsheet format if they could exclude the entire license plate column from the records. Originally, records staff were having to go through the file with 2 million results to check license plate numbers against open cases because they didn’t want to jeopardize active cases. We agreed to the compromise, which is why our data doesn’t include the actual license plate numbers being searched. #### Maybe in May? Before each story we published, we asked the SCSO for comment by phone and email. They responded just once, to a phone call in late November from our reporter Aaron Hedge. On that phone call, Hedge described the national look-up system that allowed a Texas cop to search Spokane County cameras for a woman [who’d had an abortion](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/). Sheriff John Nowels had told *The Spokesman* in October that the national look-up had since been turned off. “What was the date of that?” Hedge asked on the call. “Is there a good timeframe for that?” “We’re talking sometime in May,” Nowels said. In a follow-up call, Hedge told Gregory we had uncovered searches made by law enforcement agencies across the country, including federal agencies, up to June 23, the day we requested records. How was that possible if national look-up was turned off in May, Hedge asked. Gregory hedged, saying the May timeframe may have been inaccurate, and some searches could have been made as late as June. Gregory said the sheriff’s office didn’t know the exact date it had turned off the national look-up feature, but he maintained it is turned off now. After we published the first story in the series, which focused on the alleged abortion case, Gregory took issue with how we quoted the conversation. When the county said cameras were turned off in May, “we were talking timeframe generalities,” Gregory said. He claimed we hadn’t given him enough time to get the information to respond to our questions. We asked if, when *The Spokesman* interviewed him a full month earlier, he gave an exact date when national look-up was turned off. “ No, we were talking again in a portion of a year, an about, an approximation,” Gregory said. He said he would get us information if given enough time, but he hasn’t responded to any of our subsequent requests for comment or given us an exact date. Nowels recently [told KXLY](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-county-sheriff-defends-flock-cameras-amid-privacy-concerns/article%5Fa3521210-675e-4f5f-b262-6749b8edef4b.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that the national look-up feature was shut off in July, which we have since confirmed through a records request. It’s unclear why it took two months for the county to find the answer as to when they turned off the feature that let Border Patrol agents [directly search](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-flock-cameras-immigration/) our cameras. It’s also unclear how those searches continued from March to July, if SCSO audits their data every month, as they told KXLY they do. #### Committed to transparency and helpfulness The city of Spokane was much more responsive to our inquiries — possibly because they’re one of the only jurisdictions in the county without Flock cameras. But we still had a few questions about searches Spokane Police Department (SPD) employees made on Spokane County cameras. The search that seemed most striking, made by an SPD analyst, sought a “suspicious vehicle near protest” between February 4 and March 4, when multiple protests occurred. SPD spokesperson Daniel Strassenberg sent us the following statement: *“The search was related to an ongoing investigation into a series of incidents at different demonstrations involving criminal activity. Some of these incidents were initially recorded as protests, while others were documented as harassment.* *During the investigation, two individuals were identified as suspects in criminal activity associated with these events, and the red Hyundai was believed to be connected to them. As a result, multiple misdemeanor charges, including coercion, harassment, and stalking, were later submitted to the prosecutor's office for charging consideration for both suspects. The incident report documenting the charging request is 2025-2004169.* *Please let us know if you need any additional information or clarification. We are committed to being as transparent and helpful as possible.”* We wanted to know if the suspects whose car was searched had ever been arrested and what happened with their case, so we asked for the incident report or the names of the individuals. Strassenberg pointed us to the city public records portal and gave a case number that ended up being incorrect. Once we got the correct number from Strassenberg, we put in a new request, but because Spokane public records are [notoriously slow](https://www.rangemedia.co/citizens-public-records-spokane-washington/), we won’t get that back until January 15 at the earliest. It’s unclear why SPD couldn’t just give us the information required to follow up on the charging recommendation, but hey, we appreciate that they responded to us at all. #### Unanswered questions Here are the questions we've asked the sheriff's office that we’re still waiting for answers on: - Was the sheriff's office aware that Spokane County Flock cameras were searched by a Texas cop looking for an abortion seeker? - What exactly did Sheriff Nowels mean when he told the Spokesman Flock data was “locked down”? - How often is the county's Flock data audited and who performs the audits? - Have any sheriff deputies been disciplined for misuse of Flock data? - When did the sheriff turn off national access to Flock data? (This has since been answered via a records request.) - What is the sheriff doing to make sure Flock data is used responsibly? - Were you aware that the county Flock network was searched for immigration violations? Do you consider these searches to be violations of the Keep Washington Working Act? - Were you aware that federal agencies had access at least until June 23 to search the county Flock network? - Did you ever enable direct, 1:1 sharing of your network with U.S. Border Patrol? - In SCSO training materials, it says that searches that are left blank or include only “investigation” as the search reason are improper uses of Flock. There were dozens from your officers made with some form of “investigation” used as the reason for the search, and no case number given. What are your plans to curb this kind of usage? - According to the public transparency portal, policy also prohibits searches for “traffic enforcement.” We found searches from your deputies with the sole reason given as “TRAFFIC.” Is that an allowable use? - The public transparency portal also says data is retained for only 30 days, but we found dozens of examples of deputies searching for hits on days that occurred sometimes 8 months earlier. How would they be searching Flock for data reaching that far back if records are only maintained for 30 days? - You told the Spokesman that SCSO doesn't do searches for outside agencies. We found searches made by SCSO employees for “DEA load vehicle” “ATF Idaho,” and “usms fugitive.” Would you call those searches made by outside agencies? Why were those searches made? - What are the potential consequences for an employee consistently improperly searching Flock? - How many cases have you solved because of Flock specifically, not just RTCC tech in general? - \[*When inquiring about the information removed from the public transparency portal over the summer, with photos attached of the removal*.\] - Were you aware of these removals? - Why were these pieces removed? Is SCSO trying to hide from residents what it's doing with Flock? - Does SCSO plan to add these items back? If so, when? We will update this story if the sheriff’s office responds. For information on this investigative series and why we reporting it, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/). ### The POD: Reporting on the Family Policy Institute of WA URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-reporting-on-the-fpiw/ Last updated: 2025-12-19T19:23:43.000Z Once again, reporter Aaron Hedge was joined by Cassy Benefield – a reporter and associate editor with [Fāvs News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co) – to discuss their recent story on the Family Policy Institute of Washington. Read it below: > [Conservative think tank: Immigration ‘undermined Christianity’](https://www.rangemedia.co/conservative-think-tank-immigration-undermined-christianity/) (*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media and Cassy Benefield, [Fāvs News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co)*) ### Washington may regulate Flock in next legislative session URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-may-regulate-flock-in-next-legislative-session/ Last updated: 2025-12-18T21:07:16.000Z Across the US, state and local governments are restricting how police can use automated license plate readers (ALPRs). These cameras, such as the Flock cameras leased by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), [photograph](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/) every license plate that passes them and feed the data into a national network searchable by a vast number of law enforcement agencies. The Colorado legislature has [proposed a bill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgS0f5wR5xo&ref=rangemedia.co) that would require police to obtain a warrant before they seek historical data from the cameras. The city of Denver [amended](https://www.denver7.com/news/front-range/denver/denver-bans-sharing-of-license-plate-reader-data-with-the-feds-as-part-of-five-month-flock-contract-extension?ref=rangemedia.co) its contract with Flock, the largest manufacturer of the cameras, to keep ALPR data from being shared with the federal government. [Sixteen states](https://www.ncsl.org/technology-and-communication/automated-license-plate-readers-state-statutes?ref=rangemedia.co) have laws on the books restricting how police departments can use them. Here in Washington, Skamania County and the cities of Olympia, Redmond and Lynnwood [recently turned](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/wa-cities-reconsider-flock-cameras-as-judge-rules-their-data-is-public/?ref=rangemedia.co) off their cameras, at least temporarily. They made the changes after the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights published [a report](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/10/21/leaving-the-door-wide-open/?ref=rangemedia.co) exposing weaknesses in the security of Flock cameras and a [county court ruled](https://www.goskagit.com/news/local%5Fnews/court-denies-request-that-it-find-flock-safety-camera-data-is-exempt-from-public-records/article%5Ff1edd028-d242-479c-ada8-f2dfca73a1b1.html?ref=rangemedia.co) data collected by ALPRs is public record. Spokane County has not committed to any regulations, but the Washington legislature is working with the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to impose its own restrictions in a bill the nonprofit calls the “Driver Privacy Act.” “We're not trailblazing at this point,” said state Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane). “We’re catching up.” Police agencies [say](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-county-sheriff-defends-flock-cameras-amid-privacy-concerns/article%5Fa3521210-675e-4f5f-b262-6749b8edef4b.html?ref=rangemedia.co) Flock cameras help investigators collaborate across agencies to solve crimes. But the cameras have in many cases been used by federal and local law enforcement across the country to [search for immigrants](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-flock-cameras-immigration/) in sanctuary states, surveil protesters and at least once to track a [Texas woman](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/) who had an abortion. **What is Flock and who else has access to these cameras?** Flock is a surveillance technology brand that sells a specific brand of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) that are used on a subscription basis by law enforcement agencies across the state. The cameras constantly log photos of any car that drives past them, whether that driver has potentially committed a crime or not, which is then stored for up to 30 days in a database owned by the law enforcement agencies. That database can then be searched by whoever has a direct log-in to it, or any agencies that it has been shared with. Read more about Flock cameras in our region and where they’re located [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/). The Spokane Sheriff’s network currently has [more than 60 Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/) operational within the county, including mobile Flock cameras mounted on vehicles that move around the area. “This information ends up being really sensitive because it can be used to track people, but also to infer activities — what they’re doing, where they're visiting, that sort of thing,” said Tee Sannon, technology policy program director at the ACLU. “That information then becomes ripe for misuse. We're particularly concerned about the misuse of this data to harm vulnerable groups.” Washington currently does not restrict the technology at all, and federal agents have used the cameras to try and find immigrants, which is a way around Washington’s sanctuary law. The ACLU hopes the legislation will enshrine strong limitations on the use of Flock cameras, according to a summary of its proposals obtained by RANGE: - Limit the “types of public agencies that can operate ALPRs in Washington to law enforcement, parking enforcement, tolling, and transportation agencies.” - Ban agencies “from using ALPRs for immigration investigations and enforcement, and from collecting data around sensitive locations such as facilities that offer protected health care services.” - Ban agencies from using Flock cameras to surveil protesters. (In the first half of this year, various outside law enforcement used Spokane County cameras to [search for vehicles at protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-protests-spokane/).) - Limit the amount of time police can keep data on vehicles that are not flagged as being connected to crimes to three minutes. - Requires agencies to report to an oversight authority how it is using the ALPR data. (That oversight authority has not been identified, Sannon said.) Right now, there is very little oversight for the cameras or the data they collect. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told RANGE earlier this month that SCSO regularly audits the searches and then told KXLY that they audit once per month. However, RANGE found thousands of searches that appear to violate SCSO policy in data collected during the first half of the year. It’s unclear what the department does with its audits, but Nowels said no one has ever been disciplined for such violations. Law enforcement jurisdictions across Eastern Washington, including SCSO, Liberty Lake, Cheney, Airway Heights and Spokane Valley all lease Flock cameras. Sannon said the ACLU is working with Senator Yasmin Trudeau (D-Tacoma) and Representative Osman Salahuddin (D-Redmond) to write and introduce the legislation in their respective chambers. But it’s likely the bill won’t include the ACLU’s full wish list. *The Washington State Standard* [reported](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/12/01/washington-lawmakers-want-to-regulate-license-plate-readers/?ref=rangemedia.co) Trudeau’s proposed legislation may limit retention to three days, rather than three minutes. Sannon, on the other hand, argues that the “gold standard” for a time limitation is a law in the state of New Hampshire, [which requires](https://www.citizenscount.org/issues/law-enforcement-surveillance?ref=rangemedia.co) police departments to delete data three minutes after it’s collected unless it flags a vehicle that’s connected to a crime. Trudeau is working with stakeholders including the ACLU and police lobbies from across the state to triangulate a bill that would represent everyone’s best interests. The ACLU’s summary of the proposal worries that without oversight and regulation, police agencies could use the data to violate people’s rights, even if they are not accused of a crime. “The overwhelming majority of people whose data is captured by ALPRs are not suspected of a crime, and yet information about their whereabouts is stored and searchable in a massive database that allows agencies to reconstruct people’s daily routines and activities,” the nonprofit wrote. ### Local response Spokane County Sheriff’s spokesperson Mark Gregory and the Sheriff’s department did not return a request for comment on the draft Washington legislation, but Sheriff John Nowels [told](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-county-sheriff-defends-flock-cameras-amid-privacy-concerns/article%5Fa3521210-675e-4f5f-b262-6749b8edef4b.html?ref=rangemedia.co) KXLY this week, "If we lose \[the cameras\], our communities will be less safe, and our cops will be able to do less work than we're able to do today." RANGE reached out to each member of the Spokane County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) to ask whether the county was considering its own action on Flock cameras, but none responded as of press time. We also contacted Pat Bell, the spokesperson for the BOCC, who said he would check, but we have not heard back by press time. We will update this story if he responds. Senator Riccelli said he recently spoke with Nowels about the legislation, and suggested that during their conversation, the sheriff reiterated his comments to KXLY. Riccelli’s impression of the county’s stance was that “they think \[ALPRs are\] a very helpful tool for law enforcement.” He said they were also concerned with the [county court ruling](https://www.goskagit.com/news/local%5Fnews/court-denies-request-that-it-find-flock-safety-camera-data-is-exempt-from-public-records/article%5Ff1edd028-d242-479c-ada8-f2dfca73a1b1.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that requires them to keep photographs generated by the ALPRs as public record. “I think that they have huge concerns with the cost,” Riccelli said. Though Riccelli could not comment on any specific regulatory proposal, he said something has to be done about the vast network that Flock has enabled. “Let me be clear, backdoor communications with ICE are not okay,” Riccelli told RANGE. “It sounds like that’s been shut off \[in Spokane County\], but I think it needs to be explicit that without permission these cameras should be used for their intended use only.” Representative Timm Ormsby, a Spokane Democrat, echoed Riccelli’s thoughts. ​ “We're very concerned, as a principal, about unfettered data sharing, sharing of sensitive information,” Ormsby said. “So it would matter what guardrails and guidelines agencies that are sharing that data have and what they're using for criteria.” He told RANGE the surveillance cameras have caught lawmakers’ attention since they started becoming popular with police departments starting in 2021. “This is something that several work groups and interested members have engaged in because of the experience we've seen in the past about abuses, particularly related to federal immigration issues,” Ormsby said. ### ‘Operation Pimp Juice,’ ‘Serial Beer Thief,’ and Grand Theft Excavator URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-spokane-county-bad-searches/ Last updated: 2025-12-17T19:13:39.000Z This story was published in partnership with the[ University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/?ref=rangemedia.co), who provided data analysis. Flock cameras are used to solve serious crimes. Or at least, that’s how local and nationwide law enforcement market their usage of the integrated automated license plate reader (ALPR) networks to the general public. In [a marketing post](https://www.flocksafety.com/customers/spokane-county-sheriffs-office-improves-investigative-efficiency-with-flockos?ref=rangemedia.co) hosted on the Flock website, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) highlighted the results of the camera usage. It claimed “a staggering 16 stolen vehicles were recovered within a month, all thanks to technology-enabled policing,” and “20 arrests, a direct outcome of technology, bolstered the crime-fighting prowess of the force.” County spokesperson Mark Gregory recently told [KXLY](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-county-sheriff-defends-flock-cameras-amid-privacy-concerns/article%5Fa3521210-675e-4f5f-b262-6749b8edef4b.html?ref=rangemedia.co) that in the last two years, they’ve found 17 missing people, arrested 572 suspects and recovered 247 vehicles. For the sake of simplicity, if you assume all of the 572 suspects were found guilty, that’s at most 836 crimes solved using Flock cameras in the last two years. We don’t have data on how many Flock searches SCSO has made from 2023 to 2025, we only know how many searches they made in the first six months of this year: 101,358. That means that even if every single one of those 836 cases were solved in the first half of 2025, the efficacy of the cameras would be just 0.82%. So in the absolute most generous reading of the data, the Sheriff’s department is solving about eight crimes for every 1,000 searches. If we average Gregory’s crime data across the two years of reporting, for the six-month period we have Flock search data, the number is closer to just two crimes solved for every 1,000 searches. But in the 2,301,239 searches made on the Spokane County Flock cameras from January 1 to June 23, we found numerous examples of strange, suspicious and sometimes darkly comedic searches made by both local and nationwide law enforcement. Here are some examples of what we found. ### First, the funny Spell your Flock searches correctly, [challenge level: impossible](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/x-challenge-impossible?ref=rangemedia.co). One thing that made analyzing the overwhelming amount of data in the network audit difficult was the sheer number of misspellings that made grouping and counting searches tricky. Want to know how many drug-related searches were made on the cameras? You also have to search “drigs” and “drygs.” Other misspellings that tripped up our data analysis include: - “Stolen vicle,” searched by an SCSO deputy. - “miscellaneius” — a questionable search even before the misspelling — searched by an officer from New Castle County, Delaware - “cajacking,” searched by an officer in Des Moines, Washington - “Suspcious Vehicle” searched by a Spokane Police Department officer (who did include a corresponding case number.) Internal acronyms used by individual departments also created interesting searches, like “omg” “Eagle Ridge burgs,” and “sus” — presumably meaning “outlaw motorcycle gang,” “Eagle Ridge burglaries” and “suspicious,” respectively. But often, these acronyms aren’t accompanied with case numbers or clarification, making it tricky if not impossible to determine their legitimacy. Is “TBD” a search where an officer couldn’t make up their mind, or a search for a vehicle related to “theft by deception?” Is “Narc” a search for a narcotics related crime, or for a whistleblower? With no case number, we don’t know, and agencies auditing their own searches might not either. **What is Flock and who else has access to these cameras?** Flock is a surveillance technology brand that sells a specific brand of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) that are used on a subscription basis by law enforcement agencies across the state. The cameras constantly log photos of any car that drives past them, whether that driver has potentially committed a crime or not, which is then stored for up to 30 days in a database owned by the law enforcement agencies. That database can then be searched by whoever has a direct log-in to it, or any agencies that it has been shared with. Read more about Flock cameras in our region and where they’re located [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/). The Spokane Sheriff’s network currently has [more than 60 Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/) operational within the county, including mobile Flock cameras mounted on vehicles that move around the area. Other ridiculous-sounding searches we noticed on the Spokane County network audit include: - “Operation Pimp Juice,” and “pimp+juice,” searched by officers in Tennessee, who gave no corresponding case numbers. These could be related to a joint human trafficking operation between Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Tennessee law enforcement, as an [archived press release](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/joint-human-trafficking-operation-results-5-arrests?ref=rangemedia.co) from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and [news coverage](https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2025/04/21/cops-tennessee-human-trafficking-op-ends-in-9-arrests-victims-aided/83191051007/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Two%2Dday%2C%20Tennessee%20undercover%20operation,trafficking%20nets%20nine%20arrests%2C%20charges&text=A%20two%2Dday%2C%20joint%20undercover,35%2C%20of%20Nashville%2C%20Tennessee.) from the region come up when you Google search for Operation Pimp Juice. - “Serial Beer Thief,” searched by officers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which seems to be a [more ](https://www.krmg.com/news/local/suspected-serial-beer-thief-arrested/HATIjdlzNyjtL8p376Oh9O/?ref=rangemedia.co)[frequent](https://ktul.com/topic/Beer%20thief?ref=rangemedia.co) problem than you’d think in Tulsa. - “Stolen excavator,” searched by an SCSO analyst. We found this news story about a man who [stole an excavator](https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-valley-man-arrested-4-times-in-2-weeks-latest-involves-stolen-excavator/article%5F4e6b2c38-d20f-11ef-b8ec-879a47d490ef.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and ran over his neighbor’s lawn, not to be confused with the more recent story about another [excavator theft](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/idaho/man-arrested-destroying-new-home-excavator-post-falls/293-68424e1a-105b-4975-a4b1-62812e82d126?ref=rangemedia.co), resulting in the destruction of a newly built home. Interestingly, neither of these incidents happened around the time of the search. Perhaps a mysterious third, underreported excavator theft happened? - “City d ass 2,” searched by an SCSO deputy. We still have no idea what this was about. - “‘Jared’ is suspected of transporting illegal drugs from IL to NE’” searched by a police department in Nebraska. A quick google search didn’t reveal any additional details as to who “Jared” is or what “Jared” might be an alias for. More legitimate, but still humorous, queries include “Black market marijuana” by Michigan State Police, “illegal+fish+possession+” by a Wisconsin sheriff’s office, “stolen golf cart,” by a county in Georgia and “METH,” searched by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics. Without additional information or case numbers, it’s hard to tell exactly what an officer searching “METH” is trying to use Flock cameras for. ### The suspicious Other searches on the Flock network caught our eye for less humorous reasons. One of the key issues privacy and accountability advocates have railed against is the lack of accountability in network audits across the country. For example, if an officer just searches for “.” or “1” or “wanted person,” it’s impossible to know what they are actually looking for and why. Some search fields seem to hint at more nefarious use. Fifteen searches were made on the Spokane County network for variations of the phrase “bad guy.” “Wanted bad guy,” “bad guy,” and “bad guy locating,” all appeared on the network audit. Only one of those searches — “bad guy locating,” made by a Spokane Police Department officer — was accompanied by a case number. Eleven of those searches, made by an officer in Mississippi, read “NA” in the case number field, likely meaning Not Applicable.” One search from a Wisconsin deputy gave the sole reason as “civil,” which seems to represent the opposite of using the cameras to solve crimes. Many searches are incredibly vague, like “intel,” “welfare,” “undefined,” “wanted,” “criminal,” “ongoing investigation,” “xxxx,” “law,” “visits,” or “dice,” — no case number attached. Again, these searches could be legitimate, or they could be for undocumented immigrants or victims of police violence. There were also searches made by local officers that violated department policy. The public transparency portal for SCSO says traffic enforcement is a prohibited use of Spokane County cameras. Yet, two SCSO deputies explicitly searched for vehicles with traffic violations. Two searches were made for “traffic infraction” and two for “TRAFFIC.” Additionally, one Spokane Police Department (SPD) officer made a search for “Traffic offense.” SCSO employees also made multiple searches on behalf of agencies in Idaho. Five searches were made on request of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Idaho. Six searches were made for cases in Kootenai County — where Sheriff Bob Norris has [said](https://www.investigatewest.org/we-have-lots-of-work-for-you-guys-emails-show-coordination-between-deputies-in-idahos-kootenai-county-and-immigration-officials/?ref=rangemedia.co) his office is actively working with the federal government to support the Trump administration’s goal of deporting as many people as possible. One of those Kootenai County searches had no case number attached. Another suspicious pattern we noticed was discrepancies in how long data is stored. The SCSO public-facing transparency portal says they only store data, like photos, for 30 days (though they preserve their search log for longer for audit and accountability purposes.) However, we noticed dozens of searches where the date the searcher was seeking Flock photos and information from was more than 30 days prior to the date they actually submitted the search. In some cases, the time lapse was eight months. We asked SCSO spokesperson Mark Gregory whether searching for “traffic,” would be an allowable use of the cameras, and how deputies could be searching Flock for data stretching back months if records are only maintained for 30 days, but he didn’t answer. We will update this story if he ever does. ### The sad In November, the [Electronic Frontier Foundation reported](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/license-plate-surveillance-logs-reveal-racist-policing-against-romani-people?ref=rangemedia.co) that more than 80 law enforcement agencies made searches that included harmful, stereotyping language against Romani people, which perpetuates racial stereotypes and systemic harm. Twelve of those searches appeared on Spokane County’s Flock log too. One of those searches, from a deputy in Michigan, was solely the word “g\*psy.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-12.png) *The network audit showing searches made using a slur for the Romani people.* To us, one of the most striking uses of Spokane County’s Flock cameras was a search made by a Florida police officer for a crime at a Publix. The search reason just read: “Baby formula theft.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-11.png) ### New City contract latest in Spokane’s scrap with SCRAPS URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/ Last updated: 2025-12-15T19:41:43.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. **Some things that stick out to us this week include:** - After years of fighting about allegedly unnecessary euthanasias, Spokane City could approve a new animal control contract with SCRAPS. - The city council electeds are gearing up for the annual seat shuffle and will discuss a first draft of their 2026 board and committee appointments at the Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee. These appointments will tell you which representatives you should bug for specific issues. - The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees will discuss how much to pay the Library Director. - A new budget, legislative priorities and chair person for 2026 could all be approved at the Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors. - The county commission will accept nearly $1 million in state funding to pay for the management of solid waste. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) (and Study Session) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) - [Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-city-contract-latest-in-spokanes-scrap-with-scraps/) #### Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### PFAS lawyers The city has been paying an outside legal firm to consult and give advice on their legal responsibilities regarding the Spokane International Airport and its role in the West Plains PFAS contamination. The contamination issue — and who is on the hook to deal with it — is obviously still ongoing, so council is set to approve an additional $100,000 to the legal contract, bringing the total spent so far to $150,000. ### The Year of the Co-op Council will be voting on a non-binding resolution, sponsored by Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon, which will declare 2025 to be “The Year of the Cooperative,” and commit the city to exploring “all options to support the development and resilience of local cooperative businesses.” Putting our bias front and center here, but we think this is pretty rad, for two reasons. First, if you didn’t know it already, RANGE is cooperatively owned — we’re actually part of the larger [Spokane Workers Cooperative](https://www.spokane.coop/?ref=rangemedia.co), which includes [Great Harvest Bakery](https://www.facebook.com/GreatHarvest.Spokane/) and [Treatment Creative](https://www.wearetreatment.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). We love legislation that celebrates an economic model that puts the power back with the people, because when businesses are owned by people and not billionaires, we get to collectively decide to do cool things, like devote a week to creating [a map of food resources in our region](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-food-snap-help/), or starting a [Food for Friends](https://www.kxly.com/news/no-questions-asked-great-harvest-spokane-launches-program-to-provide-free-meals-to-those-in/article%5F0094679a-070e-4b73-a229-17193972faa7.html?ref=rangemedia.co) program. The other reason we think this is cool is that it’s the second (yes, second!!!) piece of legislation to come out of our annual Politicrawl, where we bring local politicians, journalists and civically-curious people together at bars across the city. One of the attendees, Emily from [Inland Cooperative Services](https://www.inlandcs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), pitched a few of the electeds on cooperative support, even bringing a draft of legislation to hand out. If there’s one thing we love more than worker-ownership, it’s seeing people engage with the political system out in the wild! ### Agreements with the county Council is set to approve new interlocal agreements with Spokane County that will dictate animal services and emergency services. The first is a new contract with Spokane Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS), which the city has been at odds with since news broke about [14 euthanasias in one day](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/sep/21/spokane-city-council-asks-for-transparency-after-s/?ref=rangemedia.co), which some employees said were [needless](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/may/16/former-staff-volunteers-claim-scraps-needlessly-eu/?ref=rangemedia.co). The controversy continued with a whistleblower former employee [accusing SCRAPS of euthanizing a dog](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/12/former-employee-suing-scraps-for-firing-her-allege/?ref=rangemedia.co) she wanted to adopt as retaliation. There were also regional discussions about governance and accountability, with electeds from Spokane and Spokane Valley — who contract with the county for services — taking issue with the lack of board oversight and transparency from SCRAPS. Most recently, there was a back-and-forth over whether or not Spokane city [could have a say](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/aug/04/after-spokane-asks-to-help-choose-new-scraps-chief/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the hiring of a new SCRAPS director after former director [Jesse Ferrari](https://www.rangemedia.co/scraps-dogs-ferrari-spokane/) resigned. The city explored their options, and it looks like they’re choosing to stick it out with SCRAPS, likely because of budget limitations. However, the new contract does address some of their concerns. The new SCRAPS director will provide a monthly performance and service report to increase transparency, and on the euthanasia front, no euthanasia will be performed without the express approval of that director. SCRAPS will agree to “take all reasonable steps to avoid euthanasia of animals due to lack of physical capacity in its facility.” If an animal that originated within Spokane city limits is set to be euthanized due to lack of capacity, SCRAPS will give the city three days’ notice and the opportunity for the city to transfer the animal to “an alternative location.” If the city disagrees with the county’s euthanasia practices, the contract states, there will be a mediation process to look for mutually agreeable solutions. If none can be found, the city can terminate the contract. The other county contract up for a vote is a contract regarding Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, but there’s no additional info. Apparently, “The documents relating to OPR 2025-0877 were not available at the time of packet creation/distribution.” > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 15 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, December 18 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### The committee shuffle Every December and January, Spokane City Council has to make a few big decisions that determine the power balance for the next year, like: who gets to chair the committees? Who is the Council President's second-in-command? Who do we send to the external committees? Who gets to be in which council workgroups? At today’s committee meeting, they’re planning to discuss their first draft of the list, which can be found in full on page 169 of the agenda. Here are a few of the key points we noticed: - Dillon is set to stay as Wilkerson’s council pro-tempore — her second-in-command. Last year, there was a lot of last-minute kerfuffle on the dais over who got the job, so when this goes up for a vote we’ll be keeping an eye on that. - Council Member Michael Cathcart — the lone conservative on the board who has already launched a 2026 bid for County Auditor — has been shut out of all committee chairships and vice chairships. It’s a bit of a snub, since he’s the most senior member of the council. Meanwhile, freshman Kate Telis has been given chairship of the Public Safety & Community Health Committee in this first draft. - For our transit riders out there, here’s the lowdown on who will be representing you at the various transportation boards and commissions. Over at the Spokane Transit Authority (STA), seats are slated to go to council members Zack Zappone, Kitty Klitzke, Cathcart and Sarah Dixit. For the Spokane Regional Transportation Commission (SRTC), Klitzke will be joined by Telis, who is replacing outgoing Council Member Jonathan Bingle. Dixit, Telis and Zappone will all serve as liaisons to the Spokane City Transportation Commission. - For fans of the parks, the libraries and the arts, your reps will likely be Wilkerson to the Parks Board, Telis to the Library Board and Dixit to the Spokane Arts Board. - Internally, workgroups have to be kept to less than three members to avoid breaking quorum rules, so these spots are a bit exclusive. If this first draft passes, Wilkerson, Dillon and Zappone will be on the budget workgroup for 2026; Wilkerson Dillon and Klitzke on the Council Office Operations workgroup; and Dillon, Dixit and Klitzke on the Legislative Committee, which helps advocate in state legislature for council priorities. - Overall, the appointment leaderboard is topped by Wilkerson with 15, Zappone with 11 and Dixit with 10\. When you go district by district, District 3 has the most appointments with 19, District 1 with 18 and District 2 with 17. When this list is finalized and voted on, which won’t be until January, we’ll keep you posted on the final list — after all, it tells you which council members you should call about which issues! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 15 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Low info, high stakes? As per usual, the library agendas don’t come with a packet of additional info, so we just get the headline of the items up for a discussion. There are a few big ones: Planning for a 2026 marketing campaign, discussing Vision 2030 and discussing compensation for the Library Director — which could be particularly interesting as any change in executive compensation could tip the scales in one way or the other for the library’s precarious budget. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 16 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, WA, 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). #### Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $852K in state funding for solid waste management The local and state governments spend a lot of money managing the things we throw away — paper, food, plastic, poop. So Spokane County gets a lot of state funding to dispose of those things in an environmentally sustainable way. The county will receive $852,000 from the Department of Ecology to take care of this waste and it will have to pay $284,000 from its enterprise fund to take care of the remaining cost. ### Nearly $2.3M in housing funds on table for Gray, Elk fire victims Spokane County is looking to allocate $2,298,240 from community development block grants to house victims of the 2023 Oregon and Gray Road wildfires that destroyed hundreds of buildings and killed a person. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 16 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Board appointments The county plans to appoint the following people to boards and commissions: - Clinton Branz to the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center Advisory Board as an At-Large representative - Jessica Hanson to the Spokane County Library District Board of Trustees - Wayne Brokaw to the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center Advisory Board as the District No. 5 representative ### More than $1M in county spending for Axon Spokane County is considering more than $3 million in contracts with Axon, the law enforcement technology provider for law enforcement agencies, to provide IT services to the sheriff’s office. This is the same company that provides body-worn cameras and TASERs to the sheriffs department. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 16 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Planning for 2026 STA is looking past the holidays and into the new year with a few big 2026 items on their agenda. This week, they’re set to pass the 2026 budget, decide on their lobbying priorities for the 2026 State Legislative session — which mostly includes funding asks for projects like the Division Street Bus Rapid Transit and high performance transit infrastructure for the Valley — and electing a new board chair person. While duking it out for a board chair position sounds like it could be dramatic, it’s really not over at STA. Their board bylaws set a rotating chairship schedule, which means we know that this year the position is going to be a representative from the surrounding small cities and towns. And, because which small city and town representative gets to actually vote on the board also rotates, we know that the chair person is going to be whoever Medical Lake sends to STA. The bigger fights will come later, in the new year, after each jurisdiction sends their representatives to the board and they have to battle for committee appointments. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, December 18 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🫑/**5 peppers** ### Legislative priorities There are no details in the agenda sheet, but the board will discuss state and federal legislative priorities for the next year. Aside from normal operating expenses, one of the most important priorities for the airport is the “forever chemicals” contamination it found in campus groundwater in 2017, which the Department of Ecology found it liable for cleaning up in 2023\. The agenda sheet doesn’t say anything about this. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, December 18 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 16 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, December 17 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Workaround will keep WA’s Pete Serrano in federal prosecutor job URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pete-serrano-federal-prosecutor/ Last updated: 2025-12-13T17:00:00.000Z > Editor's note: The Serrano story has implications for all of Eastern Washington, so we’re republishing *The Washington State Standard*’s latest piece on the saga. But RANGE has tracked Serrano’s activity in Spokane specifically, including his work for the Christian nationalist worship pastor Sean Feucht and a story he did alongside the far-right journalist Jonathan Choe about homelessness downtown. Find our coverage [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/). Pete Serrano will continue to lead the federal prosecutor’s office in eastern Washington. He’s got [two new titles](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/meet-us-attorney?ref=rangemedia.co): First Assistant United States Attorney and “special attorney” to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Plus, he will keep carrying out duties as the acting leader of the Eastern District office. The changes, announced Thursday, come after time expired on Serrano’s appointment by the Trump administration as an interim United States attorney. He was sworn in Aug. 11 and was able to serve 120 days while awaiting confirmation. President Donald Trump never nominated him and the clock ran out Tuesday. [Judges in the Eastern District](https://www.waed.uscourts.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) could have [reappointed him](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11345?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Arguably%2C%20Section%20546%20contemplates%20a,permanent%20U.S.%20Attorney%20is%20installed) or put someone else in the job. They did neither. That opened the door for Bondi to act. She assigned Serrano the new job titles, ensuring he stays on as the acting leader of the office until the U.S. attorney position is filled. “I appreciate the opportunity to continue serving my community as a member of the Department of Justice,” Serrano said in a statement. He declined requests for further comment Thursday. It’s a good turn of events for the conservative Republican who lost his race for state attorney general last year. He knew confirmation was unlikely because of staunch opposition from Patty Murray, Washington’s senior Democratic senator. She said Serrano is unqualified for the job and vowed in August to [use all available means to block ](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/28/wa-sen-patty-murray-plans-to-block-pete-serranos-us-attorney-appointment/?ref=rangemedia.co)the Pasco lawyer from getting confirmed. Murray, in a statement Thursday, said the Trump administration is “attempting a transparent end run around the Constitution and Congress” after federal judges declined to extend Serrano’s tenure. “This move spits in the face of the law and Congress — and it sets a dangerous precedent and risks jeopardizing the legitimacy of the U.S. Attorney’s office moving forward,” she said. This maneuver is similar to what the Trump administration did to keep [John Sarcone III](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny?ref=rangemedia.co) at the helm of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of New York. Sarcone was [appointed](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/attorney-general-pamela-bondi-appoints-john-sarcone-iii-us-attorney?ref=rangemedia.co) but never formally nominated by the president. When his 120-day tenure concluded, federal judges in the district declined to reappoint him or someone else. Bondi then appointed him “special attorney” with the powers of a U.S. attorney and no time limit on service. A federal statute known as the [Vacancies Act](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R44997?ref=rangemedia.co) outlines who can serve and for how long in a vacant position subject to Senate confirmation. [There is an ongoing debate](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11345?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Arguably%2C%20Section%20546%20contemplates%20a,permanent%20U.S.%20Attorney%20is%20installed) on the extent to which the executive branch can install a new first assistant U.S. attorney during a vacancy. Trump ignited a legal imbroglio with Alina Habba, his ill-fated choice to be New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor. Habba has been nominated but not confirmed. She spent months fighting unsuccessfully in court to keep the gig after her 120-day appointment expired. She [resigned Monday](https://newjerseymonitor.com/2025/12/08/trump-nj-federal-prosecutor-resigns/?ref=rangemedia.co), a week after a federal appeals court [ruled against her](https://newjerseymonitor.com/2025/12/01/federal-judges-trump-us-attorney/?ref=rangemedia.co). That same day, Bondi [hired her as a senior adviser](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-leadership-announces-new-personnel-appointments-and-authorizations?ref=rangemedia.co). *[This story](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/12/11/workaround-will-keep-was-pete-serrano-in-federal-prosecutor-job/?ref=rangemedia.co) was originally published by [Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), which is part of [States Newsroom](https://statesnewsroom.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.* ### The POD: Diving Back Into Flock URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-diving-back-into-flock/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T18:33:09.000Z On this week’s episode, Erin and Aaron are joined by a guest, Phil Neff! As the Research Coordinator at the [University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/?ref=rangemedia.co), Phil is well-versed in all things Flock camera-related. The three of them discuss how these cameras work, what they do, and the effects they’re having on the people in our communities. Plus, at the end of the episode, Aaron also gives a brief update on what’s happening in the trials of 9 protestors from Spokane. Find our recent coverage (and last week's episode) below: > **[“Alien.” “Ice pick-up.” “immigration violation.”](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-flock-cameras-immigration/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*)** > > **[COLUMN: Flock-enheit 451](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-column/) (Lauren Pangborn, RANGE Media)** > > **[Four of the Spokane 9 accept plea deals](https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/) (*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*)** > > **[The POD: A FLOCK Deep Dive](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-flock-deep-dive/) (*Last week's* Free RANGE *episode*)** ### Conservative think tank: Immigration ‘undermined Christianity’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/conservative-think-tank-immigration-undermined-christianity/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T15:00:00.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News,*](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co) *a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* The Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW) — a conservative evangelical Christian nonprofit that champions conservative legislation and works as a network for Christian activists — wants to raise up biblically “healthy families” and to promote their flourishing in the state. For its research fellow, Travis Pardo, who has a PhD in Religion from Baylor University, that means in part dramatically curtailing immigration from countries that are not majority-white, establishing English as the official language and “a re-Christianizing of the United States.” This signifies a marked foray into American identity politics. Pardo’s articles include two recent series arguing for a more established sense of American identity and worrying that Islam has too much influence in Washington. “We were told for decades that ‘diversity is our strength’ justifying mass immigration,” FPIW researcher Pardo wrote in the [latest article](https://fpiw.org/the-rise-of-islam-part-1/?ref=rangemedia.co), “The Rise of Islam: Its Power in Washington State,” the first in a series that claims to chronicle the rise of Islam in Washington. He argues, “In practical terms, such immigration rates undermined Christianity, i.e., British-American culture. Islam is a key example.” Critics interviewed for this story said such rhetoric perpetuates a Christian nationalism that is unhealthy for American democracy. In an email to FāVS News, Pardo defended his writing. “We have love and compassion toward all people (as people), but not toward all ideologies, nor all political agendas, nor all laws,” he wrote in the email. The broadest and most widely agreed upon definition of Christian nationalism by experts across various fields of study is that it’s a political-religious creed that fuses a particular brand of Christianity with civic life. This is according to Andrew Whitehead, author of “[American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church](https://www.amazon.com/American-Idolatry-Christian-Nationalism-Threatens/dp/1587435764?ref=rangemedia.co).” “It demands our government, at all levels, vigorously defend this ideology as central to our national identity, public policy, and social belonging,” Whitehead [wrote](https://kettering.org/five-elements-of-christian-nationalism/?ref=rangemedia.co). The Rev. Terry Kyllo, a Lutheran pastor and interfaith expert in Washington State who has worked to counter anti-Muslim bigotry, finds the syncretization of Christianity and the state dangerous. Specifically, he noted that Pardo’s writing about Muslims and Islam is dehumanizing. Kyllo added it is “an attempt to weaponize people's desire to protect themselves — their own love of their own community — with slander about another group." “They may not intend for anyone to be harmed, \[but\] they are actually creating it,” said Kyllo, who is the executive director of [Paths to Understanding](https://pathstounderstanding.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), an interfaith community that works for the common good. Kyllo pointed to a white supremacist who in 2017 [murdered two men](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/05/27/530351468/2-dead-1-injured-after-stabbing-in-portland-ore?ref=rangemedia.co) and injured another after trying to assault two women, one of whom wore a hijab. “They're adding to a permission structure for violence against against people," Kyllo said. Pardo, who started at FPIW in 2023, sees Muslims active in the public square, mass immigration and multiculturalism as threats to America’s future broadly and to Christianity’s influence specifically. He argues that because [Washington is](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/09/new-washington-law-recognizes-two-islamic-holidays/?ref=rangemedia.co) the first state to formally recognize Eid al‑Fitr and Eid al‑Adha as state holidays and the state is home to 100,000 Muslims and 79 mosques or Islamic centers in 36 cities, Chrisitianity is under threat. “Islam seeks to influence our society, shape the story of our state and thus determine our course,” Pardo wrote in his article. “As Christians who seek to defend and advance biblical values, we have good reasons to be concerned about Islam’s impact upon our families.” Only about 2% of Washingtonians [are Muslim](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/wa-among-least-religious-and-least-spiritual-states-survey-finds/?ref=rangemedia.co). More than half identify as Christian. Kyllo sees Pardo’s words as Christian nationalist rhetoric and a way to keep Christians in power and as tearing down America’s democratic principles, he said. "They’re trying to say that it's OK that I steal your TV, because I'm sure you're going to steal mine,” Kyllo explained. “So this is part of a gaslighting process where they're trying to justify their desire to create a status-keeping system in the United States where only conservative Christians are on top." The vast bulk of literature produced by FPIW touches on common Republican themes around the values on life, marriage, religious liberty and parental rights. The last five articles sound alarms about America losing her identity and express an “us-or-them” fear-driven approach to maintaining political power, which mark a different focus. Prior pieces have focused on such things as “Biblical principles to ground your conservative philosophy,” praying for elected officials and how important it is for Christians to vote. This is one of at least a couple of shifts FPIW CEO and President Brian Noble has seen working with the organization over the years. He started as a consultant. As the former CEO of Peacemaker Ministries, he’d been hired to provide FPIW’s human resources departments’ conflict resolution training, which led to contracts working with all Family Policy Councils across the nation. FPIW liked what they saw, Noble said, and asked him to be their CEO — five times. He said that, initially, he didn’t like their “activist” and “negative” approach to engaging in politics, including the name-calling aimed at political enemies, the power and controlling of people to get them to do what they wanted and the intimidation. But on the sixth ask, FPIW decided to change that culture and Noble has led the organization since 2023. “First and foremost, I see every opportunity … as an opportunity to minister to people and to be salt and light in the public square,” said Noble, who approved Pardo’s articles for publication, though Noble said he doesn’t agree with everything Pardo writes. Those changes were not meant to be Christian nationalist ones, he said. He also said in his biblical worldview, it’s impossible for him to be a Christian nationalist. “So this is where I do take offense when people call me a Christian nationalist, because, I'm like, ‘No, that's everything opposite of me,’” said Noble. “I'm a Christian who lives in a nation,” he clarified, saying he does believe that America is a Christian nation in the sense the government is established on biblical principles. For example, he said the three branches of government came from Isaiah 33:22, where the passage calls God judge, lawgiver and king. Whether Noble is a Christian nationalist or not, FPIW [has advocated](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiatives-to-erode-student-privacy-are-pushed-by-a-wa-think-tank-led-by-spoval-pastor/) for laws that follow Christian doctrine. The idea that the US was founded as a Christian nation has been deeply challenged by scholars like Andrew Seidel, a lawyer with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He has written that the founding fathers wanted a public square where everyone has the opportunity to practice their religion, but no one religion dictates how that works — an inherently secular idea, according to Seidel. Noble’s defines Christian nationalism as the belief that Christians must “clean up” America for Jesus to return and the belief that the power of government should be used to coerce an individual to become a Christian. Noble said he doesn’t believe either of those things.. But some of Pardo’s views, articulated in an earlier four-part series titled “Renewing America’s Identity,” are adjacent to forcing Christianity on people, not so they convert, as Noble discusses, but so the society must adhere to Christian principles, FPIW critic Cornell Clayton, director of Washington State University's Foley Institute. Since the country’s inception, legal systems protected Americans from just this, Clayton said. He noted there is a "whole history of jurisprudence" around "what constitutes an establishment of religion.” He stated that the court had moved substantially toward a "high wall of separation of church and state," citing Establishment Clause jurisprudence from the 1950s through the 1990s. However, he also noted that the wall has since "started to break down” allowing “a lot more mixture of church and state.” Pardo’s mixture includes legally establishing a specific Anglo-Protestant Christian morality and culture as the main one, prioritizing Christianity in the public square, which could move from non-compulsory religious practice to government-endorsed practice. This could make non-Christian and other believing Christian Americans feel less American or like second-class citizens, Clayton said. “What they're really saying is to be an American, you need to be a Christian,” Clayton said. Noble does not see it that way. He sees legislating his moral beliefs, which he gets from the Bible and believes are “written on every human heart,” as not trying to preserve a Christian nation or elevate Christianity above all other religions through government power, but as one of loving his neighbors. “Why do I create good policy?” Noble said. “It's not to control my neighbor. It's because I want to have more opportunity for them to hear the good news of Jesus.” These policies, though, tend to cross into areas that conservative evangelical Christians, like Noble, see as policy issues in need of moral guardrails, where other citizens do not. One noteworthy example is gender-affirming care and do parents have the right to allow (or not allow) their children to receive such care. Noble said he classifies gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse, and he would legislate against that. And while he wouldn’t usurp a parent’s current authority to allow this for their child, he said he does think that parental right is an unjust law. “It's silly, because we've had decades of laws that put some parameter around what a parent can do,” Noble said, referring to child abuse laws. Not everyone agrees. And not every conservative evangelical Christian approaches their civic involvement in the manner reflected by FPIW. One such person is Paul Miller, professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and author of “[The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism](https://www.amazon.com/Religion-American-Greatness-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1514000261?ref=rangemedia.co).” In an [article](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2021/02/what-is-christian-nationalism/?ref=rangemedia.co) on Christian nationalism for Christianity Today, he wrote there are differences between “normal Christian political engagement” and Christian nationalism. Conventional Christian engagement works to “advance Christian principles” like justice, not for “Christian power or Christian culture,” which Miller writes is what Christian nationalism does. “Normal Christian political engagement is humble, loving, and sacrificial,” he wrote. “It rejects the idea that Christians are entitled to primacy of place in the public square or that Christians have a presumptive right to continue their historical predominance in American culture.” Pardo agreed, rejecting the notion that his views exclude people. Instead, he seeks to diminish ideologies that don’t support a nation’s way of life. “Every nation has a right to protect its common core culture, often by immigration policy, and often by encouraging assimilation — which many immigrants are choosing not to do here in the United States,” he said. He explained the primary concern in his articles revolved around “values and ideas, or what some call ‘culture,’ i.e., ‘what people have, do, and think.’” He hopes to publish Part 2 of “The Rise of Islam” in January. This time he will explore less political themes but more theological and philosophical ideas comparing Christianity and Islam, he said, “in a spirit of charity and fairness toward all Muslims and Islam itself.” Brad Payne, [FPIW Action](https://fpiwaction.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)’s chief lobbyist, said he would work with Muslim groups to establish policy if those groups found common political ground with FPIW. Noble said that means it would need to be “a biblical principle that promotes the common good.” “I'd work with anyone who wants to get someone across the street,” Noble said. ### Flock-enheit 451 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-column/ Last updated: 2026-04-03T19:12:45.000Z Nearly 100 surveillance cameras from the technology company Flock Safety watch major roads across Spokane County, capturing photos of every single vehicle that drives past and tracking the movements of everyday people. Spokane County is not alone: [as many as 80 cities](https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/06/19/license-plate-readers-proliferate-in-washington-ice-overreach/?ref=rangemedia.co) across Washington have Flock cameras. Data from Flock cameras has been used to hunt a woman who had self-administered an abortion – in fact, RANGE has found that the officer who searched for that woman [also searched](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/) Spokane County’s Flock records – and to [track people](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flock-safetys-alpr-network-surveil-protesters-and-activists?ref=rangemedia.co) attending the peaceful [No Kings protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-protests-spokane/). Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have had access to the cameras’ data through official and unofficial channels, [according to a University of Washington report](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/10/21/leaving-the-door-wide-open/?ref=rangemedia.co), even though the Keep Washington Working Act (KWWA) makes it illegal for police departments to assist federal agencies with immigration enforcement. Several cities in Washington claim they [did not realize](https://www.govtech.com/public-safety/report-feds-searched-security-systems-at-washington-police-agencies?ref=rangemedia.co) federal agencies had access to their Flock systems until the aforementioned UW report was published. And despite KWWA, Spokane County shares its data with Kootenai County, which means an Idaho cop could in theory search Spokane data as a favor for a buddy who works for ICE. Across the country, people are fighting back. Individuals like [Jose Rodriguez](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/washington-court-rules-data-captured-flock-safety-cameras-are-public-records?ref=rangemedia.co) and advocacy groups like [The Institute for Justice](https://ij.org/case/norfolk-virginia-camera-surveillance/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the [American Civil Liberties Union](https://www.route-fifty.com/digital-government/2025/10/alleging-secrecy-aclu-and-eugene-resident-sue-city-flock-camera-records/409050/?ref=rangemedia.co) are filing lawsuits. Elected officials feeling the pressure from angry constituents are [cancelling their contract ](https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/license-plate-reader-camera-data-security-concerns/73-9c570252-9d1c-4e5c-b042-c12392aa1081?ref=rangemedia.co)extensions with Flock and even [turning off their cameras](https://springfield-or.gov/springfield-police-department-announces-temporary-covering-and-pending-removal-of-flock-alpr-cameras/?ref=rangemedia.co) mid-contract. #### Why we should be taking them seriously The [Spokane County Transparency Portal](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/-spokane-county-wa-so?ref=rangemedia.co), which is configured by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), is actually getting less and less transparent as the backlash and lawsuits around the country pile up. Between April and June, the sheriff’s office removed several data points from its transparency portal, including the number of vehicles detected in the last 30 days, system access history and its acceptable use policy. We asked SCSO why these changes were made, but they have not yet responded. We will update this story if they do. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-9.png) *Spokane County Transparency Portal in April of 2025 (saved by the Wayback Machine and accessed by RANGE in June of 2025) and the same portal, just two months later. It’s not clear why so much data was removed.* Sometime after RANGE took the left screenshot, all Flock transparency portals [were blocked from recording](https://web.archive.org/web/20250410214345/https://transparency.flocksafety.com/-spokane-county-wa-so) on the Wayback Machine, so we can no longer track the portals’ changes over time. Washington municipalities [Everett](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/everett-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Richland](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/richland-pd-wa?ref=rangemedia.co), [Tukwila](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/tukwila-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Mount Vernon](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/mount-vernon-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Renton](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/renton-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Lakewood](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/lakewood-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Yakima](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/yakima-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Lynnwood](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/lynnwood-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Selah](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/selah-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Puyallup](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/puyallup-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [SeaTac](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/seatac-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Ellensburg](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/ellensburg-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Edmonds](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/edmonds-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), [Lake Stevens](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/lake-stevens-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Arlington](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/arlington-pd-wa?ref=rangemedia.co) all have considerably more info on their transparency portals than Spokane County does. In fact, all Washington state transparency portals I looked at have more data points than the Spokane County one. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-10.png) *Here’s* [*Yakima’s Transparency Portal*](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/yakima-wa-pd?ref=rangemedia.co)*. The image has been cropped as the list of organizations who have access to Yakima’s data is approximately one mile in length.* Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety, touted in [a blog post](https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/statement-network-sharing-use-cases-federal-cooperation?ref=rangemedia.co) the system’s features that allow police leadership to run regular audits of search histories and encourage recording robust justifications to run a search, but cops regularly enter less-than-detailed search reasons and rarely enter case numbers, [as reported by RANGE.](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/) According to the CEO’s blog post, the Flock system even has the ability to have a drop-down menu of search reasons, though the myriad misspellings in audits we’ve seen indicates that feature likely isn’t automatic. Advocate group Eyes on Flock found in its nationwide data compilation that [the three most common search reasons](https://eyesonflock.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) are “investigation”, “invest” and “inv.” It’s likely that any jealous man stalking his ex-wife’s new boyfriend or a cop doing a favor for an ICE officer could simply enter “investigation,” and that search would blend right into any audit run. Worse, some department’s legal counsel [are even recommending](https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/11/13/washington-cities-question-use-of-license-plate-readers/?ref=rangemedia.co) leaders not run audits at all due to what would come out during public records requests — because of course, you can’t find evidence of misuse if you don’t look for it! While RANGE has managed to get audit data from Spokane County’s Flock system via public records requests, Arlington and Everett [have outright refused](https://www.heraldnet.com/news/judge-denies-request-to-exempt-flock-footage-from-public-records-act/?ref=rangemedia.co) to provide the data. And Flock has recently [given its clients](https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/policy-pulse-transparency-control-and-the-path-forward?ref=rangemedia.co) the ability to strip search reasons from the audits they use for public records requests. Information security is another concern. Flock logins [are being sold](https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/03/lawmakers-say-stolen-police-logins-are-exposing-flock-surveillance-cameras-to-hackers/?ref=rangemedia.co) by Russian cybercriminals online and dozens of police departments haven’t enabled multi-factor authentication, a simple layer that keeps things secure even if a username and password are compromised. This leaves the terabytes of sensitive data stored by police departments vulnerable. While Flock prefers to position itself to the public as simple cameras that snap harmless still photos of license plates in public places, the software that stores and searches the data is functioning more like a tracking device placed on your car. The software can [construct models of all your movements](https://sls.eff.org/technologies/automated-license-plate-readers-alprs?ref=rangemedia.co): it can know that on weekdays you drive from Country Homes to the Valley and back, except on Wednesdays when you head to Liberty Lake. It goes beyond not having an expectation of privacy in a public space — what would be obvious to anyone who happened to be at the same intersection as you on a given day — with the network of cameras on most major roads entering Spokane County and the software behind them, it’s like they follow you as you drive. And it doesn’t just compile the data of those suspected of crimes, it compiles the data of everyone who passes the cameras. It’s illegal for police to install a tracking device in your car without a warrant, but the system behind the cameras is doing essentially that. The data Flock collects, stores and analyzes isn’t limited to license plates: it picks up on paint colors, items in truck beds, bike racks and more. Flock users can search for “green pickup with driver's side door damage.” Flock was also planning to roll out video recording this year, rather than the still images it has been limited to so far. Lastly, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has pointed out that Flock systems are starting to go beyond just investigating suspicion to [*generating suspicion*](https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/surveillance-company-flock-now-using-ai-to-report-us-to-police-if-it-thinks-our-movement-patterns-are-suspicious?ref=rangemedia.co), like flagging cars that appear to be traveling together. #### What can be done? For now, there are no permanent cameras in the city of Spokane. While the Spokane City Council did approve of the purchase of some cameras in February, that purchase has since [fallen through](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/). So don’t go asking Spokane city councilmembers to remove the cameras or kill its Flock contract; the cameras in Spokane County are largely outside the city (with the exception of a few placed at Lowe’s stores and a few atop sheriff’s vehicles that can be parked anywhere) and all outside the city’s control. However, here are things you can do: 1. **Advocate at the state level by emailing your state legislators.** Flock plans to work with the Washington Legislature to [water down public records laws.](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/wa-cities-reconsider-flock-cameras-as-judge-rules-their-data-is-public/?ref=rangemedia.co) [Tell your legislators](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-legislative-representatives/) you have no interest in a less transparent government. California has a law that prevents license plate reader data from being shared out-of-state. Similarly, Illinois passed a law that severely restricts data sharing out-of-state. (This could cut down the sidedoor access — [explained here](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/10/21/leaving-the-door-wide-open/?ref=rangemedia.co) — that would allow a Kootenai County cop to search Spokane’s data as a favor for an ICE officer, for example.) While KWWA prevents local and state law enforcement from assisting with immigration, Illinois prevents its license plate data from being used to help other states hunt those seeking abortions. Illinois has also passed a suite of regulations going into effect in 2026: - mandated annual audits of searches performed - mandated reporting of license plate reader camera effectiveness - misusing data from these cameras is now a misdemeanor Washington could follow in the footsteps of California and Illinois by passing privacy protections at the state level. 1. **Pressure your** [**county commissioner**](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/1123/County-Commissioners?ref=rangemedia.co) **— or city council member if you live in Cheney, Airway Heights or Liberty Lake — to kill their contract with Flock.** This may feel far-fetched, but advocates were successful in getting Redmond, Lynnwood, Eugene, Skamania County, Wenatchee and Olympia leaders to suspend their usage of the cameras. This is the approach the ACLU recommends. (Spokane County’s original Flock contract is also set to end in December 2026.) Alternatively, pressure the county to use Flock’s [upcoming feature](https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-safetys-response-to-illinois-lpr-data-use-and-out-of-state-sharing-concerns?ref=rangemedia.co) that requires a case number for every search and to beef up its Transparency Portal. You can also make [public records requests](https://spokanecountywa.govqa.us/WEBAPP/%5Frs/%28S%28rlwvjnvb1tzveo4ufbxggfb3%29%29/supporthome.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) of Flock training materials, organization audits (searches made by local police) and network audits (searches made by non-local police of Spokane County data). Great examples of records requests can be found [here](https://www.muckrock.com/search/?q=flock&ref=rangemedia.co). 1. **Support those covering Flock and fighting legal battles** Keep [our local coverage](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/) of Flock cameras going by [supporting RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us/) with a one-time or recurring donation. Subscribe to [404 Media](https://www.404media.co/membership/?ref=rangemedia.co). Those folks are doing incredible, data-dense, unrelenting investigatory work on Flock that is bringing to light many of the details I’ve listed here. Support the [Electronic Frontier Foundation](https://www.eff.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) or the [ACLU](https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies?ref=rangemedia.co), both of whom are investigating Flock and regularly take on legal fights to protect our privacy. For information on this Flock series, why we’re reporting it and what’s coming next, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/). ### 'Alien.' 'Ice pick-up.' 'immigration violation.' URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-flock-cameras-immigration/ Last updated: 2026-03-30T02:26:17.000Z *This story was published in partnership with the*[ *University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights*](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, who provided data analysis.* Searches for “alien,” “overstay” and “unlawful entry.” Dozens of searches for “immigration,” and “immigration+.” More than 700 searches with just “ICE” as the reason. Hundreds of searches made by Border Patrol and Homeland Security. For the first six months of 2025, federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies across the country searched Spokane County Flock cameras, in many cases explicitly using the technology to hunt down undocumented immigrants. In Washington, state law prevents local and state resources from being used to assist in federal immigration enforcement. But as electeds like the Spokane City Council [celebrate](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-immigration-solidarity-resolution/) the Keep Washington Working Act for protecting immigrants and Congressman Michael Baumgartner [criticizes](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/16/washington-ag-defends-states-sanctuary-policy-amid-congressional-scrutiny/?ref=rangemedia.co) it for “prioritizing criminal aliens over law-abiding citizens,” the law has proven ineffectual when it comes to protecting immigrants’ data from federal overreach. As news has continued to break statewide that Washington immigrants’ data has been accessed by federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through weak protection mechanisms at [the Department of Licensing](https://www.kuow.org/stories/washington-s-dol-is-sharing-information-with-ice-are-they-using-that-data-to-deport-people?ref=rangemedia.co) and [access to local Flock networks](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/10/21/leaving-the-door-wide-open/?ref=rangemedia.co#%5Fftn25) given by agencies across the state, documents obtained by RANGE show that Spokane County is no exception. Earlier this year, we requested a network audit of all searches of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s (SCSO) Flock network made between January 1, 2025 to June 23, 2025, which shows the requesting agency, the search reason they gave, any case number attached, when they searched and how many networks and cameras they searched from. According to the audit, US Border Patrol (USBP) had direct access to search Spokane County Flock cameras through at least June 23\. They used that access to search Spokane County cameras 186 times, with nine of those searches specifically looking for people in Washington. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-5.png) **A snippet of the network audit showing searches made by Border Patrol using Spokane County cameras.* The searches made directly by USBP are just the tip of the iceberg; [reporting by 404 Media](https://www.404media.co/ice-secret-service-navy-all-had-access-to-flocks-nationwide-network-of-cameras/?ref=rangemedia.co) revealed that ICE had access to Flock cameras across the country through a login registered to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which performed hundreds of searches nationally during 2025. That HSI account made 182 searches on Spokane County cameras in the first six months of 2025. While some of the HSI searches make a clear case for why they’re using Flock cameras, citing “Human trafficking,” or a specific case number, many of their requests had no case number attached and used vague terms like “investigative,” “officer safety,” or “Linked to an ongoing investigations \[sic\],” in the search field, which makes it nearly impossible to tell who or what they were actually looking for with those searches. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-6.png) **A snippet of the network audit showing searches made by HSI using Spokane County cameras.* Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels [told *The Spokesman Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/22/border-patrol-ice-tapped-into-washington-police-su/?ref=rangemedia.co) in October that agencies like Border Patrol and ICE do not have immediate access to the county Flock database. However, the network audit shows these searches were being made all the way up until the last active day of our request — June 23\. The sheriff’s office has been unable to say exactly when they turned off the national look-up feature, which allowed federal and out-of-state agencies blanket permission to search local cameras. **What is Flock and who else has access to these cameras?** Flock is a surveillance technology brand that sells a specific brand of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) that are used on a subscription model by law enforcement agencies across the state. The cameras constantly log photos of any car that drives past them, whether that driver has potentially committed a crime or not, which is then stored for up to 30 days in a database owned by the law enforcement agencies. That database can then be searched by whoever has a direct log-in to it, or any agencies that it has been shared with. Read more about Flock cameras in our region and where they’re located [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/). The county currently has [more than 60 Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/) operational in the region, including mobile Flock cameras mounted on cars that travel the county. ### The side door Flock software is somewhat complex to describe, but essentially there are settings SCSO can toggle on and off. They can add organizations to a list that are allowed to search their data, which [researchers at the University of Washington](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/10/21/leaving-the-door-wide-open/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Findings) (UW) call “front door” access. SCSO can also turn on or off a “National Look-up” feature, which allows organizations across the country to search their cameras without express agency-level permission. This is what UW researchers call “back door access.” It’s unclear what SCSO’s network settings are and whether they share camera access with Border Patrol directly or if these searches were made through “back door” access because RANGE’s public records requests for that information sent in August have not yet been filled. Direct searches from Border Patrol and ICE weren’t the only way Spokane cameras were used to assist in federal operations. At least 45 out-of-state agencies, mostly local police departments from red states, made more than 1,000 immigration-related searches on Spokane County cameras. Search reasons included “immigration violations,” “immigration overstay,” “alien” and “ice pick-up,” among others. There were also other searches that we can’t say with 100% certainty are for immigration reasons, but raised some red flags, like: “suspicious traveler” “overstay,” and “suspicious vehicle at border entry.” Even searches for “missing/endangered” people could be suspicious, given that Texas sheriffs [searched for a woman who got an abortion](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/) — who they were [investigating for the death of her fetus](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flock-safety-and-texas-sheriff-claimed-license-plate-search-was-missing-person-it?ref=rangemedia.co) — and [publicly stated](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2025/06/13/after-finding-fetal-remains-north-texas-cops-used-camera-network-to-search-for-woman/?ref=rangemedia.co) it was for a welfare check. **More than 700 searches were made — mostly from police departments in Florida, Georgia and Texas — that just gave “ICE” as their search reason.** The researchers at UW call these searches made by one agency on behalf of another agency “side door access.” This has gone as far as Illinois police officer Todd Hutchison [giving his log in to a DEA agent](https://www.404media.co/feds-used-local-cops-password-to-do-immigration-surveillance-with-flock-cameras/?ref=rangemedia.co) who made immigration-related searches on Hutchison’s account. None of those searches checked Spokane’s cameras, however, six other searches from Hutchison labelled “narcotics,” do appear on the log. In October, Sheriff John Nowels [told](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/22/border-patrol-ice-tapped-into-washington-police-su/?ref=rangemedia.co) *The Spokesman* that if federal agencies asked for information related to a criminal investigation, his office would provide it, but that hadn’t happened yet. “If in fact we have provided anything to federal law enforcement offices it would be because of a criminal investigation,” he said. While SCSO deputies don’t seem to have made any obvious “side door” searches on behalf of ICE or Border Patrol, contrary to what Nowels told *The Spokesman*, his employees made plenty of searches for other federal law enforcement offices. We found at least 167 searches made on behalf of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US Marshals Service — all federal agencies. Some or all of these searches may have been for active criminal investigations, but it’s impossible to know for sure; only a single one of these searches had a case number attached. Most search fields simply had things like “usms fugitive,” “ATF Request,” “HSI DEA Assist,” or “usms.” While SCSO has declined to return multiple requests for comment, they did take an initial phone call from RANGE on Monday, November 24\. During that call, Nowels and spokesperson Mark Gregory didn’t deny making searches on behalf of federal agencies. “We don’t do it for HSI, not even HSI, but we don’t do it for civil detainers, anything like that,” Nowels said. “But if HSI is working a human trafficking case, the US Marshals are out looking for bad guys, we will look stuff up for them and I think it’s appropriate and it does not violate the Keep Washington Working Act.” (A civil immigration detainer is a request to law enforcement to keep a person in local custody for deportation.) The KWWA [states](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/lawfilesext-leg-wa-gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bills/Session-Laws/Senate/5497-s2-sl.pdf) that: “State and local law enforcement agencies may not provide nonpublicly available personal information about an individual, including individuals subject to community custody pursuant to RCW 28 9.94A.701 and 9.94A.702, to federal immigration authorities in a noncriminal matter, except as required by state or federal law.” After news broke that these kinds of “side door” searches were showing up on cameras across Washington, including Mukilteo, Lynwood and Everett, State Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) told the *Everett Herald* that this kind of access “violates the spirit of our Keep Washington Working Act.” “The goal of the Legislature was that the federal government would manage its immigration enforcement and that our state and local resources would be focused on protecting our communities from more immediate crimes and public safety risks,” Liias told the *Herald*. The [American Civil Liberties Union of Washington](https://www.aclu-wa.org/press-releases/aclu-wa-statement-regarding-wa-department-of-licensing-terminating-homeland-security-investigations-access-to-driver-and-plate-search-database/?ref=rangemedia.co) has maintained that sharing state-collected data like license plate information with federal immigration agencies is against Washington state law, calling the KWWA “the floor, not the ceiling,” of state protections. Last Wednesday, we asked the SCSO spokesperson Mark Gregory if SCSO was aware that the county Flock cameras were searched for immigration violations, if the county considers these searches to be violations of the KWWA, and if the county was even aware that federal agencies had access to search Spokane County cameras all the way up until at least June 23. They have declined to answer. We will update the story if they ever do. ### The blank door The front, side and back doors at least leave some kind of trace. The fourth option — which we’re calling “the blank door,” — is more nefarious. While searches blatantly looking for “immigration” can [now](https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/statement-in-response-to-recent-reports?ref=rangemedia.co) be blocked by the network owners, as reporting from *The Urbanist* [pointed out](https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/11/13/washington-cities-question-use-of-license-plate-readers/?ref=rangemedia.co), there is no easy way to curb queries with vague, blank or dishonest search reasons. In the first six months of 2025, there were almost 70,000 searches on the SCSO cameras where the sole reason given for the search was “investigation” and the case number field was left blank. When you factor in variations on the term investigation, like “inv,” “INV,” or “investigative,” there are hundreds of thousands of searches made with a vague search reason and no case number listed. SCSO and Spokane Police Department (SPD) officers combined made at least 81 of those searches, and an additional 20 searches with the reason as “1” and no case number attached. These kinds of searches with nondescript search fields make it impossible to tell what the user is actually searching for. It could be [an immigration-related search on the sly](https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2025/10/08/records-el-cajon-license-plate-data-used-in-nationwide-immigration-searches?ref=rangemedia.co) for a federal officer who asked. It could be [tracking an ex-girlfriend’s movements.](https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article291059560.html?ref=rangemedia.co) It could also be for an ongoing missing person or murder investigation, but there is no way of knowing when officers include no information on why they’re searching sometimes tens of thousands of cameras for the sole purpose of “investigation.” Despite the thousands of searches with invalid reasons, Nowels told RANGE last week that they do quarterly audits of Flock searches and that no officer had ever been disciplined for misuse of the system, to his knowledge. He also said, “Everybody who searches the system, they have to identify what case number they’re using or what reason they’re actually querying the data. You can’t just go in on a free-for-all. There has to be some reason you’re accessing the data.” SCSO declined to provide current internal policies, but training documents from 2024 that we reviewed state that “investigation” and non-descriptive search reasons are “bad” reasons to search Flock. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-8.png) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-7.png)](https://www.muckrock.com/foi/spokane-county-76/public-records-request-flock-materials-164228/?ref=rangemedia.co) **Slides from a 2024 County Flock training obtained in* [**a public records request made public on Muckrock.*](https://www.muckrock.com/foi/spokane-county-76/public-records-request-flock-materials-164228/?ref=rangemedia.co) We asked the county last week specifically about these searches that are left blank and whether there were any plans to curb this kind of usage of the Flock cameras. We asked what potential consequences an employee might face for misuse of the system. We also asked how many cases the SCSO has solved specifically because of Flock technology. **They declined to provide answers. If they do, we will update this story.** *Additional reporting contributed by Aaron Hedge.* For information on this investigative series, why we’re reporting it and what’s coming next, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/). *Editor's note: this story has been updated to fix a typo.* ### Six of the Spokane 9 accept plea deals URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/four-of-the-spokane-9-accept-plea-deals/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T19:52:49.000Z **Editor's note:* This story has been updated to reflect that two additional defendants accepted a plea deal after this story published.* Mikki Hatfield doesn’t know what’s next, and they are upset. Hatfield pleaded not guilty in July to federal felony accusations that they’d conspired to impede or assault law enforcement officers during a protest at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Spokane. But on December 3, they flipped that plea to guilty, agreeing to a deal federal prosecutors brokered with them and at least three other protesters. The plea deal turns a potential felony sentence that could mean six years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines into three years of probation and a few thousand dollars in restitution costs. But Hatfield is alarmed by the political implications of prosecuting protesters. “I'm feeling very dismayed generally,” Hatfield said in an interview after their plea change hearing. Hatfield is one of the [“Spokane 9](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/),” protesters who are alleged, in part, to have responded to a Facebook post calling for people to [block an ICE van](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) from transporting two immigrants — Joswar Torres and Cesar Perez — who were legally in the US to an ICE detention center in Tacoma. According to Hatfield’s plea deal, the US Attorney’s Office of Eastern Washington will drop the charge after they appear for a federal hearing in 18 months, replacing it with a misdemeanor charge of “depredation of government property.” The consequences for that crime are far more lenient: three years of “supervised release,” or essentially probation, and nearly $11,000 in "restitution" to be paid collectively among defendants who accept the plea deal. Between now and their final sentencing, they have to adhere to the basic provisions of release, which say a defendant can’t work for the federal government, use drugs, commit any crime or miss any legal proceeding they are called to. Four of the nine — Ben Stuckart, who initiated the protest; Bobbi Silva; Colin Muncey; and Hatfield — have accepted the deal as of December 9\. Erin Lang and Thalia Ramirez accepted the deal later on. Hatfield and Silva are also charged with assault of an officer. The government will drop that charge in exchange for their guilty plea. The guilty plea for conspiracy carries heavy consequences: a potential six years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Hatfield is unhoused, which adds a level of precarity to their situation. US District Court Judge Rebecca Pennell, who is overseeing Hatfield’s case alongside the eight others, said Hatfield should “be cautious” about how they behave before their hearing 18 months from now. Essentially, Pennell was telling Hatfield to behave as if they were a felon, which carries more restrictions on day-to-day life. Hatfield could not talk in any specific way about their case, but they used it as an example of a judicial double standard that punishes people who don’t have much power while letting the powerful off the hook. “ I heavily disapprove of the way that the \[legal system\]l handles court cases for some companies versus how it handles cases for its citizens,” Hatfield said. “They get those non-prosecution agreements and there's no fines, penalties, anything for killing people.” After his hearing on Monday, Stuckart declined to comment. He is the only person of the nine who will be allowed to travel outside the US. He is also a straight white man, while most of the Spokane 9 are members of underrepresented communities. In a statement, Stuckart accepted responsibility for the protest. “​​When ICE took Cesar and Joswar (and put them in chains), I decided to try and stop them from taking my friends,” Stuckart wrote. “At the time, it was my hope that the government would do the right thing and release them from custody. I understood what I was up against, but I felt it was necessary to take a stand. I accept full responsibility for my conduct.” The remaining three — Jac Archer, Co-Executive Director for Spokane Community Against Racism, Justice Forral, a community activist; and Bajun Mavalwalla II, an Army veteran and the son of a congressional candidate — have not yet accepted the deal. The deadline for doing so was December 5 for most of the defendants, said Karen Lindholdt, the attorney representing Silva. The only exception, Lindholdt said, is Forral, whose deadline was December 8. Only four of the Spokane 9 were among the 31 people originally arrested by city and county law enforcement — which fired smoke bombs and “less-than-lethal” projectiles at the demonstrators — at the June 11 protest. Bajun Mavalwalla I, the father of Mavalwalla II and also an Army veteran, heavily criticized the prosecution and said his son was right to fight the charges. “They want to frighten people so they are afraid to use their First Amendment rights,” said Mavalwalla, Mavalwalla II’s father, who was prominently quoted in a long [story about his son’s case](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/05/ice-arrest-bajun-mavalwalla-veterans?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Guardian*. He also asserted that the prosecution of the nine people was bigoted. Each of the five who didn’t take the deal is a member of an underrepresented community “They cherry picked minorities,” Mavalwalla said. “This is an area that is 90% white, and four of the nine that the federal government \[charged\] was an African-American, a Latino, a Native American and my son with a funny-sounding name. My son was not arrested on the day of. They were looking for people that they thought they could secure indictments against and get a bigoted jury to find them guilty.” Lisa Cartier Giroux, the US attorney leading the case against the nine protesters, declined to comment, referring RANGE to the media line at the US Attorney’s Office of Eastern Washington. As of press time, no one from that office has responded to requests for comment. Deciding whether or not to accept the deal was a tough calculus, Lindholdt said, one that weighed free speech against potential years of incarceration and hundreds of thousands in fines. “Every defendant in every case has to look at the facts, look at the evidence,” Lindholdt said. They “probably concluded that the government could prove them guilty. … At what point do you become a martyr? A federal felony, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, they might regret it.” ### ‘Vulcan mind meld’ So what had the alleged conspiracy been? Cartier-Giroux says in documents that they responded to Stuckart’s social media posts asking for community members to help him block ICE agents from deporting Torres and Perez. Mavalwalla, who emphasized he led intelligence work in the US Army and that his son had a top secret security clearance in the Army, said the conspiracy charges — which simply allege the defendant responded to a social media post calling to block the deportations — are frivolous. “Do they think that my son does the Vulcan mind meld or has ESP?” he said. “It was sloppy intelligence work.” For Hatfield and Silva, what had the alleged assault been? Hatfield is accused of throwing a smoke canister fired by local law enforcement into the scrum of protesters back at the officers, keeping their fellow demonstrators safe. Silva is accused of hitting a law enforcement officer in the head. Both have accepted the plea agreement brokered by the government. Most of the people who are being prosecuted for their actions during the June 11 protest did not respond to requests for comment, and neither did their attorneys. But Hatfield, who spoke to RANGE after taking the plea deal, said they were still in a precarious position: they said they had recently been fired from their job at a local grocery store for requesting protection against industrial noise. They are also in the process of moving from Idaho — where the federal court required them to live following their first hearing — back to Spokane. “It's gonna be far better than living in Boise because every time I come back up here, even for short periods of time, it feels like a reset for my mental and physical health,” Hatfield said. ### Spokane City Council poised to create an eviction diversion program URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/ Last updated: 2025-12-08T19:47:40.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council could pass an ordinance that would require landlords to provide tenants with eviction diversion program information and lays the groundwork for a city-operated pre-eviction diversion and mediation program. - Spokane City Council could also approve their lobbying agenda for the upcoming state legislative session, which includes fighting for a Climate Commitment Act exemption for the Waste-to-Energy plant and seeking approval to run a land value tax pilot program. - The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is awarded more than $8 million of federal funding to buy technology to surveil private drones that are apparently a big national security concern. - SCSO is looking to spend an extra $1 million+ on TASERs and body cameras over the next decade from the policing technology company Axon. - Spokane County is asking in its legislative agenda for $10 million to install filters on private West Plains wells that are contaminated with “forever chemicals.” - Mead School District Board will vote on a staff expression policy reserving the right to fire staff for statements made in their personal capacity and to set out strict guidelines for what teachers can display in their classrooms. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) (and Study Session) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Spokane Park Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Spokane Public Facilities District](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-poised-to-create-an-eviction-diversion-program/) ##### Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Safe streets streets projects Safer streets and more pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure could be coming soon to your neighborhood, if council approves a list of [27 by 2027](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) and [adaptive design](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-calming-design-spokane/) street projects, paid for with dollars from the Safe Streets for All Fund. Here’s a preview: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-4.png) There is also an amendment on the table, proposed by Council Member Zack Zappone and Council Member Kitty Klitzke, that would add an additional resolution requesting the mayor direct staff to present exactly what the “quick-build,” program entails and revising the names for two of the District 3 projects to “Maple/Ash corridor speed control pilot” and “Francis Ave; Cannon St Pedestrian Crossing.” ### Legislative session is coming… Re-using this from last week because it didn’t end up getting voted on, but in about a month, the Washington State Legislature will convene in Olympia to pass laws. So tonight, the Spokane City Council could adopt their own legislative agenda, laying out the city’s goals they plan to lobby the state for. At the top of the list is seeking a Climate Commitment Act (CCA) exemption for Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant, which is the only solid waste disposal system in the state currently slated to have to pay fees under the CCA — despite producing less greenhouse gasses than landfills, which have an exemption. If city lobbyists and local legislators can secure an exemption, it could save Spokane residents from up to $8 million in penalties, which will start in 2027 if no exemption is granted. Other priorities on the list include: - Fighting for permission to try out [land value tax](https://www.inlander.com/comment/its-too-easy-for-spokane-land-speculators-to-sit-on-their-property-without-redeveloping-it/article%5F62db0ce2-1b25-5292-96c6-7d62a3f4c346.html?ref=rangemedia.co) here in Spokane, which would exempt buildings from being subject to tax and instead just tax based on the value of the land (which advocates think could discourage land speculation and encourage development.) - Seeking funding for: an expansion of the Northeast Regional Law Enforcement Academy, which trains police recruits, an expansion of the system’s behavioral health and substance abuse treatment capacity, more emergency shelters, transitional housing and resources for unhoused people, and increased affordable childcare access through supporting more state-subsidized childcare slots and “the Northeast Public Development Authority’s development of a childcare center serving people who work nontraditional hours.” - Pushing for statewide vehicle tab fee restructuring that will raise tab fees for heavier vehicles, like large trucks, that cause more damage to streets. - Looking for permission to charge a sidewalk fee that would fund sidewalk repair and construction. - Asking for a statewide ban on metal-studded tires. - Supporting legislation authorizing the state attorney general to “investigate and prosecute local law enforcement and corrections agencies for violations of the State Constitution and state laws – including the Keep Washington Working Act.” ### Eviction diversion Also up for a vote tonight is an ordinance sponsored by Council Members Klitzke and Paul Dillon that creates a rental eviction diversion program in Spokane to “prevent homelessness, restore the landlord tenant relationship and ensure safe and healthy rental housing in Spokane.” As evictions due to [failure to pay rent](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/) continue to climb in the city, this legislation could streamline the process for helping tenants access eviction diversion funds. If passed, the ordinance would require landlords to provide tenants with written notice of all citywide eviction diversion programs both at the time of leasing and during any service of a notice to pay or vacate. An updated list of these programs will also be posted on the city’s website for ease of access for both tenants and landlords. The ordinance also outlines the city’s goal to create a more permanent, city-operated program that would expedite state funds, handle landlord-tenant mediation, help connect tenants with service providers who can intervene early in the eviction process and work to keep tenants in housing and out of homelessness. Klitzke and Dillon have both pointed to the need to streamline the eviction diversion process so that service providers can intervene on behalf of tenants facing evictions at the earliest possible point — rather than when a tenant has already received a notice to vacate — which can help people retain stable housing. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 8 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, December 11 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Civil Rights update There’s no presentation or additional materials linked in the agenda, so we can’t give you much of a preview, but we do know that Jerrall Haynes, the director of the Office of Civil Rights, Equity and Inclusion is going to be presenting an update on the office’s activities. ### Expanding the table The Community, Housing, and Human Services (CHHS) Board is the body that currently makes recommendations on which housing and homelessness proposals to fund, among other duties. An ordinance up for discussion could soon add a policy-level staffer from the City of Spokane Valley as a non-voting member of the board in an effort to strengthen regional collaboration efforts. The ordinance would also add a representative from the [Continuum of Care board](https://my.spokanecity.org/endinghomelessness/coc/?ref=rangemedia.co) as a non-voting member. ### Shelter in the cold As the temperatures continue to drop and Spokane starts to see snowfall, the city is working to approve additional inclement weather shelter beds, which open up in extreme weather conditions. Originally, the council approved contracts with Catholic Charities and The Salvation Army, funding up to 35 beds for men at the House of Charity Shelter, 10 beds for families with children at St. Margaret’s Shelter and 25 beds for single adults at The Way Out Shelter. The city reopened a request for proposals to seek additional shelter providers and Jewels Helping Hands (JHH) was the sole applicant. The CHHS board is recommending the city fund JHH to operate up to 15 beds for adult women at the Morning Star Shelter. Inclement weather beds are paid for with dollars from the [Heart fund ](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/20/spokane-council-approves-reforms-to-affordable-hou/?ref=rangemedia.co)(which is raised from a 0.1% sales tax authorized by the state in bill 1590). From that fund, 70% must be spent on building housing and treatment facilities and 10% must be spent on administrative costs, but the rest can be used to address emergent housing and homelessness needs. Up to $1 million can be spent on inclement weather sheltering this year. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 8 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Plan Commission **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, December 10 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Park Board **?/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/spokane-park-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, December 11 at 3:30 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed via WebEx,* > *Call in: 408-418-9388 Access code: 2491 764 3350* ## Spokane Public Facilities District **?/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)when available > *Wednesday, December 10 at 12:30 pm* > *Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room* > *720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ##### Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Millions in federal funding for private drone surveillance The Trump administration has allocated half a billion dollars in federal money over the next three years for local governments to surveil privately owned drones. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) has applied for $8.2 million of that money, which will be distributed in response to “growing national security concerns surrounding the unlawful or nefarious use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS),” according to an announcement of the funding by the US Department of Homeland Security. The SCSO will brief the BOCC on the grant application. ### County will potentially buy $11M in Taser, body cam tech The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is looking to buy nearly $13 million in Taser and body camera technology over the next decade from Axon, the Scottsdale, Arizona, company that pioneered electroshock weapons. The SCSO maintains existing contracts with the company, but that amount represents an increase in spending of $170,000 over the next nine years. Tasers are used to shock suspects who are engaged with law enforcement, ideally when an altercation requires force. Body cameras are designed to record interactions between law enforcement officers and people they engage, but their audio and video recording capabilities are often turned off during important moments. ### $1M on offer for public defenders The state Office of Public Defense has awarded the SCSO more than $1 million to better fund the notoriously under-resourced public defenders office, which represents people accused of crimes in district court who can’t afford a private lawyer. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 9 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### County finalizing legislative agenda, emphasizing PFAS response The county intends to request $10 million in state funding to install filters in homes that draw their drinking water from wells contaminated with “forever chemicals.” The wells, located on the West Plains, source their water from aquifers laden with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from firefighting compounds used by Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport. It’s the third-largest funding request in the package, next to requests for public defender and infrastructure funding. ### BOCC to vote on fee increase for county fair capital projects The Spokane County Fairgrounds wants to raise fees to rent its facilities by about 5% to fund several building projects, including a bathroom renovation that’s already been completed (it’s unclear why an already completed project still needs funding). For example, camping fees would increase from $47 to $49. ### Board appointments The BOCC is set to appoint the following people to various county boards and commissions: - Eric Robison to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee as a City of Spokane Valley representative - Rusty Barnett applied for reappointment as an at-large North representative on the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee - Jared Harward to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee as the Town of Fairfield representative - Lauri Bowen to the Solid Waste Advisory Committee as the Public Interest representative - Gayle Kogle to the Spokane County Community Services Behavioral Health Advisory Board as a Spokane County representative - Reneice "Neicy" Jones to the Spokane County Community Services Behavioral Health Advisory Board as a Spokane County representative > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 9 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, December 11 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Urban growth workshops There is no specific information, but the commission will host workshops on the “growth alternatives and impacts on the urban growth area,” according to the agenda sheet. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, December 11 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### 2nd budget reading The city council will host a second reading of the city of Spokane Valley’s 2026 budget, a $148,412,534 spending package that emphasizes more than $8 million in street construction spending, mostly offset by state and federal grants, and $2.6 million on police, paid for by a new sales tax. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 9 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Filling vacant city council position The city council will interview applicants for the vacant No. 7 position. The applicants are: - Robin Lynn Bekkedahl - Michael David Willis - James Alan Baumker - Kathryn Lynn Atkins - Hugh Douglas Severs - Judith Ann Schumacher - Jacob Tyler Phillips and - Abigail Christine Sprague You can read their applications [here](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F12082025-1169?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 9 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ##### School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Social media and classroom decor Considering posting a Charlie Kirk meme, coming out as gay on Facebook or criticizing your boss? If you work for Mead School District, you might want to think again. A new staff expression policy up for approval today, stating that, despite staff members’ First Amendment rights to free speech, any “employee expression that has an adverse impact on district operations and/or negatively impacts an employee’s ability to perform their job,” could result in disciplinary action, up to termination. That includes social media statements and speech outside of work, because “the school community may not be able to separate employees as private citizens from their role within the district.” Though this part largely mirrors what other local [school districts](https://weba.spokaneschools.org/PolPro/View.aspx?id=899&ref=rangemedia.co) have in their staff expression policy, Mead goes much further, including outlining what classroom decor is allowed. While it lists “classroom activity photos,” and “content-neutral decorations like colorful borders or curtains,” Pride flags don’t make the list. If passed, staff would be forbidden from “using decor or displays to advocate for or promote their personal beliefs.” It is unclear whether Mead considers pictures of loved ones or signs proclaiming [“Everyone is welcome here,](https://www.idahoednews.org/top-news/attorney-general-everyone-is-welcome-here-sign-cannot-be-displayed-in-idaho-schools/?ref=rangemedia.co)” to be advocating for personal beliefs, but it seems likely. Last year, [Jacob Knight](https://www.rangemedia.co/gay-mead-teacher-investigation-resignation/), a beloved fifth grade teacher who worked for Mead School District until he faced multiple investigations after coming out as gay and hanging a Pride flag in his classroom. The district later paid Knight to resign, after allegedly asking his students if Knight ever wore pink overalls or shared experiences from his life with his class. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 8 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### A solution to back to school supply shopping headaches? The Central Valley school board will hear an update on the Student Supply Kit Standardization Project, which a committee has been working on since November. The project is meant to make school supplies for elementary school families affordable and equitable by, at the very least, standardizing school supply lists across the board or, at the most, providing all school supplies for students. The board will get three options with varying costs to the district. ### Sex Ed policy is up for review School boards periodically review school policies to make sure they’re up-to-date and next up for CVSD are the policies on [Sexual Health Education](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/go-boarddocs-com/wa/cvsd/Board-nsf/files/CZ6R9M6C6012/file/2125-health-human-growth-and-development.pdf) and [HIV-AIDS Prevention Education](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/go-boarddocs-com/wa/cvsd/Board-nsf/files/CZ6RFB6D4437/file/2126-aids-prevention-education.pdf). The board will start reviewing and tweaking in January. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 8 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 9 at 6 pm* > *EVSD Administration Office* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99216* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Tweaks to staff vaccine recommendations The West Valley school board will be hearing a change to the district's infectious control policy for personnel that removes the recommendation that staffers provide their vaccine records to the district. The old policy was pretty flimsy anyway, only saying, “the board strongly urges that school staff members (including volunteers) provide documentation of immunization or evidence of immunity…” The new policy just lists the recommended immunizations that school staff should get. However, there are no changes to the procedure part of that policy, so it still says personnel are encouraged to put their vaccine history on file at the district. The district’s policy for students, [updated in May](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/4-files-edl-io/2bdd/07/22/25/230504-0cc302e3-0679-497b-866c-843e7dc3717b.pdf), and state law still requires that students provide proof of vaccinations. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, December 10 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane, WA 99212* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* *Editor's Note: This story has been edited to correct the sponsors listed for the Safe Streets amendment.* ### Allegations against Washington gender-affirming surgeon stir fears of backlash for trans patients URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/allegations-gender-affirming-surgeon-stir-fears-trans-patients/ Last updated: 2026-07-21T20:40:20.000Z Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Geoffrey Stiller operated on the cutting edge. In 2017, the Spokane-area doctor began offering surgeries that he said nobody else was performing in Washington, Idaho or Montana. Vaginoplasties with penile inversions — removing most of a transgender person’s penis and constructing a vagina in its place — helped put Stiller on the map. When Stiller faced conservative backlash at a small-town hospital, the [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-small-town-doctor-wanted-to-perform-surgeries-for-transgender-women-he-faced-an-uphill-battle/2017/11/11/c6073a0a-c3d7-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512%5Fstory.html?ref=rangemedia.co) wrote a glowing story about his compassion for trans patients. When he was picked as the surgeon to perform a gender-transition operation on an Idaho prisoner, public radio [profiled him at length](http://ublicradio.org/news/2019-07-08/episode-3-the-procedure?ref=rangemedia.co). And when the number of gender-transition surgeries almost tripled from 2016 to 2019, the New York Post illustrated the story with Stiller’s [picture](https://nypost.com/2023/08/24/transgender-surgeries-nearly-tripled-in-us/?ref=rangemedia.co). Yet in the past five years, running clinics in Spokane and Moscow, Idaho, Stiller has been sued for malpractice four times. The latest suit was filed earlier this year by Ashley Miller, both a patient and later an employee, who alleged a series of ethical lapses by Stiller, including involving an unlicensed staff member in a procedure, reusing implants, sexually harassing staff, keeping shoddy medical records, and potentially performing surgery while intoxicated. In one instance, a front office supervisor with no medical training assisted with removing part of a trans patient’s penis — an event captured in a photograph presented to her as a gag gift during an employee’s birthday party, Miller’s lawsuit claims. “Doctor Stiller, for a long time, has been able to operate with a certain level of impunity,” said Court Hall, Miller’s attorney. The [lawsuit](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=12187484&caseNumber=2520215932&subNum=6.0&pageNum=42&ref=rangemedia.co), filed in May, is ongoing. Although Stiller, who did not respond to multiple interview requests, denies the bulk of Miller’s accusations in [court documents](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=12252518&caseNumber=2520215932&subNum=13.0&pageNum=43&ref=rangemedia.co), InvestigateWest corroborated many of Miller’s most alarming claims with another former employee and several other dissatisfied patients. Together, the allegations paint a portrait of a talented surgeon whose ethical lapses and errors put the safety and dignity of patients and employees at risk. If true, it would hardly make Stiller an outlier. Medical experts say the financial incentives and lack of meaningful guardrails in outpatient clinics enable bad actors in the cosmetic surgery industry to flourish. “In the wild, wild west of cosmetic surgery, sometimes ethics — doing the right thing for your patients — takes a backseat,” said C. Bob Basu, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, an advocacy and educational organization representing over 10,000 board-certified plastic surgeons. Social media and evolving beauty standards have helped cosmetic surgery grow to a $17 billion industry in the United States. But increasing demand has created fertile ground for abuse, allowing doctors with little training or few ethical constraints to manipulate online reviews, fake medical records or show up for surgery hungover. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/07/Dr.-C.-Bob-Basu-Photo-1.jpg) *Dr. C. Bob Basu, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, recommends patients find a doctor certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, but warns many doctors cite less rigorous credentialing boards. (Photo courtesy of the National American Society of Plastic Surgeons)* After all, any physician, regardless of specialty or surgical training, can call themselves a cosmetic surgeon. While states like California have banned cosmetic surgeons like Stiller from calling themselves “board certified” without more training, Washington and Idaho haven’t followed suit. And with state regulators often slow or reluctant to act, bad surgeons can get away with cutting corners for years. In Stiller’s case, the stakes are different. Gender-transition surgeries are under political attack, and some patients worry that each high-profile failure erodes public trust in legitimate reconstructive and gender-affirming care. Hexe Fey, a trans man in the Seattle-area whom Stiller operated on last year, worries that Stiller could inadvertently fuel opposition to the kinds of surgeries trans people seek out. “He has done a lot of good,” Fey said of Stiller. “But even people who intend to do good can do harm.” #### ‘Cream of the crop’ By the time he was 38, Stiller had gone from being a prep schooler in a tiny town in Pennsylvania coal country to an award-winning surgical resident in South Philadelphia to the chief of surgery at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho to owning his own cosmetic surgery clinic in North Carolina. That was where, in 2009, bodybuilder William Colson came to get a hair transplant from Dr. Stiller. The Samson Hair Restoration Company had advertised that the company relied on the best board-certified surgeons to perform their transplants and that Stiller was the “cream of the crop.” At that time, Stiller’s curriculum vitae shows that his formal cosmetic surgery-focused training was mostly limited to a yearlong fellowship at a Seattle-area cosmetic surgery and hair restoration clinic. Shortly after Colson’s surgery, a foul-smelling soup of blood and fluid began leaking out of his head and onto his pillow, according to a lawsuit Colson filed in federal court. “My scalp immediately started to die and literally rot within the next few days,” Colson testified in court documents. Stiller relocated to Washington state and shelled out a $450,000 settlement to Colson. Of the procedures listed on his website today, hair transplants isn’t one of them. The experience didn’t tamp down Stiller’s ambitions. He set his sights on performing vaginoplasties, and he sought out a urologist from Los Angeles to get trained in the procedure. Gender-transition surgeries come with their own controversy. He told the Washington Postin 2017 that he’d lost 20 pounds because of the stress from the backlash. But he was also riding a growing wave. By 2021, the number of [gender-transition surgeries](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10914541/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Results:%20We%20identified%20a%20total,with%20previous%20survey%2Dbased%20studies.) being performed nationwide had nearly quintupled in five years. “In the trans community, he’s a king to most of them,” said Brandy Spangler, a former front desk manager at the Spokane location of Stiller Aesthetics. “The way I saw him behave towards that community is very beautiful.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/brandy-spangler-cropped-1.jpg) *Brandy Spangler (left), a former employee at Stiller Aesthetics, has echoed allegations raised by a lawsuit that include sexual harassment, partying the night before surgery, keeping inaccurate medical records, and letting untrained staff amputate penises. (Brandy Spangler photo)* Many of these patients were on Medicaid, she noted, meaning they paid a lot less than other cosmetic procedures. But gender surgery was only a portion of Stiller’s workload. He also does facelifts, breast implants, tummy tucks, Brazilian Butt Lifts and “mommy makeovers” — procedures that can be incredibly lucrative. Divorce records this year hint at Stiller’s level of wealth — he and his wife owned five houses, not counting a Florida timeshare — and Spangler recalled him being wildly generous with it. He would not only pay hefty salaries to his staff, she said, but also help some of them pay off debts, get expensive dental work and even buy a house. Spangler, who worked with Stiller for 16 months, said that all that money had given him a sense of impunity. “He very much has the idea that he can get himself out of anything with money,” she said. #### Deceptive advertisements You could begin the history of modern cosmetic surgery with the first silicone breast implant in 1962\. By 1989, the industry had grown infamous enough that Congress launched an eight-month investigation into the spate of scams and abuses in the industry. That year, then-U.S. Rep. Ron Wyden of Oregon began a congressional hearing by declaring that the lack of regulations had led to modern “snake oil salesmen” that “maimed and disfigured” too many Americans. Decades later, the same concerns remain. Untrained doctors. Misleading advertisements. Inadequate oversight at unsupervised outpatient clinics. Yet the cosmetic surgery market keeps growing. The number of procedures leaped 25 percent between 2019 and 2023, and those are just procedures from officially board-certified plastic surgeons. Many practitioners don’t have that level of training. “Whether you’re a pediatrician, whether you’re a dermatologist, whether you’re an OB-GYN, you can put up your shingle and say you’re a ‘cosmetic plastic surgeon,’” said Basu with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. “That’s legal in all 50 states.” One market research firm projects the [cosmetic surgery market](https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/us-cosmetic-surgery-market/?ref=rangemedia.co) may grow by nearly 70 percent in the next decade. “Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of headlines of patients that are being harmed when they go to providers who are taking shortcuts,” Basu said. “This problem is only getting worse.” Consumers are often left to sift through Instagram videos, Reddit comments and Yelp reviews to try to figure out who’s qualified. But the internet isn’t always reliable. Last year, Seattle-area cosmetic surgeon Javad Sajan agreed to pay more than $5 million after the state Attorney General’s Office found he’d been flooding the internet with fake reviews, bribing patients for positive reviews and forcing them to sign [nondisclosure agreements](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-files-lawsuit-against-seattle-based-plastic-surgery-clinic-bribing?ref=rangemedia.co) barring them from leaving negative ones. Even though Stiller Aesthetics has plenty of real positive reviews to draw on, InvestigateWest identified multiple rave reviews on Google that declined to mention that the reviewers were current Stiller Aesthetics employees. It’s why Basu said it’s so important to look at a doctor’s credentials. “Make sure your surgeon is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery,” said Basu. “Accept no imitations. Don’t fall for fancy titles.” The American Board of Plastic Surgery is one of 24 boards established by the American Board of Medical Specialties, the organization that has set the gold standard for the most rigorous medical-credentialing process in the last century. Sientra, one of the four major manufacturers of silicone gel breast implants, won’t even sell to doctors without a Board of Plastic Surgery credential. Stiller doesn’t have one. Instead, when he advertises himself as a “board-certified” cosmetic surgeon, he’s talking about the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery — an endorsement not approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties or recognized by the Washington Medical Commission. To be clear, an American Board of Cosmetic Surgery endorsement is not nothing. It requires a year-long fellowship, the completion of 300 cosmetic surgeries, and passing an exam. But that’s the fraction of the more than six years of training the American Board of Plastic Surgery requires. Research suggests that experience matters. A 2022 [study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35819983/?ref=rangemedia.co) found that American Board of Cosmetic Surgeons’ doctors were three times as likely to have disciplinary actions from state medical boards than those fully credentialed with the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Some states have taken action. In 2018, the state medical board of California banned cosmetic surgeons from advertising as “board-certified” without a Board of Plastic Surgery certification. The Washington Medical Commission hasn’t done the same. “That’s for the profession to sort out, not the regulator,” said Micah Matthews, deputy executive and legislative director for Washington’s commission. While the Attorney General’s Office will sometimes intervene in consumer protection issues, the medical commission is the primary body tasked with investigating accusations and leveling penalties, including stripping doctors of their licenses because of misconduct. But Matthews said the bar is very high, requiring “clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the person can never be remediated.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/heidi-gnehm-screenshot.png) *A rave review on Google that appears to have been written by a current Stiller Aesthetics employee. (Google screenshot)* An investigation by the medical commission is only one stage in a very lengthy process. Nearly three years after the Attorney General’s Office brought charges against Sajan — the cosmetic surgeon sued for faking his way to more positive reviews — the commission has not yet ruled on what the penalty should be. A hearing is scheduled for March. Meanwhile, Sajan put out a press release last month that appeared on sites like Yahoo Finance, declaring himself the “best plastic surgeon in Seattle.” #### Try, try, try again In the midst of the pandemic, cracks began to appear in Stiller’s cultivated public image. In July 2021, an Idaho sheriff’s deputy [pulled Stiller over in Latah County](https://drive.google.com/file/d/16UxVlQ1CRccdOcExZYsu9pTLyeD-%5F5qQ/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co), south of Spokane. Through slurring words, he claimed he’d only had “one beer,” records state. But he blew a .21 on a Breathalyzer, more than twice the legal limit. It meant two days in jail, a suspended license, an ignition interlock installed in his vehicle, and nearly a year of probation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/mug1-a.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/mug2-b.jpg) *After his arrest for driving under the influence in July 2021, cosmetic surgeon Geoffrey Stiller spent two days in jail and had an ignition interlock installed on his vehicle until November 2022\. (Latah County Sheriff’s Office)* The years ahead would bring a divorce, lawsuits and a number of complaints to the Washington Medical Commission. He completed his court-mandated alcohol education training class in February 2022, the same month that a woman named Ashley Miller first walked into Stiller’s office for a surgical consultation. Stiller’s team convinced her to grow her breast size by 2½ times. Five days after her first surgery, the implant had come loose and was jutting up near her collarbone, causing one breast to swell dramatically, Miller alleged in court records. Many cosmetic surgeons offer free revisions when clients are unhappy. Tonya Berrueta, who sued Stiller in 2021, got three revisions from Stiller before giving up. “I had to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Berrueta said. “I trusted you once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Not doing a fifth time.’” Miller, however, kept going back to Stiller and kept having problems. A painful lump popped up in one breast. Blood and fluid leaked from her veins and pooled under her skin. The surgical mesh Stiller used repeatedly came loose. A breast turned purple and black, accompanied by a fever. One implant ruptured. Hall, Miller’s attorney, said that Stiller had operated on Miller 10 times within two and half years, representing “a pretty direct line to conclude that something went wrong.” To start with, the lawsuit alleges Stiller had used a surgical disinfectant, even after Miller told him she was allergic to it. He’d misdiagnosed the painful lump on her breast as a mere cyst, allowing what was actually one of his loose stitches to drift around her body for months. He’d allegedly been reusing her same implants, as opposed to discarding them and starting fresh. For minor tweaks to recent surgeries, reusing the same implant is fine, Basu said, but any time there are worries about infections or scar tissue, most doctors recommend they get replaced. “If in doubt, change it out,” he said. By November 2023, Miller started raising the possibility of going to another doctor for a second opinion. Stiller countered with a job offer. According to the lawsuit, Stiller told her that she was Stiller Aesthetics’ “favorite client” and that they wanted to make her happy. Working for Stiller would not only let her get one free surgery a year, but the proximity would make it easier for Stiller to provide her medical care. “She was frustrated with what was happening to her body. She was concerned about the care she was receiving,” Hall said. “But she still trusted Dr. Stiller.” Miller was hired as Stiller’s “patient care representative” in January 2024. “She did not realize it was such a horrible place until she got on the inside,” Hall said. The lawsuit alleges that Stiller admitted to Miller he “previously had multiple sexual relationships with other Stiller Aesthetics’ employees,” and that Miller’s new co-workers relentlessly spread false rumors that she was his latest conquest. Stiller did little to stop the harassment, the suit states, and “made it clear that he viewed women as sexual objects and playthings.” Photos of Miller’s “nude and discolored breasts” she’d provided to the clinic for a medical assessment had ended up on an employee’s personal cellphone. Other patients’ pictures were on the phone, too. She alleges identifiable video footage of her body in surgery was uploaded onto Stiller Aesthetics’ Instagram page without her permission. Miller was horrified, her lawsuit said, by the cavalier way that patient rights were treated. Both she and her husband had been there when a photo was presented at a birthday party showing a front-office supervisor participating in a penis amputation. Stiller’s reaction, according to the lawsuit: “That’s awesome.” Spangler, the former front desk supervisor, said on multiple occasions while she worked there, untrained employees were given the chance to deal with their anger toward men by cutting off penises during surgical procedures. “You know, a joke,” Spangler said. “A freaking joke.” Being an employee also gave Miller inside information into what may have gone wrong with her own surgery: In her complaint, Miller said, she was told by the clinic director that Stiller had previously performed surgeries while under the influence of alcohol, including Miller’s first surgery in May 2022\. Stiller’s attorneys repeatedly deny he was drunk during that surgery. At that time, he was on probation from his 2021 drunk driving arrest, barred from entering a bar or consuming alcohol until the middle of October 2022. But Spangler said that when she joined the staff in August 2022, she got a firsthand look at the culture of sexual harassment, the fallout from Stiller’s affairs, and Stiller’s frequent use of alcohol. “We were partying right out of the gate,” Spangler said. “Work nights. Week nights.” She said she’d see Stiller drink until 2 or 3 a.m. and then show up at the clinic the next day at 6 a.m. ready to operate. She said she knows of one botched face-lift in particular that came after a night of hard drinking. A 2011 study tested Irish medical students and experienced doctors on their surgical skills the morning after a bout of heavy drinking and found that performance continued to suffer as late as 4 p.m. the next day. It represents another hole in the regulatory system: While the Federal Aviation Administration tries to protect passengers from pilots influenced by alcohol by implementing a “bottle to throttle” rule — requiring that pilots wait at least eight hours to fly after drinking — there’s no equivalent rule for surgeons. #### Private matters Even after hearing that Stiller’s drinking habits may have contributed to her disastrous surgery, Miller didn’t quit. Instead, one of the perks of the job was turned against her, she alleges. After taking advantage of the free-surgery-a-year offer for Stiller Aesthetics employees — getting a rhinoplasty along with another breast implant revision — she was pressured to sign a contract stipulating that if she left the job before the year was up, she’d have to pay full price. While California recently banned most of these “stay or pay” contracts, Washington state and Idaho still allow them. After Miller was fired in November 2024, she suddenly found herself owing her boss thousands of dollars. “They wanted to hold this debt over her head — I believe in an effort to get her to shut up and not talk about what was happening,” said Hall, Miller’s attorney. When Spangler was ultimately fired in January 2024 — with little explanation other than she was not correctly performing “job-related duties” — she said she was also told she’d have to pay back a generous cash gift that Stiller had given her. Stiller’s attorneys have already won one major motion in court: They’ve convinced the judge to split Miller’s lawsuit into two separate cases, one focusing on the workplace allegations and the other focusing on the medical malpractice claims. Medical malpractice suits are typically decided in favor of the doctor. Stiller’s attorney argues that Miller consented to her treatment, assumed the risk of her potential injuries, and was potentially to blame for any suffering she incurred. Miller plans to also complain to the Washington State Medical Commission. In the past year, there have been four complaints about Stiller or his office. At least two have concerned inaccurate medical records. “He does not keep his medical records correct,” Spangler said. “The state should be interested in that.” Spangler said that Stiller would sometimes delay writing up his surgical notes for months, and would sometimes copy and paste notes from different surgeries with different patients. The Washington Medical Commission warns that using cut-and-paste functions for medical records can raise concerns about fraudulent billing and “represents [significant risks ](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/wmc-wa-gov/sites/default/files/public/medical-records-approved-guideline.pdf)to patient safety.” Fey, the trans patient, came to Stiller late last year for a nipple-sparing mastectomy, a surgery where a patient’s breast tissue is removed, but the original nipple remains attached. Stiller’s records state Fey got a different procedure, with extensive details about how Stiller had cut off his nipples and then sewed them back on. Either he’d been given the wrong surgery — a mistake that could have ramifications on nipple appearance and sensitivity — or the medical records were wrong. While Stiller’s office insisted that the records were correct, Fey sought out another surgeon, who confirmed that the records were in error. The surgery itself, Fey concluded, was well done. But he felt like he’d been gaslighted — repeatedly lied to in a way that pretended he was the crazy one. “I don't know if I want to get too into how mad I am right now,” Fey said. Transgender surgeries are under fire right now. This year Stiller was [sued](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/courtdocumentviewer/imageviewers/SCDocumentViewer.aspx?docid=12100938&caseNumber=2520243232&subNum=2.0&pageNum=31&ref=rangemedia.co) for medical malpractice by a Texas-based law firm created solely to represent those they say have been harmed by “gender-affirming care.” The plaintiff, a woman who no longer identifies as transgender, accused Stiller and a number of other doctors of disregarding “numerous red flags” about her mental condition before “rushing” her down the path of several permanent gender-transition surgeries. Her attorney argues that Stiller in particular botched her surgery, alleging the patient experiences “severe and debilitating pain in her arms to this day” because of the operation. It raises the possibility that mistakes made by cosmetic surgeons could be used to whittle away the rights of trans people to get those surgeries to begin with. Stiller is one of the only gender-transition surgeons in the state who takes Medicaid, Fey said. There are lots of ways that a surgeon screwing up can hurt people, Fey said, and lots of reasons for anti-trans crusaders to want doctors like Stiller to screw up. “I’ve been worried about that a lot,” Fey said. > **This** [**story**](https://www.investigatewest.org/allegations-against-washington-gender-affirming-surgeon-stir-fears-of-backlash-for-trans-patients/?ref=rangemedia.co) **was originally published by InvestigateWest. InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Daniel Walters can be reached at daniel@investigatewest.org.** ### The POD: A FLOCK Deep Dive URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-flock-deep-dive/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T19:46:11.000Z There’s been a lot of protests this year, both nationally and in Spokane. Automated License Plate Readers – or FLOCK cameras – have been used to search for people who *might’ve* been at these protests. On this week’s episode, Erin, Aaron, and Val talk about these cameras, Erin’s months-long investigative reporting on them, and the recent stories we’ve published. Find the recent coverage (and a previous FLOCK-related episode) below: > **[Did you go to a protest this year? Local cops might’ve been searching for you on Flock cameras.](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-protests-spokane/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*)** > > **[‘Had an abortion, search for female.’ Texas deputy searched Spokane County Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*)** > > **[The POD: All the FLOCK things](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-all-the-flock-things/) (*August 22, 2025* Free RANGE *episode*)** ### Did you go to a protest this year? Local cops might’ve been searching for you on Flock cameras. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-protests-spokane/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T01:38:31.000Z This story was published in partnership with the [University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/?ref=rangemedia.co), who provided data analysis. From the smoke-choked [June 11 protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Spokane to the packed parks and sidewalks at multiple No Kings protests, 2025 has been filled with people exercising their right to protest the US government. As protestors lined streets across Spokane with signs proclaiming “Fuck Trump,” “Stop the War on the Poor,” and “Arrested on Wednesday, back on Thursday,” they were met with police responses including the deployment of chemical munitions and dozens of arrests. At others, protesters were met with a [dialogue-focused response team](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/20/spokane-police-officers-at-the-no-kings-protest-we/?ref=rangemedia.co) at the Spokane Police Department (SPD). But whatever the forward-facing police response was, behind the scenes, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) had been quietly using Flock cameras for months to surveil protests, where people took to the streets to exercise their rights. Many of these searches were made in connection with smaller, less intense protests early in the year. SPD also made one search in connection to a “suspicious vehicle” near a protest. Earlier this year, we requested a network audit of all searches of the SCSO Flock network made between January 1, 2025 to June 23, 2025, which shows the requesting agency, the search reason they gave, any case number attached, when they searched and how many networks and cameras they searched from. On February 17 — President’s Day, and the date of nationwide “[Resident’s Day](https://favs.news/protest-residents-day-march-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co)” protests against Trump’s attacks on immigrants, BIPOC people, queer people and federal workers — hundreds of people [gathered in the snowy Riverfront Park](https://www.spokesman.com/galleries/2025/feb/17/hundreds-protest-trump-at-downtown-spokane-march/?ref=rangemedia.co) to hear from speakers and march through downtown. The same day, SCSO tactical analyst Katie Johnson made two searches for “SPD protest.” Her first search combed through 470 cameras across nine networks, while her second was more extensive, searching 1,299 cameras on 74 networks. No arrests were made in conjunction with that protest, and Johnson’s search provided no details on why it was necessary. The SCSO network audit records do not specify which networks were searched. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image.png) *Protesters hit the streets of downtown Spokane for No Kings and Spokane Pride protests on June 14\. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* In March, searches in connection to protests ramped up. A Spokane Police Department officer searched 197 cameras across eight networks for a red Hyundai — with the search reason as “suspicious vehicle near protest,” — after the March 4 for Liberty protest on March 4th. However, the search was specifically looking for results from February 4, a full month earlier, when folks had [gathered in downtown](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/04/dozens-gather-in-downtown-spokane-to-protest-elon-/?ref=rangemedia.co) Spokane to protest Elon Musk. Officer Daniel Strassenberg, spokesperson for SPD, said that the search was "related to an ongoing investigation into a series of incidents at different demonstrations involving criminal activity. Some of these incidents were initially recorded as protests, while others were documented as harassment." "During the investigation, two individuals were identified as suspects in criminal activity associated with these events, and the red Hyundai was believed to be connected to them," Strassenberg wrote in an email to RANGE. "As a result, multiple misdemeanor charges, including coercion, harassment, and stalking, were later submitted to the prosecutor's office for charging consideration for both suspects." Two weeks later, protesters attended [Congressman Michael Baumgartner’s Town Hall](https://www.rangemedia.co/baumgartner-town-hall-spokane/) at Whitworth University, and SCSO analyst Dustin Baunsgard searched four times, searching over 75,000 cameras across 6,109 networks, for vehicles at the protest, using the search term “Whitworth Protest.” [Public records](https://www.muckrock.com/foi/spokane-county-76/whitworth-protest-187433/?ref=rangemedia.co#file-1328055) released to Flock watchdog Rose Terse show the only incident report filed in connection with the protest was a parking violation. On March 29, Baunsgard made another seven searches, this time for a Lexus related to “LLPD protest,” likely referring to the [Tesla Takedown](https://actionnetwork.org/event%5Fcampaigns/teslatakedown?zipcode=99208&country=US&title%5Fsearch=&start%5Fdate%5Fthreshold=&end%5Fdate%5Fthreshold=&ref=rangemedia.co) protest scheduled that day at the Tesla dealership in Liberty Lake. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-2.png) Then, on June 14 and 15, after the No Kings protest planned for the same day as Spokane Pride, SCSO’s Johnston made eight searches across 1,142 cameras related to the event. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1.png) According to the SCSO’s [policy manual](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6336/Spokane%5FCounty%5FSO%5FPolicy%5FManual?ref=rangemedia.co), any equipment used by the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) — which includes the Flock cameras — shall not be used “based on First Amendment activities.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/image-3.png) *SCSO’s video technology policy, available publicly on their website.* On Tuesday, we provided SCSO with questions about these searches and a deadline of 2 pm on Thursday. They did not respond. If we receive a response following publication, we will add it in. We sent SCSO Public Information Officer Mark Gregory the following questions: - *Were you aware that the county Flock cameras were searched by SCSO employees for protestors? Do you have any other context for why searches were made with solely the reason “protest” given? We're including a screenshot of the searches below.* - *What was done with the information gleaned in the search? Did it lead to any arrests or citations or is it being used in any cases?* - *Do you feel that searching for protestors on surveillance technology like this erodes trust in local support of free speech rights?* - *The RTCC manual states that Flock cameras shall not be used “based on First Amendment activities.” Would you consider these searches to be against policy, given what's outlined in the RTCC?* ### Nationwide searches on Spokane cameras Local officers weren’t the only ones searching Spokane cameras for protesters. These kinds of searches are part of a national trend [uncovered by the Electronic Frontier Foundation](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flock-safetys-alpr-network-surveil-protesters-and-activists?ref=rangemedia.co) (EFF), which obtained datasets showing that more than 50 agencies across the country made hundreds of Flock searches connected to protests. Other law enforcement agents who searched data from SCSO cameras included: - An officer from Shenandoah, Texas who searched Spokane County’s network and 5,584 others for “protest” four times on February 26, 2025. - A Georgia officer who searched Spokane County’s network and 6,261 others for “protest” on March 11, 2025. - An Indiana officer who searched Spokane County’s network and 6,401 others for “protest” nine times on April 19, 2025. - A Florida deputy who searched Spokane County’s network and 6,507 others for “protest” on May 8, 2025. - An Arizona officer who searched Spokane County’s network and 5,934 others for “protest” twice on May 23, 2025. Last week, when we interviewed Gregory and Sheriff John Nowels about the national look-up feature, they first said it had been turned off in May, then in a subsequent conversation said they didn’t know the actual date but it was “spring.” Then in a phone conversation on Tuesday, they said those previous answers were "generalities," and it could have been turned off as late as July. That afternoon, we again asked them: - *Last time we spoke, you weren't sure when national look-up access got turned off. Have you been able to find a concrete date for that?* As of publication, no response has been provided. Dave Maass and Rindala Alajaji of EFF also [originally reported](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flock-safetys-alpr-network-surveil-protesters-and-activists?ref=rangemedia.co) three of SCSO’s No Kings-related searches that appeared on network audits for other agencies they reviewed. “In some cases, law enforcement specifically targeted known activist groups, demonstrating how mass surveillance technology increasingly threatens our freedom to demonstrate,” Maass and Alajaji wrote in their piece. “Everyone should have the right to speak up against injustice without ending up in a database.” **What is Flock and who else has access to these cameras?** Flock is a surveillance technology brand that sells a specific brand of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) that are used on a subscription basis by law enforcement agencies across the state. The cameras constantly log photos of any car that drives past them, whether that driver has potentially committed a crime or not, which is then stored for up to 30 days in a database owned by the law enforcement agencies. That database can then be searched by whoever has a direct log-in to it, or any agencies that it has been shared with. Read more about Flock cameras in our region and where they’re located [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/). The Spokane Sheriff’s network currently has [more than 60 Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/) operational within the county, including mobile Flock cameras mounted on vehicles that move around the area. *Additional reporting contributed by Aaron Hedge.* *Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a statement from SPD received after the time of publication.* For information on this investigative series, why we’re reporting it and what’s coming next, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/). ### WA lawmakers will gather in Olympia to gear up for 2026 session URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-lawmakers-2026-session/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T23:20:52.000Z > **Editor's note:** Our [2025 Washington state legislative session guide](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-legislative-representatives/) provides info on who represents Eastern WA and some ways you can contact them. If any of the committees' topics interest you, be sure to contact your representatives and make your voice heard! How best to spend, save and raise money will be a recurring theme when Washington lawmakers convene in Olympia next week for their annual “[committee days](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home?ref=rangemedia.co#//0/12-03-2025/12-05-2025/Schedule///Bill/).” The state is facing a budget shortfall that’s poised to dominate the 2026 session, which begins Jan. 12. Data centers, vaccine safety, bridges hit by trucks, and the states mounting legal payouts are other issues to be tackled in the three days of work sessions, which start Wednesday. This year, both chambers will be in town at the same time. It will provide a sense of the pace and tenor of policy debates to come in next year’s 60-day session. Wednesday, Dec. 3, is reserved for meetings of [seven committees](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home?ref=rangemedia.co#//0/12-03-2025/12-03-2025/Schedule///Bill/) composed of House and Senate members. On Thursday and Friday, individual [House and Senate committees will meet](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home?ref=rangemedia.co#//0/12-03-2025/12-03-2025/Schedule///Bill/) starting at 8 a.m. each day. Data Centers will grab the spotlight [at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33477?//0/12-03-2025/12-03-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co). That’s when the [Joint Committee on Energy Supply, Energy Conservation, and Energy Resilience](https://leg.wa.gov/about-the-legislature/committees/joint/esec/?ref=rangemedia.co) will hear recommendations of the [data center work group](https://dor.wa.gov/about/data-center-workgroup?ref=rangemedia.co) established by an [executive order](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/dor-wa-gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/datacenterworkgroup%5Fexecorder.pdf) from Gov. Bob Ferguson. A report from the work group is due to the governor by Dec. 1\. Data centers consume large amounts of electricity, and more are coming online as artificial intelligence technology expands. Also Wednesday, [health insurance costs and vaccine safety](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33534?//0/12-03-2025/12-03-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co) will be on the agenda when the [Joint Select Committee on Health Care and Behavioral Health Oversight](https://leg.wa.gov/about-the-legislature/committees/joint/hcojsc/?ref=rangemedia.co) meets at 3 p.m. Thursday will be dominated by budget-related conversations. This year, Democratic lawmakers pushed through billions in new and increased taxes, along with spending cuts, to bridge a projected gap around $16 billion over four years. Concerns about [one of the largest new business taxes](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33512?//0/12-04-2025/12-04-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co) that took effect Oct. 1 will be a hot topic in [the House Finance Committee at 1:30 p.m.](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33512?//0/12-04-2025/12-05-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co) Thursday. [Senate Bill 5814](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=5814&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) imposes new sales taxes on a number of services and is counted on to bring in $1.1 billion in the two-year budget that began July 1\. Local governments will get a cut of the state sales tax proceeds. Rep. April Berg, D-Mill Creek, the committee chair, has said the law needs fine-tuning to make clearer who is required to collect and pay the taxes. Operating and transportation expenses will be showcased in four different budget committees meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday. The Senate Ways and Means Committee has [a packed agenda ](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33546?//0/12-04-2025/12-05-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co)with discussions on [future tax collections](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/11/18/downbeat-outlook-persists-in-was-final-budget-forecast-of-the-year/?ref=rangemedia.co), [growing lawsuit payouts](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/09/24/wa-lawmakers-faced-with-570m-decision-on-surging-lawsuit-payouts/?ref=rangemedia.co), and state pensions. In the House Appropriations Committee, [conversations are planned](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33510?//0/12-04-2025/12-04-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co) on the state’s budget outlook, plus updates on federal funding and Washington’s strained juvenile rehabilitation system. Highway maintenance and preservation will be a focus of both the Senate and House transportation panels. The Senate Transportation Committee will [devote its one-hour work session](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33524?//0/12-04-2025/12-05-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co) to the subject. Meanwhile, members of the House Transportation Committee will get briefed on how the state Department of Transportation is dealing with [bridges damaged](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/with-emergency-repairs-done-wa-will-reopen-bridge-over-white-river/?ref=rangemedia.co) by truck collisions. Also [on the agenda](https://app.leg.wa.gov/committeeschedules/Home/Documents/33514?//0/12-04-2025/12-05-2025/Schedule///Bill/&ref=rangemedia.co) is an update on the Washington State Ferries multi-billion-dollar electrification program. For the full schedule, agendas and documents, visit [the Legislature’s website](https://leg.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co). All meetings will be livestreamed on [TVW](https://tvw.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). *[This story](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/11/28/wa-lawmakers-will-gather-in-olympia-to-gear-up-for-2026-session/?ref=rangemedia.co) was originally published by [Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), which is part of [States Newsroom](https://statesnewsroom.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.* ### Hello CM Kate Telis, goodbye algorithmic rental price fixing? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T19:43:29.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council could finally pass a toothier version of the ban on algorithmic price-fixing software for rental housing which would strip violators of their business licenses. They’re also saying hello to new Council Member Kate Telis, voting on a state legislative lobbying agenda and potentially passing a settlement for an eight-year-old lawsuit. - Spokane’s Public Safety & Community Health Committee is set to discuss a ban on kratom, and a slate of reports that show both an increase in speeding and in arrests of unhoused people for public camping. - The Spokane Human Rights Commission has no agenda up yet, but they do have a vacancy you can apply for if you want to impact social change in the city! - The Spokane School District may finally get its own fleet of school buses and end its 50-year reliance on contract bus services. Plus, The Community School might get a new name! Send us your best suggestions. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) (and Study Session) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) - [Community, Housing, and Human Services Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) - [Spokane Human Rights Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/hello-cm-kate-telis-goodbye-algorithmic-rental-price-fixing/) #### Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### New face on the dais Because the seat was previously filled by an appointed member (Council Member Shelby Lambdin), Council Member Kate Telis was sworn in immediately following the certification of the 2025 election results and has replaced Lambdin as one of the two representatives for council district 2\. Tonight is her first legislative meeting! ### Legislative session is coming… In just over a month, the Washington State Legislature will convene in Olympia to pass laws. So tonight, the Spokane City Council could adopt their own legislative agenda, laying out the city’s goals they plan to lobby the state for. At the top of the list is seeking a Climate Commitment Act (CCA) exemption for Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant, which is the only solid waste disposal system in the state currently slated to have to pay fees under the CCA — despite producing less greenhouse gasses than landfills, which received an exemption. If city lobbyists and local legislators can secure an exemption, it could save Spokane residents from up to $8 million in penalties, which will start in 2027 if no exemption is granted. Other priorities on the list include: - Fighting for permission to try out[ land value tax](https://www.inlander.com/comment/its-too-easy-for-spokane-land-speculators-to-sit-on-their-property-without-redeveloping-it/article%5F62db0ce2-1b25-5292-96c6-7d62a3f4c346.html?ref=rangemedia.co) here in Spokane, which would exempt buildings from being subject to tax and instead just tax based on the value of the land (which advocates think could discourage land speculation and encourage development.) - Seeking funding for: an expansion of the Northeast Regional Law Enforcement Academy, which trains police recruits, an expansion of the system’s behavioral health and substance abuse treatment capacity, more emergency shelters, transitional housing and resources for unhoused people, and increased affordable childcare access through supporting more state-subsidized childcare slots and “the Northeast Public Development Authority’s development of a childcare center serving people who work nontraditional hours.” - Pushing for statewide vehicle tab fee restructuring that will raise tab fees for heavier vehicles, like large trucks, that cause more damage to streets. - Looking for permission to charge a sidewalk fee that would fund sidewalk repair and construction. - Asking for a statewide ban on metal-studded tires. - Supporting legislation authorizing the state attorney general to “investigate and prosecute local law enforcement and corrections agencies for violations of the State Constitution and state laws – including the Keep Washington Working Act.” ### Water fight settlement Nearly a decade ago, golf courses and residents located outside of Spokane city limits [brought a $30 million lawsuit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jun/29/30-million-class-action-claims-spokane-overcharged/?ref=rangemedia.co) against Spokane, alleging that the city’s higher rates for users outside of city limits were unfair and illegal. Now, the city could approve a settlement in the class action lawsuit that would pay out a maximum of $3,700,000 in total to customers within the settlement class, without admitting fault or liability. ### Algorithmic rent price-fixing ban at last? After weeks of deferrals to tweak the language (and increase penalties for landlords and property managers in violation of the new ordinance), this could finally be the week it passes. If you need a refresher, here’s a summary: The Spokane City Council could pass an ordinance banning algorithmic rental price fixing software, which analyzes the market and data from other landlords to help users set the maximum rent prices a consumer would pay. A 2024 report from the federal government found that this kind of software can cost [renters an average of $70 per month](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/12/17/the-cost-of-anticompetitive-pricing-algorithms-in-rental-housing/?ref=rangemedia.co) in additional rent expenses. Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown recently [filed a lawsuit](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/washington-ag-says-realpage-and-landlords-conspired-harm-tenants-violate?ref=rangemedia.co) against one of the software companies, called RealPage, alleging the company and the landlords who used it violated the Consumer Protection Act. If passed in Spokane, this could be the latest move in the council’s quest to [protect renters in the city](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/). > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, December 1 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, December 4 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Cancelling kratom A new ordinance up for discussion at the Public Safety & Community Health Committee could ban the sale and distribution (not the use) of kratom products within city limits. What is kratom, you ask? According to the committee agenda, it’s “a psychoactive plant containing alkaloids including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) at low levels that can have stimulant and opioid-like effects.” Google says pretty much the same thing, basically, it’s an uncontrolled substance with potential stimulant and sedative effects, [sold as an](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prescription-drug-abuse/in-depth/kratom/art-20402171?ref=rangemedia.co) energy booster or pain reliever. It has potential negative health impacts, like liver toxicity and seizures, and it can also be [extremely addictive](https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local%5Fnews/addictive-spiral-herbal-supplement-kratom-facing-more-scrutiny-in-new-mexico/article%5F96872059-37a7-445e-b346-20fa04507ba4.html?ref=rangemedia.co). We’ve heard through the grapevine that local medical professionals are going to be talking to the committee on the impacts of kratom at this meeting, going into discussions on the potential ban. ### Safety reports As always, this committee gets a treasure trove of information in the form of reports from Spokane Police Department (SPD), the Office of the Police Ombuds and more. Here’s a few highlights we noticed: - According to the city’s red light and speed cameras, running red lights was down slightly in September and October — although part of the drop in October’s numbers was due to a system failure affecting red light cameras for almost two weeks — and speeding is way, way up. Speed violations were up 1,912 from the same time period last year in September, and 1,036 violations in October, with people speeding most frequently heading southbound at the Nevada and Longfellow intersection. - SPD is sitting at two deadly use-of-force incidents for the entirety of 2025, which both occurred in the first two months of the year. One of those cases now sits with the county prosecutor, following an investigation by the Spokane Independent Investigative Response (SIIR). The other is still under investigation by SIIR. If the trend holds, it will be a big reduction from 2024, which saw police fatally shoot [six people](https://www.krem.com/article/news/special-reports/more-to-every-story/spokane-police-record-deadliest-year-in-over-a-decade/293-813e1fe7-66c3-4fb2-95eb-ad0699b01217?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=SPOKANE%2C%20Wash.,use%2Dof%2Dforce%20cases.). - According to Police Chief Kevin Hall, in the first week of enforcing the city’s new ordinance criminalizing public homelessness citywide, just 34 out of 300 unhoused people contacted by police accepted services, though that is up from a stark zero when the law was less strict. As of November 7, Hall wrote, SPD has issued more than 100 citations for camping in public spaces. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, December 1 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, December 3 at 4 pm* > *City Council Briefing Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance link included on their agenda* ## Spokane Human Rights Commission The agenda for this commission isn’t available yet, but a reminder: there is a vacancy on this commission that you (yes, you!) can apply for. More information [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/vacancies/?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/spokane-human-rights-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, December 4 at 5:30 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* #### Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Fee increase on table to fund county fair capital projects The Spokane County Fairgrounds wants to raise fees to rent its facilities by about 5% to fund several building projects, including a bathroom renovation that’s already been completed (it’s unclear why an already completed project still needs funding). For example, camping fees would increase from $47 to $49. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 2 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Aquifer protection renewal requires amendment for fee collection In a tiny but important change, the BOCC is adding the phrase “Spokane County Resolution No. 2005-1046, which is amended by this ordinance, shall remain in force and effect until the effective date of this ordinance” to the policy governing the approximately $3 million in fees to protect the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer approved by voters in August. The new language codifies the time period covered by the approved ballot measure, which pays for pollutant monitoring and public programs to increase awareness of environmental issues affecting the drinking water supply. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 2 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Liberty Lake City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, December 2 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* #### School Boards ### Spokane School District Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** #### The wheels on the bus go in house It looks like the Spokane School District may be finally taking the leap on buying its own school bus fleet and bringing those services in-house. The district has [contracted out](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/19/spokane-public-schools-again-to-consider-systemic-/?ref=rangemedia.co) the service since the 1970s, but rising costs and new legislation that requires contractor benefits be equivalent to district employee benefits has pretty much nixed any savings that outsourcing brought. The SPS fleet won’t start operating until the district’s current contract expires in 2028, according to *The Spokesman*. In the meantime, a work group will begin working on recommendations for bus operations, like reevaluating school start times. The consent agenda item in this meeting approves up to $32.3 million in state funding to be spent on procuring a fleet, but it might end up costing less if fewer buses are needed. #### What’s in a name? The Community School might be getting a name change, but we’re not sure what the options are yet because the agenda item only says that there is a request to change the name. Perhaps they’re still taking suggestions? We’re feeling silly, so if you have any pithy ideas, send them to us at [erin@rangemedia.co](mailto:erin@rangemedia.co) with the subject line “New School Name,” and we’ll add the best community suggestion to the CIVICS item in the future where we share whatever the school district picks. #### Deficit is down, but so is enrollment The school board will get its annual financial report for 2024-2025 at this meeting. From what we can tell in the attached presentation, the projected $13 million operating deficit actually ended up being just $6.7 million deficit. This *might* be because the district had fewer full-time equivalent students than budgeted for, showing a year-over-year decline of 109 students. However, funding is based on average annual student enrollment, which is projected to be 313 students lower than last year. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, December 3 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ### ‘Had an abortion, search for female.’ Texas deputy searched Spokane County Flock cameras URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T21:54:42.000Z This story was published in partnership with the University of Washington’s [Center for Human Rights](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/?ref=rangemedia.co), who provided data analysis. In May, a sheriff’s deputy in Texas [searched](https://www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-searched-license-plate-cameras-nationwide-for-a-woman-who-got-an-abortion/?ref=rangemedia.co) 83,345 Flock cameras across the nation looking for a woman who authorities alleged had given herself an abortion. The Johnson County Sheriff was [considering prosecuting her](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flock-safety-and-texas-sheriff-claimed-license-plate-search-was-missing-person-it?ref=rangemedia.co) for the death of her fetus. New records obtained by RANGE prove that some of those cameras belong to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. After the US Supreme Court ruled that states could criminalize abortion in 2022, Washington has continuously committed to protecting access to reproductive healthcare, including abortions. Washington [law](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/lawfilesext-leg-wa-gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bill-Reports/House/1469-s-e-hbr-pl-23-q-20230417142046.pdf) “prohibits the interference with a pregnant person's right to choose to have an abortion prior to viability or to protect the person's life or health.” It also prohibits extradition and law enforcement compliance with out-of-state agencies who may seek to prosecute abortion seekers for receiving a procedure that is legal in Washington. Locally, the Spokane City Council passed [an ordinance in April](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-law-nyne/) stating their strong belief in “the right of individuals to seek, obtain, provide, or facilitate gender-affirming care that is legal in Washington State.” None of those well-meaning sentiments prevented the Johnson County deputy from asking Spokane County’s Flock camera system — along with thousands of other networks across the country — to find a woman driving a Land Rover with Texas plates. The reason listed in the query: “had an abortion, search for female.” News broke in October — following [a report](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2025/10/21/leaving-the-door-wide-open/?ref=rangemedia.co) from the University of Washington — that Flock cameras in Yakima and Prosser had been searched by the Texas deputy, who is identified in the search logs as “J. Smi.” After that report came out, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels [told *The Spokesman Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/22/border-patrol-ice-tapped-into-washington-police-su/?ref=rangemedia.co) that he ensured the county Flock data was “locked down” after the reports of the Texas officer’s nationwide abortion-related search. He didn’t mention that the Texas sheriff deputy had used Spokane County’s cameras in his search. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-4.png) *The search made on Spokane County cameras.* In an interview with RANGE on November 24, Sheriff Public Information Officer Mark Gregory said that the SCSO noticed that the cop from Texas had searched their cameras for the woman after *404 Media*’s story broke. Gregory thought there was more to the story than what the media reported. “My understanding was the young lady was actually ill or if she was potentially suicidal,” Gregory said. “As far as I’m aware, the actual reason for the search had nothing to do with an abortion at all other than he entered in as the reason for the search, but I’m not an expert on this particular story.” Though the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office [later claimed](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2025/06/13/after-finding-fetal-remains-north-texas-cops-used-camera-network-to-search-for-woman/?ref=rangemedia.co) the search was for a welfare check and Flock Safety [echoed those claims](https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/statement-network-sharing-use-cases-federal-cooperation?ref=rangemedia.co), [records obtained](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flock-safety-and-texas-sheriff-claimed-license-plate-search-was-missing-person-it?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Electronic Frontier Foundation revealed that deputies had opened a “death investigation,” for her “nonviable fetus.” (Since then, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King has been [indicted](https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/johnson-county-sheriff-adam-king-indicted-felony-sexual-harassment-case/?ref=rangemedia.co) on felony counts and charged with [aggravated perjury](https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/sheriff-adam-king-johnson-county-arrested-perjury-charge-sexual-harassment/287-20c555a0-c331-4ff8-bda1-62efecafea1e?ref=rangemedia.co) for allegedly lying to a grand jury in an unrelated sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation case.) Flock Safety told SCSO that no responsive records were returned from the search on Spokane County cameras, Gregory said. Still, that particular story and subsequent media coverage were a catalyst in SCSO realizing “other people can see into our system,” Gregory said. By the end of May, SCSO had turned the national look-up feature off, Sheriff John Nowels claimed. SCSO records we received show that searches were made using Spokane County cameras by authorities across the country right up until the last day of the records we received. Below is a screenshot of the network audit, which shows a sample of the searches made on June 23. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-5.png) **The searches until June 23, the final day of our records request time period.* When pressed about the June searches in a second interview on November 25, Gregory said the May timeframe may have been inaccurate, and some searches could have been made as late as June. Gregory said the sheriff’s office didn’t know the exact date it had turned off the national look-up feature, but maintains it has been turned off now. The only agencies that can now access the county database are within Washington State and a few agencies from Idaho who have explicit data-sharing agreements with the Spokane County Sheriff. #### ****What is Flock and who else has access to these cameras?** Flock is a surveillance technology brand that sells a specific brand of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) that are used on a subscription basis by law enforcement agencies across the state. The cameras constantly log photos of any car that drives past them, whether that driver has potentially committed a crime or not, which is then stored for up to 30 days in a database owned by the law enforcement agencies. That database can then be searched by whoever has a direct log-in to it, or any agencies that it has been shared with. Read more about Flock cameras in our region and where they’re located [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/). The Spokane Sheriff’s network currently has [more than 60 Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/) operational within the county, including mobile Flock cameras mounted on vehicles that move around the area. As of July 3, 2025, SCSO had authorized [227](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTbB-CoJNkbJ4tiAKCCJjCs2xtVwc7Ie2IS9rE2tfguoLybYcFAiPjfdXsCluIIcln18I8X6CTgu3-I/pubhtml?ref=rangemedia.co) users to log in to their network directly, including officers from Idaho (and [Kootenai County specifically](https://www.investigatewest.org/we-have-lots-of-work-for-you-guys-emails-show-coordination-between-deputies-in-idahos-kootenai-county-and-immigration-officials/?ref=rangemedia.co)), a user with an FBI email account and a gmail account labelled just spokanetemp@gmail.com. From January 1, 2025 to June 23, 2025, 2,301,239 searches were made on SCSO’s Flock Network. Just 110,069, or 4.8%, of those searches were made by the SCSO, the Spokane Police Department and the Spokane Tribal Police Department. Gregory said that SCSO does quarterly audits of the searches made on the network. To his knowledge, no deputies in Spokane have ever been disciplined for misuse of the Flock system. “We have a very well-defined and articulated policy on how we use that data, when it’s released, when it’s not, what we’ll search for and what we won’t,” Nowels said. “Everybody who searches the system, they have to identify what case number they’re using or what reason they’re actually querying the data. You can’t just go in on a free-for-all. There has to be some reason you’re accessing the data.” “Had an abortion, search for female” is not a valid reason for a search under the SCSO policy, Gregory said, because abortion is not a crime in Washington. Flock can only be used to search for things related to crimes, he stressed. Despite how well-defined and articulated the policy is, though, in practice, Flock does not lock out searches that offer inadequate justification to search. In RANGE’s review of the “reason” and “case” number fields of the provided search data, we found over 289,000 searches with no case number at all and, under reason, some variation of the word “investigation.” None of those searches is in compliance with the SCSO policy, but they went through regardless. *Additional reporting contributed by Aaron Hedge.* For information on this investigative series, why we're reporting it and what's coming next, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/). ### Watching the watchmen URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/ Last updated: 2025-11-26T01:15:57.000Z In just the first 6 months of 2025, law enforcement officers and officials across the nation searched the database containing license plates scanned in Spokane County a staggering 2,301,239 times. Only 110,067 of those searches originated from local jurisdictions like the Spokane Police, Spokane Sheriff and Spokane Tribal Police. Over 95% came from jurisdictions outside Spokane, like Texas and Alabama, where abortion is illegal and where state officials have said they are actively trying to [prosecute women](https://litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/litigation/yellowhammer-fund-v-marshall/?ref=rangemedia.co) who cross state lines to get one and even [the doctors that provide them](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/31/texas-lawsuit-new-york-abortion-provider-shield-law-ken-paxton/?ref=rangemedia.co). Those searches also came from right across the border in Idaho and as far away as [Florida and Iowa](https://www.ilrc.org/state-map-immigration-enforcement-2024?ref=rangemedia.co). In Washington, state law explicitly prohibits local authorities and law enforcement from working with immigration officials to enforce federal immigration laws. There is no such prohibition in Idaho and Florida. Officials like Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris [have said](https://www.investigatewest.org/we-have-lots-of-work-for-you-guys-emails-show-coordination-between-deputies-in-idahos-kootenai-county-and-immigration-officials/?ref=rangemedia.co) they are actively working with the federal government to support the Trump administration’s goal of deporting as many people as possible. The technology is not new: red light camera systems have been around since the mid-1960s and came to Spokane in 2008. But unlike those traditional cameras, which generally only take a photo when a vehicle is believed to have been caught in an infraction like running a red light, Flock cameras are always on, recording license plates and other details of everyone who passes by all day, every day. This omnipresence, together with the networked, searchable Flock database spreading rapidly throughout law enforcement jurisdictions, represents a quantum leap in the surveillance power available to governments of all sizes — from the feds to even small jurisdictions — to track their citizens regardless of where they are in the United States and, increasingly the rest of the world. It’s that profound power that led us to spend over five months digging into the impacts of this network on our neighbors in the Inland Northwest, including creating a data-sharing agreement with the University of Washington, who have been researching the impacts of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology like Flock since [2022](https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2022/12/07/whos-watching-washington/?ref=rangemedia.co). Today we are publishing the first in a series of deeply reported stories on the use of Flock camera data collected in Spokane County and then used by jurisdictions across the United States. This series will show, in detail, how — even in a state where reproductive rights are protected and local law enforcement is prevented from actively coordinating with ICE — a powerful and largely unregulated technology allows anyone with access to circumvent the will of voters and the will of legislators to spy on the private lives of Spokanites and those visiting our area. The right to privacy has never been a partisan issue, and should not be here. Privacy concerns created by new technologies were a problem before either Trump administration and will continue after he leaves office. Nor is this a new concern. Limiting state power and specifically preventing unwarranted surveillance was of primary importance to the people *before the founding of the US itself*, [evidenced by court proceedings](https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/what-founders-would-say-about-cellphone-surveillance?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=For%20example%2C,were%20not%20forbidden.) from the 1760s. They then wrote protections against general warrants and unfettered surveillance into our founding documents. We believe it’s all of our duty to demand the preservation of those freedoms, and that starts by understanding where and precisely how those freedoms are being violated, so we can understand how to fight back. **Read on: [‘Had an abortion, search for female.’ Texas deputy searched Spokane County Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-safety-cameras-spokane-county-abortion-texas/)** **Support more journalism that equips you to fight back by [becoming a RANGE member](https://rangemedia.co/support-us?ref=rangemedia.co).** ### Big budget business for Spokane city URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/ Last updated: 2025-11-24T18:48:11.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Tonight’s the night for all things budget at the Spokane City Council as they consider a new parking tax, a new utility tax, two different modifications to the budget and the budget itself. - Unrelated to the budget, Spokane City Council could also approve a ban on algorithmic price fixing, now with harsher penalties for those who violate it. - Cute co-op news: the Finance and Administration Committee could declare 2025 the year of the co-op! And even cuter, the legislation developed out of our second annual PolitiCrawl! - Spokane Valley is hosting its final public hearing for next year’s budget, which projects a $1.5 million deficit. - Police in Spokane Valley might be working overtime over the holidays to combat an expected increase in retail theft. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/) (and Study Session) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/big-budget-business-for-spokane-city/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Spokane Arts persists After back and forth about the future of Spokane Arts ([is it getting absorbed into the city](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/30/spokane-mayors-plan-to-restart-city-arts-office-fa/?ref=rangemedia.co)? [Is it staying independent?](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-arts-extends-its-contract-for-two-years-as-the-city-creates-a-separate-office/article%5F1bd40738-75bf-591f-a7b9-d98b447a6118.html?ref=rangemedia.co)), the Spokane City Council is set to pass a stop-gap agreement with the organization for $919,632 in the consent agenda. That agreement would run through December 31, 2027, which would keep Spokane Arts independent and running arts programming paid for by city dollars set aside from the Admissions tax, as mandated by the city charter. ### No more rental price fixing After a deferral last week, council will have a first read on an ordinance to ban landlords and property management companies from using algorithmic price-fixing software to raise rental rates and manipulate the market. A 2024 report from the federal government found that this kind of software can cost [renters an average of $70 per month](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/12/17/the-cost-of-anticompetitive-pricing-algorithms-in-rental-housing/?ref=rangemedia.co) in additional rent expenses. Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown recently [filed a lawsuit](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/washington-ag-says-realpage-and-landlords-conspired-harm-tenants-violate?ref=rangemedia.co) against one of the software companies, called RealPage, alleging the company and the landlords who used it violated the Consumer Protection Act. If passed in Spokane, this could be the latest move in the council’s quest to [protect renters in the city](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/). There is an amendment submitted by Council Member Zack Zappone, who has spear-headed the legislation, to make some minor tweaks, like adding a new definition for the phrase “nonpublic competitor information,” and making the penalty for violations ironclad: if you do algorithmic price-fixing, the city of Spokane “shall” revoke your business license (which is required to rent most properties) and be ineligible for a new one for five years. ### The pavement tax Spokane City Council is set to vote on an ordinance that would start taxing commercial parking lots across the city. The TLDR is that, if passed, consumers would pay a 6% to 12% tax to park in surface parking lots or parking garages while city-managed street parking, student parking and residential parking would all be exempt from the tax. The tax would then pay for street repair. For the longer explanation on the tax, how it works and what it could accomplish, check out [this piece](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-considers-taxing-commercial-parking-lots/) by RANGE Urbanism Columnist Lauren Pangborn. Last week, the council passed an amendment which scooched back the effective by date for this tax from January to April 1, 2026, giving parking lot operators a little more runway to get used to the new prices. ### Utility Tax increase Headed into the final stretch of the race to pass the mid-biennium budget modifications before December 31, the city council is getting a little bit creative when it comes to creating revenue. The first revenue stream proposed is above (the parking lot tax). The second revenue stream on the table is a half percent raise on utility taxes and rates for the next year proposed by the council as an alternative to even more cuts. It’s a more regressive tax, hitting the pocketbooks of the poorest utility payers harder, but the council is arguing that it’s necessary and there are credits available to seniors, disabled people and the lowest users of water. For more information on how much your bill might go up if this is passed tomorrow, check out [this reporting](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/23/spokane-city-council-considers-tax-hike-on-water-s/?ref=rangemedia.co) from *The Spokesman*. ### A Big ‘Ole B Yup, that’s right — it’s the council’s self-imposed early deadline to pass their mid-biennium budget modifications, which is shaking out to be a pretty high intensity activity as the overall economic downturn caused revenue projections to be a bit too rosy and resulted in a $13 million budget deficit. A quick refresher on how budgeting works in Spokane: The Mayor proposes a budget to the council. There are negotiations and workshops where the council can propose modifications. Any modifications at this point would have to be approved by a simple majority vote of the council before they actually alter the mayor’s budget. Then, the council can vote to approve or deny the budget. The council is trying to pass the budget today, because newly elected Council Member Kate Telis, who is replacing the appointed Shelby Lambdin, will be sworn in on Tuesday (November 25), which means negotiations could start anew and set the process back if a budget isn’t passed tonight. Most of Mayor Lisa Brown’s budget seems to be amenable to the council, although they’re seeking to create additional revenue through the above two items instead of solely cutting. However, there’s a lot of disagreement on what to do about the last $2 million-ish of funding to cut. There are two different amendments to the budget up for a vote today. The first, submitted by Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon, would do a few things: - Primarily, it reduces cuts to the council office proposed by Brown from $370,000 to $270,000 and directs $71,000 of those cuts to come from non-personnel costs. Dillon said the personnel cuts would primarily be absorbed by a hiring freeze for a position that’s about to be vacated. - It also directs $500,000 to Spokane Public Libraries, who started a late-in-the-game campaign to get the city to increase their budget allocation by 15%, a hefty raise during a midbiennium budget modification that is intended to be more for minor tweaks than overhauls. Still, after a public outreach campaign, Dillon and Wilkerson are proposing the cool half mil be added to Brown’s plan to serve as “bridge funding,” to get the library through until 2026, when a new two-year budgeting cycle begins. - One consequence of the new laws heightening enforcement against visibly homeless people (and state laws setting caseload standards) — the city needs a whole new public defender to defend unhoused people who picked up charges for sleeping outside. $100,000 for that is included in the Wilkerson/Dillon amendment. The second amendment, proposed by Zappone and Council Member Kitty Klitzke, differs mostly on one key point — and it’s kind of giving [DOGE](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23vkd57471o?ref=rangemedia.co): - While Dillon and Wilkerson wanted to curb proposed staff cuts to the council office, Zappone and Klitzke are proposing additional cuts on top of Brown’s, stripping a total of $570,000 from council. About $100,000 of that would come from miscellaneous buckets, like council security or travel, but the rest would come from a mass lay-off of staff, who Klitzke said at a recent budget meeting they could explore replacing with contract project employees and interns for less money. - The extra $300,000 that would be cut from the council office would be directed to the libraries, giving them a total of $800,000. - Zappone and Klitzke also include the $100,000 for the new public defender to take on cases generated by the increased criminalization of visible homelessness. Which version of the budget is up for a vote tonight will depend on which amendment (if either) gets passed at the 3:30 pm Agenda Review session, which does not take public comment. The Wilkerson/Dillon amendment will require four votes to pass. The Zappone/Klitzke amendment is more interesting — because emails show it was technically filed just minutes after the noon deadline (outside the letter of the rule though clearly within the spirit of it), it could require a rules suspension, which needs five votes. Right now, it’s unclear if either faction has enough votes to pass their budget amendment. Lambdin seemed to be more in alignment with the Zappone/Klitzke amendment at last week’s budget meeting — though she voiced wanting to compromise on the staff cuts instead of adding more — which leaves the two conservatives on the council as the swing votes. Council Member Michael Cathcart has expressed wanting to see more staff cuts from the mayor’s side, whose staffing is staying budget-neutral, instead of expecting that solely of the council. He’s also proposed solutions like a travel embargo without special council approval. Council Member Jonathan Bingle remained silent in the last meeting, though seemed opposed to staff cuts in a budget meeting two weeks ago. It will require at least one, if not both, men’s votes to pass either amendment. > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, November 24 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️/5 peppers The agenda for this meeting is pretty light, and not much stands out as far as heavy legislative lifts (which makes sense as we’re nearing the end of the year) but one thing stuck out to us: ### The Year of the Co-op Council will be discussing a non-binding resolution, proposed by Dillon, which will declare 2025 to be “The Year of the Cooperative,” and commit the city to exploring “all options to support the development and resilience of local cooperative businesses.” Putting some bias front and center here, but we think this is pretty rad, for two reasons. First, if you didn’t know it already, RANGE is cooperatively owned — we’re actually part of the larger [Spokane Workers Cooperative](https://www.spokane.coop/?ref=rangemedia.co), which includes [Great Harvest Bakery](https://www.facebook.com/GreatHarvest.Spokane/) and [Treatment Creative](https://www.wearetreatment.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). We love legislation that celebrates an economic model that puts the power back in the people, because when businesses are owned by people and not billionaires, we get to collectively decide to do cool things, like devote a week to creating [a map of food resources in our region](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-food-snap-help/), or starting a free [Food for Friends](https://www.kxly.com/news/no-questions-asked-great-harvest-spokane-launches-program-to-provide-free-meals-to-those-in/article%5F0094679a-070e-4b73-a229-17193972faa7.html?ref=rangemedia.co) program. The other reason we think this is cool is that it’s the second (yes, second!!!) piece of legislation to come out of our annual Politicrawl, where we bring local politicians, journalists and civically-curious people together at bars across the city. One of the attendees, Emily from [Inland Cooperative Services](https://www.inlandcs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), pitched a few of the electeds on cooperative support, even bringing a draft of legislation to hand out. If there’s one thing we love more than worker-ownership, it’s seeing people engage with the political system out in the wild! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 24 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑/5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 24 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### $1.5 mil budget deficit The city council is hosting its final public hearing on Spokane Valley’s 2026 budget, which includes $148,412,534 in appropriated funds. That amounts to $1.5 million more than the city will earn in revenue. The largest areas of spending are in building projects, much of which will be covered by grants from the federal and state governments. Another area of emphasis is on a new sales tax, which is projected to bring in $2.6 million to bulk up the Spokane Valley Police Department. The general fund of $68,467,487 is 7% larger than last year’s budget. ### Holiday retail theft worries may amount to overtime for cops The city may approve additional overtime for Spokane Valley police over the holidays to combat retail theft. Last year, Spokane County and the Spokane Police Department [dedicated](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/dec/16/spokane-county-spokane-police-set-to-launch-progra/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Floyd%20said%20the%20pilot%20programs,Highway%202%20north%20of%20town.) $300,000 to solving and fighting such crimes. Some data suggest retail theft does increase in the month of December and is driven in part by financial hardship, heavier foot traffic and easier access to goods that are out on display. ### $50K more for housing-related expenses in behavioral health response The city council will vote on an additional $50,000 to an existing contract with Frontier Behavioral Health to pay for expenses for people who accept inpatient treatment. $20,000 of that would be allocated to paying for animal boarding fees for the 25% of people who, at the time they are contacted by behavioral health, are responsible for pets. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 25 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # School Boards ### Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 24 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### East Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 25 at 6 pm* > *EVSD Administration Office* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99216* ### Native American kids less likely than others in WA to be offered second chance in juvenile court, data shows URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/native-american-kids-less-likely-offered-second-chance-in-juvenile-court/ Last updated: 2025-11-23T17:00:00.000Z ***Uneven Ground*: This is the second installment in a series examining inequities facing Native American youth in Washington’s criminal justice system. Find the first article [here](https://www.investigatewest.org/native-american-children-significantly-more-likely-to-be-arrested-detained-in-washington/?ref=rangemedia.co).* As a longtime Indigenous rights attorney, Gabe Galanda has seen it again and again. Native American kids find themselves accused of minor crimes, yet they’re given no off-ramp to avoid jail, and they become trapped in the juvenile justice system until they end up as adults in a Washington prison. “It’s rinse-repeat,” Galanda says. That’s why Galanda, a citizen of the Round Valley Indian Tribe, and other advocates for Native Americans, say it’s important for the state to provide alternatives to jail for those arrested at a young age. Those alternatives, called diversion programs, can be agreed upon by prosecutors in each county, and they may involve sending youth to programs like anger management or therapy. But in Washington, white children are much more likely to be offered these additional chances than Native American or Black children. A report released this year by the Washington Center for Court Research, a state-funded court research group, finds Native American and Black youths statewide are the least likely of their peers to be offered a path out of the justice system, while white children are most likely to be offered a break. And while chances of being offered diversion drops precipitously after the first offense for all races, that’s particularly true for Native American youths, who are the least likely to be offered diversion when they have two or more offenses, the report found. While state law mandates that young people facing charges for their first low-level offenses and some felonies be offered alternatives, after that it’s largely up to prosecutors to decide. Youth of color are significantly more likely to face harsher charges which can exclude them from qualifying for diversion on their first offenses. It’s for second and third offenses that researchers with the Washington Center for Court Research find racial disparities widen in Washington’s largest counties. In other words, Native American and Black kids are less likely to be offered diversion if the decision is left up to prosecutors. Joshua Rovner, director of youth justice at The Sentencing Project, a research and prison reform advocacy group, called the research “really disheartening.” “Because we know about the harm that the system does, especially as young people get deeper and deeper into the system,” Rovner says. Nationwide, diversion programs are associated with lower recidivism and thus improved long-term outcomes, like attaining education and employment. Studies have shown that the longer youth remain in the system, the greater their risk of future involvement. For those Native American and Black youths who haven’t been granted an off-ramp through a diversion program and are found guilty of a crime, they’re more likely to be confined to jail and spend more time there than white kids. In some of Washington’s largest counties, the gaps are startling. In Pierce County, Native American youths charged with a misdemeanor who had a prior offense are 50% less likely to be diverted than white youths. Researchers found an even stronger correlation between race and outcomes for Black youths, according to the analysis by the Center for Court Research, called the Statewide Youth Diversion Report 2025. Next year, King County is set to scrap most of its existing diversion programs that offer diversion before charges are officially filed in court. Currently, the county contracts with private nonprofits to offer diversion services to children and young adults, which is common in bigger counties with more expansive resources. But after a report and separate audit released over the summer called the programs’ efficacy and financial practices into question. The umbrella nonprofit overseeing the programs, called Restorative Community Pathways, rebuked those concerns and has called on the county to change course away from folding its program. Should the proposed budget pass, new diversion programs would be put into place under stricter county control. Advocates and researchers say a lack of oversight and tracking of outcomes for youths based on their race are undermining efforts to reduce racial disparities in the state’s criminal courts. “It comes down to that initial question of well, either race and ethnicity is either informing the diversion decision or there’s a bunch of stuff that we don’t know,” said Karl Jones, the Center for Court Research’s equity senior research associate who helped author the 2025 report. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/iw-repub-1.jpg) *Data shows Native American and Black kids in Washington are less likely to be offered diversion if the decision is left up to prosecutors. (Scott Brauer/InvestigateWest)* Native American youths are overrepresented at every stage in the criminal justice system, according to the state’s own 2023 [data](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/dcyf-wa-gov/sites/default/files/red-actionplan2024.pdf), with disparities worsening the deeper into the criminal legal system a child goes. Native American children are more likely to be arrested, detained, placed in secure confinement and have their cases transferred to adult court than their white peers — but less likely to be provided diversion opportunities that could lower their likelihood of reoffending. Diversion programs are designed to break that cycle by focusing on a young person’s underlying needs, such as mental health, housing instability and trauma. Advocates for Indigenous people say the impact of colonization and state violence on their communities has destroyed Indigenous kinship units, leading to significant trauma, which [research](https://racism.org/articles/law-and-justice/criminal-justice-and-racism/139-juvenile-justice/11128-trauma-informed?ref=rangemedia.co) [shows](https://scholars.law.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2005&context=facpub&ref=rangemedia.co) can be a significant driver of delinquency among Native American youth. When a court doesn’t offer a young person an alternative path, it not only makes it more likely that they will re-offend, but puts them at a much higher risk of premature death due to suicide and substance abuse, Galanda said. “There is an absolute correlation between the failure to divert Indigenous youth on the front end and placing them into a pipeline into some mode of recidivism and incarceration, and ultimately premature death, either by suicide or some other affliction,” he said. #### **Degree of certainty** Every Friday night in Seattle around 8 pm, a roomful of children gathers for a weekly therapy session dubbed “the healing circle,” hosted by Restorative Community Pathways. The session is intended to be a space where the teens and preteens — all accused of crimes and offered a way out of the legal system through the group’s programs — can process their experiences and share their feelings with peers and support from the organization. Many of the group’s clients, like those in other diversion programs, are struggling with difficulties in their families, hunger or homelessness. One of the tasks during the healing circle is “write a thought, share a thought,” where the kids share what’s been on their minds that week. One boy spoke aloud to the group: “What if everything went right, instead of wrong?” As it often does, the conversation moves to the week’s difficulties, how the children navigated them and how they can approach them better in the future. In Pierce and King counties, Restorative Community Pathways programs are offered to children accused of crimes for diversion and separately for children who are victims of a crime, which can make a person more likely to commit a crime later on. Washington has a nonunified court system in which each of the state’s 39 counties manages its own juvenile diversion process — so there’s no uniform reporting or eligibility requirements beyond the initial mandate to refer first-time nonviolent offenders, and no obligation to refer youths to specific community-based programs. That means access to diversion is not only limited but uneven, varying widely by county and shaped by the subjective judgment of prosecutors. Without good data on the outcomes of diversion programs, it’s hard for researchers to determine what is most effective in improving outcomes for a child, and who exactly is being offered diversion options outside the court system. The 2025 report on statewide diversion stops short of attributing racial disparities to bias, urging more research at the county level. However, the report does say there is “very strong” evidence that race and ethnicity influenced formal diversion decisions for Native American youths in Pierce County, “moderately strong” evidence of the same in Spokane County and “extreme” evidence for Black youths in Pierce and King counties. For Native Americans and those who work with them, the news that there may be racial bias, intentional or not, at play in Washington’s court system is no surprise. “In rural Washington, there’s certainly prejudice in prosecutors’ offices,” Galanda said. The researchers stress, however, that more research would be needed to definitively prove racial bias. The reason the disparities exist is currently a “black box,” according to Amanda Gilman, principal research associate for the research center and co-author of the 2025 report. A lack of dedicated state funding for jail alternatives also means counties must cobble together funds for their diversion programs from a variety of sources. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/iw-repub-2.jpg) *Galanda, Seattle-based Indigenous rights attorney and citizen of the Round Valley Tribe, says Native American children have few advocates for their interests in Washington’s criminal legal system. (Scott Brauer/InvestigateWest)* In the state’s population centers, counties partner with community-based organizations to provide culturally responsive or trauma-informed diversion services, like mentorship programs, tribal healing circles, and restorative justice practices that focus on repairing harm and reintegrating youth into their communities. Allie Steinberg is the diversion workshop coordinator for CHOOSE 180, a nonprofit organization that offers diversion services to young adults in Seattle before charges are filed in court, giving them an opportunity to avoid the justice system altogether for offenses like theft, shoplifting, obstruction of justice or minor assaults. “They really are just looking for support, connection and a lot of people are getting into stuff because they don’t have that,” Steinberg said. Steinberg added that many of CHOOSE 180’s clients struggle with addiction, food and housing insecurity. The movement to divert more children away from courts and incarceration hasn’t been without difficulties. Twice this year, unfavorable reports cast doubts on the effectiveness and operations of some of King County’s diversion programs. One report showed high rates of reoffending among some children offered diversion through Restorative Community Pathways, and the other showed improper payments to contractors and potential fraud among diversion providers, including Restorative Community Pathways. The group said in a [letter](https://www.restorativecommunitypathways.org/blog/statement-on-king-county-audit-findings?ref=rangemedia.co) that the audit improperly commingled findings that insinuated financial impropriety, and that it submitted a corrective action plan. If the county’s current proposed budget passes for 2026-2027 fiscal year, it stands to lose the majority of its funding, around $1.6 million, and would cease operations and lose its staff, including community navigator positions. Diversion programs offered before charges are officially filed in court would be transitioned into a program operated by the King County Department of Community and Human Services and new partner organizations selected in an application process. The state doesn’t track prefiling diversion programs or their outcomes nor is there a statewide definition or consensus on how these problems should be run or their successes measured. Equitable diversion access also depends on community support, like transportation to programs and family engagement. In rural or under-resourced counties, program availability is often limited. Rural counties often lack the capacity to offer informal diversion programs and rely primarily on probation-driven models, where little to no therapy or mental health support is present. For example, Skamania County in southern Washington, with a population of 12,000, relies on two probation officers to make diversion agreements and a single mental health counselor to serve the county’s youth. The Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, a department within the Department of Children Youth & Families with a more than $154 million budget for youth diversion and rehabilitation services, set aside nearly $18 million in fiscal year 2025 in block grants to fund county court services, probation and other post-release programs. The state recently rewrote the requirements for the block grants to also cover youth diversion programs, but that didn’t come with an increase in dollars. “Their mandate was expanded so that they can serve diverted youth with the funding they receive, but there was no increase in funding to account for an expanded population of youth that might be eligible for their services,” said Elizabeth Trautman, the executive director of Stand for Children, a child advocacy group based in Washington, who also helped author the diversion report. Better coordination between tribal and state governments could also help connect Native American youth to important resources, Trautman said. Some Indigenous youths are involved in both tribal and state legal systems, and not all counties have diversion programs that are equipped to provide culturally appropriate services. A number of tribal-led programs, like wellness courts, have been developed by individual tribal governments to integrate Indigenous traditions and practices into restorative justice, but several of them have been hobbled or suspended due to a lack of funding, a longstanding issue in tribal court systems due to a lack of adequate federal funds. Tribally operated programs are not available statewide and are often unutilized in cases that remain in the state court system. In Grays Harbor County, for example, prosecutors work with local tribal wellness courts to provide pathways away from jail, but there’s no statewide program or guidelines to promote similar collaborations between local county governments and Native American nations. **“**It’s not just about funding court staff, but funding partnerships with communities so that young people are building long-term relationships with community organizations and community leaders,” Trautman said. Some private organizations and nonprofits are trying to fill the gaps with programs that get Native American youths more deeply involved in their community. Natalie Welch, executive director of the nonprofit RiseAbove, which aims to uplift Native American children, says providing kids with responsibilities and opportunities to grow after they’ve engaged with the legal system can help prevent future involvement. One 16-year-old boy who was charged with underage drinking was assigned through the program to oversee a community clinic for other youths, where he was responsible for accounting for younger students before field trips. “Instead of approaching it from ‘Oh, how do we punish them?’ It’s actually like, we’re going to give them a responsibility, and tell them ‘this is the kind of stuff you can be a part of if you stay out of trouble,’” added Welch, who’s a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. #### Better data and privacy concerns The state’s diversion system is the least studied component of the criminal legal system, according to researchers at Washington Center for Court Research and Washington’s child welfare agency. In its 2025 session, the Washington Legislature took one step toward increasing transparency into juvenile diversion programs by passing House Bill 1391, requiring the state to define and track not only formal diversion efforts, but also informal agreements between prosecutors and youth that aren’t captured in existing data. Informal diversion in Washington has existed in a blind spot — cases that were resolved without a formal contract have largely gone uncounted, making it impossible to measure how often diversion is truly used. What qualifies as “informal” diversion in one county may not even be recognized in another, and without state-level tracking, no one can say with confidence exactly who is offered these opportunities, how often or how effective the programs are. “There’s a lot we don’t know about local practices,” said Jones, the Washington Center for Court Research researcher. Formal diversion typically involves a written agreement between a child and the court or prosecutor, which often requires the child to complete specific conditions like pay restitution or complete community service, counseling or anger management classes. If they fulfill the agreement, the case is closed without formal charges on their criminal record. Informal diversion, by contrast, occurs outside the court system, and can include everything from a verbal warning from law enforcement to a referral to a school counselor or enrollment in a community program. In Pierce County, prosecutors send out “knock it off” letters to youths accused of a crime, warning of official prosecution for further violations — but these letters don’t appear in official court records and aren’t tracked by the state. These interactions might never appear in court records and are not tracked consistently across the state, which the new law aims to help address. “By the time it reaches the point where they are referred to juvenile court, they actually have had a lot of involvement in the court that’s not going to be reflected in the official record,” said Gilman with the research center. As Washington begins to implement the new law, supporters say it offers an opportunity to bring greater consistency, accountability and equity to the state’s juvenile diversion efforts. By establishing common definitions and improving data collection, the state may be better positioned to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs and identify where gaps remain, according to the Washington Center for Court Research. At the same time, advocacy groups remain wary of formalizing all diversion programs. They say offering incarceration alternatives before a young person is formally charged avoids creating documentation that may follow them later in life. “I’ve had lots of young people say jobs have turned me away even if I give a full explanation, or even if it’s dismissed,” said Steinberg, the diversion program coordinator for CHOOSE180\. “So I think being able to offer the prefiling option is really amazing just to allow them that kind of clean slate in terms of their criminal court record.” Striking that balance is the job of Lindsey Beach, who studies juvenile diversion in Washington for the Center for Court Research. The new law provided funding to the research center to create Beach’s position, and Beach says her goal is to begin filling gaps in diversion data while being sensitive to privacy concerns. “What we hear from courts is they want this informality to exist so there aren’t these additional records that are being created that might stigmatize youth,” Beach said. “We take that super seriously, and we’re kind of building the system as we go — but with that, we can build in a lot of responsiveness to those concerns.” Trautman, who also serves on the Washington Minority and Justice Commission Youth Justice Committee, said the biases and inequities revealed by the report shows the need for deeper research. “It is disappointing and not entirely surprising that we would see disparities because we know that our system doesn’t have equal treatment of young people by race and ethnicity,” she said. For his part, Galanda says he’s not arguing that all children should be offered a chance at diversion, but that the consequences of incarceration are severe, and that Indigenous youth entering the criminal legal system deserve the same opportunities for a second chance as their white peers. “We have to stop throwing away generations,” Galanda said. “Until those chances are given, first or second, we will continue this cycle of brokenness, and trauma, and addiction, and incarceration and other afflictions.” **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Melanie Henshaw covers Indigenous affairs and communities in the region. Reach her directly at melanie@investigatewest.org or by phone, text message or Signal at (971) 258-0891.** ### Native American children significantly more likely to be arrested, detained in Washington URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/native-american-children-more-likely-arrested-detained-in-washington/ Last updated: 2025-11-22T17:00:00.000Z ***Uneven Ground*: This is the first installment in a series examining inequities facing Native American youth in Washington’s criminal justice system.* For the past 30 years, it’s been clear: Native American children in Washington state are far more likely to be arrested and jailed than white kids. The state’s courts and Washington Department of Youth and Families have acknowledged the justice system continues to hold back Native American youth, funding committees and producing action plans to address racial inequities in the juvenile legal system. Advocates have called for fewer arrests, many of which are discretionary. Lawmakers have demanded more data on juvenile arrests. Yet the gaps have continually worsened. Data from the nonprofit Sentencing Project and the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention from 2019-23, the most recent available, shows that Native American children in Washington are more than 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers on average, up from 2.7 times more in 2001. “As long as we’ve looked at data for Washington state, Native youth are much, much more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers,” said Joshua Rovner, a senior research analyst and the former youth policy director for the Sentencing Project, which researches incarceration nationwide. While all youth of color experience unequal treatment in Washington state’s legal system, the inequities among Native American youth are especially stark, exceeding national averages, particularly for nonviolent offenses. Indigenous children are significantly more likely to be jailed than their white peers in Washington, especially on the lowest level offenses and nonviolent crimes, Rovner said. Even when youth exit the system, courts are more inclined to send them back if they slip up. Though there aren’t disparities in arrests and referrals present in every county of the state, the gaps, where they do exist, are so great they have shaped the statewide numbers. In rural counties like Whitman County, the problems are worse — Native American children there are nearly seven times more likely to be arrested than white children, the largest disparity in the state based on 2023 data. In Okanogan County, near the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Native American children made up 52% of all juvenile arrests in 2022 despite only 8% of the county’s population being Native American. Colville citizens and lawyers representing those kids say many in the community feel that they are unfairly targeted by state law enforcement — pointing to high rates of discretionary [searches](https://www.investigatewest.org/a-different-standard-native-americans-still-searched-at-far-higher-rates-by-washington-state-patrol-new-data-shows/?ref=rangemedia.co) of Native American drivers and traffic cameras directed at main roads on and off tribal land. Even before they’re convicted of a crime, Native American children are 6.4 times more likely to be kept in detention than white children. After being tried in court, they’re 6.1 times more likely to be kept in custody rather than being given opportunities to serve their sentence in the community. Advocates and those who work alongside young people in the state say the disparities are partly the result of structural racism in the criminal legal system rather than an intrinsic difference in behavior. “I do not know what the solution is,” said Suzanne Hayden, an attorney with the Clallam County Public Defenders office and the sole attorney in the county who works with youth. “I don't know how to make it different, unless I, you know, call the judge on his rulings afterwards and say, ‘Well, Your Honor, you were really racist.’” Seattle lawyer Gabe Galanda, an Indigenous rights attorney, advocate and a citizen of the Round Valley Tribe, said Native Americans in Washington are also frequently unable to afford their own representation, and some Indigenous kids go through the system without the support of a parent or guardian. “They’re going it alone,” Galanda said. #### Overpoliced As a teenager, Derrick Belgarde was himself stuck in the revolving door of youth incarceration. “I spent so much time in (detention), I was in and out, in and out, in and out for probation violations,” said Belgarde. It took years of fighting the unrelenting beast of alcohol addiction — and the support of a rehab program that understood his culture and needs — for Belgarde to make his way to sobriety. Now, in both his family and community, he sees how young people who lacked proper help and support during their formative years continue to struggle as adults to break that cycle. “It was like a machine,” Belgarde said. “And it creates more harm than good.” For kids trying to get on the right path, jail can start to feel like a never-ending cycle, according to Belgarde, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and executive director at the Chief Seattle Club, a Native American-led housing and support services organization. Early court involvement is closely linked to broader social and health inequities, research shows. Children drawn into the justice system often face poverty, unstable housing and limited access to mental health support, creating a cycle of disadvantage that persists into adulthood. Belgarde’s repeated arrests caused rifts between him and his mother, who at one point threatened to sue the court system for disruptions in the family. “It was ruining the household,” Belgarde said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/07-derrick-belgarde-1.jpg) *Derrick Belgarde, executive director of the Chief Seattle Club, says harsh treatment of Native American children, like he experienced, in the legal system hampers their abilities to succeed as adults. (Dan DeLong/InvestigateWest)* Native American children are disproportionately more likely than white kids to get caught up in that system. Though they’re 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for a violent crime, Indigenous children are seven times as likely to be charged for nonviolent property crimes, according to 2023 data from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Inside a youth prison in Marion County, Oregon, harsh conditions intensified Belgarde’s feelings of isolation and despair. “It was very traumatizing,” he said. “It was very horrendous, and I can see how other kids probably got very damaged from going in and out of that place.” Advocates say Native American kids are also disproportionately arrested for charges where officers are not mandated by law to make an arrest, such as for obstruction of justice, which is when a person is accused of hindering or delaying a law enforcement officer in doing their duties. “Obstruction \[of justice\] especially is, I feel, the most abused,” said Allie Steinberg, the diversion workshop coordinator with CHOOSE 180, an organization that provides diversion services to young adults in Pierce and King counties. She added that overpolicing of communities of color leads to more discretionary arrests. “Maybe nothing illegal actually happened, but the police officer was like, ‘I don't like the way that you’re talking to me’ or ‘I’ve had a bad day.’” Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families, which oversees the state’s juvenile incarceration system, faces serious [overcrowding](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/12/no-fixes-on-horizon-for-crowding-crisis-in-was-youth-prisons/?ref=rangemedia.co) and complaints of [mistreatment](https://www.chronline.com/stories/green-hill-school-accused-of-forcing-youth-to-urinate-in-plastic-containers-in-cells-amid,383600?ref=rangemedia.co) at its juvenile rehabilitation facilities, particularly Green Hill School, the state’s only facility equipped to handle boys and young men between the ages of 16 and 25\. In an effort to alleviate overcrowding, the child welfare agency has been regularly transferring some incarcerated young people to minimum-security adult prisons. #### Higher standards Indigenous children are not only more likely to enter the justice system than white kids, but data shows Indigenous children have less room for error, even after they’ve been released. “There have been white kids who go in front of a judge for probation violations, and the kids are saying, ‘Just give me another chance, I can prove this to you,’ and those kinds of things,” Hayden said. “And to my amazement and surprise, the judge will say, ‘OK.’” But Hayden said this summer she had a Native American client sent back to jail over a probation violation, despite the child writing a three-page letter explaining his situation and promising to improve, which the child’s probation officer refused to read. “He wouldn’t even give this kid the respect of reading an incredibly well written, well thought out letter, and just went through a litany of everything this kid has ever done wrong in his life,” she said. Hayden asked for a week for the kid to demonstrate improvement, but the judge refused. The child was sent back to jail for 30 days. “As far as I was concerned, the court system had just told this kid, ‘We don’t believe what you have to say. We don’t care how well you say it. We don’t have any hope for you. So go sit in detention,’” Hayden said. “I’m appalled that that just happened. … I was so incensed in court that this guy wouldn’t even read the letter.” According to 2023 data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Indigenous juveniles in Washington are nearly 30 times more likely to be sent back to detention over an administrative probation violation, like missing a check-in with their probation officer, than white children. Wanda Bertram, communications strategist for the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit research group that advocates against incarceration, said the fact that Washington is jailing children over these violations is striking. “These aren’t even crimes, right?” Bertram said. “These aren’t reasons for kids to be locked up.” For Hayden, the court failed to look at the full picture of the child’s case before sending him back to jail, she said. “I was very upset at the judge for not giving this kid just a one week bump,” Hayden said. “You know, let him show what he can do in one week — he did it for all the little blue-eyed blondes.” Despite growing [evidence](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-dshs-wa-gov/sites/default/files/rda/reports/research-11-260.pdf) that children, particularly those accused of nonviolent crimes, do better in the future when given alternatives to jail like therapy and anger management, Indigenous children are offered fewer opportunities to do so. “There’s no outcome where formal court processing does better for these kids,” Rovner said. #### Starting in schools School can be another entry point into the criminal legal system, and Native American students in Washington are suspended and expelled at rates significantly higher than their white peers. Despite reforms aimed at promoting equity, statewide discipline data show a continuing trend of exclusionary practices. In some districts, like Okanogan County, the connection between truancy and juvenile court is particularly stark. Truancy involves long-term, frequent and unexcused absences from school, and if classroom interventions to improve attendance don’t work, a child can be sent to court for it, at the behest of the school district. Nearly 41% of truancy cases in the county involve Native American youth, primarily from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, many of whom face barriers like a lack of transportation to school or mental health support. Belgarde was assigned a truancy officer in high school, who checked in on his school attendance and saw he was home by a curfew. It didn’t work, and he kept struggling with school, skipping classes and feeling isolated. These patterns contribute to higher dropout rates and place Native American youth on a trajectory for greater risk of incarceration later in life. According to Washington’s child welfare agency, dropping out of school triples the likelihood of future involvement in the criminal legal system. Belgarde dropped out of school himself, started working and became a young father by 18. “When they let me off, I left home, but I didn’t have nowhere to go,” he said. Native American children make up 26% of the state’s truant children despite making up around 1% of the school population, and they have the highest rate of truancy cases sent to juvenile court in the state,atroughly 10%. Many Indigenous families have a historical mistrust of school and state systems based on prior abuses of Indigenous children in residential boarding schools and forced separations of Indigenous families by the federal government. When families don’t appear in court for truancy allegations, children are at risk of being placed under state supervision or referred for formal court charges, deepening their contact with the legal system. Natalie Welch, a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the executive director of Rise Above, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering Native American youth, said that providing Native American children with increased support and community connections helps keep them out of the legal system. “It’s a smart investment to put this money into helping kids upfront instead of trying to solve the problems on the backend,” Welch said. Rise Above has partnered with school districts with high rates of truancy among Native American students to provide incentives for kids to show up to class. Her organization works with local businesses, schools and organizations to offer free sports clinics, mentorship and community involvement opportunities. Improving accessibility to such programs, particularly for middle school-aged students who are at a critical stage in their development, is important for avoiding bad behavior, she said. “We’re trying to be there so they build that trust before anything bad happens,” Welch added. #### Left out of reforms Advocates for Native Americans say Washington lawmakers should revisit a number of reforms, like considering tribal notifications for Indigenous youth involved in a juvenile court case or addressing specific statutes that youth of color are disproportionately charged with. Still, data gaps exist that limit the understanding of the true scope of disparities involving Native American youth. Tribal affiliation isn’t regularly recorded when youth are arrested, and courts aren’t required to alert tribes when their youth enter state court systems. That limits any potential cross-jurisdictional collaboration that could connect Native American youth to tribal resources for mental health, substance use or behavioral issues. Hayden, the public defender, said that in her experience, tribes can step up to provide resources, like housing support or counseling, for kids in a tough spot. Race data reported to the state and federal government to track youth in the system is typically collected through self-identification or through law enforcement officials’ estimates, which may undercount Native American youth or lump them into a “multiracial” category. Washington has enacted broad juvenile justice reforms in recent years like allowing juvenile courts to retain jurisdiction until a person is aged 25 for crimes committed before they turned 18, expanding mandatory diversion for children accused of first-time, low-level offenses and ending the automatic use of juvenile “points” during sentencing, which can increase a child’s time in jail and impact sentencing decisions if they’re later charged as an adult. But measures to explicitly address the disparities Native American children face in the justice system have been few — and recent efforts to address the inequities stemming from past use of juvenile points have died in the Washington Legislature, despite significant endorsement from advocates and groups representing tribes. In the 2025 session, House Bill 1274 would have allowed for the resentencing of adults whose sentences were influenced by juvenile points, meaning crimes they committed as youths lengthened their sentence as an adult for a different crime. Tribal officials and advocates say Native American people in Washington are disproportionately impacted by the sentencing practice, which effectively punishes people a second time. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, an organization representing the interests of 54 tribal governments in the Northwest, and the American Civil Liberties Union have repeatedly called on the Legislature to change this process, pointing to how Native Americans are disproportionally impacted. “Overly long state prison sentences resulting from incorrect choices made by Indigenous persons when they were juveniles diminish their hope for forgiveness, redemption, rehabilitation, return to their families, and reentry into their communities,” according to a 2023 resolution by the group. Although HB 1324 eliminated the automatic application of juvenile points in 2023, the bill wasn’t retroactive — leaving around [420](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-courts-wa-gov/subsite/mjc/docs/2025/res-24-33-restoring-hope-for-our-incarcerated-relatives.pdf) Native American people in the state’s prisons whose sentences were lengthened because of points as of 2023, and later bills to make the law retroactive have failed. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Advocates like Galanda say there’s little appetite in Olympia to pass legislation in the coming session that would allow their resentencing due to budget constraints. Some Washington lawyers who work with Native American clients say the state is missing a critical opportunity to notify tribal governments that their minor citizen is involved in a state court case, which could allow the tribe to intervene with meaningful assistance, like legal, financial or spiritual support. A similar mechanism exists under the Indian Child Welfare Act, but for child custody cases. “There’s really no good news story here because youth of color are treated more harshly than their white peers whenever the system touches them,” Rovner said. ### After pushback, WSU suspends transphobic continuing education courses URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/after-pushback-wsu-suspends-transphobic-continuing-education-courses/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T23:05:04.000Z In October, Washington State University’s (WSU) medical school gave its blessing to a series of “Gender Medicine” continuing education courses that were designed by an organization that seeks to erode confidence in [life-saving](https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/?ref=rangemedia.co) health care for transgender people. Shortly after, the university suspended them in response to community backlash. The courses are being evaluated, but the suspension is not permanent and the university has not committed to totally revoking the accreditation, despite advocates' demands. The courses, part of a broad category of credentialing curricula and not part of the college of medicine’s curriculum, were accredited according to standards set by a Chicago accreditation authority. After WSU considered the courses in April, students and faculty had pushed back for months, but it wasn’t until more than 30 LGBTQIA+ advocacy groups and allies pressured the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine (ESFCM) that the school suspended the courses. Katelyn Costanza, a second-year student at ESFCM and member of [Health Equity Circle](https://www.healthequitycircle.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), said both students and faculty were notified about the decision in April. “The courses continued to be approved and available from April through October, despite student and faculty requests to administration for it to be rescinded,” Constanza said. Asked about the lapse in time from being notified about SEGM’s transphobic course material and the suspension, WSU spokesperson Pam Scott replied, “The course materials were suspended at ACCME’s request while they review the materials.” ACCME is the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, which sets the accreditation standards for such courses. The organization that created the courses, the Society of Evidence Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) of Twin Falls, Idaho, [is listed](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/anti-lgbtq/?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as an anti-LGTBQIA+ hate group. ### Queer orgs demand action The suspension was sparked [in late October,](https://segm.org/media/segm-launch-cme-accredited-series-evidence-based-care-gender-dysphoric-youth?ref=rangemedia.co) after the [Spectrum Center of Spokane](https://www.spectrumcenterspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) learned from independent transgender journalist [*Erin in the Morning*](https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/wsu-suspends-hate-groups-medical?ref=rangemedia.co)’s Substack that it had accredited the courses. After Spectrum and dozens of other queer advocacy groups in the Inland Northwest [red-flagged ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yMfZ%5FE6cauO-OitPRdTdJ5eRybJMsu3l/view?ref=rangemedia.co)SEGM to both WSU and the ESFCM, the school sent an October 31 email, obtained by RANGE, to internal staff announcing the suspension. The email emphasized that WSU did not create the courses but chose to accredit them according to standards set by ACCME. “Accreditation indicates that the courses meet ACCME’s requirements for scientific balance and educational integrity,” the email says. The courses are part of a category of credentialing curricula known as continuing medical education credits (CMEs), which are created by many organizations. While universities do not have the authority to evaluate teaching material, they can choose which organizations provide CMEs. “Transgender patients deserve better and so do providers,” wrote KJ January, director of advocacy and engagement for Spectrum Center in a press release on Nov. 5\. “For some licensed practitioners, continuing education is the only opportunity to learn about transgender healthcare. Accrediting a group that promotes anti-trans propaganda is a disservice to both the medical community and the patients they serve.” Spectrum Center and the coalition made three demands of WSU after the course’s suspension: 1. Revoke SEGM’s CME accreditation and remove all related courses. 2. Implement stronger oversight procedures to ensure CME partnerships align with evidence-based medicine, professional ethics and equity policies. 3. Make gender-affirming care curriculum a required part of medical training within the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. WSU said in the emails that it was investigating whether “all course materials continue to comply with all standards set forth.” ### What is SEGM? In addition to the SPLC’s designation of SEGM as a hate group, [researchers at the Yale School of Medicine ](https://files-profile.medicine.yale.edu/documents/98a6e83f-d1ac-4098-b67a-25be370aec2b?ref=rangemedia.co)have identified SEGM as a fringe group with “well-known anti-trans activists.” Members of SEGM founded Therapy First in 2021, an organization that advocates for “gender exploratory therapy,” which [other researchers](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10018052/?ref=rangemedia.co) have compared to conversion therapy. “Its materials advance unfounded theories such as “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria,” a pseudoscientific assertion that treats transness as a social contagion, which has been rejected by the broader scientific and medical community,” Spectrum’s letter said. “Accrediting such content under WSU’s name risks giving a veneer of legitimacy to approaches that cause real and measurable harm to transgender and gender-diverse people.” By accrediting SEGM’s teaching materials, the letter argued, WSU violated its commitment to diversity, inclusion and scientific integrity. University spokesperson Pam Scott told RANGE WSU President Elizabeth R. Cantwell is working on a response to Spectrum Center. She said that while the accreditation does not represent the university’s endorsement of SEGM, “accreditation indicates that the courses met ACCME’s requirements for scientific balance and educational integrity.” It also called on the university to question the harm this accreditation will have on transgender patients, who already experience higher rates of suicide ideation. [SEGM has posted these course videos online for public viewing.](https://segm.org/cme25/international-perspectives-evidence-based-treatment-gender-dysphoric-youth?ref=rangemedia.co#course-175) ### Potential litigation January told RANGE in an email statement that WSU’s medical and pharmaceutical programs offer some curriculum that includes aspects of gender affirming care, but Spectrum Center has not received any word on the curriculum since [2020](https://news.wsu.edu/news/2020/06/01/gender-affirming-care-part-wsu-health-sciences-mission/?ref=rangemedia.co). In its demands to the university, Spectrum Center called on WSU to make gender-affirming care a required component of both its general medical education and training. “Beyond a three-hour required training and an optional gender affirming care symposium, it is not clear how consistent or extensive their curriculum is,” January noted.“They even have an LGBTQ+ Program Manager within their Office of Healthcare Equity. … This seems out of alignment, and so we want to know how it is possible that this accreditation was approved.” “Depending on their response, we anticipate lawsuits and internal investigations into this decision, as it violates WSU's own nondiscrimination policy, and contradicts Washington State anti-discrimination law,” January added. As of the time of January’s statement, WSU had not yet responded to the Spectrum Center. The organization initially reached out to providers with ties to WSU to gather more information. ### Queer cougars feel left out in the cold Costanza, the second-year medical student, said the delay in response from WSU makes queer students and staff feel as if their safety is not front of mind during the process, especially as President Donald Trump is targeting queer communities. The College of Medicine has an office specifically for managing CME. And from Costanza’s perspective, while the accreditation process normally takes place without student input, it still feels far detached from “what the rest of the university or what students wanted.” Costanza, alongside a handful of students also involved with Health Equity Circle, plan to meet with the College of Medicine’s administration to better understand the approval process, which she says the university cannot fall back on arguing that it acted in neutrality. “The pushback that a lot of us have, or like what we're feeling – put particularly in this political climate – is that the provision of health care and the education of health care professionals is not neutral,” they added. “But education is not neutral, and accrediting an institution or an organization such as SEGM is an endorsement.” ### The POD: A Trip to Moscow, Idaho URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-a-trip-to-moscow-idaho/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T19:33:33.000Z The Aaron and Erin Dream Team took over *Free RANGE* this week! They discussed Aaron's trip to Moscow, Idaho, where him and co-author Jenny Davis (Gonzaga University) visited the town as they did some reporting for their recent story. Compared to its larger, national media coverage of dominionist pastor Doug Wilson and Christian nationalism, the co-authors' day in Moscow told a different story: one about the Idaho town's politics, culture, and the folks who live there. Read the story here: > **[The battle for a North Idaho city’s identity](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-battle-for-a-north-idaho-citys-identity/)** (*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media and Jenny Davis, Gonzaga University*) ### Spokane City Council keeps staff and the public alike in the dark at budget meetings URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/city-budget-meetings-inaccessible/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T01:40:43.000Z If your boss was holding a public meeting about whether you should be laid off, would you want to know? On Veteran’s Day, Spokane City Council staffers weren’t given the option after they were kicked out of just such a meeting — an open, public one — by council members who preferred to discuss firing them behind their backs. Nicolette Ocheltree, manager of the Housing and Homelessness Initiative, has attended nearly every weekly city council meeting since she started a few years ago, including the Monday committee meetings and Thursday study sessions. The special study session last week was a rare occasion when a meeting didn’t touch on topics of housing and homelessness, in which she’s expected to be on hand to provide expertise and recommendations for. Within minutes of sitting down with her laptop in the city council briefing chambers, Council Member Zack Zappone asked for Ocheltree and other staff members, including council Communications Director Lisa Gardner and Council President Betsy Wilkerson’s legislative assistant Mark Carlos, to be removed from the room. After discussion in the halls, Wilkerson and Council Member Kitty Klitzke supported Zappone and Wilkerson asked staff to leave. The staffers took a tense elevator ride up to City Hall’s seventh floor with Wilkerson, and at the top, Ocheltree clocked off and turned in her employee badge for the day — since they wouldn’t allow her to attend the meeting as part of her job, she’d take the day off and go as a private citizen. Ocheltree returned to the meeting, personal phone and notebook in hand, so she could record the meeting for her fellow staff members. Though the council website states that “All study sessions will be streamed live on CityCable5 and Facebook,” and the meeting was held in the briefing chambers equipped for live video streaming and recording, the body had chosen to not record the meeting, making it “open to the public in person only.” Ocheltree thinks the inaccessibility of the meeting was intentional. “When you have this meeting that is held in a specific room that's a little bit less accessible on a day when most people might think that City Hall is closed, and you have it where it’s not going to be live-streamed on CityCable5 or on Facebook — all these other ways where people can access it in the future — it seems dirty,” she said. “Even if it’s not illegal, it’s dirty.” Since council staffers couldn’t go as staff and would have no way to access information about the meeting after the fact on their personal time, Ocheltree’s audio was the only record when a few of the council members started to discuss cutting staff positions. Meeting minutes for the November 11 meeting are still unavailable as of the time of publication. Since then, the council has held two more budget meetings in rooms with no live-streaming or recording capabilities and noticed as in-person attendance only. ### Bad for morale Because the meeting had been scheduled on a holiday, Council Member Paul Dillon was running a few minutes late. “By the time I got there it felt really tense,” Dillon said. “ I showed up at 11:08, and I was told that staff had been told to leave the room, and I was just in shock because this is a public meeting, and that seemed very inappropriate.” He noticed that while other staff members at the same director level, like council director Giacobbe Byrd, council budget director Kate Fairborn and policy director Christopher Wright had been allowed to stay, communications director (and NAACP President) Lisa Gardner was asked to leave alongside other staff, like initiative manager Ocheltree and legislative assistants. “I could tell that it was kind of humiliating when there was other staff that were there,” Dillon said. Gardner’s exclusion shocked Ocheltree, too. “ If I were Lisa, I would've been really pissed,” Ocheltree said. “She's literally a director, just like \[Fairburn\] is. Just like \[Byrd\] is. And yet, she was kicked out with the rest.” True to form as a public relations professional, Gardner kept comments to the media more measured, writing in a statement to RANGE: “As a City Employee, specifically in the council office, and as someone who deeply values transparency, equity, and public accountability, I stand in solidarity with staff who have raised concerns about fairness and consistency in our workplace. While I cannot discuss specifics, all public institutions have a responsibility to uphold clear communication, equal treatment, and respect for both employees and the community we serve. Overall, my goal is to ensure that decisions affecting staff are handled with integrity and fairness, whether in a public or private meeting. I support any efforts that move us closer to a fair, respectful, and accountable work environment for everyone.” A week later, Dillon is still unsure why his fellow council members decided to kick council staff out of a public meeting. In his time on council, he said he’s never seen the body forbid staff attendance at a publicly noticed open meeting. “ I'm concerned about the fact that it happened,” Dillon said. “I think it hit morale pretty hard at a time of a lot of tense budget discussions.” ### Budget implications With a projected budget deficit of [$13 million](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/09/18/city-of-spokane-faces-new-budget-deficit-amid-slowing-national-economy/?ref=rangemedia.co) in part due to a struggling economy, departments across the city are being asked to tighten their belts. The City Council office is no exception. The biennium budget modifications proposed by Mayor Lisa Brown — which have to be approved by the council — suggest slashing about $370,000 from the council’s budget. “Our City employees go above and beyond to make our city the best place to call home. Unfortunately, this mid-biennial modification reflects the personnel reductions necessary to close the deficit,” Brown wrote in a statement on the budget proposal. “There is no sugarcoating it, the personnel reductions proposed in this mid-biennial modification may have service-level impacts.” Brown said in an interview with RANGE that while she suggested the cuts, it came out of conversations with the council’s budget workgroup. Because council members’ salaries are set by the Salary Review Commission and their office expenses are otherwise very low, personnel costs seem like one of the only places where reductions could be made to Brown’s satisfaction. And with a nonunionized staff and the council’s [recently passed ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) that makes it easier to fire employees, meeting Brown’s projections could be as simple as Wilkerson deciding to terminate staff members and not rehire the positions. But despite facing criticism of staff bloat and redundancies from mostly conservative politicians — like District 3 council candidate Christopher Savage who called for Gardner’s and Wright’s terminations — the council office is relatively lean. Each council member has a legislative assistant, and there are eight shared staffers: Byrd, Fairburn, Gardner, Ocheltree, Wright, Manager of Equity and Inclusion Alex Gibilisco, Manager of Intergovernmental Affairs Erik Poulsen and Manager of Neighborhood Connectivity Initiatives Abigail Martin. Zappone criticized Savage’s proposal to fix the city’s budget through council staff reduction, but his issue may have been that Savage didn’t want to cut the same employees as Zappone: in Ocheltree’s recording of the meeting, Zappone can be heard proposing multiple cuts. In one suggestion, he described Poulsen’s position as functioning as a “middleperson” in governmental lobbying. Other arguments in favor of cutting staff cited criticism from members of the public and former council members that the staffing structure is insufficient, and current political alignment with the mayor’s office leads to less need for a separate staff. Zappone also stressed the importance of the city council feeling “the same pain” that the rest of the city staff are and even proposed making additional cuts. Dillon and the two conservative council members, Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle, can be heard pushing back on cutting full-time employees. Their arguments for keeping full-time staff included: - A budget modification in the middle of the biennium shouldn’t rely on structural cuts to plug holes that should have been planned for when the budget originally passed. - Any staff cuts would disproportionately impact conservative council members, who would not align with the mayor and who need to rely on council staff for accurate information and legislative help. They would also weaken the legislative branch of city government, handing more power to the executive branch. - The mayor asking for this deep of cuts felt unfair. “If we are going to be eliminating positions on our side, why is the mayor's office not joining us in that space?” Bingle said. (While the mayor’s office has proposed a staffing restructure that eliminates positions, none of the employees within the mayor’s office are being laid off.) In an interview with RANGE, Dillon said he was “perplexed” by the narrative that the council staff has become bloated. “Yes, it’s grown over time, but so has the demand for services, and I believe the justification for that growth is in the policies that we've passed,” Dillon said. “It’s important that we have two strong branches of government.” He also pointed to council budget cuts in 2022 and 2024 as signs of good faith. Most recently, the council cut Sustainability Initiatives Manager position after then-council staffer Kelly Thomas moved out of the role and into the mayor’s office. “It’s not like this is some wildly out of control budget,” Dillon said. “ In reality, it’s very minuscule in contrast with the full General Fund. I mean, we're talking $2.6, $2.8 million out of a $535 million General Fund.” Cathcart is pressing the city to look closely for non-personnel cuts, like a travel embargo, or 10% non-personnel cost reductions across the board. He also said he was willing to make cuts, but not if Brown is unwilling to make similar cuts to the executive branch staff; her staffing plan was budget-neutral, meaning that while some positions were cut, others were added, resulting in no reductions or additions. “ Any cuts we make to the Council office are, in my view at this point, going to be used to essentially grow further on the other side of the house in places where I don't believe we should be growing at this point in time,” Cathcart said. Dillon stressed the importance of the staff, sending RANGE an email after our interview listing each of the shared staff members who had been excluded from the meeting and their recent contributions to the council’s work: - “Nicolette Ocheltree: Ban The Address, Rental Registry Update, Fentanyl Emergency Resolution, Rental Notification, Shelter Funding, Heart Ordinance Funding - Alex Gibilisco: Language Access, offensive public property removal, Public Benefit for Public Dollars, Safe and Welcome in Spokane. - Abigail Martin: every traffic calming project as well as numerous incoming constituents concerns regarding transportation - Lisa Gardner: communication prep and coordination, strategy, press releases. - Erik Poulsen: state and federal legislative agenda as well as agency coordination.” “As a part time councilmember with another job, these roles are invaluable to being a successful councilmember,” Dillon wrote. ### Job-relevant As budget discussions about cutting staff positions continue — scheduled in rooms with no live-streaming capabilities and noticed as in-person attendance only — council staff are being kept in the dark. After the meeting on Tuesday, November 11, Wilkerson sent an email to council staff asking them not to use staff time to attend meetings through budget season and beyond, unless they’re explicitly asked to be there. “It’s important that we use our resources wisely,” Wilkerson wrote. “And as we all know, time is one of our most important resources.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-6-edited-1.jpg) *Email sent to staff on November 13 before the second budget meeting by Council President Betsy Wilkerson.* The problem with this, Ocheltree said, is that while she can spend personal time as a private citizen watching the recorded meetings, she has no way of knowing what’s happening at the meetings that aren’t. “The fact that those meetings aren't recorded, so I could go back and watch them later since I'm not allowed to be in those, is incredibly frustrating,” Ocheltree said. “I shouldn't have to take the day off in order to know what my government is doing.” The staff has gotten resourceful; for another of these unrecorded budget discussions on Thursday, November 13, one of the legislative assistants took the day off to record the meeting. The council held another one of these meetings in the morning of Thursday, November 20\. It was scheduled for an events room in the library, with no remote attendance option and the meeting notice stated “discussion will be limited to the appropriate officials and staff.” To make sure that the staff stayed informed, Ocheltree went to extreme lengths for this meeting: she found a private investigator to record it. **Editor's Note**: We have updated the story to clarify that though Zappone was the first and strongest proponent of asking for staff to leave, Wilkerson made the final call, and to correct typos. ### The battle for a North Idaho city’s identity URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-battle-for-a-north-idaho-citys-identity/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T23:06:12.000Z **This story was written in partnership between RANGE and [FāVS News,](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co) a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work [here](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co).* To hear the national media tell it, the rise of Christian nationalism has an epicenter in sweet, sleepy Moscow, Idaho. The loudest [descriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/opinion/doug-wilson-america-religion-theocracy.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of the town come from dominionist pastor [Doug Wilson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u29UJtpA3x0&ref=rangemedia.co), who suggests that his theocratic philosophy is a given among the citizens there. As if they are *his* citizens. As if Moscow’s innocent backwater character renders it a perfectly naive testing ground for the building of a Christian America. As if Wilson’s Christ Church — and its [overtly queerphobic](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/media-spokesman-com/documents/2015/07/wilson%5Ftalks%5Fsame.pdf) rhetoric — had only needed to plop down in the Palouse in the 1990s to infect, virus-like, all those salt-of-the-earth Idaho farmers with its irresistible reformed [evangelical Calvinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed%5FChristianity?ref=rangemedia.co). The idea is that Wilson and his church, home to an estimated 1,300 congregants, own the town of Moscow — and the insinuation is that the rest of the country can’t be far behind. Touch down for more than a moment in Moscow, though, and you’ll hear a different story. “ That could not be further from the truth,” said Skyler Ting, the general manager of Nectar, a hip downtown Moscow restaurant and wine bar. Ting, who grew up in Moscow, was referring to a high-profile [interview](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/23/doug-wilson-new-right-pastor-hegseth-trump-officials-00355376?ref=rangemedia.co) Wilson did with Politico Magazine in which he said, “This is all one fabric,” which may give a casual reader the impression that everyone in town is on board with his efforts to Christianize the public square. “I think there's a pretty tight-knit community that is very hardcore anti-Christ Church,” they said, citing a locally famous [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/KirkAffiliates/followers) that lists downtown businesses owned by people affiliated with Christ Church and urges visitors not to spend their money in them. RANGE encountered Ting’s sentiment repeatedly when we visited Moscow twice last week to better understand recent city elections in which Moscow voters resoundingly rejected Christ Church-affiliated candidates. Time and again, locals told us the elections reflect an accepting, progressive community within Idaho’s sea of political red, rather than a doomed place that exemplifies the conquests in Wilson’s battle for the soul of America. “Moscow is one of the outliers in the state despite \[Wilson\] being there,” said Brandy Sullivan, who owns One World Coffee, a downtown cafe with a Pride flag flying from the door and a Black Lives Matter sign in the window frequented by University of Idaho students. “It’s almost like he’s working remotely.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-2.jpg) *Skyler Ting, the general manager of Nectar, grew up in Moscow. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* ### Elections show Christ Church is not in charge On November 19, Wilson released [a video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRNk3-1D2z1/?ref=rangemedia.co) saying Christians are justified in owning people as slaves as long as they’re following the rules laid out in the Bible governing slavery. He [does not believe](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/politics/pastor-doug-wilson-christian-domination-trump?ref=rangemedia.co) women should be able to vote. He [has written](https://canonpress.com/products/frequently-shouted-questions-about-christian-nationalism?srsltid=AfmBOoo4XX3uvRIqtszaZwf31i8%5FKuz7MNaV2PY-JbFbd79E6AaNSOoB&ref=rangemedia.co) that “our love must be uneven,” meaning Christians should love certain people more than other people. Ultimately, he believes Christians deserve more from society than anyone else. But a Moscow that belonged to this ideology would have been shocked by the results of the November 4 elections. In the real Moscow, as across the country, progressive candidates for public office won remarkable victories. In Spokane, the more liberal candidate [won each](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-election-results-2025/) city election, including [one upset](https://www.rangemedia.co/dixit-wins-district-1/) by a vocally leftist reproductive rights organizer. Throughout the US, Democrats swept important races in an election, [understood](https://www.au.org/the-latest/articles/christian-nationalists-fared-poorly-on-election-day/?ref=rangemedia.co) to at least partly be a rebuke of the Trump administration’s alignment with Christian nationalist policies. But if national Democrats were surprised by the election outcomes, Moscow voters were not. Moscow elections since 2019 have consistently rejected candidates who supported Christ Church-aligned values or were supported by Christ Church-aligned businesses. Elections in Latah County are “at-large” contests, meaning candidates don’t run against each other for seats dedicated to certain districts or wards. Voters list up to three preferred candidates, and each of the candidates with the most votes wins an open seat. Case(s) in point: the last two Moscow elections. First, in May, came the race for the Latah County Library Board of Trustees, in which five people vied for three positions. Republican-[endorsed](https://latahgop.org/news/latah-county-gop-endorses-bradley-baas-and-jeanne-moore-for-library-board?fbclid=IwY2xjawOJmJ9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFZT3h0SWRMUHh0MjhLR1drc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHmFtOZ2cK98ae6BN6tK-jkTLlr8O4yf1yvq7LBzh6wnykNaCkigCTcWoME5u%5Faem%5FWX-wC3UR3Z8JeVIuZhnH7w&ref=rangemedia.co) Jeanne Moore and Bradley Baas — who had been a student at Christ Church’s Christian college, New Saint Andrews College (NSA) (and who was arrested for DUI the night before the election) — [were trounced](https://www.livevoterturnout.com/ENR/idaho/135/57/en/Index%5F135.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Baas and Moore campaigned similarly on a slate of issues like supporting “parents’ rights” and “protecting minors from harmful materials” — language that [has been used](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-obscene-who-decide-liberty-lake-library-gender-queer/) to try to ban queer literature from public libraries. (We did not find a direct connection between Moore and Christ Church or its college.) Next came the mayoral and city council election on November 4\. Voters rejected the three candidates backed by a Christ Church-affiliated political action committee (PAC) called Liberty PAC. Mayoral candidate Alex Simon and city council candidates John Slagboom and Gary Schoolland each lost by wide margins. This may partly be because Wilson doesn’t directly involve himself that much in local politics — instead focusing on spreading his message in the national media and establishing new operations in places like Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon. “Frankly, I've never seen Doug Wilson out there publicly endorsing candidates, nor have I seen him financially contribute to any local campaigns,” said Sage McCetich, who also won a city council seat on November 4. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-5.jpg) *One World Coffee in downtown Moscow, is frequented by University of Idaho students and flies a Pride flag from its front door. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* ### A Christ Church-linked PAC The largest single expenditure in favor of Simon, Slagboom and Schoolland was made by the Liberty PAC, which [paid at least $7,200 for a mailer](https://sunshine.voteidaho.gov/public/cf/candidateprofile?guid=a2cee4b9-81a0-45dd-9adb-580d6364a1b9&tabName=TEXP&ref=rangemedia.co) promoting the candidates. The mailer, which emphasized budgetary and economic issues, read, in part, “Even though you can cast up to three votes for City Council, voting for just Schoolland and Slagboom and leaving your third vote blank increases their chances to win \[underline *sic*\].” Liberty PAC’s primary funding source is 3100 Capital LLC, a company founded by Christ Church parish elder [Andrew Crapuchettes](https://christkirk.com/our-church/leadership-staff/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Andrew%20Crapuchettes%20%E2%80%93%20Parish%20Elder), according to Idaho election disclosures. Another prominent funder of the PAC is Jeff Mau, who owns a Moscow-based manufacturer of concealed gun holsters called [Tenicor](https://tenicor.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). Mau, a former Seattle police officer and King County sheriff deputy, recently [recommended](https://www.buzzsprout.com/1917743/episodes/17738863-jeff-mau-leaving-the-badge-behind-for-business?ref=rangemedia.co) one of Wilson’s many books on the podcast “Biblical Leadership @ Work.” PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money in the US as independent expenditures — such as Liberty PAC’s mailer — as long as they don’t coordinate with a specific campaign on that spending. By contrast, individual donations on specific campaigns are bound by [campaign contribution limitations](https://www.usa.gov/campaign-finance-laws?ref=rangemedia.co). Slagboom and Schooland both described themselves in interviews as conservative. (Slagboom, a former progressive, also said he identifies as independent and has registered in primaries with both parties to advance candidates he preferred.) But they distanced themselves — and their churches — from Liberty PAC and Wilson. “I had nothing to do with that,” Schoolland said of the flyer. “Even though my picture is on the flyer, that’s totally independent from anything that has to do with me. Trinity Reform Church has absolutely nothing to do with Christ Church” other than Wilson having preached there once during the four years Schoolland said he had been attending. RANGE found that another prominent contributor to Liberty PAC is [Timothy van den Broek](https://trinitykirk.com/staff/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Ava%2C%20and%20Levi.-,Timothy%20van%20den%20Broek,-%2C%20Teaching%20Elder%20%28Session), a teaching elder at Trinity. Slagboom has publicly [taken offense](https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article312908903.html?ref=rangemedia.co) at suggestions he is tied to Christ Church. “What Liberty PAC did was totally out of my control,” Slagboom said. “They could have said terrible things about me.” In an interview, he emphasized that the church he attends, All Souls Christian Church, is nondenominational and unaffiliated with Christ Church. But Simon, who said he also attended All Souls, said Wilson’s church was very supportive of the three candidates’ campaigns. “The Christ Church community I think really rallied behind us,” Simon, the mayoral candidate said. “I was appreciative of it. I know a number of folks that do go there, and they're delightful folks.” ### Pushing back against Christian nationalism ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-4.jpg) *Kayla Alexander moved to Moscow seven years ago for a job as an environmental scientist. She is Pagan and does not feel welcome in some businesses affiliated with Christ Church. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* If there are indeed two Moscows — a dominionist one and a secular one — one is a lot bigger than the other. In a city of about 25,000 residents, fewer than 2,000 voted for measures and candidates affiliated with Christ Church’s political goals. That number is nearly doubled by folks who voted for more progressive candidates, a calculus that essentially ensures the public square is not overtaken by Christian nationalist values. “Moscow provides an example of very different dynamics than Doug Wilson claims that it does,” said Kate Bitz, a senior organizer at the [Western States Center](https://www.westernstatescenter.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a think tank that trains people who want to resist right-wing extremism in the American West. “What we're seeing with both the county-wide library board elections this spring in Latah County and especially with the municipal elections in Moscow is that when people start to experience \[Christ Church’s\] kind of takeover, they do not take it. They don't acquiesce.” Evan Holmes, who won one of the city council seats on November 4, said this is partly because residents are not interested in national media attention that characterizes them in a particular way. “If we say that 70% of the population doesn't feel that way, they still don't want the focus of 60 Minutes and *The Atlantic* to come here to say, ‘Let's go to the national center of this,’” council-member-elect Holmes said. “That’s just bothersome.” But it’s also because many in Moscow have been alarmed by the most visible organizing by Christ Church, such as when church members gathered in the parking lot of City Hall during the pandemic with no masks to protest an emergency health order. Locals saw this as disrespectful of people who wanted to limit the spread of COVID-19. “It really kind of made them stand out saying, ‘We kind of have our own rules,’” said One World Coffee owner Brandy Sullivan, who was a member of the city council at the time of that protest. “Some people started to see them in a different light.” According to Council Member-elect Sage McCetich, a real estate agent by profession, Christ Church’s power lies largely in the ability of members — many of whom moved to Moscow fleeing progressive COVID policies during the pandemic — to purchase property downtown. For example, NSA College, which until 2023 was unaccredited and was founded by Christ Church in 1994, moved into a building on the downtown corner of Friendship Square and Main Street — valuable real estate in a city with relatively few property tax sources. Because NSA is a nonprofit, it is exempt from property taxes, meaning its arrival placed a heavier burden on other businesses and residential property owners to pay for city services. Since then, Christ Church has bought more and more property on Main Street and downtown, which means that burden has gotten heavier and heavier. So if the city as an institution worries about Christ Church, that worry resolves exclusively around how the church affects the local economy. “We're not talking about any group, especially not a religious group or anything like that,” Sullivan said. “It is not something that's on the city's agenda ever. Things like the water supply, transportation, aging infrastructure, sewer, water, roads — those are the main things that the city is dealing with.” The Moscow citizens RANGE talked to repeatedly and vociferously confirmed their identities as distant from Christian nationalist ideas — and from Wilson’s [racist](https://www.amazon.com/Black-Tan-Collection-Excursions-Scripture/dp/159128032X?ref=rangemedia.co), [misogynistic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqUVSVIDAGM&ref=rangemedia.co), [anti-queer](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/politics/pastor-doug-wilson-christian-domination-trump?ref=rangemedia.co), patriarchal and, above all, inflammatory rhetoric. “Doug says, ‘This is Christian Idaho,’” said Kayla Alexander, a self-identified Pagan woman who works in Moscow as an environmental scientist. Sipping a drink in the Garden, a downtown bar, she wore earrings shaped like full-sized cigarettes and said that she doesn’t feel comfortable wearing her pentagram necklace into certain Main Street establishments connected to Christ Church. Still, she said, it’s not a Christian city. “A lot of us are pagan, agnostic, atheist, Muslim, Catholic — all of these other religions that exist.” The town seems to agree with Alexander, given the number of progressive or social-justice organizations supported by its sweet — but maybe not so sleepy — citizenry. From the [Inland Oasis](https://www.inlandoasis.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), which offers support for LGBTQ+ folks, to [Moscow Contemporary](https://www.moscowcontemporary.org/dragfiguredrawing?ref=rangemedia.co), a community center that recently hosted a Drag Drawing class, to the hundreds who turned out for a [No Kings Protest](https://www.uiargonaut.com/2025/10/22/no-kings-protest-held-in-moscow-against-trump-administration-policies/?ref=rangemedia.co) in October, the real Moscow story is a concrete counter to what the national news reports. ### Price fixing, parking tax and policy impacts URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/ Last updated: 2025-11-17T19:26:14.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council could pass a tax on parking lots across the city, with revenue funding street repair. - They are also considering an ordinance to ban landlords and property management companies from using algorithmic price fixing tools to set rental rates. - The Airport Board will approve a contract to do a stormwater impacts study. The Spokane International Airport sits on ecologically sensitive wetlands that are impacted by airport development. - There are so many board and commission vacancies across the city of Spokane! See below for more information on how you can sign up to shape policy. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/)(and Study Session) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane Ombuds Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane Public Facilities District](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/price-fixing-parking-tax-and-policy-impacts/) # Get involved Want to shape your city instead of just reading about it? You can apply to fill a vacant position on one of the city's boards and commissions. Currently, Spokane is looking for people to sit on the Arts, Plan, Design Review, Human Rights, Transportation and Police Ombuds Commissions. Details on necessary qualifications and how to apply can be found [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/vacancies/?ref=rangemedia.co). # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Funding for co-response model In the consent agenda, there are two contracts that support the co-response models in Spokane. The [CARES team](https://my.spokanecity.org/fire/operations/cares/?ref=rangemedia.co) of the Spokane Fire Department, which sends mental health professionals to respond to people’s needs if they don’t truly need an emergency response, is getting two new electric vehicles for a total of just over $94,000. The city is also set to accept a $620,000 grant from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs to pay for Mental Health Field Response — the unit formerly called the Behavioral Health Unit, which pairs a mental health professional with a police officer to better address mental health issues in the field. ### No more rental price fixing After a deferral last week, council will have a first read on an ordinance to ban landlords and property management companies from using algorithmic price-fixing software to price gouge tenants and manipulate the market. A 2024 report from the federal government found that this kind of software can cost [renters an average of $70 per month](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/12/17/the-cost-of-anticompetitive-pricing-algorithms-in-rental-housing/?ref=rangemedia.co) in additional rent expenses. Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown recently [filed a lawsuit](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/washington-ag-says-realpage-and-landlords-conspired-harm-tenants-violate?ref=rangemedia.co) against one of the software companies, called RealPage, alleging the company and the landlords who used it violated the Consumer Protection Act. If passed in Spokane, this could be the latest move in the council’s quest to [protect renters in the city](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/). ### The pavement tax Spokane City Council is set to vote on an ordinance that would start taxing commercial parking lots across the city. The TLDR is that, if passed, consumers would pay a 6% to 12% tax to park in surface parking lots or parking garages while city-managed street parking, student parking and residential parking would all be exempt from the tax. The tax would pay for street repair. For the longer explanation on the tax, how it works and what it could accomplish, check out [this piece](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-considers-taxing-commercial-parking-lots/) by RANGE Urbanism Columnist Lauren Pangborn. One little development though: council is considering an amendment that, if passed at Agenda Review, could push the implementation date of the ordinance from January 1, 2026 to April 2026. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - After back-and-forth about the future of Spokane Arts ([is it getting absorbed into the city](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/30/spokane-mayors-plan-to-restart-city-arts-office-fa/?ref=rangemedia.co)? [Is it staying independent?](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-arts-extends-its-contract-for-two-years-as-the-city-creates-a-separate-office/article%5F1bd40738-75bf-591f-a7b9-d98b447a6118.html?ref=rangemedia.co)), the Spokane City Council could pass a stop-gap agreement running through December 31, 2027, which would keep Spokane Arts independent and continue paying them to run arts programming with the charter-mandated City Admissions tax. - Next Monday is the night for budget nerds: not only is the council considering a bunch of edits to the current budget, like reallocating ARPA funds, they’re also potentially voting on the official 2026 biennium budget modifications — though it does seem likely this gets deferred. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 17 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, November 20 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Utility taxes + rates There’s not a ton of information in the agenda, but it looks like the PIES Committee is slated to discuss “utility tax and utility rate ordinances,” which could be interesting. ### 2027 Safe Streets projects While the resolution that will soon list the Safe Streets projects slated for completion in 2027 by council district is still blank (soon to be filled in after the Transportation Commission’s final review of potential projects), the council will discuss the resolution today. ### Maintenance Review Want to know how arterial street, bike and pedestrian and winter maintenance is going in 2025? Council is getting a review, and potentially a preview of the city’s winter maintenance plans. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 17 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 18 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Ombuds Commission **?/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/ombuds-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Tuesday, November 18 at 5:30 pm* > *City Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed here*. ## Bicycle Advisory Board **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Outlook on bikes For the readers out there saying “bikes for sure,” as much as the RANGE Slackbot programmed by our urbanism columnist, this week’s BAB meeting might be for you: they’re scheduled to do a review of all the 2025 bike projects, and lay out their outlook for 2026. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 18 at 6 pm* > *City Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting%5FNWNlYjdjMDktMGYwMy00NDExLWE1ZTItN2UwYzliMGY1NzI2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2295fa1d6e-6a27-496e-9117-fc34d9076661%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8a149ab-0094-4c4e-b7e3-3633a0ca624f%22%7d&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Public Facilities District **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, November 19 at 12:30 pm* > *Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room* > *720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 17 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🫑/5 peppers** ### Board appointments The BOCC will vote to reappoint - Clyde Haase to the Spokane County Planning Commission District 4 seat and - Max Kuney, County Commissioner Mary Kuney’s husband, as a County representative on the Spokane Airport Board > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 17 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors **?/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, November 20 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Agreement for stormwater capacity study There’s not a lot of information on this, but the airport board will create an agreement with a contractor to conduct a stormwater capacity study. The Spokane International Airport campus sits on ecologically sensitive wetlands, and any infrastructure development on the campus has to consider how hard, flat surfaces, like parking lots, will affect flooding on the West Plains, a chronic issue that impacts local neighborhoods. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, November 20 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 18 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Mayor will present optimistic budget Liberty Lake Mayor Cris Kaminskas will present her proposed budget for 2026, which projects a reduction in property taxes from .$0.8852 to $0.8571 per $1,000 of property value. Kaminskas notes this is possible because the city’s $8.1 million general fund is healthy. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 18 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # School Boards ### Spokane School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, November 19 at 4:30 pm (special meeting) and 6 pm (regular meeting)* > S*pokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Mead School District Board of Directors **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 17 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### West Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, November 19 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane, WA 99212* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### SpoVal pastor helps push initiatives to erode student privacy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/initiatives-to-erode-student-privacy-are-pushed-by-a-wa-think-tank-led-by-spoval-pastor/ Last updated: 2025-11-15T15:00:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/d3a679b4-db1a-49d4-a16d-8d88fe326027.jpg) *Spokane Valley pastor Brian Noble is president and CEO of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, which is helping Let’s Go Washington advance two ballot initiatives that would erode queer rights in Washington School. He is seen here preaching at Valley Assembly. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News,*](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co) *a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* A prominent Washington think tank led by former Spokane Valley pastor Brian Noble is urging its members to collect signatures for a pair of ballot initiatives that would restrict queer rights and student privacy in Washington schools. The measures were initiated by the right-wing policy organization [Let’s Go Washington](https://letsgowashington.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), founded by millionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, and are supported by the [Family Policy Institute of Washington](https://fpiw.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (FPIW). The first, [IL26-638](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/letsgowashington-com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/il26-638-text.pdf), titled “Protecting Fairness in Girls’ Sports” (PFGS), would ban transgender girls from playing public school sports and would require girls who want to play school sports to prove their biological sex through a doctor’s examination of their genitalia or genetic test. The second, [IL26-001](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/letsgowashington-com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/il26-001-text.pdf), titled “Strengthen Communication Between Parents and Schools” (SCBPS), would restore parents’ rights to access the school records of their children who are younger than 18, to be notified when medical services are provided to their children and to opt them out of certain classes, including sex education. FPIW does much of its work through its organizing app, which provides resources for members to order copies of the ballot initiatives to their homes so they can collect signatures in order to get them on next year’s state ballots. FPIW counts a membership of about 400,000, when its 39 strategic partners are factored in, across Washington state, according to Noble, who is president and CEO. Transgender rights advocates say these initiatives threaten the privacy not only of transgender students but of their cisgender peers, too. “What is missing from this conversation is a focus on youth autonomy,” said Chandler Náire-Briseadh, an intersex and transgender Spokanite who advocates for queer youth. “Let’s Go Washington has painted these initiatives as attempts to address parent versus school conflict, when in reality, our focus should always be on the rights of students to determine how their education unfolds.” FPIW is headquartered in Lynnwood, north of Seattle, but Noble, who has formerly served as the CEO of [Peacemakers Ministries](https://www.peacemakerministries.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a sheriff’s chaplain, chair of the Spokane County GOP and pastor at the Valley Assembly, lives in Spokane County. Noble said in an interview he thought SCBPS would make good progress by ensuring parents are aware if their children are transitioning. An ideal policy, he said, would go a step further and make it illegal for parents to seek gender-affirming care for their children. He characterized such health care as child abuse. This is contrary to [many studies](https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/?ref=rangemedia.co) that have established gender-affirming care significantly reduces gender dysphoria, depression and suicide risk for transgender youth. Most often, gender-affirming care for children amounts to social transitioning, like asking people to use preferred pronouns and dressing according to the conventions of their gender identity. It can sometimes include temporary hormonal treatments like puberty blockers, which are used to treat an array of conditions including gender dysphoria, and, in extremely rare cases, surgery. Republicans also often cite European countries’ bans and limits on gender-affirming care for minors in recent years. But the picture there is much more [nuanced](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/06/us-europe-transgender-care-00119106?ref=rangemedia.co), showing stricter eligibility criteria for such care and how to approach gender-affirming options for minors within research. As for PFGS, Noble said the requirement to provide proof of a girl’s sex before she can play school sports was “too intrusive,” but in any case was an unfortunate requirement for a society that has evolved to recognize transgender people. To qualify for the ballot in 2026, each initiative would need to garner 308,111 signatures. This is table stakes for Let’s Go Washington, a well-heeled organization that has succeeded in getting initiatives onto Washington ballots during several recent election cycles. Last year, the organization focused [four initiatives](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2124-washington-ballot-long-term-cares-act/) on taxing and environmental issues, three of which failed. This year, it appears to be changing its focus to culture war issues rather than ones that hit voters’ wallets. In national elections last year, such issues proved fertile for Republicans across the country, including the presidential victor Donald Trump, who [campaigned partly](https://www.aclu.org/trump-on-lgbtq-rights?ref=rangemedia.co) on vilifying policies and government programs that benefit queer communities. ### No sports for transgender girls PFGS would require that a student “who elects to participate in individual or team competition activities intended for female students … shall provide … a statement signed by the student's personal health care provider that verifies the student's biological sex, relying only on one or more of the following: The student's reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.” The initiative does not include what it considers normal testosterone levels are for girls or address how testosterone levels in girls [fluctuate](https://gremjournal.com/journal/01-2022/changes-in-serum-testosterone-during-the-menstrual-cycle-an-integrative-systematic-review-of-published-literature/?ref=rangemedia.co) throughout the menstrual cycle. It doesn’t say anything about boys’ sports. Katelyn Burns, a transgender journalist who is trained academically in sports management and writes about transgender communities in the U.S, said this is the first step toward erasing transgender people from the public square altogether. Burns noted that [polling suggests](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-americans-oppose-trans-women-competing-female-sports-2-3-gen-z-rcna203658?ref=rangemedia.co) allowing transgender athletes to play in sports designated for the gender they identify with is broadly unpopular in the U.S. But if folks trying to ban transgender people from sports are successful, that will bleed into other areas of life for them. “If they can get trans women to be considered men in athletic events, then they can easily go in and define them as men in other parts of the law because they’d have this precedent,” Burns said. “If we consider them men in athletics, why not in bathrooms or why not in changing rooms or why not in employment?” Much of the rhetoric used to make a case against transgender girls playing sports revolves around the idea that transgender girls have physical advantages over cisgender girls. This can be true in the sense that transgender girls tend to have larger bodies and longer limbs. A [booklet](https://fpiw.org/boys-in-girls-sports/?ref=rangemedia.co) available on the FPIW website describes the biological differences in terms of average metrics, comparing male and female lung sizes, upper and lower body strengths and the size of their hearts. It explains “even when height and body size are matched, men typically have 12% greater lung volume relative to body mass.” This is because males assigned at birth have an average lung capacity of 6 liters versus a female, who has, on average, 4.2 liters of lung capacity. But Burns said it’s not that simple. She used the analogy of two cars, one big, the other small, with the same size engine. The engine has to work much harder to move the bigger car. The hormones that are generally required for transgender girls to compete in sports function in a similar way, Burns said. “It's not gonna zip off the line,” Burns said. [A study](https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/58/11/586?ref=rangemedia.co) sponsored by the International Olympic Committee last year — which Burns [wrote about](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/olympic-trans-women-ioc-study-rcna148437?ref=rangemedia.co) for MSNBC — articulated this disadvantage. Noble, for his part, said the idea that people can transition from one gender to another is a fiction because he defines gender according to chromosomes, which cannot be altered. He believes even if someone lives their life outside of the gender they were assigned at birth, they are still either male or female according to their biological makeup. Both sex and gender are generally considered to be more complex than that. Most people who study gender and sex describe a [clear delineation](https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/what-do-we-mean-by-sex-and-gender/?ref=rangemedia.co) between the two terms. Gender consists mostly of a set of social traits historically associated with sex — though social progress has worked against these assumed characteristics, women have traditionally been assumed to have long hair, are accepted wearing dresses and make homes rather than livings. Men were supposed to be physically strong, wear pants and be breadwinners. Noble lamented that society now recognizes transgender people in the way it does compared with a historical society that simply assumed people played the gender roles prescribed on their birth certificates. “I think if we were to have just kind of common sense like in the old days, we wouldn't have to do all this. … Their values are winning,” he said, referring to people who support queer communities. “Our values are losing.” He said it’s a necessary evil to exclude transgender students from school sports. “I would say it's too intrusive,” he said of the initiative his organization is promoting. But he added that there’s really no other way to make sure transgender girls are banned from school sports. “I think that's a fair way to make sure that women have a place to compete.” The Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association [told](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/future-of-transgender-athletes-uncertain-in-wa-following-executive-order/?ref=rangemedia.co) The Seattle Times early this year that it estimates only five transgender children play in public school sports across the state, out of an [estimated population](https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/future-transgender-student-athletes?ref=rangemedia.co) of a quarter-million student athletes. ### ‘Love is not love’ During the last two decades, the US has enshrined meaningful queer rights — including the right for gay people to get married and for queer people to enjoy workers’ protections — into law. The Trump administration is trying to work against some of this progress. In February, for example, Trump signed an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/?ref=rangemedia.co) rescinding federal funding for any jurisdiction that allows transgender women to compete in sports. Locally, some [school boards](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-protections-trans-mead-central-valley-school-district-wiaa/) have urged the state of Washington to ban transgender girls from sports and tried to limit their ability to use the restroom that matches their gender identity. This backlash is largely embodied by ascendent Christian nationalism, the idea that a specific version of the Christian worldview — which leans heavily on exclusion of queer people and Muslims from positions of social influence — should rule society. Noble still sometimes preaches at the Valley Assembly, though he stopped being paid in 2023 so he could work in other arenas, first in partisan politics as chair of the Spokane County GOP, and then in public policy leading FPIW. When he does preach, he is charismatic about it. During a Sunday sermon he delivered Nov. 9 at his old church, he was fully on. Striding back-and-forth across an area rug on the church’s black-painted main stage, Noble preached from 3 John, first emphasizing verse 4 of the book’s single chapter, which reads: “I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.” That phrase “the truth” carried a special definition and weight. Noble set up an unscripted skit with audience volunteers illustrating how someone can be unaligned with Jesus and therefore on the path to hell. The boundaries of God’s good graces were the edges of the carpet, and volunteer Molly was off the carpet. Molly, obstinately refusing to give up her sinful ways and walk onto the carpet, was a “knucklehead.” The audience was cracking up, but Noble was alluding to something very serious: queer love. “Love is not love,” he preached. “If I'm just able to say, love is love, and then you can have whatever definition, at some point, your love is not gonna be matched up with my love. If I have a lion and a rabbit in the room, the rabbit's love is ‘I want to cuddle with the lion.’ The lion's love is, ‘I want to eat the rabbit.’” Volunteer Lyle tried to call Molly back to the carpet but was unsuccessful. So he did something wrong: he went to Molly, representing a church that affirms queer life — and risking the salvation of his own soul in the process. ### Not a Christian nationalist Noble said he’s offended when people call him a Christian nationalist for one reason: because he is not one. His definition of Christian nationalism is the belief that Jesus Christ will, at some point, come to earth for a 1,000-year reign, and Christians exist in the world to prepare it for his coming kingdom, meaning they must seize control of the government in order to create an environment suitable to Christ. According to this understanding of Christian nationalism, queer relationships are forbidden, Islam has no influence in the public square and Christ, rather than voters, dictates policy. Noble’s ideal society is slightly different — and therefore not Christian nationalism. In his vision of Christianity, the faithful will be swept into Heaven, what he defines as the [rapture](https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of the church, in advance of a great “[tribulation](https://www.gotquestions.org/tribulation.html?ref=rangemedia.co),” and Noble wants as many people on that ride as Christians can convince to accept Christ. “I love people and do not want them to experience that wrath of God during the tribulation,” he said Nov. 13 in a text message. Some of that work is done through interpersonal evangelizing of the type he implored the congregation to do at Valley Assembly with his carpet skit. “I want us all to begin to pray for our neighbors and those around us,” he prayed at the conclusion of his sermon, as congregants gathered around the stage in an altar call. Another part of that work, for Noble, is accomplished through public policy, by keeping certain identities out of the public square. FPIW is far from focused solely on the Let’s Go Washington initiatives. Brad Payne, the chief lobbyist for the think tank’s policy arm, said he has worked across the political aisle with Democrats in Olympia to push legislation in many realms. In an interview, Payne highlighted his support of Rep. Lauren Davis, a Democrat of Shoreline, when she was trying to keep people accused of crimes in jail before their trials, to strengthen impaired driving laws, to tax marriage licenses to fund more robust domestic violence response, among other criminal justice-related items. But Noble is clear about the policy world that he wants to create, which, whether he defines himself as a Christian nationalist or not, resonates with the effort to prepare the earth for Christ’s alleged 1,000-year reign. “ I believe all legislation is someone's morality,” he said. “It's someone's law written upon their heart. So I'd just rather it be mine.” ### The POD: Kid's Safety and Kid's Choice URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-kids-safety-and-kids-choice/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T16:37:41.000Z This week, Aaron and Val talked about two ballot initiatives from [Let’s Go Washington](https://letsgowashington.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a political organization who backs ballot initiatives. The first ballot initiative is IL26-001, otherwise known as “Strength and Communication Between Parents and Schools.” This would allow parents to access their child’s school records, including any disciplinary, medical, and mental health related records. The second initiative is IL26-368, also called “Protecting Fairness in Girls’ Sports.” This would require female students who want to participate in their school’s sports to go through a medical examination and obtain documentation that “verifies” they’re a girl. Not only is this incredibly transphobic and tries to ban trans girls from girls’ sports, but it’s also hugely invasive to *all* students. **[SpoVal pastor helps push initiatives to erode student privacy](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiatives-to-erode-student-privacy-are-pushed-by-a-wa-think-tank-led-by-spoval-pastor/)** (*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media and Cassy Benefield,* [*FāVS News*](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co)) ### Spokane City Council considers taxing commercial parking lots URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-considers-taxing-commercial-parking-lots/ Last updated: 2025-11-13T01:37:22.000Z Mayor Lisa Brown’s administration has a plan to make our city more vibrant, especially downtown: tax out the parking lots. This, coupled with existing incentives for land owners to build housing rather than let much downtown real estate essentially sit fallow, will create a more walkable, denser and friendlier city. The tax would be implemented through [an ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/agendas/2025/11/finadm-agenda-2025-11-03-page-84.pdf) allowed by state law imposing 12% fees on surface lots and 6% fees in parking garages. This would add about $0.50 to a $3.85 parking tab, the price motorists pay to park for two hours in Riverfront Park, or $0.30 to two-hour, $5 session in Riverpark Square. Per state law, the money must be used to fund transportation projects like street and sidewalk maintenance. But the real long-term benefit would be a revitalized – and safer, more populated, more prosperous, culturally richer – downtown core after surface lots are redeveloped into housing, commercial spaces, arts venues, hotels and the like. Critics might imagine that there would be a lack of parking downtown if surface lots are redeveloped over the years. They might even see the efforts as counterintuitive if they adhere to prevailing logic that says less parking will draw less traffic and therefore less money to the downtown core. The long term benefits may seem pie-in-the-sky, but once we consider the cartoonish inefficiencies of commercial parking, the effort begins to make perfect sense. ### The blight of parking lots A whopping 30% of land downtown is dedicated to car storage, and the effect is not neutral: parking lots are not housing – a salt in the wound of Spokane’s housing crisis. Parking lots do not provide jobs. They do not create community or contribute to culture. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-3.png) *Surface parking lots shaded in red. Source: City of Spokane.* Most of the time, these off-street parking lots sit pretty empty. Even in 2019 — that blissful pre-pandemic year when in-office work was more common — [a study found ](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/parking/2019-parking-study/2019-downtown-spokane-parking-study-plan-page-15.pdf)that off-street parking usage topped out at 56% during the busiest times. Parking lots also generate precious little property tax revenue. For instance, Diamond Parking paid $3,615.44 in property taxes in 2025 for this lot at 28 W Main Avenue, while the owners of 24 W Main Avenue next door – a building with housing and two small businesses that create jobs and community – paid $19,108.23\. The lots are nearly identical in size. As largely uncontrolled and unmonitored spaces, parking facilities attract crime. Author and activist Jane Jacobs wrote about the safety of cities coming from [“eyes on the street”](https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/96396-eyes-street?ref=rangemedia.co). That is, the more positive foot traffic an area has (like from neighbors, shop employees, etc), the less crime will occur. Without staff and with each customer walking away shortly after arrival, parking lots lack frequent positive foot traffic. They also degrade a block’s walkability by spreading buildings out. One reason well-loved places like Rome, Paris, and even Disneyland feel alive, safe and welcoming is because they don’t have surface parking lots breaking up their cores. Parking revenues don’t stay in our local Spokane economy. Many commercial parking lots downtown funnel money to their out-of-town corporate owners, like Seattle-based Diamond Parking, JRD Parking, Republic Parking Northwest and GT Mulkiteo. Many of them use the reservation and payment system ParkMobile, which is Atlanta-based. The owners, wherever they are based, can sit on the properties for decades, performing minimal upkeep while the land beneath them appreciates thanks to public or private investments by others in the area. [Study](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/downtown-plan-update-2020/2021-07-26-spokane-downtown-plan-web-page-54.pdf) after [study](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/north-bank-plan/north-bank-plan-preliminary-draft-page-75.pdf) after [study](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/spokane-housing-action-plan/spokane-housing-action-plan-final-with-appendices-2021-07-26-page-37.pdf) of our city has found that surface parking lots in particular are a severe underutilization of land, especially in the urban core, which we so badly want to be lively, prosperous and safe and to have cultural value. While the tax is undoubtedly a stick, the city is also increasing the number of carrots offered to those owners of surface lots to encourage redevelopment. The parking tax ordinance waives permit fees for those applying to build housing on surface parking lots. And land owners who have an approved building permit for housing on their parking lot would not have to pay the tax. (A third carrot, the pre-existing [Parking to People](https://my.spokanecity.org/economicdevelopment/incentives/parking-2-people-incentive/?ref=rangemedia.co) program, which is unrelated to the parking tax ordinance, gives tax breaks to those who build affordable housing where parking lots once stood. Bafflingly, Spokane is the only city in the state to take advantage of this state program.) City leaders hope this combination of carrots and sticks are enough to encourage redevelopment. ### Wouldn’t this reduce parking space for people who need it? No. Hiking the cost of parking actually increases parking availability by incentivizing carpooling, using alternate modes of transportation and less lingering. Parking lots are hilariously inefficient — they don’t provide much value in relation to the land area they actually occupy. To park a single vehicle, [roughly 325 square feet of earth](https://www.fastcompany.com/90645900/america-has-eight-parking-spaces-for-every-car-heres-how-cities-are-rethinking-that-land?ref=rangemedia.co) is required for the stall itself and the maneuvering space around the stall. These images compare that space to living space, which illustrates just how antithetical commercial lots are to the health of urban environments. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-1.png) *Comparing residential space with parking space. Source: Seth Goodman,* [*graphingparking.com*](https://graphingparking.com/2013/01/25/residential-parking-requirements/?ref=rangemedia.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-2.png) *Comparing office space with parking. Source: Seth Goodman,* [*graphingparking.com*](https://graphingparking.com/2013/05/17/parking-requirements-for-office-buildings/?ref=rangemedia.co) Even better, building housing in and around the urban core results in fewer cars needing to be parked as those residents are more likely to choose to walk or cycle to their destinations. You might imagine that there would be less revenue for important transportation projects if the surface lots are redeveloped. But the city is betting that a redevelopment that would provide jobs, commerce and housing would bring in more property and sales tax dollars to the city than a parking lot would ever bring in under the Commercial Parking Tax. ### The revenue angle In the meantime, the tax will help the city solve more immediate problems in our city, like the pot-hole-ridden, cracked-up roads lined by sidewalks deformed by tree roots and consumed by weeds. One reason for this disrepair is that Spokane is — famously to anyone with one eye on city council meetings — in a crippling budget crunch. This problem is worsened by the Trump administration, which is [threatening any federal funding](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/23/g-s1-84863/judge-blocks-trump-from-cutting-funding-sanctuary-cities?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=U.S.%20District%20Judge%20William%20Orrick,shield%20illegal%20aliens%20from%20deportation.%22) that goes to local transportation development in sanctuary states like Washington. The city receives millions every year in transportation dollars from the federal government. It also receives millions from the state, which is [facing budget issues of its own](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/11/06/money-crunch-puts-kibosh-on-wa-state-lawmakers-wish-lists/?ref=rangemedia.co), especially when it comes to transportation funding. At the same time, road revitalization in neighborhoods is funded by a local portion of car registration fees, a revenue source [that has plateaued](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/transportation-commission/presentations/2025/05/21/citizens-transportation-advisory-board-annual-report-2024.pdf) as per-mile paving costs have soared and local streets have experienced increasing wear and tear from heavier cars. Cars weigh on average 30% more than they did 40 years ago, meaning they cause significantly more damage when they roll across the asphalt. According to the [fourth power law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth%5Fpower%5Flaw?ref=rangemedia.co) used in road construction, a 30% increase in weight equates to 186% more damage. The average car from 40 years ago would have to drive the same stretch of road nearly three times to cause the same amount of damage as today's average car would in one pass. This means people who drive light cars are footing the bill for damage inflicted mostly by people who drive heavy ones. Perversely, the owners of vehicles weighing 6,000 pounds or more, like most Ford F250 models and Tesla Cybertrucks, [don’t pay the local tab fee at all](https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicles/taxes-and-fees/local-transportation-benefit-district-fees?ref=rangemedia.co#vehiclessubjecttofees), despite the F250 causing five times the pavement damage a Tesla Model 3 does. The fourth power law also suggests that infrastructure designed for the smallest and lightest vehicles — cargo ebikes, for instance, which cause a miniscule [1/50,000](https://roaddamagecalculator.com/?vehicle%5Fone=longtail-cargo-bike&vehicle%5Ftwo=crossover&ref=rangemedia.co) of the pavement damage of a Subaru Crosstrek — to go the shortest distance is least expensive to maintain. In contrast, our current system is wide streets that carry few passengers in heavy vehicles long distances – the most expensive combination. ### The road ahead It’s a win-win strategy: revitalize downtown with redevelopment of under-utilized lots. In the meantime, bring in some revenue to fix the crumbling roads and sidewalks. The Local Option Transportation Tax for Commercial Parking ordinance is scheduled for a final reading at the city council meeting on November 17\. It needs five votes to pass and would go into effect January 1, 2026. ### A love letter from your favorite local politics masochist URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/a-love-letter-from-your-favorite-local-politics-masochist/ Last updated: 2025-11-12T20:09:59.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/s_rivera_politicrawl_edited-8.jpg) RANGE reporter Erin Sellers at Politicrawl 2025\. (Photo by Sandra Rivera) I love local politics. I love local politics so much it’s bordering on masochistic, which is a thought that pops into my head every time I’m watching a city council committee meeting on my lunch break, every time I’ve hit the hour three mark of live-posting a marathon Spokane City Council meeting, every time I’m neck-deep in a spreadsheet and my eyes start swimming from analyzing candidate financial data. But as much as I care about what happens at City Hall, every time election season rolls around, low voter turnout numbers remind me that not everyone feels the same way. And why would they? The community doesn’t get paid to come to meetings or to pore through thousand page agendas or to stay up-to-date on candidates’ positions and policy ideas. It often even feels like municipal governments are instead actively trying to dissuade participation and engagement, like when county commissioners schedule meetings in the middle of weekdays, or the Spokane City Council moves agenda items up for a vote last minute without informing the public. Since I started at RANGE, it’s been a focus of my job to bring politics to the people, to make complex local issues more accessible and to make it easier for working class constituents to know what’s going on and how we can all fight to make our city better. Keeping my community informed and empowered is always on my mind. So when the whole team huddled up in our small downtown office last winter to discuss our dreams for 2025, my big goal was twofold: more comprehensive election coverage paired with RANGE-style events that bring the politics to the people. And so, our most ambitious [election season](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2025/) was born. This year, we’re so proud of what we’ve accomplished that we’re going to be bragging about it over the next few weeks, but here’s the highlight reel: - We created the hottest (and coolest) candidate forum of the year with Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum — a [sold-out event](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/12/candidates-and-capsaicin-spokane-city-council-runn/?ref=rangemedia.co) featuring 5 of the 6 city council candidates eating increasingly spicy wings while being asked increasingly spicy questions. - I worked with local journalists to host a [second candidate forum](https://www.youtube.com/live/J6z40EOOCKk?ref=rangemedia.co) at the Spokane Public Library with all six candidates that broadcasted live on radio and online. - We [covered](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2025/) every single Spokane City Council race, the statewide constitution change, the municipal judge races and the Spokane ballot measures. - We broke one of the season’s biggest stories about a candidate’s [murky eligibility for office](https://www.rangemedia.co/alejandro-barrientos-council-candidacy-eligibility/). - I was a reporter panelist on two of [KSPS’s Spokane City Council race debates](https://www.ksps.org/civic-health/elections/?ref=rangemedia.co), asking candidates tough questions on TV. - We hosted our [second annual Politicrawl](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-politicrawl-is-back/), which took about 80 Spokanites to bars in every city council district (using the public bus system) to meet with local electeds, candidates, journalists and other civically curious people! - We leveraged our digital platform to level up our coverage and [inform the public](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2025/), creating a website banner reminding anyone on our election stories to vote by ballot box due to Post Office delays and utilizing mapping and interactive chart tech to show complex campaign finance data. In the future, we hope to expand our coverage to more races in Spokane County, like the Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake council seats and school boards in the region. The only way we get from here to there, though, is by expanding our staff capacity! You can help us afford to do that by supporting RANGE Media [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us/). [Help us grow our election coverage!](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us/) All the best, Erin ### Dixit wins District 1 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/dixit-wins-district-1/ Last updated: 2025-11-11T02:26:56.000Z In a stunning upset to the election for Spokane City Council’s District 1 seat, Sarah Dixit unseated Jonathan Bingle, one of two conservatives on the seven-member body. As of the final ballot drop on the evening of November 10, Dixit had earned 6,291 votes to Bingle’s 6,135, a difference of 156 votes. Considering the 40 write-in votes, this put her at 50.32% to Bingle’s 49.08%. That’s just over the margin that obviates Washington’s automatic recounts for elections in which the vote difference is less than 1%. In a concession posted to Facebook, he acknowledged the legitimacy of the count and congratulated Dixit. Working with her campaign staff in the Saranac Commons, Dixit told RANGE she won by spending a lot of time in the community and making voters feel they’d be heard if they elected her to the seat. “It was really important to have a campaign centered on the people of District 1,” she said. It was really about meeting people where they're at. We knocked on doors. We called people, texted people, hosted community conversations at coffee shops and town halls and podcasts.” Bingle, who was between the rapid-fire Monday meetings of city council committees and the city council meeting itself, did not immediately return a request for comment. “While tonight I may feel heavy, I remain hopeful,” Bingle wrote in the Facebook concession. “The challenges are real, but so is the potential. I believe our best days are still ahead of us if we stay engaged, stay committed, and continue working to make this city a place where people can thrive, businesses can grow, and every neighbor feels safe.” Dixit said the central focus of her time on city council will be providing access to the body for the residents of District 1. ”For me, it's really important to make sure people have access to city council, making sure they're aware of the different things happening and making city hall and the workings of our city much more accessible to people regardless of how much time or access they've had.” Bingle is a proud conservative who has had ambitions for higher office in the past. He threw his hat into a crowded ring of hopefuls for the seat representing most of Eastern Washington in the US House of Representatives last year when the incumbent, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, unexpectedly announced her retirement. Dixit’s win changes the composition of the city council only a little — it will now carry a six-to-one progressive majority rather than five-to-two — but it’s hard to exaggerate how different the voice coming from the flipped seat will be. Bingle is a former pastor who during his time at the dais championed police and downtown businesses, took what he called a “principled stand” against COVID mask mandates “that are more about government control than science” and preached the virtues of home ownership in Spokane. In his place will sit a reproductive rights organizer who made her bones at Pro-Choice Washington, believes bus service in Spokane should be free and advocates for progressive taxation at the state level to pay for climate resilience at the local level. Her win follows victories for fellow progressive council candidates announced last week: incumbent Zack Zappone of District 3, who defeated challenger Christopher Savage, and Kate Telis of District 2, who beat Alejandro Barrientos. ### Proposed purchase of crowd control noise device to draw protest URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/ Last updated: 2025-11-10T19:23:45.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The purchase of Long-Range Acoustical Devices, which can be used for crowd dispersal in protests, are on the consent agenda for city council, but will likely be taken off. Protesters are still planning on being at city hall. - Punny "slow down" signs are out, but bird signs might be in. - An ordinance to ban price-fixing software by landlords is getting a first read. - The Urban Experience Committee is considering a slate of policies and funding focused on eviction prevention and millions of dollars in city shelter programs. - The city may extend contracts for service providers that operate the scatter site homeless shelters by three months to avoid a gap in services. - Spokane County will likely waive the contract bidding process to install well filters for West Plains residents whose drinking water is contaminated with “forever chemicals.” (*This will happen Monday during a special meeting because the BOCC is off for Veteran’s Day*.) Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/)) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Legislative Session (Special Meeting)](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/long-range-acoustical-device-spokane-city-council/) ## Veterans Day closures Tuesday is Veterans Day, but not everything is closed: - Garbage services are on their normal schedule this week, so put your bins out. - The North County and Spokane Valley Transfer Stations will be open. - City on-street parking meters and kiosks are free on Tuesday. - Spokane Public Library branches will be closed. - The Spokane Municipal Court and Community Justice Services will be closed. - Spokane County offices will be closed, including Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS). If you’re an active or retired military member, Riverfront Park is offering complimentary Looff Carrousel rides to you and your families. #### Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Long range acoustical devices, scrapped? Nestled in this week’s consent agenda is the approval of the purchase of two Long-Range Acoustical Devices (LRADs) for $88,045 “to enhance public safety communication, emergency response, and lawful notification capabilities” for the Spokane Police Department. This item was deferred from the October 27 agenda after growing pushback from the public. Council Member Paul Dillon posted on [social media](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C7e9XbdvM/) on Friday that he will be requesting it be pulled from the agenda and that Police Chief Kevin Hall agreed. It’s unclear if it will be killed entirely or deferred again. It will likely not be up for a vote tonight, but the Inland North West Coalition for the Liberation of Palestine is planning a protest Monday night because, had no one noticed the item in the agenda, it likely would’ve gone through, hindering the community’s right to protest. While the agenda item states LRADs “allow de-escalation messaging to travel across large areas to give warnings and try and gain voluntary compliance” for rallies and protests, giving warning before more violent crowd dispersal tactics are used, the coalition protesting them notes that “these devices act as weapons, emitting loud, painful and even dangerous levels of noise, which can lead to serious health issues ([potentially including permanent hearing loss](https://phr.org/our-work/resources/health-impacts-of-crowd-control-weapons-acoustic-weapons/?ref=rangemedia.co)) in individuals exposed to them.” ### Operator for tiny home project Each week, the city council approves contracts, payments and other usually non-controversial items in batches called Consent Agendas. This week, council is set to approve Compassionate Addiction Treatment as the operator of the New Roots Village, the tiny home project on the West Hills. ### Flocking prudes Community commentary caused the council to defer a resolution to approve $6,000 in spending on neighborhood signs encouraging drivers to slow down — which would have read “Slow the Flock Down.” Council Member Zack Zappone is proposing to use different signs that would instead read “Slow Down, No Need to Speed” with pictures of birds. Sad day for people with a sense of humor. ### No more rental price fixing The council will hear a first reading of an ordinance to ban landlords and property management companies from using algorithmic price-fixing software to price gouge tenants and manipulate the market. A 2024 report from the federal government found that these software companies can cost [renters an average of $70 per month](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/12/17/the-cost-of-anticompetitive-pricing-algorithms-in-rental-housing/?ref=rangemedia.co). Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown recently [filed a lawsuit](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/washington-ag-says-realpage-and-landlords-conspired-harm-tenants-violate?ref=rangemedia.co) against one of the software companies, called RealPage, alleging the company and the landlords who used it violated the Consumer Protection Act. If passed, this could be the latest move in the council’s quest to [protect renters in the city](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/). ### Extending scattered site shelter contracts The city may waive the bidding process for contractors operating the scattered homeless shelters across Spokane, saying the organizations currently operating the shelters are “ideal candidates to maintain their services.” An emergency resolution would allow Mayor Lisa Brown to extend contracts with Truth Ministries, Family Promise, Compassionate Addiction Treatment and Jewels Helping Hands to run the shelters until the end of 2025, three months longer than the current contract allows. The city had a contract with Waters Meet Foundation (formerly known as Empire Health Foundation) to run the program, but it was supposed to end in late September and the city was supposed to take over. The city ran out of time to absorb the contracts and the program responsibilities, triggering the emergency. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - The city wants to buy two new Chevrolet Blazers for the Fire department’s CARES Team, which connects people in need of community aid with available resources. The vehicles would be purchased from Bud Clary Chevrolet in Longview for $94,158.41 - The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) awarded the Spokane Police Department a $620,000 grant to fund its mental health field response, formerly known as the Behavioral Health Unit — the council will vote on accepting the funds. - Some landlords use algorithms to set their rental prices, which can drive the rent up in a local renter economy, disproportionately affecting underrepresented communities. The council will consider a resolution that would ban this kind of rent fixing. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 10 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, November 13 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee **🌶️/5 peppers** This week, the committee is laser-focused on anti-eviction provisions and wraparound services for unhoused people in Spokane — each item we’re highlighting deals with some aspect of those programs. ### Eviction diversion program City Council Member Paul Dillon is leading an effort to create new requirements to keep landlords accountable for eviction prevention, directing them to give tenants “written notice of contact information for all city-funded eviction prevention programs” when a lease or rental agreement is signed and when the landlord issues a notice to pay or vacate. It would also require landlords to participate in an eviction diversion program in good faith for 30 days before being able to evict a tenant. The ordinance would exempt landlords from these rules when a tenant has broken state rental laws, presents a threat to their neighbors or is committing crimes on the rental property. ### Funding for inclement weather shelters and scatter site operators The committee will review recommendations from the Community, Housing & Human Services Board (CHHS) identifying potential operators of the homeless shelters scattered throughout the city established by Mayor Lisa Brown and shelters that open to protect unhoused people from dangerous weather in the next year. **Inclement weather operators:** CHHS allocated $1 million in local sales tax revenue for Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army to keep up to 60 beds for single people and some family beds open during periods of dangerous weather. The funds would be broken down like this: - $650,000 to Catholic Charities for all its beds - $400,000 to Salvation Army for all available beds, House of Charity Shelter for up to 35 beds for single men and St. Margaret’s for up to 10 beds for families with children These beds will open when the National Weather Service predicts the wind chill to drop to freezing. **Scatter site operators:** Also up for committee review is a total of $5,461,143 to be distributed to scatter-site operators along the like this: - $3,951,239 for four sites operated by Jewels Helping Hands (4 sites), 30 beds at Cedar Center for single adults, 30 beds at Morningstar Baptist Shelter for single adults, 30 beds at Knox Women's Shelter and 30 beds at Healing Hearts Medical Respite for single adults - $573,445 to Compassionate Addiction Treatment for 24 beds at the Recovery Options Center - $936,459 to Family Promise of Spokane for 15 beds at the Family Promise Center and two additional locations for families with children ### Funding for eviction prevention The Washington Department of Commerce received $3,462,099, distributed through Spokane County to prevent renters from being evicted. CHHS wants to spend $2,942,783 of that money on eviction services by the following organizations: - $202,980 for Career Path Services - $900,000 for the Carl Maxey Center - $241,116 for Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington - $482,078 for KCBA Housing Justice Project - $151,648 for Nuestras Raices - $713,700 for Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners - $250,261 for Transitions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 10 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️/**5 peppers** ### At heart of growth options: density There are three levels at which city planning officials are looking at developing the city as its population grows: 1. Status quo: keep growing under the city’s current model, which focuses growth downtown, in existing development hubs and along development corridors, like the long, fast-moving and north-south stretch of Division Street, which is very dangerous for walking and alternative forms of travel. This option has “insufficient” housing for people who earn between 0% and 80% of the average Spokane wage. 2. Distributed and balanced: focuses development away from long corridors to downtown and allows more flexible commercial activity in neighborhoods. This provides housing for all income levels. 3. Center city and regional hubs: focuses development downtown and around “regional hubs” and areas where transit is already heavily invested in (meaning new housing would be located along heavier bus routes). This also provides housing suitable to all income levels. The Plan Commission will hear a presentation based on an October memo by a development consultant. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, November 12 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) #### **Spokane County** ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session (special meeting) **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Waiving bids for PFAS filters The Spokane County PFAS Task Force is trying to fast-track the process of getting filters installed in the homes of West Plains residents whose wells are contaminated with “forever chemicals” the common term used to describe per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). As part of this, the BOCC will vote on a resolution that would waive the normal contract bidding process to name a contractor to perform that work. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 10 at 1:30 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, November 13 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, November 13 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, November 13 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). #### **School Boards** ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🌶️/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, November 12 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty LakeWatch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### A turn to the left? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-election-results-2025/ Last updated: 2025-11-07T22:00:00.000Z **Want to make sure that your ballot counted in local elections?** Click [here](https://voter.votewa.gov/portal2023/login.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) to check! If there are issues with your ballot and you want to make sure your vote counts, visit the Spokane County Elections office before November 24. **Editor's Note:** About than an hour after we published this story, Spokane County had an early ballot drop, changing the results in some cases. We have noted the races where the new data changed the leader, but not rewritten the story to encompass any of the new numbers. The next ballot drop is schedule for Nov. 10, 2025. Across the state and the country, the takeaway as results roll in from Election Day on Tuesday is that Democrats and their policies are winning big. From [Zohran Mamdani’s victory](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/04/nx-s1-5597788/election-results-zohran-mamdani-new-york-city-mayor?ref=rangemedia.co) against establishment candidate [Andrew Cuomo](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/26/cuomo-sexual-harassment-doj-00138140?ref=rangemedia.co) and Republican [red-beret-wearing Curtis Sliwa](https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/inside-curtis-sliwas-never-ending-campaign?ref=rangemedia.co) in the New York mayoral race to victories for Democrats in the approval of California’s [Proposition 50](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/05/californias-new-map-puts-gop-on-the-run-00638928?ref=rangemedia.co) to fight [gerrymandering in Texas](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/tribcast-redistricting-map/?ref=rangemedia.co) with gerrymandering of their own and landslide victories in two gubernatorial races, it was coined “the night Democrats finally stopped losing,” [by Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/11/05/democrats-election-night-of-winning-00637076?link%5Fid=23&can%5Fid=7642ccfdd30cbbcdcc8c933b4aaa6c2e&source=email-message-from-the-chair-103&email%5Freferrer=email%5F2970928&email%5Fsubject=message-from-the-chair&&). Here in Washington, the blue wave continued. Seattleites voted for a sharp turn from ostensibly business-focused-technically-Democrats to [truer, bluer progressives](https://www.knkx.org/politics/2025-11-07/progressives-prevail-in-races-for-seattle-city-council-and-city-attorney?ref=rangemedia.co) in their city council races and *could* still see [progressive mayoral candidate Katie Wilson](https://www.kuow.org/stories/in-seattle-mayor-s-race-history-gives-katie-wilson-supporters-reason-to-hope?ref=rangemedia.co) (heralded as [the more awkward West Coast Mamdani](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DObcMeZiRp4/?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co)) overtake more moderate incumbent Bruce Harrell, if late votes continue to go her way. Across the state, Democrat incumbents are [winning most legislative races](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/11/04/democratic-incumbents-ahead-in-most-wa-legislative-races/?link%5Fid=18&can%5Fid=7642ccfdd30cbbcdcc8c933b4aaa6c2e&source=email-message-from-the-chair-103&email%5Freferrer=email%5F2970928&email%5Fsubject=message-from-the-chair). While the blue bump didn’t seem to shift the balance of power in most of the races in the more rural areas of the county, Spokane city saw the same trend: liberals, progressives and their policies carried the polls. ## Spokane City Council races ### Spokane City Council District 1 **Outcome: WAY too close to call** **Update:** Shortly after the publication of this story, more ballots dropped. Dixit now leads Bingle 5,732 votes to 5,679\. The next ballot tabulation is 11/102025. While the victor of the race is still close to call, Spokane’s District 1 saw the biggest shift to the left of all city races, where progressive challenger Sarah Dixit currently sits less than 1% behind conservative incumbent Jonathan Bingle. When Bingle originally won his seat in 2021, it was by a hefty margin of 13 points. His seatmate, fellow conservative Council Member Michael Cathcart won his reelection bid in 2023 by a similar margin — about 12%. In the first ballot drop Tuesday night, Dixit was down 202 votes, a full 2.5%. But in both subsequent drops, Dixit has won the majority of ballots. On Wednesday, she closed the gap to 184 votes and on Thursday, she won about 60% of the votes counted in that batch, bringing her just 68 votes behind Bingle. Dixit is the only progressive city council candidate to have gained points in the subsequent ballot drops after election night. Though it voted for presidential candidate Kamala Harris in 2024 by 5 points, District 1 is thought of as the last red stronghold in the city, sending the only two conservative reps to the council. It’s also the most economically disadvantaged and transit-reliant district in the city, which could explain some of Dixit’s surprising success: her campaign echoed nationwide messaging putting affordability at the forefront. A huge contrast point between her and Bingle was her support of public transit and transit-oriented development, while Bingle suggested at a forum that the region should [contract with Uber instead](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/24/conservative-spokane-council-candidates-attack-lib/?ref=rangemedia.co) and has opposed bus rapid transit. Other interesting notes in this race, regardless of how it swings: Dixit raised less money than both her opponent, and the two other Democratic party-endorsed candidates in city races. In fact, despite claims that it was outside influence in the form of Seattle donor dollars boosting her campaign, Dixit raised less money than every other candidate running for city council this year. This race also had the lowest independent expenditure (IE) spending of all the races, with less than $10,000 of independent money going in. It was a sharp drop off for Bingle, who received nearly $150,000 of IE money in his favor when he ran in 2021. Whether the progressive gain in the district can be attributed to the nationwide blue bump, a grassroots ground game or something else entirely, this race is one we’re keeping a very close eye on. Unless more ballots arrive, there are roughly 3,000 votes left from District 1 left to count, which means **if Dixit wins more than 51% of what’s left, she could flip the council seat**. Even if she loses, the margin will be slim — perhaps so slim that a recount would be mandated, if Dixit and Bingle are separated by less than 1%. ## Spokane City Council District 2 **Outcome: Telis win** It looks like District 2 will never get to find out if candidate Alejandro Barrientos [actually met](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-2-residents-sue-to-disqualify-candidate-alejandro-barrientos-from-office/) the residency requirements, because in the race without an incumbent, Democratic party-endorsed Kate Telis has notched a decisive victory. On election night, 60.66% of the vote in D2 went in Telis’ favor, with Barrientos sitting at 38.82%. In subsequent ballot drops, Telis’ lead has shrunk, but only marginally, and she’s now winning 59.82% of the vote. While both Telis and Barrientos identified as aligned with the Democrat Party, Barrientos saw a wave of financial support from conservatives. The county Republican party posted in support of him on social media, and political action committees that have traditionally supported conservatives in local races dumped more than $168,000 into IEs in his favor. So if you consider Telis the more liberal of the two, her current margin of victory also marks a leftward swing: progressive Council Member Paul Dillon won his 2023 election in that district with 53% of the vote against conservative/independent (depending on who you ask) candidate Katey Treloar. ## Spokane City Council District 3 **Outcome: Zappone win** Incumbent Zack Zappone will be representing District 3 for another four years (or less, if he does end up running for a higher office). Election night numbers showed Zappone up 54.52% to challenger Christopher Savage’s 45.05%, and while Savage has gained a little bit of ground in subsequent ballot drops, Zappone still sits at 53.78%, a decisive 8-point lead. Of the three Democrat Party-endorsed candidates, Zappone received the most IE support in his favor, with $22,335.08 from Eastern WA Freedom for All PAC, Fuse Votes and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Greater WA supporting him. His showing isn’t quite as strong as his seatmate Council Member Kitty Klitzke’s was in 2023, when she won 59.40% of the votes against conservative Earl Moore in her race for an open seat, but it is stronger than his first run in 2021, when he beat conservative Mike Lish by just 262 votes. ## Together Spokane ### Parks Levy - Prop 1 **Outcome: Passing** The Parks Levy part of the “Together Spokane” package is passing, with voters approving it at 55.15% to 44.81% as of Thursday night’s ballot drop. The levy needs 50% of votes to pass. Earlier in the week, results were hovering at just above 54%, so approval is trending up as we get more ballots counted. The levy will raise $240 million over the next 20 years to fund new park projects and improvements throughout the city. ### School Bond - Prop 1 **Outcome: Likely to pass** The school bond part of the combo package is a little less certain, but does appear poised to pass. The bond needs 60% of votes to pass, and as of Thursday’s ballot drop, is at 61.12% to 38.83%. This is up from the 60.7% range it’s been holding the entire week, so it’s likely to hold. The bond will raise $200 million over the next 20 years to build new schools, renovate old ones and accomplish a lot of projects with the city’s parks department. ## Spokane Valley City Council The four races for the Spokane Valley city council favored conservatives and incumbents with the sole exception of seats without an incumbent. Well start with that one: ### Council Position No. 1 **Outcome: Mike Kelly win** This seat was vacated by Rod Higgins, the retiring conservative council member and former Spokane Valley mayor perhaps most known for his [unflinching defense](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/dec/24/spokane-valley-mayor-comes-to-sheas-defense-after-/?ref=rangemedia.co) of former state Representative Matt Shea when Shea was found by an independent investigation to have engaged in domestic terror. Kelly, also a conservative who sits on Spokane Valley’s planning commission, campaigned on a platform of limited government. Last month, he seemed to break with those conservative values during [a forum](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-council-candidates-climate-change-policy/) for candidates to weigh in on local climate change policies: he advocated for “European-style” zoning policies that allow businesses and multi-family housing to coexist in city buildings. This would alleviate sprawl in the notorious spread out Spokane Valley, which is characterized by wide and fast streets that are dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists. His winning margin, as of November 6, sat at 58.05% against his opponent Kristopher Pockell’s 41.45%. Write-ins accounted for the remaining .33%. Now, for the incumbents: ### Council Position No. 4 **Outcome: Ben Wick win** Wick has served on the council since 2012, with the exception of one year. He also served a stint as mayor from 2020 to 2021\. He works in IT and several other fields at Spokane Industries, and campaigned on an anti-tax platform — with one caveat. He was a vocal defender of the city council’s historic push to increase the size of the Spokane Valley Police Department, which added 12 positions last year and continues to hire new officers and pour resources into the department. That effort is partly funded through a ballot measure approved by voters in August that created a new public safety sales tax of .1%. He was [one of two votes](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-valley-immigration-policy/) on the seven-member council against a controversial resolution this year that declared “Spokane Valley is not a sanctuary city,” meaning that, if it didn’t break state law, the council would want the SVPD to help federal agents enforce immigration law. As of Thursday’s ballot drop, Wick had earned 67.42% of the vote, against his opponent Daryl Williams’ 31.71%. Voters wrote in .69%. ### Council Position No. 5 **Outcome: Pam Haley win** Haley currently serves as mayor — a seat position that in Spokane Valley sits on the council and is chosen every two years by the body — was elected to the Position 5 seat. During her time in that office, Haley ran unsuccessfully in the primary for the District 4 state Senate seat in 2024\. She has served on the council since 2016 and, like Wick, campaigned on a platform promoting an increase in the size of the police department and lower taxes. Haley [voted](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-valley-immigration-policy/) in favor of the council sanctuary city resolution, saying the move brought the city in line with state law. Last year, Haley [nominated](https://www.rangemedia.co/not-corruption-little-worse-planning-commission-spokane-valley-haley/) a slate of candidates to the city’s planning commission without vetting them. As of November 6, she had received 54.31% of the vote to challenger Catherine Nelson’s 43.92%. Write-ins represented 1.52%. ### Council Position No. 7 **Outcome: Laura Padden win** Padden, a lifelong Valleyite and wife of former state Senator Mike Padden of District 4, won reelection on a platform that — surprise, surprise — elevated expanding the city’s police department above every other issue. She also roped into her public safety messaging heavy promotion of a crackdown by the city council on illicit massage parlors in the Valley, which she touts on her campaign website as “the strongest in the state.” She and Mike Padden endorsed Kelly for the seat he won on Tuesday, but her campaign seemed to break with his stance on housing, saying she helped lobby the state for looser restrictions on city growth boundaries — which would have the opposite effect of density that the mixed-use zoning Kelly had advocated on sprawl. As of November 6, she had earned 61.56% of the vote to her opponent Brad Hohn’s 36.54%, with the remaining 1.7% going to write-ins. ## Municipal Judge: Logan v. Smithson **Outcome: Mary Logan win** Judge Mary Logan bested her first ever challenger, former city attorney Lynden Smithson, since she was appointed to the post in 2009 — the first year municipal judges were organized under the city of Spokane. At the heart of the race was harsher penalties for crimes associated with homelessness, which often stem from underlying conditions the perpetrators face in their daily lives. Logan emphasized her role in creating the city’s system of therapeutic courts, which are designed to provide resources to people convicted of low-level crimes to alleviate conditions that encourage criminal behavior. Logan won with 59.74% of the vote to Smithson’s 40.02%, with the remaining .41% of the vote going to write-ins. ## Municipal Judge: Ochoa Bruck v. Freedman **Outcome: Gloria Ochoa-Bruck win** Judge Gloria Ochoa-Bruck, who’s been in the municipal court’s Position 3 seat since she beat incumbent Matthew Antuch, won against challenger Sarah Freedman on a platform of experience and bringing a “balanced approach” to the city’s justice system — which is often the first contact a person has with the criminal justice system and can lead to decades of incarceration. She said that while she supports therapeutic approaches to criminal justice, she also said victims of crimes need to be considered. Freedman had campaigned on the same issue a different way, saying their wishes should be considered in decision on whether to prosecute domestic violence cases, rather than only the wishes of prosecutors, who have sole discretion in whether to bring a case to court. As of the November 6 ballot drop, Ochoa-Bruck was carrying 74.17% of the vote to Freedman’s 24.84%. Write-ins accounted for .79%. ## Resolution 8201 **Outcome: Likely to pass** [The resolution](https://www.rangemedia.co/resolution-8201-should-the-wa-cares-fund-play-the-stock-market/) to change the state’s constitution to allow Washington’s long-term care program to invest in the stock market looks likely to pass, according to the latest statewide update at 11:08 am Friday. Tuesday’s [results](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/11/04/measure-to-allow-investment-of-wa-cares-tax-dollars-in-stock-market-on-track-for-approval/?ref=rangemedia.co) were showing it passing 56.8% to 43.2% and now it’s at 56.7% to 43.3%. Spokane County voters also appear to be supportive of the measure, with approval votes hovering around [52%](https://cp.spokanecounty.org/elections/results.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) the entire week. ## Other interesting races There are a few other interesting races across the region that we haven’t been able to follow as in-depth. In Cheney, two races are extremely close. The two candidates [running for mayor](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/19/cheney-mayor-grover-points-to-experience-but-chall/?ref=rangemedia.co) are separated by just 78 votes, with challenger Elsa Martin currently leading incumbent Chris Grover. Martin appears to be slightly more conservative than Grover, receiving an 82/100 alignment on the “We Believe We Vote” voter’s guide. However, Grover also scored relatively high, with a 74/100, so this race looks like it’s less about political alignment and more about change versus incumbency. **Update:** Shortly after the publication of this story, more ballots dropped. Long now leads Steiner by 5 votes. The next ballot tabulation is 11/102025. The other close race in Cheney sees progressive challenger Rebecca Long less than 30 votes behind the more conservative Timothy Steiner. This is software engineer Long’s second try at a council seat after losing to an incumbent two years ago and retired firefighter Steiner’s first run. This is definitely a race to watch, as it could be tight enough to go to a recount. Two races for positions on the Central Valley School Board — which has been a hotbed for anti-trans policy as of late — are also interesting. Allen Skidmore, the more moderate candidate in a race for an incumbent-less seat, [took a win](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/04/on-central-valley-school-board-moderate-wins-one-r/?ref=rangemedia.co) over the more conservative Brandon Arthur. The other race hasn’t been called yet, and though it looks likely to go in the favor of conservative incumbent Pam Orebaugh, moderate challenger Mark Bitz is [only down by about 3 points](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/nov/04/on-central-valley-school-board-moderate-wins-one-r/?ref=rangemedia.co). **Editor's Note:** This story has been edited to reflect details of a new ballot drop that happened shortly after publication and to correct a typo in the District 1 section. Bingle was originally elected in 2021. ### The POD: Elections Week Special URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-elections-week-special/ Last updated: 2025-11-07T16:53:12.000Z Another week, another episode! This week, the team debriefed on the elections. They discussed the District 1 Spokane city council race, [Spokane Prop 1](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-prop-1-what-theyll-do-and-cost/) (“Together Spokane”), and other local coverage. They also zoomed out and talked about national elections, including the results of the New York City mayoral race ([which candidate Zohran Mamdani won](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceq01l8reqlo?ref=rangemedia.co)). (*Our podcast episodes are aired live with KYRS on Thursdays from 3-4pm. Because of this, please note that when the team talks about elections, the results and data were current as of Thursday, Nov. 6th.*) To view the most current election results, you can follow this link to [Spokane County’s election results page](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/2995/Current-Election-Results?ref=rangemedia.co). Plus, in the wake of the federal government shutdown and the Trump administration refusing to fully disburse SNAP benefits, RANGE has partnered with [Waters Meet](https://www.empirehealthfoundation.org/blog-and-in-the-news/blog/welcome-to-waters-meet?ref=rangemedia.co) and [SCAR](https://www.scarspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) to create a food resource map. Covering seven counties, three Sovereign Tribal Nations and beyond, this map shows where you can get or give help. Find the map [here](https://www.spokane.food/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### ‘We don't have the extra money to put food on the table’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/food-banks-spokane-snap/ Last updated: 2025-11-05T21:34:38.000Z Krisi Post plucked a single raspberry from a plastic clamshell outside the Salvation Army. Though she was very hungry, she told herself to eat just the one — she has a sugar allergy and can’t handle a lot of fruit at one time. She had other food she was wary of: she hoped the broccoli in the food bank box she was there to collect wouldn’t trigger her condition, but she wasn’t sure. She would have preferred to have bought oats at the WinCo grocery store she’d visited a few hours earlier in the day. In fact, she’d tried. But when she’d gone to pay, she’d discovered the card the federal government normally replenishes twice a month through a poverty food provision program known as the Supplementary Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), was empty. Now, her only option was to wait in line for whatever food would be disbursed from under a tent in the parking lot of the Salvation Army on Indiana Avenue — even if it would be food that had the potential to give her hives and trouble breathing. Post was one of about a dozen people lined up at the Salvation Army’s food bank on Tuesday. SNAP benefits have been swept into a stalemate between congressional Republicans and Democrats who won’t pass the normal legislation that keeps the government, including food assistance programs, funded. About 43 million Americans are affected. Post gestured to a bag of food she’d been given. “I love broccoli, but it does have a bit of sugar,” she said. “The spaghetti squash is still high in sugar, starchy, and so I probably, actually, won't be able to eat that. But the onions I can. I know what I'm gonna do with the onions and broccoli.” Food security is at least temporarily collateral damage in the impasse as SNAP, also known as food stamps, is cut. The Trump administration could extend payments from an emergency food aid program, as it [was ordered](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/g-s1-96296/trump-deadline-contingency-funds-snap?ref=rangemedia.co) by two federal judges; instead, the administration [announced](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/snap-trump-food-shutdown.html?ref=rangemedia.co) November 4 it would not disburse the funds, contradicting a previous court filing it made. Now, state officials in Washington are announcing that the federal government is paying out some SNAP benefits, but[ only at about 50% what people normally receive](https://www.khq.com/news/governor-ferguson-addresses-snap-benefits-distribution-in-washington-state/article%5F2d330d57-6219-4c2f-abaa-422444046917.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Locally, food aid organizations are seeing “COVID-level” stresses on their services, [RANGE reported](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-food-banks-snap-shutdown/) this week. People like Post are caught in the lurch. She found it infuriating and inexplicable that some of the funds weren’t being used for the most vulnerable of SNAP recipients. “ I was shocked that they didn't put them through for the most sensitive parts of the population,” she said, “like people that are living so far beneath the the poverty line that they're in the streets.” US Republican Representative Michael Baumgartner, who represents Eastern Washington, addressed the crisis in his weekly newsletter in which he blamed Senate Democrats for the stalemate and promoted his staff’s recent volunteering effort at 2nd Harvest Food Bank. He did not return a call for comment on this story. In his newsletter, he noted 2nd Harvest had seen an uptick of 50% in demand for food aid since SNAP benefits were cut. He linked to a [tweet](https://x.com/RepBaumgartner/status/1984323172586701047?ref=rangemedia.co) in the newsletter, which said: “We need the government open. While that fight continues in DC, I know that the good people of Eastern Washington will step forward to help out here at home. Please do what you can.” At the Salvation Army, Chris Connor had to ask for a ride from a friend to the food bank because he doesn’t have a car. He said the SNAP benefits he lost had been a lifeline. “I'm on Social Security so I do get some money,” Connor said, “but bills and stuff take a lot of it, and food stamps have been the only way that I've been able to actually eat healthy.” As a result, the Salvation Army and other organizations that maintain community food pantries have seen double the normal traffic of people needing food. Sandy Riddle, a life-long Spokanite who is disabled and lives with her two sons, relies on government assistance to make ends meet. One of her sons, who is working age, is injured and can’t work. Riddle is especially worried because during past shutdowns, state governments have tried to fill the gap, but that hasn’t happened yet this time. On November 5, this shutdown [became](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/05/nx-s1-5598315/government-shutdown-longest-history?ref=rangemedia.co) the longest in American history, at 36 days. “We don't have the extra money to be able to put food on the table,” Riddle said. One woman in line who refused to give her name because she thought she would be attacked for being conservative, said she hopes Republicans in the US Congress would continue the shutdown until Democrats “cave” and agree to rescind health care subsidies, the conflict at the center of the shutdown. She stopped just short of cheering the Republicans’ refusal to give in to Democrats’ demands on the health insurance benefits, saying she was willing to wait out the crisis before her SNAP benefits were restored if it meant slashing the federal budget. “I was kind of hoping it would happen because like I'm tired of our side always caving to Democrats and giving them everything that they want,” she said. “It's time that we start being smarter with our money and not giving trillions of dollars to this program and that program and focus on our country.” As she stood in the parking lot, Post, who told RANGE she was “between homes,” shivered despite her jacket and hood. As the food bank line advanced, her feet — clad only in a pair of white flip flops — were turning bright red from being out in the cold. ### Spokane food banks are seeing ‘COVID levels’ of stress on services URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-food-banks-snap-shutdown/ Last updated: 2025-11-04T23:34:59.000Z In wake of the federal government cutting its funding for food assistance benefits, local Spokane-area food banks and community organizations have already begun to report “COVID levels” of stress on their services. With the government shutdown creeping into November, community members have been bracing for the deficit left by what [little remaining funds](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/nx-s1-5596121/snap-food-benefits-trump-government-shutdown?ref=rangemedia.co) are to be disbursed under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — if the federal government[ even disperses it at all](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/snap-trump-food-shutdown.html?ref=rangemedia.co). After that money runs out, all funding for SNAP will cease – leaving about 40 million Americans, and nearly 1 million Washingtonians – in food insecurity. In Spokane alone, **one in five residents are at risk of losing SNAP benefits**, with Mayor Lisa Brown declaring a state of emergency earlier this week due to the rippling effects the shutdown has had on services for low-income residents. Brown has called to fund 50 additional shelter beds, expedite eviction prevention contracts and "fund mobile medication-assisted treatment so police, the navigation center, and street outreach teams can connect individuals immediately to services, assessment and treatment." “As we begin enforcement of the ‘Safe and Accessible Spaces’ [ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/), we need to increase the capacity of places where people can go. The looming threat of SNAP benefits ending also means that many in our community are going to have to choose between food or rent,” she said. “This emergency declaration ensures we have flexibility to respond quickly, keep people safe and sheltered, and maintain our focus on connecting people to services and housing.” Mayor Brown is also establishing a new community program so members of the public and local businesses can donate directly to housing and other resources for those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Similar to the “Give Real Change” program implemented under former Mayor DavidCondon’s administration, donations can be made through utility bills, online payments or by calling 3-1-1. The Spokane City Council will vote on whether to ratify her emergency declaration — allowing her to spend up to $500,000 in money from the city’s general fund and $1.0 million from the city’s HEART fund, with at least $30,000 committed to food relief — on Monday, November 10. The emergency dollars, if approved by council, will also be spent on opening 50 additional shelter beds, fasttracking eviction prevention contracts and funding mobile, medication-assisted treatment. On Monday, November 3, the Spokane City Council unanimously passed a resolution introduced by council members Shelby Lambdin and Paul Dillon which urged the federal government to restore and expand SNAP assistance, asked Brown to explore emergency measures to protect those impacted by the shutdown and thanked Governor Bob Ferguson for pledging $2.2 million weekly to food banks across the state until SNAP is reinstated. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) confirmed that the funds committed by Ferguson will be coming from the Washington State Department of Health and Human Services in an interagency agreement in which DSHS will transfer unused funds from its food assistance program. According to Katie Rains, WSDA’s Director of Food Systems Initiatives, the allocations are not yet finalized, but the agency will distribute its funds to the 25 lead agencies that administer the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) and 16 lead agencies that administer EFAP-Tribal in accordance with already existing distribution formulas. The lead agencies provide state-supported meals to 470 distribution sites and pantries, and 38 tribe-supported sites. ### Uncharted waters But the magnitude of impact generated by the loss of SNAP still leaves local groups wading in uncharted waters, such as [Second Harvest](https://2-harvest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a food bank and distributor that essentially serves “as a food bank for food banks” across the eastern portion of the state. Eric Williams, community partnerships director at Second Harvest, told RANGE the situation feels like “COVID levels of stress and demand without the food.” Calling in from their mobile market at Fairchild Airforce Base, Williams said that, “during COVID, there was a surge of food available … right now I'm taking a wild guess here at Fairchild, we'll have double \[the number of people in need\] what we would normally do for mobile markets.” Williams said the line last Thursday morning started 45 minutes early at Fairchild. And their mobile market in Wenatchee – which they advertised for up to 250 families – instead drew 495 families, leaving workers no choice but to turn away 70 cars. “In fact, each of those last week, I'm guessing, we're averaging more than 50 cars at each mobile that we have to turn away,” he added. Sarah Henderson, director of development at [Partners Inland Northwest](https://www.partnersinw.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), has also seen a drastic surge in just one week – given that her organization also serves Spokane families in a larger capacity. On average, Partners INW sees 250 families a day. That number has now jumped to 340\. The organization’s prior experiences with COVID allowed them to navigate crisis situations quickly, but Henderson worries that funds and supplies could soon run dry. “It's a little bit harder than people think it is to just buy food,” she said. “It's a little bit more nuanced than that, but the quickest way for us to do it is use our savings account to buy local food that we can get into the pantry right away.” Henderson said Partners INW will source assistance from Gov. Ferguson’s emergency fund, but because that government money will be provided in reimbursable dollars, “food pantries have to have $100 grand in reserves in order to spend that $100 grand.” “So it's harder for pantries to just use that money, because they don't all have that deep of a pocket,” she added. Partners INW’s current plan is to buy food and ship it out to pantries in rural areas, so they don’t have to come up with the cash required to solicit the state’s services. They’re also looking to rev the engines of their refrigerated trucks in case mobile deliveries become a necessity. “One of the shocking stats is that a food pantry can replace one meal, but the SNAP benefits can replace 12\. So, even with as hard as we're working, these families still need their SNAP benefits,” Henderson said. “It's not enough for them to live off of their local food pantries forever.” At Meals on Wheels’ Spokane chapter, a nationwide program that delivers meals to the elderly and those who are homebound, development director Gail Golden reports increased need for their emergency food pantry. While supplies haven’t dropped just yet – “we're seeing that we're getting down to just cans of green beans and corn.” Golden said they’re calling on community members to expand their donations to canned proteins and soups, which can offer more sustenance and provide elderly people the nutrition they need. Golden has also been in conversation with others in Spokane as to how SNAP losses will impact local grocery stores. She recalled that while speaking to the owners of Grocery Outlet on Third Avenue, they indicated they get quite a bit of their monthly revenue from SNAP benefits. “So the trickle down effect of this could be widespread, and it's very unnerving,” she said. Smaller and rural food pantries have been reporting mixed accounts, given the fact that some serve their customers on a monthly basis, meaning they have not yet provided in-person services in the week leading up to SNAP’s cessation. Springdale Food Pantry opens the third week of November, and while manager Lori Newell told RANGE their operation hasn’t seen any significant uptick in demand just yet – they’ve been garnering extra donations in preparation to serve their clientele of 55 to 60 families. Springdale mainly receives their supply from Second Harvest and [Rural Resources](https://ruralresources.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), so Newell has been monitoring all distributions and updates from them. Nearby, Loon Lake Food Pantry operates on a more frequent basis, serving clients twice a week. Operations manager Liz Bauer said she’s seen 30 people sign up this week alone, adding up to a total of 101 new clients for the month. “A lot of people are panicking, they're really scared and worried about what they're going to do next month,” Bauer said. “They're just worried. We're trying our best to keep them with food, but our resources are going to run low really quickly with the increase in the clients we're getting in so we're just trying to figure out the best way to go about this.” Their food distributions drew 450 people this month, and Bauer is considering coming twice a week to pick up supplies from Second Harvest and Rural Resources rather than just once. “We're trying to go on that scale, and hopefully that will relieve some of the pressure a little, and then we have to work on having the extra hours for our volunteers and see how that's going to work out with the extra workload,” she said. In terms of how community members can help, all groups came to the consensus that both volunteering and providing material and financial support are exceptionally critical right now. “Folks in the Inland Northwest pull together and we will,” Second Harvest’s Williams said. “Everybody looks out for their neighbors. And that's very much happening. That's how we make it through with it.” ### The City of Spokane’s SNAP response URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/ Last updated: 2025-11-03T20:05:52.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Last week, Mayor Lisa Brown declared an emergency in response to the federal SNAP benefit cut and the city’s tightening restrictions on public homelessness. Tonight, the Spokane City Council will vote on whether or not to ratify that declaration, and what restrictions they might put on emergency spending. - The Finance and Administration Committee is discussing a creative local tax proposal that could put a higher tax burden on commercial surface parking lots, which occupy 30% of land downtown. - The vast majority of Spokane County’s proposed budget is slated for “public safety,” meaning programs that support the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement. - The city of Liberty Lake’s proposed budget dedicated $2 million to renovating the library as a new police department. - Election Day is TOMORROW!!! Due to postal service delays, it’s too late to mail in, so be sure to get your ballot into a drop box by 8 pm Tuesday. Get all our election coverage [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-election-2025/). **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/)(and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/)) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) - [Community, Housing, and Human Services Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) - [Spokane Human Rights Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokanes-snap-response/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Firing power to the president After a deferral, council is finally planning to vote on the ordinance that removes employment protections for city council staff, instead putting the sole hiring and firing authority for most staff in the hands of one person: the council president. (Individual council members will still have power to hire and fire their direct legislative assistants) Currently, firing a staff member requires a vote of a five-council-member super majority, [a protection established](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/16/spokane-council-considers-making-it-easier-to-fire/?ref=rangemedia.co) by former Council President Breean Beggs to ensure council staff had job security and weren’t subject to the whims of politicians. If the ordinance passes tonight, those protections would be removed, giving the council president more flexibility to make position cuts and reduce spending. But, it would also leave the entire council staff at the whim of just one person, who is up for election every four years, creating uncertainty for the eight non-legislative-assistant employees in the council office and making those jobs less attractive. The agenda sheet calls the current staff structure “overly specific and cumbersome,” indicating that staff position cuts (and possibly staff position cuts that wouldn’t have received the five votes necessary under the old language) could be coming soon. An interesting election note: while this ordinance is co-sponsored by two progressives — Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon — this sentiment has been championed by conservative city council candidate Christopher Savage, who has been consistently advocating for council to fire some of their own staff to help with the budget crisis. ### SNAP to it Despite [orders from federal judges](https://www.npr.org/2025/11/03/g-s1-96296/trump-deadline-contingency-funds-snap?ref=rangemedia.co) for the Trump administration to use designated emergency funds to pay out SNAP benefits, the future of the program under the government shutdown is uncertain, leaving [83,000 people in Spokane County alone](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/29/a-sad-reality-food-banks-grocery-stores-residents-/?ref=rangemedia.co) at risk. In response to both the SNAP crisis and Spokane City Council’s recent passage of an ordinance further criminalizing homelessness, Mayor Lisa [Brown declared an emergency](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/29/spokane-mayor-declares-emergency-following-federal/?ref=rangemedia.co) to free up funds and resources to address the crisis by: funding 50 additional shelter beds, fasttracking eviction prevention contracts and funding mobile, medication-assisted treatment. Tonight, the council will have to ratify Brown’s declaration, but it’s not looking like a simple yes/no vote. There are three separate ratification options on the table. - The first is proposed by Wilkerson and Council Member Michael Cathcart. It would set the end date of the state emergency for December 31, 2025 or when SNAP receives a 6-month federal funding commitment, whichever comes first. Any contract signed by Brown under the state of emergency would need to either expire by March 1, 2026 or come back before council for approval on March 1\. It sets a cap on Brown’s spending at $500,000 in general fund sources and $2.5 million in HEART funds, $30,000 of which must be spent on food relief programs. - Council Member Jonathan Bingle has filed an amendment that calls the declaration “a bald effort by the Mayor to commit nearly $13 million of City funds for non-food related programs without council approval, all under the guise of a purported housing emergency arising from the federal shutdown.” His amendment would limit emergency spending to just $250,000 solely on food relief. (Note: when talking about emergencies, it is worth pointing out that just last week, Bingle and the rest of the council unanimously declared an emergency to pass the ordinance criminalizing homelessness a week early with no notice to the public.) - A third amendment has been filed by Dillon that is more closely in line with the original ratification, but gives the mayor the ability to sign longer-running contracts, as long as they expire by December 31, 2026\. It would also set a slightly lower cap for her spending though, with $500,000 allowable from the general fund and only $1 million from the HEART fund. It also states that at least $30,000 would have to be spent on food relief. We won’t know until agenda review this afternoon which version of the emergency ratification will be up for a vote tonight. Separately, there is also a non-binding resolution on the table from Dillon and Council Member Shelby Lambdin “requesting the restoration of federal funding for low-income food programs,” and making more local calls for relief, including: - requesting that the Spokane Transit Authority provide free bus access to federal employees and SNAP beneficiaries until the federal shutdown ends and benefits are restored - Supporting Attorney General Nick Brown’s sign-on to a multi-state lawsuit against the federal government for the shutdown of SNAP - And commending Governor Bob Ferguson for freeing up $2.2 million in weekly funds to support food security. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Council will have a full discussion and vote on the contract to buy [two long range acoustical devices ](https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5341198/sonic-weapon-serbia-belgrade-protests?ref=rangemedia.co)(LRADs) for the Spokane Police Department, which was deferred from the consent agenda last week after community pushback. - There will be a first read of an ordinance to ban landlords and property management companies from using algorithmic price fixing software to price-gouge tenants and disrupt the free market. - They are also scheduled for first reads on the ordinances setting annual water, sewer and general use charges. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 3 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, November 6 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Pavement to the people, stick it to the man According to city estimates, around 30% of land downtown Spokane is parking lots. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image.png) That’s a lot of lots, and it’s a lot of lots that could instead be the sites of dense, mixed-use housing construction. While the city council has kicked around the idea of a Land Value Tax (which would tax based on the value of the land, not the development on it, creating tax breaks for density) that wouldn’t be allowed without support from the state legislature. So instead, the city is coming forward with an innovative tax plan, spearheaded by Director of Transportation and Sustainability Jon Snyder (who pushed to incentivize converting surface parking to other uses during his term as councilmember over a decade ago) which will set a 12% tax on parking fees charged by commercial businesses. For above and underground parking lots (think Riverfront Square) the tax will only be 6%, since those lots more effectively use space. There are exemptions for residential, student and employee lots. Money collected from this tax will be spent on funding transportation system maintenance and safety improvements across the city. More to come on this from our urbanism columnist Lauren as this moves along the pipeline! ### Investments and finances For those among the RANGE-heads who love financial accountability and getting nose deep in a budget, this might be the meeting to attend: Council will be getting presentations on the city’s investments and the quarter three financial report. This information is crucial as the council and mayor continue biennial budget planning and negotiations. ### ARPA appropriations If you thought you were done hearing about American Rescue Plan Act funds, so did we! But up for discussion at today’s committee meeting is a proposal to claw back more than $100,000 in extra and unspent ARPA dollars from closed programs to “fund under-budgeted administration \[costs\] through the 2026 program year.” Those unspent funds are coming from homeless services, affordable housing, the working family tax credit marketing campaign, childcare operations and the Expo 50 celebration. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 3 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, November 5 at 4 pm* > *City Council Briefing Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.* ## Spokane Human Rights Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Racially disparate impacts study The HRC will hear a presentation on the disproportionate impacts of discriminate zoning and other housing-related policies in Spokane and the surrounding region. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/spokane-human-rights-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, November 6 at 5:30 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > T*uesday, November 4 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Aquifer protection area fees set at \~$3 million Last year, Spokane County residents voted to renew the aquifer protection area that generates funds to educate the public about the health of the drinking water source — which serves about half a million people — and protect it from contamination. The BOCC says it will collect about $3 million for those activities each year. ### Board appointment The BOCC is set to reappoint Medical Lake City Council Member and Eastern Washington University geology professor Chad Pritchard to the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee. ### Assessor received $5,000 grant to study property value impact of ‘forever chemicals’ The Spokane County Assessor’s office, which determines property values of homes in the county, has received a grant to study the impact of PFAS contamination in private wells on the West Plains. The BOCC is set to vote to accept the money Tuesday. Fairchild Air Force Base and the Spokane International Airport unknowingly contaminated the West Plains aquifers with the mad-made chemicals by conducting firefighting drills with a compound that used them. As a result, many rural drinking water wells between Spokane and Airway Heights have dangerous levels of PFAS, and owners of them worry they won’t be able to sell their properties. ### Airport budget does not mention PFAS cleanup The BOCC is scheduled to vote on the budget for Spokane Airports, the independent body that includes Felt’s Field, Spokane International Airport (SIA) and many infrastructure developments on the West Plains, where SIA is located. In 2023, SIA became liable to clean up years worth of “forever chemicals” it polluted West Plain aquifers with. It’s an expensive stat-mandated process to locate and isolate the man-made compounds, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly shortened to PFAS). The budget presentation does not mention the cleanup. ### Budget numbers prioritize sheriff The BOCC will hear a presentation on the county’s $266.3 million budget, the vast majority of which is dedicated to the category of public safety, meaning the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 4 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Liberty Lake City Council > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, November 4 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Mead School District Board of Directors **🌶️/5 peppers** ### More policy changes Today’s meeting for the Mead school board is a work session, so there’s not much information in the agenda. They’ll be continuing a discussion on changes to Policy/Procedure 2020, which covers course design and adoption of instructional materials. They’ll also discuss Policy/Procedure 5254 on Staff Expression and Policy/Procedure 3240 on Student Conduct Expectations. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, November 3 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Special Meeting: Legislative sesh coming The SPS board will be meeting early to discuss the upcoming legislative session and possible budget cuts that may be coming down the pipe. In the big picture overview, the district’s government relations lobbyist highlights that it will be an election year and that there will likely be cuts of $2 to 3 billion. Regardless, among other things, SPS will be pushing for fully funding Materials, Supplies and Operating Costs with “actual operational costs” and adjustments for inflation. See their legislative agenda [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/go-boarddocs-com/wa/spokane/Board-nsf/files/DMVLPN578AED/file/sps-2026-legislative-agenda.pdf). ### Cell phone and bond updates At the regular meeting, the board will get an update on the district’s implementation of its new cell phone policy and efforts to promote healthy sleep habits. They’ll also get an update on the bond initiative, which voters will decide on on Tuesday. The intent of this agenda item is to provide an update on School Board Priority Strategy #5 (Technology > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, November 5 at 4:30 pm (special meeting) 6 pm (regular meeting)* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ### The POD: Catching (Luke) Up on More News URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-catching-up-on-more-news/ Last updated: 2025-10-31T15:05:00.000Z The RANGE team all went on the show again! There's always news to catch up on, which is why Val, Erin, and Aaron did just that: they caught Luke up on (even more) local news. Read the articles below: > [WA state Republicans are trying to turn school districts red](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-state-republicans-are-trying-to-turn-school-districts-red/) (*Sophia Mattice-Aldous, RANGE Media*) > > [A peek in the pocketbooks of Spokane City Council candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/campaign-finance-spokane-city-council-2025/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [Last minute pocketbook-peeking of city council candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-campaign-finance-update/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [Resolution 8201: Should the WA Cares Fund play the stock market?](https://www.rangemedia.co/resolution-8201-should-the-wa-cares-fund-play-the-stock-market/) (*Sophia Mattice-Aldous, RANGE Media*) ### Last minute pocketbook-peeking of city council candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-campaign-finance-update/ Last updated: 2025-10-31T00:06:00.000Z Hopefully by now, you’ve received your ballot and have either put it in the mail already, or are planning to deposit it in a dropbox by 8 pm on Election Day — next Tuesday, November 4. Since we put out our first [campaign finance story](https://www.rangemedia.co/campaign-finance-spokane-city-council-2025/) two weeks ago, the six candidates running for Spokane City Council races have been busy campaigning, debating, fundraising and spending money. Here’s an update on the state of their war chests, independent expenditure funding flows — mostly to efforts in favor of one candidate — and what kinds of marketing materials campaigns have been spending cash on going into the last leg of the race. ### Raw campaign contributions When we looked at campaign contributions data a few weeks ago, District 2 candidate Kate Telis was in the lead, followed by District 3 candidate Christopher Savage. In the newest batch of PDC reporting, Council Member Jonathan Bingle, who is running to retain his seat in District 1, has shot to the top of the leaderboard with $118,141.51 in funding. Everyone else has stayed roughly the same in rankings, though all candidates have gained an additional $7,000 to $30,000. *Swipe to see changes →* When compared to city council race spending from 2023, not much has changed as far as individual rankings go: 2023 District 2 candidate Katey Treloar is still an outlier. One other note of interest: the entire crop of 2025 candidates has out-fundraised three of the six candidates from 2023. The crop of candidates for 2023 raised $554,111.08 in total, excluding the high-spending race for council president that saw conservative challenger Kim Plese raising more than $250,000\. **The 2025 candidates as a whole have now surpassed that, raising $613,461.98** **in total.** This may be a symptom of an off-year election: funders don’t need to pour money into the city council president or mayoral races, so they can focus spending on individual council seats. *Swipe to see changes →* Unlike 2023, when spending was concentrated mostly in District 2, spending is a lot more evenly distributed across the three city districts, which may indicate heightened competition. The biggest shift was in the District 1 races, where both Bingle and Sarah Dixit have outraised their 2023 counterparts by at least $20,000. *Swipe to see changes →* ### Contributions vs. expenditures As campaigns race for the finish line, it’s always interesting to look at their spending strategies. For half of the candidates — Sarah Dixit, Kate Telis and Alejandro Barrientos — the strategy seems to be to keep spending to about two-thirds to three-fourths of their contributions, which held true two weeks ago and again in the most recent reporting. In District 3, the only race with a primary, the two candidates have opposite strategies. Challenger Christopher Savage seems to be going with a “spend whatever you’ve got,” approach. He spent almost everything he’d raised during the primary and had to start over in the generals, where he consistently spent money as it came in, leaving little in the tank. Incumbent Zack Zappone has been much more conservative in his spending, both in the primaries and the general election. Zappone and Bingle, the only two incumbent candidates, have similar spending strategies. They are the only two candidates to have spent less than half of the money they’ve raised at this point. Behind the scenes, politicos have speculated that both men are prepping for future runs before their four-year city council terms would be up, and if so, leftover campaign contributions would carry over to future runs. *Swipe to see changes →* ### Independent Expenditures In the last two weeks, independent-expenditure spending has ramped up. Unlike campaign contributions that go directly to your political campaign of choice, independent expenditures aren’t limited to any kind of contribution caps. They also can’t go directly into the war chests of any specific campaign (or even be spent in coordination with campaigns). Instead, they are a way that Political Action Committees (PACs), special interest groups and the wealthy can funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into influencing the results of elections. *Swipe to see changes →* Right now, the biggest financial beneficiary of this spending is Alejandro Barrientos. When we published our previous coverage, two PACs had spent nearly $100,000 on positive Barrientos messaging and another $32,750 on negative messaging about his opponent Kate Telis. Now, PACs have spent more than $150,000 on positive Barrientos messaging, and over $65,000 on anti-Telis messaging. All but $43,000 of the pro-Barrientos spending has come from the [Spokane Good Government Alliance](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2025-23450?ref=rangemedia.co#contributions), a PAC that historically donates to conservative candidates, which received $120,000 in contributions from conservative megadonor (and Barrientos’ boss) Larry Stone this election season alone. The PDC data is also starting to reflect a little bit of spending from Democrat-aligned PACs on their candidates of choice, with small bumps in spending on all three candidates endorsed by the local Democratic party. Zappone is so far the biggest beneficiary of that spending, though the [biggest headlines](https://www.rangemedia.co/pac-responds-to-complaint-over-mislabeled-mailer/) were for an anti-Bingle mailer printed with a design error saying the attack ad was paid for in part by the local firefighters’ union, which endorsed Bingle. A breakdown of all campaign spending, factoring in both campaign contributions and independent expenditures can be found below. ​​ ### Resolution 8201: Should the WA Cares Fund play the stock market? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/resolution-8201-should-the-wa-cares-fund-play-the-stock-market/ Last updated: 2025-10-30T23:33:24.000Z How should Washington state invest funds for long-term care for an aging population? That’s the question behind Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) [8201](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/leg-wa-gov/media/sffhicpj/2025-summary-of-senate-resolution-8201.pdf), which is on your ballot this year. Here’s how it looks: *The legislature has proposed a constitutional amendment on allowing money in Washington’s long-term care fund to be invested. This amendment would allow the state fund dedicated to providing long term care benefits for eligible seniors and people with disabilities to be invested as authorized by law. Should this constitutional amendment be:* *Approved or Disapproved* Constitutional amendments become law if more than 50% of voters approve, which is a simple majority. ### What it does The [resolution](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2025&BillNumber=8201&ref=rangemedia.co) is a proposed amendment to the Washington State Constitution that would allow the [Washington State Investment Board](https://sib.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co) to invest the long-term care fund ([WA Cares Fund](https://wacaresfund.wa.gov/?ref=rangemedia.co)) in a wider mix of financial assets like the stock market. The WA Cares Fund is a public long-term care insurance program. All working Washingtonians contribute a mandatory deduction of 0.58% from each paycheck that goes into the fund. When working residents need care, they can access an earned benefit of $36,500 to pay for services. It requires voter approval to become law and is the only statewide measure on the ballot. If it passes, investment earnings must remain exclusively dedicated to long-term care benefits and program costs for elderly and disabled Washingtonians. **The resolution does not make changes to WA Cares eligibility, premiums, or benefits.** ### What it costs Unlike the other propositions and measures you see on your ballot, this proposal doesn’t add to your tax bill. A yes vote instead means that you’re fine with the state investing the Long-Term Care Trust Fund on the stock market. ### Those in favor: Right now, the fund can only be invested in government bonds and [certificates of deposit](https://tre.wa.gov/investments-and-public-deposits/public-deposits/surplus-funds-certificate-deposit-program?ref=rangemedia.co), which give much lower and slower rates of return, but are generally much safer and controlled. Advocates for SJR-8201 say the change will allow the fund to grow faster, keeping benefits on track and relieving pressure on premiums. “8201 requires 100% of investment income earned by the state’s Long-Term Care Trust Fund to be spent on long-term care services for vulnerable seniors and disabled people,” reads the argument for the resolution in the [2025 General Election Voters' Guide](https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/data-research/election-data-and-maps/election-results-and-voters-pamphlets/2025-general-election-voters-guide?ref=rangemedia.co). “Washingtonians want to live with dignity as they age. 8201 supports this shared goal, strengthening the benefit’s Trust Fund to help seniors and disabled Washingtonians while protecting taxpayers.” The supporting argument goes on to say that the current law restricts investments for the long-term care fund with low-return choices like savings certificates or government bonds. If approved, supporters say SJR-8201 would allow investments for the fund that would produce higher returns. “8201 is projected to grow the Trust Fund by $67 billion over the next 50 years,” the approval argument says. Supporters for SJR-8201 include Spokane County Treasurer Mike Volz and State Senator of Legislative District 4 Leonard Christian. For a complete list of supporters, click [here.](https://www.approve8201.org/who-supports-8201?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Those opposed: Those who oppose the resolution say diversified portfolios need more oversight beyond what WSIB already does for existing funds. Stock market investments can also decrease in value over the years and outcomes are not guaranteed. “Washington voters already rejected this proposal to take taxpayer money and invest in private stocks and corporations (2020, SJR 8212),” reads the argument against R-8201 in the voters’ pamphlet. “Our state founders protected public funds from risky investments by establishing safeguards in our state Constitution prohibiting corporate stock market investments of your tax dollars. “Currently, it’s safeguarded in secure investments like federal, state and municipal bonds, which support our communities,” the argument says. “Stock markets and private investments fluctuate greatly with no guarantees and the benefit needs are unknown in this untested program.” Opponents include Peter Abbarno, State Representative, Republican, 20th District; Bob Hasegawa, State Senator, Democrat, 11th District; Joe Schmick, State Representative, Republican, 9th District; and Mark Schoesler, State Senator, Republican, 9th District. ### Further reading: - [Amendment 8201 would allow state to invest Washington Cares funds more broadly](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/washington/amendment-8201-allow-state-invest-washington-cares-funds-stocks/293-f593d286-04b9-4b1b-a537-88e22abb8b82?ref=rangemedia.co) \- Krem2 - [WA voters might say yes to amending the state constitution this fall. Here's why](https://www.kuow.org/stories/wa-voters-might-say-yes-to-amending-the-state-constitution-this-fall-here-s-why?ref=rangemedia.co) \- KUOW - [Editorial: Senate Joint Resolution 8201 can boost Washington Long-Term Care Fund](https://www.union-bulletin.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-senate-joint-resolution-8201-can-boost-washington-long-term-care-fund/article%5F0e984d6d-a73c-4640-b8f1-c2a4bfe9ec12.html?ref=rangemedia.co) \- Walla Walla Union Bulletin - [What stocks will Washington buy under SJR 8201?](https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article312680985.html?ref=rangemedia.co) \- The Olympian, letters to the editor ### WA state Republicans are trying to turn school districts red URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-state-republicans-are-trying-to-turn-school-districts-red/ Last updated: 2025-10-29T21:20:09.000Z In an effort to get more conservative school board members in office, the Washington State Republican Party (WAGOP) is pouring resources into dozens of rural school board races with strategic support for conservative candidates — and it’s working. The party does not offer the candidates money, but gives them “voter data, precinct analysis, fundraising advice and tools, policy training and human resources to assist with doorbelling, outbound phone calls and public events,” according to a July press release on the program. This is the second election cycle WAGOP has implemented the program, which doesn’t have a formal name. In the 2023 election, the organization supported 36 school board candidates, according to WAGOP Chairman and state Rep. Jim Walsh. Thirty-two of them won. This year, the organization has expanded to 50 school districts representing 66 school board positions that are up for grabs across the state. Before the August primaries, they had a list of 61 districts. “Our goal is to build on proven success and help grow the conservative caucus among locally elected school directors in Washington,” Walsh told RANGE. School district positions are non-partisan races in Washington state, but school districts have emerged in the last several election cycles as a crucial mechanism in right-wing efforts to erode rights and resources for queer students and other under-represented people across the US. ### The WAGOP’s local picks Locally, WAGOP is working with candidates in board races for Mead, Central Valley, Cheney, Mary Walker and Riverside school districts. The Mead and Central Valley school boards have made headlines the last few years over their stances on culture war issues, like supporting sex-segregated bathrooms and lobbying to ban [transgender athletes](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) from school sports. Walsh said WAGOP picked school board races based on districts “where we need to win. We’re not looking at districts where we think conservatives with common sense are already running things.” Local school board candidates supported by WAGOP include: - Gary Vanderholm running for Riverside District position 1 - Brandon Arthur for Central Valley School District position 2 - Pam Orebaugh for CVSD position 5 - Mark Scott for Cheney School District position 1 - Jessica Davis for CSD position 2 - Tim Woodworth for Mead School District position 1 - BrieAnne Gray for MSD position 5 - Jeffrey Canfield for Mary Walker School District position 1. None of these candidates responded to requests for comment, but some of their opponents emphasized that their base of support is nonpartisan in nature. “This is a local school board race,” said Alan Skidmore, who is running for CVSD position 2, in an email to RANGE. “I have had individuals who consider themselves Democrats donate money to my campaign. I have had individuals who consider themselves Republican donate to my campaign.” CSD position 2 candidate Elizabeth Winer told RANGE that she’s gotten the most support for her campaign from non-partisan organizations like the [School Board Project ](https://www.schoolboardproject.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)and [EducateUS](https://www.educateusaction.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). “While I truly believe in the non-partisan nature of school board directors, I have a silent endorsement from the Spokane County Democrats that allows me access to their voter database, though I am not featured in their promotional materials,” Winer said in an email, adding that she did receive a $250 donation from the Warren G. Magnuson Democratic Club in Spokane Valley. “I did respond to the Spokane GOP when they reached out to me regarding an endorsement, but they were unwilling to accommodate my school board commitments and child care responsibilities, so I did not have an opportunity to speak to them.” When it comes to the candidates, Walsh said there’s a preference for those who lead public schools to focus on “proficiency and excellence” in writing, reading, math and science. Walsh, citing the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) [education report card of Sept. 2024](https://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ReportCard/ViewSchoolOrDistrict/103300?ref=rangemedia.co), noted 60% of Washington students fail to meet grade-level standards in math, and 50% fail in reading and writing. But other numbers produced by OSPI tell a somewhat different story. [A study](https://ospi.k12.wa.us/about-ospi/news-center/news-releases/state-test-scores-show-continued-improvement-math-and-english-language-arts?ref=rangemedia.co) conducted in spring 2025 says 71% of students demonstrated foundational grade-level knowledge and above in ELA, and 63% of students in math, across all grade levels. “We think the job of the school board is to balance a sensible budget and concentrate on what schools are supposed to teach, not what we’ll charitably call social and emotional learning,” Walsh said. ### The long-term plan The goal, according to Walsh, is to get more conservative school board members in the Washington State School Directors’ Association ([WSSDA](https://wssda.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)), which all school board directors are members of by default. WSSDA represents 1,477 locally elected school board members across the state and is non-partisan. Walsh said a more conservative member base would allow local school boards to have control over their districts where, he believes “incompetent school servants like [Chris Reykdal](https://ospi.k12.wa.us/about-ospi/superintendent-chris-reykdal?ref=rangemedia.co) have taken it away.” (Reykdal is the superintendent of OSPI) Walsh said WSSDA is supposed to provide networking and resources to school districts, not control how school districts operate. “By growing a conservative caucus, it allows the organization (WSSDA) to not be so politically biased and more diverse in its opinions and policy approach," Walsh said. Washington State Democratic Party ([WADEM](https://wadems.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)) spokesperson Stephen Reed said that the party did not support local school board candidates and suggested state-level influence in local elections erodes the rights of minority students. “While the WA GOP pushes candidates who don’t believe in LGBTQ+ rights, seek to control the books our students have access to and lie about what gender- affirming care actually does, we will continue our work to uplift candidates who are focused on student outcomes,” Reed said in an email. The Spokane County Democratic Party will assist local candidates with flyers, signs and canvassing if asked, according to interim chair Matthew Sorey, but, like the state-level Democrats, the party does not have a concentrated list of school board races they are supporting. “I think it’s kind of a missed opportunity at the state level,” Sorey said. “You always hear the claim that the Democrats are totally focused on the west side because that’s where all the money is, while the Republicans are paying more attention to local races like school boards. I think there’s truth to that, and it’s how they win more rural votes.” Walsh said the strategy was born out of necessity. “We have to,” Walsh said when asked if he thought WAGOP focuses on rural districts and elections more than state Democrats do. “We’re leaner, we’re scrappier, we have to be more aggressive.” ### District 2 residents sue to disqualify candidate Alejandro Barrientos from office URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/district-2-residents-sue-to-disqualify-candidate-alejandro-barrientos-from-office/ Last updated: 2025-10-28T00:47:47.000Z Just eight days before ballots are due, three residents from District 2 have filed a lawsuit against city council candidate Alejandro Barrientos to disqualify him as a candidate for their district, saying he does not meet the residency requirements for that office. The lawsuit, filed by residents Elaine Rosato, Larry Keyser and JB Freeman on Monday, cites public court documents for Barrientos’ divorce in June 2024 where he and his now former wife stated they were living in separate homes since May 1, 2024\. It also cites [reporting](https://www.rangemedia.co/alejandro-barrientos-council-candidacy-eligibility/) by RANGE journalist Erin Sellers, who broke the story last week that Barrientos’ divorce documents stated he did not live in their District 2 home. The three residents filing the lawsuit are represented by local attorney Jeffry Finer and are all registered voters in the district. According to the lawsuit, none of the listed residents are financial supporters of either candidate for District 2. The case wouldn't be heard until after the election results are certified and only if Barrientos wins. If a judge decides he is not eligible, the court could order that he not be sworn in. It's unclear if his opponent, Kate Telis, would instead automatically win in that case or if the city council would have to appoint a new council member. Barrientos told RANGE in an interview that his living arrangements during the divorce were mixed, with him sometimes staying at their family home in District 2 and other times staying in their condo in District 1, which is the address he listed with the courts. He also said he stayed with his brother in Cheney at times and in California for work. The Spokane City Charter states that a person must have resided in their respective district for one year before filing to run to be eligible for candidacy. Barrientos filed to run in early May of 2025, and his living arrangements were complicated prior to that, he said. “Regardless of where Mr. Barrientos owned property, or visited, or had a key, or felt at home, between April 30, 2024, and May 30, 2025, his divorce declarations under oath and his interview statements to Range News directly contradict any suggestion that he resided in District 2 for the requisite one-year period immediately prior to filing,” the lawsuit says. Barrientos, for his part, says he’s always considered District 2 his home and he’s ready to fight for his seat in court if he wins. Find our full story, cited in the lawsuit, [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/alejandro-barrientos-council-candidacy-eligibility/). **Editor's note:* This story has been corrected to reflect that the courts do not have to hear the case until after the election results are certified.* ### Even stricter restrictions could be coming to punish visible homelessness URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/ Last updated: 2025-10-27T18:26:12.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Tonight, Spokane City Council could pass an emergency ordinance that makes it easier to fire their own staff, putting that power solely in the Council President’s hands, instead of requiring the vote of a supermajority. - At their Public Safety & Community Health Committee meeting, Spokane City Council will discuss an ordinance to increase the penalties and enforcement for visible homelessness. - Spokane County is set to vote on next year’s airport budget, which does not mention the expensive state-mandated cleanup of “forever chemicals” it started two years ago. - The state has started requiring local governments to factor climate change into their long-term planning, and the Department of Commerce has awarded Spokane County $800,000 to accommodate the mandate. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) (and Study Session) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) (canceled) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) - [East Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/even-stricter-restrictions-could-be-coming-to-punish-visible-homelessness/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Long range acoustical devices It’s a mouthful of a name, but nestled in the consent agenda is an $88,045 contract for the Spokane Police Department to purchase two long range acoustical devices (LRADs). They say it’s to enhance communication at protests, like a really loud bullhorn, allowing police orders to travel long distances and actually communicate dispersal orders (which many members of the community said they couldn’t even hear at the June 11 protests before officers started using less lethal weapons on the crowd.) However, the [specs](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/genasys-com/content/uploads/2021/08/lrad-450xl%5Fd00101-rev-b%5F3-4.pdf) for the system the city intends to buy also describe it as a “Safer alternative to non-lethal and kinetic measures,” and reports from places it has been used, like [Serbia, describe it as “a sound from hell.”](https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5341198/sonic-weapon-serbia-belgrade-protests?ref=rangemedia.co) The same system has also been [used on migrants in Greece to deter border crossings](https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/sound-cannons-greece/?ref=rangemedia.co). So while it could be used to more effectively communicate with protesters, it could also be used to cause them extreme pain. ### Firing their staff? Amidst a budget crisis, the Spokane City Council is exploring cutting down on city council staff. Currently, firing a staff member requires a vote of a five-council member super majority, [a protection established](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/16/spokane-council-considers-making-it-easier-to-fire/?ref=rangemedia.co) by former Council President Breean Beggs to ensure council staff had job security and weren’t subject to the political whims of the council. Tonight, the council is looking to pass an emergency ordinance — which also requires five votes to pass — that would give the Council President the sole authority to hire and fire council staff, except legislative assistants, which would answer to the individual council member they work for. Removing these protections would give the council more flexibility to make position cuts and reduce spending, but it would also leave the entire council staff at the whim of just one person, who is up for election every four years, creating uncertainty for the workforce and making city council staff jobs less attractive. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - The council’s second try at a stricter response to visible homelessness will be up for a vote as an emergency ordinance. For more details, see the Public Safety & Community Health Committee section. - There will also be a hearing on the 2026 Mid-Biennum Budget modifications, so if you have budgeting thoughts or questions, it might be the meeting to attend. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 27 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, October 30 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee The regularly scheduled Finance and Administration Committee meeting, which is typically held on the fourth Monday of the month, has been cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 3, 2025 at noon in City Council Chambers. ## Public Safety &Community Health Committee **​​🌶️​​​​🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** Usually the first Monday of the month, the Public Safety and Community Health committee was rescheduled for today. There are a few really big items on the agenda, all related to homelessness and mental health responses. ### Prop 1 replacement, part 2 For the last few months (and honestly, way longer than that), city officials have been grappling with how to address enforcement of camping on public property. In short, how does the city want to handle visible homelessness? After the Washington State Supreme Court [overturned Proposition 1 ](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/)— which banned camping near parks and schools — the city came up with a replacement. [The HOME ordinance](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/01/spokane-outlaws-homeless-camping-citywide-but-prio/?ref=rangemedia.co): a law that banned camping citywide, but also made it harder to arrest people. Rather than blanket issuing a citation or an arrest, HOME instead treated unhoused people moving camp when asked by authorities as compliance. [News recently broke](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/06/spokane-council-mayors-office-look-for-urgent-fix-/?ref=rangemedia.co) that the HOME ordinance wasn’t really working for anyone. Enforcement had resulted in zero arrests and zero people taking officers up on offered services, which meant unhoused people were just getting moved around the city. Now, liberal Council Member Zack Zappone, who is up for reelection, is partnering with conservative Council Member Michael Cathcart and Council President Betsy Wilkerson on [an emergency ordinance to do stricter enforcement](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/24/proposed-reforms-to-spokanes-anti-homeless-camping/?ref=rangemedia.co), which is up for discussion at the committee meeting. Here’s the gist of what it would do if passed: - More proactive enforcement from officers and a request of city employees to report visible encampments to the police - Those contacted by police will be offered services initially, but will be met with “graduated consequences” for each additional contact. - It gets rid of compliance as a cure; unhoused people can’t just move now, they will either be taken to services or cited. - Instead of being cited and released, unhoused people are going to start being charged with misdemeanors. This ordinance, which would greatly increase the consequences for being visibly homeless, is scheduled for a vote at next week’s council meeting. ### Camping clean-up Folks from the Code Enforcement team will be giving the council a presentation on “Outreach Requests and Unauthorized Camping Removal and Abatement Procedures,” which could be an interesting watch for anyone who wants to know how peoples’ property is handled and how code enforcement responded to encampments. ### Mental Health Grant Funding The Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs has given Spokane a $620,000 grant to “assist law enforcement in establishing and expanding mental health field response capabilities.” Spokane plans to spend that on our co-response model, which sends mental health professionals from Frontier Behavioral Health out on calls with Spokane Police officers to help address crises with care rather than criminalization. Frontier Behavioral Health has been fronting the costs on behalf of the city since June 2025, and the grant will go to retroactively reimbursing them for the costs. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 27 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). # MISC City ## Spokane Housing Authority Board **​​🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 27 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Airport budget does not mention PFAS cleanup The BOCC will hear a presentation on the budget for Spokane Airports, the independent body that includes Felt’s Field, Spokane International Airport (SIA) and many infrastructure developments on the West Plains, where SIA is located. In 2023, SIA became liable to clean up years worth of “forever chemicals” it polluted West Plain aquifers with. It’s an expensive stat-mandated process to locate and isolate the man-made compounds, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly shortened to PFAS). The budget presentation does not mention the cleanup. ### Assessor received $5,000 grant to study property value impact of ‘forever chemicals’ The Spokane County Assessor’s office, which determines property values of homes in the county, has received a grant to study the impact of PFAS contamination in private wells on the West Plains. Fairchild Air Force Base and the Spokane International Airport unknowingly contaminated the West Plains aquifers with the mad-made chemicals by conducting firefighting drills with a compound that used them. As a result, many rural drinking water wells between Spokane and Airway Heights have dangerous levels of PFAS, and owners of them worry they won’t be able to sell their properties. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 28 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### $800,000 in state funding for climate planning The Growth Management Act was amended last year to require counties to factor in climate change to their long-term development planning. To accommodate this in Spokane County, the state has awarded $800,000 from the Department of Commerce, and the BOCC will vote to accept the award Tuesday. ### Fee hikes set for public pools and parks Fees for swim lessons and lodging at parks in Spokane County are set to increase, pending approval by the BOCC Tuesday. Public swim entry fees for both adults and children are set to be hiked $1, from $7 to $8 and $4 to $5 respectively, and lodging at Camp Caro is set to increase from $350 to $425 per night, among other increases. ### $6M in TIF reimbursements due for Beacon Hill The Beacon Hill housing development in Northeast Spokane has completed some of its home, road and services construction — a water booster station and water runoff infrastructure — and the developer is asking for the first installment of public reimbursements on those costs. The BOCC will vote on this Tuesday. The money would come from tax increment financing, which are essentially tax revenues generated by the improvements to property values generated by the development. The developer, the Beacon Hill TIF, LLC, is asking for $6,057,759.13 for this phase, out of a $20 million in total TIF funding to build about 140 housing units. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 28 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Health District Board **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Looking for a new Administrative Officer After [firing their previous Administrative Officer Alicia Thompson](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/25/alicia-thompson-fired-as-spokane-regional-health-d/?ref=rangemedia.co) — a move that called up memories of the [unlawful termination](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/may/12/preliminary-investigation-health-district-administ/?ref=rangemedia.co) of former Spokane County Health Officer Bob Lutz — the Spokane Regional Health District could form a transition committee to look for a new Administrative Officer. It would be an interesting time to join the Health District, as it has recently [rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion protections](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/26/feeling-pressure-from-the-trump-administration-the/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [terminated a health equity position](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/23/health-district-cuts-health-equity-position-amid-b/?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 30 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *Spokane Regional Health District* > *1101 West College Avenue* # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 28 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # School Boards ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 27 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## East Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** ### Library policy tweak The East Valley school board will hold a first reading of some small changes to the district’s Library Information and Technology Programs policy, which was last reviewed in 2022\. Most of the changes appear to be small edits that leave the policy with essentially the same meaning, but cuts the line “The district’s library and technology programs are staffed by teacher-librarians.” The rest of the policy still mentions teacher-librarians and details their duties, however. The only tweak that caught our eye is to how the public can influence material choices, changing “residents or staff members of the district who wish to express a concern about specific material … ” to “parents who wish to express a concern about specific material …” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/evsd361/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 28 at 6 pm* > *EVSD Administration Office* > *3830 N Sullivan Rd, Bldg 1* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99216* ### From one voice to many: Women speak out on Idaho prison abuse URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/women-speak-out-idaho-prison-abuse/ Last updated: 2025-10-26T19:00:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/speaking-out-lead-illustration.png) (Ryan Inzana/InvestigateWest) *Editor’s note: The article discusses sexual assault. “Guarded by Predators” is a new investigative series exposing rape and abuse by Idaho’s prison guards and the system that shields them. Find the entire series at [investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators](http://investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators?ref=rangemedia.co).* **In June 2024,** Andrea Weiskircher thought her life was over. She was sobbing in a jail cell in Boise thinking about what she had just done. Encouraged by a former Idaho Department of Correction case manager, Weiskircher reluctantly filed complaints against the Idaho prison workers who had sexually abused her. It was the right thing to do. But now she faced another prison sentence and, she feared, retaliation for speaking up. Women detained with Weiskircher flocked to console her. With a shaky voice, Weiskircher told the women how, years earlier when she was incarcerated at a state prison, a guard had kissed her in a janitor’s closet and rubbed her hand against his genitals. At a different Idaho prison, she told them, another guard had bribed her with a Pepsi to be the lookout while he had sex with her friend who was also incarcerated. And another guard, at a third Idaho prison, had instructed her to crawl under his desk and perform oral sex on him. As Weiskircher caught her breath, one of the women by her side said that she had been sexually abused by prison staff, too. And so had another woman. And another. And another. “They were like, ‘Screw IDOC. It happened to me too, dude,’” Weiskircher said, referring to the Idaho Department of Correction, the state agency in charge of prisons. “It just started a movement.” Weiskircher’s complaints inspired other women throughout the jail to file their own, detailing stories of rape, assault, coercion and sexual harassment throughout the Idaho prison system. Charee Nelson reported that a sergeant got her pregnant. Karyn Simpson said she was groped by her supervisor at an inmate work program, then written up and placed in segregated housing after reporting it. Ten years later, probation officer [Saif Sabah Hasan Al Anbagi](https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article296945174.html?ref=rangemedia.co) offered to help her in exchange for a video of Simpson and her wife having sex, Simpson said. Donya Tanner said she was ordered to take her clothes off in a prison bathroom by a guard who gawked at her for the next two minutes. Amy Bonning said she was raped by two employees in a potato factory bathroom where she and other female inmates worked. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/investigatewest_idaho_idoc_001-1-1.jpg) *Andrea Weiskircher’s decision to file complaints inspired scores of women to step forward with their own allegations of abuse by Idaho prison staff. (Kyle Green/InvestigateWest)* Within weeks, seven victims had reported violations by Idaho Department of Correction staff or contractors. And in the year that followed, those women and dozens more current and former female inmates have come forward to share similar experiences with InvestigateWest, the details of which are being reported here for the first time. In a state that [incarcerates](https://www.investigatewest.org/fueled-by-harsh-drug-sentences-idaho-leads-nation-in-womens-incarceration-report-finds/?ref=rangemedia.co) more women per capita than any other, never before have so many of them spoken out about the sexual abuse they faced behind bars. InvestigateWest interviewed more than two dozen of those women and identified another 10 victims through those accounts and documents obtained through public records requests. They shared their experiences in phone calls and emails that are monitored by prison staff, knowing they had to be careful about what they said. Some women worried that they could be denied parole if they were written up for talking about what happened to them. And others who were already out on parole told reporters they could end up back in prison if their parole officer submitted a violation against them in retaliation for telling their story. They did it anyway. ### **Justice denied** Sexual assault was a part of Weiskircher’s life long before she was imprisoned. Weiskircher was a product of rape, she says, born in Nampa, 20 miles west of Boise, to a 13-year-old mother who used drugs and alcohol to cope. “My mom used to put alcohol in our baby bottles,” Weiskircher said. “She used to drug us to make us go to sleep.” Weiskircher was raped multiple times as a child and ran away from home often, she says. But she always came back to take care of her siblings. School offered an escape from her home life. Weiskircher was a good student. She made the honor roll and played the guitar and violin. But those influences couldn’t overcome her mother’s drug use and her own early struggle with addiction. Weiskircher’s criminal history began in juvenile court where she was charged with truancy, running away, fighting at school, and possession of tobacco, marijuana, and Adderall. At 16, she married to get away from her parents, but her drug use continued. She began cashing fraudulent checks to pay for drugs and was arrested and charged with forgery when she was 19, resulting in the first of many prison sentences. **Andrea Weiskircher on her upbringing** Andrea Weiskircher’s decision to report her own sexual abuse by Idaho prison staff inspired scores of women in the summer of 2024 to do the same. This audio clip includes highlights from a Sept. 16, 2025, conversation in which Weiskircher discusses the generational trauma and addiction in her family, the difficulty of adjusting to life after prison and her reaction to learning about the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which says inmates cannot consent to sexual contact with prison staff. Weiskircher, now 43, has spent nearly 13 years in prison — and another six in jail — where, she says, she was harassed and coerced by guards to perform sexual favors in exchange for a cellphone that she used to call her family, or for sodas, candy and other prohibited items. But life outside was marginally better, she says. “It’s like, you don’t have any reason to try,” Weiskircher says. “It’s not like I had a life that I was leaving behind. I didn’t have a home, I didn’t have a car, I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have any of the things that a normal person would say, ‘Oh, I’m sad I lost this.’ I didn’t have it. I didn’t have it to lose.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/investigatewest_idaho_idoc_019-1.jpg) *In a notebook Andrea Weiskircher kept in jail, on a page that began “God please forgive me when I want to give up,” she tracked everyone she contacted for help. (Kyle Green/InvestigateWest)* In 2021, while Weiskircher was incarcerated, she began providing information about drug dealers to Nampa police Detective Brian Rowe, who threatened to charge her with another felony if she didn’t comply, she says. The pair talked on the phone nearly every day, and Weiskircher even called one of the drug dealers from prison at Rowe’s request, she says. So when Rowe asked her to be an informant following her release in 2023, she quickly agreed. InvestigateWest confirmed Weiskircher’s role as an informant through a signed document, texts and emails, some containing screenshots of drug deals she made using social media messages. “Based on Andrea’s assistance, investigators seized approximately 90 pounds of methamphetamine, 2.5 pounds of fentanyl, and several firearms,” Rowe wrote in a letter to the Idaho Parole Commission. “Investigators also made dozens of arrests based on these investigations.” In April 2024, Weiskircher was arrested again and charged with grand theft after she was allegedly found with fraudulent checks, other people’s bank account information and stolen credit cards, according to police records. She was dismissed as an informant and sent to the Ada County Jail. It was there, surrounded by women like her, accused of nonviolent crimes and facing years in prison, that she began asking why the men who sexually abused her and others in prison hadn’t faced the same fate. “I’m being charged … and I’m going to get five years in prison,” Weiskircher says. “And all of these illegal things are happening in the prison … and nobody cares. Where’s the justice in that?” While she sat in jail awaiting news on her charge, Weiskircher’s frustration escalated. Nearly every day, she called her former Department of Correction case manager who shared her outrage. He had been fired by the department for policy violations less than a month after reporting an inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse violation and other safety concerns at one women’s facility. He encouraged her to speak up, too. And on June 9, 2024, she did. For the next year, with her own criminal charge lingering, Weiskircher waged a campaign to hold accountable the prison workers who had sexually abused her and others. Weiskircher helped other women file complaints against their abusers, but little came from the allegations. She studied Idaho Department of Correction policies and the federal standard that prohibits sexual assault and harassment by prison staff. She tried filing a federal lawsuit against the state prison system and assisted as two other women did the same, but none could afford the filing costs. In a notebook she kept in jail, on a page that began “God please forgive me when I want to give up,” Weiskircher tracked everyone she contacted for help. She wrote to the state Attorney General’s Office. She wrote to the governor and lieutenant governor. She wrote to judges and the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Idaho American Civil Liberties Union. She wrote to the U.S. Department of Justice and an Idaho-based FBI agent. And she pleaded with the Department of Correction, writing to investigators, then-Director Josh Tewalt and the employee charged with ensuring prisons statewide comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act. But it wasn’t enough. The FBI agent interviewed Weiskircher, she said, but no sexual abuse charges were filed as a result. The Department of Correction’s Prison Rape Elimination Act coordinator responded with a notice that Weiskircher’s claims had been marked as “unfounded.” The governor, lieutenant governor and Department of Correction director never responded, Weiskircher said. And the rest wrote back to say they couldn’t help. Weiskircher filed a victim protection order against the department and helped two other women file one, too. Maybe it would prevent them from being sent back to the facilities where they were abused, she thought. But protection orders can’t be filed against an agency, an Ada County judge told them as he dismissed their requests. Weiskircher implored the judge, explaining that none of their accusations had been criminally investigated. At the end of the hearing, Judge Andrew Ellis promised to contact the county prosecutor, Jan Bennetts, saying he “would ask that she look into it and not just sweep it under the rug.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/chareenelson-1-1.jpg) *Charee Nelson at Christmas with her family’s cat in 2016\. Nelson is one of seven women who filed complaints of sexual abuse against Idaho prison workers in the summer of 2024\. InvestigateWest found that none of their complaints were properly investigated. (Photo courtesy of Nelson’s family)* The next day, the Idaho State Police opened an investigation into the three women’s claims. But detectivesignored leads, disregarded evidence and questioned only one of seven men accused of abuse before closing all three cases due to a lack of evidence. None of the men was charged with a crime. The detectives declined interview requests through an agency spokesperson. Weiskircher described the abuse she experienced from four correction guards and a commissary employee to the detectives. None of the men she accused were questioned, according to the detectives’ notes. Neither was a guard who Weiskircher told police witnessed one of the abuses. She thought she gave detectives the evidence they needed — including screenshots of sexual content sent to her by a guard while she was on parole. None of it was included in the investigative file provided to InvestigateWest by state police. “They didn’t give a shit about anything I said, and I felt like they did just a huge injustice,” Weiskircher said. “They treated us like the plague.” In her fight to be heard, Weiskircher gave InvestigateWest all of the evidence she had — text messages, phone logs, photos, Facebook messages and emails from the men she had accused. In one Facebook message, Joseph Mena, who delivered commissary items to Boise prisons where Weiskircher was housed, asked, “Who did you tell that we kissed in the back of the truck?” When reached by phone, Mena denied the allegation.Another message came from Tyson Aubrey, a guard who Weiskircher said kissed her in a closet and rubbed her hand on his genitals. After confirming that she was out of prison and under the supervision of a parole officer, Aubrey sent her photos of his genitalia and the message, “Was thinking about you today....” Aubrey, who is now a correction officer in Oregon, told InvestigateWest he never kissed or touched Weiskircher. He did meet up with her once after she was released from prison and had a sexual relationship over calls and texts, Aubrey said. But he doesn’t remember sending the Facebook messages, which he confirmed came from his account. Jordan Saldate, the guard Weiskircher accused of requesting oral sex, sent messages, too, when he was no longer working for the Department of Correction. In one, he wrote, “You going to delete (our) conversation, lol.” Many included overtly sexual photos and memes. Saldate denied the allegations that he asked for and received oral sex from Weiskircher. But he told InvestigateWest that he heard many rumors of sexual abuse by guards while working at Pocatello women’s prison and that he believed Weiskircher had been a victim. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/siciwomen013-1-1.jpg) *Outside Boise, South Idaho Correctional Institution is a 700-bed men’s and women’s prison. Idaho incarcerates women at a rate higher than any other state, at three times the national average. (Whitney Bryen/InvestigateWest)* Some of the messages provided to InvestigateWest were emailed to police detectives and Department of Correction administrators. Yet Weiskircher’s complaints were marked as “investigated and determined not to have occurred.” And Weiskircher insisted to InvestigateWest reporters, and anyone else who would listen, that she was just one of many women with a story like this. ### **A movement grows** Over the next year, InvestigateWest reporters sent messages to women with similar stories, many still incarcerated at the facilities where they were abused. Reporters interviewed all seven women who filed reports from jail last year. They provided the names of other victims. And those victims knew of more. Altogether, reporters talked to more than three dozen women who either experienced or witnessed sexual abuse by Idaho prison workers. Many expressed guilt for their role in the abuse, sometimes giving into sexual requests for fear of what would happen if they said no. Others said they should have done more to stop it or told someone what happened. Most said it probably wouldn’t have made a difference even if they did report it. Some phone and video calls between the women and reporters were abruptly disconnected by the jail with no explanation. An email to a reporter describing the sexual assaults one inmate experienced was blocked by the prison. It was released to the reporter nearly a week later — the same day one of the accused guards was fired, Department of Correction records show. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/investigatewest_idaho_idoc_013-1-1.jpg) *Andrea Weiskircher goes over her case file with her lawyer, Craig Harrison of Ferguson Durham PLLC. (Kyle Green/InvestigateWest)* To verify the women’s claims, InvestigateWest submitted more than 100 requests for records from the department, law enforcement and Idaho courts. The news organization spent more than $3,000 on documents, audio recordings and calls to inmates, and worked with attorneys to obtain other records that the agencies heavily redacted, couldn’t find or refused to provide. InvestigateWest compared names provided by the women with Department of Correction staff rosters and employment records. Reporters pored through sexual abuse reports provided by the department. Other inmates who were housed in the same unit, or even in the same cell, as some of the victims independently corroborated their stories. Reporters interviewed former department employees, including a warden and special investigator, about how reports of abuse are supposed to be handled and how often the process fails. And reporters reviewed hundreds of pages of police investigative files and listened to hours of audio of detectives interviewing victims, witnesses and suspects to determine what efforts were made to find evidence of alleged abuse. All the while, reporters fielded constant messages and calls from incarcerated women who wanted their story told, like Weiskircher. ### **‘I won’t stop’** Five of the seven women who reported their abuse from jail during summer 2024 are back behind bars. But Weiskircher, who was released on parole on June 30 and admitted to drug court for the first time, continues to seek justice. Weiskircher started working for a Boise civil rights attorney who has agreed to represent her in a lawsuit against the Department of Correction and possibly other state agencies. She’s studying to be a paralegal and assisting with research on other cases against the department. She spends six hours a day attending required counseling and addiction treatment programs. A no-contact order placed on her by the court prohibits Weiskircher from talking to any men — except in a professional setting or with two of her sons. And her parole restrictions ban communication with other felons, which means Weiskircher can’t talk to the other women who filed sexual abuse claims. But those hurdles aren’t stopping her fight for accountability. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/investigatewest_idaho_idoc_022-1.jpg) *Andrea Weiskircher on her way to a drug court hearing at the Ada County Courthouse. (Kyle Green/InvestigateWest)* “It’s not in me to give up,” Weiskircher said. “It was wrong, and I was not going to let a million no’s stop me. When I was told ‘no’ as a drug addict, I found another way. It’s ingrained in me. You’re not going to make me give up. I’m not going to shut up.” After reviewing public records obtained by InvestigateWest, Weiskircher filed a complaint with the state police against the detectives who investigated her allegations. Last month, Weiskircher and her attorney met with internal affairs officers who told her they were looking into how her case was handled. She called that a “small victory,” saying the bigger accomplishment is having her story broadcast to the public, which she hopes will put pressure on the Department of Correction, law enforcement and prosecutors to change their approach to women like her. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel like it’s enough until they stop (the abuse) or fix it,” Weiskircher said. “I won’t stop. They will have to answer at some point to somebody. That is an accomplishment to me.” **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. This reporting was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Pulitzer Center.** ### Idaho law challenges prosecutors seeking to penalize prison guards for sexual abuse URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/idaho-law-challenges-prosecutors-penalize-prison-guards-sexual-abuse/ Last updated: 2025-10-26T17:00:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/court-system-lead-illustration.png) (Ryan Inzana/InvestigateWest) Editor’s note: The article discusses sexual assault. “Guarded by Predators” is a new investigative series exposing rape and abuse by Idaho’s prison guards and the system that shields them. Find the entire series at [investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators](http://investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators?ref=rangemedia.co). In a small courthouse in southeast Idaho, a woman incarcerated at the nearby prison had just finished testifying that a male guard came into the bathroom on her cellblock and kissed her on at least five different occasions. She also told the court that one day, around Easter in 2012, the guard, Kim Rogers, had followed her into a janitor’s closet at Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, reached under her shirt and grabbed her breasts. A week later, in the same closet, Rogers put his hand down her panties and touched her before she yanked his arm away, she testified. That may have been a crime according to Idaho state law, which deems genital contact between prison staff and a prisoner — but not groping or kissing — illegal. Rogers had even confessed to a detective that he touched her “vagina.” But his defense attorney still argued that it was not necessarily an admission to a crime. Rogers’ attorney, Justin Oleson, challenged the detective who took the stand next, asking why he didn’t ensure Rogers understood the word “vagina.” “I assumed that due to his age and experience, and the fact that he was in law enforcement and had training with proper contact with inmates, and what he should and should not do, that that had already been covered during that training,” Detective Tony Busch replied. For the next five minutes, the woman listened as four men — a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and police detective **—** debated what, exactly, Rogers meant by vagina. “Where did he touch her vagina at?” “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. Anywhere is a violation of the law, whether it’s the front, back, side, it doesn’t matter.” “Did you ask him how he knew that he touched her vagina and not just her pubic hair?” “I don’t recall if I asked him that or not.” “Do you think he…” “He understood what I was asking, yes.” “And you know that because he defined those areas for you?” “No, he looked at the ground, put his head down and said, ‘I know what I did was wrong. I made a mistake.’” Oleson, the defense attorney, eventually arrived at his point. “As I think somebody told me when I was a little kid, boys have outies and girls have innies,” Oleson said. “So, it’s pretty easy to determine whether you’ve touched a male’s genitals. He touched, according to the officer, her vagina, but what does that mean? I believe the state has a burden to prove what the genitals are. They haven’t.” Judge Paul Laggis, exasperated with the defense’s argument, conceded that Idaho state law does not clearly define a woman’s genitals. Bannock County prosecutor Vic Pearson later offered Rogers a plea deal for a lesser charge of attempted sexual contact and a penalty of eight years’ probation. Rogers accepted it. He served no prison time for the abuse. His probation was dismissed after serving less than five years and the charge was removed from his record. The case against Rogers highlights how difficult it can be for prosecutors to hold correction officers accountable for sexual abuse, even when a guard seemingly confesses to the crime. Idaho, like many states, limits its definition of sexual assault when the victim is an inmate. Even though federal standards say all inappropriate touching by prison workers and even suggestive comments or voyeurism are illegal, Idaho’s law protects inmates from abuse only when staff touch the victim’s genitals or they’re made to touch the genitals of staff. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/adacountycourthouse1-1.jpg) *The exterior of the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho. (Kyle Green/InvestigateWest)* It’s still illegal in Idaho to touch the groin, inner thighs, buttocks, breasts or genital area of any person, including an inmate, without their consent. Guards can be charged with felony or misdemeanor sexual battery for abusing an inmate. But that rarely happens. Incarcerated victims often go along or reluctantly agree to sexual requests from guards because they’re afraid of what will happen if they say no. For that reason, inmates cannot consent under federal and state laws written specifically to protect prisoners from abusive workers, requiring only proof that the sexual contact occurred. Idaho’s sexual battery laws, however, don’t recognize the power that prison staff hold over the people in their custody and, therefore, require prosecutors to prove that the victim did not consent. Prosecutors say that is especially challenging when the victim is an inmate, who is often perceived as untrustworthy. The result: Idaho guards harass and assault inmates with impunity and little fear of criminal consequences. In the rare cases that they are charged, accused guards are typically offered a plea deal that requires no prison time, while their victims spend years incarcerated for drug offenses, DUIs and parole violations. InvestigateWest interviewed dozens of women who described, in detail, sexual harassment and assaults they experienced from prison workers. But few of their abusers were ever charged with any crimes. In the last decade, 11 Idaho prison staff at men’s and women’s facilities have been prosecuted for sexually assaulting an inmate. Only two were sentenced to a prison term — but instead of serving their yearslong sentences, they served fewer than 10 months in a treatment program where participants are housed separately from the general prison population. Prosecutors and investigators are trained to be skeptical of people in custody, longtime federal prosecutor Fara Gold acknowledged in a 2018 report to federal prosecutors. And inmates who struggle with addiction or have lengthy criminal histories are even less likely to be believed, according to the report, which offered guidance on prosecuting law enforcement sexual misconduct. And that’s likely why their abusers choose them, she said. “The challenge in prosecuting any sort of law enforcement misconduct, but certainly law enforcement sexual misconduct, whether it’s police officers or jailers, is that they choose victims who no one is going to believe,” Gold said. “They are targeted, these victims, because the perpetrators bank on the fact that no one’s going to believe them.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/joseph-filicetti-1.jpg) *Attorney Joseph Filicetti, shown here outside his office in Boise, Idaho, authored and lobbied for the Idaho state law that criminalizes sexual contact between corrections staff and prisoners. But even Filicetti says the law, which only protects inmates from assaults that involve contact with a person’s genitals or anus, doesn’t do enough to protect people in custody. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Filicetti)* ### **Control and consent** Idaho made it a felony for corrections officers to have sexual contact with inmates in 1993, long before the U.S. Department of Justice developed its standards. The law, written by a former Ada County deputy prosecutor, carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment but lacks a mandatory minimum sentence, leaving penalties up to a judge. That allows most offenders to avoid prison time altogether. Meanwhile, Idaho [incarcerates](https://www.investigatewest.org/fueled-by-harsh-drug-sentences-idaho-leads-nation-in-womens-incarceration-report-finds/?ref=rangemedia.co) more women per capita than any other state, driven largely by harsh drug charges, many of which have mandatory minimum sentences. Early this year, state lawmakers imposed a fine of at least $300 for possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana. Quantities over 1 pound carry minimum sentences of at least one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. And last year, lawmakers sharpened penalties for fentanyl users and distributors by adding mandatory minimum prison sentences. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); State legislators later expanded the sexual contact law, applying it to all contract workers and employees of the Idaho Department of Correction and juvenile corrections. But critics say the state’s definition of sexual contact falls short of other states and federal mandates, leaving Idaho inmates even more vulnerable. Even the attorney who authored and lobbied for the law at the Idaho Legislature, Joseph Filicetti, said it doesn’t do enough to protect people in custody from sexual assault. From 1987 to 1996, Filicetti prosecuted sexual abuse and other crimes committed in prisons located in Ada County. But it was difficult to prove the level of control that a Department of Correction worker had over a victim, Filicetti told InvestigateWest. So he wrote the 1993 law that was passed by lawmakers as a bright-line rule. “You’re in control of these people, so they’re off-limits,” Filicetti said. But the law only covers assaults that involve at least one person’s genitals or anus, leaving prosecutors with the same hurdle for abuse that doesn’t meet that threshold. For those situations, “you can file a sexual battery” charge, Filicetti said. But in his nine years as a prosecutor, he never did. When asked if a prison worker had ever been charged with sexual battery in Ada County, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said they do not track that information. In 2015, Idaho officials agreed to comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, which prohibits staff from engaging in a broad range of sexual misconduct: kissing an inmate; touching their breasts or buttocks even over clothing; coercing or requesting sexual favors; gawking at inmates while they undress; and making derogatory or suggestive comments. But Idaho has failed to update its state law to reflect those guidelines. And federal prosecutors typically don’t enforce the standard unless there is a pattern of abuse, leaving it up to Idaho prosecutors to enforce the much weaker state law, attorney Brenda Smith said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brenda-smith-1-1.jpg) *Brenda Smith is the director of the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University in Washington, D.C., and has studied the federal standards and state laws designed to protect inmates from sexual abuse. She says Idaho’s law is ”very narrow” compared to other states and could leave the state liable. (Provided by American University Washington College of Law)* Smith is the director of the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University in Washington, D.C., and has studied the federal standards and state laws designed to protect inmates from sexual abuse. She said Idaho’s law focused on genital contact is “very narrow” and could leave the state liable. “The notion that those parts of a person’s body, for no legitimate reason and clearly intended for sexual gratification, are not a part of that statute is problematic and is actually out of line with where many jurisdictions are,” Smith said. “And I would say that Idaho proceeds at its peril. “Your dignity doesn’t end and your privacy doesn’t end in custody,” she said. Andrea Weiskircher has studied the federal standard closely since last summer when she filed a complaint against five prison workers she said abused her while she was incarcerated on a grand theft charge. She knows that the federal guidelines allow zero tolerance for harassment or assault behind bars. And that the Idaho Department of Correction has said it complies with those rules. “The guards can manipulate us and use us. That’s what I feel like they’re saying,” Weiskircher said. “That you can put your hands on my breast. You can kiss me. You can scare me. You can keep me in my cell and keep me from being released on parole. You can make me have to pretend to love you so I can get out of prison, so I can have things, so I can have a job. That doesn’t seem fair. “How come they get to do that to us?” she said. Nationwide, only 5% of substantiated cases of sexual misconduct by prison staff against inmates in 2019 and 2020 led to a conviction of any kind, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Justice [data](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/bjs-ojp-gov/document/svraca1920st.pdf). While most states have adopted laws to prevent guards and other prison staff from taking advantage of inmates under their control, few go as far to protect prisoners as the federal standard, an analysis by InvestigateWest found. Two states that closely mimic the federal standards are Arizona and Nevada, which allow prosecutors to charge guards and other correction workers for rape, sexual assault, coercion and harassment. Oregon’s felony custodial sexual misconduct law requires a threshold of physical contact similar to Idaho’s, while a second misdemeanor law expands the opportunity for prosecutors to charge guards who commit less severe sexual misconduct. Washington increased penalties for jail and prison staff who sexually abuse inmates in 2022 after a woman who was sexually harassed by a guard committed suicide in her jail cell. The guard was convicted of sexually assaulting four other women at the Forks city jail. Similar to Oregon, Washington has first-degree and second-degree violations for sexual abuse of people in custody. “Kimberly Bender’s Law,” named for the woman who died, now requires offenders convicted of first-degree custodial assault to register as a sex offender. Idaho law requires those convicted of sexual contact with a prisoner to register as a sex offender, too, limiting where they can live and work and requiring treatment and more frequent check-ins while on probation or parole. But when striking a plea deal, prosecutors often agree to remove that stipulation. Ricardo Quiroz, who was convicted of raping an inmate after he drove her to a medical procedure, is the only person charged with the crime in the past five years who has had to register as a sex offender. Lesser charges like sexual battery and burglary have been applied by Idaho prosecutors offering plea deals. Former Boise prison guard Roberto Guiller [Escobedo](https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/former-correctional-officer-arrested-on-charge-of-sex-with-inmate/article%5F09ae9396-8df7-11e2-9671-001a4bcf887a.html?ref=rangemedia.co) pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of unnecessary assault by an officer in 2013 after three male inmates accused the guard of groping them and one claimed that Escobedo performed oral sex on him and he was made to perform oral sex on Escobedo. Escobedo was sentenced to probation. “What are you condoning in Idaho?” Weiskircher said. “You don’t care if inmates are raped and molested.” ### **‘Quote, unquote victim’** In Idaho, leniency toward Department of Correction workers accused of sexually abusing an inmate is typical — even when it happens under the director’s nose. Morgan Cruz was an administrative assistant to Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt early in 2022 when she was assigned to supervise a crew of inmate workers who were cleaning and remodeling the department’s central offices. For nearly two years, Cruz had answered phones, kept calendars and wrote reports for Tewalt and other department administrators. She had never worked with inmates or attended the necessary training to do so, she told InvestigateWest. That summer, the department’s chief of staff, Christine Starr, and then-deputy director Bree Derrick, who’s now department director, told Cruz they had received a report that she was too close with one of the male workers and needed to maintain professional boundaries, Cruz said. She told them nothing inappropriate had happened. But that changed a few weeks later, she said. Cruz told an investigator that she gave the inmate oral sex at the department’s central office, where the offices of the director and other administrative staff are housed. She later recanted. Cruz said she knew it was wrong but she couldn’t deny their “storybook love.” And that’s how her attorney presented it in court, as a “consensual adult relationship,” even though under federal and state law, prisoners cannot consent. “Because they’re inmates, they’re treated almost like children,” said Erin Tognetti, who prosecuted child and inmate sex assaults while working for Bannock County. “Like, even if they act like it’s completely voluntary, well, nothing’s really voluntary because of the power disparity.” Cruz was sentenced to four years probation after pleading guilty to burglary — a broadly defined, nonviolent felony that caps prison time at 10 years and does not require sex offender registration. Idaho law defines burglary as anyone who enters a room with intent to commit a felony — in Cruz’s case, sexual contact with a prisoner. At least three other Idaho prison workers accused of sexually assaulting an inmate have accepted offers to plead to the lesser burglary charge, a search of court records revealed. From 2021 to 2024, Tognetti prosecuted sexual abuse cases at the women’s prison in Pocatello. Only two ever crossed her desk. She filed charges against both men. One guard died by suicide after being charged. Tognetti said that while Idaho’s law is clear that inmates cannot consent to sexual activity with prison staff, an inmate’s willingness, or at least the prosecutor’s perception of it, does influence the case. When Tognetti charged Alveris Tomassini with sexual contact with a prisoner, the law was on her side. He had touched an inmate’s genitals at Pocatello women’s prison where he had worked as a guard for only a couple of weeks. And evidence wasn’t a problem, either, Tognetti said. There was video of Tomassini’s arm reaching through a slot in the woman’s cell door and of him giving her a thumbs-up as he exited the unit. But Tognetti offered him a deal. Tomassini pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and was sentenced to probation. He wasn’t required to serve time in prison or register as a sex offender. “He got a good deal,” Tognetti said. The woman who Tomassini assaulted told investigators that she initiated the relationship. She said she flirted with guards at the prison. She liked the attention. She had been incarcerated for four years, and she missed being touched. A jury probably wouldn’t be sympathetic to a victim like that, Tognetti said. And, frankly, neither was Tognetti. “It was very much kind of a game to my — quote, unquote — victim,” Tognetti said. “She kind of saw it as a sport trying to get him to interact with her. She was actively pursuing him. She was flirting. She was flashing him. She was slipping him notes. “She was the one starting it so who knows how many guards have crossed the line with her. We have no idea.” **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. This reporting was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Pulitzer Center.** ### The POD: Catching (Luke) Up on the News URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-catching-up-on-the-news/ Last updated: 2025-10-24T16:00:00.000Z It’s been awhile since the RANGE team has all been on the show! Val, Erin, and Aaron chat as they catch Luke up on local news. Read the articles below: > [Spokane’s Prop 1(s): What they’ll do for parks and schools and how much they’ll cost](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-prop-1-what-theyll-do-and-cost/) (*Erin Sellers and Clarinne Kirk, RANGE Media*) > > [Spokane City Council candidate Alejandro Barrientos may be ineligible to represent District 2](https://www.rangemedia.co/alejandro-barrientos-council-candidacy-eligibility/) (*Erin Sellers, RANGE Media*) > > [Ad attacking Bingle falsely attributes wrong committee in apparent violation of state law](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/20/ad-attacking-bingle-falsely-attributes-wrong-commi/?ref=rangemedia.co) (*Emry Dinman, the Spokesman-Review*) > > [PAC responds to complaint over mislabeled mailer](https://www.rangemedia.co/pac-responds-to-complaint-over-mislabeled-mailer/) (*Aaron Hedge, RANGE Media*) ### PAC responds to complaint over mislabeled mailer URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pac-responds-to-complaint-over-mislabeled-mailer/ Last updated: 2025-10-24T00:41:00.000Z A political action committee (PAC) that mislabeled a campaign mailer against the reelection campaign of City Council Member Jonathan Bingle has [formally responded](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/enforcement-case-tracking-s3-us-west-2-amazonaws-com/8429/180257-eastern-washington-freedom-for-all-pac-response.pdf) to a [complaint](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/enforcement-case-tracking-s3-us-west-2-amazonaws-com/8429/180257-citizens-for-liberty-and-labor-complaint-2.pdf) filed with the state campaign disclosure regulator. The mailer said Citizens for Liberty and Labor (CLL) — a PAC that represents the interests of firefighter union IAFF Local 29 and government employee union AFSCME Local 270 — had funded the attack message. In fact, it was Eastern Washington Freedom for All (EWFA) PAC, which said in an emailed statement it represents “partners in labor, healthcare, childcare,” that had paid for it. The mistake made it falsely seem as if an organization that had supported Bingle had changed its mind. “We acknowledge an error on a recent mailer,” EWFA said in a statement earlier this week. “The outdated wording was initially inserted as a placeholder for design purposes only but unfortunately was not updated before printing. We regret the error and will ensure the right disclaimer language is included in subsequent mailings.” The complaint to the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) alleged the label violated state law by effectively concealing the identity of the organization that paid for it and sought the most serious penalty, a $10,000 fine. It noted that CLL closed in January and has not operated since, as [PDC filings](https://apollo.pdc.wa.gov/public/registrations/campaign-finance-report/110267130?ref=rangemedia.co) show. (Read our explainer from last year on campaign disclosures here.) EWFA blamed the error on the contractor that had designed the mailer, NWP Consulting, a Seattle-based political consultancy. NWP did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. If they respond, we will update this story. Bingle, in an interview on October 23, was not satisfied with EWFA’s formal response. “The damage is done,” Bingle said. “Improper information went out to thousands of people in my district, and those are real damages to what we're doing here in the city. … An issued apology does not make up for it.” He called for EWFA to write to all recipients of the original mailer to correct the record, but the PAC suggested it had no plans to do so. “We have been transparent with community partners and voters by sharing out the statement you mentioned and inviting others to do the same,” EWFA said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to do our due diligence by quickly responding to the PDC's requests and providing evidence to them and voters that future mailers sent have the correct information.” Bingle said the mistake measurably affected his campaign. “When I'm at the doors and people \[say\], ‘I thought you said that you were endorsed by these groups,’ and I'm saying, ‘I'm endorsed by these groups, and here is a letter from the head of AFSCME and the head of the firefighters union saying as much, it definitely affected the campaign,” Bingle said. Though he acknowledged the possibility the mislabeled disclosure was an honest mistake, Bingle added that he was skeptical because EWFA had not reached out to him to apologize. EWFA, in an emailed statement, said it would be inappropriate for the PAC to reach out to Bingle. “PACs should not be communicating directly with candidates at this time,” EWFA wrote. “Bingle should be aware of this policy and not expect that any PAC would reach out to him.” Conner Edwards, a lawyer for Larry Andrews — a Spokane business owner and city council frequent flyer — filed the PDC complaint about the Bingle mailer. Edwards said in an email suggesting the misprint was not a mistake that he wanted the PDC to impose the maximum $10,000 penalty on the EWFA. Randy Marler, the president of IAFF Local 29, said EWFA did reach out to him about the mailer to apologize, but he worried the mistake would harm Bingle’s campaign. “Family members that talk to me when they get who-to-vote-for mailers, they look at who's supporting which candidate, and that helps make up their mind for them,” Marler said. “People in the district trust the name of firefighters. We work really hard to build that trust. It makes a difference when you get something that says, ‘Firefighters don't like this guy.’” In a *Spokesman* [article](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/20/ad-attacking-bingle-falsely-attributes-wrong-commi/?ref=rangemedia.co) published October 20, Bingle expressed skepticism stemming from the fact that the treasurer for the PAC, Geoffrey Bracken, is also treasurer for his opponent, the reproductive rights organizer Sarah Dixit. PDC spokesperson Natalie Johnson told RANGE it’s legal for someone to act as treasurer for a PAC and a candidate in the same election as long as they do so in a “ministerial” capacity, meaning they only report spending and don’t consult on campaign strategy. Bracken is listed in PDC filings for the Dixit campaign and EWFA as the “ministerial treasurer” for both and told *The Spokesman* that he never approved any mailers. Dixit maintained the Bracken is professional and said he kept a strong "firewall" between his duties for different campaigns and PACs. EWFA’s response said an internal audit of EWFA’s mailers revealed another, less egregious, mistake on a mailer that supported the campaign of liberal City Council Member Zack Zappone. That mailer “accurately reflects the sponsor as Eastern Washington Freedom for All PAC, however it did omit the address, the top 5 contributors, the top 3 non-PAC contributors, as well as the disclaimer that no candidate authorized the ad,” the PDC response said of the Zappone mailer. Johnson, of the PDC, said it’s too early to tell what might happen with this case and that the regulator is dealing with a large backlog of complaints. PDC staff will review the complaint within 90 days, by which time it must schedule a hearing to “convert it to a formal investigation.” There is no legal time limit for completing the investigation, she said. “Case resolutions can include a dismissal, warnings, reminders (which would involve no fine), statements of understanding (in which a respondent would admit to a violation and could agree to pay a small fine) or the case could be taken to the full Commission for a hearing and a potential finding of a violation and fine,” she said in an email. *Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a short comment from Sarah Dixit.* ### Spokane City Council candidate Alejandro Barrientos may be ineligible to represent District 2 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/alejandro-barrientos-council-candidacy-eligibility/ Last updated: 2025-10-24T00:05:12.000Z Spokane’s district residency requirements may disqualify Spokane City Council candidate Alejandro Barrientos for the District 2 seat he’s running for. The city’s charter requires candidates to live in the district they’re seeking to represent for a full year immediately preceding the time the candidate files to run, but divorce documents filed last year show Barrientos told the courts he was not living in his District 2 home during that time period. Barrientos and his ex-wife Eva Vigouroux had three shared properties before their divorce: a condo in District 1 in downtown Spokane, a house on the South Hill in District 2 and a property in Idaho. In order to be qualified to run, Barrientos would have to have lived in District 2 since May 5, 2024 — a full year before he filed. Where Barrientos was residing in that timeframe is complicated. In June of 2024, Vigouroux had certified in a court document that she was living with their two children at the house in District 2\. In the dissolution of marriage petition Barrientos filed to the courts that same month, he certified that he and his soon-to-be-ex wife were living in separate households and had been since May 2024. The parenting plan the two submitted in June of 2024 also outlined the days the children would spend with Vigouroux versus the days they would spend with Barrientos, showing they were living in different households when they filed for divorce and were planning to continue in separate households. A final order submitted in October of 2024 continues to list Barrientos and Vigouroux as having separate homes. A month before he filed to run in May of 2025, Barrientos purchased a new home, back on the South Hill, where he has been living since. [ Spokane City Council Candidate Alejandro Barrientos may be ineligible to represent District 2 ](https://www.scribd.com/document/937393572/Spokane-City-Council-Candidate-Alejandro-Barrientos-may-be-ineligible-to-represent-District-2?ref=rangemedia.co#from%5Fembed "View Spokane City Council Candidate Alejandro Barrientos may be ineligible to represent District 2 on Scribd") by [ Valerie Osier ](https://www.scribd.com/user/626235289/Valerie-Osier?ref=rangemedia.co#from%5Fembed "View Valerie Osier's profile on Scribd") *Addresses have been redacted to protect Barrientos and Vigouroux's privacy.* “It was a stage in my life where I was on the go all the time. I was with my kids. I was with my ex-wife, and then there were nights where I had to stay downtown. There were nights where I had to stay with my brother,” Barrientos said. “There were nights where I stayed within the district … I would bear to guess probably 75% of the time. But I would have to talk to \[Vigouroux\] if she can remind me.” “One thing is what’s on paper, and another is the reality of things,” Vigouroux said in a text to RANGE. “Alejandro was at home with us, and his belongings were here until he finally settled into his current place.” Despite the divorce paperwork stating the contrary, Barrientos said he personally considered the South Hill house his primary residence. “ To me, a primary residence is where you have your belongings, where you're registered, where you're having a day to day,” he said. “That's where I had everything. That's where I would come to bathe my kids, spend time with them, and spend the night sometimes.” It’s also where he was registered to vote and where his ballot was delivered for the November 2024 General Election, just the second election Barrientos had ever voted in, according to Washington State voting records. “Divorce is a lot more complex than just paperwork,” he said. “You're in a divorce not having a place to be. It's complicated, especially with kids 'cause you don't want to disrupt kids.” Over the yearlong period from when Barrientos filed for divorce and certified he did not live with Vigouroux, and the day he filed for office in May 2025, Barrientos said he stayed with his brother, who lives in Cheney, for roughly two cumulative — though not consecutive — months. He also spent quite a bit of time in Stockton, California for his job, heading up SCAFCO Steel Stud Company’s acquisition of another company. It was at the downtown condo — which lies in the boundaries of council District 1 — where Barrientos spent at least some of his nights. “ After a long day and being with the kids, and then I would want to go somewhere, I would have time to reflect. I would go \[to the condo\] and spend the night and go back to work,” Barrientos said. Though Barrientos told RANGE he considered the South Hill his home, two sources say that in meetings with Barrientos, he claimed he had recently lived downtown. Former council member Lili Navarrete, who was appointed to the seat Barrientos is currently running for, said that she met with him at his request after she decided she was not going to run to represent District 2\. At that meeting, Navarrete (who has since endorsed Barrientos’ opponent Kate Telis) said Barrientos told her he could “relate to homelessness” because he was getting a divorce and had to leave his house for about six months until he found a new home near his kids on the South Hill. She says he described living in an apartment downtown, presumably the condo he owned. Council Member Paul Dillon, who would be Barrientos’ seatmate if elected and who has also endorsed Telis, said he had met Barrientos for coffee to discuss issues in the district and Barrientos mentioned recently living downtown. For his part, Barrientos said he has never claimed to live downtown. ### Legal considerations In the city of Spokane, the charter states that candidates “must have been a resident of the city and of the appropriate council district, for the one year immediately preceding the time of filing as a candidate.” The charter goes on to define “residency” as “a person's permanent address where he or she physically resides and maintains his or her abode.” According to Spokane County Election Manager Mike McLaughlin, it is up to candidates to determine whether or not their residency qualifies them to run. “We don’t have a way to verify that they’ve lived there,” he said. Whether or not Barrientos’ living situation in 2024 to 2025 qualifies as residency would be up to the courts. “If a question arises regarding a candidate’s residency and eligibility to file for office, the matter would require a legal challenge and a subsequent determination by a judge,” city spokesperson Erin Hut wrote in a statement to RANGE. While candidates have been disqualified for residency issues in the recent past — [once in 2021](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/aug/25/judge-removes-spokane-city-council-candidate-tyler/?ref=rangemedia.co) who was also running for a District 2 seat and once in [2013](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/jun/28/spokane-city-council-candidate-hamilton-tossed-bal/?ref=rangemedia.co) — both cases went to court before ballots had been sent out. If a challenge comes earlier in the election process, like before ballots have been sent, a judge can order a candidate to be removed from the ballot, which has happened in the past. This late in the process, with ballots already sent though, the options are more limited, McLaughlin said. If a case was filed with the court and a judge gave the verdict that the candidate was ineligible before ballots were counted, the Spokane County Elections Office would not count the votes for that candidate. If the court’s findings didn’t come until after ballots were counted, and election results were announced, “ they don't get to take the oath of office and then the jurisdiction would be able to appoint a person for that office,” McLaughlin said. “ T he court's the only one that can take a name off the ballot or tell us not to count the votes for that.” At this point, no complaints have been filed with the court, but if a complaint is filed, Barrientos is ready for the fight. “After I win and then this would be alleged, I would have to go to court and go through the process of trying to prove residency,” Barrientos said. “I mean, ballots are out. There’s probably going to be some procedure afterwards.” *Editor's Note: An early version of this story said Barrientos filed to run in late April. That has been corrected - the WA Secretary of State records show he filed to run May 5, but he registered as a candidate with the Public Disclosure Commission in late April.* ### The oft forgotten branch in elections: judges URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-oft-forgotten-branch-in-elections-judges/ Last updated: 2025-10-22T22:54:54.000Z If you’re registered to vote in Spokane, you should have your ballot by now. On it is a proposed amendment to the state constitution, city propositions, candidates for legislative offices. You’ve no doubt heard a lot about those — they’re campaigns often waged along the partisan lines of the culture wars that populate your social media feeds. But as you fill in your ballot, the elections for the third branch of government might feel like they snuck up on you: municipal courts, to which we elect three judges in every city election. These races are more obscure than others, though you can find [write ups](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/01/spokane-municipal-judge-election-becomes-microcosm/?ref=rangemedia.co) in [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/14/empathy-professionalism-and-adhd-spokane-municipal/?ref=rangemedia.co), and perhaps see some of the candidates at local party, activist and nonprofit events. Municipal court is held across the river from Spokane City Hall — out of sight from the other functions of government. But the races are analyzed in the [Progressive Voter Guide](https://progressivevotersguide.com/washington?ref=rangemedia.co), the hyperconservative [We Believe We Vote](https://webelievewevote.com/voter-guide/?ref=rangemedia.co) handbook and the [generic voter guide](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=894&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/) generated by Spokane County. Municipal judges make decisions on low-level criminal misdemeanor and civil infraction cases brought to them by the city prosecutor stemming from crimes committed within the city limits. The most prominent recent example of this is a slate of charges brought after dozens of people [were arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) for failing to disperse on June 11 after they demonstrated against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). All but two of those cases were eventually dismissed. But most cases are much less prominent, including drunk driving and domestic violence cases. Still, municipal judges often represent the initial contact someone makes with the criminal justice system, and if their interactions with that system are not resolved, it can result in a lifetime of incarceration. There are programs designed to prevent that from happening, but shortfalls in city budgets create what one judge called “cliffs” that make it more likely that someone who commits a crime will reoffend. The municipal courts also oversee the city’s “[therapeutic courts](https://my.spokanecity.org/courts/municipal-court/therapeutic/?ref=rangemedia.co),” five lower-level courts that can assign community service and connect any offender to resources to identify the root cause of their offense and to solve that problem. The municipal judges can decide to refer cases they hear to the therapeutic courts, which can hear drunk driving and domestic violence cases, as well as cases caused by mental health problems. Therapeutic courts have fallen on the sword of state budget cuts recently and were at risk of being shuttered, [but received](https://www.rangemedia.co/cash-for-the-citys-municipal-courts-creating-a-new-drug-court/) grant funding from the state at the end of last year to keep them temporarily afloat. While the municipal judge races typically fly under the radar of local elections and often carry only one candidate, this year is different: of the three positions, two are being challenged in somewhat heated terms. For Position 1, Kristin O’Sullivan, the presiding judge, is not being challenged, so RANGE is focusing on the remaining four candidates: former city attorney Lynden Smithson wants Judge Mary Logan’s Position 2 seat, while local defense attorney Sarah Freedman is challenging Judge Gloria Ochoa-Bruck for Position 3. Here’s what we know about these folks and where they stand on some of the most pressing issues facing the municipal court. ### Former city attorney challenges therapeutic court founder **Lynden Smithson** [Smithson](https://lyndenforjudge.com/home-page?ref=rangemedia.co), who ran unsuccessfully for a district court position in 2018, is by far the most conservative candidate in the race (though municipal court races are nonpartisan). He made his bones as a criminal defense attorney in Moses Lake where he defended DUI and other low-level cases. In 2003, he was hired by the city of Spokane to prosecute “mostly domestic violence cases,” he told RANGE, and he’s worked for the city since. Former Mayor Nadine Woodward hired him as city attorney in 2020, and during his time there, he increased prosecutions “probably out of necessity,” he said. He was replaced as city attorney by Mike Piccolo when Lisa Brown succeeded Woodward, but he still works in that office, working as a litigation attorney for the city. He has the most favorable [rating](https://webelievewevote.com/voter-guide/?ref=rangemedia.co) of the judge candidates from hyper conservative faith-based nonprofit (and Donald Trump-aligned) We Believe We Vote, which promotes right-wing political values to local Christian communities. Smithson said he got into the race because downtown businesses were being disadvantaged by a city that’s too lenient on unhoused people. “I've just kind of seen what's going on downtown,” he told RANGE in an interview. “Business owners and property owners and people in town have talked to me about it, I think because I was a city attorney and kind of a higher-profile job. They said, ‘Can you please do something?’” This is a common talking point of conservative critics of the city government who advocate for a stricter model of punishment for people who violate policies like the city’s camping ban. Asked about whether therapeutic courts should be expanded, he said that because the city is in a budget crunch, it should not consider making community courts more robust. “We don't have the resources for now,” he said. “If I don't have the gas to make it to Coeur d’Alene, I'm not going to drive to Missoula on the same tank, right?” Smithson also said the therapeutic courts need more scrutiny before the city gives them more resources, even as state budget cuts have put the program in danger. “We have to evaluate ourselves,” he said. “I want to increase public safety by compassionate accountability. Accountability, in my mind, goes both ways. I intend to hold people accountable that have committed crimes. … But at the same time, in the sense of community court and judges, \[it\] goes both ways.” He said that though his approach is focused on more stringent punishments for breaking city code, sentencing should not be described as “punitive” but as “compassionate accountability.” Smithson [is endorsed](https://lyndenforjudge.com/endoresments?ref=rangemedia.co) by Woodward, conservative City Council Member Jonathan Bingle and the Spokane Police Guild, the union that represents Spokane police, among others. **Mary Logan** Logan has been serving on the court since 2009, when the municipal court was brought under the umbrella of the city of Spokane (it was previously contracted to the county) and has the most established legacy of the four competing candidates. In 2012, she helped create Spokane’s therapeutic courts and stood up their central function, the Community Court, in 2013\. She now oversees that court, which connects people who’ve committed crimes with resources for mental health, substance use and housing. Logan said Community Court was needed because district judges didn’t have a deep understanding of the circumstances of people who live in downtown Spokane. “The sentencing would involve conditions that they couldn't possibly afford,” said Logan, who was a public defender representing indigent and disenfranchised people charged with crimes before she was a judge. “And if they didn't follow through with the conditions that involved treatment, and they couldn't afford treatment, well that was a violation of the conditions. … It was just this repetitive cycle of incarceration without really getting to the reason.” In addition to the philosophical mismatch between the district and municipal courts — which are referred to as “rehabilitative courts” — the therapeutic courts can access the funding to address some problems that rehabilitative courts can’t, Logan said. For example, therapeutic courts have access to state funding to pay for things like electronic home monitoring devices or GPS devices for victims of domestic violence to know whether their attacker might be close, Logan said. “In all of our therapeutic courts, we have received money from outside sources in order to do the work,” she said. In response to Smithson’s accusation that there’s no accountability for the therapeutic courts, Logan told *The Spokesman* that people are regularly accounted for in that system when they show up for their initial hearings and because they are required to check in regularly at the Central Library and with service providers. She also said she supports new funding measures to shore up resources for the courts, referencing a mental health tax that contributes insufficient amounts of money to city coffers to support the courts. Logan [is endorsed](https://reelectjudgemarylogan.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) by Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown; state Senator Marcus Riccelli, a Democrat of Spokane; and County Commissioner Amber Waldref, one of two liberal members of the Spokane County Board of Commissioners; among others. ### Defense attorney running for former tribal judge’s seat **Sarah Freedman** Freedman, who runs a private law practice from a small office on North Monroe Street, got her start serving county prosecutors in Klickitat and Spokane counties — positions she says gave her a special understanding of the mechanics of local prosecution. She is running on a two-pronged platform of advocating for resources for the therapeutic courts and centering the desires of victims of violent crimes, who don’t always want to seek the most stringent punishments for their attackers. She told RANGE prosecutors have the sole power over whether to prosecute a case — meaning the victim has no say in how they can reconcile with their attacker, who is often a loved one. Because of this, she said, prosecutors tend to pursue punitive measures rather than conciliatory ones, whether the victim wants their attacker to be punished or not. “It’s not infrequent for the charging attorney to go in and say, ‘No, we need to keep the victim safe,’” Freedman said in an interview this summer. “But they’re not being listened to.” Instead, she wants to expand the kinds of therapies that are used as tools to get offenders back on track. For example, she wants to adopt Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the therapeutic courts to rehabilitate people who’ve committed crimes related to mental health. “I want to expand that into treatment programs that work on underlying traumas that are causing people to participate in problematic behavior,” she said. She contends that there is currently a deficit of empathy in her opponent Gloria Ochoa-Bruck’s courtroom that disadvantages people with disabilities, including her own diagnosed ADHD, which was the subject of a [recent piece](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/14/empathy-professionalism-and-adhd-spokane-municipal/?ref=rangemedia.co) by *The Spokesman*’s Emry Dinman. In the article, Freedman accuses Ochoa-Bruck of being unconcerned with people’s disabilities. “I wouldn’t be running if it weren’t this courtroom,” she told RANGE. Freedman is endorsed by the Spokane County Democrats, the aerospace union Machinists 751 and Morgan Maxey of Maxey Law Offices, PLLC, among others. **Gloria Ochoa-Bruck** Ochoa-Bruck, who came into the US as the infant child of non-English-speaking immigrants, is the current judge in Position 2, having served since 2021 when she beat incumbent Michael Antush in an election. Before that, she served as a judge on the Kalispel Tribal Court. She declined to comment on Freedman’s allegations but said she empathizes with people who suffer from disabilities. She noted that she served on the state Supreme Court’s [Disability Justice Task Force](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-courts-wa-gov/disability-justice-task-force/public/final-djtf-study-report.pdf) that gave the state recommendations on how to accommodate people with disabilities in the criminal justice system. She said that justice has to be served for victims of crimes. Ochoa-Bruck, who previously served as a judge for the Kalispel Tribal Court, described one case in which someone stole a baseball bat from the back of a car that had been given to the owner by a grandparent, causing the victim distress because the bat had sentimental value. “ I think there's a tendency sometimes to focus solely on the individual in need and not remember that we have a social contract with each other to not hurt one another and to make sure that we respect each other in our shared spaces,” Ochoa-Bruck said. But she also emphasized that the goal of the courts is not to punish people who’ve committed crimes, but to put them on a productive life track. She said this is a difficult job because, to do so, the courts rely on networks of relationships between mental health providers, homeless services and people who help offenders navigate those systems. She advocated bringing some of those services under the purview of the municipal court to streamline this process. Which is yet another area of difficulty. She said the courts should have access to better funding models than they currently do — deriving part of their budget from the pockets of the very people who come before her bench. “We’re not supposed to generate revenue off the backs of people that are in poverty,” she said. As for the therapeutic courts, she said she supports them but only has one vote of three (the other two being the other municipal judges) when it comes to establishing their scope. Ochoa-Bruck [is endorsed](https://gloriaforjudge.com/endorsejudgegloria/?ref=rangemedia.co) by Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, Judge Don Calistro of the Kalispel Tribal Court and Spokane business owner Taryn Coleman, who has also done promotional work for Smithson. *Correction: The judge races are described in the Progressive Voter’s Guide. The two remaining cases from the June 11 protests are being litigated in municipal court. And Lynden Smithson is a litigation attorney for the city.* ### The faces of No Kings URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-faces-of-no-kings/ Last updated: 2025-10-21T23:39:08.000Z *A large crowd gathers on B.A. Clark grass field to listen to speakers. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* The second “No Kings” protest against rising authoritarianism in the Trump administration since June brought thousands of Spokanites back to B.A. Clark Park on Saturday afternoon. The name, chosen by organizers with Indivisible and other progressive organizations, is an assertion that President Donald Trump [must](https://www.npr.org/2025/10/10/nx-s1-5567177/national-guard-map-chicago-california-oregon?ref=rangemedia.co) [stop](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-doj-james-comey-baraka-mciver-rcna238085?ref=rangemedia.co) [abusing](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/us/politics/trump-whistle-blower-ukraine.html?ref=rangemedia.co) [his](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/02/20/secretary-noem-deputized-state-department-officials-immigration-officers?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=About%20DHS,to%20carry%20out%20mass%20deportations.) [power](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/04/president-trumps-first-100-days-attacks-on-human-rights/?ref=rangemedia.co). Thousands of protesters lined Division Street, while others gathered around a speaker’s tent in the middle of the park where activists called out Michael Baumgartner, who represents Eastern Washington in the US House of Representatives. Baumgartner has supported most of Trump’s policies, including c[utting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and health care and food benefits for the poorest](https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/by-the-numbers-house-republican-tax-agenda-favors-the-wealthy-and-leaves?ref=rangemedia.co), [reducing support for clean energy](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/04/trump-clean-energy-cuts-democrat-states?ref=rangemedia.co) and [ballooning the defense budget](https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2025-06/news/trump-proposes-trillion-dollar-defense-budget?ref=rangemedia.co). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image.png) *Maeve Griffith speaks before a crowd of thousands at the No Kings protest. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* “Something sinister happened to Michael Baumgartner,” said Maeve Griffith, a local military veteran, retired local firefighter, transgender activist and artist, during a short speech to the demonstrators. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1.jpg) *Attendees wear coats, gloves, and scarves while listening to speeches by The League of Women Voters. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* By 11 a.m., the park was a sea of coats, signs, drums, and energy. Some rallyers came in support of food security, others for trans rights, others to stop Trump’s immigration crackdown. There were almost no counterprotesters. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-2.jpg) *Folks line both sides of Division Street for about a mile. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Organizers estimated more than 10,000 people showed up. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-3.jpg) *Spokanites line Division Street, opposite side of B.A. Clark Park. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* While many people were inside the park listening to speakers, the line of protestors seeking visibility from commuters stretched about a mile, from Denny’s diner to the Northtown Mall. At about 2:45 pm, some protestors left the park for an unplanned march around the Garland District,carrying homemade signs and chanting. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-4.jpg) *A group of young adults protest against the Trump administration’s attacks on LGBTQIA+ communities. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Some of the signs displayed slogans like, “No Kings,” “We the People,” and “Love Wins,” “We Love America” and “Not Paid to Be Here” — direct responses to Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s allegations that the protests would be “anti-American” and the protesters were paid by leftist organizations to demonstrate. Others were more comedic: “Clean up on Aisle 47,” “I like my cities like I like my whiskey. Neat, no ICE,” and a drawing of a cat with the caption “Fascists get Scratches.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-5.jpg) *Dawn Moon stands next to Garfield wearing a jumpsuit covered in topics she has concerns over. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Dawn Moon, dressed in a white jumpsuit scribbled with colorful words, said, “I’ve made several different suits for protests because I have too many opinions for one sign.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-6.jpg) *A protester wearing an inflatable frog costume holds a sign depicting Trump’s pants on fire. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-7.jpg) *Two attendees wear crochet frog hats, the costume popularized in Oregon protests against federal immigration agents this month. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* Dennis Mitchell rolled up to the protest in a car decorated with inflatable Trump dolls, stickers and a poop emoji crown. “Today is way bigger, way better” than the April Hands Off! protest, he said. “People are aware now. More people are willing to stand up for what’s right.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1.png) *Dennis Mitchell shows off his costume and car. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-8.jpg) *A protester brings color and positive vibes to those next to her on the sidewalk . Photo by Sandra Rivera.* The protest stayed peaceful, aside from one tussle captured by *The Spokesman*, and no arrests were made. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-9.jpg) *The pirate flag from the anime, One Piece, has become a symbol during protests. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-10.jpg) *An array of homemade signs. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* ### Spokane’s Prop 1(s): What they’ll do for parks and schools and how much they’ll cost URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-prop-1-what-theyll-do-and-cost/ Last updated: 2025-10-21T22:44:40.000Z Spokane voters are being asked to consider a $440 million investment into parks and schools in a collaborative effort between the Spokane Public Schools and the Spokane Parks Department to maximize funding by proposing integrative projects. Dubbed [“Together Spokane,”](https://www.togetherspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) the collaboration includes a [$240 million parks levy](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/parksrec/levy/levy-fact-sheet-feb-2025.pdf) and [$200 million Spokane Public Schools bond that](https://www.spokaneschools.org/page/2025-bond?ref=rangemedia.co) will be paid for over the next 20 years. These funds look to renovate, build and expand both parks’ and schools’ facilities and services while strengthening inter-agency collaboration. While the agencies are coming to voters with a collaborative, joint proposal, the levy and bond will appear before voters as two separate items. On your ballot, the parks levy, labelled Proposition 1 will look like this: > *“The City of Spokane adopted Resolution No. 2025-0026 concerning funding for park renovation, improvements and safety citywide. This proposition would upgrade restrooms, playgrounds, sport courts and trailheads and park grounds, add three new parks, increase park rangers & maintenance staff, and protect natural lands.* > > *This proposition would authorize an increase in the regular property tax levy by $0.27 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, for a maximum regular property tax levy rate of $2.59 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, for collection in 2026; set the levy lid limit factor at 3% annually for the years 2027-2031; and use the 2031 levy amount to calculate subsequent levy limits. The property tax levy increase would remain in effect for a period of twenty years. Should this proposition be approved?* > > *Yes or No?”* It requires 50% of ballots cast to approve the levy. The school bond, also labelled Proposition 1, will look like this: > *“The Board of Directors of Spokane School District No 81 adopted Resolution No. 2025-03, concerning school improvements to provide adequate facilities for learning. This proposition would authorize the District to: rebuild Adams and Madison Elementaries; modernize sections of North Central High School and Garry Middle School; construct Trades High School; provide essential capital improvements to 66 schools/facilities (roofing, HVAC, plumbing, disability access, safety security, technology); improve activities/athletics infrastructure for students/community use; issue $200,000,000 of general obligation bonds maturing within 21 years; and levy annual excess property taxes to repay the bonds, all as provided in Resolution No. 2025-03.* > > *Should this proposition be:* > > *Approved or Rejected?”* It requires 60% of ballots cast to approve the bond. The combined proposal emerged out of multiple failures. In February of 2024, Spokane Public School District (SPS) went out to voters with a bond proposal, which would have raised funding for a lot of the physical building improvements outlined in the current proposal. That bond needed 60% of the votes to succeed. It didn’t even clear 55%, marking the [first time an SPS bond had failed since 1967](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/feb/13/spokane-county-voters-reject-school-bonds-but-give/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=the%20levy%E2%80%99s%20passage.-,Proposition%20No.%202%3A%20Bond,-Failed.%20Did%20not). On the Parks side, there was a failure to launch: an original proposal for a levy to support parks, which would’ve raised $225 million over 20 years, was [delayed by the Spokane City Council three times](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/nov/18/spokane-parks-tax-will-likely-be-delayed-for-a-thi/?ref=rangemedia.co) — likely because [council members were worried](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/apr/29/major-tax-increase-proposal-headed-to-spokane-vote/?ref=rangemedia.co) voters would not approve both the Community Safety Sales tax on the ballot at the time and a parks levy. The school bond failure, coupled with the city’s nervousness to go to voters with a new tax, led to the dual proposal, which leaders believe will maximize the impact of tax dollars. Garrett Jones, director of Parks and Recreation, said the collaboration is a direct result of public feedback. “The community came out loud and clear, and they wanted government agencies to actually work together, rather than being in their own separate silos, to start really working horizontally on their mission alignments and their goals and find those efficiencies in government,” he said. Through the collaborative use of funding, SPS Director of Communications Ryan Lancaster said taxpayers will maximize their investments, gaining an additional 30 projects at a lower cost than if the proposals did not merge projects. ### What it does So what will voters actually get? It depends on what exactly passes. The passage of both propositions would impact each school and park, from minor renovations to sweeping rebuilds and new construction. Among the many proposed uses, the school bond would fund a rebuild of Adams and Madison elementary schools, renovations to North Central High School and Garry and Chase middle schools and the creation of a four-year trades high school. Proposed uses for the park levy include the creation of three parks in Shiloh Hills, North Indian Trail and Latah/Hangman neighborhoods, park renovations in Minnehaha, Harmon and Grant and improvements in security and infrastructure across all city parks. If both the levy and the bond pass, voters will see the most positive impact. For example, the school bond includes an expansion of the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex, which will then be maintained in the long term through funding from the parks levy. Other projects that would be funded if both pass include: six outdoor learning centers, an indoor public aquatics center, citywide all-weather lighted fields and more. (The list can be viewed [here](https://www.togetherspokane.org/cost?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Schools%20%26%20Parks%20Together).) If either the levy or bond were to fail, collaborative projects such as these would not be possible, though projects independent of funding from both measures would continue as planned. With the passage of just one, things would become a lot more complicated, as the proposal was designed with collaboration in mind. A complete list of all the proposed projects, separated by bond and levy, can be found on the Together Spokane website [here](https://www.togetherspokane.org/projects?ref=rangemedia.co). If you want to see what could be coming to your neighborhood specifically, if the proposals pass, you can use their interactive map tool [here](https://www.togetherspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Explore%20all%20200%2B%20Projects%20City%2DWide). ### What it costs If you ask SPS — or at least, refer to their [mailer](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/18/truth-tester-spokane-public-schools-stresses-2-cen/?ref=rangemedia.co) — you can get all the school bond projects for just an additional 2 cents to your existing bond bill. Then, the parks levy would be a property tax levy at 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, for a total of an additional 29 cents per $1,000\. In total, that would be just a $7.25 per month cost, or $87 a year for a property valued at $300,000. That sounds really good, if it’s true. And it is — but only for 2026. What mailers and marketing from SPS and the Parks Department have failed to outline is the costs over the lifetime of the bond and the levy, which are significantly more than 29 cents per year. Right now, homeowners pay roughly $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed property value on the existing school bond bills from past voter-approved bonds. As outlined by the SPS mailer, that would increase by just 2 cents to $1.36 in 2026. In 2027, that number would rise by another 2 cents, up to $1.38\. Then, in 2028, it would jump by a whole 12 cents up to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is where your bill would stay until 2030. Despite these numbers, SPS has stuck to the 2 cents line, even going as far as to request a correction on a [previous edition of our CIVICS section](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/), which correctly listed the average monthly cost to voters over the lifespan of the bond and levy, instead of using the year when it would cost the least. On average, the combined proposals would actually cost someone owning a $300,000 home an additional $150 per year on average, not $87, when the lifespan of the taxes is considered. The proposal is also slightly more expensive than what it would’ve cost voters if SPS and the Parks Department had approached their propositions separately. The bond proposed by SPS in 2024 was a $200 million bond, while the levy the Parks Department was proposing was for $225 million over 20 years. The joint proposal now intends to collect $440 million. However, the joint proposal is more ambitious and encompasses more projects than either lone proposal was planning to undertake on its own, so voters are likely getting more bang for their buck. ### What people are saying Despite the price tag, the joint proposal has bipartisan support. Spokane city council members across the political spectrum — with the exception of Council Member Jonathan Bingle, who was [absent for the vote](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/06/spokane-city-council-locks-in-park-levy-vote-for-n/?ref=rangemedia.co) to put the proposition on the ballot and was vocally against the [partnership with the schools](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/23/spokane-schools-parks-have-released-their-440-mill/?ref=rangemedia.co) — voted in favor of the ballot measure. High-profile politicians on both sides of the political spectrum have voiced their approval for the proposal, including conservative council member and 2026 county auditor candidate Michael Cathcart, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and state senator Marcus Riccelli. The “For” statement for both the Parks levy and the SPS in the Washington State Voter’s Guide was prepared by Republican former mayor David Condon and Democrat former senator Andy Billig. The statement calls the proposal “a powerful example of how public partnerships can create more value and efficiency,” which will “improve every park and every school, in every neighborhood.” On the “Against” side, frequent testifier at Spokane City Council meetings Dennis Flynn wrote the Parks levy statement, and local engineer Russell Neff wrote the SPS statement. Flynn wanted to see the Parks plan have a prioritized action plan for the proposed projects, and said city dollars should be spent on other challenges instead of parks. Neff criticized the high cost of the school bond alongside other state and local taxes. “If this new bond passes, taxes will rise again starting in 2026 and keep climbing every year until at least 2030\. These increases might seem small, but they’re piling up — and families are feeling it,” he wrote. The statements on the Parks levy can be found [here](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=894&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/6823), and the SPS bond [here](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=894&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/6827). Jones and Lancaster highlighted the focus on community, stating that the innovative nature of the joint proposal was in response to community feedback and desires, both to get the most out of their tax dollars and to see investments across the city. “A big part of what makes this historic is trying to accommodate almost a rekindling of engagement in our communities and trying to build infrastructure to accommodate that,” Lancaster said. “Some of our foundational goals of this initiative is really creating a healthy, active community and really enhancing the identity of neighborhoods,” said Jones. “We really heard from the public \[the importance\] of the investment in neighborhoods and strengthening our neighborhoods within the City of Spokane, and that vehicle and mechanism is really through our schools, our school yards and our neighborhood parks.” *Editor's Note: This story has been edited to correct a formatting error and former state senator Andy Billig's title.* ### Spokane City Council wants to make it easier to fire their own staff URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/ Last updated: 2025-10-20T18:45:13.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Join us for Office Hours! This Wednesday, from 2 to 4 pm at Tay Tay’s Cafe. - Spokane City Council is set to vote on changes to the affordable housing fund. One of those changes is renaming it to the HEART fund. - There’s two council committee meetings this week, with some big items up for discussion, like the operation of the new tiny home village in the West Hills neighborhood, an ordinance to stop landlords from using software to do rental price-fixing and an ordinance making it easier for them to fire their own staff. - The Mead School District Board of Directors is revising its policy governing guest speakers to allow students to not attend speeches deemed “partisan” or “controversial” and to notify parents of such speakers. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) (and Study Session) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing](http://Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session) Session and [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) Session - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [West Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](http://Spokane School District Board of Directors %28special meeting%29) - [Spokane Valley City Council](http://Spokane Valley City Council) - [Liberty Lake City Council](http://Liberty Lake City Council) # Office Hours Dear readers: we love you and want to hang out, so, as we do every so often, we’re making some time and space for that. If you want to join us at our Office Hours session this week, we’ll be holed up at TayTay’s Cafe this **Wednesday, October 22 from 2 to 4 pm** to talk politics, elections, civics, journalism and really anything else you want to discuss. We hope to see you there! # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Looking for revenue Facing a $13 million budget deficit, the city wants to look at potential revenue sources for the 2026 budget, including possibly increasing property taxes collected. This is the same increase they do almost every year, which is the [state-allowed 1% increase](https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/tax-topics/property-tax-how-1-property-tax-levy-limit-works?ref=rangemedia.co) of total property tax collected (which doesn’t necessarily mean your bill will go up by 1% — [it’s complicated](https://dor.wa.gov/forms-publications/publications-subject/tax-topics/property-tax-how-1-property-tax-levy-limit-works?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=How%20does%20the%201%25%20levy%20limit%20affect%20property%20taxes%20on%20individual%20homes%3F).) They’re setting a date for public hearing on this, so folks can come make their voices heard next week before the property tax is on the council’s November 3 agenda. ### Federal wishlist Council could approve a resolution setting their federal lobbying priorities for 2025-2026\. On the list this year are just four items: - “Protect civil rights and programs essential to the most vulnerable - Improve public safety and access to care - Grow the regional economy and strengthen the local workforce - Invest in critical infrastructure” ### Safe Streets priorities Council is set to pass a resolution that sets their priorities for how the Safe Streets fund should be spent for 2026-2027 projects. Here’s the breakdown: - Up to $6,450,000 total can be spent on permanent and adaptive safe streets projects with construction in 2026. - Up to $2,267,000 of that total can be spent on permanent neighborhood safe streets projects. - Up to $525,000 is to be used for [adaptive safe streets](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-calming-design-spokane/) strategies installed in 2026. - Up to $8,875,000 in Spokane Safe Streets for All funds to be used for safe streets projects in 2027 - No less than $3.8 million on projects for [the 27 by 2027 bike network](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) ### Have a HEART After a series of deferrals, the city could finally approve the process of renaming the 1590 Fund to the HEART Fund. The 1590 Fund is made up of dollars collected through a sales tax authorized by the state government through bill 1590, with the revenue intended to be spent on affordable housing projects. The ordinance, which is up for a vote tonight, would also allow the city to use 10% of the revenue collected from the tax that fuels this fund on administrative fees from projects — up from 2.5% before. Also tied to the HEART fund is a second ordinance up for a vote that would establish a permit fee deferral program for projects seeking to create affordable housing. Up to $150,000 in permit fees can be deferred for eligible projects (though they still have to be paid eventually) which can reduce up-front costs for developers and incentivize affordable housing construction. There are other programs that qualify developers for permit fee deferrals, but this seems to expand the list and create a new chapter of city code to outline the details. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - The council could hold a vote on an emergency ordinance that would make it easier for them to fire their own council staff, getting rid of [protections established](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/16/spokane-council-considers-making-it-easier-to-fire/?ref=rangemedia.co) by then Council President Breean Beggs to ensure council staff had job security and weren’t subject to the political whims of the council. If passed, the ordinance would give the Council President sole authority to hire and fire council staff, except legislative assistants, which answer to their individual council members. - Conspicuously disappearing from the agenda is the item to change council meeting days from Monday to some other day. This is being deferred about three months, pushing it out to February 2, after the elections. > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, October 20 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, October 23 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** It’s already well underway if not completely over, but the council had a special meeting of the Urban Experience Committee at 10 am because of the cancellation last week. Here’s what they’re talking about: ### Killing rental market manipulation? Up for discussion is an ordinance from Council Member Zack Zappone that would ban the use of algorithmic rental pricing tools in Spokane, a form of market manipulation done by landlords to artificially inflate rent prices. In 2024, a report from the federal government found that the use of these anticompetitive softwares, which tell landlords in a region how much they can get away with charging by comparing prices, vacancies and rates, [cost renters an average of $70 per month](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/cea/written-materials/2024/12/17/the-cost-of-anticompetitive-pricing-algorithms-in-rental-housing/?ref=rangemedia.co). Here in Washington, Attorney General Nick Brown recently [filed a lawsuit](https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/washington-ag-says-realpage-and-landlords-conspired-harm-tenants-violate?ref=rangemedia.co) against one of the software companies, called RealPage, alleging the company and the landlords who used it violated the Consumer Protection Act. If passed, this could be the latest move in the council’s quest to [protect renters in the city](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/). ### Infodump The committee also was scheduled to get an information report on the city’s progress on a variety of important plans, including its periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan, [PlanSpokane 2046](https://my.spokanecity.org/planspokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) and climate planning. If you like to stay up-to-date on the planning and execution of, well, plans, this might be the meeting to watch. ### Homelessness contracts Also on the docket for discussion were three key items related to addressing homelessness in the region. The first was a proposal to extend the contracts of existing scatter site operators by three months, supporting 209 beds through December 31, 2025, while the city holds their traditional Request for Proposal process to decide if the sites will stay with the same operators or get new management. The second is information on how the city plans to administer a large grant received from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Encampment Resolution program. Currently, the plan on what to spend the grant money on is as follows: - $4,525,000 to Catholic Charities of Eastern WA’s Catalyst program for “temporary housing with on-site wraparound services and case management.” - $1,092,659 to Revive for 35 short-term beds with stabilization support that folks who were contacted through the encampment right-of-way resolution can be referred to - $942,44 to Revive for 22 permanent housing units with individualized services - $533,750 to Catholic Charities for 25 permanent housing units at El Estero - $575,000 to Waters Meet and Compassionate Addiction Treatment (CAT) for the New Roots Tiny Home Village with on-site case management - $127,889 to I2 Strategies for outreach and identification of individuals who are eligible to receive support through this program. Finally, tied to the Right of Way funding, there is also a request for council to approve CAT as the operator for the new tiny home village. CAT was the only applicant to clear the city’s scoring threshold. This agenda item also gives some insight into the future plans for the tiny home village and how it will be run, stating that occupants will be chosen through referrals of folks in temporary housing and engaged in services like emergency shelter and the Stabilization Center. The village will “be a structured, services-oriented environment intended to provide short-term stability for participants transitioning from homelessness toward permanent housing.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 20 at 12 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Rate changes, coming soon? Every year, the city looks at its fee and cost schedule for services like water, sewer and general facilities, and decides if the rate they’re charging consumers is keeping up with the cost to provide the services. Typically, this results in rates going up slightly, so that the city isn’t losing money on these services. At today’s PIES Committee, they’ll discuss rate changes for the typical list of services. You can take a look at all those proposed fee changes in the agenda. ### Spokane Falls Rebuild Spokane Falls Boulevard downtown, between Post and Division Street, is [scheduled for a rebuild](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/spokane-falls-boulevard-planning-study/?ref=rangemedia.co) in tandem with necessary repairs to the structural integrity of the road, and to utility features under the street. The city is studying ways to [revitalize this street](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-falls-boulevard-redesign/) while it’s under repairs, looking at enhanced pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, traffic flow enhancements and infrastructure upgrades to improve this section of road. At today’s committee meeting, the city will discuss some of the alternative concepts, including a proposal to convert the eastern segment (Washington St. to Division St.) to two-way traffic, and create a shared-use pedestrian path near Riverfront Park. ### Cutting labor protections We touched on this in the sneak peek for next week section, but council is also set to discuss an emergency ordinance that would [make it easier for them to fire their own employees](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/oct/16/spokane-council-considers-making-it-easier-to-fire/?ref=rangemedia.co). Currently, city council staff are protected by legislation spearheaded by former council president Breean Beggs, that requires a vote of 5 of the 7 council members to fire staff — an effort to give staff job security amidst changing political whims. As the city is staring down a budget crisis, the council is looking at culling their own staff, but they might not have all five votes to do it. So, instead, they’re working on emergency ordinance — which would still need five votes to pass — that would make the hiring and firing of all council staff besides legislative assistants the prerogative of the council president alone. This would significantly streamline the process to fire city council staff, which would be great for the budget, and potentially bad for employees, who would now have to worry every four years if they align with the political goals of a new council president. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 20 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) # MISC City ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### 2026 budget adoption The Board of Trustees is set to adopt the library’s 2026 budget. If you’re a big fan of the library and you want to know what they’re spending their money on, and whether or not their budget got cut in the face of the city’s budget crisis, this is the meeting to attend. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 21 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Spokane Falls Rebuild update Last year, the city commissioned a study into ways it could revitalize Spokane Falls Boulevard, whose infrastructure is old and in need of repair, as it is rebuilt. (See [write-up](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-wants-to-make-it-easier-to-fire-their-own-staff/) in Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee.) Also, the road was converted to a one-way before Expo-74, in an attempt to improve traffic in downtown Spokane, but city planners are now considering reverting to a two-way model. City engineer Kevin Picanco will give an update on the revitalization to the BAB on Tuesday. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 21 at 6 pm* > *City Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting%5FNWNlYjdjMDktMGYwMy00NDExLWE1ZTItN2UwYzliMGY1NzI2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2295fa1d6e-6a27-496e-9117-fc34d9076661%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8a149ab-0094-4c4e-b7e3-3633a0ca624f%22%7d&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, October 22 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $6M in TIF reimbursements due for Beacon Hill The Beacon Hill housing development in Northeast Spokane has completed some of its home, road and services construction — a water booster station and water runoff infrastructure — and the developer is asking for the first installment of reimbursements for its investments. The money would come from tax increment financing, which are essentially tax revenues generated by the improvements to property values generated by the development. The developer, the Beacon Hill TIF, LLC, is asking for $6,057,759.13 for its investment, of a $20 million in total TIF funding to build about 140 housing units. The BOCC will discuss this request but is not set to vote on it. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 21 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Board appointment The BOCC is set to appoint Nancy Conley as the Town of Latah representative on the Spokane County Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 21 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### 2026 budget There’s no information in the agenda sheet about the next year’s budget, but the airport will presumably have to start incorporating its cleanup of “[forever chemicals](https://rangemedia.co/tag/pfas/?ref=rangemedia.co)” into its spending, as mandated by the State Department of Ecology. In 2017, Spokane International Airport discovered per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in a test well on its campus, the same compounds many private well owners on the West Plains have found in their drinking water. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, October 23 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### ‘Controversial issues’ policy re: guest speakers set to be changed The policy governing student guest speakers currently says students can be exempt from attending addresses if a “large portion of the community” considers the speaker “partisan” or “controversial.” The board is looking to do away with that language, meaning a speaker would only have to be considered partisan or controversial by a small number of people. It’s unclear if there’s a process to determine whether a speaker falls into one of those categories. The revision would also require a school to notify parents if a speaker fell into those categories. The resolution does not list examples of any kinds of controversy or partisanship, but if we’re reading the tea leaves, this could mean that parents could ask that their children not hear speakers who advance queer rights, an abiding focus of the board. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 20 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## West Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/wvsdwa/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 22 at 6:30 pm* > *District Conference Center* > *8818 E. Grace, Spokane, WA 99212* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://zoom.us/j/92921829315?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special meeting) **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Forming Native education policy There’s no information in the agenda about any proposed policy, but the board will meet early today for a special meeting to initiate discussions on developing one. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 22 at 4:30 pm (special meeting) and 6 pm (regular)* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 21 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 21 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### A peek in the pocketbooks of Spokane City Council candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/campaign-finance-spokane-city-council-2025/ Last updated: 2025-10-17T21:20:16.000Z With ballots on the way and Election Day inching ever closer, we decided to take a peek into the pockets of the six candidates running for the Spokane City Council to see what their war chests (and Washington’s campaign finance transparency laws) can tell us about the election. Which special interest groups are funding which candidates? What in the world is the “Seattle Money Bomb?” Who is conservative megadonor Larry Stone giving his hundreds of thousands of dollars to this year and why is a self-proclaimed Democrat on his list? We have the answers — at least, all the answers reported to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission as of October 16, 2025, which is a little over two weeks before your ballot is due. ### Campaign contributions for dummies For campaign finance beginners, let’s go over the basics: just how much money has your favorite candidate raised? Looking at raw campaign contributions, the current fundraising leader is Kate Telis, one of the candidates running for the incumbent-less seat in District 2, followed closely by Christopher Savage, the conservative candidate challenging incumbent Zack Zappone for his District 3 seat. District 1 incumbent Jonathan Bingle trails the two fundraising leaders, sitting around $5,000 behind Savage. After Telis, Savage and Bingle, contributions drop off. Around $20,000 separate the three fundraising leaders from the other three candidates for council — Zappone, Alejandro Barrientos and Sarah Dixit — who are all clustered between $77,000 and $80,000 raised each. These fundraising totals aren’t out of the norm for Spokane politics, and seem relatively in-line with candidates’ totals from the 2023 council elections, though Telis and Savage have both outpaced every single one of the 2023 candidates for city council, save Katey Treloar (who lost to now-Council Member Paul Dillon). The crop of candidates for 2023 raised $554,111.08 in total, excluding the high-spending race for council president that saw conservative challenger Kim Plese raising over $250,000\. Currently, **the 2025 candidates as a whole have raised $521,237.95**, a number that will likely equal or surpass the 2023 totals with donations from the last few weeks of campaigning. If comparing the total campaign spending across years by district reveals anything, it’s that in 2023, political donors thought District 2 was the most competitive race (or were most inspired by that crop of candidates, if you have the less cynical view), while this year spending is a bit more even across districts. One other major shift: in 2023, the race to represent District 1 between incumbent Michael Cathcart and challenger Lindsey Shaw drew the least amount of financial support with both Cathcart and Shaw sitting at the bottom of the pack for fundraising. This year, more money is flowing into both District 1 campaigns and have outpaced their 2023 predecessors. Dixit, the progressive challenger, has out-fundraised Shaw by roughly $17,000, while conservative Bingle currently has around $20,000 more in contributions than Cathcart raised. Two other interesting details we noticed when taking a look at the basic campaign contributions and expenditures: - While most of the candidates are [spending through what they’ve raised](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/25692259/?ref=rangemedia.co), Zappone has spent just $23,322.38 of the total $79,574.90 he’s raised. Perhaps unrelated, but contributions raised for a city council race *can* carry over to future runs, and Zappone will not commit to a full four-year term on council when asked, instead leaving the door open for a mid-term run for a higher office. - Only one candidate has recorded debt with the PDC. Barrientos, the 36-year-old chief operations officer for the SCAFCO Steel Stud Company, took on $61,282.28 in campaign debt, the majority of which was [spent on KHQ TV ads](https://apollo.pdc.wa.gov/public/registrations/campaign-finance-report/110322052?ref=rangemedia.co) to run October 17 through November 3. # Independent expenditures: the money with no limit While the numbers reflected above might already seem huge to you, there’s even more spending on local political races that’s not reflected in the contribution tallies: [independent expenditures.](https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/candidate-taking-receipts/understanding-independent-expenditures/?ref=rangemedia.co) Unlike campaign contributions that go directly to your political campaign of choice, independent expenditures aren’t limited to any kind of contribution caps. They also can’t go directly into the war chests of any specific campaign (or even be spent in coordination with campaigns) but are instead a way that Political Action Committees (PACs), special interest groups and the wealthy can funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into influencing the results of elections. Two years ago, independent expenditure [money was practically falling out of the sky](https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-state-private-wealth-fueling-candidates-spokane-independent-expenditures/) (rich peoples’ bank accounts) and into support for conservative candidates running for key races in Spokane. It’s a lot less extreme this year across the board — at least, so far — but one race in particular has garnered the majority of independent expenditures: the race to fill the incumbentless seat in District 2. Barrientos is the clear beneficiary of the race’s independent expenditure spending. At this point, two PACs have spent nearly $100,000 on positive Barrientos messaging, and another $32,750 on negative messaging about Telis, his opponent. This is one of the more complex races because it’s not necessarily conservative vs. progressive. Both Barrientos and Telis call themselves Democrats, with Barrientos describing himself as an independent Democrat who is tough on public safety and homelessness, and Telis treading a more traditional liberal party line. But when you look at who is spending money on Barrientos, it’s almost all high profile conservatives and developer interest groups, which is evident in the independent expenditure spending: the [Spokane Good Government Alliance](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/committees/co-2025-23450?ref=rangemedia.co#contributions), which received $120,000 in contributions from conservative megadonor (and Barrientos’ boss) Larry Stone this election season alone, has spent $56,193 on independent expenditures that benefit Barrientos. The National Association of Realtors Fund, which has donated millions of dollars to conservative candidates in Washington, is the other major spender on independent expenditures to benefit Barrientos, dropping $40,188 to run mail, texts and ads telling you to vote for him. The other major benefactor of independent expenditures this time around is Savage, who is up to $61,776 in spending in his favor. He has three key benefactors: the Washington Realtors PAC and, like Barrientos, the Spokane Good Government Alliance and the National Association of Realtors Fund, the latter of which spent $45,869 on the same suite of mail, texts and ads. Not the biggest spend, but perhaps the funniest, is the $3,726.88 independent expenditure against Zappone, paid for by Larry Andrews. Andrews is a local business owner and frequent city council commenter, railing against environmental regulations, liberal homeless policies and Zappone’s role in the redistricting efforts, among other things. He spent his own money to get $500 worth of anti-Zappone research from [political consultant Jim Hedemark](https://www.inlander.com/news/almost-1-million-has-poured-into-spokanes-mayoral-race/article%5F631d1c50-a1bb-5d33-bb5a-8e970b08aaa3.html?ref=rangemedia.co), and then $2,958.82 to place an ad in the *Spokesman Review.* **How are IEs tracked?** The state PDC logs independent expenditures as being either “for” — in favor of — or “against” a given candidate or ballot measure. For measures, it’s straightforward, an IE is either in favor of the proposed measure, or opposed. For elected offices, things get a little more complex: because it’s possible to run positive and negative ads against any given candidate, there are four categories of spending for general election races. In the case of Zappone vs. Savage, for example, the PDC tracks pro-Zappone money and pro-Savage money, as well as money that’s anti-Zappone and anti-Savage, respectively. Why? Because IEs will often run ads that are explicitly positive or negative about one candidate without mentioning the other. So an ad that only focuses on Zappone’s accomplishments would count in the pro-Zappone column. An ad attacking Savage would count as anti-Savage. Many ads, though, have a mix. In cases where a mailer has an anti-Zappone message on one side and a pro-Savage message on the other, the cost of that ad would be split between those two buckets. It’s complicated, but it gives a nice level of detail about not just how much money is being spent, but also how that money is being deployed tactically. # Campaign Finance By District ## District 1 window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); ### Bingle ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/36.png) *Jonathan Bingle campaign photo.* Incumbent Bingle is the current fundraising leader in the District 1 race. He came into the race with a starting balance of $11,922.25 and has raised $90,029.26 this election season. Most of Bingle’s contributions come from individual donors, though he’s also received over $11,000 from businesses and over $7,000 from PACs. His donors overwhelmingly live in Spokane, with 78.7% of Bingle’s campaign contributions coming from donors located here. His donor list is full of local conservatives like former Gonzaga basketball player John Stockton, Spokane County Commissioner Al French and developer-turned-right-wing-email-influencer Sheldon Jackson. Other notable names in Bingle’s donor list include Chud Wendle, Kim Plese and Max Kuney. One trend we noticed in Bingle’s contribution data: he receives a lot of his funding from various landlords, realtors, developers and various associations representing them, like the Washington Association of Realtors, Build East PAC and the WA Multi Family Housing Association. Bingle, who received the endorsement of the local firefighters union, also received funding from that union’s PAC, and from Avista Utilities. *Find more information on Bingle’s campaign finances* [*here*](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3321845?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Dixit ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/31.png) *Sarah Dixit campaign photo.* While Dixit trails Bingle in fundraising with $77,950.75 in her account, she has out-raised both of the candidates for District 1 from 2023, perhaps indicating a renewed liberal interest in the district. Though it’s been a conservative stronghold since progressive Kate Burke left office in 2021, with the only two conservatives on the Spokane City Council both coming from District 1, voters in the region also swung in Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ favor by five points in 2024. Like Bingle, most of Dixit’s contributions also come from individual donors. She’s also received $8,520.00 from her “Artists in Action,” fundraiser, and about $4,000 in union support. Unlike Bingle, however, the majority of Dixit’s individual contribution donations originate from outside Spokane. Just 33.9% of Dixit’s donations are from Spokane, while 39.6% come from Seattle and the remaining third from a variety of other cities. Dixit addressed this donation make-up on the campaign trail, including at Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum, stating that she was the recipient of support from Seattle donor group [First Mile Circle](https://www.firstmilecircle.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (known in conservative circles as "The Seattle Money Bomb,") which helps support progressive candidates across the state. Despite the Seattle support, her donor list still features well known Spokane progressive politicians like Mayor Lisa Brown, Spokane City Council Members Kitty Klitzke, Betsy Wilkerson and Paul Dillon, Naghmana Sherazi, who ran against Bingle four years ago, and Carmela Conroy, who recently lost her congressional race to Rep. Michael Baumgartner. Also notable on Dixit’s donation list is local musician Allen Stone, who headlined her Artists in Action fundraiser. Dixit also has financial support of multiple unions, and interest groups like Spokane Regional Labor Council, Washington Progress Alliance and the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. *Find more information on Dixit’s campaign finances* [*here*](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3322389?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## District 2 window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); ### Telis ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/32.png) *Kate Telis campaign photo.* Sitting at the front of her race and the front of the whole pack for fundraising, Telis has raised $105,705.56 — the only candidate to clear that $100,000 bar so far. The one place she seems to be falling short is on independent expenditures, where donors are spending heavily to both bolster her opponent and hinder her. Telis’ contribution breakdown looks pretty standard: most of her donations come from individual donors, and most of those individual donors are from Washington. She’s also received $19,000 in contributions categorized as “other,” which looks to be small cash contributions, $5,000 from unions and a bit more than $5,000 from PACs. Her donor list is a who’s who of local liberal politicians like Mayor Lisa Brown, former representative Andy Billig, council president Betsy Wilkerson and council member Paul Dillon. She also received support from Sharon Smith and Don Barbieri of the Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund (which, disclosure, also supports RANGE.) She is also financially supported by interest groups like Planned Parenthood Advocates of Greater Washington, Alliance for Gun Responsibility and Western States Regional Council of Carpenters. *Find more information on Telis’ campaign finances* [*here*](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3321771?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Barrientos ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/33.png) *Alejandro Barrientos campaign photo.* Technically, Barrientos has raised the least amount of money at $77,818.69 — about $100 less than Dixit. His campaign has also taken on $61,282.28 in debt, though PDC reporting doesn’t make it clear how much of that has already been paid back. Still, Barrientos is the primary beneficiary of independent expenditures this campaign season, primarily from the Spokane Good Government Alliance, which received a large donation from his boss, Larry Stone, right before spending tens of thousands in Barrientos’ favor. Besides the influx of independent expenditure support, Barrientos’ breakdown also looks pretty standard: most of his donations are from individual contributors, and most of those contributors are based in Spokane. He also put in $4,563.22 of his own money, and has received $2,400 from PACs. His donor list has a lot of overlap with Bingle’s and Savage’s, pulling conservatives like John Stockton, Nadine Woodward and Al French’s wife Rosalie (although initial campaign reports showed $125 from French himself and was later amended to be under Rosalie’s name.) Barrientos also has the direct support of Stone, Spokane Business Association’s Gavin Cooley and Ryan Oelrich, although Oelrich donated about $50 more to Telis, Barrientos’ opponent. Barrientos is also supported heavily by the realtor/landlord/developer coalition, with donations from David Black (of NAI Black) and interest groups like Associated Builders and Contractors, BUILD East PAC / AGC Inland NW Chapter and Riverfall Tower Development Company. *Find more information on Barrientos’ campaign finances* [*here*](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3322123?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## District 3 window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); ### Savage ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/34.png) *Christopher Savage campaign photo.* Having raised both the second highest amount of money across the board and spurred the second highest amount of independent expenditures, Savage is sitting pretty with $95,158.79 raised. Perhaps the only money woe for Savage is that he’s spent most of that money already. In fact, Savage has spent about $30,000 more so far than any of the other candidates, and has less than $10,000 left to play with going into the final weeks of campaigning. Savage’s contribution list and breakdown looks pretty similar to Bingle’s: about 75% of his contribution total comes from Spokane donors, and the rest is mostly from residents of surrounding cities like Mead, Cheney and Spokane Valley. Most of those donors are also individual donors, though he’s received $7,078 from businesses and $5,800 from PACs. His notable donor list includes the same heavy hitters as Bingle — John Stockton, Al French and Chud Wendle — but Savage has also pulled donations from more rightwing local politicians, like Jessica Yaeger, Tim Archer and Marshall Casey, who [once employed Matt Shea](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/). He also has the financial support of conservative megadonor Larry Stone and of Steve Corker, a former Spokane City Council President and current landlord. Also like Bingle, Savage enjoys the support of landlords, developers, realtors and their interest groups, with support from WA Multi Family Housing Association, Rental Housing Association of WA and Washington Association of Realtors Political Affairs Council. *Find more information on Savage’s campaign finances* [*here*](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3320243?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Zappone ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/35.png) *Zack Zappone campaign photo.* Zappone is trailing Savage in fundraising by almost $20,000 — just slightly less than the total amount of money Zappone has spent on the race so far. While his war chest was smaller, he has a lot of cash left to spend in the final weeks, or to roll over to future elections. The location breakdown of his donors has him receiving 68% of his support from Spokane, with 10% coming from Seattle and the remaining chunk coming mostly from other cities in Washington. While most of the other candidates are bolstered by individual contributions, Zappone is the exception: around 40% of his total funds are from individual contributions, while PAC, union and “other” contributions make up the rest. He’s the biggest beneficiary of union contributions this year, receiving $10,100 from various local unions. His notable donor list looks similar to Telis’, including former representative Andy Billig, former Council President Lori Kinnear, former council members Candace Mumm and Karen Stratton, Mayor Lisa Brown, current Council President Betsy Wilkerson and seatmate Kitty Klitzke. Like the District 2 candidates, Zappone also received a contribution from past council member Ryan Oelrich for $250 — more than Oelrich donated to either of the candidates in his own District 2. He also received support from unions and interest groups like Spokane Regional Labor Council, the Washington Bus, the Washington Educators Association PAC and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Greater Washington PAC. *Find more information on Zappone’s campaign finances* [*here*](https://www.pdc.wa.gov/political-disclosure-reporting-data/browse-search-data/candidates/3321337?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* *Additional reporting contributed by Luke Baumgarten.* *Editor’s note: this story has been edited to correct a misspelled word.* ### The POD: Kirked Out URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-kirked-out/ Last updated: 2025-10-17T15:35:00.000Z Reporter Aaron Hedge was joined by Cassy Benefield – a reporter and associate editor with [Fāvs News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co) – as they talked about Charlie Kirk and his impact in the PNW. ### In Idaho women’s prisons, guards get away with sexual abuse and victims are blamed URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/idaho-womens-prisons-guards-sexual-abuse-victims-blamed/ Last updated: 2025-10-14T22:36:23.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/prison-failures-lead-illustration.png) (Ryan Inzana/InvestigateWest) *Editor’s note: The article discusses sexual assault. “Guarded by Predators” is a new investigative series exposing rape and abuse by Idaho’s prison guards and the system that shields them. Find the entire series at [investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators](http://investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators?ref=rangemedia.co).* If they hadn’t met in prison, none of it would have happened like this. On the outside, Jamie Hamilton would have been polite to Derek Stettler, maybe have had “a conversation,” she’d later tell an investigator. It probably would have ended there. She would have avoided years of trauma. He might still be alive. But Hamilton met Stettler in 2015 at Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, one of three women’s prisons in Idaho that shield guards like him from consequences for sexually abusing inmates. Hamilton was serving a two-year sentence for repeat driving-under-the-influence offenses. Stettler — 5-foot-10, balding and, as she remembers him, a “good Mormon boy” — seemed kind. “Brotherly.” They bonded over nerdy jokes and video games. “He would always tell me, ‘You’re not the type of person that should be in here,’” she says. It made her feel special. Human, in a place with little humanity. After two years, he told her to call him when she got out. “Absolutely,” she said sarcastically, with no intention of doing so. “Top of my list.” When she returned to the prison in 2021 after another DUI, both of them were going through a divorce, and their bond grew more intense. He passed her love notes, even called her mother to try to win her over. He flirted, groped and kissed her in linen closets away from the cameras. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked her mom on the phone from prison, transcripts show. “Am I supposed to yell? Fight him off? Put my time at risk?” Rumors of the inappropriate relationship made it to the warden, Janell Clement, who confronted Stettler. He told police later that it was his “chance” to come clean that he wished he’d taken. There was no further investigation by the prison. His fixation on Hamilton continued. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/stettler-records-and-mug-1.jpg) *Former Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center food service officer Derek Stettler (inset) was fired by the Idaho Department of Correction in 2022 and charged with the rape of an inmate. Stettler died by suicide before he could be convicted. (Idaho Department of Correction records)* In November, Hamilton was cleaning a bathroom when Stettler walked in. He unzipped his pants. The door closed and locked behind him. “He whipped out his penis, and he grabbed my face and he pushed (me) onto it, and I looked at him with this face of just utter — like, I don’t even know. I just remember my face saying everything,” Hamilton tells InvestigateWest. She wanted to “bite his dick off,” but both of them knew she wouldn’t, not there. “It felt like rape,” Hamilton would tell detectives. He apologized after, pleading that she keep it quiet. ### **‘A big problem’** In recent decades, the number of women entering prison nationwide has skyrocketed even when compared to the rate of men — a result of stricter drug laws like mandatory minimum sentences for low-level crimes. But few states, if any, have committed to the mass incarceration of women more than Idaho, where the population of imprisoned women increased by 50 times since 1980, far outpacing population growth in the state, which doubled in that time. Today, Idaho incarcerates women at a rate [higher than any other state](https://www.investigatewest.org/fueled-by-harsh-drug-sentences-idaho-leads-nation-in-womens-incarceration-report-finds/?ref=rangemedia.co), three times the national average. And a year of reporting by InvestigateWest has uncovered the unjust reality for those roughly 1,300 women currently in Idaho prisons: Once thrown behind bars, they’re kept there by guards — mostly men — who control every aspect of their lives; who can harass, grope, and sexually assault them with confidence that it will be kept quiet; and who, if caught, receive a kind of leniency from wardens, police, and judges that the women — most serving time for nonviolent drug convictions — could only dream of. This culture was described to InvestigateWest by more than two dozen women who say they were sexually abused or harassed by Idaho prison staff. And a review of prison records, police reports and court documents reveals how the prisons bury allegations of staff misconduct, leaving women vulnerable to retaliation within a system that views them as criminals even when they’re the victims of a crime. In a statement, the Idaho Department of Correction disagreed with the notion that it has a culture problem. “Protecting the safety and dignity of the individuals in our custody is a top priority, and we remain committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for everyone in our facilities,” the statement said. Idaho agreed to adopt the Prison Rape Elimination Act 10 years ago. The federal standards consider any sexual contact between a prison worker and an inmate to be sexual abuse, even if the inmate is willing in the moment. It calls for any potential criminal abuse or harassment to be investigated by law enforcement. Yet wardens and departmental leadership routinely allow guards to quietly resign without treating the abuse as the crime it is according to federal and state laws, InvestigateWest has found. Most accusations of staff sexual abuse are never referred to law enforcement by the Idaho Department of Correction, according to public reports compiled by the state prison system in accordance with the federal standards. Former employees told InvestigateWest that the department pressures guards to resign in exchange for dropping an investigation or avoiding one altogether, leaving their employment records clean and enabling them to take jobs at facilities in other states. These patterns can be found in men’s facilities, too. But women in prisons across the country are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse: A 2020 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found they are more likely than men to be sexually abused and harassed either by other inmates or by staff. In Idaho, sexual abuse by staff is reported at higher rates in women’s prisons than men’s, according to an InvestigateWest review of annual reports that the department compiles for a federal auditor. Reports of staff-on-inmate abuse at Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, the largest women-only prison in the state, were filed at about three times the rate of men’s prisons from 2021-2023. There’s no centralized database comparing state-by-state rates of staff sexual abuse in women’s prisons. And the official numbers don’t capture the totality of the problem. The Department of Correction provided only 24 cases when reporters asked for all sexual misconduct complaints against women’s prison workers in the last five years — a number that conflicts with the department’s own count in its annual reports mandated under the Prison Rape Elimination Act. After reporters asked about the discrepancy, the department provided a new list of reports, which still did not match the annual reporting data. Through police and court records, InvestigateWest identified more cases that had in fact been documented by the Department of Correction, but the department either could not find those records or withheld them from reporters. “That’s a big problem,” said Julie Abbate, a D.C.-based attorney who spent 15 years investigating sexual abuse in women’s prisons at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Abbate helped write the standards of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and is a certified auditor. Prisons, she said, are supposed to retain that information and have the records for misconduct allegations readily available. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/julieabbate1.jpg) *Julie Abbate, the national advocacy director for Just Detention International, testifies at a September 25, 2024 U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sexual assault in prisons. Abbate spent 15 years investigating sexual abuse in women’s prisons at the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and also helped write the standards of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee)* More concerning for Abbate is that InvestigateWest identified 59 documented allegations in Idaho women’s prisons since 2020\. That number totals allegations recorded either by the department or other law enforcement agencies, and given how frightening it is for an imprisoned victim to file a report, it’s almost surely the “tip of the iceberg,” Abbate said. When an investigation is launched, department policy allows victims to be moved away from other inmates and into segregated housing. In practice, many women said they were moved to the “hole” — small cells where prisoners are confinedup to 23 hours a day like a maximum-security prison. Victims said it felt like punishment. The department says “restrictive housing is very seldomly used to house potential victims of sexual abuse.” Of the 25 victims InvestigateWest spoke to for this story, many confirmed that they did not report their experiences for fear of retaliation. Others said they attempted to report misconduct through an “inmate concern form,” only for nothing to come from it. Hamilton, too, initially chose not to report it. But what happened next briefly lifted the curtain of the typically opaque Idaho prison system. Hamilton wasn’t the only woman being sexually abused by Stettler. And Stettler wasn’t the only guard at Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center who was getting away with it. ### **Widespread abuse** Accounts from several former inmates and guards suggest that seemingly everyone around Hamilton and Stettler knew something was going on between them in 2021\. But few saw Stettler as the perpetrator. That reflects a common mindset described to InvestigateWest within Idaho’s prison system: that male guards are the victims of women manipulating them with their sexuality. Former employees of the Idaho prison system often referred to abusive staff as being “compromised” by women under their charge who use flirting as a way to get what they want. Tim Higgins, who worked for the department for 30 years, oversaw all prison investigations statewide and conducted many of his own involving alleged staff sexual misconduct. He said inmates, especially women, view sexuality as a “game” to use against guards. Some women who perform sexual favors receive special treatment or contraband smuggled in by guards. “They would do things like expose themselves intentionally right towards the door,” Higgins said. “That’s why I never worked in a female facility, and I only worked in the female housing units when I absolutely had to, because I did not like those games that were always being played. It was difficult. It was hard.” Stettler saw it the same way. “I know that 99.99% of what they tell me is a lie because they are trying to manipulate me,” he’d later tell police. But he also knew what he was doing with Hamilton was wrong. “I’m an instructor, I literally teach people not to do this,” he said. Hamilton’s mother could see the imbalance from the outside: Her daughter was a Ferrari, she said. Prison was Stettler’s only chance to drive one. Hamilton emphasized that she never received any contraband from Stettler. Still, “people started saying it was my fault … that I was asking for it.” One guard who also worked in the kitchen, Jennifer Urban, documented in her reports how obvious the relationship was becoming. Other inmates felt uncomfortable because Hamilton was “purposely putting herself” near Stettler, according to an Aug. 27, 2021, report. Urban declined to comment for this article. The next day, Urban wrote that “the kitchen is in an uproar” about the rumors of a relationship with the two. Urban, according to the report, told Stettler to be “vigilant on where he positions himself” but told Hamilton that “her mannerisms are inappropriate.” Hamilton insisted she wasn’t trying to do anything like that on purpose. Both reports were reviewed by the warden, Clement. (The warden declined to comment for this story.) A few months later, in November, Hamilton said she sought help from Urban after Stettler followed her into the bathroom and forced her to perform oral sex. “She pretty much shut me down, called me a liar and said that it was probably my fault and that I asked for that kind of behavior,” Hamilton said. **Jamie Hamilton on the prison guard who abused her** Jamie Hamilton recounts how she became close with a prison guard, Derek Stettler, while imprisoned at Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center and how Stettler’s behavior escalated into an assault. Urban, however, later wrote in a report that no one had acknowledged or talked to her about her previous reports of the relationship. “I assumed it either wasn’t a big deal, or it had been looked at and the issue been dropped,” she wrote in the November report. She then detailed several examples she witnessed of inappropriate behavior, including an instance in which Hamilton followed Stettler into an office. “I finally had to tell her to stop following Stettler around like a puppy-dog,” Urban wrote. But she added that she has told Stettler on “several occasions” to stop putting himself where there are no cameras. It was around this time in late 2021 that Clement had a conversation with Stettler about the suspected relationship, according to Stettler’s statement to police. The Department of Correction, however, did not provide records of this conversation.Hamilton said she remembered being told twice that year there was some kind of investigation being done into Stettler, but then nothing came of it. Whatever inquiries occurred did not involve interviewing her, she told InvestigateWest. The prison finally launched an investigation the following spring on March 12, 2022, when Urban filed a fourth report, and another inmate reported that Hamilton and Stettler had been “in a relationship.” The Idaho State Police soon followed with its own investigation. Together, the investigations revealed evidence of widespread sexual abuse in the prison that the state had let disappear without further inquiry. The investigators discovered Stettler was sexually abusing a different woman in the summer of 2021\. In addition, Hamilton told state police detectives that she knew of another sexual relationship between an inmate and a sergeant who resigned roughly one year after she gave her statement to police. Another witness in the investigation said a different officer had a sexual relationship with an inmate a few years earlier, with the witness saying that officer and Stettler would cover for each other. That officer had already resigned by the time the Stettler investigation had launched. InvestigateWest identified two other officers who were fired or resigned shortly after they were accused of sexual misconduct in 2022 and 2023. In 2021 and 2022, the Department of Correction’s annual reports showed nine allegations of sexual abuse by staff, and all of them were deemed “unfounded” or “unsubstantiated.” That’s despite two officers, including Stettler, being charged criminally with sexual contact with a prisoner for incidents during that period. The second charged officer, Pocatello prison guard Alveris Tomassini, was arrested after touching an inmate’s genitals through a cell door in 2022\. The victim, Korena Weymouth-Bell, tells InvestigateWest that she had a romantic relationship with another guard at the prison named Brennan Horton. The pair passed notes back and forth for six months before Weymouth-Bell’s roommate reported it, she said. Horton, who could not be reached for comment, had also been named by a witness in the Stettler investigation who accused him of trying to follow her into a closet. Horton resigned on Oct. 7, 2022, for “personal” reasons, according to department records. “There’s been quite a few, and it’s not just me,” Weymouth-Bell said, referring to sexual relationships between staff and inmates. “It happens quite a lot, actually.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/siciwomen001-1.jpg) *Barbed wire fencing wraps around the South Idaho Correctional Institution outside of Boise. It's the only Idaho prison that incarcerates both men and women. (Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest)* The Department of Correction declined to answer any questions regarding the Stettler investigation. Marnie Shiels, a former Justice Department attorney adviser who specialized in the Prison Rape Elimination Act, says the federal law does little on its own to change prison culture around staff sexual misconduct. Each prison can choose its own federal auditor, and some of those auditors simply read the prison’s policies instead of talking to victims and digging into how those policies are actually implemented. Idaho prisons, she added, are not alone in holding victims responsible for their own abuse. “It’s a consistent problem,” Shiels says. “I’ve seen policies that even have that language referring to them as criminals. And it’s like, yes, in some other contexts, they’re criminals. But in this context, you’re talking about a victim, or an alleged victim.” ### **In the dark** The flurry of allegations that arose around Stettler surfaced through investigatory records from the Department of Correction and Idaho State Police. But Pocatello isn’t the only Idaho women’s prison to see clusters of guards resign following alleged sexual misconduct. Former inmates and employees describe similar periods of upheaval due to staff sexual misconduct at South Idaho Correctional Institution and South Boise Women’s Correctional Center. The accusations against most of those guards, however, never came to light. An Idaho prison [policy](https://forms-idoc.idaho.gov/WebLink/ElectronicFile.aspx?dbid=0&docid=281901&&ref=rangemedia.co), known as “resignation in lieu of discipline,” suspends the disciplinary process for misconduct once an employee quits. When an employee chooses to avoid a discipline by resigning, Idaho’s prison system notes the decision in its personnel files, which are not public record, leaving victims without justice and future employers in the dark. Officers, meanwhile, avoid facing rape allegations. The department says “we do not encourage employees to resign. We encourage them to participate in the investigation,” and it says those reviews continue even if the employee resigns and is no longer obligated to answer questions. If misconduct is found, it is “documented,” though the department would not release those records, or say where it is documented or who has access to that information. InvestigateWest has identified at least 18 prison guards who resigned or retired after allegedly sexually abusing incarcerated women since 2015\. Eight others were fired. The Department of Correction said it could not provide complaints or investigations regarding officers. [Prison workers accused of sexual misconduct](https://www.canva.com/design/DAG0xVZW4Rw/a14BbTWkQJ8IVtCeOiSBwA/view?utm%5Fcontent=DAG0xVZW4Rw&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=embeds&utm%5Fsource=link) Prison investigation records are included in criminal files if law enforcement investigates, but the prison system refers very few sexual abuse allegations to police, despite federal standards that say all allegations should be investigated criminally. Only three women’s prison guards have been criminally charged with sexual contact with an inmate since 2015. Abbate, the certified prison auditor and attorney, said all of this points to a “really, really troubled culture.” “The indicator that 18 of the workers resigned shortly after the misconduct was reported is super telling. Folks don’t tend to resign if there’s not something there,” she said. Co-workers or superiors of the accused are typically the first to investigate abuse complaints. Prison employees deem some allegations serious enough to tap the department’s Special Investigations Unit to avoid a conflict of interest. All complaints, including those accusing an inmate of sexual assault, should trigger a notification to the Department of Correction’s Prison Rape Elimination Act coordinator. (That role is currently vacant after Teresa Jones, who previously held the job, left the agency in August.) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/nicholas-baird-1.jpg) *South Boise Women’s Correctional Center Warden Nick Baird, pictured second from the right, poses with other Department of Correction staff in this October 2019 photo posted to the Idaho Department of Correction Facebook page. (Idaho Department of Correction)* If it’s an inmate accused of sexual abuse, the coordinator will refer it to police no matter what, substantiated or not, the annual report says. If it’s a prison worker, not an inmate, accused, then the coordinator will only refer it to police if the prison’s own investigators find evidence to substantiate the abuse, according to the department’s most recent annual report. That falls short of the federal standard, and prison staff hardly investigate allegations before closing cases and deciding not to tell police. Of all the staff sexual abuse or harassment reports that the department provided from women’s prisons since 2020, more than three-quarters were marked “unsubstantiated” or “unfounded” with little evidence of an investigation done, records show. Idaho isn’t alone in allowing accused abusers to quietly leave their jobs and avoid facing more severe consequences. Nationwide, nearly one-third of substantiated incidents of staff sexually abusing inmates resulted in the prison worker resigning before an investigation was complete, a 2024 Department of Justice report shows. In 38% of substantiated incidents, accused staff were fired or otherwise lost their jobs, according to the national report which analyzed 2019-2020 data. Higgins, the former lead investigator for the Idaho Department of Correction, said prison investigators “are much more aggressive and much more able to find out the truth than they would be someplace else.” He pointed to video evidence from cameras placed throughout Idaho prisons and the swiftness and ease of conducting interviews, searching inmates’ cells and confiscating personal items for evidence without a warrant. “If somebody wanted to search your house at home, they would have to get a warrant,” Higgins said. “With an inmate, I say, ‘I want you to go remove John from his cell and put him into the rec yard right now and then … I want every piece of paper removed from his property. I want to look at every piece of paper.’ And I could take all day and do that, and I did that without a warrant. It’s a warrantless search, because it’s our job to provide oversight.” window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); But staff know where the blind spots are, women told InvestigateWest. Several current and former inmates said guards used closets, vehicles, staff break rooms or offices without cameras to intimidate and coerce them. To unearth evidence in those cases, investigators may need to lean more on the victim’s account. But victims say they’re not always given the chance to provide information that might prove their allegations. Five women who filed complaints against prison workers in the summer of 2024 told InvestigateWest that they were never interviewed by investigators or updated on the results of an investigation. A year later, in July 2025, a guard who was monitoring inmate emails saw a message from one of those women, Donya Tanner, telling an InvestigateWest reporter that no one had investigated her complaint. A week after that, the guard informed Tanner that an investigation had occurred, but it was closed. The Department of Correction either could not find or withheld those investigative records requested by the news organization. ### **‘Culture of retaliation’** When the Pocatello prison began investigating Stettler in spring 2022, Hamilton was transferred to South Idaho Correctional Institution in Boise. Within months, prosecutors charged Stettler with rape. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/siciwomen007-1.jpg) *A woman incarcerated at the South Idaho Correctional Institution outside of Boise makes a call from stationary phones that line a wall. (Whitney Bryen / InvestigateWest)* Hamilton was ostracized by other inmates who called her a “rat” or “teller” after Stettler got fired. She was unable to go to the work center, a minimum-security area. She remembers a lieutenant one day telling her it was because of her “indiscretions at previous facilities,” and that staff was not supposed to be alone with her because she “might claim that they raped” her. In December, an arrest warrant was issued for Stettler after he missed a court hearing. Detectives went to his house to investigate and found his car in the driveway covered with snow. Another guard and Stettler’s son also lived at the house, but they said they hadn’t heard from Stettler in two days, according to a police report. Detectives searched a shed in the backyard and found Stettler dead — an obvious suicide. His death made the news, and word spread throughout the prisons. Hamilton was blamed by staff. “I was called a murderer,” she says. “A black widow.” “A lot of the higher up officers were ruthless, just absolutely ruthless with her,” said Joslin McNeece, who was an inmate atSouth Idaho Correctional Institution then. Monica Bowman, a fellow inmate at that time, said prison staff “definitely treated (Hamilton) differently than the rest of us.” Idaho Department of Correction Director Bree Derrick, promoted this year from her previous role as deputy director, said accounts like Hamilton’s don’t represent reality for most women in state prisons. If you were to ask random female inmates about their experience, she says, “you’re not going to find a culture of retaliation.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/bree-derrick-1-1.jpg) *Idaho Department of Correction Director Bree Derrick, who was appointed by Gov. Brad Little in March 2025\. (Idaho Department of Correction)* She adds, however, that “there’s much more we could be doing to shift the environment and the interventions that we provide for women.” She says the prison system has largely been designed around men, and the department as a whole needs to recognize that women enter prison typically for different reasons. “There’s a whole gender-responsive initiative that we’ve been kind of working on, on a slow burn, that I think could be scaled up,” Derrick said. “As it relates to (the Prison Rape Elimination Act), I think one of the main things that I would say we should do is, obviously, have a little bit more transparency around what the heck is happening.” Hamilton is convinced there needs to be bigger changes. Before she was in prison, Hamilton was studying forensic psychology, preparing to become a lawyer. Since her release, she has gone back to school and is finishing a doctorate in psychotherapy. She hopes to become a therapist for those in the correctional system suffering from trauma. She sued the Department of Correction for failing to protect her from Stettler, and the state settled the case for $62,500\. Much of it went toward attorney fees, Hamilton said. She says Idaho prison officials argued there “wasn’t enough evidence to prove I didn’t bait” Stettler. It’s one of many reasons why she’s moved far away from Idaho. It’s also why she’s cynical about what it would take to enact real change in Idaho’s three women’s prisons. “An act of God,” she quips. Everyone from the ground up would need to be replaced, she says. “In one way or another, it was known in all three facilities, all the way up, what was going on,” she says. “And they chose to overlook it.” **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. This reporting was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Pulitzer Center.** ### The Idaho prison guard who preyed on women — and the system that hid his ‘predatory’ conduct URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/idaho-prison-guard-preyed-system-hid-predatory-conduct/ Last updated: 2025-10-13T20:36:52.000Z *Editor’s note: The article discusses sexual assault. “Guarded by Predators” is a new investigative series exposing rape and abuse by Idaho’s prison guards and the system that shields them. Find the entire series at [investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators](http://investigatewest.org/guarded-by-predators?ref=rangemedia.co).* In January 2018, a woman imprisoned at South Idaho Correctional Institution outside Boise was taken to a medical clinic to get abnormal cervical tissue removed. A guard named Ricardo Quiroz — known among inmates as “Corporal Q” — was her only escort, and he let her sit up front in a white van. Afterward, still in pain and bleeding from the procedure, she and Quiroz walked back to the van. This time, she tells InvestigateWest, Quiroz told her to go all the way to the back. She complied. He followed her, telling her to take off her pants, says the woman, who asked to be referred to by her middle name, Lynn. “There’s certain times where you fight, and there’s certain times that you don’t, and when you’re an inmate …,” Lynn trails off. He raped her, Lynn says. Then he went back up to the driver’s seat and drove her back to prison. Two years later, after Lynn got out of prison and away from Quiroz, she reported what happened. Investigators then discovered that just weeks before Quiroz drove Lynn to her medical procedure, he used his access to prison records to locate and contact a second woman who had recently been released from prison for a sexual encounter, police reports show. Ada County prosecutors declined to press charges for the second woman. But based on Lynn's report, they did charge Quiroz, now 34, with one count of sexual contact with a prisoner. He was convicted in 2021 of the felony, considered rape under Idaho law. He had to register as a sex offender and spend nine months in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/quiroz-mug-and-report.jpg) *The Ada County Sheriff’s Office made heavy redactions to a report containing allegations that former South Idaho Correctional Institution prison guard Ricardo Quiroz (inset) assaulted an inmate. Quiroz was later charged and convicted in 2021 of sexual contact with a prisoner.* Though such charges against an officer typically become major local news stories, Quiroz’s case received zero coverage — until now. Neither the Idaho Department of Correction nor the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated Quiroz, notified the public that a prison guard had been arrested for preying on a woman in his custody. To this day, four years since his conviction, both agencies have declined to release basic information about the crime that Quiroz pleaded guilty to. InvestigateWest learned of the case after requesting from the Idaho court system all cases involving the charge of sexual contact with a prisoner since 2015\. Reporters relied on a heavily redacted police report, audio of court hearings, and interviews with the victim and others aware of the case to produce this story, which reveals how the Idaho Department of Correction failed to prevent a guard from abusing vulnerable women he was tasked with keeping safe and then hid details from the public. The department declined to discuss the case with reporters for this story. The case against Quiroz stands out as the only time in the last 10 years that an Idaho women’s prison guard has received a prison sentence for sexually assaulting an inmate. Most sexual abuse allegations, according to public reports compiled by the state prison system, are never referred to law enforcement by the Idaho Department of Correction — a likely violation of a federal law meant to stop prison sexual abuse. The cases that Idaho law enforcement does investigate rarely result in criminal charges, sometimes despite evidence that a guard had sexual contact with a prisoner, a felony whether or not the inmate is a willing participant in the moment. Even fewer guards are convicted of the crime if they are charged. Although Quiroz is the rare exception, Lynn doesn’t see the case as a victory for sexual assault survivors. Instead, she calls it an “infuriating” example of why sexual abuse by guards is so common. ### **‘Its Me’** By 2018, Quiroz had built a reputation in his five years at South Idaho Correctional Institution, a 700-bed men’s and women’s prison. His supervisors described how Quiroz would “make a game of these sexual conquests with not only the inmates, but with other staff,” according to a statement made by Ada County prosecutor Katelyn Farley during his 2021 sentencing hearing. Farley declined an interview for this story. Quiroz did not return several messages seeking comment. “He was making these decisions long before January of 2018\. The sentencing material showed that he was engaged in inappropriate sexual relations since 2013\. He was aware of these behaviors because it led to his divorce with his first wife,” Farley said in the hearing. The sentencing material she was referring to is not available for the public to obtain. The investigation of Quiroz focused on two alleged victims, one of them being Lynn. In police reports, the second alleged victim, whom InvestigateWest is not naming, described how when she was incarcerated at the prison’s prerelease center in late 2017, she would talk to “Q” — she didn’t know his real name — frequently about football. Eventually, he began flirting with her and rumors began to circulate within the prison, leading to internal investigations that hit dead ends, she said, because at that point, they hadn’t done anything physical. But she “enjoyed being treated like someone other than an inmate” and thought Q was attractive. One day, she went into a janitor’s closet for cleaning supplies and he followed her in. Cameras could not see them. She told police that he tried to kiss her, but she turned her face away before rushing out when they heard voices. A Department of Correction investigator interviewed her about the incident, but she “wasn’t honest with investigators” at the time, the police report says, “fearing her prison term would be extended for her involvement.” Q told her to look him up when she was released from prison. Weeks later, in January 2018, she was out on probation and was living in a halfway house in Boise. She got an email that said “Its Me” as the subject — it was Q. Quiroz told her he looked her information up in internal department records, which the general public does not have access to, according to her account in a police report. The two emailed back and forth, and they met up in his truck outside of her house. He was still in his uniform. The two began kissing, and Q put his hand on the back of her head, forcefully pushing it down toward his lap, according to the police report. It is not clear exactly what happened after that. The Ada County Sheriff’s Office redacted from the police report all descriptions of sexual contact that Quiroz allegedly had with any women, despite “sexual contact with a prisoner” being the crime for which he was convicted. In an email exchange included within the investigative file, the woman called Quiroz a “good kisser” and Quiroz replied to say she is too, “as well as everything (else) you did for me.” The two stopped talking on Jan. 8, 2018, when she found out Quiroz had a girlfriend, the emails show. InvestigateWest was unable to reach the woman for comment. Lynn, meanwhile, told InvestigateWest that Quiroz had been chatty with her during her time in the prison for drug possession. She’d heard rumors of “Q” having relationships with inmates, but she didn’t know if they were true. She thought he was a nice guy, and she trusted him to keep her safe during her medical appointment on Jan. 22, 2018. Brenda Smith, director of the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University in Washington, D.C., said despite the safety risk, prison transports are often conducted by a single guard and provide an easy opportunity for sexual assault. “It’s high risk and that has happened often,” Smith said. “That’s not something where somebody should go alone.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brenda-smith-1.jpg) *Brenda Smith is the director of the Project on Addressing Prison Rape at American University in Washington, D.C., and has studied the federal standards and state laws designed to protect inmates from sexual abuse. She says Idaho’s law is ”very narrow” compared to other states and could leave the state liable. (Provided by American University Washington College of Law)* Lynn considered reporting the assault to prison officials, but she thought it was too risky. “Either you’re gonna make your time worse, or you might get lucky and somebody will believe you, and things will get better,” she said in an interview. Though Lynn didn’t report the rape officially, she told another inmate what happened when she got back to the prison that night. That inmate later told police investigators that Lynn seemed scared of Quiroz after that and that Lynn had been in pain for several days afterward. She got out of prison later that year, but in 2020 she was arrested again for a probation violation in north Idaho. The county jail asked her a series of standard questions while booking her, including whether she had been sexually assaulted by an officer. She told the truth. “I was like, ‘OK, well, I know I’m going to get time, maybe they won’t send me to *that* prison,’” she said. ### **‘A high standard’** Quiroz entered a guilty plea for the charge against him in November 2020\. During the hearing, he admitted that he had sexual contact with Lynn and that the “whole allegation was true,” though no other victims were mentioned during the hearing. But in his sentencing hearing a few months later, Farley, the prosecutor, noted that in the presentencing documents, Quiroz repeatedly used the word “consensual sex” when referring to what happened with Lynn. “This was in no way, shape or form ‘consensual sex,’” Farley said. “(Lynn) paints a very different picture than what the defendant paints, and quite frankly it’s the more believable picture,” Farley said. “She discussed how that medical procedure was very painful, and she talked about how the defendant was forceful with her, that he demanded that she engage in this behavior.” The prosecutor said the women in the prison may have been criminals, but they have also been through trauma, which is sometimes why they may turn to drugs to cope. Lynn, 33, says that was true of her. She grew up in Washington and 10 years ago was working toward a college degree, hoping to be a social worker working to keep families together. But she spiraled into depression and alcohol abuse, and soon after, she began using meth. In some ways, prison is “the only safe place these women have” away from drugs, Farley said in the hearing. But that also leaves them extremely vulnerable. “They can’t flee, they can’t get away. They feel as if they can’t resist, or their chances of freedom will be taken. And this defendant preyed upon those women. He used his position, his authority, and the power he had as a correctional officer to make these women sexual conquests,” Farley said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/siciwomen012.jpg) *The outside of the women's facility at the South Idaho Correctional Institution outside of Boise. (Whitney Bryen/InvestigateWest)* Quiroz’s defense attorney, Joseph Filicetti, wrote Idaho’s sexual-contact-with-a-prisoner law in the ’90s — a fact he reminded the court of frequently during the case. He asked the judge only to impose probation, adding that he’s known Quiroz since he was an “amazing” kid, when Quiroz played soccer with Filicetti’s twins. He joined the U.S. Army as an infantryman, then came back from war to become a prison guard in 2013\. Filicetti described Quiroz as someone deeply affected by his time in the military that caused post-traumatic stress disorder. “When I saw him after he came back … he was a completely different kid. He was not social. He was very aggressive. When he came in and saw me on this case, my heart was broken for him because I could tell he really had done the things,” Filicetti said. Quiroz’s dad testified in support of his son’s character. And then Quiroz himself spoke up, admitting he made “unethical decisions” and engaged in “reckless behavior” that he attributed to his mental health. “I took my mental health for granted, and that caused me to fail as a human being. I am deeply sorry for all the pain I have caused everyone here today, the victims that are in this case, the disappointment I have brought to my family, my friends, my wife and my daughter. “I will never hurt anyone again,” he said. **Ricardo Quiroz’s sentencing statement** Former South Idaho Correctional Institution guard Ricardo Quiroz addresses an Ada County judge at his sentencing on February 10, 2021, for a felony charge of sexual contact with a prisoner. Quiroz told the court that he struggled with his mental health after serving in the U.S. Army and seeing combat, which he said caused him to make “unethical decisions” and engage in “reckless behavior.” The judge, Patrick Miller, called Quiroz a “good kid who served our country in the military,” but called his conduct “extremely reprehensible” and “predatory.” “We have to hold people who are in positions of power to a high standard,” Miller said. He imposed a prison term of 10 years, with two years fixed. But Quiroz didn’t have to go to prison right away — instead, he first was to serve a “rider,” an alternative sentencing option in Idaho that offers defendants intensive rehabilitation in state custody, but away from the general prison population. If completed successfully, Quiroz wouldn’t have to serve his full term. Only nine months into it, Quiroz had finished his rider successfully. Farley, noting that Quiroz “did a really good rider,” did not object to his release, and the judge adjusted the sentence. Quiroz now only had to get through probation. ### **Kept quiet** Since 2021, only a few cases of sexual abuse charges against Idaho Department of Correction staff have made headlines. One guard at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center, Derek Stettler, took his own life in 2022 after he was charged with the same crime as Quiroz. A probation officer named Saif Sabah Hasan Al Anbagi [fled the country](https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article296945174.html?ref=rangemedia.co) after multiple women he supervised accused him of forcing them into sexual activity. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/siciwomen004.jpg) *Women incarcerated at the South Idaho Correctional Institution play cards. (Whitney Bryen/InvestigateWest)* InvestigateWest has interviewed dozens of women who accused many more guards of sexual abuse, and reporters requested records that may document allegations of misconduct against more than 40 guards, including Quiroz. The department failed to provide records on all but two guards, and in some cases records clerks said they were not sure some of the guards ever worked for the department, even though other state records and victim accounts proved otherwise. When asked why the Department of Correction did not notify the public or release records regarding its investigation into Quiroz or other guards, a spokesperson said in an email that the department does not release personnel records. The department declined to say whether it determined the allegations of sexual abuse against Quiroz were substantiated and why Quiroz was allowed to resign in June 2018. Reporters also requested sexual misconduct cases that the Department of Correction referred to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, which until 2022 was the agency that investigated most allegations of sexual abuse in Idaho’s prisons. The sheriff’s office asked InvestigateWest to pay more than $5,000 for 85 police reports, and added that they could not guarantee all those reports were relevant. The sheriff’s office, including its spokespeople, refused to work with reporters to narrow the request. The sheriff’s legal adviser Spencer Lay told InvestigateWest’s attorneys, who were working pro bono, that the office had information that could reduce the cost of the request but refused to provide it to reporters, saying it was “no longer available for free per Idaho code.” He added that the sheriff’s office “is not the research arm” of InvestigateWest. Idaho’s public records law allows agencies to waive fees if the information is in the public interest and the requester can’t pay the cost, but Lay denied a waiver, too, arguing it is “unclear” how allegations against publicly employed prison guards are in the public interest. InvestigateWest declined to pay the costs without assurance that doing so would result in Ada County providing the relevant documents without heavy-handed redactions. InvestigateWest then asked for reports on Quiroz alone. Ada County Sheriff’s Office provided the reports, but redacted descriptions of the alleged crimes that it called “personal information” that “would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Yet in some instances, the reports did not redact victim names or their medical information. Lynn, released from prison for the last time shortly after Quiroz pleaded guilty, said she searched the internet for news coverage of the case. She wasn’t itching for the case to draw attention, but she was surprised to see none. “Why not tell the public? It’s something the public should know, what’s happening in the prison system. And it’s something that needs to be changed,” she says. “There’s so many things that go on in those walls that people don’t even realize.” It took years for Lynn to get her life back on track. She did two years of counseling before becoming a recovery coach, helping other people get through trauma. Today, she’s married and has a daughter. **Lynn on rebuilding her life after prison rape** Lynn, formerly incarcerated at South Idaho Correctional Institution, recalls a January 2018 medical appointment in which she was raped by the prison guard, Ricardo Quiroz, who escorted her to the doctor. She also reflects on the hard work she did after leaving prison to overcome substance use issues, process her trauma and build a career as a recovery coach helping others to do the same. “For the longest time, I felt like I was still in my own prison, and I felt like I couldn’t trust men, obviously, like it wasn’t just that situation, but that one definitely increased it, because it was one of those situations that I couldn’t just leave where I was at. I was stuck there,” she says. She listened to the hearings in the case for the first time this year, when provided by InvestigateWest. Despite what he did, she felt some sympathy and forgiveness for Quiroz, knowing he was going through his own mental health battle. “At least I can see him now as a person,” she says. Still, she worries that the leniency that the prison system and the courts gave Quiroz only made it more likely other women will be abused. “If that’s what one deputy gets for taking advantage of his position where he’s supposed to keep people safe,” she says, “then why wouldn’t other deputies do that and have little to no consequences?” **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. This reporting was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Pulitzer Center.** ### The POD: Community Organizing in Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-community-organizing-in-spokane/ Last updated: 2025-10-10T17:30:00.000Z We have two segments this week. The first segment is a short audio story RANGE Producer Pascal worked on. They spoke with participants during an organizing summit in Spokane last month, which was hosted by [re:power](https://repower.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). Organizers from groups such as the [Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane](https://pjals.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Asians for Collective Liberation in Spokane](https://aclspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), re:power, and [Waters Meet](https://www.empirehealthfoundation.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) all spoke about hope, movement building, and action. For the second segment, reporter Erin Sellers read their recent investigative story out loud, titled “Jordin v. Brayman: Spokane’s first right-to-counsel eviction trial by jury.” You can find the story linked below: > [**Jordin v. Brayman: Spokane’s first right-to-counsel eviction trial by jury**](https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/) (*Content warning: This story contains description of and reference to sexual assault.*) ### What do your council candidates want to do about climate change? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-council-candidates-climate-change-policy/ Last updated: 2025-10-08T23:16:06.000Z In 2021, persistent heat [killed](https://www.gonzaga.edu/climate-institute/projects/climate-resilience-project/old--beat-the-heat/understanding-extreme-heat/heat-dome?ref=rangemedia.co) 19 Spokane County residents. In 2023, the [Gray Fire](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/nov/19/it-was-just-raining-fire-the-day-the-gray-fire-cha/?ref=rangemedia.co) killed a person and destroyed hundreds of buildings in Medical Lake. This year, a stretch of the Spokane River [dried up](https://www.inlander.com/news/a-portion-of-the-spokane-river-ran-dry-last-week-can-we-do-more-to/article%5F73cb60c3-d79f-5038-81ae-db0ca88263f2.html?ref=rangemedia.co) completely near Barker Road for the first time in recorded history. The county has been in a state of drought for the last four years. Such events are more common now than in the past [due in part to](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9013542/?ref=rangemedia.co) warming temperatures caused by manmade greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat. With this in mind, candidates for Spokane and Spokane Valley city councils gathered last week at Gonzaga University to deliver their positions on current and proposed climate policies in Inland Northwest governments. The event was hosted by the university’s Institute on Climate, Water, and the Environment (ICWE) titled the Candidates Climate Change Forum, which has been running for the last seven years. The discussion focused largely on long-term community plans, which the city of Spokane and Spokane County are in the middle of crafting. (You can watch the event [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o%5FEepXcQYQg&list=PLameJiRPwIlTR2mL4Up%5Fm16ZsK9rEg98f&index=8&ref=rangemedia.co).) Long-term plans dictate how certain kinds of land can be developed, where public transit can be built and how wide, straight and fast streets can be, among other things. All these characteristics influence how many miles motorists drive and the carbon footprints of buildings, which are the primary producers of climate warming gases. Six of 13 invited city council candidates showed up: for the Spokane City Council, Sarah Dixit, who’s challenging incumbent Jonathan Bingle for his District 1 seat; incumbent Zack Zappone and challenger Christopher Savage for District 3; and Kate Telis for District 2\. For the Spokane Valley City Council, Mike Kelly and Kristopher Pockell competed. This was the first forum that included candidates from Spokane Valley, according to Brian Henning, the founder and director of the ICWE and moderator of the forum. The candidates’ proposed solutions — some of which are mandated by state law and others pioneered by city governments — focused on dense city building, expanded public transit and zoning that allows different kinds of buildings to be constructed in the same neighborhoods. One consistent theme of the night: local governments can act against climate change, but only when their budgets align with the solutions they come up with. Kelly, a conservative gunning for the Spokane Valley City Council seat that will be vacated by Rod Higgins next year, sits on the city’s planning commission and delivered something of an urbanist vision for future development. His comments focused on the layout of the city, though he did not directly mention climate change. “I'd love to see some sort of European-style mix where you have residential over retail … that people can actually own,” Kelly said. “This would provide not only some low income, entry-level housing, but it would be a good use of our space where we can build up a little bit on the five lanes of Appleway and Sprague.” New state requirements for local governments encourage suggestions like Kelly’s, Henning said in an interview. But local government policies that encourage people to drive less and local building regulations that curb emissions are central to the fight against climate change. “The series of questions on comprehensive planning, you'll see it as central to not only adapting to living with climate change, but solving the problem,” Henning said. “The county, for the first time ever, is going to have a plan that has a chapter on reducing emissions.” Pockell agreed with his opponent. “There are still a lot of areas where it's just vacant land waiting to be developed,” Pockell said. “Rather than contributing to that urban sprawl, \[it’s important to find\] those places and develop those and get higher density, more than just single family homes.” Candidates said they wanted to solve environmental problems, but some noted the budgetary concerns of financially strapped cities might hamper those efforts. Some parts of local communities are impacted more than others. Zappone and Dixit both advocated for progressive taxation of wealthy people and large corporations at the state level, which would ostensibly free up funding for things like safe places for people to go when temperatures are too hot to safely stay outside. “Sales tax is a big burden on folks who are living paycheck-to-paycheck who have the lowest incomes in our city. That's not equitable,” Dixit said. “We need to make sure people are paying their fair share. If we're all experiencing climate change, that needs to be an expectation.” But Washington, like Spokane, is also in a budget crunch. Kelly, who said he prefers private-sector solutions to government action, and other candidates noted these solutions all depend on government revenues and budgeting, a fickle practice that often doesn’t consider long-term considerations like climate change. “We all understand that we can have anything that we want as long as we're willing to pay for it,” Kelly said. Savage echoed Kelly’s comments. “The city's in a $13 million deficit,” he said of Spokane. “It is going to be very, very difficult to try to open these shelters and implement weather areas because we just don't have the money.” He advocated, instead, for cheaper programs, like the urban tree-planting effort SpoCanopy, to expand areas of the city that are cooler because they are under shade. Savage said he has personally planted 100 trees in Spokane over the last decade. But, when pressed by moderator Brian Henning, Savage said he would cut the tree program if it came into conflict with funding police or fire response services. Zappone, who is campaigning for reelection on a platform of making Spokane more dense, noticed that climate-friendly planning is good for the budget in the long-term because a smaller city geography necessitates less services to far-flung areas. “If we are planning for growth outside the city, we have to then start planning for water towers outside our city, pump stations outside our city,” Zappone said. “Those things are costly and have more water use, more congestion, more irrigation.” At other forums, Zappone and Savage have found themselves at odds when it comes to development, with Zappone advocating for density and Savage the annexation of more county land for single-family home sprawl. The conversation also addressed other ways local governments can respond to climate change. A certain amount of warming is unavoidable because national governments across the globe were too slow to curb it. As a result, the climate in most environments is hotter, which in the Inland Northwest translates to a water shortage. Scarce water is an unfortunate problem for a place like Spokane County that consumes it at nearly 300 gallons per capita every day, around three times the national average. This consumption is one of the culprits of a dry Spokane River. Spokane has required its residents to curb this consumption by banning lawn watering during the hottest parts of the day and encouraging landscaping with less grass and more local flora. But there [is no enforcement mechanism](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/17/spokane-urges-residents-to-water-lawns-less-as-riv/?ref=rangemedia.co) for these policies, the candidates said. Kelly said the region could conserve water by building relationships with large water consumers like ranchers, farmers, golf courses and other entities that have fields of plants to keep hydrated. “Agriculture is big in this area and of course, they're using a lot of water,” Kelly said. But, the candidates agreed, the city of Spokane seems not to follow its own rules when it sometimes waters its parks in the hottest parts of the day. “We need to start with commercial businesses as well as the highest users and the city needs to lead by example,” Telis said. “People are confused about what the water regulations are because the city is not actually following through on that.” Zappone added that the reason the city waters during the day is because park staff only water during working hours, and the city does not have money to install automated systems. He said voters should approve a parks levy on ballots this fall that would allow the city to install automated watering systems. During the forum, Henning instructed the audience to show approval or dissent by waving, respectively, a provided green or red sheet of paper rather than clapping or heckling. Green flags tended to flash when candidates supported government action on climate change and red ones when they said government was too limited or the wrong actor to address the crisis. ### Politicrawl, camping ordinance and ‘Charlie Kirk Day’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/ Last updated: 2025-10-06T17:46:43.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Join RANGE this Friday for our second annual Politicrawl, a politics-themed barcrawl for the politically passionate or the civically curious! - Spokane City Council is having a first read on an ordinance to change the day of their regular Monday council meetings, but they don’t know what day they want to change it to yet. - The Public Safety & Community Health Committee will be discussing opioid treatment and reviewing the unlawful camping ordinance they passed earlier this summer. - The Mead School District Board is planning to discuss a Supreme Court decision that allowed parents to challenge individual bits of curriculum, like books that discuss the right to gay marriage in a positive light. - The Spokane Valley City Council will set its legislative agenda for the next year, focusing on increasing police capacity in the city. - The Liberty Lake City Council will vote on whether to establish October 14 as “Charlie Kirk Day” to honor the far-right activist who was assassinated last month. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council (and Study Session)](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) Session and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/politicrawl-camping-ordinance-and-charlie-kirk-day/) ## The Politicrawl Join RANGE this Friday from 6 to 10 pm for our second annual PolitiCrawl, a bar crawl celebrating political engagement and community empowerment beyond election season! We’ll stop at four bars, one in each city council district and one we’re calling our “citywide bar,” where you can chat with local electeds, candidates, journalists and other civically-minded or civically-curious Spokanites. More information [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-politicrawl-is-back/), or if you already know you want to come, you can register [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-politicrawl-by-range-media-tickets-1735696648399?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl&ref=rangemedia.co) to get the full map and help us give bars a heads-up of how many people to expect! # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Consent contracts There are a couple of interesting contracts in the consent agenda for this week, including a $200,000 contract with engineering firm DOWL, Inc for the design of the Pacific Avenue Greenway and a $3.4 million subcontract with Spokane County to support eviction prevention services within Spokane city limits for 2026 through 2028\. The eviction prevention services will be administered by subcontractors chosen through a competitive request for proposals process. ### West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing Over $300,000 of funds collected through the [West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing District ](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/west-quadrant-tax-increment-finance-district/?ref=rangemedia.co)could be spent on a couple of projects, with council’s approval tonight. The first is a more than $100,000 spend on reimbursing local developer and [conservative mega donor Larry Stone](https://www.inlander.com/news/who-is-larry-stone-and-why-is-he-spending-so-much-money-trying-to-influence-spokane-politics-26790579?ref=rangemedia.co) for fixing the sidewalk, landscaping and street lights outside of a building on Monroe Street that he is renovating. The second project is $229,692 for public improvements to be installed as part of implementing the “West Central Infrastructure Project” and the “27 by 2027 Urban Mobility Network.” ### HEART to heart After a series of deferrals, the city could actually start the process of renaming the 1590 Fund to the HEART Fund. The 1590 Fund is made up of dollars collected through a sales tax authorized by the state government through bill 1590, with the revenue intended to be spent on affordable housing projects. The ordinance would also allow the city to use 10% of the revenue collected from the tax that fuels this fund on administrative fees from projects — up from 2.5% before. ### Monday or some other day? Council could hold a first read on an ordinance to change the meeting days from Monday to something else. What that something else could be is still up in the air; the agenda item still has a blank in place for the replacement day. Essentially, if passed, this ordinance would empower the city council to agree to move the day, and then select the new day later, after discussion and community engagement. It’s unclear why they wouldn’t do that first and then vote on an ordinance that actually says what day they’re moving meetings to. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Next week’s council meeting and committee meeting are both cancelled for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, October 6 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, May 16 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Report central The council is set to get a slate of reports at the committee meeting. Here are a few of the highlights: - The red light camera system saw 2,017 violations for the month of August, which is up 12 violations from last year. The intersection where drivers were most likely to run a red light was by far Freya and 3rd, with Brown and Sprague and Sprague and Division intersections second and third. - There were no speed camera violations in August. That doesn’t mean drivers got safer, it just means the cameras were off because school wasn’t in session. - The quarterly asset forfeiture and seizure report showed that the assets the Spokane Police Department seized exceeded the program’s expenditures, which in layperson’s terms means we made money off of asset forfeiture. ### Opioid Treatment presentation Dr. Bob Lutz, the former health officer for Spokane Regional Health District, will give a presentation on opioid treatment to the council. There’s no info attached in the agenda, but it’s scheduled for 20 minutes. ### Review of camping ordinance Earlier this summer, the Spokane City Council passed the HOME ordinance as a replacement for the voter-approved Proposition 1, which was [overturned by the state Supreme Court](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/). While Proposition 1 banned camping near parks and schools, [HOME went further](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/01/spokane-outlaws-homeless-camping-citywide-but-prio/?ref=rangemedia.co), making camping illegal citywide, while giving more flexibility in enforcement to connect people with services before jumping straight to arrest. There’s no information in the agenda as to what it’s supposed to entail, but Council Member Zack Zappone, who is running for reelection, has put a “review of obstruction and unlawful camping ordinance,” on the agenda. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 6 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) # MISC City ## Spokane Plan Commission /5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, October 8 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, October 8 at 12:30 pm* > *Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room* > *720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 7 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $620K for mental health field response program The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs has awarded the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office $620,000 to fund the county’s Behavioral Health Unit, an alternative to police response designed to keep people in mental health crisis out of the carceral system. ### Aquifer protection funds available for school districts In the November election, Spokane County voters renewed the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer Protection District, a tax that pays for groundwater conservation, including educational programs to teach grade-school children about the aquifer, which is a drinking water source for about 500,000 people. The BOCC will vote on agreements with three local school districts to manage these educational programs and distribute the funds in the following amounts: - $20,000 to the West Valley School District over two years - $5,000 to the Mead School District over one year, and - $4,000 to the East Valley School District over two years ### $3M in state money for Harvard Road improvement Spokane County has secured more than $3 million from the state Department of Transportation to install a roundabout at the intersection of Harvard and Euclid roads, build a guardrail along sections of Day Mt. Spokane Road and remove trees and install guardrails along portions of Government Way and Hayford and Forker roads. The BOCC is set to accept the money Tuesday. ### Board appointment The BOCC is set to reappoint Kimberley Taylor to the Spokane County Behavioral Health Advisory Board. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 7 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council **/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 9 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Opting out of LGBTQ+ books? It’s just a work session, which means no public comment opportunity, but Mead School District board is scheduled to discuss the “Mahmoud Court Case.” This likely refers to [Mahmoud v. Taylor](https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/mahmoud-v-taylor/?ref=rangemedia.co), a Supreme Court decision which gave parents seeking to opt their kids out of LGBTQ+ affirming storybooks in curriculum the right to preliminary injunction. The National Education Association [believed](https://hechingerreport.org/supreme-court-ruling-could-have-widespread-impact-on-school-curricula/?ref=rangemedia.co) the Supreme Court decision will “hamstring efforts to give students a full, engaging, and inclusive public education,” because it gives parents the right to object to individual pieces of curriculum. It’s unclear exactly how Mead wants to use this Supreme Court decision, but given their [past record](https://www.rangemedia.co/mead-school-board-critical-race-theory-gender-library/) on queer issues, it’s likely to suppress any kind of queer media in classrooms in the name of religious freedom. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, October 6 at 6 p.m.* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Monday, May 13 at 6 p.m.* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, October 8 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Police-heavy legislative agenda The council will vote whether to adopt Spokane Valley’s proposed legislative agenda, the list of priorities for setting policy in the city over the next year. At the top of the list is public safety, which focuses on expanding punitive functions of government and involuntary treatment of people struggling with mental health crises, including police and the discretion of judges to impose harsher penalties for various crimes. Here is a partial list of public safety measures [proposed](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=1362&meta%5Fid=102207&ref=rangemedia.co) (edited for length and clarity): - Allowing judges the option to increase penalties for crimes perpetrated by habitual property offenders and for those who recklessly endanger the health, safety and life of others by their use of controlled substances, especially fentanyl - Prioritizing prevention, treatment and recovery services over government-provided harm reduction programs like safe needles - Increasing resources to hire and protect law enforcement officers - Increasing investments in alternative response teams, such as the city’s behavioral health unit and homeless outreach teams that pair an officer with either a social worker or a mental health professional in a co-responder model - Monitoring and supporting changes in Medicaid reimbursement that allow individuals to more effectively receive substance use disorder treatment - Revising the Involuntary Treatment Act and funding an adequate number of designated crisis responders to ensure those with substance abuse addictions receive treatment - Amending the Keeping Families Together Act to protect children from living arrangements where they may be exposed to controlled substances > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 7at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Charlie Kirk Day The city council is set to christen October 14 as “Charlie Kirk Day” to honor the far-right activist who many say was instrumental in advancing Trumpism and [who centered](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/) his Christian nationalist organizing in the Pacific Northwest in the Spokane region. Kirk was assassinated on September 10, and Kirk would have turned 32 on October 14. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, October 7 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The POD: The future of local news is collaborative URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-future-local-news-collaborative/ Last updated: 2025-10-03T14:41:32.000Z This week, we’re bringing you a conversation on the state of local journalism. This conversation was part of last month’s Grassroots Radio Conference, which was a collaboration between Sprouts Radio, Pacifica Network, and KYRS. The panel – which was hosted at the Spokane Public Library – included Luke Baumgarten (RANGE Media) and Stephanie Schubert (Pacifica Network). ### Jordin v. Brayman: Spokane's first right-to-counsel eviction trial by jury URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/arlin-jordin-eviction-trial/ Last updated: 2025-10-02T23:06:24.000Z **Content warning: This story contains description of and reference to sexual assault.** Once the owner of five buildings, Arlin Jordin has filed hundreds of evictions in the last 20 years — nearly one for each of the 258 months of prison time he was sentenced to in 2007 for raping a potential tenant. Jordin, 78, used to be described as one of the city’s most eligible bachelors, a decorated Vietnam war veteran and even the man with the [biggest feet to ever run Bloomsday](https://www.proquest.com/hnpwashingtoncollection/docview/2365124850?accountid=308&sourcetype=Newspapers&ref=rangemedia.co). When he walked into Clinkerdagger or pulled into a parking lot with his gold Jaguar convertible, people knew him as a man who had money — money and power. In 2004, news broke that multiple women had accused Jordin of drugging and raping them. A chorus of women dating back to the 1980s told a similar story: they were in need of a place to live, Jordin had an apartment to rent, he invited them over to discuss the rental, and then they were drugged. Some of them described being sexually assaulted, others said they escaped. Jordin was [arrested](https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/man-accused-drugging-raping-woman-she-met/docview/395000061/se-2?accountid=308&ref=rangemedia.co), tried, [convicted](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/jul/13/jordin-gets-maximum-term/?ref=rangemedia.co) of one count of second-degree rape and [eventually sent to prison](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/dec/19/rape-case-leaves-scars/?ref=rangemedia.co). Before prison, though, he was briefly released on $100,000 bond while his case was on appeal and was moved to house arrest. He was finally taken back into custody after he violated terms of his parole by giving a potential female tenant alcohol he was not supposed to possess. He has been behind bars, first at Coyote Correctional Center and now a facility near Seattle since then. From prison, Jordin’s tenants have stayed under his thumb. Though he committed these crimes in his buildings, using the promise of open units to lure potential victims in need of a place to live, Jordin still kept his properties; there was no law saying he couldn’t. While incarcerated, Jordin has evicted hundreds of tenants. Despite not seeing the units in person in years, Jordin set the rent prices, decided what to charge for deposits and pet fees and made the final call on just how much unpaid rent should result in an eviction filing. When his property managers would report unpaid rent to Jordin, he would direct his lawyer to file a claim, typically for unpaid rent, with the court. Then, one of Jordin’s staff — sometimes the attorney or his accountant, sometimes a property manager — would serve tenants with a notice to vacate. If the tenant didn’t respond to the notice in court, a default judgement was entered in Jordin’s favor, leaving tenants owing back rent, late fees, court fees and lawyer fees that amounted to much more than the unpaid rent they owed to begin with. Within a few days or weeks, a sheriff's officer would show up to evict the tenant. At least 154 of Jordin’s filings have resulted in successful evictions, according to the more than 314 civil case filings RANGE reviewed. His tenants *could* have responded to the court to legally fight their eviction, but they rarely did; lawyers are expensive and hard to find on short notice. Meanwhile, Jordin is a guy with multiple lawyers; his “most expensive lawyer,” told him he shouldn’t take an interview with RANGE. (He did anyway.) **Jordin may be a special case — even he told RANGE he evicts more tenants than most — but his story puts the power difference that is undercurrent to every landlord-tenant relationship in stark contrast: whoever owns the property decides whether or not the person who lives there has a roof over their head.** ### Rent-burdened Across the state, the landscape for renters is [bleak](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington/). Most tenants in Washington are rent-burdened — which means they have to spend over 30% of their monthly income on housing costs — and Spokane is [worse than the state average](https://www.spokanetrends.org/graph.cfm?cat%5Fid=6&sub%5Fcat%5Fid=2&ind%5Fid=1&ref=rangemedia.co): 52.1% of renters were rent-burdened, and 28.3% of renters paid more than 50% of their monthly income on housing costs. As evictions continue to spike in Washington, state and local lawmakers have started to look more closely at this power imbalance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, state legislators approved a yearlong eviction moratorium, preventing landlords from evicting tenants due to nonpayment of rent and requiring reasonable repayment plans to be provided to tenants following the end of the moratorium. Then, they passed the nation’s [first right-to-counsel law](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/07/washingtons-right-to-counsel-law-alters-the-evicti/?ref=rangemedia.co), guaranteeing low-income tenants court-assigned legal representation in eviction proceedings. Locally, the city council passed complementary legislation in the last two years heightening requirements for landlords before they could raise rents or evict tenants. With newfound tenant protections, evicting tenants got harder. Before right-to-counsel was implemented, only three of the tenants Jordin tried to evict had managed to secure legal representation. Now, nearly every single one of his tenants qualifies for a free lawyer to fight for them. Jordin has stopped winning his cases in default judgments as the court-appointed lawyers for his tenants fight for stays of evictions, case dismissals and even monetary settlements from Jordin due to alleged inhospitable living conditions at his properties. RANGE scoured court documents from every single eviction Jordin initiated after 2005, when Spokane started digitizing their court records, and the same year Washington filed rape charges against him. We found 222 evictions, 189 from before right-to-counsel laws were implemented. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); The cases reveal a pattern of evictions over small sums of money. In August of 2012, he evicted a woman named Danielle for $150 of unpaid rent and alleged drug activities. She submitted a paper copy of a receipt showing she’d paid the $150 a week after Jordin’s lawyer filed an eviction against her, but Danielle had no lawyer, choosing instead to represent herself in court, and by the end of the month, sheriff’s officers had evicted Danielle from her residence. That same year, he evicted a man named Mike who was up-to-date on rent, but hadn’t paid the pet fee of $700 Jordin was charging. In April of 2013, Jordin evicted a woman named Beverly over even less — just $45 of alleged unpaid rent. Excluding cases where tenants were evicted for reasons besides unpaid rent, and cases after April of 2021 — when right-to-counsel laws were implemented — the average amount of unpaid rent Jordin evicted tenants for was $797.53\. In some cases, that didn’t even amount to a full month’s worth of rent. Almost none of those tenants had lawyers. Across all his cases from before right-to-counsel, we could only find three where the tenant had legal representation. Two of those three tenants got the evictions dismissed. This changed dramatically with right-to-counsel: when paired with free lawyers, tenants began to win their cases against Jordin. This trend holds statewide: according to stats the Northwest Justice Project shared in December of 2024, since right-to-counsel was enacted, [just 15% of cases](https://nwjustice.org/article/2011?ref=rangemedia.co) with court-appointed lawyers resulted in eviction orders. Data from the [Washington Office of Civil Legal Aid](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/civilrighttocounsel-org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/wa-state-fy24-rtc-achievements-ocla.pdf) shows the program is helping create long-term housing stability for tenants, not just stays of execution, with 81% of closed cases resulting in permanent housing being secured and 56% of cases ending with tenants being able to stay in their residence. Locally, the Spokane City Council has moved to pass multiple renter protection policies: a law requiring [six months of notification](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-rent-raise-ordinance-facts/) prior to any rent raise over 3% of a tenant’s total rent, and [requiring landlords](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-rental-units-are-required-to-be-registered-but-not-everyone-knows-that-now-they/article%5F5dae50f3-fb16-5d10-97a6-5ecca1ed05b7.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to obtain a business license and register their rentals on [a citywide registry](https://my.spokanecity.org/codeenforcement/long-term-rental-registry/?ref=rangemedia.co) before raising rent or evicting tenants. And this year, the state legislature finally passed rent stabilization, [capping annual rent raises](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington-law/) at 10% or 7% plus inflation. All these regulations, local and statewide, give right-to-counsel lawyers more tools to fight for the best outcome for their tenant, like in a recent eviction case: Arlin Jordin v. Lisa Brayman. Across at least two years and six court filings, Jordin has tried to evict Lisa Brayman — a tenant of an old mansion on the lower South Hill that he’d purchased and converted to eight units in the early 2000s — and collect payment for multiple years of unpaid rent. But this time, the woman had secured lawyers through the right-to-counsel program. Those lawyers had successfully fended off six eviction filings from Jordin. After the seventh attempt, Brayman’s lawyer Hannah Swenson, the managing attorney of King County Bar Association Housing Justice Project’s Spokane office, pushed for a trial before a jury — likely the first of its kind in Spokane since right-to-counsel was implemented. On Tuesday, September 2, following the seventh filing, Jordin found himself back in front of a jury for the first time in decades, arguing via Zoom from the Monroe Correctional Complex near Seattle that Brayman owed him nearly $40,000 in unpaid rent and needed to leave his property. Brant Stevens, Jordin’s lawyer, described the case as “straightforward.” Swenson, Brayman’s attorney, felt differently: “If this case was as simple as Mr. Stevens and Arlin Jordin hoped, we wouldn’t be here today, we wouldn’t have made it all the way to trial.” ## ‘A literal dumpster fire.’ There are complex legal terms to describe Swenson’s defenses for Brayman, like “equity abhors a forfeiture,” “unclean-hands doctrine,” and “the implied warrant of habitability,” but for the layperson unfamiliar with case law and precedents, her arguments boiled down to this: Jordin wasn’t fulfilling his responsibilities as a landlord, so how could a tenant be expected to hold up their end of the bargain? #### ‘Substandard’ ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dscf8819-1.jpg) *1827 W 9th Ave. Photo by Ben Tobin.* Jordin’s properties, including the one Brayman lived in, have habitability issues, Swenson argued. Code enforcement officers who testified at the trial described inspecting the building in late 2024 and seeing dilapidation, water damage, inadequate or inoperable heating systems, overflowing dumpsters, a leaking water heater and exposed wiring, among other issues at 1827 W 9th Avenue where Brayman lives. “The property is in our substandard building process and the owner has hired a new contractor to take over large-scale repairs in response to Code's efforts,” city spokesperson Erin Hut wrote in an email. “Neighbors have consistently been reporting issues over the last two years to try and get it designated as a chronic nuisance property, but that has not happened.” There was a code enforcement hearing in October of 2024, which Jordin didn’t attend. He was given 60 days to submit a plan to remedy the issues, which he did, but Code Enforcement found his plan inadequate. By the time of the trial, almost a full year after that hearing, Jordin had still not addressed the code violations. He made a bit of progress though — in August of 2025, just weeks before the trial began, he finally hired a licensed and bonded contractor to conduct the repairs. The habitability issues at 1827 were far from the first at a Jordin property. In 2014, Jordin made headlines for the first time since his case concluded when the Spokane Fire Department declared his building at 1311 W. 9th Avenue “substandard,” [citing](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/nov/30/imprisoned-rapist-a-slumlord-but-tenants-have-few/?ref=rangemedia.co) “inoperable fire alarm system, exposed electrical wiring, water leaks, inadequate weatherproofing and defective heating systems.” Jordin resisted paying for repairs, tenants at the time told [*The Spokesman-Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/nov/30/imprisoned-rapist-a-slumlord-but-tenants-have-few/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* It was mid-November of that year, with[ the average temperature](https://weatherspark.com/d/145399/11/14/Average-Weather-on-November-14-at-Spokane-International-Airport-Washington-United-States?ref=rangemedia.co#Figures-Temperature) in Spokane hitting a high of 40 degrees, when tenants were given 24-hours notice to leave Jordin’s building, leaving some of them homeless. Meanwhile, tenants described Jordin as “just sitting behind bars collecting money.” From the day he was charged in his rape case to present, Jordin has opened over 220 eviction cases against tenants across his real estate holdings — nearly 50 units when he went to prison, and now closer to 24\. Evicting tenants isn’t just a prison cell hobby; before his arrest, Jordin had opened civil actions against [more than 100 tenants](https://www.proquest.com/docview/395000308/fulltext/8EA7F36CA8CF43F4PQ/36?accountid=308&sourcetype=Newspapers&ref=rangemedia.co), most of them women. A landlord has duties, Swenson argued, like the duty to keep the premises safe and habitable. In the state of Washington, there are [15 duties outlined by law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=59.18.060&ref=rangemedia.co) that landlords have to meet in order to “keep the premises fit for human habitation.” Some of those responsibilities include maintaining the roof and foundations, keeping common areas clean and sanitary, providing adequate locks, making reasonable repairs and ensuring electricity, plumbing and heating are supplied. If there is no hot water, like tenants in 2014 described, or the doors don’t lock, like Brayman and Jordin’s own property manager testified to, or the dumpster is constantly overflowing, like the Code Enforcement officers observed, the landlord isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, and tenants may be entitled to offsets, like a settlement or a write-off of rent due. #### ‘If I had a choice,’ From the day she moved in, her unit had issues, Brayman told the court: black water coming up the shower drain, wires melted under her stove that prevented the oven from turning on, a leak from the building’s roof that caused a musky smell. She moved in despite the unit’s flaws. “I was homeless,” Brayman said. “If I had a choice, I wouldn’t have moved into this house, I wouldn’t have exposed my kids to this kind of environment.” Living in the small unit was stressful. One of her dogs died during a heat wave after drinking the black water backed up in her shower, Brayman said. The building itself had no locks for a large chunk of time, which Brayman said caused break ins and drug use in common spaces. She filed a complaint to Code Enforcement in 2021, but when they came to inspect the building in 2024 — despite noting major issues in the building as a whole — they said they found no severe habitability issues in her unit. Jordin argued that because her unit specifically had no Code Enforcement issues, Brayman wasn’t entitled to rent offsets. Though he hasn’t been to the old mansion in almost two decades, Jordin maintained that the property at 1827 was still in good condition. "I haven’t seen it for a while,” Jordin said during the trial. “Everything works, it just needs updated.” The city currently has active substandard building cases open against all three of the properties Jordin still owns: 1302 W Boone Ave, 1308 W Boone and 1827 W 9th. #### 1308 W Boone Ave, 2019 to present #### All-Star Property Management While Jordin ultimately makes the decision on whether or not to evict tenants, he does so based on the reporting from his longtime accountant, or his property manager of the respective property. Some of his property managers are tenant-employees, living in his buildings and managing them. Many of them show up later in eviction filings, like Mike McGuire, a property manager evicted by Jordin in 2012, Shelley Hagelstein, evicted by Jordin in 2014 after he claimed she kept almost $2,000 in deposits from other tenants and Tim Roullier, a tenant-employee evicted in 2011 who claimed Jordin hadn’t paid him in two weeks. Roullier, in his response to the court, also claimed Jordin had cycled through five managers in four years and was withholding the pay his rent was typically deducted from. “Arlin will never pay and is not truthful,” Roullier wrote. “I have a family, four children and two granddaughters. He owes me.” Roullier’s story was reflected more than a dozen years later during Brayman’s trial when Swenson called Jason Thies to the stand. Thies, one of the two property managers at 1827 W 9th Ave, was primarily a handyman who lived at the building while fixing maintenance issues. He also helped serve eviction notices. A few weeks before Brayman’s trial began, Thies returned home to his unit to find Jordin’s new contractor had changed the locks, leaving Thies without a job or a home. “There wasn’t any paperwork trail eviction for me,” he said. Jordin described it differently: “I just told him to find a place he liked better. He just didn’t seem to be very happy.” Besides high turnover, there are other problems with Jordin’s property managers: they aren’t always honest. In 2014, Jordin’s attorney at the time, Neil Humphries, said that many of the issues with Jordin’s properties were the responsibility of managers who had stolen rent money and lied about doing repairs. “People pay deposits and pay rent, and it never gets turned in to the bookkeeper,” [Humphries told *The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/nov/30/imprisoned-rapist-a-slumlord-but-tenants-have-few/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* In Brayman’s own case, tenant-property manager Regeena Vaughn — the sole witness called in the plaintiff’s case — may have perjured herself. A central pillar of Swenson’s case against Jordin was conflicting rent ledgers and 14-day notices introduced during the previous eviction cases against Brayman. One ledger said Brayman’s rent was $1,045 a month, another said $945\. Some of the notices listed her monthly rent at anywhere between $595 and $5,121\. The two most commonly cited ledgers show a rent hike of either 59% or 76%, both of which would have been illegal, if Washington’s rent stabilization had passed a few years earlier. How could Brayman actually pay her back rent, Swenson argued, if she had no idea how much she was supposed to pay? And how could Jordin be trusted to prove she wasn’t paying to begin with, if his record-keeping and rental ledgers were so shoddy? In December 2024, Vaughn testified under oath to the accuracy of the $1,045 ledger, but during Brayman’s jury trial, testified the $945 ledger was accurate and claimed she couldn’t remember testifying in December and wasn’t sure if she even did. (“If you can’t remember what happened in a hearing in December, how do you remember what happened in 2021?” Swenson asked her.) But perhaps the biggest red flag on Jordin’s history with property managers is All-Star Property Management. In 2023, All-Star Property Management, which Jordin had hired to handle his properties at least since 2021, [was accused](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/dec/11/spokane-apartment-management-company-accused-of-fr/?ref=rangemedia.co) by multiple tenants of fraudulently obtaining federal COVID-19 rental assistance dollars. The company was accused of seeking funding for more than 30 tenants who were not eligible, falsely inflating rent amounts for tenants who were eligible, claiming tenants who were up-to-date on rent had past due payments and filing for COVID-19 assistance on tenants’ behalf, even after they had moved out. The case was brought by Northwest Justice Project on behalf of Krystal Jeffries, one of Jordin’s tenants who All-Star Property Management had tried to evict for nonpayment of rent two years earlier (a right-to-counsel attorney had helped her settle, allowing her to leave on her own terms.) “I had nowhere to go. I had three dogs. I cleaned up the living area best I could and blocked off the bathroom,” Jeffries wrote in a testimonial about the building’s septic system backing up into her unit. “After a certain point I stopped paying rent because the place was unlivable. When I complained, they served me an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent … Not long after, I got an email that said, ‘Your landlord has received your check.’ All-Star had gotten a check for $16,000 for back rent—submitted in my name! But I had never applied.” The Northwest Justice Project believed her, and took her case up against All-Star and Jordin. Six months later, All-Star Property Management [settled](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/media/1355906/dl?inline&ref=rangemedia.co) with the federal government for more than $300,000. Though the settlement states Jordin received an over-payment of COVID-19 funds he was not entitled to, Jordin maintains that he had no knowledge All-Star Property Management was committing fraud. He was ordered to pay about $20,000, which the property management company agreed to cover. Jeffries herself received $68,000 of the total settlement. “I'm thankful I was listened to. When you're low income, like me, people don't care, but they actually listened to me. They believed me, believed in me,” Jeffries [wrote](https://nwjustice.org/article/1997?ref=rangemedia.co). “When I found out I would get $68,000, I wanted to cry. I want to put a down payment on a forever place. I want to have a tree. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.” All-Star Property Management was the same company managing 1827 W 9th Ave when Brayman said she began receiving rent hike notices. As a low-income tenant, Brayman herself may have qualified for the federal pandemic rent assistance. Swenson said she doesn’t know for sure if Brayman ever applied, but from the stand, Brayman implied that was the case. “I don’t plan on staying in this position, but that money was supposed to come to me to get me compensated for my losses and displacement,” she said. However, no evidence was ever introduced to prove whether or not she did apply or was impacted by All-Star Property Management’s fraud. Still, because the company admitted to falsifying back rent amounts in the settlement, Swenson both argued this made Jordin’s hands “unclean,” – [a legal precedent](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/clean-hands%5Fdoctrine?ref=rangemedia.co) meaning Jordin would be ineligible to recover funds from Brayman due to his own unethical behavior — and made Brayman’s back due balance suspect, because much of it was accumulated under All-Star’s management. ### ‘Everybody needs a place to live’ Lisa Brayman was not a perfect tenant. She has few assets and no steady income. After one of her dogs died, she was depressed, so she decided to hatch chickens inside her apartment. “I adopted six eggs and in 21 days I delivered a really cool chicken,” Brayman said to the court. “It gave me something to smile about … I don’t regret it.” When she took the stand, wearing a white t-shirt that said “Nope, Not Today,” she didn’t deny the fact that she had not paid rent at Jordin’s property for four years. Even before 2021, Brayman’s rental history paints a picture of financial instability with multiple eviction cases. Six of those were Jordin’s earlier attempts to get her out, but others were from prior landlords. In 2015, she was evicted from a property in North Spokane over $1,680 in unpaid rent. Two years later, she was evicted from a residence in Airway Heights over nonpayment of rent. “Defendants have not ever paid a full month rent payment ever, and have paid nothing for the months of May, June or July,” the landlord from that case claimed. After that eviction, Brayman said she was left homeless. She had serious mental health issues that left her unable to work. Her options for housing were limited. She was exactly the kind of tenant Jordin attracts and caters to. #### Slumlord Because he [does not require](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/nov/30/imprisoned-rapist-a-slumlord-but-tenants-have-few/?ref=rangemedia.co) credit or background checks, low-income tenants with past evictions or criminal records often find one of Jordin’s three remaining properties their only available choice. These renters are the classic prey for slumlords: if tenants have no other options and no money to hire a lawyer to defend them, they’re at the mercy of a landlord who has no incentive to keep their unit livable and safe, and who can kick them to the curb with no recourse. According to reporting from *The Spokesman Review,* a former Jordin tenant wrote an anonymous blog post in 2007 about her experiences with Jordin, titled “*A Tale of My Old Landlord, the Convicted Rapist.*” She raised the class dynamic inherent in Jordin’s mini rental empire and his criminal activity, after he was released on a $100,000 bond following his second-degree rape conviction. “Only a rich man would be walking the streets after a conviction like that,” she wrote. “He likes to drug and rape young women in his fancy South Hill apartment. … He has made his money renting out the crappiest apartments in Spokane to the poorest of the poor.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/jordin-1.jpg) *Arlin Jordin. Courtesy of WA State Department of Corrections* That power dynamic has long played out in the halls of Jordin’s properties. In the early years, before Jordin went to prison, he would often interview tenants from his own apartment at 1827 W 9th Ave, the same building Brayman would later live in. Jordin placed ads in *The Spokesman Review* for his open rental units. When potential tenants would respond, he often invited them over to his apartment to interview them. "I thought this might be his way of screening potential clients," a woman who would later accuse Jordin of rape, told *Spokesman* reporter Thomas Clouse in 2004. The first night she went to his apartment, nothing untoward happened — she had to leave after one drink to meet up with friends. But Jordin was persistent, calling her multiple times, offering her tours and telling her that even though she’d just found a different place with a friend, it couldn’t hurt to tour his units. After the two drinks Jordin offered her, she woke up the next morning naked in his bed. After his arrest, more than 50 women contacted the Spokane Police Department (SPD) with their own stories of feeling ill after taking a drink Jordin offered. From those reports, SPD identified eight women they believed had been drugged and raped. At his trial, his daughter said Jordin loved to host and would routinely offer his guests food and drink — his specialty was a margarita recipe he learned in Mexico. Jordin, to this day, says he never drugged any women, but he has never disputed that he would offer potential women tenants alcohol when they came to talk rentals. Sometimes, he said during his trial, he would have sexual relations with them. Housing advocates at the time had identified other distressing patterns. In December of 2004, the executive director of the Northwest Fair Housing Alliance [told reporters](https://www.proquest.com/docview/395000308/fulltext/8EA7F36CA8CF43F4PQ/36?accountid=308&sourcetype=Newspapers&ref=rangemedia.co) they’d received a number of complaints about Jordin. The most egregious example was a woman who had changed her mind about renting from Jordin. When she went to his apartment to get her deposit back, she said he met her wearing only a blue terry cloth robe and made sexual advances towards her. In the same article, Bryce Watson, one of Jordin’s property managers, said he’d heard claims from women tenants that Jordin had offered to let them pay with sex. “If anybody complained, he would threaten eviction,” Watson said the tenants told him. #### ‘I don’t get to pick my tenants.’ After he was incarcerated, Jordin continued to exercise his power over his tenants through eviction proceedings. From his cell, Jordin decides if his tenants will have a roof over their heads or not. “Since becoming incarcerated, it’s been hard because I don’t get to pick my tenants,” Jordin said. Because he doesn’t get to interview tenants like he used to — inviting them over for drinks at his apartment to get to know them — he is more likely to end up with tenants who are untrustworthy or unable to pay rent, he said. He thinks he’s evicted more people than the average landlord as a result. It was April of 2018 when Lisa Brayman moved into the unit at 1827 W 9th Avenue — the same building where Jordin once lived. The same building where he committed the rape he was convicted of. “If I had known who the owner was, me and my son wouldn’t have stepped foot in that property,” Brayman said from the witness stand. But she had nowhere else to go. Like the tenants who came before, Brayman found herself under Arlin Jordin’s thumb. “Being a landlord is the perfect line of work. Everybody needs a place to live ... including single women going through stressful changes in their lives,” wrote Gregory Newell Smith, the husband of one of Jordin’s victims whose case SPD didn’t choose to prosecute, in an [unpublished manuscript](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/dec/19/rape-case-leaves-scars/?ref=rangemedia.co). “Sooner or later they come to him.” ### ‘Accomplice’ Since becoming the managing attorney at KCBA Housing Justice in October of 2024, Hannah Swenson has personally taken at least six breach of habitability claims against Jordin for tenants. Her firm has litigated more than 20 cases against Jordin since 2023. “It is never-ending,” she said in an interview. When there are habitability issues, like at Jordin’s properties, right-to-counsel lawyers can fight for settlements, which Swenson has been able to secure for clients in some cases. “Sometimes that's what someone needs to actually get out and be able to go find somewhere safe to go,” she said. For a resident of Jordin’s 1308 W Boone property who was being charged with over $16,000 in back rent, Swenson negotiated a settlement where Jordin paid her client $4,000 and gave them a month to move out. In another case at the property next door, 1302 W Boone, Jordin claimed a pair of tenants owed over $20,000\. There were severe habitability issues: Swenson herself witnessed black mold when she went to meet with her clients. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dscf8779-1.jpg) *1302 W Boone Ave, with the words "RIP Brix," graffitied on the boarded up door. Photo by Ben Tobin.* “After 20 minutes I walked out with my lungs hurting,” she said. “Those sorts of basic, undeniable effects on your health and how you function can affect your whole life.” By the end of the case, Jordin had signed a settlement agreement to pay them $3,500 and give them six weeks to move out. These kinds of victories aren’t going unpunished. “It is not uncommon, when I’m litigating against Arlin Jordin, to receive anonymous threats, or hearing that his employees want to bash my face in,” Swenson said. Testifying virtually at Brayman’s eviction hearing from the Monroe Correctional Complex, Jordin referred to Swenson both as “sweetheart,” and then as Brayman’s “accomplice.” When asked why he chose that word, Jordin said it was intentional: he believes Swenson and other right-to-counsel attorneys are helping tenants steal from him. The lawyers don’t have to help tenants, Jordin said, they’re choosing to do it, and by dragging cases out and allowing nonpaying tenants to stay in his units for longer, he’s losing money. He believes the pendulum has swung too far in favor of renters. “People end up not paying rent and getting away with it, like Lisa Brayman. It discourages people from building houses and renting it out,” Jordin said. “All I have to sell is rent. I’m not selling wheat or toys or vegetables, which would be against the law to steal that but she’s allowed to steal rent from me and my family.” Before the new laws, the landlord had all the power, Jordin said, “Now the tenant does.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/h_swenson_8-1.jpg) *Hannah Swenson, outside the courtroom. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* But when Swenson sees the low-income tenants who are referred to her law office, she doesn’t see people with power. She sees vulnerable people, people who need help “telling their side of what happened.” People who, without legal representation, could find themselves standing on the sidewalk with everything they own in trash bags after a forcible eviction from police. “ We're talking about these vulnerable groups. We're talking about people who potentially are financially unstable,” she said. “ They don't have a community around them who's gonna catch them if they need help, and that makes predatory landlords very dangerous.” Even facing an eviction filing can be “life-altering,” [Swenson told *InvestigateWest*](https://www.investigatewest.org/evictions-in-wa-skyrocket-overwhelming-legal-aid-program-for-low-income-renters/?ref=rangemedia.co) earlier this summer, especially for low-income households that receive support from the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8\. “Getting an eviction boots them from the program and can make them ineligible for the benefits in the future.” And even if a tenant wins their case, the eviction could still show up on their record, making it harder to find a new place to live. “The thing about housing and eviction is it's a continuum and it's a cycle. That's why we often have repeat clients. You can't get out of the system,” Swenson said. “ Once you're in it, it's so hard to climb out.” Locally, Swenson and firms like KCBA Housing Justice Project and the Northwest Justice Project are looking for proactive ways to stop people from being evicted in the first place. Twice a month, attorneys from KCBA Housing Justice Project [meet tenants at risk of eviction](https://www.kcba.org/?pg=HJP-Spokane&ref=rangemedia.co), conducting pre-eviction screenings and looking for ways to avoid a filing. “We’re trying to get to people as soon as they have a \[14-day\] notice, to provide representation at that stage,” Swenson said. “I think we can prevent so many filings.” ### The verdict Brayman’s case in particular, Swenson said, has highlighted the importance of the right-to-counsel program. “Without right-to-counsel, slumlords like Arlin Jordan threaten and pursue illegal eviction to tenants and seek to profit from it,” Swenson said. “All while making tenants live in deplorable conditions and in fear of maintaining housing. Accountability matters.” For three days, Swenson defended Brayman, highlighting Jordin’s shoddy ledger-keeping, the breadth of code enforcement issues at his properties and hinting at his untrustworthy character in every way she could — she was barred from bringing up his past conviction. None of it was enough. **On Friday morning, three days after the trial began, a jury of her peers voted to evict Brayman and force her to pay back rent to Arlin Jordin.** The pivotal moment came on Wednesday afternoon when Judge Annette Plese read out loud a question the jury had submitted in writing: “Why would you not find a new place to live after seven years of poor conditions?” “Because of the economy,” Brayman answered, before launching into a meandering statement about the conditions that caused her to lose her housing in the 2010s and led to her taking the unit at Jordin’s building. “It’s a very human question to have,” Swenson said. “But in my mind it's similar to when someone says, ‘Why doesn't a \[domestic violence\] victim just go?’ Not to conflate the situations, but the populations we’re talking about are often very vulnerable. They don't have access to the resources that they need and that society *thinks* they're getting, like disability or housing benefits or mental health support, or even education to know what their rights are and what their responsibilities are as a tenant.” The verdict wasn’t a complete victory for Jordin, however. While the jury mostly decided in his favor, they also voted that Brayman was entitled to a reduction of the back rent Jordin said he was owed because he violated the warrant of habitability. Of the $36,855 Jordin said he was owed, the jury voted to write off $21,262 of that, leaving Brayman on the hook for just $15,593 — about $338 in monthly rent for each of the 46 months Brayman had lived rent free. The trial was a “huge culmination,” of tenant rights work across the state, Swenson said, revealing both gaps in service and testing the willingness of a jury to hold landlords accountable for poor living conditions. Despite their verdict, “ I got the sense that this trial was pretty illuminating for many of the jury into the complexities of landlord-tenant relationships in Spokane,” Swenson said. “I don't think anyone felt good about evicting \[Brayman\]. They indicated to me that they felt like they had to uphold what they understood to be the law,” she added. “ My understanding is it was hard for them to overlook the sheer amount of time that we were talking about.” For four years, Brayman has lived rent-free in Jordin’s building. Now, with just $200 and a 2000 Ford Explorer to her name, Brayman will likely need to find a new place to live. Though a writ of restitution has been signed by Plese, allowing the sheriff’s office to physically return the unit to Jordin, Brayman has yet to be evicted. Swenson wrote in an email that Brayman is working to file an appeal with the Court of Appeals, and that KCBA Housing Justice Project connected her with community organizations who may be able to help her find emergency shelter. Arlin Jordin is nearing the end of his sentence at Monroe Correctional Complex, where he is eligible for release next year. In the meantime, he’s continuing to evict tenants. For Swenson, the resolution of the case highlights the fundamental gap between landlords and their tenants: While Brayman frantically tries to maintain housing, “Jordin, in prison, is afforded the rights he tries to strip his tenants of,” Swenson wrote. “His right to working plumbing is upheld, heat that works, and safety from harm. Those basic protections are deserved by every human, including and especially his own tenants.” ### Candidate forum galore! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/ Last updated: 2025-09-29T17:34:58.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - You can be the \*most informed\* voter this election! There are three opportunities this week to learn about the local elections and the candidates on your ballots: a livestream on Twitch with Luke and Erin tomorrow at 5 pm, Gonzaga University’s Climate Change forum on Wednesday and Spotlight at Central: a Spokane City Council candidate forum hosted by RANGE + other local journos. - Spokane County is looking to negotiate a new contract with the Virginia-based health care provider Mediko Correctional Healthcare to give health care for people incarcerated in the Spokane County Jail after its previous provider terminated its contract. - Spokane City Council is holding a Town Hall-style meeting, this time at the West Central Community Center in District 3. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) (and Study Session) - [Community, Housing and Human Services Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) - [Spokane Human Rights Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) - [Liberty Lake City Council (special meeting)](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-candidate-forum-2025-county/) ## Live at Five Tomorrow at 5 pm, RANGE’s Luke and Erin will be going live on Twitch (and potentially also Youtube?) to stream. We’re going to start a Baldur’s Gate 3 campaign and chat about local news like the upcoming election, the state of local media and a preview of a big story from Erin coming out soon. Do you have questions you want us to answer on live? Send them over to [erin@rangemedia.co](mailto:erin@rangemedia.co), and otherwise, stay tuned for an email tomorrow on how you can join us online for some casual digital community! ## Spotlight at Central Candidate Forum With election season comes candidate forum season! It’s got less pepper and more press, but this week, RANGE will be hosting our second Spokane City Council Candidate Forum in partnership with the Spokane Public Library on Thursday from 6 to 8 pm at the Central Library. This free event will be hosted by Eliza Billingham of Spokane Public Radio, Erin Sellers of RANGE Media and KYRS, Samantha Wohlfeil of The Inlander and Clarinne Kirk of the Gonzaga Bulletin, who will dive in to the policies and plans of the people running to represent you on the Spokane City Council. In addition to normal debate questions, candidates will get to ask their opponents a question, and there will be a rapid-fire round of questions from the moderators for each candidate. All six candidates have confirmed their attendance. ## Spokane climate change candidate forum The Gonzaga University Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment will question candidates for local public office on their positions on climate change Wednesday at 6 pm in the Globe Room. If you want to attend, you can RSVP [here](https://www.gonzaga.edu/climate-institute/events/spokane-candidates-climate-change-forum?ref=rangemedia.co). Here’s who you’ll see — and won’t see: > Attending: > > Not attending: # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Town Hall Time! Council is coming to District 3 for a Town Hall-style meeting. It’ll be the same time as usual, 6 pm, but will happen at the West Central Community Center in the gymnasium instead of council chambers. As with the usual town halls, they’ll take questions from community members — with priority for District 3 residents. They’ll also have staff on site representing both the Parks Department and the Spokane Public School District to talk about the joint ballot measure on November ballots. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Interesting contracts in the consent agenda for next week include a $200,000 contract for the design of the Pacific Avenue Greenway and a $3.4 million subcontract with Spokane County to support eviction prevention services within Spokane City limits for 2026 through 2028. - Council could approve over $100,000 in funding from the West Quadrant Tax Increment Financing District to be spent on reimbursing local developer and [conservative mega donor Larry Stone](https://www.inlander.com/news/who-is-larry-stone-and-why-is-he-spending-so-much-money-trying-to-influence-spokane-politics-26790579?ref=rangemedia.co) for fixing the sidewalk, landscaping and street lights outside of a building on Monroe Street that he is renovating. - After a series of deferrals, the city could actually start the process of renaming the 1590 fund to the HEART Fund. The ordinance would also allow the city to use 10% of the revenue collected from the tax that fuels this fund on administrative fees from projects — up from 2.5% before. - Council could hold a first read on an ordinance to change the meeting days from Monday to something else. What that something else could be is still up in the air; the agenda item still has a blank in place for the replacement day. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 29 at 6 pm* > *West Central Community Center* > *1603 N Belt St. Room: Gymnasium* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, October 2 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # MISC City ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, October 1 at 4 pm* > *City Council Briefing Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.* ## Spokane Human Rights Commission > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/spokane-human-rights-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, October 2 at 5:30 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 30 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Potential medical service provider change for jail Spokane County is looking to negotiate a contract with Mediko Correctional Healthcare, a Virginia-based health care provider, to provide services in the county jail. The BOCC is set to approve the negotiations at Tuesday’s meeting. The county’s previous provider NaphCare/Everhealth [abruptly terminated](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/29/naphcare-splits-with-spokane-county-on-jail-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) its contract in June. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 30 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Developing Division Street The Spokane Transit Authority will present on the future of development on Division Street, the wide, fast and dangerous thoroughfarethoroughfare that bisects Spokane from north to south. There’s very little detail in the agenda on this presentation, but the title includes the phrase “transit-oriented,” meaning strengthened bus service and other measures on the route. In July, transit activists and state-level transportation officials walked Division Street to observe how proposed public transit improvements might make the street safer for pedestrians. Read our urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn’s piece on that walk [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/division-st-safer-transportation-choices-coalition/). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, October 2 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public comment on proposed ice arena The Innovia Foundation is working with an unnamed “benefactor” to propose a new ice arena in Spokane Valley. It would be built by the foundation but would require infrastructure, including driveways and sewer installations that would cost the city itself about $3.03 million. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 30 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council (special meeting) 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Council may create governance manual The special meeting is set to discuss and review a new proposed governance manual for the city council. The document would set rules for the conduct of the council members when conducting city business, including how regular city council meetings are administered. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 30 at 6 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Health emergency declaration discussed for West Plains PFAS crisis URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pfas-taskforce-health-emergency-west-plains/ Last updated: 2025-09-27T16:45:00.000Z Mayor Terri Cooper of Medical Lake knows a thing or two about public emergencies. Just two years ago, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) [declared an emergency](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/aug/19/medical-lake-wildfire-has-burned-9000-acres-and-0-/?ref=rangemedia.co) after the Gray Fire destroyed hundreds of homes in her city and killed one person. The move mobilized funding for the response to the disaster. It didn’t make it easy — some residents [are still without](https://www.khq.com/non-stop/medical-lake-recovery-from-gray-fire-ongoing-two-years-later/video%5F1e88860d-f7c8-5a70-90d2-8455244872b5.html?ref=rangemedia.co) a proper home — but the declaration made money and resources from the state and federal government more readily available. There is another, slower-moving crisis affecting nearby people: the “forever chemicals” contamination that came from firefighting operations at two West Plains airports, the Spokane International Airport (SIA) and Fairchild Air Force Base. That crisis was discovered in 2017 when both airports found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in their groundwater, man-made chemicals that are increasingly thought to be linked to cancers and other deadly diseases. (Fairchild notified local health agencies, but SIA [kept it secret](https://www.rangemedia.co/airport-ceo-lawmakers-banning-toxic-pfas-chemicals-larry-krauter/), even after Washington state started requiring airports to disclose contamination.) The county recently convened a [task force](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-pfas-task-force-water-west-plains/) of local government officials, private sector engineers and people who live in the contaminated area. It’s an advisory body that will provide local governments with recommendations for how to address the crisis. At the task force’s first meeting last month, County Commissioner Al French, who co-chairs the task force with Spokane County Health Officer Francisco Velázquez, said the county had secured more than $7 million from the Washington legislature to install filters in some homes with wells that are contaminated. But, French warned, that amount was only about half of what was requested and needed on the West Plains to make sure everyone has clean drinking water. The body will try to get more funding from the state through the county’s normal lobbying procedures, which could take years. Cooper had an idea to make money available sooner: speaking to Velázquez at the task force’s second meeting on September 24, she said, “If you declare a public health emergency, then it does open up other funding — federal funding and state funding.” There are two local authorities that can declare a public health emergency in Spokane County: the BOCC, which is represented on the task force by French, the longest-serving commissioner, and the local health officer, Velázquez. (The state of Washington and the federal government can also declare a health emergency.) After several other members of the task force and people who attended the meeting expressed support for Cooper’s suggestion, French said the declaration of a health emergency was a “great idea.” But he did not commit to it. He told the task force he would run the idea by the county’s lawyers on September 25, the day after the task force’s meeting. He did not return a phone call Friday morning asking whether he had done so and what the lawyers said. Velázquez, sitting next to French, did not say what he thought about the idea, but told RANGE after the September 24 meeting that private well water did not fall into his jurisdiction. He as the county health officer could not do anything about the crisis and that he was only on the task force “because of my concern for the overall wellness of the community.” Health emergencies [have been used](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/public-health-emergency-preparedness-response-phepr?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=For%20over%2020%20years%2C%20PHEPR%20has%20responded%20to%20numerous%20public%20health%20incidents%20in%20Spokane%20including%3A) by the county to address public health issues stemming from a wide variety of crises including disease outbreaks, extreme weather events, wildfire smoke and power outages. Private wells are not governed by any agency, which is a central problem in the saga of West Plains aquifer contamination. Immediately after Fairchild found PFAS in its wells, it notified local governments and health officials of the threat, and Spokane began piping water to Airway Heights, a program that Fairchild helped to fund. But there were thousands of properties in the hinterlands between Spokane and Airway Heights that were not connected to city water and derived drinking water from private wells, and that water quality is not governed by any agency. So the Air Force began providing bottled water to people whose wells were found to be contaminated. It also offered to install filters on the wells. That program was restricted to the area Fairchild believed it had contaminated, even though people found the same PFAS compounds outside the designated area. But because SIA hadn’t notified anyone of its own contamination, it wasn’t until last year that holistic solutions to the crisis started materializing, largely from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology. The agencies began testing wells outside of the Fairchild service area and installing filters on some that were contaminated. It’s a problem that affects different people in different ways, and a filter is an insufficient solution for many people who live on the West Plains. Some grow robust gardens that are fed with contaminated water, meaning the chemicals can make their way into people’s food. Others have farm animals that can’t be watered by the sinks on which some of the filters are installed. Faster funding could be a way to get more clean water to more people, but it’s ultimately up to Velázquez, who says he can’t do it, or the BOCC to declare an emergency that would free that funding up. See RANGE’s extensive West Plains PFAS coverage [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/). ### WIDE RANGE: Keep Big Bird, kill journalism? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-news-wide-range-newsletter/ Last updated: 2025-09-26T21:23:21.000Z **Happy Friday and welcome BACK to Wide RANGE**, where we keep track of (and joke about) the news, in case you didn’t have the time or energy to. MIA health district administrator mystery gets more interesting, \*several\* opportunities for cake in community and Big Bird’s bosses go after Washington journalism. Don’t know what we’re talking about? **Read on!** *Wide RANGE is usually available through email only, but we’re giving all our readers, fans and haters a peek at the sheer perfection of our fun Friday round up newsletter. If you don’t already get it, subscribe [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/)!* ## In Case You Missed It ### Political arrests Since Trump took office, our region has cycled through US Attorneys. Richard Barker, the attorney two attorneys ago — who resigned shortly before the Spokane 9 [were federally charged](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ice-protesters-plead-not-guilty/) for protesting ICE’s detainment of two young asylum seekers — is now [speaking out about why he left](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/21/the-arrest-of-the-spokane-9-stained-by-accusations/?ref=rangemedia.co). According to Barker, there was pressure from the national Department of Justice as national news broke the DOJ was directing attorneys to prioritize and publicize cases against protesters defying federal immigration enforcement. \~ ES ### New shelter operator As the city of Spokane launches a new coordinated street outreach model (you can now call 311 to get unhoused people help in nonemergency situations) and moves to a daytime navigation center, a new shelter operator is [taking the reins](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/24/spokane-chooses-jewels-helping-hands-to-oversee-th/?ref=rangemedia.co): Jewels Helping Hands, in collaboration with Providence hospital. The $1.7 million, 18-month contract will pay JHH to coordinate services, place people in the shelters that are the best fit for them and connect people in need to key resources. The 30 beds being lost as the navigation center moves away from including nighttime stays are going to be absorbed and replaced elsewhere in the scattered-site system, the city says. \~ ES ### SRHD fires their administrative officer In a move that may be causing war flashbacks for anyone familiar with the Spokane Regional Health District’s [illegal termination](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/may/12/preliminary-investigation-health-district-administ/?ref=rangemedia.co) of [health officer Dr. Bob Lutz](https://www.inlander.com/news/email-lawyer-told-spokane-board-of-health-that-clark-fired-health-officer-full-week-before-board-vote-22073016?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2021, administrative officer Alicia Thompson [was fired by the SRHD board this week](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/25/alicia-thompson-fired-as-spokane-regional-health-d/?ref=rangemedia.co). We reported in [CIVICS](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) that the board was mysteriously appointing interim replacements for her at the meeting yesterday, but [*The Spokesman* got the full scoop](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/25/alicia-thompson-fired-as-spokane-regional-health-d/?ref=rangemedia.co) on her termination, complete with this detail: “As part of the separation agreement, Thompson was required to write an involuntary resignation letter. In return, she received six months severance pay, which amounts to $107,000.” Interesting… \~ES ## RANGE News This week we brought you a [personal essay](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/) from our Christian Nationalism reporter, Aaron Hedge, on the Eastern Washington players that helped Charlie Kirk and his organization Turning Point USA spread their message across our region and the nation. As far as election content, we have [20 questions with District 1](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-1-spokane-city-council-candidates/) city council candidates AND our [announcement](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-politicrawl-is-back/) that PolitiCrawl is back this October! We’ve also got a candidate forum (yes, another one!) coming up next week! Join all six Spokane City Council candidates and journalists from RANGE, The Inlander, Spokane Public Radio and the Gonzaga Bulletin for a two-hour [candidate forum at the Spokane Central Library](https://events.spokanelibrary.org/event/14682571?ref=rangemedia.co) on Thursday, October 2 from 6 to 8 pm. If you missed our last candidate forum, you can watch it in full [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBsp2NvysdI&ref=rangemedia.co) or listen to the District 3 portion in our podcast [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-pod-spokanes-spiciest-segment-district-3/). Plus, stay tuned for social media clips if you have a Tiktok-length attention span. Also coming up is a Week Without Driving, from September 29 through October 5, where you can challenge yourself to get around town without the help of a vehicle. Learn all about it in this column from local transportation advocates [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-week-without-driving/). \~VO & ES ## The Good, The Bad and The Embarrassing **The Good:** One of the men who was detained while fighting a wildfire in Washington has been released by ICE. The US Government has dismissed the removal proceedings, according to [reporting from the Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/09/24/repub/firefighter-arrested-at-washington-state-wildfire-released-by-ice/?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ ES **The Bad:** The great divorce between the city of Spokane and Spokane Regional Emergency Communications continues to flare up, sending warning signals to residents that due to the break-up, county-wide response times to fires [may be delayed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/23/spokane-officials-warn-fire-response-will-be-delay/?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ ES **The Embarrassing:** Imagine soliciting donations from people to save local news only to keep the money, [cut the news team](https://publicola.com/2025/09/22/cascade-pbs-lays-off-news-staff-citing-federal-cuts/?ref=rangemedia.co) and pivot to video content… This week’s embarrassing move comes from Cascade PBS, a statewide nonprofit news outlet. The decision came following Trump’s budget cuts for PBS, but seems a little fishy when the [CEO makes over half a million dollars](https://washingtonobserver.substack.com/p/death-of-a-newsroom). Anyways, you can support the journalists, who are all out-of-work starting October 31, [here](https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-cascade-pbs-journalists-after-layoffs?ref=rangemedia.co). **The National:** Nationwide, indigenous tribes stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. Currently, Washington tribes get $1.81 billion from the feds, but with many of those programs on the Big Beautiful Bill’s chopping block, it has [left financial futures, especially for Northwest tribes, uncertain](https://www.investigatewest.org/northwest-native-nations-could-lose-hundreds-of-millions-in-federal-funding-report-says/?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ ES ## The More You Know **Got Zucchini problems? Donate your extra garden produce!** It’s that time of year where some green-thumbed home gardeners have produce coming out of their ears and they’re running out of ways to use it — there’s only so much zucchini bread you can consume and room in your freezer for tomato paste. If you’re in this pickle and not equipped with canning supplies, consider donating your extras. Food pantries across the state have been [impacted by federal funding cuts](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/31/washingtons-food-banks-are-on-the-brink/?ref=rangemedia.co) and rising food costs have people relying on food pantries more than ever. If you have a surplus of home-grown fruits or vegetables, consider donating them (as long as they’re uncut and fresh) to local food banks. [Southside Food Pantry](https://www.southsidespokane.org/food-pantry?ref=rangemedia.co) put a [call out](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BEXsZBU5X/) to gardeners for donations earlier this month and [Spokane Valley Partners](https://www.partnersinw.org/donate-in-kind?ref=rangemedia.co) also accepts garden produce. You can also check Second Harvest Food Bank’s [food bank finder](https://2-harvest.org/food-near-me/?ref=rangemedia.co) to find the closest pantry near you and register your edible trees with [Spokane Edible Tree Project](https://www.spokaneedibletreeproject.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). If you know of other pantries accepting fresh produce, let us know at [team@rangemedia.co](mailto:team@rangemedia.co) and we’ll add them to the list! \~VO ## Things You Can Do 🎂 Let them eat cake, but make it community. SpoCake is holding a cake potluck at the Pavilion in Riverfront Park on Sunday from 2 to 4 pm. Register in advance [here](https://spocake.wufoo.com/forms/z18ar59b1squ513/?fbclid=PAZnRzaAM5nLJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp%5Fxwp1kYYBya7yBD8uuvjryQYGddj4F1-90-kSNYGutlYWZa7KmUGRaljK72%5Faem%5FO41qG%5FBiEe4bTF2%5F8bT4vA&ref=rangemedia.co), and be sure to bring a cake to share! \~ ES 🌙 Celebrate the [Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival](https://downtownspokane.org/event/chinese-moon-festival/?ref=rangemedia.co) downtown on Saturday from 1:30 to 4:30 pm with live performances, family friendly activities and traditional mooncakes. \~ ES 🔥❄️ Share your experiences with extreme weather and climate impacts such as rising temperatures, wildfires, poor air quality, flooding and drought to help Spokane County do climate resiliency planning! Take the survey [here](https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y2PDQMY?ref=rangemedia.co). ### The POD: Spokane's Spiciest District 3 + Kirk in the INW URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-spokanes-spiciest-segment-district-3/ Last updated: 2025-09-26T19:19:07.000Z We have two segments this week: the first is from Spokane’s Spiciest candidate forum, featuring District 3 incumbent Zack Zappone and challenger Christopher Savage. Reporter Erin Sellers asked them the spiciest of questions as they powered through even spicier wings! For the second segment, reporter Aaron Hedge read his recent essay – titled “Charlie Kirk’s Pacific Northwest ground game” – out loud, in his own words. You can find the essay linked below: > **[Charlie Kirk’s Pacific Northwest ground game](https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/)** > **[20 Questions with District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-3-spokane-city-council-candidates/)** > **[Meet the District 3 Spokane City Council candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-three-candidates-primary/)** > **[Spokane's Spiciest Event Livestream](https://youtu.be/NBsp2NvysdI?feature=shared&ref=rangemedia.co) (courtesy of KXLY)** ### COLUMN: Can you go a week without driving? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-week-without-driving/ Last updated: 2025-09-26T16:54:42.000Z What would you do if you didn’t have a personal automobile to get around Spokane? Would you need to get a different job? Shop at a different grocery store? Could you make it to school or church? Could you get your kids to daycare or school? How would you get to a show at the Spokane Comedy Club or to brunch at Frank’s Diner? For many of us, we’re privileged enough to not have to worry about such concerns, but for the approximately 30% of Washington residents who do not drive, these are daily considerations they must make for every aspect of their lives outside of their homes. There are numerous reasons why someone might be a nondriver, whether it’s due to age, disability, cost or merely because they do not want to drive. Yet, our transportation system is planned, funded and constructed by drivers, for drivers. It is extremely rare to find an elected official who does not drive as their primary (or only) form of transportation. It’s one result of over a century of car-first transportation planning, it is next to impossible to run for most elected positions without the use of a personal automobile. Those who primarily walk, bike or bus are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to attending public meetings, canvassing and fundraising. The [Week Without Driving](https://weekwithoutdriving.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (September 29 through October 5) was started in 2021 right here in Washington by Anna Zivarts, Director of the [Disability Mobility Initiative](https://disabilityrightswa.org/programs/disabilitymobility/?ref=rangemedia.co) at [Disability Rights Washington](https://disabilityrightswa.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), and author of [*When Driving Is Not an Option*](https://islandpress.org/books/when-driving-not-option?ref=rangemedia.co#desc)*.* Anna created the Week Without Driving experience so those who have the option to drive can learn firsthand about the barriers and challenges nondrivers face and to encourage elected officials to work with nondrivers to create more accessible communities for all. Since then, the event has grown substantially, with America Walks partnering with Disability Rights Washington to take the week national. As transportation advocates, we have seen firsthand how viewing transportation policy solely through the eyes of drivers can negatively impact the decision-making of our elected officials. That’s not necessarily a knock on those officials — as drivers themselves, they’re operating with their lived experiences. But some of the things we’ve seen and heard from elected officials would be comical if they weren’t so important to the lives of Spokane area residents and visitors: STA board members wondering [where they would park](https://www.spokanetransit.com/meetings/bod/june-26-2025/?ref=rangemedia.co) if board meetings moved to the STA Plaza to be better accessible to the public (board members receive free transit passes and free parking under the STA Plaza), Spokane City Council members proposing [STA abandon buses](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/24/conservative-spokane-council-candidates-attack-lib/?ref=rangemedia.co) in favor of private contracts with Uber and STA board members arguing reduced fares for low-income riders [would turn the buses into “mobile homeless shelters.”](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/24/1-to-ride-the-bus-plan-call-for-most-sta-riders-to/?ref=rangemedia.co) These talking points are common misconceptions touted by people who do not ride public transportation, particularly politicians who seek to defund transit. 30% of the population is a huge chunk to leave out of consideration when making billion dollar decisions. Somewhat counterintuitively, when a transportation system focuses improvements on the experience of nondrivers, we make life better for everyone, including drivers. For example, cities that prioritize safety for persons outside of cars see decreases in all types of serious injuries, [including those traveling inside cars](https://visionzeronetwork.org/whats-working-for-safer-streets-and-where-cities-are-headed-next/?ref=rangemedia.co). Additionally, public transit significantly [reduces traffic congestion.](https://www.nber.org/papers/w18757?ref=rangemedia.co) Finally, for every dollar spent on public transportation, regions [receive a $5 economic return](https://www.apta.com/research-technical-resources/research-reports/economic-impact-of-public-transportation-investment/?ref=rangemedia.co). The Week Without Driving is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity. It is an opportunity for all of us to better understand the transportation system we take for granted. It is an opportunity for drivers to understand the challenges and dangers faced by children walking to school and retirees getting to appointments without driving. It is an opportunity for the transit-curious to enjoy the phenomenal system operated by Spokane Transit Authority. And it is an opportunity for Spokane residents to become advocates for their neighbors and communities. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/img_7883.jpg) *Rose and a Spokane Reimagined volunteer pose in front of City Hall. Courtesy.* We encourage you to think critically about what you see when outside of a personal automobile. Are the sidewalks in your neighborhood uneven and crumbling? Are drivers failing to yield when you attempt to cross the street? Does a bike lane mysteriously end with no warning? Does your bus stop need seating, a shelter, or a trash can? These conditions are not permanent. You can have an incredible impact on your community by taking note of subpar situations and contacting those in charge to demand change. Attend city council meetings and [testify](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-open-forum-rule-change-how/) about your experience during Week Without Driving. Write emails to the [STA board](https://www.spokanetransit.com/about-sta/spokane-transit-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) detailing the conditions at your local bus stop. You can also join [Spokane Reimagined](https://spokanereimagined.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). We are a nonpartisan, grassroots group dedicated to remaking Spokane’s transportation system. Powered by volunteers with passion for a vision of what Spokane can be, we advocate for safer streets for all users and for increased public transit investment. We have also been working on a major project in secret that we plan to roll out next week to celebrate Week Without Driving. We love our city and are dedicated to making it the best possible version of itself, for all residents. In Spokane we all belong. **You can also join Spokane Reimagined for two events as part of the Week Without Driving programming:** \- Wednesday, October 1st at 6 pm at Lunarium: A lively conversation around bike commuting, led by Gonzaga professor Scott Starbuck. \- Saturday, October 4th at 11 AM, in front of Made with Love Bakery: A Spokane Trolley Walking Tour with Gonzaga professor Linda Tredennick. ### **Spokane City Council Members share their thoughts on Week Without Driving**: #### **District 3 Council Member Kitty Klitzke** **District 2 Council Member Paul Dillon** ### The PolitiCrawl is back 👀 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-politicrawl-is-back/ Last updated: 2026-09-25T22:43:47.000Z If you know and love us, or met us recently, or had a blast at Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum and want to continue engaging with politics this election season, we’re back with our second annual PolitiCrawl: Politics (& Pints) for the People. **When**: Friday, October 10, 6pm to 11:30 pm **Where**: Four local bars, one in each city council district, located within a ten minute walk of Spokane City Line stops. - District 2: Community Pint, 6pm - 7pm - District 1: Whistlepunk Brewing, 7:45 - 8:45 pm - District 3: Pac Ave Pizza, 9:15 pm - 10:15 pm - Full city afterparty: Reserve your free ticket to the PolitiCrawl now to unlock the location! **Who**: Spokane voters over the age of 21 who want to learn more about local politics + how to engage, electeds and candidates who want to connect with their constituents, longstanding political junkies who want to hangout and talk government with other like-minded nerds and anyone who is community-curious and meet new people. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/images-11.jpg) **What**: A \*free\* pub crawl to a bar in each Spokane City Council district + a bar downtown using the Spokane Transit Authority’s City Line bus route. Hosted by the RANGE team in collaboration with Spokane’s local electeds, who are going to be making an appearance at the bar in their city council district to chat with you. This is a great opportunity for you to: - **Meet your elected city representatives!** Tell them about the issues that are important to you and your neighborhood, learn about upcoming policies that might impact you, and connect as people who care about our community. - **Engage in your local political systems beyond voting in national elections!** While voting is incredibly important (and we’ll be handing out voter’s resources along the way) we want to give you the tools to engage with local politics long after the election is over! - **Connect with local journalists!** The RANGE team will be there to answer questions like: how to file a public records request? How to sign up for public testimony at a council meeting? How to send us a news tip? And whatever other curiosities about process and news you might have! - **Be in community!** Make new friends, meet collaborators, identify potential nemeses! [RSVP for the event now](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-politicrawl-by-range-media-tickets-1735696648399?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl&ref=rangemedia.co) so we can get a headcount, and so you can get the location of our afterparty! **Why:** Voting is important, but so is engaging with your local government \*all year round.\* And if you know RANGE, you know that we love making complicated government systems as accessible (and even fun!) as possible so that you can more easily engage with officials and advocate for your community. We want to give you the tools and connections to get more involved, and have a good time doing it. Note: while the crawl itself is free, you will need to buy your own drinks and STA bus pass — [we’re not made of money](https://www.rangemedia.co/save-range-a-press-for-the-people-needs-the-peoples-support/) here! This event is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Spokane Transit Authority. ### 20 Questions with District 1 Spokane City Council Candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-1-spokane-city-council-candidates/ Last updated: 2025-09-23T18:08:12.000Z Spokane’s District 1, which covers the northeast from downtown, including the Logan and Hillyard neighborhoods, is the most economically disadvantaged district in town and home to many of the most pressing political issues facing Spokane. The two candidates are incumbent conservative Jonathan Bingle — one of two conservatives on the five-member council, both from District 1 — and community organizer Sarah Dixit. We asked both candidates to give us brief, clear answers (think something that could fit in a tweet) to 20 questions about some of the key issues emerging for voters this year: Do you support the construction of a new jail? Would you support new taxes? If so, what kinds of tax? Under what circumstances? Should the city pass laws to limit immigration arrests on city property? Bingle did not respond to four requests for answers, but luckily, as the incumbent, he has an extensive record of public comments on many issues, and we’re doing our best to include his voice by linking to previous comments he made addressing our questions. All that and more in this handy chart, and if this isn’t enough to help you make your choice, don’t worry: you can learn more about them [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-1-spokane-city-council-candidates/). If you want to dive in even deeper than that, we produced a full podcast focusing on a candidate forum that Bingle participated in. You can listen to that [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/) or wherever you get your podcasts. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); ### The city of Spokane is out of money for jail. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/ Last updated: 2025-09-22T18:38:35.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - At the Spokane City Council meeting, the council is set to approve using General Fund dollars to plug a hole in the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund (CJA), which is used to pay jail bills, and considering a resolution to approve multi-million dollar homelessness services contracts. - The city’s Finance and Administration Committee will discuss federal advocacy priorities, a financial audit, Safe Streets funding and an update on Spokane Regional Emergency Communications. - The Spokane Plan Commission is getting a presentation on racially disparate housing impacts in the city. - The Spokane Regional Health District will discuss their measles response, and the absence of their Administrative Officer Alicia Thompson, who is being replaced by two interim co-administrative officers, effective immediately. - Spokane Valley City Council will discuss new restrictions on what flags can be flown at their city hall, which would effectively ban the Pride flag. - The Board of County Commissioners will likely vote on new caseload standards for public defenders. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) (and [Study Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/)) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/the-city-of-spokane-is-out-of-money-for-jail/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Fighting Sean Feucht Nestled in the consent agenda is a $50,000 contract amendment to continue [the Pacifica Law Group’s contract](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-hires-law-firm-after-evangelist-files-claim-for-damages-over-resolution-condemning-woodwards-appearance-at-event-with-matt-shea-27467999?ref=rangemedia.co) defending the city against rightwing worship pastor Sean Feucht, bringing the total contract to $250,000\. Late last week, [a judge tossed Feucht’s lawsuit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/18/judge-dismisses-christian-nationalist-sean-feuchts/?ref=rangemedia.co), which [alleged the city violated](https://www.inlander.com/news/sean-feucht-sues-spokane-claiming-emotional-distress-over-city-council-resolution-denouncing-former-mayors-appearance-with-him-and-matt-she-28087602?ref=rangemedia.co) his freedom of speech and caused emotional distress when the council voted to censure then-mayor Nadine Woodward for [appearing on stage with Feucht](https://www.rangemedia.co/nadine-woodward-spokane-matt-shea-christian-nationalist/) and [alleged domestic terrorist](https://www.npr.org/2019/12/20/790192972/washington-legislator-matt-shea-accused-of-domestic-terrorism-report-finds?ref=rangemedia.co) Matt Shea. With [a new budget deficit looming](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/19/city-of-spokane-faces-13m-deficit-halfway-through-/?ref=rangemedia.co) and an over-spend on lawsuits contributing to higher-than-expected expenses, maybe the judge’s verdict will save the city this chunk of change… ### Criminal justice fund out of money As reporting from Spokane Public Radio [revealed in August](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2025-08-01/full-capacity-empty-fund-spokane-cant-afford-to-pay-for-jail-beds?ref=rangemedia.co) the city’s Criminal Justice Assistance Fund (CJA) — which pays Spokane’s bill for beds in the county jail — is out of money, which has led to two month’s worth of unpaid jail bills. Tonight, council plans to pass a special budget ordinance to address the deficit. For background, the fund was established in the early 2000s with the city’s share of the county-imposed criminal justice sales tax for “criminal justice purposes.” That language is vague, but at first, it was really only spent on the city’s share of jail operational costs. Over time, though, the Spokane Police Department (SPD) started dipping into the fund for its expenses, including for their regular contract with police tech company Axon (which makes things like TASERs and body cameras). In 2021, the state passed a “fiscal flexibility” bill which allowed then-mayor Nadine Woodward to use the fund for homelessness costs in 2022 and 2023, which used up most of the fund’s balance. Now, jail costs have jumped significantly and the fund is too drained to pay for them. According to the agenda sheet from CFO Matt Boston, “the fund’s cash balance has reached insolvency,” and the monthly deposit of the city’s county sales tax share is no longer enough to pay the monthly jail bill from the county. According to reporting from SPR, in 2021, the city paid about $4 million to use about 10% of the county’s jail beds, and in 2024, the yearly bill jumped to almost $7.5 million for about 14% of beds. To pay our jail bills in 2025, the city needs to dip into the General Fund, and likely for the foreseeable future, as our sales tax no longer covers the rising costs. Making matters worse, SPD needs to take another $1.2 million out of the CJA fund because their extra duty costs went over budget (maybe from the sheer amount of officers sent to respond to nonviolent [protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/)?) In the same special budget ordinance (SBO), they also want to use the city’s new Community Safety Tax to buy four motorcycles and one passenger vehicle to upgrade the existing fleet. The SBO is a one-time solution, but doesn’t answer the question of long-term solvency to pay our jail bills, so we’re curious what the city plans to do, especially as the county has discussed raising the city’s jail fees. ### Navigation Center Over the summer, the city posted a request for proposals to find the next operators of the city’s Day Time Navigation Center — which functions as the center of the city’s hub-and-spoke homelessness model by serving as the first point of contact of unhoused people and sending them to the scattered site shelter that best fits their needs — and a Street Outreach team. The Human Services RFP team received three applications for the navigation center contract and eight for the street outreach contract. After reviewing the contracts and getting final approval from the CHHS Board, the two 18-month contracts are being forwarded to the council for approval. If passed, Jewels Helping Hands (JHH), in collaboration with Providence, would become the navigation center operators with a $1,720,000 contract, and Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington (CCEW) would become the street outreach operators to the tune of $1,336,622. We anticipate this will be the most controversial item of the night as a lot of frequent flyers at city council meetings have big feelings about helping homeless people, and even bigger feelings about JJH and CCEW. **Editor's note:* This item has been edited to reflect Providence is joining Jewels Helping Hands as navigation center operators, not Compassionate Addiction Treatment Spokane. There was an error in the city's public agendas that was corrected by the city at an earlier committee meeting.* ### Make your voice heard Would having daycare and childcare centers in your residential neighborhood make your life easier? Tell the council! They’re holding a public hearing on the interim ordinance to change zoning and allow daycare and childcare centers in all residential and commercial zones across the city. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Council is coming to District 3 for a Town Hall-style meeting. It’ll be the same time as usual, 6 pm, but will happen at the West Central Community Center in the gymnasium instead of council chambers. - As with the usual town halls, they’ll take questions from community members — with priority for District 3 residents. - They’ll also have staff onsite representing both the Parks Department and the Spokane Public School District to talk about the joint ballot measure on November ballots. > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 22 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, September 25 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Finance and Administration Committee **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Federal priorities Every year, the city decides on the most important issues to press federal lawmakers and the federal government for support and funding are. Here’s the draft of their priorities for 2025 - 2026: - Protect Civil Rights and Programs Essential to the Most Vulnerable - Improve Public Safety and Access to Care - Grow the Regional Economy and Strengthen the Local Workforce - Invest in Critical Infrastructure ### Financial audit update City CFO Matt Boston will be presenting an “update on the financial audit done by the Washington State auditor.” That sentence is the only piece of info in the agenda, so we can’t make any predictions about the results or findings, but we do anticipate this will be an interesting conversation. ### SREC update In the same vein, the committee is scheduled to get on Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) from deputy city administrator Maggie Yates. It’s unclear if this is going to be an update on the city’s relationship with SREC — which [kicked them out](https://www.inlander.com/news/regional-spokane-911-center-srec-tells-the-city-of-spokane-to-go-its-own-way-29240669?ref=rangemedia.co) — or an update on the city’s process of replacing SREC with their own 911 dispatch system: the Spokane United 911 Network. ### Safe Streets funding priorities Last month, the council committee got a presentation on [the new community process](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) to decide which traffic calming projects get city funding in the next round. This month, the committee is discussing the resolution setting the upper limits on Safe Streets for All spending for the next slate of projects. Here’s the pitch: - Up to $6,450,000 total funds can be spent on permanent and adaptive safe streets projects with construction in 2026. - Up to $2,267,000 of that total can be spent on permanent neighborhood safe streets projects. - Up to $525,000 is to be used for [adaptive safe streets](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-calming-design-spokane/) strategies installed in 2026. - Up to $8,875,000 in Spokane Safe Streets for All funds to be used for safe streets projects in 2027 - No less than $3.8 million on projects for [the 27 by 2027 bike network](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 22 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). # MISC City ## Spokane Housing Authority Board **​​🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Housing Choice Voucher plan While we don’t know much about this agenda item because it didn’t come with accompanying material, we do know that the Spokane Housing Authority Board plans to consider revisions to the Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plan. This comes amid [financial uncertainty stretching back to late 2024](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/oct/03/overwhelming-demand-has-jeopardized-funding-for-a-/?ref=rangemedia.co), [federal cuts under Trump](https://www.governing.com/urban/housing-assistance-is-facing-cuts-state-and-local-agencies-are-preparing?ref=rangemedia.co) and a higher demand for the housing vouchers than the program could sustain. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 22 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Racialized housing impacts The Spokane Plan Commission will receive a presentation of the draft version of the city’s Racially Disparate Impacts Analysis, which studied how housing access and housing challenges are not experienced equally by all racial groups in Spokane. A few of the key findings: - “There is a persistent gap in homeownership rates for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) households compared to wWhite households - Patterns of segregation are reflected in the concentration of BIPOC households and uneven distribution of racial groups among neighborhoods within Spokane. However, data suggests that exclusion of people of color from Spokane for employment or housing is limited, based on residential and worker composition compared to Spokane County as a whole. - Higher displacement risk exists in Central and Northeast Spokane, areas that have higher proportions of BIPOC and lower income households, with higher eviction and demolition rates and changing market factors for redevelopment.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, September 24 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Possible new caseload standards for public defenders In June, the Washington Supreme Court started requiring counties to create new caseload standards for public defenders, who [are stretched thin](https://www.cascadepbs.org/investigations/2025/03/washington-among-bottom-states-public-defense-funding/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=p%3EPublic%20defense,just%20doing%20an%20excellent%20job.) in this state. The proposed new standards cover 18 areas, including caseload limits and types of cases, attorney qualifications based on case severity, and requirements for support staff, investigators, training and supervision. The BOCC may vote on these new standards Tuesday. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 23 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Revenue presentation County staff will present to the BOCC on the county budget, detailing which county departments and programs are funded by which revenue streams. The slideshow can be accessed [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1998/files/attachment/18309?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 23 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Health District Board **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Administrative Officer out One of the action items on the table for the SRHD board is a resolution to appoint two interim co-administrative officers “in the absence of the administrative officer,” Alicia Thompson. The resolution does not say why Thompson is absent, whether it’s a permanent absence or how long she plans to be gone. It just says that Ray Byrne, Environmental Public Health Director, will serve as one of the interim officers, overseeing agency operations, while Kim Kramarz, Finance Director and Controller, will serve as the other, managing budget and finance. It appears this change is happening immediately, as Byrne is scheduled to give the Administrative Officer report during the same meeting. ### Measles response Dr. Francisco Velázquez, the health officer at SRHD, will be giving a presentation on SRHD’s measles response after [Spokane saw its first case](https://www.rangemedia.co/measles-spokane-idaho-vaccine-srhd/). Some key data we noticed in the report: - While 84-86% of children 1 to 18 years old have the recommended doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, they’re not all getting it on time, when the vaccine is “meant to protect them the most.” - Only 40% of adults 19 years through 68 years have the recommended doses of MMR vaccine. - “The highly contagious nature of measles presents the risk of extensive spread to and across multiple jurisdictions in the region. Resources and supplies to treat exposed individuals may be stretched thin or become difficult to obtain.” *Editor's note: the section has been corrected to remove a vaccine clinic that already happened.* > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 25 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *Spokane Regional Health District* > *1101 West College Avenue* # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 22 at 6 p.m.* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 22 at 6 p.m.* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Swearing in student adviser to board The board will swear in a new student adviser, Reggie Alba. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 24 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Flag display resolution The city council is set to vote on a policy outlining what flag may be allowed on city flagpoles. It would codify the standing practice of flying flags that support the view and values of the city of Spokane Valley, including some flags that commemorate military service. State law requires cities to fly the American, Washington state and Prisoner of War/Missing In Action flags. Other flags can be flown on city poles at the behest of community members who file a proclamation if the mayor approves it. Some cities in red states across the country, including Boise and Salt Lake City, [recently named](https://www.newsweek.com/pride-flags-displayed-across-red-states-defiance-bans-2081487?ref=rangemedia.co) the Pride flag as an official city flag to get around state bans on flying it. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 23 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Charlie Kirk’s Pacific Northwest ground game URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/charlie-kirks-pacific-northwest-ground-game/ Last updated: 2026-09-28T19:32:14.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News,*](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co) *a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* The first time I saw Gavan Spies, he was helping to fight Charlie Kirk’s war against queer people. It was late July 2023, and the battlefield — not one of “flesh and blood,” the warriors insisted, but one that existed on a spiritual plane — was a worship concert near the Capitol Building in Olympia. That night, the gospel rang across the Capitol campus. Spies and his faithful were there to claim the state from “demonic” forces, embodied in elected leaders who were too deferential to queer rights, for Jesus. This was the Washington portion of a 51-stop tour called “Kingdom to the Capitol” (K2C) led by the anti-queer worship pastor Sean Feucht. K2C visited every capitol building in the US between 2023 and 2024, arguing with song and testimony that the American public square should be controlled by God, not the voters. As [I reported](https://www.rangemedia.co/political-pastors-christian-nationalism-comes-home/) that August, Spies — just an obscure Airway Heights man before Kirk anointed him in 2022 as a regional strategic director for the new faith arm of his far-right nonprofit Turning Point USA — had engineered the Olympia event on behalf of Feucht and Kirk. Turning Point USA Faith, the arm of TPUSA Spies reported to, organizes worship events, teaches parents how to talk to school boards about library books they want to ban and, according to its website, seeks broadly to “eliminate wokeism.” According to Kate Bitz, a senior organizer for the Western States Center, the tour was “pushing a disturbingly narrow vision of who belongs in our communities, who belongs in our government and who deserves civil rights in our country.” Before Feucht took the stage in Olympia to lead worship, I overheard Spies talking with a pair of Christian leaders from Spokane’s On Fire Ministries (OFM) about a gaggle of protesters affiliated with the Boise Temple of Satan, who had set up under some trees in the distance. The Satanists were demonstrating against Feucht’s high-profile statements that LGBTQIA communities were influenced by demonic forces and had to be eradicated. Spies told his brethren he had sent a team of people to pray for them, but the protesters had spurned the team’s offer. Spies laughed. “So it turns out our antagonists are just a bunch of homos over there.” His OFM friends laughed, too. Spies could afford to say things like that in ways some of the higher-profile folks in the operation could not. Onstage, the TPF message is not that queer people are *just a bunch of homos* or any other slur*.* Instead, on stages like the one in Olympia, Feucht and others express their opposition to LGBTQIA rights in terms of being concerned about souls. But Spies was not a visible person in TPUSA. His work happened behind the scenes. He was a well-connected member of Spokane’s Christian nationalist circles, which are always instrumental in state far-right religious organizing, even on the west side of Washington. He was good friends with Feucht. His small following on Twitter included Jim Walsh, the Republican state representative who made a cameo onstage with Feucht and Spokane Pastor Matt Shea before the Olympia concert, blessing their effort to take over the state for Christ’s kingdom. Spies’ name appears only scantly in the social media record, which includes a [shining Instagram shout out](https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccq%5FmotPx97/?ref=rangemedia.co) by TPFaith and [a tag](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=6799096383434431) on Facebook by OFM. In fact, a good portion of Spies’s public profile exists only in RANGE archives. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/screen-shot-2025-09-19-at-5-55-26-pm.png) **Spies, in the blazer, is seen in this screenshot of TUPSA’s Instagram recruitment account marching with anti-COVID vaccination demonstrators.* Spies [filled in](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1712751122715558) some of his biography in a speech he gave during a September 13 prayer vigil OFM organized for Kirk, who had been assassinated in Utah on September 10\. In 2022, Spies had worked as a graduate instructor for Eastern Washington University (EWU). But that experience had put a bad taste in his mouth when the university started requiring employees to be vaccinated for COVID. “I was going to lose my job because I didn’t want to put that in my body,” he said. (EWU spokesman Linn Parrish declined to comment on Spies’s employment because it’s a personnel issue, but he confirmed that Spies took graduate classes. Spies also has an empty Rate My Professor profile that says he worked for the university.) So Spies applied to be a regional strategic director for TPUSA Faith, a job he said he was “way too overqualified” for. During his job interview, he said, he told Kirk — who harbored his own prominent agenda against college as an institution — “I can be whatever you want me to be when it comes to reclaiming our culture.” TPUSA allowed Spies to fight COVID mandates — one of Feucht’s, Shea’s and Kirk’s primary personal bugaboos — along with other progressive causes, most prominently queer representation in the public square. And thus Spies became, at least for a time, a footsoldier in Kirk’s war on “woke” that holds transgender people and pregnant women should not be allowed to access gender-affirming or reproductive health care, the US should put a moratorium on immigration, small girls should be forced to carry their rapists’ babies to term, women must “submit to your husbands,” the Civil Rights Act should be repealed and a litany of other regressive positions. That campaign is being brought to bear in the separated presidencies of Donald Trump, which have codified some of those stances in national policy and credited Kirk with being instrumental in the cause. Underneath that influence is a big machine. TPUSA boasts more than 800 chapters at college campuses across the country, including EWU and Gonzaga and Whitworth universities. According to its 2024 [tax filings](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/800835023/202501359349304810/full?ref=rangemedia.co), the latest available, TPUSA brought in $85 million in revenue and employed 458 people in 2023\. [It claims](https://tpusa.com/meetthefounder/?ref=rangemedia.co) a quarter million student members. Its influence was so powerful that *The New York Times*’s [Robert Draper](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/magazine/charlie-kirk-american-right.html?ref=rangemedia.co) dubbed Kirk “the Youth Whisperer of the American Right.” He claimed credit for driving young people rightward, a trend that showed up in polls, during the last election cycle. And though such an audacious claim lacks conclusive evidence, he was perceived by his right-wing supporters as being so important that Vice President JD Vance cancelled an appearance at a 9/11 memorial to put Kirk’s casket on Air Force 2. Such recognition doesn’t come without a nationwide army of Spieses. ### Washing Kirk clean Charlie Kirk was a tall man with a boyish smile and quickness of tongue that charmed some of the nation’s most prominent journalists, including Draper and *The New Yorker’s* [Jane Mayer](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/charlie-kirk-and-the-long-shadow-of-political-violence/id268213039?i=1000726599318&ref=rangemedia.co), both of whom had close access. I was not one of these people, but I briefly met Kirk once, and am more familiar with the Kirkiverse than the average bear (central insights of which familiarity I owe to investigative reporter Daniel Walters, who in 2023 talked to me for more than an hour explaining the [Groyper wars](https://www.isdglobal.org/digital%5Fdispatches/a-groyper-war-struggles-to-exert-influence-but-paves-the-way-for-other-bad-actors/?ref=rangemedia.co) and Kirk’s opportune shift from traditional fiscal conservatism toward Christian nationalism.) On September 10, I watched the video of Kirk being shot in the neck between journalism classes I teach at Gonzaga University. Within minutes, Donald Trump told the world Kirk was dead (the media soon followed) and, almost immediately, armies of online Christian nationalist commentators went to work downplaying the extremity of Kirk’s views and casting him as a martyr for Christ. Three days after he died, I went to a candlelight vigil for Kirk under the clock tower in Riverfront Park. Hundreds of people had shown up to pray and hear TPUSA chapter leaders, pastors, and conservative activists talk about their fallen leader. For the first time, I saw Spies step forward and speak from the stage. (He hinted at nonviolence, saying conservatives should not “retaliate” but promised Kirk’s work would continue.) As a group, the speakers painted Kirk as a moderate conservative and kind-hearted Christian mostly interested in bringing people to Jesus. Most local reporters [reflected](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/sep/13/we-are-all-charlie-kirk-hundreds-turn-out-to-river/?ref=rangemedia.co) that image in [their reports](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/north-spokane-rally-honors-charlie-kirks-legacy-and-message/293-f0d85171-8eab-4253-acfd-e71d992ea863?ref=rangemedia.co). The intent of organizers was for people to leave that event thinking Kirk was a folk hero, and the media obliged. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/image-2.png) **Christians worship at a candlelight vigil for Charlie Kirk on September 13 organized by far-right Pastor Matt Shea. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* This is not an accurate portrayal. Kirk’s advocates said he was dedicated to free speech; the first mission of TPUSA was to launch a “professor watchlist” aimed at “detailing instances of radical behavior among college professors,” encouraging harassment and doxxing. They said Kirk was interested in even-handed debate; at his PMW events. He would show up fresh and sober in the public squares to spar with impassioned but nervous and possibly intoxicated college students, resulting in videos that would go viral among Kirk supporters hungry to see lefty college kids get owned by a fast-talking conservative experienced in public speaking and rhetoric. They said he was a martyr who died preaching the gospel; Kirk died just after implying that mass shootings are primarily the fault of predominantly Black communities. Kirk had spent his entire public life creating the infrastructure and mechanisms of this automated white-washing. [It](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/opinion/charlie-kirk-assassination-fear-politics.html?ref=rangemedia.co) [has](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/09/16/congress/charlie-kirk-house-resolution-00566576?ref=rangemedia.co) [been](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/reflecting-on-the-life-and-legacy-of-charlie-kirk?ref=rangemedia.co) [working](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/09/10/governor-newsom-statement-on-the-murder-of-charlie-kirk/?ref=rangemedia.co). Kirk mattered less for the originality of his thinking than for his skill at building the infrastructure to advance a broader Christian nationalist agenda that many shared but few could mobilize as effectively. The mechanism through which it’s materializing and through which Kirk is being wiped clean of his more odious stances is the closing ranks of an enormous web of people like Gavan Spies leveraging the vast and nimble complex of social networking embodied in TPUSA. These people are faithful, they are people who would work even though, like Spies, they were overqualified, because they, Spies said, “want to win.” ### TPUSA: a home for the angry Who is it Spies wants to defeat? Well, universities that want him vaccinated, for one. But there are more. One day in 2023, at a city council meeting where he had been doing some activism, he showed me on his phone photos of four drawings that depicted sexual acts, with a good dose of nudity. I hadn’t known it then, but they’d come from the graphic novel *Gender Queer*, the biographical story of transgender author Maia Kobabe coming to terms with who they are. The book is shelved in some high-school libraries and is intended for older teens and parents. But Spies had made it seem as if the text constituted pornography and is taught as curriculum in very young grades. “Do you want your daughter seeing this?” he had demanded. “No? Where’d it come from?” I had said, not knowing whether to challenge it. Spies had been fired up. Later during that same meeting, when the city council had voted to denounce then-Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward for appearing onstage with Shea and Feucht at another of Feucht’s Christian nationalist concerts, Spies had stood up in the gallery, shouted “Cowards!” and stormed out of the building. Spies was always civil with me, except when he complained of a joke I made in a story about the small field kits Christian groups use for large-group communion — I’d called them “sacred Lunchables;” Spies found that disrespectful — but he was not so staid when talking about queer people. He had made the homophobic comment at the state capitol quietly, but it carried a menace that to queer communities was always present in Kirk’s rhetoric. Kirk, who referred to queer activists as “freaks” and the “alphabet mafia,” is famous partly [for asserting](https://www.reddit.com/r/religiousfruitcake/comments/1neo5v0/charlie%5Fkirk%5Fgods%5Fperfect%5Flaw%5Fsays%5Fgay%5Fpeople/?ref=rangemedia.co) that God’s “perfect law” regarding homosexual acts is to stone the perpetrators to death. I had a long conversation with Spies at the Spokane Valley Assembly in the fall of 2023\. We sat near the church’s coffee shop while the sermon played on a screen above us. I was not reporting, but Spies told me the Kingdom to the Capitol tour had been his idea. He would later help to stage the Spokane concert where Feucht and Shea would pray over then-Mayor Nadine Woodward — the act for which she would later be censured. He also helped Feucht retrieve a fancy guitar an unhoused man stole from Feucht’s vehicle when Feucht visited OFM in June 2023\. Feucht later [invited the man](https://www.rangemedia.co/zach-williams-meets-redemption-machine-sean-feucht-matt-shea/) to the same concert Woodward appeared at and faked the man’s salvation and baptism. Shea dipped him in a horse trough that night despite his insistence that he didn’t want to be baptized. Charlie Kirk gave people like Spies a place. He gave them something to do, and it’s changed our world. With Kirk’s widow Erika newly at the helm, these footsoldiers promise to carry his work forward more aggressively than Kirk ever could have done himself before he was martyred. "No one will ever forget my husband's name,” Erika Kirk promised in a speech after Kirk was gunned down. “And I will make sure of it. It will become stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever. My husband's mission will not end. Not even for a moment." ### The POD: Spokane's Spiciest Segment (District 2) URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-spokanes-spiciest-segment-district-2/ Last updated: 2025-09-19T18:02:47.000Z This week, we’re back with two segments! The first segment is from Spokane's Spiciest candidate forum, featuring District 2 candidates Kate Tellis and Alejandro Barrientos. Reporter Erin Sellers asked them questions as they all powered through some spicy wings! (*Keep an eye out for the District 3 segment!*) The second segment includes a conversation between RANGE Producer Pascal and Elina – a local student who participated in the College Success Foundation – about how its programming impacted her. This came after $12 million dollars of state funding – which was around 80% of their budget – was cut in May, Spokane’s College Success Foundation (CSF) office was forced to close in July. [**20 Questions with District 2 Spokane City Council candidates**](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-2-spokane-city-council-candidates/) **[Spokane's Spiciest Event Livestream](https://youtu.be/NBsp2NvysdI?feature=shared&ref=rangemedia.co) (courtesy of KXLY)** ### A ‘gut-wrenching’ waiting game: measles reaches Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/measles-spokane-idaho-vaccine-srhd/ Last updated: 2025-09-16T21:41:50.000Z The day after bringing her newborn son home from the hospital, Spokane resident Maria Teter experienced every new parent’s biggest fear: the baby started having seizures. It was later determined that he had a grade-four brain bleed, a severe type of bleeding in infants that can cause serious complications. After nine weeks in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the nightmare deepened when, during a follow-up visit to Providence Sacred Heart Children's Hospital, he was exposed to measles in the hospital's pediatric unit. “It was a heartbreaking feeling and a feeling of shock because, obviously, measles isn’t something you hear about very often,” Teter said. Measles is a contagious disease that can cause pneumonia and brain swelling and can be fatal, especially to infants with health problems. It is preventable by vaccines and was once considered eliminated in the United States, but [is coming back](https://news.uchicago.edu/big-brains-podcast-why-measles-resurging-and-rise-vaccine-hesitancy?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Adam%20Ratner:%20Yeah%2C%20absolutely.,the%20first%20testing%20was%20done.) in some communities as people choose not to vaccinate themselves or their children. As of September 9, the [CDC reported](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html?ref=rangemedia.co) 1,454 cases in the United States this year. That trend has come to Eastern Washington. On August 25, the Washington State Department of Health confirmed a measles case in Spokane County, the first since early 2024\. Between August 12 to August 24, the [Spokane Regional Health District](https://srhd.org/health-topics/diseases-conditions/measles/current-local-outbreak?ref=rangemedia.co) reported four exposures to the disease, all at Providence Sacred Heart. After a hospital employee called her to tell her about her son’s exposure, Teter described a “gut-wrenching” waiting game, while the family quarantined for four weeks and monitored themselves for symptoms, fearing what contracting the illness would mean for her son’s health. While Teter is vaccinated, her son is too young to get vaccinated, and because of that and his existing health conditions, his immune system is vulnerable. While her son never contracted the disease, Teter said the experience has made her more fearful to bring him to his appointments, as the highly contagious nature of the disease made it harder to trust the community to keep her son safe. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/civics-aart-25.jpg) Maria Teter’s newborn spent nine weeks in intensive care before being exposed to measles at a doctor appointment. (Courtesy photos) Mark Springer, SRHD’s communicable disease program manager, said the confirmed case is a Spokane County resident who was exposed to an infected Idaho resident seeking care at Sacred Heart. Of the four following people who were exposed, three had contact with the Idaho resident and one with the Spokane County resident. Dr. Mike Barsotti, chief administrative officer for Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, said there are now no active measles cases in the hospital. ### Highly contagious For people who are not immunized, there is a 90% chance of contracting the airborne disease when exposed, Barsotti said. Due to the highly contagious nature of the disease, Barsotti said the hospital takes exposures seriously and takes precautions to minimize them. The hospital isolates infected patients in negative air flow rooms that prevent airborne spread of the illness, and hospital staff wear protective gear when interacting with patients in these rooms. Barsotti said that people who think they or their children may have measles should let hospitals know so staff can provide proper care while minimizing exposure to others. If a person is exposed, Barsotti said the hospital works in conjunction with SRHD to find and inform them to quarantine if necessary. Once notified of an exposure, Springer said SRHD follows up with exposed individuals, telling them what to do and what symptoms to watch out for. For unvaccinated people exposed to measles, Barsotti said they can get the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine during the first 72 hours of their exposure, which should make them immune. If they miss that window, they should quarantine for 21 days from the time of exposure. Vaccinated people do not have to quarantine but should monitor for symptoms, Springer said. Since measles symptoms are common to other respiratory illnesses, Springer said it is important to stay home if you have a fever, cough, runny nose or red eyes. “\[Staying home when ill\] is a common sense way that we can protect other people, whether it’s COVID or it’s flu or it’s RSV or measles,” Springer said. “I think that little bit of responsibility to your community and to the people that you’re around is something to call attention to.” ### Protect the community The measles, mumps and rubella vaccination makes recipients 97% immune, SRHD Program Coordinator Kayla Myers said. It is recommended that children get their first dose between 12 and 15 months of age and their second dose between four and six years old. Adults can receive the second dose within two months of the initial vaccine. Myers said it is important for people to check their vaccination records, which you can learn how to do [here](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/hipaa-privacy-security-program/immunization-records?ref=rangemedia.co). According to the [Washington State Department of Health](https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/washington-tracking-network-wtn/immunization-data/county-public-health-measures-dashboard?ref=rangemedia.co), 60.1% of four- to six-year-olds in Spokane County have completed the vaccination series as of 2024, well below the 95% coverage Myers said is necessary to have herd immunity and prevent measles from spreading. Vaccine hesitancy has been [growing steadily](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/measles-is-making-a-comeback-can-we-stop-it-202503063091?ref=rangemedia.co) in the United States in recent years, often due to misinformation, meaning people are less likely than they have been historically to vaccinate themselves and their children. Springer said vaccine hesitancy is often not “black or white” but a risk calculation. If individuals perceive a potential risk in receiving a vaccine and do not see measles as a prevalent threat, they may decide against getting vaccinated, which increases measles’ prevalence. “As we’ve seen this year, across the county and certainly in our backyard, measles is not a theoretical possibility for most people,” Springer said. “It’s here in the country; there’s going to be periodic outbreaks.” To increase vaccination rates, Myers said the SHRD [runs campaigns](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/assets-srhd-org/assets/media/documents/flyer-mmr-flow-chart.pdf) to spread awareness on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. It also connects with hesitant people to address their main concerns, which Myers said are usually based on anecdote rather than science. “It’s always approaching it from the standpoint of: we understand it’s confusing, and we understand there’s a lot of competing information out there, and so, really, we’re just trying to make sure that we are always updating in a timely manner and creating resources that resonate with these hard-to-reach groups,” Myers said. Certain immunocompromised groups are ineligible for the vaccine because the live-attenuated vaccine contains a small amount of weakened live virus, Myers said, so it’s even more important that eligible people get vaccinated to protect their community. Teter echoed that getting vaccinated is a decision that will protect her son. “For my son and his inability to be vaccinated yet — that’s out of our hands, and so we have to rely on other people to have that immunity for him and for kids like him who are too young or who have other medical conditions that are preventing them from being able to be protected on their own,” Teter said. “It’s really just up to those who are able to make that decision, to make that responsible decision.” ### The POD: Spokane’s Spiciest Segment (District 1) URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-spokanes-spiciest-segment-district-1/ Last updated: 2025-09-15T20:38:48.000Z This week, we’re playing audio from our city council candidate forum, Spokane’s Spiciest, with this episode featuring candidate Sarah Dixit as reporter Erin Sellers asks her questions. Current council member Jonathan Bingle – who is running for re-election – had a prior commitment, so he wasn’t able to participate. You can hear from him in our July 25th episode (linked below). Keep an eye out for the District 2 and 3 segments! [**The POD: A (Conservative) City Council Candidate Forum**](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/) **[Spokane's Spiciest Event Livestream](https://youtu.be/NBsp2NvysdI?feature=shared&ref=rangemedia.co) (courtesy of KXLY)** ### Can we capture enough carbon to keep your energy bill low? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/ Last updated: 2025-09-15T18:51:19.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council could finally take the next step on getting our city its own emergency dispatch system, after getting the boot from the regional network earlier this year. - The future of the Waste-to-Energy Plant (and the price tag on your energy bill) could all be revealed at this week’s Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee meeting. - Hop on your bike and enjoy the fall weather rolling in with the Bicycle Advisory Board’s meeting on wheels this week. - The Spokane County Board of Commissioners will have a discussion on the next commissioner to serve on the regional health board, which is currently dominated by conservative electeds. - The county commission is set to vote on fee increases to bring waste to the North County and Valley transfer stations, as well as a new fee for appliances that use refrigerants. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council ](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/)(and Study Session) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - [Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - Spokane School District Board of Directors [Special Meeting](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/can-we-capture-enough-carbon-to-keep-your-energy-bill-low/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### New SREC The council is scheduled for a final vote on the ordinance to establish the Spokane United 911 Network, the city’s new emergency dispatch service. For some background on why the city needs its own emergency dispatch system, instead of continuing in the former regional partnership with Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, check out these pieces from [*The Inlander*](https://www.inlander.com/news/regional-spokane-911-center-srec-tells-the-city-of-spokane-to-go-its-own-way-29240669?ref=rangemedia.co)and [*The Spokesman.*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/27/spokane-scrambling-to-set-up-full-911-dispatcher-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Deferred daycare ordinance Deferred from last week, council is again scheduled for a first read on interim zoning ordinance that — for at least the next year — would allow daycare and childcare centers to be permitted and placed in all residential and commercial zones across the city. That means your neighborhood could soon get more convenient childcare services! > Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 15 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Council Study Sessions > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/study-sessions/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available.* > *Thursday, September 18 at 11 am* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Carbon capturing our hearts and minds You might read the line “Waste to Energy Carbon Capture Study Presentation,” and think, “wow, that sounds really boring and doesn’t impact me at all.” You’d be wrong. Outside of Spokane is the Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Plant, which burns trash and converts that into energy. For now, that Waste-to-Energy Plant doesn’t need to bid on carbon credits to offset their emissions — which is required of many types of businesses by Washington’s [Cap-and-Trade program](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2117-cap-and-trade-ballot-measure-carbon-neutral/). But that’s slated to change in 2027, when the WTE Plant will have to start bidding on offset credits, which will likely raise Spokane consumers’ energy bills. The city has pushed the state legislature for years to exempt the WTE plant from having to bid on those credits to no avail. In 2025, though, they started trying a different tack: [studying innovative mechanisms](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jan/27/spokane-to-explore-capturing-carbon-at-its-power-g/?ref=rangemedia.co) to capture the carbon that the plant emits. At today’s committee meeting, we’re scheduled to get a presentation on the findings of the carbon capture study, to see if it’s feasible to do large-scale carbon capturing. What we hear today will likely shape the city’s plans for how to approach the looming 2027 deadline for the WTE Plant to have to start buying carbon offset credits. ### Street repair -TBD If the streets in your neighborhood are in need of a little TLC, you might be in luck. The committee is discussing the grind and overlay projects for 2026, funded with dollars from the Transportation Benefit District (or, TBD). The list of streets getting repaired with this round of funding can be found starting on page 200. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 15 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### New business, no details The Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees meets this week. They plan to discuss a variety of new business, but their agendas are always thin, so we can’t tell you deets, just the top line of what’s up for discussion. Here are a few things that looked interesting: - The policy on uncollectible customer accounts - The library fine/fee schedule - Summer Reading overview > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 16 at 4:30 pm* > *Hillyard Library* > *4110 N Cook St, Spokane, Washington, 99207* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Bicycle Advisory Board **🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲/5 bikes** The Bicycle Advisory Board is having a special rolling meeting! They’ll be biking around town to “tour bicycle facilities and discuss future opportunities for bicycle facilities.” Here’s the itinerary if you want to hop on your bike and join them: - Start at 5 pm: City Hall Outside of the Chase Gallery - Midpoint Stop at 6 pm: 27th Avenue and Jefferson Street - End at 7 pm: Pacific Avenue and Sprague Way > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 16 at 5 pm* > *City Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Waldref calling for talk on next elected on Health Board Earlier this year, the WA State Legislature passed a bill which would finally force the Board of County Commissioners to put indigenous representation on the Spokane Regional Health District board — a move the BOCC had [resisted](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-regional-health-district-tribal-representative-al-french/) using a loophole in the original requirement and communication issues with the statewide tribal board. Instead of just seating up to three tribal representatives, like the bill requires, the county commissioners had [previously discussed](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) changing the whole structure of the board, adding another county commissioner or Spokane City Council member for each indigenous representative added. With the first of the tribal representatives [seated](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/aug/21/spokane-regional-health-district-board-seats-first/?ref=rangemedia.co) last month, the BOCC now has a scheduled discussion — requested by Spokane County Commissioner Amber Waldref — to talk about the next elected official who will be appointed to the governing board of the Spokane Regional Health District. There’s not a lot of detail in the agenda item on the sheet, but we have to assume it could be a discussion about which of the two remaining county commissioners — conservative Al French and progressive Chris Jordan — will be appointed alongside the next tribal representative. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 16 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Gate fee increase at waste transfer stations Going to the dump may cost more in the near future. The BOCC is set to vote on gate fee hikes at the North County and Valley Transfer Stations from $130.42 per ton to $135.63 per ton. It may also establish a new $30 fee for dropping appliances that contain refrigerants at both transfer stations. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 16 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** While there’s plenty on the table for transit wonks to tune into — like the upcoming community engagement schedule as part of their regular [Title VI review](https://www.spokanetransit.com/title6update/?ref=rangemedia.co) for equitable access to transit and updates on [Connect 2035](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-connect-2035-strategic-plan/) — there’s nothing terribly controversial or monumental slated for this month’s STA agenda. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, September 18 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). # School Boards ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special meeting) 🫑**/5 peppers** ### Student advisers to school board The board will select two students to advise the school board during this special meeting. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, September 15 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Flag display resolution The city council is set to vote on a policy outlining what flag may be allowed on city flagpoles. It would codify the standing practice of flying flags that support the view and values of the city of Spokane Valley, including some flags that commemorate military service. State law requires cities to fly the American, Washington state and Prisoner of War/Missing In Action flags. Other flags can be flown on city poles at the behest of community members who file a proclamation if the mayor approves it. Some cities in red states across the country, including Boise and Salt Lake City, [recently named](https://www.newsweek.com/pride-flags-displayed-across-red-states-defiance-bans-2081487?ref=rangemedia.co) the Pride flag as an official city flag to get around state bans on flying it. ### Special meeting just before regular council meeting The purpose of the special meeting, which starts at 5 pm, is not stated on the agenda. There will be no public comment period during the special meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 16 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, WA 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Mayor to sign opioid settlements Mayor Cris Kaminskas is set to sign the city of Liberty Lake onto settlements partly entered into by the Washington Attorney General’s Office. The state is getting $122 million from Purdue Pharma and eight generic opioid manufacturers as part of a $4.5 billion national settlement in litigation over the opioid crisis, which has killed 645,000 people across the US since 1999\. Liberty Lake would be allocated $41,000 over the next 15 years for programs to address the crisis. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, September 16 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Dear Gonzaga: A Letter from Assistant Professor Andrea Brower URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-andrea-brower-resignation-letter/ Last updated: 2025-09-11T09:45:00.000Z ***Editor's note:*** **Today The Guardian [published a story](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/campus-investigations-professors-gaza-antisemitism?ref=rangemedia.co) including former Gonzaga professor Andrea Brower, who for her Palestine solidarity activism was subjected to an investigation. After 7 months, the investigation found the charges to be unsubstantiated, but even after that, Brower felt the university was still attempting to silence her. We’re publishing a companion to the Guardian piece: Words she wrote accompanying her resignation in protest last month. — Luke* Two years ago I was hired for a tenure-track position as the lead instructor in a Solidarity and Social Justice program at Gonzaga University. My job description opened with “scholar activism” and specified working with students in their social justice pursuits. This new position came after five years of adjuncting and lecturing at the university on poverty wages, earning as little as $23,000 per year with no benefits for the same workload as a full professor: a [3-3 teaching schedule](https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-explain-it-me/pocket-guide-academic-ranks?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=One%20example%20is%20a%203%2D3%20load%2C%20meaning%20three%20courses%20are%20taught%20each%20semester.) and “voluntary” research and service. Reaching tenure track was a welcome shift to a less precarious position that finally covered childcare bills, and I had high aspirations for what I might create as a lead instructor and mentor in an explicitly social justice program. Soberingly, I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to do the work I am called to do in this world — and the job I was *hired* for — at Gonzaga University. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/brower-1.jpg) Andrea Brower (Courtesy photo) I came into academia through grassroots movements and a deep activist commitment to “the common good … humanism … solidarity with the poor and vulnerable, and care for the planet” — [Gonzaga’s stated mission](https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values/mission-statement?ref=rangemedia.co). When my activism was distant from the university, it was [embraced](https://www.gonzagabulletin.com/news/andrea-brower-presents-book-on-hawaiis-chemical-seed-and-gmo-scene/article%5F9c2cbb5a-e88f-11ed-88fd-efe4071ac890.html?ref=rangemedia.co), [celebrated](https://www.gonzagabulletin.com/news/andrea-brower-activist-gu-professor-and-environmental-warrior/article%5Fd5a4a8e2-5fa3-11eb-b05b-c3a54ce96908.html?ref=rangemedia.co), and packaged into a neat commodity that could be [marketed](https://www.gonzaga.edu/news-events/stories/2024/2/26/andrea-brower-faculty-feature?ref=rangemedia.co) to the growing number of students interested in social justice. This changed as my activism got closer to the institution and I started to speak about [treatment of adjuncts](https://www.gonzagabulletin.com/news/gsba-resolution-calls-for-increased-wages-for-adjunct-faculty/article%5F549949fc-067f-11ef-a1bd-37e1f4466f7d.html?ref=rangemedia.co), [skyrocketing administrator salaries](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/910236600?ref=rangemedia.co), the university’s [investments in fossil fuels](https://fossilfreegonzaga.wordpress.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), and the [extensive challenges faced by students of color](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-aapinexus-org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/09sp2024%5Fmostiller%5Fcunanan.pdf). When I began to participate in [student actions](https://www.instagram.com/do.better.gonzaga/?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co) for Palestinian human rights and spotlight the university’s [partnership with weapons manufacturers](https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-students-protest-arms-manufacturers/), I quickly became the target of a constant stream of harassment. Peace signs were ripped off my door, campus security was caught stalking around my office taking pictures, angry and threatening emails became a norm, intentionally false accusations about me were posted to the entire faculty listserve, and my character was repeatedly slandered. Merely for speaking about Palestinian suffering, I was charged with extremism, Holocaust denial, supporting terrorism, immorality, anti-intellectualism, and spreading KKK propaganda. Separate from me personally, the administration also signaled their increasing willingness to repress critical thought and dissent on campus. In 2024, administrators instituted a [draconian anti-protest policy](https://www.rangemedia.co/gonzaga-student-protest-policy/), [condemned peaceful student protestors](https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSRTbP%5FcH0aOkHULvIqmtLCO7Ho9WrPBoUqeSd72Ml4aSoXtoJHpBqA7YUlybB6hEew9jsEcfo6nFdC/pub?urp=gmail%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co), endorsed the [white Christian supremacist ](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/turning-point-usa-case-study-hard-right-2024/?ref=rangemedia.co)and [professor-doxxing](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/sep/17/turning-point-usa-professor-watchlist?ref=rangemedia.co) organization Turning Point becoming one of the largest student groups on campus, and allowed faculty who were planning educational events about Palestine to be bullied into canceling such events, including a panel featuring a Palestinian professor later nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/zag.jpg) Signs from a student protest against the actions of Israel at Gonzaga University on April 11, 2025\. (Photo by Sandra Rivera) The attacks on me culminated in a "Harassment and Non-Discrimination Policy Complaint” filed by a faculty member that I have never met. The person who filed the complaint against me bragged to other colleagues about their intent to use such policy to shut down voices for Palestinian human rights. They targeted me as part of a much wider, highly resourced effort to [weaponize Title VI ](https://jewishcurrents.org/civil-rights-law-pro-palestine-speech-israel-trump?ref=rangemedia.co)non-discrimination law to silence critique of Israel. The administration declined to tell me the details of the allegations, and after one interview at the start of the investigation, I was informed by the university that I would not be able to participate in the process while on a pre-approved medical leave. In essence, I was on trial without knowing the specific charges against me and without any representation from myself or a lawyer. The investigation dragged on from December 2024 through July 2025, a time period in which an authoritarian-aspiring federal government took over and began abusing Title VI civil rights law in their efforts to [deport](https://www.thenation.com/article/society/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-trump-universities/?ref=rangemedia.co) and intimidate Palestine solidarity activists. When I asked my university if they had considered this [changing political context](https://www.aaup.org/issues-higher-education/political-attacks-higher-education?ref=rangemedia.co) and what they would do to protect me, they responded a week later with a link to mental health counseling. After more than seven months, I was finally presented with the specific allegations against me. I was told that attending a student protest that used the word “genocide” to describe Gaza ([consistent with the UN](https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/11/un-special-committee-finds-israels-warfare-methods-gaza-consistent-genocide?ref=rangemedia.co)), and forwarding an [open student letter](https://docs.google.com/document/u/2/d/e/2PACX-1vQo2Sk3Ph0mzeGVBVmqKB5xUMqfdr-9BKDP6VsMdc-m4bHy6wYJU8NH0lJFd1ranDlpsOlQwMdkkLdF/pub?urp=gmail%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) against the university’s protest policy to our faculty listserve, were alleged to be antisemitic actions. The allegations were rightfully found “unsubstantiated,” and could have reasonably been dismissed immediately as a blatant political attack. Though I definitively won the investigation and the investigator found every allegation against me unsubstantiated, I was told that I would still face “intervention” from university leadership, and then was supplied a list of vague, completely unevidenced and uninvestigated claims in reaction to my Palestine solidarity activism. The intent was clear: to silence me even though there was no legal or evidenced grounds on which to do so. I do not know the precise claims that the university constructed against me because they have refused my requests to see these in writing. What was read to me included that I purportedly lack understanding of Israel and Palestine, that I am not sensitive to the feelings of Jewish students and faculty, and that I create conflict on campus. It is not my “lack of understanding,” but my fundamentally different position than people who defend the current mass slaughter and [much longer history](https://news.columbia.edu/content/hundred-years-war-palestine?ref=rangemedia.co) of attempting to eradicate Palestine and Palestinians. In this, I stand with and work closely alongside many Jewish students, faculty, and [community members](https://www.instagram.com/jvpspokane/?hl=en&ref=rangemedia.co) who also take the position of rejecting *all* interrelated forms of oppression, including oppression wrought by Israel. For their criticism of Israel, many have come under intense – one Jewish student called it “hellish” – pressure at Gonzaga. Jewish students have also faced pressure to report, and I quote, “anti-zionist and antisemitic” professors and classroom conversations. The intentional [conflation of antisemitism](https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/11/09/antisemitism-dangerous/?ref=rangemedia.co) with critique of the Israeli government, genocide, and zionism is wearing thin across the country and world, but there remains a forceful, [highly-resourced effort](https://www.commondreams.org/news/adl-antisemitism-2666922452?ref=rangemedia.co) for Jewish people especially to comply. Having differing opinions and perspectives on the question of Palestine and Israel is one thing — but to so blatantly and punitively silence any and all discussion of the suffering of Palestinians is quite another, especially when it is done in the name of, and [largely to the detriment of](https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-07-22/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israelis-are-even-calling-holocaust-survivors-antisemitic/00000198-1e38-d3be-a5bc-3e7b6b140000?ref=rangemedia.co), another historically persecuted group of people. As for the accusation that I “create conflict” on campus, there is an element of truth in this — a truth that I stand tall in. As a scholar of social movements, I understand that social change is never handed down from on high — it comes through struggle, disruption, challenging structures of power and ideologies undergirding them, and yes: *conflict*. I am immensely proud of my students, who have been making beautiful trouble on campus. My work with them has been the most meaningful part of my experience at Gonzaga. Some of my colleagues have expressed concern about the political attacks against me, but equally counseled that, given the imminent threats to higher education from the Trump administration, the best response is to stay quiet, not draw attention to our university, and comply in hopes that we might avoid the wrath of a fascist-aspiring regime. While I sympathize, I strongly disagree. What are we actually preserving in higher education if we are contorting ourselves to fly under the radar of fascism? If we cannot speak honestly, clearly, and loudly about the genocidal starvation of children — or at minimum support our brave students who are — what is our role as scholars? Universities have fraught histories as both institutions that reproduce dominant class structure and ideology, and institutions that seed liberatory thought, imagination, hope, and resistance. If we concede the latter, what are we left with? Now is not the time for quiet. Now is the time for a bold [new vision](https://www.aaup.org/academe/issues/fall-2024/president-our-vision-higher-education?ref=rangemedia.co) for higher education that is accessible and emancipatory, and now is the time to [fight for that vision](https://www.mobilize.us/mayday/?link%5Fid=2&can%5Fid=4a77c3ff4ed97a49bf80d6ec0e4988f8&source=email-mobilizing-for-labor-day&email%5Freferrer=email%5F2855459&email%5Fsubject=mobilizing-for-labor-day&&). Now is the time to press our demands on administrators, who for far too long have facilitated the [corporatization of universities](https://truthout.org/articles/its-time-to-challenge-the-corporate-university/?ref=rangemedia.co) that has left us so vulnerable to fascist assaults. While it is easy to point fingers at shameless authoritarians — and we absolutely should — it is more complicated to reckon with the fact that largely “liberal” administrators paved the road for the situation we are now in; and “liberal” administrators and faculty alike are participating robustly in the extreme, McCarthyist [repression of voices](https://palestinelegal.org/news/media-round-up-2024-eoy?ref=rangemedia.co) for Palestinian humanity. Such reckoning actually puts us into conflict with the racist imperial capitalist project that drives the destruction of Palestine, and undergirds reactionism and liberalism alike. While my resignation may be interpreted as a win for reactionary forces, my role in the struggle for collective liberation is simply moving outside of the walls of the university. I will continue to write, teach, and struggle for collective freedom and peace, but I will do so unfettered by institutional policing of emancipatory thought and hope, as the battle I am called to wage is not for the soul of this university, but for the future of humanity and the earth. I offer to all past and present students continued support in their social justice pursuits, and a non-affiliated, uncensored study group through the Fall semester. The struggle at Gonzaga is far from over, and it is students that are leading the way. If Gonzaga is to be a place that offers anything meaningful to the intellectual project, to the students and workers that make it what it is, to its humanistic and social justice mission, then it would do well to listen to its compassionate and wise students who are embodiments of that mission. ### Ending isolation URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ending-isolation/ Last updated: 2025-09-09T23:19:54.000Z *Editor’s note: This article describes self harm.* A man was in such mental distress that he bit off two of his fingers and severed one of his testicles. Guards withheld toilet paper from women who rejected sexual advances. Another man became so lonely that he took to dialing random phone numbers, hoping a Samaritan would listen to his stories on a collect call. These are a few of dozens of stories from American prisons told in a new book co-written by [Christopher Blackwell](https://www.christopher-blackwell.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a journalist incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center (WCC). *Ending Isolation: The Case Against Solitary Confinement*, published by Pluto Press, is being promoted prior to its September 20 release on the nationwide Journey to Justice bus tour. The tour, co-organized by Blackwell’s nonprofit [Look 2 Justice](https://www.look2justice.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the advocacy organization [Unlock the Box](https://unlocktheboxcampaign.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), will stop in Tacoma on September 12 and in Seattle on September 13 and 14\. The events are free to attend, and you can RSVP [here](https://journeytojusticetour.com/schedule/?ref=rangemedia.co). These stories describe solitary confinement, also known as “the hole,” a practice American prisons have used for decades to manage incarcerated people. Prisoners are shut inI a concrete box, sometimes the size of a walk-in closet, for 22 to 24 hours every day. Most of their possessions are taken from them. Some spend decades in isolation, often suffering abuses free people never have to think about. Prisons in the US and other Western countries say they need the practice to provide health and safety to the world’s largest prison population. But prison reform advocates say solitary confinement — which has a technical definition but is used to describe a wide variety of practices prisons use to separate incarcerated people — is expensive, counterproductive and amounts to torture. Samuel Fuller [wrote](https://cjil.uchicago.edu/print-archive/torture-management-practice-convention-against-torture-and-non-disciplinary-solitary?ref=rangemedia.co) in the Chicago Journal of International Law that countries that use solitary confinement to manage their populations are violating the [U.N. Convention against Torture](https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-against-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=1.,or%20incidental%20to%20lawful%20sanctions.). [Blackwell](https://www.christopher-blackwell.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) is an incarcerated journalist and activist working from a small desk with a smart tablet and calendars covered in sticky notes in his cell at the WCC in Shelton. He spent the last several years putting together the book, which weaves the legal and medical aspects of solitary confinement with the human stories of people who suffer it, including Blackwell. He wrote with [Kwaneta Harris](https://www.kwanetaharris.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), another journalist incarcerated at a women’s prison in Texas; Deborah Zalesne, a law professor at the City University of New York; and [Terry Kupers](https://www.wi.edu/psyd-faculty-terry-kupers?ref=rangemedia.co), a psychiatrist based in Berkeley, California. RANGE spoke with Blackwell — who has spent time in solitary confinement — this week to ask him about the project and his goal of ending the practice entirely. Here’s that conversation, which we’ve edited for clarity and length: **RANGE:** You work from prison and face barriers that other writers don’t. How did this book come together? **Blackwell:** About two years ago I was talking with professor Zalesne and said, “We should really partner on a book — you could talk about the legal angles of it, the cruel and unusual punishment of solitary confinement. I could talk about the real life experiences and the harms and the traumas that it's put on my life.” And \[Zalesne\] was super into it. I wanted to make sure that we're including voices of people from all different communities. People from the women's prison, people from the LGBT community and stuff like that because there's so many aspects that change and weave in a different way. I didn't want to do that thing where you just kind of blanket speak for something even though I experienced my first time in solitary at 12 years old. I'm an expert for youth male experiences, not females’ or other’s experiences. So we put out a pretty wide net and then narrowed it down to the people we thought would be really good fits and cover all the demographics. \[Harris\] is incarcerated in Texas, and she's a brilliant writer, but she started telling me and \[Zalesne\] all this crazy stuff that women go through. I shouldn't be speaking for women. Then we started weaving in stuff from reports from Dr. Kupers and Dr. Craig Haney, because they're some of the leading experts in the country — in the world — on solitary confinement. I was like, ‘I'm just gonna call Dr. Kupers. He has decades of experience. He's interviewed hundreds of people in solitary confinement and written so much about it. He's a close friend. I reached out and said, ‘Hey, how do you feel about coming on this project?’ There are two kinds of solitary books out there: the anthology of sad stories, the sad puppy in the window, right? And then there's the academic one that's really difficult to read and a lot of data, material and numbers. I wanted to merge those. **RANGE:** Solitary confinement was initially [brought to](https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2016-09/solitary-confinement-and-quakers?ref=rangemedia.co) the United States by the Quakers who felt solitude would help people move on from criminal behavior and tendencies, but as the book outlines, that experiment was a failure and solitary was abandoned for decades. Can you talk about the reasons why the practice has resurfaced in American prisons as the prison population ballooned? **Blackwell:** We deal with this a lot when we think about a prison system that was expanding so rapidly. It seemed unmanageable probably to prison staff to not have a tool like this at their disposal. How do you manage such a large portion of a population? This opened up a tool as we expanded into mass incarceration for guards and prison administrators to manage prison populations at such a high rate. You can see mass incarceration [balloon](https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/mass-incarceration-trends/?ref=rangemedia.co), especially in the 1980s, to an unsustainable point. And I think that's when these tools started to resurface. The Quakers quickly realized that it wasn't working and retracted wanting to use that or promote that in any way and made it very clear that it was a failed experiment. **RANGE:** The book talks about additional punishments — such as beatings, physical restraints and lost meals — that are over and above the actual isolation that you experience in solitary. These seem more punitive than rehabilitative. Why do you think they do that? **Blackwell:** It's like [strip searches](https://www.rangemedia.co/strip-searches-have-a-racist-dehumanizing-legacy/) inside prisons, right? These things derive from times of slavery. They're meant to abuse and oppress. That's all. They're exactly what they sound like. They could be painted as if they’re for the safety and security of prisoners inside. Bullshit. Most people in prison have had severe lack of education, have been physically, mentally and sexually abused in some way, have lived in survival mode their entire lives. And then you put them in a box to process all that trauma without any support or training. People on the outside world go to psychologists with far less trauma than most people inside have to deal with. And they expect us to figure that out on our own? They have a guard — a lot of these guys couldn’t even pass a test to be a police officer because they weren't deemed fit to do that. \[Editor’s note: the Washington Department of Corrections requires guards to pass a school called the [Correctional Worker Core Academy](https://doc.wa.gov/jobs/benefits/training-development?ref=rangemedia.co).\] But they're fit to take care and manage people that are far more damaged. I've seen people suffering from extreme mental health problems and because \[the prisons\] have nowhere to put them and they don't know how to deal with them, guards and administrators shove them in solitary. \[In solitary,\] even the most capable human beings completely break down and deteriorate. It's hard to watch. It's hard to listen to. You have guys that break down so bad, they start playing with their own feces, rubbing it on the walls, on themselves. There's just no reason that we would put people in these situations and expect that this is gonna do anything beneficial. The only benefit is that guards will have a way to hang something over your head and do the ultimate to you. **RANGE:** You and others say that, once you're out, you tend to have very hazy, blurry memories of being in solitary. Can you talk about why it's so hard to remember time in solitary? **Blackwell:** I grew up in a really abusive childhood, through my father. For me, there's a few moments that I remember, but a lot of it is extremely hazy and I just can't remember what happened, because it's such a traumatic moment that, in that survival instinct of the human body, you push it and box it and isolate it somewhere. I think that that's one of the things that solitary creates, one of the things that we don't even realize that it's creating. It’s part of your soul, man. It really takes you to a different place. People have distractions to keep going through the world and not having to process every bad thing or every little traumatic thing in our life. If \[you’ve been isolated\] for weeks, for months, years, decades, and having to really relive the things that can come up out of your mind, it's really crazy, the things that start to surface. Without the proper support of processing those things, it can be really traumatizing. People completely shut down. That's why it becomes hazy. What I would always have to do is like, right when I get to solitary, I set up a pattern and a schedule. I'm gonna work out there this time. I'm gonna wake up, I'm gonna comb my hair, I'm gonna make my bed, I'm gonna leave for an hour. I'll have my yard time, and I'll go call my family, and then I'll come back and write letters for an hour. If you don't do that, you can't make it through and it gets hazy. **RANGE:** You characterize as solitary as torture and assert that solitary is unconstitutional because it's cruel and unusual. Can you talk about why American society has not moved toward abolishing it? **Blackwell:** We haven't moved towards abolishing it because the courts have used the terms “safety” and “security” so loosely, and the courts refuse to define that for prisons by saying they're not the experts, so let the experts handle that. The “experts” are prison administrators and prison guards and their unions. It is [continuously stated](https://solitarywatch.org/facts/faq/?ref=rangemedia.co) that prisons would devolve into utter chaos and disarray if we got away from solitary confinement, that they have to have that tool. As a society we have allowed it to continue because we're just not educated enough on it. You could probably go ask 10 people — random people in the streets — and I'd be shocked if you found one that could actually break it down to you. People don't know. That's why it happens in the shadows, and a lot of the time people don't care because people will be like, “Well, you're in prison. You deserve whatever you get.” That kind of thinking is exactly why we still deal with recidivism and crime rates at the level that we do, because we're not thinking with the brain of let's fix the people causing harm. Let's work with them. Let's see why that's happening. Let's pull people out of what I continue to call survival mode and get people into a space where they feel like they belong. Because when you belong to a community, you wouldn't harm that community. **RANGE:** Your book is on tour, doing events around the country. What do you hope people do after they read the book or attend one of these events? **Blackwell:** I just want people to leave with a better understanding. It's hard to change something when it's really not in people's face. And this is what's been done with prison systems over the decades: they've moved to be more isolated and contained and operate in the shadows, which means society doesn't know what's going on. The goal is that people attend these events and they learn what is exactly happening inside prisons, especially in solitary confinement units. What are their tax dollars going for? Is that something they actually want? Do they want to be spending [hundreds of millions of dollars](https://journalistsresource.org/home/solitary-confinement-research-primer/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=El%20Chapo%E2%80%99%20Guzman.-,The%20economic%20costs,-Research%20shows%20that) keeping people in solitary confinement only to have them released worse off? No. Who wants to pay for that? This is something we can defund. We can get rid of it. It's better for everybody. It's better for humanity. ### A lawyer helping Sean Feucht sue Spokane could be the new county prosecutor URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/ Last updated: 2025-09-08T18:37:19.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane City Council has a bunch of first readings on ordinances scheduled for tonight, including one that could soon allow for daycare and childcare facilities to be placed in all residential neighborhoods. - We’re doubling up on Spokane City committees today to make up for Labor Day. At the Public Safety & Community Health Committee, they’ll be getting various public safety reports like overtime spending, red light camera ticketing and Office of Police Ombuds reports. At the Urban Experience Committee, a bunch of homelessness and public safety contracts are up for discussion. - The BOCC will interview a slate of candidates for Spokane County Prosecutor — all recommended by the county’s Republican Party — including the former boss of far-right Spokane pastor Matt Shea. - The regional school boards are keeping it chill this week with no scheduled debates on the rights of trans kids. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council (and Study Session)](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/civics-new-county-prosecutor-candidates/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Safer signage Council could pass a resolution that would allow the city to spend $6,000 or less on new signs for neighborhoods across the city, reminding drivers to slow down through residential streets. It isn’t clear how many signs $6,000 can buy in this economy, nor how the Office of Neighborhood Services, which is handling the sign purchases, plans to decide which neighborhoods get the new signs, but it could be yours! ### A night of first reads There aren’t any final votes tonight, but there are a few interesting first reads you can offer feedback on, like: - An ordinance to extend the interim zoning ordinance that got rid of height limits for downtown buildings for another six months. - An ordinance to start officially establishing the city of Spokane’s new emergency dispatch service, which is going to be called the Spokane United 911 Network. - An interim zoning ordinance that — for at least the next year — would allow daycare and childcare centers to be permitted and placed in all residential and commercial zones across the city. That means your neighborhood could soon get more convenient childcare services! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 8 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Special meeting Because last week’s Public Safety & Community Health Committee was canceled for Labor Day, the council is having it as a special meeting at 10:30 am today. We love this meeting, because a variety of departments present statistics and updates to the council. Here’s some of the takeaways from those reports: - The Office of Police Ombuds will present on their June and July activities. One number that stood out — they received 17 complaints just about law enforcement response to the June 11 protest. - Spokane Police Department’s briefing included an update on the status of deadly force incidents. There have been two police shootings this year: one from January is currently with the prosecutor to review if he wants to take action against the officers involved; and a second from February that’s still under investigation by Spokane Independent Investigative Response (SIIR), who will then send it to the prosecutor to review. - There were zero speed camera violations for June through July! (School wasn’t in session.) In other news, the red light cameras have collected $330,873 more than expected from violations, and the speed cameras have collected over $600,000 *less* than expected this year so far. (*Editor’s note: Though to be fair to the robots, two motorcycle cops were radaring on S. Washington this morning and they didn’t seem to be getting many speeders, either*.) - SPD is $478,505 *under* budget for overtime spending this year, while the Fire Department and EMS are $1,248,145 *over* budget. SPD did spend more than expected on [extra duty costs though](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/). > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 8 at 10:30 am* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Homelessness contracts There are a lot of homelessness and public safety contracts up for discussion at today’s Urban Experience Committee. Here’s the TLDR: - Waters Meet Foundation (formerly Empire Health Foundation) will be presenting an update on their housing navigation contract, the scattered site shelters and their upcoming tiny home pilot project. - The council will be discussing multiple street medicine contracts, including with the Health Care Authority and one with CHAS street medicine. - They’re also planning on discussing CHHS board recommendations for street outreach, navigation center and inclement weather shelter provider contracts. - They’re talking about renewing a contract with the Washington State Department of Transportation for Right-of-Way renewal, which gives them funding to clean up homeless encampments on public right-of-way with robust case management. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, September 8 at noon* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # MISC City ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🫑/5 peppers > **Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf)* > *Wednesday, September 10 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > **The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co)* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** **Agenda [here ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Tuesday, September 9 at 9 am* **Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* **1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* **The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Former Matt Shea employer up for prosecutor Marshall Casey, who employed the far-right former legislator and now Spokane pastor Matt Shea until Shea was accused of domestic terrorism in 2020, is one of three contenders scheduled to be interviewed for the vacant Spokane County prosecutor position. Larry Haskell vacated that post after 10 years in July and was succeeded by interim prosecutor Preston McCollam, who is also a candidate for the permanent position. The third contender is Steve Garvin. Voters will choose the permanent prosecutor next year. All three candidates were recommended in a letter to the BOCC from the Spokane County Republican Party. The prosecutor represents the county and state governments in local prosecutions and decides who will be prosecuted. The office also represents the county in civil matters. Casey [also represented](https://www.inlander.com/news/sean-feucht-sues-spokane-claiming-emotional-distress-over-city-council-resolution-denouncing-former-mayors-appearance-with-him-and-matt-she-28087602?ref=rangemedia.co) the anti-queer worship pastor Sean Feucht in a damages claim against the city of Spokane, [alongside](https://www.rangemedia.co/pete-serrano-sean-feucht-us-attorney-eastern-wa-christian-nationalist-spokane-9/) Pete Serrano, the former mayor of Pasco and the interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. ### $2.2M for Country Homes Blvd. The BOCC is set to accept an award from the state Department of Transportation for $2,259,000 from the state Department of Transportation to help improve Country Homes Boulevard between Wall and Division streets. > **Agenda [here ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > **Tuesday, September 9 at 2 pm* > **Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)* ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** **Agenda [here ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Thursday, September 11 at 1 pm* **Spokane Regional Transportation Office* **21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* **The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co)* ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Environmental Impact Statement update To do any state-funded development project, most governments are required by state law to consider doing studies on how the project would affect the environment, including wildlife, groundwater, rivers, forests — pretty much any aspect of an ecosystem. There’s not a lot of detail about exactly will happen, but the Planning Commission will receive an update on those requirements at its regular meeting Thursday. **Agenda [here](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Thursday, September 11 at 9 am* **Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* **1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* *The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)* ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** **Agenda [here](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co).* *Thursday, September 10 at 9 am* **Airport Event Center* **9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* **The meeting is also live streamed [here](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co).* # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** This is just a board work session with no public comment opportunities. We didn’t notice anything incredibly controversial on the agenda for working through. **Agenda [here](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Monday, September 8 at 6 p.m.* **Union Event Center* **12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* **Watch via Zoom [here](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** Nothing much of note. **Agenda [here](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Monday, September 8 at 6 p.m.* **Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* **Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* **Watch via Zoom [here](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co).* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** **Agenda [here](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Wednesday, September 10 at 6 pm* **Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* **200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* **The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co)* # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Pinecroft Natural Area Preserve educational trail up for approval The city council is set to approve an agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to build an educational trail in the Pinecroft Natural Area Preserve, a 100-acre property near Mirabeau Point Park. It’s a bit of a gamble, according to a write-up in the agenda item. Till now, the document says, the department “has focused on restricting public access, conducting weed control, limited planting of native grasses and forbs, and limited thinning of Ponderosa pines.” But “current approaches to managing public access have not been effective.” The agreement would provide for the following developments: - By constructing an educational trail and providing signage, DNR could direct people to where resource damage would be minimized - Planned and directed access may limit inappropriate and/or incompatible behaviors, and - Through signage, the community could be informed about the ecological and conservation values of the site, which could lead to increased public ownership of the site; people caring about, and for, the site The idea is that if the public has better access to the preserve, it will have a better incentive to protect it. **Agenda [here](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co)* **Tuesday, September 9 at 6 pm* **City Hall* **10210 E Sprague Ave*, *Spokane Valley, WA 99206* **Virtual attendance [here](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co).* ### Washington cities’ AI policies play catch-up as officials embrace new tech URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-cities-ai-policies-new-tech/ Last updated: 2025-08-31T18:00:00.000Z *This is the second in a two-part series about how local governments in Washington state are using artificial intelligence.* [*Read part one here*](https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2025/08/wa-city-officials-are-using-chatgpt-to-write-government-documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* In February, heavy snowfall swept through Bellingham. Bre Garcia, a recent college graduate, began her commute to her job at a printing company, but quickly turned around. Her street was covered in snow and she didn’t feel safe. Garcia had assumed the city would prioritize major arterials, like the one she lives on, for plowing. She saw private plows clearing commercial parking lots, but no city plows clearing streets. Concerned about dangerous streets, she reached out to the city. “It did not look nor feel good as I tested my car and potentially my life against unprepared drivers on unprepared roads,” Garcia wrote in an email to Bellingham’s Public Works department. “Hope this complaint reaches the right place, and that plowing becomes more of a priority for the actual streets that need it.” A city communications official replied that evening, telling Garcia that crews had made multiple trips to her street: “We recognize that conditions may not have been ideal when you needed to travel, and we regret any difficulties this caused.” Garcia found the response a little dismissive. It was like “they didn’t read my email at all,” she said. If the response seemed impersonal, that might be because almost none of it was written by a human. Records show that it came from ChatGPT: A city staffer copied Garcia’s email into the chatbot and asked it to generate a response “acknowledging the concerns but letting them know we did have crews out plowing.” Only [four words were added](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/11/93/111d399a4bbf9a885387cdbdf584/screenshot-2025-08-26-173451-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) to the chatbot’s output. It wasn’t just Garcia’s email that was treated this way. Records show a Bellingham staffer asking ChatGPT to write responses to emails about parking, traffic, a homeless camp and more. The earliest example is from more than a year ago. Responding to constituent emails appears to be a “high-use case for how city employees are using AI tools,” said Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund. “We consider that a permissive use of AI for efficiency reasons, but it’s a springboard to finalize the communication with the constituent,” she said. “There’s still that discernment that happens and that critical thinking.” Cascade PBS and KNKX sent Garcia a screenshot of her email appearing in the city official’s ChatGPT history, which was obtained through a public records request. Garcia wasn’t happy to see it. “I was totally dismissed,” she said. The snowplow complaint was fairly minor, but it still had safety implications, Garcia said. If the government can’t be trusted to respond to something like that directly, she added, how can they be trusted to deal with bigger issues? “It makes me wonder if anybody actually sat down to seriously think about what I was saying,” she said. #### Rampant AI use, few guardrails Bellingham is still developing a formal AI policy; asked if the public should have the right to know a message is AI-generated, Lund wasn’t sure. It’s a question the city is grappling with. That lack of clarity isn’t unusual: As generative AI tools like ChatGPT are used more and more by local governments, adoption is often outpacing potential safeguards and ethical guardrails. Development of government AI policies at the state and local level is largely led by IT departments. In a recent nationwide [survey ](https://www.ey.com/en%5Fus/insights/government-public-sector/ey-government-state-and-local-2025-survey-findings?ref=cascadepbs.org)of 300 state and local government IT directors, nearly 80% said they were concerned about a lack of clear regulations on AI use. Lund said she sees AI as a way to make government work more efficiently, but also “There’s an abundant need for caution and understanding the implications of these tools. “I think that’s above any one city’s IT department or policies to really grapple with,” Lund said. “Because there are weighty, weighty factors to consider.” *This is the second in a two-part series about how local governments in Washington state are using generative AI. (Read part [one here](https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2025/08/wa-city-officials-are-using-chatgpt-to-write-government-documents/?ref=rangemedia.co).)* City officials in Washington have used generative AI for a variety of policy and communications tasks, according to thousands of pages of ChatGPT histories obtained by Cascade PBS and KNKX via records requests. As noted in part 1 of this series, Bellingham and Everett are the main focus of this story not because they’re outliers, but because they were the fastest and most comprehensive in their responses. Other cities, like Seattle, are slowly responding to the request in installments. While the Washington state government has issued guidance on AI use for its public employees, policy adoption by local governments “is a bit more varied,” said Jai Jaisimha, a Seattle tech entrepreneur and co-founder of the Transparency Coalition, a national organization that advocates for regulating AI. “There’s quite a bit of work to do,” Jaisimha said. Washington’s IT department released interim guidelines for the “purposeful and responsible” use of generative AI by state employees in 2023. The guidelines say humans need to review all AI content for bias and accuracy, and that people should avoid putting confidential data into AI chatbots, or using AI to draft communication materials on “sensitive topics that require a human touch.” The guidelines also say all AI-generated content used in government business should be labeled to allow for “transparent authorship and responsible content evaluation.” AI-generated content should include a disclosure about the model of chatbot used, the exact language of the prompt, and the name of the human who reviewed the AI output. State guidance on labeling AI-generated documents published publicly does not appear to be widely followed. Chatbots are notorious for making things up, so accuracy is a major concern when they’re used by governments. The records reviewed for this story contained numerous examples of ChatGPT introducing errors into drafts of official documents, but most were corrected, suggesting that human review is happening. Compliance with security guidelines is less standardized: Some of the ChatGPT histories obtained by Cascade PBS and KNKX were redacted by records officers because the user had introduced confidential information into the chatbot. Many records didn’t meet the *legal* threshold for redaction, but still contained sensitive personal information not intended for public consumption. The focus on security, accuracy and transparency are common in government AI policies. Cities that have already adopted AI policies, including Spokane and Seattle, have similar core principles. “There’s some core things that, regardless of the use case, you want to look at when you’re deploying AI at scale in a manner that affects people’s lives,” said Yuki Ishizuka, a policy analyst with the state attorney general’s office who sits on Washington’s AI Task Force. The Task Force, created by former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in 2024, comprises elected officials, business stakeholders, tribal leaders and representatives of advocacy organizations, and is tasked with delivering recommendations on the use of AI in the private and public sectors. The task force has made one official recommendation so far: that lawmakers strengthen the language in Washington law against AI-generated child sexual abuse material. The next preliminary report is due in September, and a final report is due in July 2026\. Both will have recommendations on local government and AI, Ishizuka said. “Technology moves very fast, law and regulation tends to move slowly,” Ishizuka said. “And it’s often not until after a lot of technology and the impacts are felt that often regulators respond.” #### A ‘permissive approach’ Everett’s IT department sent employees a set of provisional guidelines on AI usage in June 2024, and is now in the process of developing a more robust AI policy. The city is taking a “very cautious approach,” said IT director Chris Fadden. Everett is modeling its policy on a template created by the GovAI Coalition, a group of cities around the United States collaborating on issues related to AI in government. City employee unions offered feedback on Everett’s draft AI policy in July. It’s in the final review stage, with the mayor’s final approval expected in the next couple weeks, said Simone Tarver, Everett’s communications manager. Going forward, staff in Everett will be instructed to use only Microsoft Copilot, which offers a version of its model for government entities. Use of ChatGPT and other chatbots will be allowed only with a special exemption, Fadden said. “There’s a lot of safeguards in the Microsoft product versus ChatGPT,” he said. Copilot is more secure, the IT director said, and will allow better integration with existing city datasets and Microsoft Office products the city uses. The government system is hosted on servers in the United States and has other safeguards to meet public agency security requirements. Copilot’s base chatbot is based on a large language model developed by OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. Microsoft warns users that it can make mistakes, and recommends users avoid bringing it “high stakes” scenarios with legal, regulatory or compliance implications. Don Burdick, Bellingham’s IT director, said Bellingham has taken a “permissive approach” to letting staff use AI, giving them broad flexibility about how and with what tools they use it. The city is also a Microsoft client. Staff are now being encouraged to use Copilot but they can still use ChatGPT or other chatbots if they want. “The industry is evolving way too fast,” Burdick said. “Keeping that sort of grip on things is not productive.” Burdick said staff have been encouraged to be curious and explore generative AI, while remaining “skeptical and humble” and “not completely relying on it.” The two cities differ on whether disclosure should be required. If generative AI is being used for “more than mere language refinement,” Everett’s new policy will recommend citing its use. But it’s unclear if Bellingham’s new policy will require such citations. If employees are reviewing and evaluating a chatbot’s output before sending it, they’re assuming responsibility for the content, and there’s no need to disclose that it was generated with AI, Burdick said. Melissa Morin, Bellingham’s communications director, said department heads are continuing to discuss edits to the draft AI policy, and that the city expects to adopt it before the end of the year. (Cascade PBS adopted an AI policy in July. It requires human review of AI output, and disclosure if AI tools are used in content creation or decision-making. KNKX is currently working on an AI policy. No parts of this story were written using generative AI.) #### ‘Generate a picture of me looking awesome’ While city officials are still grappling with whether to allow some types of AI usage, they agree that a few specific uses should be fully off-limits: No using AI for screening job applicants, social scoring or fully-autonomous decision-making. Fadden, the city’s IT director, said Everett’s new AI policy will also include a provision that AI not be used for autonomous weapons systems: No killer drones. Morin said the city is skeptical of using AI for image generation. When staffers recently suggested using graphic design tools with built-in image generation, she recalls saying: “Don’t even go there, it’s just too problematic.” “That’s one where I feel as a communications director way less comfortable putting something out to the public without disclosing that it was generated by AI,” Morin said. “Because it’s not something we check or manipulate in the same way we do when we’re using it for written text or website copy.” Records show city staff frequently asking ChatGPT to generate images, including city logos, promotional photos of police dogs and graphics advertising special events. But most staffers seemed simply to be experimenting; no instances of AI-generated images published on city websites or other communications could be confirmed. Many were just having fun. “Generate a picture of me looking awesome,” one Everett staffer told ChatGPT. Over several months, one Bellingham official used ChatGPT to generate dozens of [minion ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/eb/80/350db7e9476b9a168802c8efbe76/screenshot-2025-05-16-093753-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)memes — until the chatbot began [refusing ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/18/4e/b2bfbb7c49c7bc264b3f34690cd6/screenshot-2025-05-16-093550-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)the requests, apparently because of an update to its content policies. The staffer tried getting around the restriction by asking for humanoid banana memes; the chatbot refused. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/melookingawesome-1.png) *A prompt request from a City of Everett staffer. (Source: City of Everett via public records request)* Many records show staff asking ChatGPT policy questions, though it isn’t always clear if they’re relying on the chatbot’s advice or simply testing its capabilities. In Everett, a city staffer asked ChatGPT what the best location would be for [Everett’s ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/51/79/3429d4014400b949dbc25d7bd04a/screenshot-2025-06-27-084227-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)light-rail station. (The chatbot suggested three options: somewhere along Colby Avenue, in the vicinity of the Everett Mall or near the Everett Station.) Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin doesn’t think AI should be used to make actual policy decisions like that. “I don’t trust a computer to develop that information for us,” she said. #### Sensitive data Some elected officials remain wary of generative AI. Bellingham City Councilmember Jace Cotton said he’s “not a big ChatGPT user.” Before being elected, as a campaign worker, he briefly experimented with it for data analysis, but said he hasn’t used it for his current job. “I worry sometimes about the privacy implications of feeding city information into algorithms that are black boxes,” Cotton said. Cotton’s concern is a major one for governments using AI: ChatGPT is not a secure platform, which could put cybersecurity and constituents’ privacy at risk. After it’s introduced into a chatbot, data often “gets ingested and consumed and resides in the AI,” said Ishizuka of the state’s AI task force. Washington’s AI guidance for state agencies warns that entering non-public data into systems like ChatGPT could lead to “unauthorized disclosures, legal liabilities, and other consequences.” In Bellingham, records show that one IT staffer gave ChatGPT a copy of the city’s GIS computer code for tracking homeless encampments, and asked for help debugging it. The record of this request had to be heavily redacted, because it contained information that could create cybersecurity vulnerabilities for the city. Several other chat logs were redacted because they contained personal information “in files maintained for employees, appointees, or elected officials, to the extent that disclosure would violate their right to privacy.” Some Everett police records were redacted because they contained performance review information. One Bellingham police detective’s chat history was redacted because it contained information about an open case. In an emailed follow-up statement, Burdick, Bellingham’s IT director, said the city’s training makes it clear that staff should not input confidential information into generative AI tools. “Training staff to use generative AI tools well will take time, and we are already learning about how to better clarify our expectations about its use to staff,” Burdick said. This spring, Bellingham officials emailed a copy of the city’s draft AI policy to city employee union leaders. Records show that the policy was drafted with assistance from ChatGPT. Over the course of more than a year, an IT staffer in Burdick’s department asked the chatbot [numerous ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/34/96/6427deba467292cad92d020397dc/screenshot-2025-05-16-171451-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)AI policy [questions](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/bf/d8/1ea271f143e2998a92e13d964d88/screenshot-2025-05-16-171417-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co). “\[C\]reate an example ai policy for a city government,” the staffer wrote in one prompt. Seven of the 10 guiding principles in the policy procedure document appear partially copied from ChatGPT’s output. The main difference is that the city version replaces the phrase “AI system” with “solution.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/bellinghamai-1.jpg) *Significant portions of this draft of an AI policy for the Bellingham City government were copied directly from ChatGPT. (Source: City of Bellingham via public records request)* Burdick said ChatGPT’s outputs were vetted by staff when putting together the AI policy. “There was a lot of back-and-forth in that process, and that’s totally what we’re encouraging staff to do with the tools,” Burdick said. “There’s nothing wrong with asking AI: ‘Build that process for me, talk me through that process’ ... It doesn’t mean we’re going to take it carte blanche for what it is, but we worked with it to build the vision that we saw.” #### ‘Consequential decisions’ One common use of AI appears to be generating application materials for state and federal funding opportunities — a practice that could have real-life ramifications. Cities spend a *lot* of time applying for grants. The applications are often similar, Everett Mayor Franklin said, and AI can be helpful in reducing staff work time to prioritize “other important work, engaging with the community.” But Jaisimha of the Transparency Institute said caution is required when using AI for grant applications. It’s an example of a “consequential decision,” he said, with large amounts of public money on the line. “You hope that the particular organizations that are requesting grant applications have requirements that people at least disclose the use of AI,” Jaisimha said. “That is another really key form of transparency.” In several instances, a planner in Bellingham used ChatGPT for help requesting state funding for cyclist and pedestrian [safety projects](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/ad/c4/c99a88884acc83de5893ce2a306a/screenshot-2025-06-30-100815-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co). “\[I\] need help answering the following question about the project — Does this project benefit underrepresented communities? If so, please describe,” the user [wrote](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/e2/7c/0c235c614a93b417d180d6b654d5/screenshot-2025-06-30-103409-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co). “Look on the City of Bellingham website for project information and give me a response.” Emily Bender, a linguist at the University of Washington and prominent AI critic, was concerned to hear that. Racial equity narratives are important in grant applications “because we want everybody thinking about these issues,” she said, and using a chatbot defeats that purpose. Similarly, a staffer in Everett used ChatGPT to fill out an application for $7 million in affordable-housing funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The employee uploaded several city documents about the project, and told ChatGPT to use the information to generate [answers ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/8c/9f/2f5e6a7249159a52817467e66905/screenshot-2025-06-25-151859-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)to some of the application [questions](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/a6/2a/316b449b47e888e27590d4637806/screenshot-2025-06-04-165217-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), a racial equity [narrative ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/2a/28/e2862b5540a0b04460f132c016d4/screenshot-2025-07-13-125031-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)and other large sections of the document. The staffer also used ChatGPT to generate more than 20 individualized letters of support from local elected leaders and organizations, including the Everett Housing Authority, the Snohomish County Treasurer’s Office, U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and several state representatives. The staffer also asked ChatGPT to generate an email template to send to those entities, asking if they’d be comfortable signing the support letter. The city’s final grant application included 23 distinct letters of support. Almost [all ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/07/4e/257b75ce4913bf710c41697b306c/screenshot-2025-06-09-162229-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)[were](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/81/17/bff3b0044c11b446cad8c31711ad/screenshot-2025-06-09-162134-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) identical to the ones generated by ChatGPT. Franklin said she wasn’t aware of any HUD policies related to the use of AI-generated grant application materials. HUD didn’t respond to a request for comment. A few federal agencies are cracking down on the use of generative AI in grant applications. In July, the [National Institutes of Health](https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-132.html?ref=cascadepbs.org) said it had been receiving an uptick in AI-generated grant applications that had the potential to overwhelm the grant-review system and harm the “fairness and originality” of the process. Going forward, the agency said it won’t consider applications that are “either substantially developed by AI, or contain sections substantially developed by AI.” If AI is detected after a grant is awarded, the NIH could suspend funding. #### Text without accountability Can generative AI tools be used ethically in government? People tracking development of the technology disagree. Jaisimha of the Transparency Coalition thinks it’s possible, but only with significant guardrails for security and transparency, and models that are “sandboxed appropriately” to address specific tasks. Bender at the University of Washington disagrees. She disapproves of the term “AI,” because, she said, it implies an intelligence that isn’t actually there. Large-language models like ChatGPT — she calls them “synthetic text-extruding machines” — are trained on massive volumes of writing by humans, much of it copyrighted. They generate text by predicting what word is most likely to come next in a sentence. “That is not text that anybody has accountability for, it’s not text with any communicative intent,” Bender said. Bender said she can empathize with civil servants feeling overworked, but she thinks the solution is for governments to invest in more staff and resources, not unaccountable text machines that frequently make up “facts.” “What happens over time as people lose confidence in their own ability to write these kind of letters without this assistance?” Bender asked. “What does that do to their expertise?” #### What’s next? The mayors of Bellingham and Everett say AI is here to stay. In Everett, a “select group of staff members” from various departments are now meeting weekly for in-person AI training and discussion, said Tarver, the city’s communications manager. The plan is for those “AI champions” to act as the “first line of support for AI-related topics” and share what they’ve learned in their respective departments. This peer-learning approach “creates a safe environment for discussing cultural shifts and addressing any apprehension, ensuring a smoother transition to AI integration,” Tarver said. A draft of Bellingham’s AI policy said the city “encourages the use of AI to enhance public services, improve operational efficiency, and foster innovation while maintaining transparency, accountability, and respect for citizens’ privacy and rights.” The line was copied [almost verbatim ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/b3/33/036d488344fc8ae4fe34a3cc1bba/screenshot-2025-08-22-074231-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)from ChatGPT. Burdick, Bellingham’s IT director, said citizens can expect to see more AI use in city services. Citizens email the city with a lot of questions that could have easily been Googled, he said, and using AI to answer those queries can free staff time to work on more important projects. At some point in the future, he thinks the city will have a chatbot on its website for that purpose. Bellingham Mayor Lund still has concerns about AI — namely the climate impact of large language models, which rely on massive data centers that consume vast quantities of water and energy. Still, she thinks the technology will become increasingly necessary. Franklin agreed. “Absolutely, this is going to be part of our future,” she said. Some researchers pushed back on the idea that widespread AI usage is inevitable. “I see that narrative as basically a bid on the part of big tech to steal the agency of everybody else, because the future is not written, and we can choose not to do these things,” said Bender, the University of Washington professor. Garcia, the Bellingham resident who emailed the city about snowplows, said she’s worried about the impact of AI on the environment and, more broadly, on human connection. She graduated from college in 2023, just as the technology was starting to cast its shadow over higher education and the entry-level job market. She noted that if a student had used AI the way the city did, they’d probably be in serious trouble for plagiarism. Garcia works in customer service, and said she takes pride in being able to connect with a customer — person to person — to help them solve a problem. “I don’t know why I would replace that,” she said. ### Washington city officials are using ChatGPT for government work URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-city-officials-using-chatgpt-government-work/ Last updated: 2026-08-06T05:10:48.000Z *This is the first in a two-part series about how local governments in Washington state are using artificial intelligence.* [*Read part two here.*](https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2025/08/washington-cities-ai-policies-play-catch-up-as-officials-embrace-new-tech/?ref=rangemedia.co) When the Lummi Nation applied for funding to hire a crime victims coordinator last year, Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund sent a letter encouraging the Washington Department of Commerce to award the nation a state grant. “The Lummi Nation has a strong history of community leadership and a deep commitment to the well-being of its members,” the letter read. “The addition of a Coordinator will enhance the Lummi Nation’s capacity to address violence and support victims in a meaningful and culturally appropriate manner.” But the mayor didn’t write those words herself. ChatGPT did. Records show Lund’s assistant fed the Commerce Department’s request for proposals into the artificial intelligence chatbot and asked it to write the letter for her. “Please include some facts about violence in native communities in the United States or Washington state in particular,” she added in her prompt. The final version of the letter wasn’t copied word-for-word from ChatGPT, but about [half ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/41/cd/568309fc46c69ba655525225057e/screenshot-2025-08-25-113142-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)of its sentences fully or partially matched the chatbot’s output. (In the end, the Lummi Nation didn’t receive the grant.) In turning to AI, Lund’s office isn’t unusual. Through a series of public records requests, Cascade PBS and KNKX obtained thousands of pages of ChatGPT conversation logs from city officials in Washington. The volume of the records suggests widespread use of the technology in local government. In addition to drafting mayoral letters, officials have asked ChatGPT to generate social media [posts](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/5f/50/c76f04e64a87a08ce2678bcf7946/screenshot-2025-08-25-113731-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), policy [documents](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/0b/72/2e8324d14c7f80a80a7b039040f3/screenshot-2025-07-14-125624-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), [talking](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/3f/a6/e55d95d04ea68b6d590ef8b3bceb/screenshot-2025-06-26-152950-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) [points](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/3f/a3/c09b9ee24cbc8129d6be77325ad3/screenshot-2025-06-30-105639-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), [speeches](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/83/15/f0b62b634f85b1f1688317b22ee3/screenshot-2025-06-26-153059-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), press [releases](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/f8/0c/30862a7848558a304a53b049e25c/screenshot-2025-05-22-151742-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), responses to [audit ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/a3/c6/d549ff4e406f92386f938d96970c/screenshot-2025-08-25-113509-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)recommendations, application [materials ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/fb/54/fe4590404d2281a400fb58bb9d46/screenshot-2025-07-01-094841-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)for grants and [replies ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/9f/4e/d9451c30405fa81643da074b76d7/screenshot-2025-08-21-124012-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)to constituents’ emails. Some records show the potential utility of generative AI. But others raise questions about transparency, authorship, security and the extent to which an unreliable new technology should be used in government work at all. While state guidance indicates AI-generated government documents should be labeled as such, none of the records reviewed for this story included disclosures that AI was used in their production. In an interview, Lund said Bellingham officials have discussed the idea of labeling AI-generated text. But because of the technology’s growing ubiquity, she didn’t think labeling would ultimately be necessary. “AI is becoming everywhere all the time,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/lummiletter.png) *A letter of support for grant funding for the Lummi Nation, sent by Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund, that was written in part by ChatGPT.* #### Real concerns, AI-generated responses ChatGPT launched nearly three years ago. It is now the world’s fifth-most visited website. To better understand how local governments use the technology, Cascade PBS and KNKX filed public records requests seeking two years’ worth of ChatGPT logs from nearly a dozen Washington cities. Bellingham and Everett are the main focus of this story not because they’re outliers, but because they were the fastest and most comprehensive in their responses. Other cities, like Seattle, are slowly responding to the request in installments. Most chat logs the request turned up are mundane. They show city staff using ChatGPT for tasks like debugging code, formatting spreadsheets and summarizing meeting notes. Numerous employees use it to rewrite emails to improve tone. “Using the Mayor’s voice, can you rewrite this letter to be a little more collaborative and less aggressive in tone?” wrote one staffer in Everett, who, like other individual city employees in this story, Cascade PBS and KNKX are choosing not to name. While city leaders are responsible for the ways their staff use AI, individual employees are not public-facing officials. Records show city staff trust AI with complex tasks, like [researching ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/5e/c1/03fd136e4add98f6698e389ff88d/screenshot-2025-07-11-085417-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)enterprise software for the city, writing evaluation [matrixes ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/2b/38/dc0f76ef41fab08f30fb122cc917/screenshot-2025-06-25-083705-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)for contracts, summarizing [court ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/01/be/fd03202c46cd8b8f489748aa1b2a/screenshot-2025-06-27-080333-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)cases and [legislation](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/a7/59/ba6ec3444d27a7e9dbc392eaf85a/screenshot-2025-06-27-074533-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), giving [feedback](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/7e/df/e05690134335aaf20af43ce85117/screenshot-2025-06-27-075002-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) on [policy](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/bd/bb/aa51106c466c91808a5e8e074a75/screenshot-2025-06-27-082742-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), and synthesizing large batches of [public comment](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/5f/3e/f879711542d3a1ed13c12941773e/screenshot-2025-06-27-130525-1-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co). Some turned to ChatGPT to generate social media copy, such as a lighthearted post about the first day of spring for Everett’s Instagram page. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/happyspring.jpg) *An Instagram post from the City of Everett written by ChatGPT.* Some officials have asked ChatGPT to respond to emails from constituents. When a senior citizen in Bellingham emailed about not being able to afford utilities, a city official pasted his email into ChatGPT and asked for “a sympathetic response.” “Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns so clearly and thoughtfully,” the AI-generated reply read. “I hear your frustration.” Another Bellingham staffer asked ChatGPT to generate a [response ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/37/e2/96508dfa4090859129c54631cdd0/screenshot-2025-08-06-111726-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)to a media inquiry about union organizing efforts. They told the chatbot to say “We respect the process” and “support our staff” while keeping the tone neutral. Records show city staff asked the chatbot [policy ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/87/7d/9880b92a4910bce43833239ec09a/screenshot-2025-08-25-121050-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)questions related to things like increasing housing supply, [gunshot ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/af/3d/3e5afd134a7b9761c8a79cb91ec2/screenshot-2025-08-14-105628-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)detection tools and what “the primary goals and objectives” of a city’s disaster recovery plan should be. “The City of Everett WA is considering tenant protections,” one staffer told ChatGPT, uploading a copy of a [draft ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/f5/02/4b5333a14ff490dde8051de37b9a/screenshot-2025-07-13-124630-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)tenant protection ordinance. “What are policy questions the city should consider?” Some chat histories were redacted because they contained confidential information, like sensitive city computer code for tracking homeless encampments, or details about an active police investigation. In numerous cases, city officials asked AI for help with sensitive professional goals, like writing cover letters to apply for other jobs. Other messages offer candid insight into local government dynamics.“I’m having trouble convincing the local government that I work for to fund climate action,” one Bellingham staffer told ChatGPT. “What can I do?” Most chat logs were released with messages in chronological order. Some end with users asking ChatGPT the same [question](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/fd/4a/523941e246d3adb9a6093651f0c7/screenshot-2025-06-23-143050-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co), likely in response to a notification about the records request from KNKX and Cascade PBS: “How do I export my ChatGPT history?” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/seniorutility-1-1.png) *A “sympathetic response” email from a City of Bellingham employee to a senior citizen was written using ChatGPT* #### AI for everything – and few rules yet The mayors of both Bellingham and Everett said staff are encouraged to use AI to make government more efficient. They stressed that staff review all AI-generated content for bias and inaccuracy. “I think that we all are going to have to learn to use AI,” Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said. “It would be silly not to. It’s a tool that can really benefit us.” The city of Everett hasn’t been investing in ChatGPT Pro subscriptions, but they did pay for standard ChatGPT subscriptions for four employees who asked for it. Other staff have been using the free version. For security and compatibility reasons, staff in Everett are now being told to use Microsoft Copilot, which recently became available for government clients. Going forward, staff need to apply for an exemption to use other tools like ChatGPT. Over the past two years, “early adopters” among the city’s staff started experimenting with it of their own volition, Franklin said. “I do think that AI tools can be very helpful for folks,” Franklin said. “Wordsmithing isn’t everybody’s strength.” Some staffers’ chat histories go back to 2023, and begin with simple questions about ChatGPT’s capabilities: “Are you able to generate powerpoints \[sic\]?” and “If I give you this report, can you create a summary?” The volume of messages seems to have ramped up over the past year. So has the complexity of user requests. Staffers have asked ChatGPT to plan large-scale projects and analyze policy proposals. Planners in both cities have asked it to update parts of their respective [comprehensive ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/d2/c1/effaa8fd47d9af25e948bb4ef004/screenshot-2025-06-30-101633-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)plans — the massive planning documents that outline future development. “I am going to give you sections of our comp plan that need to be updated,” a Bellingham planner told ChatGPT. “I’d like you to search the internet for the information and give me recommendations on how things should be updated, especially the figures.” “I want to mention that this is a government document so factual accuracy is the top priority,” an Everett staffer told ChatGPT, while asking for help conducting an analysis of [racial ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/88/12/5239135445a9ae6c48a1e26a6c2d/screenshot-2025-06-27-134256-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)[disparities ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/a7/68/cf885a5f43cbaad34e0749359175/screenshot-2025-06-27-134355-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)in the housing section of Everett’s comprehensive plan. After more than two years of experimentation, Everett and Bellingham are now adopting formalized policies for how and when staffers can use AI. #### ‘I think people would want to know’ In July 2024, Everett’s IT department sent guidance to city employees saying all AI-generated material “released to external audiences for the purpose of public policy decision making should be clearly labeled as having been produced in whole or in part by AI.” “I think people would want to know” when AI is used in government, Franklin said. But staff haven’t followed the guidance consistently. Records show several examples of unlabeled AI-generated content created after the guidelines were released. In one instance this spring, Franklin sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen urging him to co-sponsor the DRONE Act of 2025, which would have made it easier for cities to buy drones for law enforcement. The mayor’s letter was entirely generated by AI, based on a[ three-sentence prompt](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/1b/30/386013944a97b07b0925641cfdeb/screenshot-2025-06-26-124330-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) from a member of her administration. It makes no mention of this. When asked about the letter, Franklin said she couldn’t remember if her staff had told her the letter was AI-generated. But she didn’t seem surprised to hear it was. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/cassie-franklin-1-1.jpg) *Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin.* “I knew our team was using AI to complement their work,” the mayor said. “I was quite comfortable with them using it.” After staffing reductions in recent years, Everett’s communications team has “been the first to want to embrace AI to help generate enough content,” she added. (Larsen, who did not respond to a request for an interview, has not sponsored the drone bill. The legislation is still in committee.) A major factor in the city’s embrace of AI, said Franklin, was financial: Everett’s budget is limited by Washington’s 1% cap on property tax increases, she said, and generative AI can free up limited staff time. “If we don’t embrace it and use it, we will really be left behind,” Franklin said. #### Risking public trust Cascade PBS and KNKX’s records request returned chat logs from nearly every city department in Bellingham and Everett. It did not return any chat histories from elected officials. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Lund, the Bellingham mayor, said she has used both ChatGPT and Claude in her role. Asked why her chat history wasn’t released in response to the records request, Lund said she wasn’t logged in while using the chatbot, so her chats weren’t saved. While Washington law requires government officials to retain most types of records, Lund maintains that the work she used ChatGPT for was “transitory,” and that she now makes sure she’s logged in. Lund said generative AI has been “helpful for standard email communications, proclamations, supporting public speaking.” In Everett, records show one staffer regularly asked ChatGPT for help generating talking points and speeches for Mayor Franklin. “What should the Mayor of Everett say about the value of the new Criminal Justice Training Center in Arlington, and why it matters to the city,” read one prompt. In another: “Can you develop some talking points that discuss the City of Everett Silver Lake pedestrian loop trail that the Mayor can share with a group of other mayors.” Franklin said “It makes sense” that her staff used ChatGPT to inform her speeches, and that she hopes they’ll use Copilot going forward. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/lund-1.jpg) *Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund.* But Anna-Maria Gueorguieva, an information science Ph.D. student at the University of Washington researching the ethics of artificial intelligence and governance, worries that AI-generated writing in public-facing communications will damage trust in government, which data shows is already [extremely low](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/24/public-trust-in-government-1958-2024/?ref=cascadepbs.org). “People that really love AI would debate me on that, but I would not love it if my mayor released an AI-generated press release,” Gueorguieva said. Even if the content itself is factually accurate, she said, knowing that something was generated by AI can make it feel inauthentic and less meaningful to recipients. “It talks in sort of generalities and platitudes … there might be something lost in civic discourse if everybody starts writing speeches with ChatGPT,” said Jai Jaisimha, a Seattle tech entrepreneur and co-founder of the Transparency Coalition, a national organization that advocates for regulating AI. When using AI to draft communications, Lund said she always reviews the output. “I’m reading it top to bottom, and I imagine that there’s a word or two that gets changed to make sure that it’s always in my voice,” Lund said. “I always feel like it is my word and it is an articulation of what I’m hoping to express when I put my name on it.” #### What defines fair use? There’s a line between work that’s purely AI-generated as opposed to merely AI-assisted, said Simone Tarver, Everett’s communications manager. “I think that’s part of the big conversation that I think we’re having, and then everyone’s having,” Traver said. “Where is that line? The phrase “AI-generated content” generally refers to someone giving AI a prompt and asking it to generate something “out of thin air,” Tarver said. AI-*assisted* content generally refers to using AI to produce something based on existing documents, or making substantial changes to AI-generated content. Some records, like Franklin’s letter to Rep. Larsen, appear to be entirely AI-generated — copied verbatim from ChatGPT. Assistive use cases among government workers involve using ChatGPT to improve the tone or structure of something they’ve written. Many city communications staff use it to make technical language more readable, said Bellingham communications director Melissa Morin. “I feel like we don’t necessarily need to disclose when we’re using it in those kinds of ways,” she added. Often, AI-generated text goes through significant human revision before it’s ready for prime time. In Everett, a city staffer asked ChatGPT to generate a speech for the mayor to make at a [Sound Transit](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/c9/b1/db1dd82748d1bc965ff0cd8a551a/screenshot-2025-06-27-074401-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) meeting. But video of the speech reveals that it was only vaguely similar to the one made by ChatGPT. Many documents show a [blurry mix](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/e3/5f/86c85673401ab1db4f732226e3c7/screenshot-2025-05-19-125826-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) of AI and human writing. #### Made-up facts and flattery The use of AI in government might be more broadly accepted if tools like ChatGPT could be relied upon to produce accurate information. But they can’t be. The chatbots frequently get details wrong — or make up facts entirely. Some say the chatbots are “hallucinating.” “It’s fairly common,” said Jaisimha of the Transparency Institute. “People who use these models regularly know to look for \[errors\] … But as you can imagine, if an overworked government employee were to use \[AI outputs\] as the truth, they might be in trouble.” Government officials often catch ChatGPT “hallucinating,” records show. When a Bellingham planner asked for help updating the city’s comprehensive plan, ChatGPT [fabricated data](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/1a/ec/16f143034ebda87eb5e2c48b695e/screenshot-2025-08-21-122752-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) about passenger traffic at Bellingham International Airport. When an Everett police officer asked ChatGPT to “create a social media policy for a non-commissioned crime analyst,” the chatbot [referenced ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/6a/c7/59588afe4d7384dd60fe4af4e452/screenshot-2025-08-14-110538-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)a state law that isn’t real. When an Everett finance official asked whether the city should “keep a pollution remediation liability on its books,” ChatGPT [responded ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/d0/4d/ed08b7c9446d832bb9f9ee3648d2/screenshot-2025-06-03-104238-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)with a reference to a document that doesn’t exist. “You should not be quoting paragraphs that have totally different information in them,” the Everett financial official replied. When used to craft updates to the Everett 2044 Comprehensive Plan, the chatbot made [repeated mistakes](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/90/a9/fcf6a7ab4c4aae64d26e1fa617bd/screenshot-2025-06-27-124443-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co) while analyzing the percentages of cost-burdened residents for each racial group in the city. A staffer noticed. “I told you factual accuracy is paramount and not to make unsubstantiated assertions or remarks, and you just did it,” the staffer said in one response. “Please remember this key instruction. Do not hallucinate.” The City Council later approved updates that included large paragraphs of ChatGPT’s output and analysis. The published [comprehensive](https://www.everettwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/41751/Everett-2044-Comprehensive-Plan-FINAL-FINAL-DRAFT-6-17-2025?bidId=&ref=cascadepbs.org) plan [documents](https://www.everettwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/41652/Everett-2044-Comprehensive-Plan%5FHousing-Appendix-May-30-Final-Draft?bidId=&ref=cascadepbs.org) don’t appear to contain any factual inaccuracies, and Mayor Franklin said she wasn’t worried about the use of AI for documents like it. “There are so many people overseeing that document,” she said. “It goes through so many people that it doesn’t cause me any concern.” Records show the chatbot offering fawning agreement when asked for feedback on government reports and policies, calling them “excellent,” “well-crafted,” “highly professional” and “impressively broad and forward-looking.” When a staffer asked ChatGPT to analyze the impact of a proposed zoning policy in a low-income neighborhood in Everett, the chatbot praised the policy as “thoughtfully designed to balance the need for affordable housing with the realities of a modest local economy.” That sycophancy — combined with the AI’s tendency to hallucinate — could create problems if government officials use it to analyze large batches of public comments, Jaisimha said: It can “be very susceptible to confirmation bias.” When ChatGPT was tasked with identifying major themes in public comments on Everett’s draft comprehensive plan, it grouped 29 comments into a “high growth” category, and said an analysis of the comments “reveals significant concerns among respondents about the rapid pace of development.” “Are you sure this analysis is correct?” the staffer replied. “Looking over the 29 public responses, I see an overall tone that is supportive of more housing and higher density. I don’t see the concerned tone depicted in your response.” “Thank you for pointing that out,” the chatbot replied. “I’ll review the public responses and provide an updated analysis that more accurately represents the tone and content of the feedback.” In August, OpenAI launched a new version of ChatGPT — GPT-5 — that it claims is smarter and more accurate. The new model was also noticeably less sycophantic. After significant [backlash](https://www.platformer.news/gpt-5-backlash-openai-lessons/?ref=cascadepbs.org) from people who’d grown attached to the older chatbot, OpenAI said it was [updating](https://x.com/OpenAI/status/1956461718097494196?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet&ref=cascadepbs.org) GPT-5 to be “warmer and friendlier.” #### ‘Peopled out’ Records show ChatGPT has been used across city departments by both managers and entry-level staffers. A parks official asked it for help planning a scavenger hunt. A library staffer used it to summarize children’s books and organize activities. A firefighter asked it to come up with hypothetical medical emergencies for training recruits. A human resources director asked for help writing job descriptions, employee bios and interview questions. Police asked it to research automated license plate recognition [cameras](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/1a/6d/e592b93345a384360d2893d892e7/screenshot-2025-08-14-110057-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co). Some use it the way people commonly use Google, with queries about local [legislative ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/23/60/f62d9f7142b99fa5e25a842e3d83/screenshot-2025-06-30-110335-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co)processes and government [funding](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/npr-brightspotcdn-com/4e/c9/2f9b31564dd2abc0102965006cd7/screenshot-2025-06-03-115403-ref-cascadepbs-org.png?ref=rangemedia.co). The records also show staff asking ChatGPT for help with non-work matters. One asked for help politely declining a birthday party invite. (“Can I just say I’m too peopled out today.”) Others asked for assistance with tricky personal situations: advice on helping an employee with ADHD be more productive, informing a co-worker their performance was subpar, or expressing sympathy for someone whose relative was ill. Some messages betray an awareness of the chatbot’s shortcomings — and the potential ethical questions it raises. One staffer used it to generate essays for a college class, asking “can a professor prove that AI was used to write a school paper.” One staffer gave ChatGPT a link to the campaign website for one of their boss’s political opponents, and asked: “What are the arguments to vote against this candidate.” One user asked ChatGPT how “you tell if a coworker is addicted to AI.” Some seemed upset when the chatbot made repeated mistakes. “Gosh how hard is it to follow instructions,” one frustrated city staffer wrote. “I’ve instructed this multiple times, so PRINT THIS IN YOUR MEMORY, ONLY USE THE CITY’S OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITE, DO NOT USE NON-GOVERNMENT WEBSITES. How hard is it to remember that?” In defending their use of ChatGPT for public communications, Mayors Franklin and Lund said some constituents also use AI in their emails to government officials. You can often tell, Franklin said. Sometimes they “forget to remove the prompt,” Lund said. *This is the first in a two-part series about how local governments in Washington state are using artificial intelligence.* [*Read part two here.*](https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2025/08/washington-cities-ai-policies-play-catch-up-as-officials-embrace-new-tech/?ref=rangemedia.co) ### WA state: Spokane city and county now liable in PFAS crisis, too URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-state-spokane-city-county-liable-pfas-crisis/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T02:44:06.000Z The Washington State Department of Ecology has declared that both the city of Spokane and Spokane County are on the hook for cleaning up the toxic “forever chemicals” contamination stemming from firefighting drills at the Spokane International Airport (SIA). The state in 2023 [had named](https://www.rangemedia.co/poisoning-wells-pfas-west-plains-forever-chemicals-spokane-county/) SIA as responsible for cleaning up the PFAS contamination that had leached from its tarmacs into local groundwater for hundreds of homes on the West Plains. The two local governments own the airport, which is overseen by [a governing board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-commission-bocc-election/) partly made up of top city and county officials. The August 27 announcement is a key moment of accountability in a pollution saga [characterized by blame-casting](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-pfas-fairchild-epa-water-filter/) among local, state and federal agencies, which clean water activists say has impeded solutions to the crisis. It also protects access to additional funding and resources the county and city have access to that the airport doesn’t. “I’m happy,” said water activist and West Plains resident John Hancock. Hancock founded the West Plains Water Coalition, a group of West Plains residents, many of whom own drinking water wells contaminated with PFAS, in late 2022 to draw attention to the crisis. “Ecology's focus on the science of PFAS — that is, how much is there? Where did it come from? Where's it going? — avoids all the historical fingerpointing among everybody else and focuses right on the solution,” he told RANGE. “It's a really encouraging step to push the whole process of knowing and solving forward together.” Nick Acklam, the toxics cleanup manager for Ecology’s Eastern Washington Region, sent a letter to each government on August 21 notifying them of the decision. The chemicals, which belong to a family of synthetic water-resistant compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), got into West Plains aquifers through firefighting drills conducted by SIA and Fairchild Air Force Base. Both airports washed firefighting compounds that contain PFAS into the loose soil during those drills, and they seeped into the groundwater. Those activities were mandated by the federal government before it was publicly known that the chemicals potentially cause cancers and other deadly diseases. [PFAS](https://www.rangemedia.co/what-are-forever-chemicals-why-in-water-airway-heights-pfas/) are contained in a huge array of household and commercial products because they repel water better than pretty much any mass-produced chemical. But because of this, they are frustratingly persistent and last a long time in the human body. West Plains well owners who had unknowingly consumed the PFAS-laden groundwater have reported developing and dying from [various forms of cancer](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-pfas-fairchild-epa-water-filter/) and other severe health problems. Both SIA and Fairchild are replacing their firefighting compounds with PFAS-free versions, after Washington state banned their use in 2020. SIA is currently mapping and monitoring its contamination — an arduous and expensive prelude to cleaning it up — according to a process established under the state [Model Toxics Control Act](https://ecology.wa.gov/spills-cleanup/contamination-cleanup/rules-directing-our-cleanup-work/model-toxics-control-act?ref=rangemedia.co) (MTCA). The cleanup will likely take more than a decade. City spokesperson Erin Hut told RANGE the primary responsibility for the cleanup lies with the airport. Though Ecology’s determination that the county and city are liable for the contamination is legally binding, Jeremy Schmidt, who manages the cleanup site for the department, said the three liable parties will have to work out the details among themselves. He said it was an important step to name the governments as additional liable parties because they have access to resources the airport doesn’t. “If and when offsite impacts from the airport are confirmed, the city and county sit in a particularly good position to assist with addressing those impacts,” Schmidt told RANGE. “The city has drinking water infrastructure within potential areas of concern. The county has funding from the legislature to address PFAS in the West Plains. So we see them as critical partners.” Spokane County recently secured $7.5 million from the state legislature to install PFAS filters in the homes of West Plains residents whose wells are contaminated. That figure is less than half of what it anticipates a complete filter program will cost, County Commissioner Al French told attendees Wednesday at the inaugural meeting of the Spokane County [PFAS Task Force](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-pfas-task-force-water-west-plains/) (PTF), which will advise local governments on the cleanup. #### Pushback Before Acklam’s final letter, each government had an opportunity to give Ecology feedback about being named; both responded with complaints about its decision. Find all correspondence between Ecology and the city of Spokane and Spokane County, among other documents related to SIA cleanup [here](https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/site/16774?ref=rangemedia.co#site-documents). Spokane City Administrator Alexander Scott wrote back to Acklam on July 29 saying the city would cooperate with Ecology but expressed a measure of skepticism that the airport was responsible for all the PFAS contamination at the site in the first place. “The city is concerned that Ecology does not yet have a complete understanding of the source(s) of PFAS in groundwater in and around SIA,” Scott wrote. After Ecology first named SIA as responsible for the cleanup, [airport officials](https://www.rangemedia.co/poisoning-wells-pfas-west-plains-forever-chemicals-spokane-county/) and [County Commissioner Al French](https://www.rangemedia.co/al-french-pfas-timeline/) expressed the same uncertainty that SIA had caused the contamination. French has held a seat on the Airport Board for a decade and is a vocal supporter of the airport’s development efforts. Asked to comment on this story at the PTF meeting Wednesday, French said, “I’m only interested in telling the truth” and turned his back on a RANGE reporter. Scott asked Acklam to request information from the Washington Military Department (WMD) about its own firefighting training on SIA tarmacs in 1992 and to notify WMD about the potential that it, too, could be named as a liable party. In September 2024, the environmental consulting firm GSI International [issued a report](https://www.rangemedia.co/pollution-likely-came-from-airport-operations-report-says/) commissioned by SIA saying the contamination likely stemmed from the airport’s firefighting training operations. Michael Folsom, Spokane County’s legal council, responded to Acklam with “surprise,” saying the county could not be held responsible for the cleanup because the manufacturers of the firefighting compound had not disclosed to the public that PFAS was toxic. “While the county seeks to fulfill its potential responsibilities related to the SIA site, it was surprised to receive Ecology’s letter for several reasons,” Folsom wrote in a July 15 letter. Those reasons: - Ecology had already identified the airport as a liable party - SIA was cooperating with the state-mandated cleanup - SIA is governed by the Airport Board (which is partly made up of top city and county officials), and - Ecology’s own guidance asks site managers to identify liable parties “before entering into negotiations of” a cleanup order, which the department issued to SIA two years ago Folsom noted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required the airport to use the chemicals in its firefighting training, saying the county was not responsible for the pollution. Acklam responded to Folsom’s concerns in his August 21 letter saying, “The process set out in that document is not the only approach to PLP \[potentially liable person\] naming. Ecology has determined that naming additional PLPs now will facilitate cleanup of this contaminated site.” Spokane County spokesperson Pat Bell did not immediately respond to questions about whether the county wants to challenge Ecology’s decision. Like Spokane City Administrator Scott did regarding WMD, Folsom asked Acklam to also name Fairchild as a liable party for the SIA cleanup. Fairchild had also contaminated some West Plains aquifers with the same chemicals in similar firefighting drills, and the Air Force is managing its own cleanup of that site — which lies about two miles from SIA — under federal law. When Fairchild found its contamination in 2017, it immediately told local governments about it and created a modest [water provision program](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-pfas-fairchild-epa-water-filter/) for some of the affected areas. By contrast, when SIA discovered its own contamination the same year, it kept that information from the public for years until it was forced to disclose its well test result after a community activist requested them in 2022. Scott’s and Folsom’s pushback repeats history: when Ecology initially said SIA must clean up the contamination in 2023, the airport hired Washington DC lawyer Jeffrey Longsworth, who penned a letter demanding Ecology retract its decision. When Ecology refused, the airport continued trying to thwart its enforcement, saying the FAA didn’t allow it to spend revenue on environmental cleanups. *The Spokesman*’s Amanda Sullender[reported](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/apr/25/spokane-international-airport-and-department-of-ec/?ref=rangemedia.co) that wasn’t necessarily true: the FAA had given the airport its blessing to comply with the cleanup order. Acklam noted in his letters that if the liable parties don’t cooperate with Ecology, the agency can levy a $25,000 fine for every day of noncompliance. COMING PFAS DEVELOPMENTS: The next PFAS Task Force meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 17 at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center in Medical Lake. Additionally, Spokane County [may put a measure on ballots](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) for the August 2026 election that would create a protection district for groundwater under the West Plains. Similar to the Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer Protection District, which was first established in 1985, the measure would add a small fee to property taxes in the district to allow local governments to monitor and address contamination. *Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say the city said the airport is primarily responsible for the PFAS cleanup.* ### The POD: The Long Saga of “Forever Chemicals” URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-long-saga-forever-chemicals/ Last updated: 2025-08-29T14:06:04.000Z This week, Aaron Hedge flew solo and revisited two of his articles on the “forever chemicals” contamination on the West Plains. You can read the articles – which were originally published in 2024 – at the links below: [**Airport CEO: Lawmakers should ‘wait and see’ before banning toxic PFAS**](https://www.rangemedia.co/airport-ceo-lawmakers-banning-toxic-pfas-chemicals-larry-krauter/) **[Community demands solutions as Fairchild reckons with new PFAS contamination rule](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-pfas-fairchild-epa-water-filter/)** ### The State of Surveillance in Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-cameras-spokane-county/ Last updated: 2026-04-03T19:11:23.000Z When you enter or exit Spokane County on almost any major road, your car’s color, make, model and license plate number are automatically captured by at least one camera made by the surveillance technology company Flock Safety. That data is stored for at least 30 days in a database accessible by law enforcement agencies across the state, and in some cases, the nation. With nearly 100 Flock cameras currently operating in our county and more than 30 additional cameras set to roll out soon in small cities across the region, Spokane County is quickly becoming a well-embroidered square in the quilt of Flock surveillance that [blankets the country](https://eyesonflock.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). The databases created by Flock and similar Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology have created a nationwide network that has been used for everything from its intended purpose — solving serious crimes — to helping cities surveil [majority Latino communities](https://laist.com/news/politics/oak-view-surveillance-cameras?ref=rangemedia.co), red-state detectives to [track women seeking reproductive healthcare](https://www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-searched-license-plate-cameras-nationwide-for-a-woman-who-got-an-abortion/?ref=rangemedia.co) across state lines and police officers [stalk their exes](https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article291059560.html?ref=rangemedia.co) and even [each other](https://muddyrivernews.com/top-stories/questions-arise-concerning-use-of-flock-cameras-use-during-internal-police-investigation/20250520073314/?ref=rangemedia.co). At the federal level, [anti-surveillance activists](https://deflock.me/?ref=rangemedia.co) fear this technology will empower federal governments to hijack local data intended to solve serious crimes and use it to find and detain [law-abiding immigrants](https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/nx-s1-5456246/immigrants-no-criminal-convictions-growth-ice-detention-population?ref=rangemedia.co). And As President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out mass deportation policies across the country, those worries have proven well-founded. It seems every week there is new reporting revealing new ways [Customs and Border Patrol](https://www.404media.co/cbp-had-access-to-more-than-80-000-flock-ai-cameras-nationwide/?ref=rangemedia.co) (CBP) and[ Immigrations and Customs Enforcement](https://www.404media.co/ice-taps-into-nationwide-ai-enabled-camera-network-data-shows/?ref=rangemedia.co) (ICE) are using the nationwide Flock network — and other surveillance tech — to track and detain immigrants. In some cases, this has happened in “sanctuary states” that forbid the use of local resources or data-sharing to assist in immigration enforcement. While [Flock has blocked nationwide](https://www.404media.co/flock-removes-states-from-national-lookup-tool-after-ice-and-abortion-searches-revealed/?ref=rangemedia.co) access to local cameras in Illinois, California and Virginia to stop violations of the law in those three states, Washington has not made the list so far — which means federal agents may be able to access Flock cameras in Spokane County. The company also committed [this week](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/license-plate-camera-company-halts-cooperation-federal-agencies-124970437?ref=rangemedia.co) to stop cooperation with federal agencies, which was happening in states with sanctuary policies without law enforcement agencies’ knowledge — including Illinois, which was supposed to have been previously pulled from national look-ups. Other Washington cameras have made national news, like in Yakima, where its Flock network was accessed by a Texas cop hunting for a woman who detectives suspected left the state to access reproductive healthcare. But so far, Spokane has largely flown under the radar when it comes to Flock cameras (pun intended). [DeFlock](https://deflock.me/?ref=rangemedia.co), a community project that maps surveillance devices nationwide, shows 28 cameras in the county. [Eyes on Flock](https://eyesonflock.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a similar project, has no data available at all for Spokane County cameras. We wanted to get a fuller picture on the state of surveillance in Spokane, so we dove into publicly available Flock contracts across the county, mapping coordinates of known cameras and requesting public records on the search history, authorized users and sharing settings of the regional Flock networks. We’re still waiting on a few records requests at various county agencies, but here’s everything we know so far. ### How does Flock work? Flock Safety is a surveillance tech company with a variety of products — like ALPRs, video cameras, gunshot detection devices and mobile security trailers — and subscription-based software. Locally, most jurisdictions buy into [FlockOS](https://www.flocksafety.com/products/flock-os?ref=rangemedia.co), real-time crime center software that connects to ALPR cameras purchased by the contracting agency. Unlike the city of [Spokane’s red light and speed cameras](https://my.spokanecity.org/police/patrol/traffic/photo-red-and-photo-speed/?ref=rangemedia.co) — which snap pictures when a car driving by triggers them by driving too fast in a school zone or blowing through a red light — Flock cameras constantly log the data of any car that drives past them, whether that driver has potentially committed a crime or not. The data is then dumped into a database owned by the law enforcement agency that purchased the FlockOS subscription. It’s kind of like Dropbox for surveillance tech: the agency owns all its images, but pays a subscription fee to the software that is hosting them and giving access to tools to process or sort through those images. FlockOS, which is the subscription purchased by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), Cheney Police Department and likely Liberty Lake Police Department, provides real time alerts. For example, if a license plate associated with a suspected kidnapping passed a Flock camera, law enforcement in that jurisdiction would get an alert. They can also search for specific plates, which may be suspects in open cases, or general searches of specific cameras near crime locations to see if any case-relevant vehicles have appeared in the database. In order to make a search, the person searching has to provide the system with a reason they need the information. At the base level, FlockOS allows agencies to create hotlists of vehicles they want to receive notifications about, connect to and search private cameras (with the permission of their owners) and store collected data for 30 days. Each Flock network gets control over a variety of other features. Here are some decisions they have to make: - Statewide sharing — will they allow all agencies across their state with FlockOS subscriptions to search data collected by their cameras? - Nationwide sharing — will they allow all agencies across the country with FlockOS subscriptions to search data collected by their cameras? - Agency-level sharing — Which individual agencies will they give access to search their network? This can be done on an individual basis or more generally, like every agency in a certain mile radius. - Data transparency — how transparent will they be about their data collection and privacy standards? The FlockOS software allows each agency to create a public facing Transparency Portal that displays information like how long data is stored for, searches prohibited by agency policy, or even exactly which searches have been made and when. Just how much data is publicly available without the aid of a public records request is up to the individual agencies. ### Who has Flock cameras in Spokane County? The biggest owner of Flock cameras in the county is the county itself: the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, which was one of the earliest adopters of Flock in the region. It inked its first contract to install more than 30 cameras [in 2022](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/770/files/attachment/6434?ref=rangemedia.co) as part of a pilot project that was then transformed to a sole-source contract. Now, they have more than 60 cameras in their network. Through contracts approved by the Board of County Commissioners, we found exact intersections and coordinates for 49 of those cameras. We found approximate locations for another eight cameras. SCSO also has two mobile Cameras on Wheels (COWS) and six radar trailers that can be placed anywhere and moved throughout the city. The SCSO network also includes three privately owned cameras whose owners chose to share their data with the county; they’re all placed in Lowe’s parking lots. Spokane Valley, which contracts with SCSO for policing, approved a contract in February of this year to spend almost $500,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars on a five-year contract to install 26 ALPR cameras across the Valley. These cameras would be part of SCSO’s network. We’re waiting on a records request to confirm whether or not these cameras have already been installed, and if so, at which intersections. As of June 2023, 16 Flock cameras had been installed in Airway Heights, which were used in [January 2025](https://www.khq.com/news/airway-heights-police-identify-suspect-in-friday-morning-stabbing-near-walmart/article%5F30c9db62-e037-11ef-90f3-af2f7db591c1.html?ref=rangemedia.co) to identify a man suspected of stabbing someone. His license plate was flagged in a Walmart parking lot by a Flock camera. (The Walmart Foundation also [funded Airway Heights’ camera network](https://www.cheneyfreepress.com/story/2023/06/22/news/city-installing-license-plate-readers/31090.html?ref=rangemedia.co)). Reporting from 2023 showed Airway Heights was sharing data with both Liberty Lake Police Department and SCSO. Liberty Lake also had cameras as early as June 2023, when they were used [to arrest a man](https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/license-plate-cameras-police-arrest-man-strangling-woman-liberty-lake/293-5b818926-e3e7-4255-8ed7-8a34febbdada?ref=rangemedia.co) suspected of attacking and strangling a woman near a trailhead. According to data turned over to RANGE in a public records request, Liberty Lake now has 19 cameras placed across the city. Cheney is a bit behind the trend, having just approved a $52,000 contract to get eight Flock cameras in March 2025\. Those cameras have not yet been installed, but Cheney Police Department gave RANGE the list of intersections they’re slated to be placed at. Noticeably absent from the list is the city of Spokane. Back in February, Spokane City Council approved a proposal from the Spokane Police Department (SPD) to place at least 30 Flock ALPR cameras at intersections across the city — and more if the funding became available. This contract sparked pushback from local advocates concerned about the expansion of surveillance in the region, who started a petition asking the city to [pause the installation](https://www.change.org/p/petition-to-spokane-city-council-regarding-flock-camera-installation?ref=rangemedia.co). When the proposal passed council, SPD had already prepared a list of intersections and had the funding lined up: a $100,000 grant from the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority (WATPA) and about $20,000 in departmental funding. But between February and August, no cameras were installed. It wasn’t necessarily the activists that killed the contract — it was good ol’ fashioned government inefficiency: When asked about the February council approval to spend the WATPA money, SPD Police Chief Kevin Hall said the “funding stream evaporated,” when it was clawed back after the city did not use it in time. “We could not coordinate the purchase and installation in time,” Hall wrote. SPD spokesperson Daniel Strassenberg told RANGE the city has no current plans to purchase a Flock system. ### Who can access FLOCK cameras? While Spokane city can still access at least some of regional Flock network cameras through a login that was created when they were planning to contract with the company, Hall suspects that access will soon evaporate like the WATPA funding stream when Flock realizes the city has no real plan to purchase cameras. Then, they’ll have to look into getting access to SCSO’s network if they want to continue searching Flock’s license plate databases. This leads into a larger question: just *who* exactly can see *what* data collected by Flock cameras? There isn’t a simple answer — because each network can customize its data sharing settings, who can see your license plate information depends heavily on which Flock camera picked it up. Further complicating the question, access isn’t just decided by the list of agencies who opted in to data sharing; it’s also determined by who in those agencies is an authorized user with a personal log-in to the network. Take the Spokane County Sheriff for example: we don’t know if they’re opted in to state or nationwide lookups because SCSO spokesperson Mark Gregory hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment. And the sheriff’s public [Transparency Portal](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/-spokane-county-wa-so?ref=rangemedia.co) makes little information available (compared to other jurisdictions nationwide, which tell you opt-in settings and even searches made). We haven’t received that installment of our county public records request. But we *do* know that there are currently 227 authorized users — accounts allowed to log directly into SCSO’s Flock portal to search license plates, according to data we received from one of our records requests. Most of those users have emails associated with SCSO or Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, but a few stood out to us, especially those associated with outside agencies. Multiple law enforcement officers based out of Idaho, which has no sanctuary laws prohibiting the use of state resources for immigration enforcement, have access to make searches on SCSO’s network: a crime analyst from Post Falls and two crime analysts from Coeur d’Alene. An IT guy from Spokane County has his own log in, as do a Washington state Department of Corrections employee and a clerk for the Newport Police Department. One user has an FBI email address. Another email is just listed as [spokanetemp@gmail.com](mailto:spokanetemp@gmail.com) with no name or identifying information attached. We have a public records request in the queue at the county to find out exactly what searches these accounts have made and when, but general accounts with no specific person tied to them can make it tricky to figure out exactly who is making what searches. We have requests for information on data-sharing settings and authorized users open across the county, and we’ll regularly update this chart with information as we receive it. ### What are the safeguards? The widespread use of Flock cameras and access to the data collected by them has many privacy advocates on edge. On its website, Flock stresses the importance of data protection and peoples’ constitutional rights to privacy. “Flock has designed our systems in a way that respect\[sic\] both the spirit and the letter of the Fourth Amendment and guard against unreasonable search and seizure,” its website reads. “Flock’s platform supports law enforcement in upholding the Fourteenth Amendment and due process, ensuring equal protection of the laws.” There are supposed to be safeguards built into the Flock software: data can only be stored for a limited amount of time, each jurisdiction gets control over who can search their data and each search has to be tagged with a reason for the search, which allows for audits of the data. But as detailed reporting from 404 Media has revealed over the last few months, those safeguards don’t work, especially when it comes to protecting immigrants’ data. In the most recent news, CBP [actively searched](https://www.404media.co/cbp-had-access-to-more-than-80-000-flock-ai-cameras-nationwide/?ref=rangemedia.co) data from Colorado under a federal “pilot program” that gave nationwide access to the agency. Flock [paused the program](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/license-plate-camera-company-halts-cooperation-federal-agencies-124970437?ref=rangemedia.co) after the news broke. Federal agents have also used shadier methods to gain access to local Flock networks, like a [DEA agent who used the log-in of a local police officer](https://www.404media.co/feds-used-local-cops-password-to-do-immigration-surveillance-with-flock-cameras/?ref=rangemedia.co) to search records in Illinois and [police in Oregon who](https://www.404media.co/emails-reveal-the-casual-surveillance-alliance-between-ice-and-local-police/?ref=rangemedia.co) made searches on behalf of ICE. Like Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Illinois have sanctuary state policies banning police from sharing data with federal agents for the purpose of immigration enforcement. It’s also difficult to audit networks to ensure that searches are being used properly. While SCSO training material gave examples of good search reasons, which would include a case number or other link to a specific crime, and bad searches, like “investigation,” “crime,” “x,” “nanananananana,” and “My Ex Girlfriend,” it's unclear how often local networks are audited to ensure that all searches are actually tied to a specific case. If no audits are regularly conducted, misuse could easily fly under the radar. For example, a Spokane County Sherrifs officer could search for an immigrant’s license plate number for ICE, put an irrelevant case number in the search field and no one would know — unless the search logs are being carefully analyzed. ### What can you do? If the state of surveillance locally freaks you out and you’re itchy to do something about it, there are some options: - Advocate to the Board of County Commissioners and cities’ respective councils for local jurisdictions like [SCSO](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/-spokane-county-wa-so?ref=rangemedia.co), Airway Heights and Cheney to create Transparency Portals and to publish the largest amount of data possible. Examples of jurisdictions with more data included on their Transparency Portals include California cities [El Cajon](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/-el-cajon-pd-ca?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Alameda](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/alameda-ca-pd?ref=rangemedia.co) — which includes a file of their most recent audit, and [Albany](https://transparency.flocksafety.com/albany-or-pd?ref=rangemedia.co), Oregon. - Push local jurisdictions to keep their data out of nationwide look-ups, which can easily be exploited by federal agents. This can be done by reaching out to the respective jurisdiction’s city council. - Call your [state legislators](https://www.rangemedia.co/eastern-washington-legislative-representatives/) and advocate for legislation regulating Flock settings statewide. You can ask them to require maximum public transparency, minimum opt-in settings and regular publicly available audits. Note: We have open public records requests with Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Liberty Lake Police Department, Cheney Police Department and Airway Heights Police Department. We’ll update our Flock reporting as this information comes in. ***Additional reporting contributed by Lauren Pangborn.*** For information on this investigative series, why we’re reporting it and what’s coming next, click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/flock-spokane-county-accountability-surveillance-state/). 📣 If you have tips about Flock, reach out to erin@rangemedia.co or bikeroutehelp@rangemedia.co. ### Column: When State Terror Comes to Town URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/state-terror-comes-to-town/ Last updated: 2025-08-26T23:15:30.000Z Since the beginning of Trump’s second administration, we’ve witnessed an extreme escalation of state terror as ICE, DHS, CBP, DEA, Federal Marshals, FBI, National Guard, and the Marines are turned on the people. Trump 2.0 is driven by far-right ideologues, some of whom advocate for what Nazi-era philosopher Carl Schmitt called [“the state of exception”](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/books/review/carl-schmitt-jd-vance.html?ref=rangemedia.co): declaring that the leader may operate outside the law with unlimited power due to an “emergency.” Trump’s Schmittians orchestrated the firing of all but the most fringe, conspiracy theory-addled loyalists from state agencies. Now, with executive power consolidated, the administration is using emergency declarations to target vulnerable communities, and anyone deemed ‘enemy’ to their authoritarian state. Invasion and emergency rhetorics also drive mass detention and deportation. In June, [federal immigration arrests in Washington state doubled](https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-surge-washington-trump/). Due to an influx of “Big Beautiful bill” funding, ICE is now recruiting 10,000 [“brave and heroic Americans” to “DEFEND THE HOMELAND,”](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/30/ice-hiring-incentives-signing-bonuses?ref=rangemedia.co) offering $50,000 signing bonuses and student loan forgiveness (something stripped from other students). Right here in Spokane, our neighbors have: been chased down and tackled in their own yards; had unmarked vehicles parked outside their homes for days; had their car windows smashed and been violently dragged out; been arrested in campus parking lots; and been kidnapped by masked agents, driven to Idaho, and warehoused in a jail in Hayden. This is what state terrorism looks like. We blew past “constitutional crisis” months ago, leaving “experts” squabbling about it in the rearview mirror. The National Guard and Marines were sent into LA in June (over the mayor and governor’s objections) because people were resisting ICE. Now troops are marching on DC, with threats coming to other Black/Brown cities – [Chicago](https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2025/8/15?jwsource=cl&ref=rangemedia.co), Baltimore, Oakland. Witnessing the state practice of [Enforced Disappearances](https://www.qasimrashid.com/p/warning-enforced-disappearances-are?ref=rangemedia.co) is another way we know “[it’s not coming, it’s here](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/maddow-u-s-profoundly-changed-by-authoritarian-leader-we-re-beyond-waiting-and-seeing-now-244353093883?ref=rangemedia.co).” In fact, in her June 30 Spokane Town Hall, Representative Pramila Jayapal told us, [“ICE is acting like a terrorist force.](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/30/ice-a-terrorist-force-says-us-rep-pramila-jayapal-/?ref=rangemedia.co)” On June 11, [Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres dutifully appeared for a last-minute appointment with ICE in Spokane](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/). They were unlawfully detained and loaded onto a van with the intent of removing them to the immigration detention center in Tacoma. Hundreds of residents quickly gathered to try to stop the state from kidnapping the two immigrants. At first Mayor Lisa Brown pledged to [support First Amendment rights and to uphold the Keep Washington Working Act](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Cv4IvElDiHidTui-LroBD9NJiIZA7yig/view?ref=rangemedia.co) (the state’s sanctuary law), but a few hours later she issued an emergency declaration with a curfew. [Hundreds of law enforcement from Spokane police and the county sheriff’s department descended,](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/11/protesters-including-former-city-council-president/?ref=rangemedia.co) slamming people to the ground and dragging them over pavement. In an extreme escalation of force, they deployed pepper balls, rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, smoke bombs, helicopters, surveillance drones, and heavily armored vehicles against residents. 31 people were arrested trying to stop ICE from taking those young men. Those arrested included the legal guardian for Perez, former Spokane City Council President [Ben Stuckart, who later remarked](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/stuckart-released-from-jail-as-spokane-police-depa/?ref=rangemedia.co): “You’re doing everything legally right, and they break those laws and illegally detain people. What other option do you have other than civil disobedience?” [Three days later a queer community organizer and prominent human rights advocate was arrested going to Spokane’s Pride festival](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/). While most others received misdemeanor charges, they were charged with six felony counts of “unlawful imprisonment.” Apparently, in our upside-down world, trying to stop the state from kidnapping your neighbors is imprisonment. You decide the real crime. But it gets worse. On July 15, state terror rode into town in the early morning hours, this time in the form of Federal Marshals. They showed up at people’s homes, arresting nine and charging them with [serious federal felonies](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/). The mayor said [she was outraged](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/), but the irony is that [she justified the June 11 emergency declaration](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/spokane-mayor-lisa-brown-defends-difficult-decisio/?ref=rangemedia.co) saying she didn’t want national agents to take over. Yet here they were one month later, ushered in by her actions. Quietly shutting down protests is often narrated as a way to protect people, but the truth is more complicated. The violent escalation by local law enforcement, enabled by the “state of emergency,” gave the feds all they needed to slap severe charges on the “Spokane 9.” State terror isn’t coming, it’s here. The kidnapping of our immigrant neighbors, the brutal treatment of protesting Spokanites, the Trumped up charges–all of it is meant to scare us. We’re meant to think twice about supporting the basic humanity of immigrants (and transgender people, women, pregnant people, BIPOC, disabled people, and on and on). We’re meant to remain silent and compliant. That’s how authoritarian leaders create space to operate outside the law. Spokane has defended its neighbors from state terror before. In the back of St. Ann's Catholic parish, there is a bound volume entitled “A Sanctuary Covenant of Shared Responsibility.” In 1985, dozens of parishioners and allies signed and [sent the government a commitment](https://www.pnwmosaic.org/stories/seafaring-8t422?ref=rangemedia.co) to risk imprisonment for sheltering a Salvadoran refugee family. "You don't need spies and informants to find us. We are here, showing our faces, stating our names,” the document reads. Among the signatories is Lisa Brown, our current mayor. This was part of a nationwide Sanctuary Movement of churches sheltering those fleeing the brutal torture and mass murder of people in Central America. Death squads, partly funded by the United States and assisted by the CIA, killed thousands, including several Jesuit priests (as Gonzaga University well remembers). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ad_4nxda99fgihjaidkkdju5sjpab9lnudkbvppiplgurbvvjqtuukbw0_ao3mdiuz24dw81pomng3lt0b2gll7re3a7mut4zcxdsc-f2zmunqfcfhag3lhiodjy_5q0sapfuzw7fbkwnxbeevycd0vc_mc.jpg) *Courtesy of Joan Braune.* With Trump 2.0 now permitting immigration arrests in churches (in violation of a [centuries-old legal and moral tradition](https://youtu.be/pYdTmjsl8uk?t=117&ref=rangemedia.co) previously followed in [U.S. immigration enforcement](https://www.nilc.org/resources/factsheet-trumps-rescission-of-protected-areas-policies-undermines-safety-for-all/?ref=rangemedia.co)), the message of St. Anne's sanctuary covenant echoes even louder today as a call for courage. Regardless of what many institutional leaders are saying, people who are targeted by the state and vigilantes are never protected by silence, compliance, or repression-in-advance. Some of us are hoping institutions will save us (the courts, local and state government, universities, the Democratic Party, etc.). They can certainly help stem the tide of terror, but only we can stop it – collectively, caringly, strategically, and in solidarity. Social movements drive strategy – not lawyers, not politicians. Every day, Trump 2.0 is kidnapping and disappearing more people, eroding rights, consolidating power. Now is the time to practice being a good ancestor. If you are already part of the resistance, invite someone else in. History has proven that people power is the most reliable tool to overthrow authoritarian regimes and build just societies. Courage builds courage. Two things you can do today: 1) sign this petition calling for [Community Solutions following ICE-Arrests in Spokane](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxCgOs5AbN4s3OIEJH1ttR%5FNxwHTovn14lXeLfpXrHdN8JiQ/viewform?emci=b22b0904-ef68-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&emdi=b6d24520-7169-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&ceid=6113924&ref=rangemedia.co); and 2) register for a [Resistance Lab training with Rep. Jayapal](https://www.pramilaforcongress.com/the-resistance-lab?ref=rangemedia.co). Dr. [Joan Braune](https://joanbraune.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) is a faculty member at Gonzaga University and does research and public education on countering fascist movements. Dr. [Judy Rohrer](https://judyrohrer.mystrikingly.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) is a scholar-activist and director of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Eastern Washington University. The analysis expressed here is their own, not that of their institutions. ### Trump creates ‘quick reaction force’ out of state Guard troops for law enforcement URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trump-quick-reaction-force-state-guard-troops-law-enforcement/ Last updated: 2025-08-26T23:08:51.000Z *A member of the National Guard stands alongside a military vehicle parked in front of Union Station, near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18, 2025\. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom)* President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing state National Guard units to be ready to assist local, state and federal law enforcement, a potential step toward a dramatic expansion of Trump’s use of military personnel for domestic policing. The [order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/additional-measures-to-address-the-crime-emergency-in-the-district-of-columbia/?ref=rangemedia.co) calls for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to ensure troops in the National Guard of every state “are resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety” and directs the secretary to establish “a standing National Guard quick reaction force” for “nationwide deployment.” Hegseth will also work with adjutant generals to decide a number of each state’s Guard “to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization for such purposes,” the order said. State National Guard units are generally controlled by the state’s governor, except in emergencies. In comments in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said the Guard deployment could rapidly “solve” crime in some major cities, but left doubt about his desire to overrule governors who do not want Guard troops in their cities. Trump [mobilized the District of Columbia National Guard,](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/pentagon-approves-national-guard-carry-weapons-dc-federal-takeover-extends?ref=rangemedia.co) which he is able to do because the district is not a state, to assist local law enforcement this month. Guard troops from West Virginia, Louisiana, Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina also have [sent troops](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/six-gop-states-send-more-1000-national-guard-dc-trump-crackdown?ref=rangemedia.co) to the nation’s capital. Free DC, a group that advocates for district self-governance, issued a lengthy statement calling the move dictatorial. “Trump is laying the groundwork to quell all public dissent to his agenda. If he is successful, it would spell the end of American democracy,” the group said. “We refuse to allow that to happen.” #### Chicago next? Following the deployment to Washington, D.C., Trump said “Chicago should be next.” Democratic governors, such as Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, should request National Guard assistance, Trump said. But if they would not, Trump said he may not send troops. Asked if he would send troops into cities over governors’ objections, Trump complained that governors could be ungrateful for federal deployment. “We may wait,” he continued. “We may or may not. We may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do. The problem is it’s not nice when you go in and do it, and somebody else is standing there saying, as we give great results, say, ‘Well, we don’t want the military.’” Pritzker slammed Trump on social media and said he would not accept Trump sending troops to his state’s largest city. “I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again and again: We don’t have kings or wannabe dictators in America, and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one,” he posted with a link to Trump’s comments. The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits federal military forces from engaging in domestic law enforcement. #### ‘I’m not a dictator’ Trump dismissed criticism that deploying the military for law enforcement purposes is antidemocratic, saying that most people agree with extreme measures to crack down on urban crime. “They say, ‘We don’t need ‘em. Freedom, freedom. He’s a dictator, he’s a dictator,’” Trump said of his critics. “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and a smart person. And when I see what’s happening to our cities, and then you send in troops, instead of being praised, they’re saying, ‘You’re trying to take over the republic.’ These people are sick.” Trump earlier this summer [called up the California National Guard](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/judge-says-trump-takeover-california-national-guard-illegal-orders-return-governor?ref=rangemedia.co) to quell protests over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, setting the stage for his actions in the district. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has challenged the president’s authority in a case that is still in court. Trump over the weekend also[ fought ](https://marylandmatters.org/2025/08/25/trump-targets-key-bridge-funds-baltimore-troop-deployment-in-social-media-sniping/?ref=rangemedia.co)with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, also a Democrat, on social media and threatened to send in troops to Baltimore. *[This story](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/25/repub/trump-creates-quick-reaction-force-out-of-state-guard-troops-for-law-enforcement/?ref=rangemedia.co) was originally published by [Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), which is part of [States Newsroom](https://statesnewsroom.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.* ### Spokane could finally ban warrantless ICE arrests at ticketed street festivals URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/ Last updated: 2025-08-25T19:18:35.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The city of Spokane is revisiting an ordinance that would ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from arresting people without a warrant, this time as a regular measure instead of an emergency one, meaning it has a better chance of becoming law. - The city’s Finance and Administration Committee will discuss some financial bad-news-bears, like increased insurance costs and the empty fund intended to pay the city’s jail bills with the county. They also discuss new equity subcommittee members and the potential of moving the regular Monday council meetings to a different day. - Spokane County has established a long-awaited task force to address ‘forever chemicals’ contamination on the West Plains, and it will host its first meeting Wednesday night. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) (and Study Session) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - [Spokane Public Facilities District Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-could-finally-ban-warrantless-ice-arrests-at-ticketed-street-festivals/) # Inaugural PFAS task force meeting Eight years after officials at Fairchild Air Force Base disclosed to local, state and federal governments that it had discovered potentially toxic chemicals in West Plains drinking water, Spokane County will convene a task force to advise those governments on clean-up and water provision efforts. The county [has worked](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-county-pfas-task-force-water-west-plains/) for more than a year to establish the task force, which represents the first concerted action at the county level to solve the crisis. Its members include representatives of local city and county governments and West Plains well owners who’ve been subject to the contaminated water for years. The first meeting will take place Wednesday and is scheduled to feature discussions with the taskforce’s co-chairs, Spokane Regional Health District Health Officer Frank Velazquez and County Commissioner Al French. No public comment will be taken at the first meeting. > *Wednesday, August 27 at 6 pm* > *Sheriff Training Center* > *13033 W Medical Lake Road* > *Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting will be live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5958606591?pwd=aXU3R2RMZXdQUWZQdy9NbURWVHhPdz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Property tax Q&A with county treasurer If there’s a truism about property taxes, it’s that they tend to increase. No one likes it, but the revenue they generate contributes meaningfully to our lives as the most important source of money for better public schools, fire prevention and public spaces like parks and libraries. Spokane County Treasurer Mike Volz will answer questions about these functions this week at the North Spokane Library. Find more information [here](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/5523/Treasurer?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Tuesday, August 26 at 6 pm* > *North Spokane Public Library* > *44 East Hawthorne Road* # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** Last week was a week of first reads; this one is the week for votes on two big ordinances! ### ICE out the streets The [ordinance to ban ICE](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ban-warranteless-ice-arrests/) from conducting warrantless arrests at ticketed street festivals in the public right-of-way is back, and finally up for another vote. This time, it’s not an emergency ordinance, which means it only needs a simple majority to pass. Council President Betsy Wilkerson and council members Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle voted against it in June, so new Council Member Shelby Lambdin could be the deciding vote — although Wilkerson signalled she was open to potentially passing it as a regular ordinance with more time for public input. Still, it’s too late to protect Tacos y Tequila, which was [indefinitely postponed due to community concerns](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/28/we-just-dont-feel-like-its-safe-spokane-tacos-y-te/?ref=rangemedia.co) that ICE might show up. ### Community Workforce Agreements The first policy is a Community Workforce Agreement ordinance, which would ensure that taxpayer dollars for city projects benefit local laborers. We covered it in depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/local-workers-proposed-ordinance-support-local-labor/). ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Next week’s meeting is cancelled for Labor Day! > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, August 25 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers ### Out of money for jail As reporting from Spokane Public Radio [revealed earlier this month](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2025-08-01/full-capacity-empty-fund-spokane-cant-afford-to-pay-for-jail-beds?ref=rangemedia.co), the city’s Criminal Justice Assistance Fund (CJA) — which pays Spokane’s bill for beds in the county jail — is out of money, which has led to two month’s worth of unpaid jail bills. For background, the fund was established in the early 2000s with the city’s share of the county's imposed criminal justice sales tax for “criminal justice purposes.” That language is vague, but at first, it was really only spent on the city’s share of jail operational costs. Over time, though, expenses for the Spokane Police Department (SPD) started to dip into the fund, including for their regular contract with police tech company Axon (which makes things like TASERs and body cameras). In 2021, the state passed a “fiscal flexibility” bill which allowed then-mayor Nadine Woodward to dip into the fund for homelessness costs in 2022 and 2023, which used up most of the fund’s balance. Now, jail costs have jumped significantly and the fund is too drained to pay for them. According to the agenda sheet from CFO Matt Boston, “the fund’s cash balance has reached insolvency,” and the monthly deposit of the city’s county sales tax share is no longer enough to pay the monthly jail bill from the county. According to reporting from SPR, in 2021, the city paid about $4 million to use about 10% of the county’s jail beds, and in 2024, the yearly bill jumped to almost $7.5 million for about 14% of beds. To pay our jail bills in 2025, the city needs to dip into the General Fund, and likely for the foreseeable future, as our sales tax no longer covers the rising costs of the monthly bill for the county jail. Making matters worse, SPD needs to take another $2 million out of the CJA fund because their extra duty costs went over budget (maybe from the sheer amount of officers sent to respond to nonviolent protests?) In the same special budget ordinance (SBO), they also want to use the city’s new Community Safety Tax to buy four motorcycles and one passenger vehicle to upgrade the existing fleet. The SBO up for discussion in committee is a one-time solution, but doesn’t answer the question of long-term solvency to pay our jail bills, so we’re curious what the council plans to do. ### Spending too much on insurance claims The city has overspent its 2025 budget for insurance claims by over $1.5 million. This budget fund covers worker’s comp claims, unemployment claims — which are up because of lay-offs — and risk claims, which are lawsuits like anti-queer worship pastor Sean Feucht’s suit against the city or police violence claims. While insurance pays for a large portion of the costs to fight or settle these suits, the city is still on the hook for a portion of it, and increased risk claims have contributed to the budget over-run. In order to fill the gap and pay out worker’s comp and unemployment claims in time to meet the legal requirements, the mayor’s administration is requesting a one-time pull from the reserve fund of $1,550,000. ### New meeting day? Dedicated RANGE readers may remember a bit of a kerfuffle over the council rules for 2025\. One of the issues on the table was a proposal to change council meeting days to Tuesday. Proponents argued that it would lead to less cancellations (because of Monday holidays like Labor Day) and better synchronization with the school system for council members with kids. Opponents argued that it wasn’t fair to change the date mid-council cycle when people ran for office thinking the meetings were Monday — Bingle has a regular Tuesday conflict he can’t move. The compromise they all came to was that it wouldn’t change for this year, but they passed a resolution stating their intent to consider changing the regular meeting date beginning in 2026, which would give time for public input and for council members to decide if a potential date change would impact running for reelection. Now, the discussion on dates is back on the table. There’s no official pitch yet for whether meetings should stay on Monday, move to Tuesday or do something else entirely, but we imagine there will be lively debate about this starting at today’s committee. This is also your reminder that committees now take public comment, so if you have strong opinions on council meeting day, it’s not too late to go and speak. ### Equity Subcommittee appointments Whatever’s happening at the national level, Spokane city is working to hold to its equity commitments. That includes the meeting of the equity subcommittee, which advises the city on equity measures, and provides feedback on proposed new legislation. Folks’ terms on the subcommittee are expiring, so today the council will discuss appointments. Here’s the proposal for who will be on the subcommittee this year: - John Alder, reappointed for a second 3-year term - Sarah Dixit — Spokane City Council District 1 candidate, reappointed for a second 3-year term - Kianna McKenna, reappointed for a second 3-year term - KJ January, reappointed for a second 3-year term - Patricia Castaneda, appointed for a first term - Sebastian Ruiz, appointed for a first term - Naghmana Sherazi, appointed for a first term - Luke Kobin, appointed for a first term - Tyler Tamoush — who is working on the campaign for the other City Council District 1 candidate, incumbent Jonathan Bingle — has one more year on the committee and will be up for reappointment next year. - Wendy Schatz has one more year on the committee and will be up for reappointment next year. ### Traffic Calming funding Last week, the council committee got a presentation on [the new community process](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) to decide which traffic calming projects get city funding in the next round. This week, the committee is discussing just how much money from the Safe Streets for All fund they plan to spend on the next slate of projects. Here’s the pitch: - $5 million in total - No less than $300,000 on adaptive traffic calming strategies, which are[ creative, cheaper solutions](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-calming-design-spokane/) that will be installed in 2026 - No less than $3.8 million on projects for [the 27 by 2027 bike network](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 25 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). # MISC City ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 25 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District **?/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Wednesday, August 27 at 12:30 pm* > *Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room* > *720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 26 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### School resource deputies for SpoCo districts The county is set to reup its agreements with local school districts to supply them with school resource deputies. These officers are sheriff deputies assigned to enforce district rules, investigate crimes, work as counselors, train students and school employees on school safety and create safe campuses, along with other duties. Each district pays the county more than $70,000 per deputy per year for this service. Though intended to create safer school environments, similar programs [have been criticized](https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/analysis/essays/school-resource-officers.html?ref=rangemedia.co) by some think tanks and advocacy organizations for unnecessarily heightening disciplinary cultures at schools and, in some cases, discriminating against students of color and other underrepresented groups. Here are the Spokane County school districts with contracts up for renewal: - Deer Park - Central Valley (two deputies) - East Valley - West Valley - Freeman - Liberty - Mead (two deputies) - Medical Lake ### $5M for road preservation The BOCC will vote to accept more than $5 million from the Spokane Regional Transportation Council for three road-impovement projects: - Preservation of Aero Road - Preservation of Staley Road - Realignment of the intersection of Craig and Thorpe roads > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 26 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑/5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 25 at 6 p.m.* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** For CVSD meeting followers used to the regular flow of agenda items about transgender students, you can take a breather this week: the board is taking a break from that to do important school business, like hearing a budget report, getting a report on a bilingual instruction program and approving extracurricular travel expenses for students. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 25 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 27 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Potential state funding for affordable housing connections Spokane Valley city staff are asking the council to approve applications for new state-level funding to build utility connections for affordable housing projects. The [agenda sheet](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=614&meta%5Fid=101055&ref=rangemedia.co) says such funding encourages developers to create more affordable housing to alleviate homelessness. Funding would be allocated to projects being carried out by Habitat for Humanity and Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 26 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Some Washington judges aren’t ordering accused abusers to surrender guns. A new court ruling could change that. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-judges-guns-new-court-ruling/ Last updated: 2025-08-23T18:00:00.000Z In summer 2022, Brandon Montesi told a King County judge that he had no guns. His ex-wife, afraid for the lives of her family members and herself, said it was a lie. Montesi’s ex-wife had sought a domestic violence protection order against him, alleging in a court petition that he arrived at her home in a rage one spring day, swinging an ax and threatening to kill her. He warned that she should “think twice before messing with him” because he has a “safe full of guns,” she recalled. A court commissioner ordered Montesi to turn his firearms over to the King County Sheriff’s Office. Despite the court order, a judge found that about 13 of his firearms remained unaccounted for — assault rifles, hunting rifles, handguns, a shotgun and an AR-15. Instead of surrendering the missing guns, Montesi argued that Washington’s firearm surrender law requiring him to do so violates his Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination and unreasonable search and seizure, citing a November 2022 Washington Court of Appeals ruling known as [the Flannery decision](https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/court-of-appeals-division-ii/2022/55682-1.html?ref=rangemedia.co). The Flannery decision, which said an earlier version of the state’s firearm surrender law was unconstitutional under the Fourth and Fifth Amendment, [has been similarly cited by judges throughout Washington](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/why-many-judges-in-wa-wont-order-abusers-to-turn-in-guns-17691923?ref=rangemedia.co) as preventing them from ordering alleged abusers to give up their weapons, court records show. Now, the barriers created by Flannery could be knocked down. In one of the clearest rulings to date on the constitutionality of [Washington’s firearm surrender law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.41.800&ref=rangemedia.co) in protection order cases, the state Court of Appeals rejected Montesi’s argument, concluding that the law is constitutional. While federal law prohibits some alleged domestic abusers from having guns, Washington — [along with 21 other states](https://everytownresearch.org/rankings/law/relinquishment-for-domestic-abusers-under-restraining-orders/?ref=rangemedia.co) — has gone a step further, requiring judges to order people subject to certain domestic violence protection orders to surrender their firearms to law enforcement. Victim advocates are hopeful that the recent ruling, issued on June 30, will prompt judges to enforce the law. But so far, legislative efforts to do the same have had limited success. Even after state lawmakers updated the firearm surrender law in 2021 and again in 2023 with a [“Flannery Fix”](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1715&Year=2023&ref=rangemedia.co) aimed at resolving Flannery’s self-incrimination concerns, some judicial officers — including all of those in the Pierce County Superior Court — still aren’t issuing firearm surrender orders in domestic violence protection order cases, according to a recent poll of Washington’s 39 superior courts conducted by InvestigateWest. The Cowlitz County Superior Court had not been issuing firearm surrender orders until recently, when some judicial officers began ordering surrenders again on a case by case basis due to the Montesi decision. “The bench is and will continue to be discussing the Montesi decision,” Cowlitz County Superior Court Administrator Danyel Paul wrote in a statement to InvestigateWest. Some superior courts, including Adams County and Grays Harbor County, responded that they do issue firearm surrender orders, but sparingly. In Clark County, Presiding Judge Derek Vanderwood said the superior court began issuing the orders again in January — a few months after a Vancouver mother of three, Carissa Larkin, was shot and killed by her ex-fiance. Larkin had obtained a protection order against her abuser, but the court hadn’t ordered him to turn in his guns due to the Flannery decision, [The Columbian reported](https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/aug/12/states-courts-at-odds-over-taking-weapons-from-abusers/?ref=rangemedia.co). Montesi, who declined to comment through his attorney, is now asking the state Supreme Court to hear his case. If the ruling stands, victim advocates, attorneys and legal experts say it would reaffirm an assertion that they’ve been making for years: that the Flannery decision, which centered on a criminal assault case and an outdated state law, should never have been broadly applied to civil protection order cases. “I think the Flannery decision, there was some room for interpretation about what they meant by it. I think that’s why you saw different trial courts making different decisions,” said King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Ketu Shah. The King County court has continued issuing firearm surrender orders after Flannery. “In other jurisdictions, there’s stronger passion around firearm rights and Second Amendment rights, and so they want to litigate that more and see where the limits are.” Shah noted that the Montesi ruling — decided in a civil protection order case — gives courts more direct legal guidance. “Montesi is pretty clear. It's right on the point of what these rights are and whether they infringe on those rights. And they found the statute does not infringe on those rights,” he said. For some attorneys and victim advocates, courts’ decisions not to issue firearm surrender orders seem to have more to do with political will than with upholding the law. “What it looked like to me that the courts were doing was just saying, ‘Oh, sorry, it’s out of my hands. Flannery prevents me from issuing a weapon surrender,’” said Benjamin Gould, an attorney who represented Montesi’s ex-wife. “You are, in effect, completely ignoring Washington law as passed by the Legislature. And that is very troubling.” #### **A controversial legal analysis** Ever since the Washington State Legislature [unanimously passed a 2014 law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1840&Year=2013&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) to remove guns from the hands of domestic abusers, that law has drawn constitutional challenges. The firearm surrender law requires courts to order the relinquishment of guns in certain circumstances, such as when an individual has a domestic violence protection order against them and is believed to be a threat to the protected person or their child’s safety. Judges have discretion in other circumstances, like when there’s evidence that there will likely be a serious and imminent threat to a person’s health and safety without a surrender order. One of the first major rulings on the state law’s constitutionality came in 2022\. Dwayne Flannery, a Kitsap County man accused of beating and choking his girlfriend, argued that an order to surrender weapons would force him to illegally search his own home for guns and potentially incriminate himself by admitting to having firearms, which he wasn’t allowed to have under a no-contact order. The Court of Appeals agreed with Flannery and dropped the weapons surrender order. Judges across Washington immediately raised questions about how the Flannery decision would impact civil protection order cases. Unlike no-contact orders, which are issued in criminal matters, civil protection orders are filed by individuals seeking to keep alleged abusers away from them, even if no criminal charges have been filed. To be granted a protection order, victims must only demonstrate that it’s more likely than not that the abuse occurred. Upon a judge’s request, a team of attorneys at the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts, which supports judges across the state, sent [two memorandums](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26044992-analysis-memo-flannery-fifth-and-fourth-amendment/?ref=rangemedia.co#document/p1) analyzing the Flannery decision to Cowlitz County judges. Although the office says the memos are meant to be confidential and aren't official guidance for the courts as a whole, the analysis was widely circulated among attorneys and [included](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/inside-courts-wa-gov/content/judgesResources/docs/spring-2023.pdf) in a public [2024 State of the Judiciary report](https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/content/StateoftheJudiciary2024.cfm?ref=rangemedia.co). The memos concluded Washington's firearm surrender law likely violates the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. An immunity provision added to Washington’s firearm surrender law in 2021 likely would not provide "complete protection" from self-incrimination because it only protects against prosecution for certain crimes, the analysis says. It also likened surrender orders to a “warrantless search” under the Fourth Amendment — a characterization that many attorneys representing domestic violence victims disagree with. “You’re complying with a court order. In this case, the court order says, ‘Go get your guns. You can’t have them.’ But they’re calling that an unlawful search, which is a very creative interpretation,” said Washington state Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Shoreline, who sponsored the 2023 Flannery Fix bill. Karla Carlisle, a managing attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, a nonprofit legal aid program in Washington, said constitutional protections against unreasonable searches are aimed at preventing the government from violating a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy — not at individuals who are asked to turn over their firearms to ensure a victim’s safety. “No search occurs when a trial court grants an order to surrender weapons,” Carlisle argued in a July 2023 appellate court filing. “The orders are served the same way any other legal process is served, and to the extent a respondent locates and surrenders firearms from their own home, there is no governmental intrusion into the privacy of the person’s home.” Yet following the memos’ release, Carlisle said she saw a “wave across the state” of courts refusing to issue weapon surrender orders. “Those memos were very damaging because I think they came to trial court judges with the authority and approval from the Administrative Office of the Courts,” she said. “So a lot of judges, I think, took that for face value and didn’t do their own analysis.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/karlacarlisle-ew-05.jpg) Karla Carlisle poses for a portrait outside the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick, Wash., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025\. (Emree Weaver/InvestigateWest) In Cowlitz County, judicial officers started crossing out the weapons surrender section of the protection order and penciling in “State v. Flannery.” A Benton County judge rescinded and terminated a firearm surrender order that had been granted to a domestic violence survivor the year before, citing Flannery. The Pierce County Superior Court edited its protection order paperwork to remove all firearm surrender language. Now when a person requests a firearm surrender, the court instead gives them a document titled, [“Findings on Weapons Surrender.”](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26044993-2023-findings-on-weapons-surrender/?ref=rangemedia.co#document/p1) It informs them that the court is not issuing surrender orders because doing so would “by its very nature” subject the respondent to potential self-incrimination and unreasonable searches and seizures. To ensure compliance with the law, the Flannery Fix [also requires](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/lawfilesext-leg-wa-gov/biennium/2023-24/Pdf/Bill-Reports/House/1715-s2-e-hbr-fbr-23-q-20250624133415.pdf) the Administrative Office of the Courts to report annually on the number of firearm surrender orders issued by each court. But the office is still not doing so. A [disclaimer on the office’s website](https://www.courts.wa.gov/caseload/?fa=caseload.showSCPOtables&ref=rangemedia.co) explains that because data is unevenly collected across jurisdictions, the office believes that reports “would not accurately convey the reality of enforcement practices across the state.” To address this, the office says it is overhauling the way that it receives and reports protection order data. Davis said she plans to continue working on legislation to protect domestic violence survivors from gun violence. But there’s only so much that legislators like her can do, she added. “For the most part, we actually have pretty solid words on paper,” Davis said. “They’re just not being followed.” #### **The Montesi decision** Attorneys like Carlisle and Gould are hopeful that courts will see the Montesi ruling as limiting the Flannery decision’s application in civil protection order cases. The Pierce and Cowlitz County superior court benches are now reviewing the Montesi decision to determine its impact on firearm surrender orders going forward, according to the courts’ administrators. Anne Levinson, a retired Washington judge who has helped author several state bills to protect domestic violence survivors, said the decision gives judges a clearer guide than Flannery for how to handle firearm surrender requests in civil cases. “The Montesi case is a more current case, more on point for orders that are issued as part of the civil protection order process,” Levinson said. “It can and should be applied by courts across the state.” In addition to the Fourth and Fifth Amendment issues, the state Court of Appeals also rejected Montesi’s argument that the weapons surrender statute infringes upon Montesi’s right to bear arms. This issue was directly addressed in a June 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision, [United States v. Rahimi](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-supremecourt-gov/opinions/2/22-915%5F8o6b.pdf), which ruled that a federal law prohibiting people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms is constitutional under the Second Amendment. Still, it remains to be seen whether the Montesi ruling will clear the path for weapons surrender orders in Washington. Although the ruling affirms that the state law is constitutional, it’s only binding for lower courts in [Division I](https://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/resources/jury%5Fguide/divisions.cfml?ref=rangemedia.co) of the Court of Appeals, where the decision took place, according to Shah. This includes King, Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan and Whatcom counties. For counties outside of this division, the ruling can provide guidance for judicial officers but does not necessarily need to be followed, Shah noted. The Flannery decision, meanwhile, took place in Division II, which covers several of the superior courts that had stopped issuing firearm surrender orders, including Pierce, Cowlitz and Clark. Some legal experts, including Carlisle, dispute this interpretation of Court of Appeals rulings, arguing that appellate court decisions like Montesi are binding for all trial courts throughout the state. Other similar cases involving firearm surrender orders are also pending before the Court of Appeals. If those decisions conflict with the Montesi decision, that could set up a legal dispute for the Washington Supreme Court to resolve. But for that to happen, the state Supreme Court would first have to agree to hear a case. It has so far declined at least two motions filed by women fleeing their intimate partners — including one by Montesi's ex-wife — that argued the life-or-death urgency of the issue warrants direct intervention by the high court. On July 31, [Montesi tried again to put the issue in front of the state Supreme Court](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-courts-wa-gov/content/petitions/1044101-petition-for-review.pdf), arguing that the appellate court made a mistake by ruling that the Legislature’s Flannery Fix resolves the law’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations. The high court has not yet decided whether it will hear the case. Mary Welch, an attorney and statewide advocacy counsel for the Northwest Justice Project, said that while she’s optimistic about the Montesi ruling, she’s remaining vigilant of how future courts may act. She initially thought that the constitutionality concerns over Washington’s firearm surrender law would be resolved with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Rahimi decision, until judges began using Flannery to justify not issuing the orders. “I kind of feel like this is just going to be a continuous battle,” Welch said. “It’s whack-a-mole. We're gonna knock Flannery down for sure — something else is gonna pop its head up, and then we’re gonna have to do something about that.” *Editor's Note: This story has been updated with additional information about an ongoing legal debate over when Court of Appeals decisions issued by one division are binding on another.* **InvestigateWest (investigatewest.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Kelsey Turner can be reached at kelsey@investigatewest.org or 503-893-2501.** ### The POD: All the FLOCK things URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-all-the-flock-things/ Last updated: 2025-08-22T18:10:59.000Z As Erin works on an upcoming story about FLOCK cameras — aka Automated License Plate Readers — they and Val talked about all things FLOCK-related. These aren’t the red-light or speeding cameras that issue tickets, these are recording and logging vehicles throughout Spokane County at all times. From the costs to the concerns, these cameras are causing worry in local advocates about surveillance by both ICE and local law enforcement. Further reading: FLOCK camera map – [https://deflock.me/](https://deflock.me/?ref=rangemedia.co) 404 Media’s FLOCK coverage – [https://www.404media.co/tag/flock/](https://www.404media.co/tag/flock/?ref=rangemedia.co) ### Meet the District 1 Spokane City Council candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/district-1-spokane-city-council-candidates/ Last updated: 2025-08-21T20:07:15.000Z Current city council member Jonathan Bingle faces community organizer Sarah Dixit in the race to represent Spokane City Council District 1. District 1 spreads northeast from downtown, across two university campuses to Shiloh Hills and is home to the dueling identities as the city’s tourism engine and its poorest district. It’s currently represented by Bingle and Michael Cathcart. While the seats are nonpartisan — meaning they don’t run as a Republican or Democrat — Bingle and Cathcart are the only conservatives on the seven-member body. If Dixit were to flip the seat, the progressives could hold a 6-1 majority on the council, depending on the results of other races (CM Zack Zappone [is also facing](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-three-candidates-primary/) a conservative challenger). Learn more about the candidates vying to represent District 1 and what they want to see in the city. #### **Jonathan Bingle** “Living the dream!” It’s the standard response city council member Jonathan Bingle will give when asked, “How are you?” For the Spokane native, that dream means raising three kids with his wife, running an event planning business and serving his Spokane community through politics. The 38-year-old is running for a second term after being elected to the city council in November 2021. Bingle, owner of Bent Events, was born to pastors involved in ministry work and spent the early part of his career as a pastor. Faith is a central element to Bingle’s life, and he felt called by God to serve his community by getting involved in politics. “This is what God made me for,” Bingle said. Originally, Bingle said he planned on becoming a politician once his kids were older, but decided to move up that timeline after COVID-19 temporarily closed his business, resulting in his “family’s future being stolen from \[him\] overnight with the swipe of a pen.” Bingle said there needed to be more representation of small business owners’ interests in government during the pandemic. During his first term, Bingle sponsored [a 2023 ordinance](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2023-05-08/spokane-votes-to-make-public-drug-use-possession-illegal?ref=rangemedia.co) to make public drug use and possession a gross misdemeanor, punishable by mandatory addiction treatment or jail time. He felt stricter local drug laws were needed after the Blake decision, a State Supreme Court ruling that found the state drug statute unconstitutional as it criminalized unknowing possession. The same year, Bingle also partnered with former Council Member Karen Stratton and current Council Member Michael Cathcart to pass the “[Parks after Dark Ordinance](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/jun/26/being-in-spokane-parks-after-hours-made-an-arresta/?ref=rangemedia.co),” which made being in Spokane parks after hours an arrestable offense. Four years after his initial run, Bingle said homelessness, crime control and public safety remain the main concerns among his constituents, with the core focus of his campaign promoting a “clean and safe Spokane.” Bingle said implementing these values requires “getting serious” about crime and public drug use in the city, including addressing addiction by creating easier pathways to addiction resources and stricter penalties for public drug use. “If they refuse to voluntarily try to get out of substance use disorder, we need to be willing to say: ‘Okay, then you can choose jail or treatment,’” Bingle said. He said that Spokane is burdened with people coming to Spokane from other areas in the region, and that if the city were to prioritize local residents, there would not be a lack of services to address homelessness and addiction. “We have a number of folks who are here receiving services from the city of Spokane that are not from Spokane,” Bingle said. “Spokane is not their home.” A survey commissioned by the Spokane Business Association claimed 50.2% of unhoused people in Spokane moved to the city after becoming homeless. But the survey’s small sample size, its strict definition of “visitor” versus “local” and its obscure methodology led homelessness researchers [to be dubious of its claims](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/). A [2025 count](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/07/14/spokane-countys-homeless-population-shows-overall-decrease/?ref=rangemedia.co) of the city’s homeless population found 1,806 unhoused people living in the city, with 1,189 of those people being sheltered in emergency shelters or transitional housing. Another key issue of Bingle’s campaign is reducing the cost of housing, with a specific focus on boosting homeownership. His proposed solutions include adjusting zoning to maximize land available for development, providing a tax exemption to developers that build multi-family housing and better funding for roads, parks and fire stations. Focusing on the supply of housing — including large, single-family homes — would inherently reduce housing costs, he said. “Housing is a ladder, and so even a luxury home, if somebody is building it, and they move into it, that frees up a house,” Bingle said. “People are constantly moving up and down, and all housing production makes housing inherently more affordable.” Bingle added that lowering taxes, rather than expanding government services and spending, would have a great impact on affordability, citing the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), which he claimed raised gas prices by $1 per gallon. While the act imposes no direct consumer tax on gas, it caps greenhouse [gas emissions](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2117-cap-and-trade-ballot-measure-carbon-neutral/) from Washington’s largest polluters, which opponents argue would have market impacts on gas prices. The conservative group Let’s Go Washington has advocated for a repeal of the CCA based on similar claims, but other causes, including supply issues, refinery closures and gas tax are also part of the picture. [The state’s Department of Ecology](https://ecology.wa.gov/air-climate/climate-commitment-act/cap-and-invest/economic-impacts?ref=rangemedia.co) estimated the overall economic impact of the act to be a 1% to 3% increase in gas prices and argued that gas prices are more impacted by supply and demand and international trade factors. In regard to federal funding cuts by the Trump administration and their impact on local budgets, Bingle said the single most important thing city government can do is to stop picking fights with the federal government, specifically on issues regarding immigration. “Immigration is not within our purview, but we continue to take stances – bad stances – on immigration policy that absolutely will bring us into the crosshairs of the federal administration,” Bingle said. “We absolutely will be losing funding, and it is a far more substantial amount of money that we’ll be losing in those stances than from CDBG \[Community Development Block Grants\] or anything else.” The elimination of the CDBG program resulted in a loss of $3,050,000 a year that supported housing and human services response, including supportive housing services, investments in affordable housing units and youth housing programs, according to the city’s Director of Communications Erin Hut. Despite these cuts, Bingle said Washington budgets don’t have a funding problem but a spending problem, referencing the Washington budget and tax bills [signed by Governor Bob Ferguson in May](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/20/ferguson-signs-budget-boosting-washington-state-spending-and-taxes/?ref=rangemedia.co) that will bring in $9.4 billion over the next four years. “I think that the state of Washington should get its act together when it comes to: what are our spending priorities?” Bingle said. “We need to get back to the basics of what government exists to do, which is to provide for the infrastructure and protect its citizens. That’s it.” Despite maintaining that the government should get back to the basics, the councilman has also been vocal about his position on social issues, particularly regarding trans rights. However, Bingle said it’s not in his purview as a council member and he “never bring\[s\] them up, because the things that I’m focused on in the city of Spokane are things we can affect.” “There’s a difference in the things I advocate for in my personal capacity and in my professional capacity,” Bingle said. “My kids and I, we live in the Mead School District, and so when things come before the Mead School District, I’ll speak on those as a parent, not as the city council; that is not within our purview.” Still, Bingle has brought up these issues in political speeches at past GOP conventions and candidate forums, including a[ recent forum at Calvary Spokane Church](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/), where Bingle repeatedly brought up issues regarding gender identity and trans rights, mocking the city’s use of gender inclusive language as “nonsense.” The councilman specifically questioned the terms “pregnant individuals” instead of “women” and “Ombuds” rather than the original Swedish term “Ombudsman.” He went on to discuss the ethics complaints filed against him, saying Spokane needs “strong men and women” who are not afraid to speak out for their values. “And instead of saying, ‘Hey, maybe no boys should be in girls’ sports. Maybe men shouldn’t be in women’s restrooms,’ when we say those kinds of things, I get ethics complaints filed against me because now I’m supposedly discriminating against trans individuals,” Bingle said at the forum. “That’s the kind of stuff that we’re up against right now, and that’s not going to be a place where weak people are going to be able to make a difference.” #### **Sarah Dixit** First-time candidate Sarah Dixit is used to attacks for her age (29), background in reproductive justice organizing or California upbringing. But, the candidate and community organizer said she is reclaiming those attributes. “I’ve always felt kind of the imposter syndrome of feeling like people are gonna say I’m too young, or whatever else they might say, and I think those are actually my strengths, not my weaknesses,” Dixit said. Dixit grew up in Southern California as a child of immigrant parents from India but has chosen Spokane as her home. She’s lived in the city for the past 11 years after moving to Spokane to attend Whitworth University, where she graduated with a degree in Sociology. Dixit became involved in organizing at Whitworth, working to create the school’s first “pro-bodily autonomy club,” focused on advancing reproductive rights. After graduation, Dixit continued working in reproductive justice organizing with Planned Parenthood. Through her organizing work, Dixit said she practiced “authentic relationship-building” across communities, something often lacking in current politics. “Being able to have those conversations and really understand the ‘why’ behind people’s beliefs is what being an organizer is all about and is what being an elected official should be about,” Dixit said. “Organizing and doing advocacy work is really showing the humanity behind things.” Dixit has distilled her campaign goals to her “ABCs: Accountability, Belonging and Community”. If elected, she promises to hold townhalls and community meet-ups throughout District 1 to be accessible to her constituents. As a city council member, she said she would support the Ombuds’ authority to hold police accountable and would work to strengthen communication between civilians and elected officials, partly by expanding ways to submit feedback and reports, such as hate crime reports. She also supports investing in urban tree canopy projects, lighting and sidewalk infrastructure and neighborhood cleanups, as well as restrictions on rent increases and stronger labor laws. To address homelessness, Dixit said criminalization won’t address the root problems but that the city must instead amplify health and economic opportunities, including policies like Mayor Lisa Brown’s [scatter site model](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/01/28/city-works-with-local-partners-to-open-scattered-site-facilities/?ref=rangemedia.co) that integrate facilities with tailored services within the community. Punishing homelessness “may sound like the law and order type of thing to do, but if it’s not actually going upstream to what’s causing these problems, it’s not going to be a genuine solution,” Dixit said. Dixit has experience working with city budgets as chair of the Equity Subcommittee, which is part of the city council’s Finance Committee. She said she supports participatory budgeting processes, where individuals would have a say in where and how money is spent. While this structure would take more time, the candidate said it would be worth it to increase inclusion within city decision-making, though did not give specifics on the logistics of implementing one. To make up for cuts in federal funding to Spokane, Dixit said the city needs to look upstream and advocate for state allocations that support local needs while making more sweeping changes to ensure balanced budgets that adequately provide for city services. “For us in Spokane, it’s really important to do advocacy when it comes to our state budget and how those funds are being allocated and looking into more progressive revenue options because, doing the ‘take a pinch here, take a pinch there’ and trying to balance it that way can only work for so long,” Dixit said. These reforms would include “getting creative” with tax structures, including wealth tax and taxes that target wealth redistribution, while educating people that a wealth tax would only apply to people with “exorbitant” income. While similar policies exist at other levels, it’s not yet clear how the city council could impact tax structures like this city-wide. “If it’s mostly middle and lower class folks supporting the budget in Washington and Spokane, that’s not a fair way of doing things,” Dixit said. According to the [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy](https://itep.org/washington-who-pays-7th-edition/?ref=rangemedia.co), for people earning less than $33,500 yearly, total taxes make the highest share of family income at 13.8%, compared to 9.4% for people earning between $107,700-$162,900 and 4.1% for people earning over $878,400. Immigration reforms are complicated given the various jurisdictions involved, Dixit said, but maintained the importance of looking into work that can be done at a city level to support Spokane immigrants. “I think being really clear about what we're able to do as a city charter is important, but I also don't think that means we throw up our hands and say, ‘Well, there's nothing we can do. We have to wait until there's a new Congress or a new White House administration or whatever.’ I think it's about being creative,” Dixit said. Through her organizing work, in 2018, Dixit worked to pass an [ordinance](https://aclu-wa.org/news/spokane-bans-warrantless-ice-and-border-patrol-searches-private-areas-city-owned-property?ref=rangemedia.co) that restricted the presence of customs and border patrol from entering private spaces within city-owned property, such as Greyhound buses parked at public bus stations. She has also been involved in protests against ICE activity in Spokane, including the [June 11 protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-9-protests/) that resulted in 31 arrests. (She was not arrested). Dixit said protesting is an important way to enact her rights as an American and be there to support District 1 residents being impacted by ICE’s actions. She said as a prospective city council member, it's important to be on the ground to witness these events first-hand. “For me, protest is really powerful because when a lot of people are feeling anger and feeling really lost … being able to be in a group of people who are caring for one another and really trying to show like, ‘Hey, what's happening here is not okay,’ I think that's where the beauty of Spokane comes through,” Dixit said. If elected, Dixit would work with Cathcart, who would be the sole conservative on the council. While there can be a perception of polarization and division between the council members, Dixit pointed to the often unanimous voting record of the council as evidence that each member shares an investment in the city’s wellbeing. “I’m my own person and would be representing a different district, so who I’m representing would be different,” Dixit said. “My job would be to reflect those values and those issues that people are really caring about in District 1.” ### 20 Questions with District 2 Spokane City Council candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/district-2-spokane-city-council-candidates/ Last updated: 2025-08-20T22:11:46.000Z Spokane’s District 2, which covers the South Hill and much of the West Plains, has one of the most interesting city council races this year: two Democrats are running against each other for the seat left open with no incumbent. The two candidates vying for the seat are former prosecutor Kate Telis, who was the volunteer coordinator for Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon’s 2023 campaign, and businessman Alejandro Barrientos, a father and chief operations officer for the [Larry Stone](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/)\-owned company SCAFCO Steel Stud Manufacturing. So often, folks vote down simple party lines (even though city council races are technically non-partisan), but in a race with two candidates from the same party, we thought we’d let their positions speak for themselves. We asked both candidates to give us brief, clear answers (think something that could fit in a tweet) to 20 questions about some of the key issues emerging for voters this year: Should public transit be free? What protections for renters do they support? Why are they running for office? All that and more in this [handy chart](https://www.datawrapper.de/%5F/3EgEG/?ref=rangemedia.co), and if this isn’t enough to help you make your choice, don’t worry: we’ll have more detailed coverage on this race before election day. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); ### West Plains aquifer protection, coming soon to a ballot near you? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/ Last updated: 2025-08-18T18:58:17.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - Spokane City Council is having first readings of three big policies: no warrantless ICE arrests at ticketed street festivals, establishing a Community Workforce Agreement and beginning to stand up a replacement 911 dispatch center. - The Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee will discuss the new selection process for funding traffic safety projects and an extension to the interim zoning ordinance that allows tall building construction in downtown Spokane. - There’s no agenda up yet, but we anticipate the Office of Police Ombuds meeting will be a packed one, as advocates have been preparing testimony and complaints about law enforcement violence during the June protests. - Spokane Transit Authority is having a mysterious special meeting to discuss a contract renewal, details not provided. - Spokane Regional Health District Board could approve an agreement with Spokane Valley to get more SpoVal-specific opioid overdose data. - Spokane County is talking about putting a measure on ballots for August 2026 that would create a protection district for groundwater under the West Plains, which is polluted with PFAs. They also might cut one of their public records clerks, leaving that office with only one full time employee. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council (and Study Session)](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) - [Spokane Ombuds Commission](http://Spokane Ombuds Commission) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing Session](http://Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session) and [Legislative Session](http://Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) - [Spokane Airport Board](http://Spokane Airport Board) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board](http://Spokane Regional Health District Board) - [Spokane Valley City Council](http://Spokane Valley City Council) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/west-plains-aquifer-protection-coming-soon-to-a-ballot-near-you/) # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** Tonight’s meeting is packed with first reads on a few big policies, which means they won’t have their final vote until next week at the earliest, but you can share your opinions on them tonight. It’s also the first meeting for Council Member Shelby Lambdin, who was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by former Council Member Lili Navarrete. ### Community Workforce Agreements The first policy is a Community Workforce Agreement ordinance, which would ensure that taxpayer dollars for city projects benefit local laborers. We covered it in depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/local-workers-proposed-ordinance-support-local-labor/). There is a proposed amendment from Council Member Michael Cathcart that would state the city needs to consider the potential for labor disruptions from unionized employees like strikes or lockouts before deciding to implement a Community Workforce Agreement. The Cathcart amendment, which would require a suspension of the rules to even consider, would also state that any revenue collected from penalties imposed against contractors not following the rules would go to expanding workforce development programs, while the original version written by Council Member Paul Dillon says revenue must be dedicated to grants for state-recognized pre-apprenticeship programs to support priority hire workers. ### A new name for Spokane’s emergency communications Spokane city has been in [a messy break-up](https://www.inlander.com/news/regional-spokane-911-center-srec-tells-the-city-of-spokane-to-go-its-own-way-29240669?ref=rangemedia.co) with Spokane Regional Emergency Communications — which dispatches 911 calls — for a while, and is now in the process of standing up their own communications network. But first, it needs a name. Amendments to the ordinance to begin standing up our own network show three potential names on the table: - the Emergency Communications Center, the original idea submitted by the mayor’s office - the Spokane United 911 Network, submitted by Council President Betsy Wilkerson - the Spokane Preparedness and Response Center (SPARC), submitted by Council Member Michael Cathcart We obviously don’t get a vote, but if anyone cares, we’re partial to SPARC — it’s got the catchiest acronym. ### ICE out of the streets The [ordinance to ban ICE](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ban-warranteless-ice-arrests/) from conducting warrantless arrests at ticketed street festivals in the public right-of-way is back! This time, it’s not an emergency ordinance, which means it only needs a simple majority to pass. Wilkerson, Cathcart and Council Member Jonathan Bingle voted against it in June, so Lambdin could be the deciding vote — although Wilkerson signalled she was open to potentially passing it as a regular ordinance with more time for public input. Still, it’s too late to protect Tacos y Tequila, which was[ indefinitely postponed due to community concerns](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/28/we-just-dont-feel-like-its-safe-spokane-tacos-y-te/?ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, August 18 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* # Council Committees ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee 🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### What traffic calming project is coming to your neighborhood next? This fall, the city will select its next wave of traffic calming projects to be implemented in 2026 and 2027, and for the first time, the Transportation Commission will have a leading role in deciding which projects are sent to the city council for approval. At today’s PIES committee meeting, the council will get a presentation on what this new process will look like. Here’s a few highlights from the docs: - There’s opportunities in September and October for community involvement in the process, with a public hearing for everyone and a written comment process for neighborhood councils to share what traffic calming project is important for their neighborhood. - The list of potential projects will highlight the projects that support the [27 by 27 bike network](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) - The final vote from city council to approve the Transportation Commission’s selected projects would be on December 1. ### The tall and long of it Earlier this year, the council approved an interim zoning ordinance that got rid of height limits downtown, allowing for the construction of really tall buildings! It was created as an interim ordinance — which means it runs for six months and then must be reupped or made permanent or it’ll go away — so that the city had time to study the impacts of permanent changes to height limits as part of the City's periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan. The update of the Comp Plan is still ongoing, and the city says it needs more time to decide if the change should be permanent so the council will discuss a six-month extension to the interim period, which would expire in March of 2026\. And, because the Comp Plan update is due in December of 2026, the city thinks they’ll likely need to expand the interim period one more time after this. We’re antsy to see if that means any developers will actually start getting tall building construction underway… ### New street signs for neighborhoods The committee will discuss a resolution to approve spending $6,000 of the Safe Streets fund on buying new signage that can be placed in neighborhoods to discourage speeding. The signs show silhouettes of kids and a dog running and read, “SLOW DOWN kids and pets at play.” Signs would be distributed through the Office of Neighborhood Services but it’s unclear what the process is for deciding which neighborhoods and streets get the new signage. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 18 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) # MISC City ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Thorpe/Fish lake connection The city is working with a consulting firm to design a connection from the Fish Lake Trail down to Thorpe Road. The route would continue through the 200 foot long tunnel under the BNSF tracks, which has 9 foot lanes, a 5 foot sidewalk and no internal lighting. One design option under consideration is a push button flasher that cyclists could activate before biking through the tunnel. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 19 at 6 pm* > *City Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting%5FNWNlYjdjMDktMGYwMy00NDExLWE1ZTItN2UwYzliMGY1NzI2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2295fa1d6e-6a27-496e-9117-fc34d9076661%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8a149ab-0094-4c4e-b7e3-3633a0ca624f%22%7d&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Ombuds Commission 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Police violence testimony There was no agenda up by press time, but local people concerned about the June 11 arrests of 31 people plan to testify before the commission about police violence that day. They’re working with the Spokane chapter of the NAACP to prepare their remarks. Learn more about the meeting and filling out OPO complaints in our most recent podcast [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-protest-safety-holding-cops-accountable/). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/ombuds-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 19 at 5:30 pm* > *City Council Chambers* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed here*. # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️**🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Ballot measure could create West Plains water protection district The Spokane Valley Rathdrum Prairie aquifer — an underground stream connected to the Spokane River — provides clean water to half a million Eastern Washingtonians and North Idahoans. Its quality is maintained by those same people who pay a fee to local governments to monitor and address contamination. That arrangement — organized under a mechanism called an aquifer protection area (APA) — was renewed by 74% of the voters in the August 5 election. It covers residents of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Millwood, Liberty Lake and some parts of unincorporated Spokane County. But not everyone in Eastern Washington benefits from it. There is a separate aquifer under the West Plains that doesn’t enjoy similar protections. That water body [is contaminated](https://www.rangemedia.co/poisoning-wells-pfas-west-plains-forever-chemicals-spokane-county/) with PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals,” a family of man-made contaminants that are increasingly thought to contribute to cancers and other deadly diseases. So the county is in talks to put a ballot measure on ballots for August 6, 2026, that would create an APA for more than 18,000 West Plains plots where drinking water comes from the West Plains aquifer. It would amount to a new tax on the residents, which is not defined in the slideshow on the agenda. It and would require buy-in from any of the cities – most likely Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Cheney — covered. Potential activities the tax would pay for include: - dedicate staff from Spokane County to oversee the APA - county-led programs to monitor toxic chemicals in groundwater and surface water in Coulee, Deep, and Marshall Creeks - data management - education programs - water conservation program run by the cities > *Agenda [here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Tuesday, August 19 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed [here.](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co)* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Public Records Office shortfall The county Public Records Office, which at any given time fields oodles of requests for public information, says it’s facing a $14,476 budget shortfall. It is asking the BOCC to reduce one full-time employee in next year’s budget to 80%, which would free up the lacking money. Presentation slides say the office has already eliminated funding for professional training, travel and printing expenses, meaning cutting wages is the only way to balance its budget. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 19 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors **???/5 peppers** ### Special Board meeting This week, the STA board is having a 30-minute special meeting. A chunk of that time will be spent in executive session discussing collective bargaining, which the public cannot attend, but there will also be “potential action regarding contract renewal.” No additional information on whose contract is up in the air was included in the agenda or packet. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, August 21 at 2 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️/**5 peppers** ### Various construction projects The agenda lists several construction projects up for approval. There’s not much detail on any of them, but one of the notable projects on the docket is a sewer project related to the high-profile Transload Facility Project, a rail line that will connect West Plains vendors with the airport proper. The West Plains is a place with extremely sensitive water resources beset by flooding problems local activists have blamed on airport construction projects. The projects include: - Awarding a construction contract for an Air Cargo Facility stair replacement - Accepting Washington Department of Commerce grants for Transload Area sewer - Awarding a construction contract for a café demolition at Felt’s Field > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, August 21 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🌶️🌶️🫑/**5 peppers** ### Opioid dashboard for SpoVal After our reporting last year on [the lack of up-to-date overdose data](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-overdose-crisis-data-update/), we saw the Spokane Regional Health District’s [opioid overdose dashboard](https://countyhealthinsights.org/county/spokane/dashboard/opioid-dashboard/?ref=rangemedia.co) change to include more preliminary data. This empowered elected officials to make decisions on more recent data from the county, instead of numbers from almost two years ago. At this week’s SRHD board meeting, the board could vote to approve a new contract with Spokane Valley that would give the valley a city-specific dashboard. The contract also includes a Needs Assessment that will determine whether SRHD can track, disaggregate and model new data points, including insurance status, use of suboxone, hospitals utilized, arrests, housed/unhoused status and substance use history. This should also be helpful as SpoVal [passes local laws](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-is-looking-to-make-opioids-extra-illegal/) targeting opioid use in the city. The contract, which totals over $50,000, will be paid for using some of Spokane Valley’s opioid settlement dollars. It could be a big step in getting accurate, timely opioid data to decision-makers in the county, and could potentially be an option for Spokane city officials to look at: commissioning their own, city-specific dashboard. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 20 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *Spokane Regional Health District* > *1101 West College Avenue* # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $11M realignment, roundabout The city council is set to award an $11 million contract to Active Construction to move Pines Road to the east near the BNSF railroad tracks and construct a roundabout at Pines and Trent Avenue. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 19 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Liberty Lake may join new library group The Liberty Lake Library is asking the city council to allow it to join a new library network, after the Cooperative Information Network dissolves on September 30\. The new network is called the InlandShare Library Group. It gives member libraries access to more material across a larger geographic area, which includes the following libraries: - Coeur d’Alene Public Library - Kellogg Public Library - Liberty Lake Library - Mullan Library - Osburn Public Library - Pend Oreille County Library District - Plummer Public Library - Priest Lake Public Library - Silver Hills Library - St. Maries Public Library - Wallace High School - Wallace Public Library - West Bonner Library District > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 19 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The POD: Protest Safety 101 and holding the cops accountable for state violence at protests URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-protest-safety-holding-cops-accountable/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T21:46:13.000Z This week, Erin and Val sat down with local organizer hadley morrow to talk about their thoughts on protest safety, filing a complaint with the Office of Police Ombuds (OPO) and community organizing in Spokane. If you witnessed law enforcement violence at protests in June and want to file an OPO complaint but don’t know where to start, you can email hadley at [hello@hadley.consulting](mailto:hello@hadley.consulting) for help. PLUS: On Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 5:30 pm, the Office of Police Ombuds Commission will be meeting in the City Council Chamber. Like City Council meetings, this is a public meeting with an open forum, so you can make your voice heard! > **Further reading:** > [Where are the protesters’ phones?](https://Thisweek,ErinandValsatdownwithlocalorganizerhadleymorrowtotalkabouttheirthoughtsonprotestsafety,filingacomplaintwiththeOfficeofPoliceOmbuds%28OPO%29andcommunityorganizinginSpokane.IfyouwitnessedlawenforcementviolenceatprotestsinJuneandwanttofileanOPOcomplaintbutdon%E2%80%99tknowwheretostart,youcanemailhadleyathello@hadley.consultingforhelp.plus:ontuesday,aug.19that5:30pm,theofficeofpoliceombudscommissionwillbemeetinginthecitycouncilchamber.likecitycouncilmeetings,thisisapublicmeetingwithanopenforum.makeyourvoicesheard!furtherreading:Wherearetheprotesters%E2%80%99phones/?%E2%80%93https://rangemedia.co/protesters-phones-police-custody/EverythingweknowabouttheSpokaneICEprotests%E2%80%93https://rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) > [Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) ### Opinion: The original Complete Streets ordinance was incomplete URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/opinion-original-complete-streets-ordinance/ Last updated: 2025-08-14T19:20:34.000Z In 2020, the city began to rebuild stretches of Indian Trail Road in northwest Spokane, which had poor pavement conditions. As a resident of Indian Trail, cyclist and burgeoning infrastructure advocate, I had high hopes the project would reallocate street space according to a [2011 resolution](https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=17H.020.010&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20Complete%20Streets%20Program%20will%20improve%20street,modes.%20Date%20Passed:%20Monday%2C%20December%2019%2C%202011.) – let’s call it “Complete Streets 1.0” – that required the city to add bicycle and pedestrian facilities when doing publicly funded work on an arterial street. On paper, Indian Trail Road would seem like a good candidate for reallocation: it was a wide and dangerous arterial with a rampant speeding problem, was the only way in and out of the neighborhood, had no cycling infrastructure and even sported “center turn lanes” where there was nothing to turn into. There were no shoulders nor parking strips for much of it, so walking on its sidewalks meant tolerating drivers thundering by in their cars at 45 miles per hour mere feet from a pedestrian’s elbow. You can imagine my disappointment when the street was re-striped with precisely the exact design as it had pre-construction. Even today, it has five lanes of traffic next to houses, turn lanes to nowhere, no traffic calming to be seen, sidewalks directly next to fast traffic and no bike facilities – neither parallel to it nor on it. It feels anything but “Complete”, despite being resurfaced long after the passage of Complete Streets 1.0\. The city’s dereliction of its duty to provide safe infrastructure via this project is what spurred me to become more seriously involved in transportation advocacy — a path that has since included writing for RANGE. If you’re wondering how Indian Trail Road was re-striped with no changes, one can only assume the project fell victim to one of the exemptions carved out in Complete Streets 1.0, which have been liberally used by the city in the past 14 years. The simplest one to use was an arbitrary assessment of the cost of accommodating those outside a vehicle compared to the value of the usage (as if there’s a scientific method of determining the monetary value of cyclist and pedestrian safety). I’m sure that was never used to weasel out of doing the hard and necessary work to make safety the *true* number one priority! Additionally, the original resolution called for the “mayor’s design advisory committee” to review exemptions to keep the city accountable to its own stated goal of “safe, convenient, and comfortable routes for walking, bicycling, and public transportation.” To my knowledge, that committee has never existed. The usage of these exemptions in projects across the city has undoubtedly cost us lives. Fortunately, on August 6, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown signed into law what’s become colloquially known as “[Complete Streets 2.0.](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/transportation-commission/presentations/2025/05/21/complete-streets-plan-ordinance.pdf)” The rewrite was spearheaded by Director of Transportation and Sustainability, Jon Snyder, who also spearheaded the 2011 version during his term as a city council member, alongside then-advocates and now-council members Kitty Klitzke and Paul Dillon. The resolution eliminates several of the exemptions found in its predecessor – including the arbitrary cost one – and requires the city to abide by industry standards for [street](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [bike facility](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/?ref=rangemedia.co) design. It also ensures Transportation Commission – a real, existing board\* created by the Brown administration – reviews projects seeking exemptions. The science is clear: [complete streets are safer for everyone](https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/resources/evaluating-complete-streets-projects-a-guide-for-practitioners/?ref=rangemedia.co), whether one is traveling by foot or bike or motorcycle or bus or car. I am optimistic this new law will improve safety for us all. *\*As a member of Transportation Commission, I voted to support Complete Streets 2.0, and was proud to stand by the mayor as she signed it into law.* ### Spokane's Spiciest Candidate Forum URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokanes-spiciest-candidate-forum/ Last updated: 2025-08-14T15:39:00.000Z For the last few months, we’ve been cooking up something *hot*…a live candidate forum for those who like their local politics with a bit of spice. At RANGE, we believe engagement in local politics should be accessible to voters. We want to remove barriers standing between you and being an informed community member and voter — whether that’s by demystifying complicated policies or making civic engagement feel fun. We do this because we believe everyone should have the tools to hold politicians’ feet to the fire, wherever they fall on the political spectrum. But we’ve been thinking about it, and politicians have more body parts than just feet. That’s why, *this* election season 🌶️🌶️🌶️We’ll be holding their mouths to the fire as well. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ We’re inviting you to come along. Join us on Sunday, September 7 from 5 to 8:30 pm for **Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum**, where candidates running for Spokane City Council races will join RANGE reporter Erin Sellers onstage at [The Guardian](https://www.theguardianspokane.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) to answer increasingly spicy questions while eating increasingly spicy food cooked by Chef Tony Brown - the mind behind Ruins and some of Spokane’s best restaurants of the last 15 years. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ad_4nxdmsgm_jjr6i994pzml9hue841mppymvjtua6olxk6wwdjpd23mkidy4-vzusizntsot30sbb-6itkcsqbqbfiag-ayvsdog4qzjdyq3cf709cbs0j8caqkqgmfx62hsz7pw1sakeyn3nt6edton9ky1zajquwja.png) *Caption:* Artist’s depiction of the event planning We’ll start the evening off with an Eat-and-Greet, where you can mix and mingle with the candidates to ask spicy questions of your own, and test your own spice tolerance with appetizers by Chef Brown. Then, we’ll put candidates in the Hot Seats. They’ll join City Hall reporter Erin Sellers onstage and go head-to-head with their district opponent, answering increasingly spicy questions about their campaigns and their big plans for Spokane all while enjoying (but not too much) increasingly spicy bites designed by Brown — no relation to our current mayor. Join us next month for some of the sweatiest democracy you’ll ever see, and don’t forget — civic engagement is hot, and if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the candidacy! Tickets are available on a sliding scale ranging from completely free for those experiencing economic hardship to $30, with an optional food add-on if you want to try apps! We want to keep all our election content to be as accessible as possible so everyone can be an informed voter, but transparently, we’ve also got food and venue rental costs to cover here, so: pick the price that feels doable for you, and if you’ve got extra in your pocket this month, you can take a $30 ticket to cover costs for someone who needed a free ticket! Get em now 👇 [Click here to buy tickets](https://www.tickettailor.com/all-tickets/rangemedia/?ref=website%5Fwidget&show%5Fsearch%5Ffilter=true&show%5Fdate%5Ffilter=true&show%5Fsort=true) [Sell tickets online with Ticket Tailor](https://www.tickettailor.com/?rf=wdg%5F262279&ref=rangemedia.co) Questions? Shoot us an email at [erin@rangemedia.co](mailto:erin@rangemedia.co). ### Local workers for city projects: Proposed ordinance would support local labor URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/local-workers-proposed-ordinance-support-local-labor/ Last updated: 2025-08-13T21:18:52.000Z The “Public Dollars for Public Benefit Ordinance,” which is expected to increase the safety and opportunities for local workers, awaits a vote from Spokane City Council on August 25. If passed, the ordinance, called a community workforce agreement, would ensure that taxpayer dollars for city projects benefit local laborers while prioritizing the hiring of workers from distressed zip codes and minority identities, including women and people of color. The ordinance was introduced by city council member Paul Dillon and council member Zack Zappone last month and created in collaboration with [Spokane Alliance](https://www.spokanealliance.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a nonprofit coalition of churches, unions and community groups focused on promoting Spokane’s “common good,” according to its website. As an organizer with local union Laborers Local 238 and member of the Spokane Alliance’s jobs team, Steve Winkler collaborated on the creation of the ordinance to benefit fellow Spokanites by bringing and keeping tax dollars in the community. “The best way to benefit a community is to take your tax dollars, put them to work with our local residents, and then those local residents go back and spend that money throughout our communities,” Winkler said. Winkler said he’s seen a trend in out-of-state contractors paying the lowest wage rate and not always paying for each job classification. Winkler explained that contractors are required to pay employees different rates for different jobs depending on the necessary qualifications. Someone laboring with a shovel will earn less than someone operating heavy machinery, who will earn less than a licensed electrician. Every job has a different associated wage, and Winkler said he’s seen as many as 13 different wages within a single project. Contractors often hire laborers at the general rate and then use them to handle heavy machinery for a few hours – a job with a higher associated wage – before putting that employee back on a more basic job. Rather than paying the employee different rates for the different job classifications worked, Winkler said contractors pay the workers the standard, lowest rate. With many laborers coming from Idaho or Utah, where the prevailing wages are lower, Winkler said workers may often feel lucky to receive a higher wage in Washington without realizing the dollars they’re being cheated out of. While these differences in wages between job classifications may only result in a loss of a few dollars per employee, when you add up the total number of employees and their total number of hours involved in an individual project, Winkler said single jobs can amount to more than $60,000 of wage theft going to contractors’ pockets rather than Spokane workers. Reverend Bob Feeny, pastor of Westminster United Church of Christ and a member of Spokane Alliance, said this ordinance further expresses his values of equity and justice by ensuring that those who support and build Spokane can afford to stay in the city. “One of the main things that I feel called to as a person of faith is being a good neighbor, and part of that is loving the place where we are, and part of that is loving the people that are an expression of that place,” Feeny said. According to Dillon, the Spokane Alliance, in collaboration with city council members, designed a community workforce agreement best suited to Spokane’s needs using outreach and community conversations while analyzing the extensive precedent set through similar community workforce agreements implemented across the nation. “\[The ordinance\] is ensuring the city of Spokane protects public interest by ensuring that there is a social and economic justice framework for these policies,” Dillon said. The community workforce agreement will identify workers with the most needs – such as people from low-income neighborhoods, veterans and formerly incarcerated people – and create pathways for apprenticeships that grant them access to good-paying jobs, healthcare benefits and a pension. The ordinance will include a project labor agreement for city projects over $5 million, in which the city collaborates with unions to set standards for working conditions, wages and safety requirements. The ordinance also works to address declining numbers of trade workers as tradespeople retire out of these positions without apprentices filling their shoes. By creating bridges to good paying jobs for Spokane workers, Winkler said the community workforce agreement will create more consistent trade membership numbers. Feeny said not only will the community workforce agreement directly improve the livelihood of workers, but it will further benefit the broader community as more individuals supporting themselves will alleviate strain on city services, calling it “a win, win, win.” Despite widespread support for the community workforce agreement across Spokane groups, opponents of the ordinance express concern that it would raise prices. The Inland Northwest Chapter of the Associated General Contractors claimed the community workforce agreement would result in a reduced number of qualified bidders, raising job costs as a result, while also placing a financial burden on the city to track and enforce the new standards. “This ordinance sounds good in theory - but in practice, it’s an administrative nightmare,” said Cheryl Stewart, Executive Director of the Inland Northwest Associated General Contractors in a press release. “It adds a burdensome new layer of bureaucracy that will reduce competition, drive up costs, and exclude local contractors and workers from the projects they’ve helped build for decades.” According to Winkler, data from independent research across the nation on community workforce agreements has shown that having measures that ensure a steady and trained workforce, while minimizing strikes and job extensions, can save an average of 4% at the end of the project. Feeny added that concern for profits comes less from everyday citizens and more from contractors profiting off the original standards. “I’m yet to hear what, to me, feels like a genuine concern \[with the ordinance\] about something other than profit \[for contractors\],” Feeny said. Also speaking to the broad range of collaborators involved in the community workforce agreement, Feeny said he found hope from working with unions and other partners who hold very different perspectives and life experiences than himself, especially given the heightened division of our current political context. “It’s cool to work together with people that are doing something different toward a common goal, because we don’t all come to it with exactly the same reasons and rationale or understanding of the world, but we come together and we can sort of find these things that we all agree on,” Feeny said. “That feels really encouraging because we don’t see a lot of that in our national politics.” Despite the concern of some contractors, Dillon said this ordinance furthers his mission to center everyday Spokane residents and prioritize their well-being. “When I ran for office, my big theme was people over politics,” Dillon said. “For me, this ordinance is fulfilling that promise, because at the end of the day, I’m fighting for working families, for trying to create people-powered policy.” *Editor's Note: This story has been edited to correct the bill's sponsors.* ### Lawyer for Christian nationalist evangelist named US attorney for Eastern WA URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/pete-serrano-sean-feucht-us-attorney-eastern-wa-christian-nationalist-spokane-9/ Last updated: 2025-08-13T15:28:57.000Z Pete Serrano, the conservative former mayor of Pasco and 2024 Republican candidate for Washington attorney general, moved to Spokane this week to take over the US attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Washington. Serrano previously represented Sean Feucht, an anti-queer worship pastor, in a damages lawsuit against Spokane. He stepped down as mayor of Pasco to take the job. The Eastern District of Washington is a part of the Federal District Court system, [covering the 20 counties](https://www.waed.uscourts.gov/about-us?ref=rangemedia.co) that lie east of the Cascades. As US Attorney, [Serrano will lead a team](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/meet-us-attorney?ref=rangemedia.co) of nearly 80 “prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel” and will supervise “the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters ... in which the United States has an interest.” Different districts across the country tend to specialize in different things — the Southern District of New York does a high number of financial and regulatory crimes because the district includes Wall Street, for example. But in general, Serrano’s office will take point on federal crimes committed in the region, like drug trafficking, human trafficking, interstate fraud, counterfeiting and child sex offenses. Serrano will also oversee the prominent [federal cases](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ice-protesters-plead-not-guilty/) brought last month against local activists who protested immigrant arrests in June. Last month, Serrano’s predecessor Stephanie Van Marter brought federal felony charges against nine people who had protested outside Spokane’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices. They had blocked an ICE van that officers were going to use to bring two immigrants they’d arrested to a federal facility in Tacoma for deportation. The men were in the US legally seeking asylum and awaiting court proceedings. RANGE reached out to Serrano on his cell phone and through Robert Curry, the spokesperson for the Eastern District, but Curry said Serrano would not be available for interviews before press time. Serrano declined to comment on the federal cases against the protesters. He will be the third person to serve in the office since Vanessa Waldref resigned in February. The first interim US attorney this year was Richard Barker, and the second was Van Marter, who started on July 7 and filled the role for less than one month. Unlike Barker and Van Marter, though, Serrano was advanced by the Trump Administration to assume the role permanently. That will require confirmation in the Senate, which should happen within 120 days of his appointment. During his bid for state attorney general last year, Serrano opposed gun control and abortion rights. He also made headlines in [a debate](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/09/19/brown-and-serrano-clash-in-back-to-back-ag-debates/?ref=rangemedia.co) with rival and eventual victor Nick Brown when he called people in prison for attacking the US Capitol and assaulting police officers on January 6, 2021, “political prisoners.” Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Serrano on August 6, according to a press release on the office’s website, and he was sworn in Monday, Curry said. Serrano spoke briefly with a few reporters late last week, [telling](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article%5F324171cc-b764-4e3c-b883-499f7e727d27.html?ref=rangemedia.co) *The Center Square*, “I had different folks reach out to suggest that I'd be good for it, and I talked to my wife and said, ‘Hey, I think it's a great opportunity to serve at least half of the state.’ So I put my name in the hat.” Serrano left Pasco’s mayoral office and his position as director and general counsel for the Silent Majority Foundation (SMF), a conservative nonprofit that wants to “halt and rein in government overreach,” according to its website. The SMF has unsuccessfully challenged Washington’s ban on gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, which are [often used](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/vpc-org/fact%5Fsht/vpcshootinglist.pdf) in mass shootings because they increase a gun’s potential to kill. Serrano told *The Center Square* he expects the gun lawsuit to come before the US Supreme Court, which the gun shop at the center of the suit [requested](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/08/wa-gun-shop-asks-us-supreme-court-to-review-high-capacity-magazine-ban/?ref=rangemedia.co) this month. He is no longer involved in that litigation. ### Serrano in Spokane Serrano has some history with Spokane. Working under the auspices of the SMF [he represented](https://www.rangemedia.co/sean-feucht-spokane-lawsuit/) the anti-queer Christian worship pastor Feucht in a $2 million lawsuit against the city after the council denounced former Mayor Nadine Woodward for appearing at Feucht’s 2023 “Let Us Worship” concert. The denouncement focused on a moment during the concert during which far-right Spokane pastor and former Republican state congressperson Matt Shea [laid hands](https://www.rangemedia.co/nadine-woodward-spokane-matt-shea-christian-nationalist/) on Woodward, praying for her. Just before he did this, Shea compared the Gray Fire, which was burning down parts of Medical Lake that day and had killed a person, to same-sex marriage. Feucht is a peripheral character in the denouncement, but he maintained that the council was coming directly after him. At the time, Serrano agreed. “It’s very clear that the city council took a stand against Sean,” Serrano told RANGE in 2024, just after Feucht announced the lawsuit during a local church service. “You have a municipality saying you can’t do these specific things in this way. … It’s pretty clear that it’s an attack against the individual.” When he took the US attorney job, Serrano handed the Feucht case to another SMF attorney. Last August, Serrano joined right-wing video journalist Jonathan Choe on the streets of Spokane to interview unhoused people about living on the streets and about the fentanyl crisis. The people they interviewed told them they lacked consistent access to housing resources and said it was easier to find drugs than safety in Spokane. Choe used the reporting to attack local media coverage of the overlapping homelessness and fentanyl crises, [saying on Twitter](https://x.com/choeshow/status/1838303310157427197?ref=rangemedia.co), “Left-wing corporate media members in this city are too compromised or weak to show the truth.” ([RANGE](https://rangemedia.co/housing/?ref=rangemedia.co), [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/09/how-fentanyls-despair-ravages-the-streets-of-spoka/?ref=rangemedia.co),[*The Inlander*](https://www.inlander.com/news/we-spent-a-weekend-at-spokanes-most-notorious-intersection-heres-what-we-saw-26478586?ref=rangemedia.co) and local TV stations have consistently provided daily and long-term coverage of the housing and fentanyl crises in Spokane for years.) The report had the effect of a glowing campaign ad for Serrano’s AG bid. In the footage, Serrano is seen in an eggshell button-up, with sleeves rolled roughly a quarter way up his forearms, gladhanding unhoused people and asking them about the brutal physical injuries that sometimes accompany homelessness. “You know, it’s interesting,” Serrano mused to Choe as they strolled at night along a downtown street. “People talk about ‘Seattle this, Seattle that,’ but Spokane obviously has its issues, too, and what I’m hearing is that they’re not being heard.” In an interview after they’d walked the streets, Choe asked Serrano about the role of drugs in homelessness. “Just about everyone told us the reason they’re out here is because of drugs,” Serrano replied, but Choe did not include any footage in his report of unhoused people saying drugs were the reason they were on the streets. Though homelessness can cause or worsen drug addiction, the National Coalition for the Homeless says the [primary causes](https://nationalhomeless.org/homelessness-in-the-us/?ref=rangemedia.co) of homelessness are expensive housing and poverty. When Serrano was announced as the US Attorney last week, Choe reupped the footage, [tweeting](https://x.com/choeshow/status/1953634711143911729?ref=rangemedia.co): “I went into Spokane's drug dens with Serrano last year. The guy is fearless but also compassionate. Huge win for the state.” And while drug use and homelessness was one focus of his run for Washington State Attorney General, Serrano’s new job will likely not overlap with small-scale drug crimes, homelessness or fighting legal battles in the culture war. Despite that, the former mayor is seen by some — at least on social media — as a bulwark against perceived leftism in the local government. An account called Spokane Zionists for Israel [replied](https://x.com/SpokaneZionists/status/1953660808283754774?ref=rangemedia.co) to Choe’s tweet: “He’s going to be fighting the city hall progressives.” In an emailed statement written by spokesperson Curry, Serrano didn’t distance himself from this notion. “Drug trafficking and the associated crimes are a critical focus of this Office,” Curry wrote. “Mr. Serrano will continue the office’s and the administration’s heightened efforts to protect the people of the district through prosecution of these issues.” ### CVSD looks to sue WA superintendent’s office over gender inclusive policy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/ Last updated: 2025-08-11T18:32:30.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can get involved and speak out about the issues you care about. Some things that stick out to us this week include: - The Spokane NAACP chapter and local advocates are teaming up to help you file reports to the Office of Police Ombuds if you saw or experienced police violence during the June protests. - Central Valley School District board is looking to sign on to a lawsuit against the state, alleging that the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction didn’t follow proper procedure when developing Gender Inclusive Schools policy. - Spokane Valley is set to approve a $500,000 contract to remodel its police precinct as part of a broader project to expand police in the city. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - Board of County Commissioners - [Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) and [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) Session - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/cvsd-looks-to-sue-wa-superintendents-office-over-gender-inclusive-policy/) # Office of Police Ombuds Clinic Did you see law enforcement violence at one of the protests in June? If you haven’t yet filed a report to the Office of the Police Ombuds, a group of local advocates are hosting a clinic this Tuesday at The Hive from 3:30 to 6:30 pm to help you with your report. The event is in partnership between the local NAACP chapter’s Adult and Youth and College branches, AnarHealing Consulting and Spokane Organized Response Network. > *Tuesday, August 12 from 3:30 to 6:30 pm* > *The Hive* > *2904 E. Sprague Ave* # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **0/5 peppers** Canceled ### Next week’s sneak peek: We’re back from vacation, but Spokane City Council isn’t. Catch them next week when they have a packed agenda full of first reads of legislation to: - Establish a permit fee deferral for new affordable housing construction - Revive the ordinance to ban ICE from conducting warrantless arrests at ticketed street festivals in the public right-of-way - Begin creation of the city’s own emergency communications dispatch center, since Spokane Regional Emergency Communications gave them the boot - Develop a community workforce agreement, more details on that to come in a story this week! > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, Aug 18 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## MISC City ## Spokane Plan Commission 🫑/5 peppers There’s nothing super interesting on this agenda, but if you’re a city planning wonk, it’s always worth sitting in so you can find out more deets on things like the Hillyard Subarea Plan. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, August 13 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) # Spokane County ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Fed funding for 4 road projects The county plans to complete four road construction projects in 2027 and 2028 using $5.5 million in funding from the Federal Highway Administration. The projects include completing a roundabout at the intersection of Harvard and Euclid roads; repaving Aero Road between Westbow and Thomas Mallon roads, and Staley Road from US Highway 395 to Dalton Road; and widening and realigning Craig Road to eliminate the offset T junction at Thorpe Road. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 12 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Board appointments The BOCC is set to appoint the following people to county boards: - John (Andy) Hoye as the District 2 representative on the Solid Waste Advisory Committee - Ryan Sims to the Spokane County Accessible Community/Elections Advisory Committee. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 12 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council ??/5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, August 14 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️/5 peppers ### Hearing for Shoreline Master Program amendment The state Department of Ecology requires local governments to keep their management programs for shorelines updated according to evolving state law, and Spokane County’s changes are up for approval. The agenda item does not go into specifics about the nature of proposed amendments, but Ecology and the Planning Commission will host a public hearing on them at the commission’s regular meeting. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, August 14 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board 🌶️/5 peppers ### Various construction projects The agenda lists several construction projects up for approval. There’s not much detail on any of them, but one of the notable projects on the docket is a sewer project related to the high-profile Transload Facility Project, a rail line that will connect West Plains vendors with the airport proper. The West Plains is a place with extremely sensitive water resources beset by flooding problems local activists have blamed on airport construction projects. The projects include: - Awarding a construction contract for an Air Cargo Facility stair replacement - Accepting Washington Department of Commerce grants for Transload Area sewer - Awarding a construction contract for a café demolition at Felt’s Field > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Wednesday, August 13 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️/5 peppers ### Work sesh Tonight’s Mead School Board of Directors meeting is just a work session for the board members, with no public comment time available. Towards the end of the meeting, they will be discussing their board goals for the 2025-2026 school year, which could be an interesting indicator of things to come. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 11 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers ### Gearing up to sue the state Central Valley School Board has drafted both a resolution condemning the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and a letter signaling their intent to join the Lynden School District in suing the OSPI for what they characterize as a policy failure. That policy failure? Drafting the model Gender-Inclusive Schools policy — which prohibits schools from discriminating against students based on their gender — without a notice to the public, a chance for comment or “a clear legal standard,” all of which are required by the state’s [Administrative Procedure Act](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=34.05&ref=rangemedia.co). However, a line in the CVSD agenda description that reads “Mandating model policy adoption without local flexibility is unworkable and contrary to Washington law,” seems to point to what they see as the larger issue — not the lack of community engagement, but an inflexibility which doesn’t allow individual school districts across the state to choose to discriminate against trans kids. In order for the lawsuit to go forward, a minimum of 15 school districts would have to sign on. If the suit does move forward, CVSD is committed to spending up to $10,000 previously budgeted for potential litigation. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, August 11 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors /5 peppers Nothing crazy in the SPSD meeting, but the district is holding its annual board retreat earlier in the day to discuss goal development, the “attributes of high-performing schools, school visit protocol and other topics.. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, August 13 at 12:30 pm (Special Meeting) and 6 pm (regular meeting)* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Other Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $500k for precinct remodel Spokane Valley — a city whose constituents are generally averse to taxes and government spending — has been going gangbusters pouring resources into its police force, which is contracted to the Spokane County Sheriff. In the last two years, it has hired 10 new dedicated officers, and the council formally established “public safety” as its highest priority — meaning they wanted more police. As part of this effort, the city council is set to approve a $511,005 contract with the Spokane contractor Leone & Keeble to remodel its police precinct. The remodel may include the following improvements, as listed in the [agenda sheet](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=613&meta%5Fid=100589&ref=rangemedia.co): - moving the existing forensics team and their office furniture to the storage area between IT and the Public Service Support/Reception area - repurposing of certain office space in the current traffic area and forensics area for the Spokane Valley Investigative Unit (SVIU) - modifying the current SVIU area to house patrol, which includes constructing sufficient offices for the four Patrol Lieutenants and obtaining appropriately sized workstations for patrol Sergeants - modifying the current patrol area to house traffic - modifying the men’s locker room by removing about 40 extra lockers that are not necessary and relocating them to the women’s locker room which has insufficient number of lockers - creating a new secure storage area within the “lean-to” addition in the rear of the site for drones and other police equipment currently stored within the precinct building but will be converted to areas for offices and workstations > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, August 12 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### For and by Christians: How Idaho’s influential Christian Nationalist group wants to reshape the state URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/idahos-christian-nationalist-group-reshape-state/ Last updated: 2025-08-05T17:00:00.000Z ***This story was originally published by*** ***[InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)***. *A Report for America corps member, Daniel Walters covers democracy and extremism across the region. He can be reached at daniel@investigatewest.org. This story was originally published by [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their [Watchdog Weekly ](https://www.investigatewest.org/pnw/NewsletterSubscription/Page?ref=rangemedia.co)newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.* In the future that the Idaho Family Policy Center envisions, every public school classroom in the state would begin the day with teachers reading from the King James Bible. Verse by verse, over 10 years of school, children would hear their teachers recite the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and the repeated exhortations that Jesus Christ is God. Students who didn’t want to listen would have to bring a note from their parents. The policy center’s attempt to make that vision a reality — a bill [introduced this year](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/legislature-idaho-gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/h0162.pdf) in the state Legislature — failed to get traction. But the policy center’s president, Blaine Conzatti, is playing the long game. “It usually takes us two to three years to get a bill through,” Conzatti said. “We're going to introduce it again next year, and I am confident and optimistic in the chances of success.” After all, his organization has swiftly become the largest conservative policy organization in the state, having a hand in successfully pushing some of Idaho’s most controversial bills in recent years, including laws restricting access to abortion, puberty blockers and controversial library books. The U.S. Supreme Court has considered mandatory Bible reading laws to be [unconstitutional](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1962/142?ref=rangemedia.co) for the last six decades. But after a series of [recent rulings](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-supremecourt-gov/opinions/2/21-418%5Fi425.pdf), an emboldened movement of Christian nationalists — conservatives who want to use government to elevate their religion over other faiths — hope the constitutional walls dividing church and state are poised to come tumbling down. The Idaho Family Policy Center is part of a national network of like-minded groups. It’s closely aligned with Doug Wilson, an incendiary Idaho pastor whose theocratic gospel has earned fame and condemnation. And now, it has allies in the White House. President Donald Trump's Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, attends church in Wilson’s denomination and headlined an Idaho Family Policy Center [event](https://web.charityengine.net/Default.aspx?webFormFriendlyUrlToken=/PeteHegsethGalaRegistration&ref=rangemedia.co) in March of last year. That’s where the policy center announced it was opening up another front: a law firm that will not only defend Christians for free, but also sue to enforce the laws that Conzatti wrote. The legal center is launching this summer. “This will be the first conservative Christian public interest law firm in the state of Idaho,” Conzatti said. The policy center’s growing influence over Idaho lawmakers alarms Liz Yates, a program manager at the Western States Center, a nonprofit that tracks extremism. Yates said the organization’s goals are ultimately “anti-democratic." “They are trying to install a theocracy in which the authority of government comes not from the people, but from the Bible,” Yates said. “And people who don't subscribe to that form of Christianity are the ones who are excluded." Conzatti has sometimes bristled at labels like “Christian nationalism” and “theocracy,” wanting to distinguish his beliefs from white nationalists and Iranian ayatollahs. Conzatti stressed that he would never “force someone to worship contrary to their conscience,” but pressed by InvestigateWest, he acknowledged that his perfect Idaho would allow only Christians to serve in public office. “The people of Idaho are a Christian people,” Conzatti said. “They want a Christian constitution.” Not all Idaho Christians are on board. "You don't see Jesus going around imposing by law that people of other faiths listen to his scriptures," said Ben Cremer, a progressive former Boise pastor. "That is theologically and morally repugnant to me. " He sees Jesus as a "revolutionary political" leader, but attributes the faith’s historical growth to its "radical love for the poor and marginalized,” not chasing political power. “Every time the church crawls into bed with the empire, persecution of non-believers and the most vulnerable always happens," Cremer said. And Planned Parenthood lobbyist Mistie DelliCarpini-Tolman, who has four children and has been with her wife for eight years, said that Conzatti’s policies have her fearing for transgender members of her own family. In the wake of conservative wins on abortion in the state, she said the right has trained its focus on gay and trans communities — and lately, some have been making exit plans to leave the state if things get much worse. “We're trying to live our lives,” she said. “They're using LGBTQ Idahoan's lives in order to get their political wins … and the harm that I've seen in the past two years is like nothing I've seen." #### **‘Deus Vult’** As Trump entered his second term, a slew of figures with a Christian nationalist worldview have taken power. U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, third in line for the presidency, is a former lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom, a national Christian law firm and policy center partner that has scored numerous conservative wins at the U.S. Supreme Court. He flies an “Appeal to Heaven” [flag](https://apnews.com/article/alito-supreme-court-flags-history-symbol-protest-a5415aeba90e21a86a50f8489fc54b7a?ref=rangemedia.co) outside his office, a Revolutionary War-era symbol that has been frequently tied to Christian nationalism. Hegseth, the secretary of defense, has "[Deus Vult](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/pete-hegseth-tattoo-arabic-language?ref=rangemedia.co)" — a Crusader battle cry meaning "God wills it" — tattooed on his bicep and has accused public schools of implementing an “egalitarian, dystopian LGBT nightmare.” But even with more allies in Congress and the White House, Conzatti still believes the best path to transform government is at the state level. “D.C. is broken,” Conzatti said. “I am focused exclusively on state policy reform. And there, I think, we're making headway.” Cheering on those efforts is Moscow, Idaho, pastor Doug Wilson, whose book “Mere Christendom” outlines his vision for state-focused Christian nationalism. He is, the website promoting his books [brags](https://christislord.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), the “most hated pastor in America." He revels in sprinkling provocation and [profanity](https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/that-lutheran-jezebel-lady.html?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=So%20let%20me%20tell%20you%20what%20this%20symbolism%20really%20means.%20This%20is%20what%20they%20are%20saying.%20They%20are%20shamelessly%20declaring%20to%20the%20world%20that%20they%20are%20just%20a%20couple%20of%20cunts.) in between intricate theological analysis and debate. He led [protests](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/10/christ-church-idaho-covid-coronavirus?ref=rangemedia.co) to defy the city of Moscow’s pandemic masking mandates. His writings have derided feminists as "[harpies and crones](https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/smash-the-complementarity.html?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=fool%20being%20flattered.-,So%20feminism%20%E2%80%94%20smash%20the%20patriarchy%20feminism%20%E2%80%94%20wants%20us%20to%20be%20ruled%20by%20harridans%2C%20termagants%2C%20harpies%20and%20crones.,-That%20sets%20the)" and "small-breasted biddies,” argued that giving women the right to vote ultimately [harmed families](https://julieroys.com/doug-wilson-believes-giving-women-right-vote-has-hurt-families/?ref=rangemedia.co), and declared that Christians who owned slaves in the South “were on [firm scriptural ground](https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabiti-anyabwile/doug-wilsons-views-on-race-racism-slavery-and-the-bible/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=In%20Wilson%E2%80%99s%20view%2C%20the%20South%20should%20have%20been%20sufficiently%20%E2%80%9CChristian%E2%80%9D%20to%20practice%20slavery%20as%20the%20Bible%20regulates%20it).” That hasn’t stopped him from becoming a [superstar](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/1250567495/extremely-american-trailer-onward-christian-soldiers?ref=rangemedia.co) within the world of Christian nationalism. Wilson has a podcast with millions of listeners. He helped found the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches denomination, a sprawling private school network and a Christian publishing house. And he’s played a crucial role in shaping the policy center. While Conzatti stressed that Wilson has no formal governing role with the policy center, Wilson’s fingerprints are everywhere. Nearly two-thirds of the policy center’s board have clear connections to Wilson. There’s Toby Sumpter who was Wilson's assistant pastor; Jason Elmore, a parish elder at Wilson's church, and Israel Waitman who sits on the board of the New Saint Andrews, the Christian college Wilson founded. Wilson is also Conzatti’s personal friend, giving him strategic advice and fundraising help, and has been a guest speaker at the policy center’s Biblical Activism Bootcamp. “Doug's given us a lot of support over the years,” Conzatti said. Conzatti, raised in an "agnostic, progressive Seattle family,” converted to Christianity at 19, eventually finding his way to attending a Meridian church that is part of the denomination Wilson co-founded. He [attended law school](https://www.linkedin.com/in/blaineconzatti/?ref=rangemedia.co) at Virginia’s Liberty University, one of the most conservative colleges in the nation. That’s not to say Conzatti agrees with Wilson on everything, but their shared vision for “Christendom” has them fighting side by side. They don’t just want to save souls — they want to convert nations. Christian nationalists, Wilson said, are “one more radical step up” from earlier waves of conservative Christians trying to influence politics. They reject the notion that government can be secular. It has to choose — either fully accept or fully reject God. Wilson doesn’t just want the government to ban abortion, he told InvestigateWest. He wants the government to do it because they “don't want to make God angry.” He told Politico he wants to destigmatize the notion of [theocracy](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/23/doug-wilson-new-right-pastor-hegseth-trump-officials-00355376?ref=rangemedia.co), arguing that at its founding America had a weaker federal government that gave states a long leash to establish a state religion as they see fit. Conzatti rejects the “theocracy” label, but echoes Wilson’s goal. “Our Founding Fathers didn't like [democracy](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/devolving-into-a-democracy-whats-behind-the-washington-gops-messy-inconsistent-stand-against-american-democracy-17706620?ref=rangemedia.co),” Conzatti said on a 2022 podcast. “Some of them called it demonic and satanic, because it so often degenerates into mob rule.” Instead, Wilson and Conzatti argue that biblical law was the bedrock of America, and that the country has suffered for abandoning it. That origin story is disputed by many historians, as well as Christians like Cremer, who argues Christian nationalists “take a revisionist approach to both Christian history and American history” but don’t understand either. In Wilson’s version of history, the aftermath of the Civil War was a tragedy because it led to an expansion of federal power at the expense of the states. “Had I been alive at that time, I would have fought for the South,” Wilson told InvestigateWest. After all, the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment after the Civil War paved the way for courts to conclude that constitutional provisions like the First Amendment and a ban on “religious tests” to hold public office apply to the states. That led to two 1960s court decisions banning school-mandated prayer and Bible reading, which Conzatti blames for everything from a spike in violent crime to a surge in teen pregnancies. Wilson and Conzatti’s long-term vision for the future would reverse all that and allow states to not just establish an official religion, but to once again bar non-Christians from running for office at all. Imposing a religious test would have a sweeping impact on Idaho’s Legislature. Roughly a third of Idaho’s 105 legislators are Mormon. While Conzatti says “we share so many values with our Mormon friends,” he also considers the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be “outside the boundaries of historic Christianity.” “Religious tests would be a good thing to return to, but we're a long ways away from that,” said Conzatti. But for now, there are other ways Conzatti sees of elevating his faith. Speaking from the pulpit at Mountain Heights Calvary Chapel in April, Conzatti [assured the crowd](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwgREFHZiyc&ref=rangemedia.co) that the policy center’s Bible bill "was crafted in such a way that it would not allow the Quran or the Book of Mormon or other religious texts to be taught in schools.” #### **Bounty hunters** As the Idaho Family Policy Center has pushed through some of Idaho’s most controversial laws, Conzatti said it has experienced “explosive growth.” Four years ago, Conzatti was the policy center’s only paid employee. The organization is now planning to grow its staff to 14 people by the end of this year, surpassing the size of other players like the libertarian-leaning Idaho Freedom Foundation. When legislative strategist Amy Dundon joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho in 2023, she quickly noticed that the Freedom Foundation didn’t seem like the most powerful mover in the legislature. “Instead, it really was this Family Policy Center,” Dundon said. The policy center and Conzatti claim they are committed to religious liberty, but are open about their desire to put Christianity above every other religion. “It's religious supremacy,” Dundon said. “That's very different.” At the heart of the policy center's strategy is its in-house legislative shop that seeks to influence every stage of the lawmaking process. They conduct legal research. They draft the bills. They train legislators to carry those bills. And then they rally supporters to lobby for their passage. “Oftentimes we're actually listed as a sponsor,” Conzatti said. The policy center is also partnered with a movement of social conservative advocacy organizations pushing a similar strategy across the country, including the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and Alliance Defending Freedom. Dundon describes it as a sophisticated "shadow network" working in tandem to carry out a shared vision of chipping away at the separation of church and state. Alliance Defending Freedom has repeatedly represented the Idaho Attorney General’s Office for free, including in the state’s efforts to defend a policy center-written law restricting transgender children from using their preferred bathrooms. That same organization also teed up the biggest win for conservative Christians in recent history: Alliance Defending Freedom [authored](https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/alliance-defending-freedom-dobbs/?ref=rangemedia.co) a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks, allowing the Supreme Court’s new conservative supermajority to take a swing at the issue. It worked. In June 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, [handing Congress and individual states](https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0?ref=rangemedia.co) control of abortion laws. The Dobbs decision was a [product of decades of work](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/03/us/conservative-legal-movement-roe-v-wade.html?ref=rangemedia.co) by the conservative legal movement. For activists like Conzatti, it was only the start: After Dobbs, he [lamented](https://idahofamily.org/roe-v-wade-is-dead-whats-next/?ref=rangemedia.co) on the policy center’s website that Idaho’s anti-abortion laws still leave “large exceptions for rape and incest, and its penalties are not commensurate with the crime being committed.” Even before the Dobbs decision, the policy center had launched its own gambit to limit abortions in the state. Riffing off a similar bill in Texas, the policy center successfully lobbied for the 2022 passage of what it called [the “heartbeat bill.”](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/legislature-idaho-gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2022/legislation/s1309.pdf) According to the law, if a woman in Idaho gets an abortion after the fetus has shown signs of cardiac activity **—** often around six weeks **—** family members of the aborted fetus as distant as aunts or uncles can now sue the abortion provider for at least $20,000 in damages. Gov. Brad Little signed the bill reluctantly, citing in a statement the possibility that “states hostile to the First and Second Amendments” could use the [same tactic](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/25/us/california-gun-control-law.html?ref=rangemedia.co) “to target our religious freedoms and right to bear arms.” The strategy has, in fact, been used to advance liberal causes for a half-century, including laws protecting civil rights, the environment and consumer privacy. But in more recent years, according to a University of California Irvine [law review article](https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3166&context=faculty%5Fscholarship&ref=rangemedia.co), social conservatives have increasingly embedded private litigation paths into proposed legislation. That’s the case with the Bible reading bill and other proposals the Idaho Family Policy Center has sponsored in recent years: - [House Bill 230](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/legislature-idaho-gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/h0230.pdf) would have let parents of children who have been exposed to “indecent sexual exhibitions” sue for damages. The 2025 bill was aimed at drag performances and defined “sexual conduct” as including “sexual provocative dances with accessories that exaggerate male or female primary or secondary sexual characteristics,” but specifically exempted high school and college cheerleading performances. It passed the Idaho House this year but died in the Senate. - [Senate Bill 1100](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2023/legislation/s1100/?ref=rangemedia.co), which became law in 2023, lets students sue for $5,000 per incident of encountering the opposite sex in a locker room or bathroom, plus damages for “all psychological, emotional, and physical harm suffered." - [House Bill 710](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/legislature-idaho-gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2024/legislation/h0710.pdf), which passed in 2023, gives parents the right to sue a school or library if their child obtains books with “patently offensive representations” of sexual acts “normal or perverted.” The tactic has sometimes been derided as “bounty law.” Yates, with the Western States Center, worries these types of laws effectively turn Idahoans into cops, policing the identities and behaviors of their fellow citizens. “These laws encourage Idahoans to view members of frequently targeted communities … as threats that they must be protected from,” Yates said, citing the organization’s anti-trans legislation. Gov. Little vetoed an earlier version of the library bill, writing in a statement that "allowing any parent, regardless of intention, to collect $2,500 in automatic fines creates a library bounty system” that would only cost taxpayers money. The final version of the law reduced the fine to $250, but Conzatti felt it was vital to keep the litigation mechanism. "No elected prosecuting attorney wants to throw a librarian in jail, so they would rather not prosecute the issue at all,” he explained to Wilson last year on [Man Rampant](https://canonplus.com/tabs/discover/videos/31777?ref=rangemedia.co), Wilson’s online talk show. But now, “families have legal recourse if the prosecuting attorney is refusing to enforce the obscenity law,” Conzatti added. Soon, those same families will be able to hire the policy center’s attorneys to enforce the laws it wrote. A [brochure](https://gyazo.com/2a4080e95aecca02b28742fdc01eedf3?ref=rangemedia.co) about the legal center said the initiative was inspired by an incident in which an abortion clinic allegedly violated the "heartbeat law" by encouraging a woman to cross state lines to receive an abortion pill. It lists hypothetical plaintiffs that it would represent: a woman who regrets an illegal abortion, a teacher who was fired for refusing to use a student's preferred pronoun or a parent who objects to a hospital removing life-support too soon for their disabled child. The brochure also encouraged big donors to give upwards of $250,000 “to invest in the legal defense of persecuted Idahoans.” Since 2019, Conzatti said his organization’s annual budget has soared from $90,000 to an anticipated $3.3 million this year. Some of that funding comes directly from local churches, with at least one church donating as much as $25,000. “Every time the media publishes a hit piece on us that actually helps,” Conzatti said, “We will start receiving gifts from people who say, ‘Hey, if the media is attacking you, you’re doing the right thing.” #### **God’s politics** Despite the influx of money, Wilson and Conzatti still have a long way to go to convince Republicans to adopt their vision for Idaho and the country. A 2024 Pew Research Center [survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/03/15/christianitys-place-in-politics-and-christian-nationalism/?ref=rangemedia.co) showed less than 21 percent of Republicans nationwide believe the U.S. should declare Christianity the official religion. Less than a third said that the Bible should have a great influence on laws in the United States. Even among some of Idaho’s more conservative legislators, there’s uneasiness about how far the policy center wants to push them. Rep. Judy Boyle was a featured guest at the policy center’s 2023 Biblical Activism boot camp. But she was torn over the center’s efforts to get rid of rape and incest exceptions for abortion. In a 2024 policy center candidate questionnaire, Boyle said [exceptions should remain](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/idahofamily-org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-ifpc-survey%5Fboyle.pdf) for girls younger than 16, writing that she knows "a young woman whose father raped her at 14.” “She had a very early preemie who suffered for a month before dying,” Boyle wrote. “The girl nearly bled to death and ended up with a hysterectomy." Conzatti told InvestigateWest that, while such a circumstance is "absolutely heartbreaking,” the Bible says you shouldn’t punish a child for the sins of their father. Some moderate legislators, meanwhile, look at Conzatti with scorn. In a text message with InvestigateWest, Republican state Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen derided Conzatti as a “nut case.” “How these people can claim to be Christian I’ll never understand,” the Mormon lawmaker said. This tension has been part of Idaho’s history from the very beginning: it was partly settled by Mormons fleeing religious persecution, yet its first constitution, drafted in 1889, contained anti-polygamy provisions aimed at [preventing Mormons from voting](https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/idahos-constitution-promotes-freedom-and-common-welfare?ref=rangemedia.co). The state Constitution declared that "no sectarian or religious tenets or doctrines shall ever be taught in the public schools," and yet for nearly 40 years, Bible reading was mandated by state law in Idaho classrooms. Christian Nationalism has sparked passionate opposition throughout most of the major Christian denominations, including opposition from Southern Baptist leaders, the denomination that Conzatti and Wilson once attended. In a 2022 *60 Minutes* [interview](https://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-nationalism-will-lead-to-persecution-bart-barber.html?ref=rangemedia.co), then-Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber argued that putting the church in control of the government "stands contrary to 400 years of Baptist history." By contrast, when Wilson and Conzatti dive into scripture, they find support for protecting private property, keeping [taxes low](https://gyazo.com/2c50932f7faf4461b5e4d50d60b60405?ref=rangemedia.co), and not taxing the rich [more](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reaction-to-gov-littles-state-of-the-state-address/id1586878232?i=1000594004368&ref=rangemedia.co) than the poor. When it comes to, for example, the Old Testament’s command that farmers leave a portion of their harvests behind for "[the poor and the stranger](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2019%3A9-10&version=NKJV&ref=rangemedia.co),” that’s where Conzatti sees a biblical edict separating church and state. "It would be a violation of biblical principles for the state to usurp the responsibility to care for the poor, because that responsibility God had delegated to individuals and the family and the church,” Conzatti said. That kind of parsing of scripture deeply offends Christians like Cremer. “You want to put the Ten Commandments and the Bible in school, but you don't want hungry kids to be fed?” Cremer said. “We are nailing our public reputation as Christians into the ground.” #### **Cultural victories** Conzatti’s immediate vision for Idaho may not even be legal. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Washington state school district had [violated the religious freedom](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-endorses-football-coachs-on-field-prayers-2022-06-27/?ref=rangemedia.co) of a high school football coach by punishing him for kneeling for prayer after games. In doing so, the court tossed the complicated legal test used to adjudicate questions on the separation of church and state, instead declaring future courts needed to focus on “history and faithfully reflect the understanding of the Founding Fathers.” Conzatti believes that decision "struck the fatal blow" to the 1963 precedent that banned mandatory Bible reading in public schools. To prove that [theory](https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/kennedy-v-bremerton-school-district-s-effect-on-the-establishment-clause?ref=rangemedia.co), however, he’d first have to convince the Idaho Legislature to pass the Bible bill. The policy center’s Bible bill died this spring after landing with a wet thud at the House education committee. Multiple Republicans expressed discomfort with the bill’s goals. "This country was settled by people who weren't moving to religion, they were moving away from state-mandated religion,” Idaho House Rep. Jack Nelsen said in a committee hearing. “To me, this particular bill picks a religion.” Wayne Hoffman, the [former](https://www.investigatewest.org/news/idaho-freedom-foundation-president-wayne-hoffman-replaced-controversy-over-his-alt-right-contractor-lingers-17706595?ref=rangemedia.co) president of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, went even further, excoriating the bill in a Substack newsletter titled the “[The Awfulness of Required Bible Readings](https://leveluphumanity.substack.com/p/the-awfulness-of-required-bible-readings).” Warning the law could set a dangerous precedent, Hoffman sarcastically suggested equipping public buildings with “loudspeakers, as they do in Islamic countries, to blast Bible verses as far as the sound will carry every morning.” For years Hoffman had tried to push Idaho in a more libertarian direction, arguing conservatism is about personal freedom and small government. The foundation for a decade had scored bills on whether they advanced the cause of “freedom.” But the foundation he once ran was neutral on the bill, [reasoning](https://idahofreedom.org/house-bill-162-bible-reading-in-public-schools-repeal-replace-0/?ref=rangemedia.co) on its website that on the one hand, the proposal may violate the Idaho constitution, while on the other it "upholds our nation's traditional Western values." Last year, Hoffman’s replacement [announced](https://idahofreedom.org/keeping-the-idaho-freedom-index-true-to-idaho-values/?ref=rangemedia.co) the Freedom Foundation would factor in “traditional family values and the virtues of Western culture” to their bill-scoring rubric, claiming issues like "mutilation surgery on minors” and "pornography being pushed in schools" made it necessary. As the national mood has changed, the Freedom Foundation has begun singing from the Idaho Family Policy Center’s hymnbook. Wilson, the Idaho pastor, says the national climate in the last few years — from COVID lockdowns to gender identity ideology in schools — have simply had the effect of making the Christian nationalist agenda that much more appealing. “All of a sudden the hardcore conservative types don't seem like the crazy ones,” Wilson said. ### The Pod: (Another) City Council Candidate Forum, Debate Style URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-city-council-candidate-forum-debate-style/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T18:37:30.000Z This week, we’re playing audio from a City Council District 3 candidate forum that was hosted recently by Spokane Braver Angels. Incumbent Zack Zappone and challenger Christopher Savage were asked questions about law enforcement, homelessness, housing, neighborhood infrastructure, political division and leadership styles. Cody Arguelles, a third candidate running for the seat, couldn’t make it to this debate, but don’t worry! You can read about his platform (along with the other candidates') in our two articles linked below: [Meet the District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-three-candidates-primary/) [20 Questions with District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-3-spokane-city-council-candidates/) ### Resting for the fight ahead URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/resting-for-the-fight-ahead/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T18:32:59.000Z Last year, our [note to readers](https://www.rangemedia.co/schools-out-for-summer-heres-our-report-card/) announcing our summer break was more upbeat: we’d just completed several amazing projects, published loads of impactful stories and nationally, the energy of political races was hopeful. This year is different. Our community is under attack: our neighbors are disappeared by men in masks, our rights eroded, our resources slashed, our fears realized. It’s been a classic flooding of the zone, with overwhelming impacts at all levels. The RANGE team is doing our best to cover as much as possible. We’ve published **163 articles** since January. Whether it’s 24 hours of [boots-on-the-ground reporting](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) on protests, follow up coverage of [union-busting](https://www.rangemedia.co/planned-parenthood-union-busting-contract/), telling you what’s happening both at the [state legislature](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington/) and at [local city councils](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-law-nyne/) or amplifying the stories of our community members [being taken](https://www.rangemedia.co/migrant-detained-by-ice-back-with-family/) by federal agents, we’re committed to informing and empowering our city so we can all work to make it better for each other. And while covering the horrors of the United States in 2025 is nothing like feeling the full brunt of them like our immigrant and trans neighbors are, we can’t do this work from an empty cup. We have a long fight ahead of us and we *all* need to take the time to rest so we can keep on going. We also need to take the time to celebrate our wins, big and small. For our team, the biggest win is you: our readers and supporters. Since this time last year, our [paid membership](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us/) has nearly doubled, our social media followings and engagement have shot through the roof and our peak readership numbers from 2024 — which occurred only during fickle spikes of near-virality — are our new norm. It’s a privilege to do this work at all, but it’s even better that we get to serve a community that cares so deeply. One of our reporters, Erin Sellers, shared a quote with our newsroom from a [January article](https://www.portlandmercury.com/savage-love/2025/01/21/47609318/savage-love-trump-and-dump?ref=rangemedia.co) by PNW columnist Dan Savage that resonates more and more as we continue in this news cycle from hell: > "Anyone who tells you that making time for joy — however you define it — is a distraction or a betrayal has no idea what they’re talking about. During the darkest days of the AIDS Crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced at night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for. It didn’t look like we were going to win then and we did. It doesn’t feel like we’re going to win now but we could. Keep fighting, keep dancing.” So we’re going to rest next week. We’re going to reconnect with family and friends and the things that bring us joy. We’re going to clean house and craft, swim in the sunshine and read books, rollerblade and play video games, cuddle our pets and find treasures at thrift stores. We’re going to celebrate that we continue to survive despite forces working against us. We’ll come back on August 11, ready to keep fighting, keep dancing and keep writing. **If you want to support our work, [become a member](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us/), tell your friends to [sign up](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/) for our newsletters, or share our stuff on social media. If you have questions or feedback about any and all things RANGE, please send us an email at team@rangemedia.co** ### Union says Providence fired 15 nurses in retaliation for news coverage of girl’s suicide at Spokane hospital URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/union-providence-fired-nurses-retaliation-suicide-sacred-heart/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T16:00:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/copy-of-sarah-niyimbona-funeral-13.jpg) Family, friends and community members attended the funeral of Sarah Niyimbona who died by suicide on April 13 at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. (Photo by Erick Doxey, InvestigateWest) ***This story was originally published by*** ***[InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)***. Washington's largest nurses union is accusing Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center of retaliation after the Spokane hospital fired 15 nurses and disciplined another following news reports about [a 12-year-old girl's suicide](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/a-12-year-old-killed-herself-at-a-spokane-hospital-that-recently-closed-its-youth-psychiatric-unit-17870640?ref=rangemedia.co) at the facility. The fired and disciplined nurses were accused by Sacred Heart of violating patient privacy laws by accessing the child’s medical records without being involved in her care, nurses told union officials at the Washington State Nurses Association. Additional employees beyond the 15 nurses were also terminated or disciplined on similar grounds, according to former employees, though the hospital would not say how many. Sarah June Niyimbona had been awaiting long-term psychiatric placement for self-harm and suicide attempts for months when she slipped out of her room on Sacred Heart's pediatric floor on April 13\. As hospital staff discovered she was missing and began a search, Sarah walked a quarter mile to the fourth floor of a parking garage on the hospital campus and jumped, dying two hours later in the emergency room. Some pediatric staff were critical of Sarah's care, telling InvestigateWest that her death would not have happened if she had been able to receive care in a specialized children’s psychiatric center [that Sacred Heart shuttered](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/former-staff-at-spokane-youth-psychiatric-unit-blame-providence-for-closure-17784579?ref=rangemedia.co) just six months before. Instead, they said, she was left unsupervised in an unlocked unit where both staff and rooms were ill-equipped to keep psychiatric patients like Sarah safe. In April, three employees spoke to InvestigateWest on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs. David Keepnews, the association's executive director, said nurses outside of the Emergency Department are often called in to assist with care and provide information related to a patient’s treatment. "We reject Providence Sacred Heart’s claims that privacy was violated by nurses who were doing their jobs to assist in efforts to save the life of a 12-year-old girl in the hospital’s care," he said in a statement. Nurses told the union that they were also asked by hospital officials whether they had provided information to reporters. “Many nurses say they feel targeted because of coverage of the suicide in the media,” said union spokesperson Ruth Schubert in an email. “Nurses say managers have accused them of being spiteful and sneaky in their actions — accusations that nurses deny and that are inappropriate.” One employee who was not a nurse says Providence told her she violated patient privacy even after she had voluntarily left for another job. The employee told InvestigateWest she had cared for Sarah nearly every shift for weeks and saw her just hours before she escaped her room. When the employee arrived at work the next day and was told Sarah had died, no additional information was provided, she said. Struggling to believe the news and concerned that the care she provided the previous day had played a role, she clicked into Sarah’s chart, whose name still appeared on her list of patients for the day, she said. “I think at the time, I wasn't really thinking about (patient privacy) regulations. My patient just died,” she said. “I can acknowledge that, yeah, I probably shouldn't have been in her chart. But at the same time, it also felt like I should have known what happened, because I was working with her so often.” The night of Sarah’s death, the hospital emailed a “news alert” informing staff that the child who went missing had been found and was being cared for in the hospital. The message warned staff not to post or comment on social media and not to access medical records unless they were part of Sarah’s care team. It’s not clear if all employees received that email, however. A Providence communications director, Allie Hyams, told InvestigateWest that Providence takes potential privacy violations “very seriously.” She did not respond to the union’s claim of retaliation. “We review employee conduct and take appropriate action, including termination of employment, where warranted,” she said in a statement. “Patient privacy is one of our top priorities." The nurses union has filed a grievance against Sacred Heart seeking to reinstate fired nurses. Termination for a patient privacy violation disqualifies employees from being rehired by Providence and, if reported to licensing authorities such as the Board of Nursing, can result in disciplinary action including the suspension or loss of their license. InvestigateWest’s article that described employees' concerns about the victim’s care [triggered aninvestigation](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/wa-health-department-investigating-spokane-hospital-after-girls-suicide-sparked-public-outcry-17883892?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Washington Department of Health, which found that Sacred Heart [endangered three other suicidal patients](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/spokane-hospital-where-12-year-old-died-endangered-other-suicidal-patients-investigators-find-17892651?ref=rangemedia.co) this year, in addition to Sarah. The probe revealed that the hospital had repeatedly violated state safety standards by failing to follow its own policies around screening and supervision of suicidal patients. It also raised alarms over Sacred Heart's delayed response after Sarah escaped the pediatric unit. A Department of Health spokesperson confirmed that the investigation was closed after Sacred Heart implemented corrections. Sarah's family is also [suing the hospital](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/lawsuit-blames-spokane-hospital-for-12-year-olds-suicide-17889476?ref=rangemedia.co) for alleged negligence and medical malpractice. The lawsuit is ongoing. **InvestigateWest (**[**investigatewest.org**](http://investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)**) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Whitney Bryen can be reached at 208-918-2458 or whitney@investigatewest.org. Reporter Kaylee Tornay can be reached at 503-877-4108 or** [**kaylee@investigatewest.org**](mailto:kaylee@investigatewest.org)**.** ### Meet the District 3 Spokane City Council candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/district-three-candidates-primary/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T01:36:11.000Z Three candidates — incumbent Zack Zappone and challengers Christopher Savage and Cody Arguelles — are running to represent District 3 on the Spokane City Council for the next four years. Ballots for the primaries were sent out last week, and are due August 5, so you have a choice to make before then: which two of these three men will advance to the primaries to continue fighting for your vote? We put out a bite-sized primer that breaks the race down into the key issues here, but if you want to do a deeper dive into the candidates and their policies, read on ➡️ ### Zack Zappone Incumbent Zack Zappone has served on the Spokane City Council since 2021, when he became the [first openly LGBTQ+](https://www.inlander.com/news/we-sat-down-to-chat-with-zack-zappone-the-first-openly-queer-leader-elected-to-the-spokane-city-council-27115821?ref=rangemedia.co) candidate elected to city council. His career in politics started much earlier, though: Zappone and fellow candidate [Christopher Savage](https://www.rangemedia.co/district-three-candidates-primary/) served together on their high school’s Associated Student Body government. Savage was the treasurer, Zappone was the president. “I’ve always been called to service, always wanted to give back to my community,” Zappone said. In high school, the biggest issues he presided over was the [city's ban](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2006/may/05/inland-northwest-schools-are-ahead-of-move-to-ban/?ref=rangemedia.co) on non-diet soda sales in school — which represented the bulk of student government revenue — and a cross country meet being double-booked with prom. #### Zappone’s first term His first term on council has had much higher stakes. The body has been responsible for addressing the dual opioid and homelessness crises, the distribution of large chunks of opioid settlement dollars and post-COVID ARPA funding, skyrocketing rents, affordability issues and more. Zappone is proud of many accomplishments from his first term, and he highlighted several in an interview with RANGE: - two [new school-based health clinics](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/nov/21/ferris-high-school-to-get-the-fourth-chas-run-clin/?ref=rangemedia.co) in his district operated by CHAS and funded by city [ARPA dollars](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/11/shadle-park-north-central-open-new-in-school-healt/?ref=rangemedia.co) - a slate of urbanist land use policies, like [parking minimum reduction](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ditched-parking-mandates/) and zoning changes to encourage housing density and; - a renewed [focus on street safety](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-traffic-slow-improvements-advocates-say-citys-traffic-safety-efforts-are-too-little-too-late/) through infrastructure changes But he’s also been criticized for some of his actions on council from both ends of the political spectrum. Zappone [sat on the committee](https://www.inlander.com/news/councilman-zappone-swears-his-proposed-redistricting-map-wasnt-meant-to-benefit-councilman-zappone-24605286?ref=rangemedia.co) that did Spokane’s voter redistricting in 2022 and even drew a number of the potential maps considered, including the map that was ultimately chosen. While a judge ruled that the [map was legal](https://www.inlander.com/news/city-council-shouldnt-draw-their-own-boundaries-judge-rules-but-zappones-map-survives-25738409?ref=rangemedia.co) (albeit with the caveat council members should not be included on future redistricting committees), many have accused Zappone of [putting his thumb on the scale ](https://www.google.com/search?q=zappone+gerrymander&oq=zappone+gerrymander&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigAdIBCDIyMjFqMGo0qAIAsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Spokane%20Judge%20upholds,regional%2Dnews%20%E2%80%BA%20s...)to benefit future liberal candidates. Zappone’s politics have also rankled other progressives on occasion, like his vote in favor of a [resolution condemning the October 2023 attack in Israel](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/oct/09/spokane-city-council-condemns-attacks-in-israel/?ref=rangemedia.co) or his [vote to ban standing](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/29/spokane-city-council-wavers-after-activists-threat/?ref=rangemedia.co) in city council chambers — a tool frequently used by protesters to silently show approval or disapproval. He later hedged his stance on the Israel vote; Zappone [coordinated meetings](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/16/new-israel-palestine-resolution-coming-before-spok/?ref=rangemedia.co) at the beginning of 2024 to get community feedback on a new resolution that would ideally address the desires of both pro-Palestine protesters pushing the council to condemn genocide in Gaza, and the pro-Israel folks who wanted council to stand by the original resolution. The compromise resolution passed, but Zappone and other council members continued to hear testimony from both sides who were unhappy with it. Most recently, compromise has again put Zappone under crossfire with the council’s Proposition 1 replacement. After the voter-approved measure to ban camping near parks and schools was [overturned by the State Supreme Court](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/) — but in such a way that it could be reinstated by a majority vote of the council — council conservatives and voters quickly pushed for the council to immediately reinstate Prop 1 as written by the voters. In a committee, Zappone voted with conservatives Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle to advance the original word-for-word Prop 1 as a replacement, but was outvoted by the other four progressives. Then, Zappone switched tack, pushing hard for Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposed replacement, a package of bills that addressed various facets of homelessness, including making camping and obstruction illegal citywide, but with more holistic potential remedies than just arrest or citation. After weeks of public testimony and a false start where the citywide camping ban failed, then was later brought back after midnight at the same meeting for consideration, then deferred again (if you’re struggling to keep up, so was everybody else) the bill was finally passed. Still, the supermajority caught heat from conservatives for not passing an exact replica of Prop 1 and from progressive advocates for being too harsh on homeless people. Still, there are only two decisions Zappone says he regrets: denying funding to The Way Out shelter early in his first term and voting to continually fund the Trent Shelter, although Zappone said then-Mayor Nadine Woodward gave the council the impossible choice of Trent Shelter or nothing. Looking ahead to a second term, though, Zappone wants to build on his successes, not dwell on potential missteps. His biggest priority? Focusing on quality of life improvements for the working class. #### Affordability When Zappone first ran in 2020, he said constituents had a lot to say about housing affordability. Now, when he talks to the people he represents, it’s affordability in general. “ The system is rigged,” Zappone said. “There’s only so much that we have the ability to control, but that’s the lens of how I think through everything: trying to look out for the average person or the person that’s struggling.” The next horizon for Zappone is a Land Value Tax (LVT) — a [progressive form of revenue revenue](https://apps.irs.gov/app/understandingTaxes/student/whys%5Fthm03%5Fles03.jsp?ref=stubykofsky.com) where property owners are taxed based on the value of their land, rather than any type of construction on it. Under our current property tax, a lot with a five-story apartment faces a much heavier tax burden than a similarly sized parking lot, because the structure on the land of the first lot holds value. By taxing both lots for the value of land itself, vacant lot owners could be incentivized to create density by building housing or other useful structures. “ We need to address our vacant lots. We have so much land that developers, out of town speculators, are sitting on and not developing because they can get wealthy off of a parking lot,” Zappone said. “ Speculators getting rich on the value of the property going up are underpaying their taxes and getting rich off of it, while everyone else has to pay more and more.” Before Spokane could test out LVT, it would need the state legislature to pass a law approving it, but Zappone wants to make lobbying for state permission a priority and try to pass an LVT trigger law that would go into effect locally the second the state approves. Zappone theorizes switching to LVT instead of traditional property tax would bring down taxes for property owners and bring down costs for renters by shifting more of the region’s tax burden to people who purchase land and do nothing with it, waiting for the value to rise over time. “It’s not a new tax,” he stressed. “It’s a shift of taxes. It shifts that tax to vacant lots that are underdeveloped.” #### Safe Streets Another key policy area for Zappone making streets safer. Urbanists have found a champion in Zappone, who has been outspoken in his support for beefing up bike infrastructure, supporting pedestrian safety improvements and accessibility to buses. He’s been persistent on the Spokane Transit Authority board, pushing for free and low-income fare, despite facing [coordinated pushback](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-board-zappone-wilkerson-french/) from fellow board member, County Commissioner Al French. In 2023, French privately sent texts to the STA CEO and other board members criticizing Zappone. Publicly, he called Zappone “an arrogant son of a bitch.” Some of Zappone’s biggest accomplishments on the safe streets front include: - Passing [low-income reduced fare](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/24/1-to-ride-the-bus-plan-call-for-most-sta-riders-to/?ref=rangemedia.co) at STA - [Abolishing parking mandates](https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/08/16/spokane-just-ditched-parking-mandates/?ref=rangemedia.co) - Passing Brown’s Safe Streets Now policy, which [relaunched the delayed traffic officer unit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jul/03/brown-commits-to-safe-streets-now-finally-relaunch/?ref=rangemedia.co) - Passing legislation to make it easier to close streets for block parties or street festivals - Installing a protected bike lane on the Post Street Bridge, along with other pedestrian safety design measures Zappone plans to continue to support Complete Streets infrastructure and has been a proponent of things like protected bike lanes and [road diets](https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/what-are-road-diets-and-why-are-they-controversial?ref=rangemedia.co), which are reconfigurations of streets that reduce driving lanes, typically replacing them with bus lanes, bike lanes or other infrastructure that creates space for pedestrians. Another big safe street focus if he’s elected to term two: making it safer to cross [Indian Trail](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/neighborhoods/programs/trafficcalming/2024/spokane-indian-trail-traffic-study-results-2024-07-22.pdf). #### Public safety Though Zappone’s been stressing affordability and a commitment to the working class as his main campaign issue, public safety is a priority for him as well. His website highlights what he sees as the biggest public safety accomplishments of his first term: - “Banned open drug use in our streets - Invested in safe after-school activities for kids - Secured funding for our Police Academy and behavioral health response teams within the police department - Increased police officer funding by over 10% since being elected - Passed our ‘Good Neighbor Agreement’ to minimize homeless shelters’ impacts on our neighborhoods.” In his second term, Zappone wants to address both crime — especially petty crime like vandalism and car break ins, which are more common in his district — and negative perceptions of public safety caused by the presence of unhoused people by creating a more diverse range of shelter options. “ Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep. Everyone deserves to walk around and feel safe as they're walking around the city,” Zappone said. “We don’t have places for people. We need lots of different varieties of places.” He wants to see more sobering beds, detox centers, permanent housing and affordable housing options. Zappone also wants to see the city think more creatively. He proposed setting up safe parking places and tiny home villages like [the new project](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/16/tiny-home-village-for-the-homeless-planned-in-spok/?ref=rangemedia.co) headed to the West Hills, so that people can find stability that snowballs into employment and permanent housing. “ There are thousands of people in Spokane that have moved on through homelessness. My neighbors on my street have been formerly homeless and now are housed,” Zappone said. “ We often forget that there are thousands of people doing that every day, but we need that investment in these places.” If more shelter options are created, though, and people don’t take advantage of them, there needs to be a “last option.” Conservatives are always pushing the city to send more homeless people to jail, Zappone said, but with the jail constantly at full capacity, it’s not a solution. Instead, Zappone wants to see the creation of something else, a compromise to the jail: “more like flex beds between mental health beds and jail beds.” More on Zappone’s policies can be found on his website [here](https://zackzappone.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Christopher Savage Christopher Savage was interested in politics at a very young age. He told RANGE that when he was 8 years old, he remembers talking with his father about the presidential debates between Al Gore and George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election. “He got me to start thinking about civics and what it means to be a part of your community,” Savage said. “He taught me a lot about love for one’s home and trying to defend it.” That idea is at the core of Savage’s campaign: defending his home from what he describes as “further destruction.” It’s why he’s running for city council again, for the fourth time. #### Public safety Thirty-four-year-old Savage has lived in Spokane’s District 3 for more than 31 years. He loves the natural beauty of the district — he waxes poetic about the ponderosa pines and wheatgrass that mark some of the region’s parks — and the friendly community. But now, Savage said, that friendly community is facing big issues: namely, the city’s new homeless shelter system (called the “scatter-site model”) that spreads smaller homeless shelters throughout neighborhoods, instead of funneling people into a large, low-barrier congregate shelter like the now-defunct [Trent Shelter](https://rangemedia.co/tag/trent-shelter/?ref=rangemedia.co). While talking to neighbors, Savage said he’s been hearing about problems with litter and with occupants of the Morning Baptist Church shelter in District 3 “going into other people’s yards.” “\[Scatter-site shelters\] are causing a lot of problems in those neighborhoods because a lot of people are having those activities start cropping up in their yards that live next to them,” Savage said. The same idea is echoed on his campaign website: crime is spreading into the suburbs, and the Spokane City Council isn’t doing enough to support police. Public safety is the biggest issue facing the whole of Spokane, too, Savage said. He’s been door-belling for the campaign, and when he asks District 3 residents what they think about downtown, they overwhelmingly respond, “‘I don’t go downtown. I don’t take my kids downtown. I don’t take my parents downtown.’” Savage pointed to a story told to him by Alejandro Barrientos, a candidate for city council’s second district, about finding fentanyl foil in Riverfront Park near the Red Wagon. “When we’re finding that close to children’s areas, I can understand why people don't want to go downtown,” Savage said. “ Because even one interaction with fentanyl is very dangerous. It can be life-threatening.” The perception that downtown is unsafe is hurting the city’s bottom line by creating a high commercial vacancy rate downtown, causing downtown business closures and leading to city sales tax revenue failing projections, Savage said. His plan to address public safety, as laid out on his campaign website and in our interview, includes: - Hiring more police - Giving police more freedom and “stop tying their hands with bad policies” - Passing Proposition 1, which was overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2023, exactly as written - Supporting a new jail that would also offer mental health services, addiction treatment, and job training - Changing which homeless service providers get city funding, specifically cutting off or drastically reducing funding to Jewels Helping Hands and Catholic Charities Savage also plans to get more people downtown by having more free parking in front of local downtown businesses. #### Transportation Though he wants to get more people downtown, Savage said he doesn’t think expanded bus service or free transit are the most effective solutions. “It baffles me when they say that ridership is up when you see at peak hours, these buses have no one on them,” Savage claimed. Savage is referencing these statistics, which show Spokane Transit Authority’s (STA) year-over-year ridership has been steadily climbing since the COVID-19 shutdowns, and surpassed 2024 riderships goals by 11%. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ad_4nxft7mbxyw1sedtkg_wbcacuz3rz0ttorirhnpfdgy5ijgc-dccjyirjbiixpj8cmo5gqvmv4zmjoapo3noefrfref6l8rzjm-ayfgxl3bdyep4dmzlmt18zztldj56a-2oseuzjwakeyn3nt6edton9ky1zajquwja.png) *Ridership data courtesy of STA.* Savage also proposed pivoting STA to focus more on selling tickets to fund itself, rather than taxes. “I don’t really like the free rides,” Savage said. “I mean, yes it’s for kids, but I think that we need to focus more on a revenue-based model.” He also wants the agency to focus more on gasoline-powered buses and less on electric buses, which are part of STA’s current [Zero-Emission plan](https://www.spokanetransit.com/projects/zero-emission-transition-plan/?ref=rangemedia.co) to have a fully electric fleet by 2045, which is in line with [state and federal legislative priorities](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-spokanetransit-com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/approved-final-sta-fleet-transition-plan-2024-2045.pdf). Savage said electric buses are unreliable, and that during a recent winter, “over 40% to 50% of their buses went offline because when it got to that deep freeze all those lithium batteries just went out, because that's what happens with lithium batteries in those extreme elements.” He also cited safety concerns with lithium battery fires. (Carly Cortright, spokesperson for STA, said that while their electric batteries do run out of power faster in the cold due to the electricity needed to keep passengers warm, they have never had that many buses out at once.) On the other hand, Savage is a big proponent of better bike lanes. “There’s a lot of people in my district riding their bikes, especially downtown,” Savage said. “We need to make bike networks that actually work and they actually have the space provided so that you actually feel safe on them.” He wants the city to be more intentional about funding bike infrastructure and maintenance not just in policies, but in budgeting as well; he cited the 27 by 2027 bike network plan, which received no clear line items in the city’s most recent budget. Savage also noted a lack of pedestrian infrastructure in District 3 — specifically, sidewalk connections. There are several places in his district, he said, where there are sidewalks with no ramps, or sidewalks that are technically accessible but then do not connect to other sidewalks in a network, instead shooting people into grass, gravel or the street. “We need to make it easier for them \[disabled people\] to access their neighborhoods,” Savage said. One of Savage’s hardest-line transportation positions is his opposition to road diets. According to the US Dept. of Transportation, road diets can reduce crashes by 19 to 47% and reduce the speed of traffic flow, which [brings down the fatality rate](https://www.ite.org/technical-resources/topics/speed-management-for-safety/speed-as-a-safety-problem/?ref=rangemedia.co) of crashes. But, “they don’t work,” Savage said. “ They seem to actually restrict traffic in the wrong way, and they actually push traffic into the neighborhoods.” With the Division Road Diet project slated for [real progress by 2030](https://www.spokanetransit.com/division-street-brt/?ref=rangemedia.co) — and [accompanying transit-oriented development](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/division-street-transit-oriented-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) along the corridor from the city of Spokane — candidates’ stances on road diets could play a large role in governance. One of Savage’s hopes if he is elected is to get appointed to one of the coveted seats on the Spokane Transit Authority board. But it wouldn’t be to weigh in on road diets: “I would hopefully give my seat up to District 1 and maybe trade with them,” Savage said. “Then I would take one of their committees. … Not that I don’t have my own views on STA, but I want to make sure there’s more voices serving from a district that has a lot more ridership.” While District 1 had [been left off major transportation boards](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-committee-assignments-bingle/) in the past, that changed this year with each District 1 council member [getting appointed](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-budget-cops-contract-new-rules/) to one transportation board. It’s also unclear if Savage would be able to give up a seat specifically to a certain representative, because all board seats are appointed by a vote of the council majority. #### Affordability Another key issue for Savage is affordability, specifically looking at housing affordability for constituents and rethinking the city budget to rely less on taxes. His website states that the cost of housing, as well as other necessities like groceries, “has skyrocketed in Spokane … due to the inflationary policies that the progressive City Council and Councilman Zack Zappone have supported.” Still, Savage and Zappone are aligned on one thing when it comes to solving housing affordability: they both want to increase housing inventory. While the policies Zappone has championed focus on increasing density and removing zoning restrictions, Savage wants more sprawl. Spokane is hemmed in by the Growth Management Act and the city’s Comprehensive Plan, he said, putting “an artificial ring around Spokane where we can’t build.” Savage says he’s identified 10 areas around Spokane that the city could annex with the county’s permission. Some of the areas are already fully developed, but others aren’t. By expanding urban sprawl and focusing on single family home builds, “we’ll be able to bring the price down naturally,” Savage said. “We need more single family homes in Spokane because that is the American dream,” Savage said at a recent candidate forum. “It may be dead for a lot of people, but that’s what people want when they want to start growing a family. They don’t want more apartments; they want actual housing.” When it comes to the city budget, Savage is against new taxes, even if it’s to fill potential holes created by state or federal funding cuts. If the city faces losses from federal funding, those programs or positions should probably just be cut, he said. Savage also has his sights set on cutting the city council budget by eliminating anything he thinks the council doesn’t “really need,” including two full-time positions: Lisa Gardner’s city council spokesperson job and Chris Wright’s policy advisor job. #### Collaboration and competition One conflict that’s come up over and over again at Spokane City Council is the conflict between the ideas of majority rule and minority rights. With a current 5-2 liberal supermajority and the two conservative votes both coming from Council District 1, public commenters frequently accuse the majority of steamrolling the conservatives, shutting them out of legislation and refusing to compromise. On the other hand, members of the supermajority have pointed to a mandate from voters to represent progressive policies and not bow to the opinions of one district’s representatives. Savage said that if he’s elected, he wants to be a politician of compromise and collaboration. “I want to let people know that I can disagree with you, but I’ll talk to you face-to-face,” he said. “ That's how I think we come to common ground.” If there was an issue where he personally felt strongly one way, but the majority of constituent feedback he was getting was in the other direction, Savage said he’d vote for the majority of his constituents. “If they say no, I’m going to vote no. I’m not going to say ‘Hey, I know better than you,’ like Zack Zappone,” Savage said. “I’m not going to gaslight you to say that you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m going to listen to you.” Despite his promise to collaborate, though, Savage’s tune has sounded a little different in other settings, especially at a [local candidate forum](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/) held at Calvary Church. “ You all deserve a representative that is going to keep the will of the people and not a personal agenda that they're going up there with,” Savage said. “\[Zappone\] goes up there with his own personal agenda, trying to help out with the LGBTQ and all these small groups that really don't have a huge population here in Spokane and wasting your tax dollars on stupid stuff like transgender bathrooms.” Savage has also put out negative campaign material about Zappone, including a mailer claiming the city has “only become worse under Zappone’s leadership.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ad_4nxd4ubcrij-yqhm01y03f20gzjqesbo7uuoathkqwb8czk0ighozx-ggkvvx3xtey4y5gdfdus-zksg_6ztmto5zpuowhdm-jdqnbx3epl9astm4corcpphodc7lonzd1piss6wkdakeyn3nt6edton9ky1zajquwja.png) *Screenshot from Savage’s website.* When it comes to Cody Arguelles — the other conservative in the race who is likely Savage’s closest opponent in primaries — Savage thinks his experience and history makes him the stronger candidate. “I’ve been here for 31 years, and not only that, but I’ve been going to city council meetings for four years now,” Savage said. “I know the issues. I’m an expert at city council.” He pointed to the council meeting write-ups he’s posted on his social media to inform others about municipal decision-making. “That’s what makes me different. It’s not about me, it’s about my community. It’s about trying to get a citizen council member up there to represent the will of the people and not the will of my own,” Savage said. “I will sacrifice a lot of my evening hours to focus on the city, which Cody hasn't done much in his campaign right now.” More on Savage can be found on his [campaign website](https://savageforspokane.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Cody Arguelles *NOTE: While Arguelles’ campaign team did send over answers to our* [*20 questions*](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-3-spokane-city-council-candidates/) *and a headshot for him, they didn’t respond to emails to set up an interview. He also didn’t attend either of the candidate forums we’ve seen, so his positions are a little bit less clear.* *We’ve compiled what we can about him here.* 31-year-old Arguelles is a retired Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) instructor. More recently though, he founded and co-owns the Late Arrival Club, a members-only private cigar lounge in downtown Spokane. He’s also the president of the Veterans Committee at Washington State University, where he is pursuing a degree in architecture. Arguelles leads the race in campaign contributions, raising $45,600 as of publication. $21,325 of those contributions were made by local businesses, including Backyard Public House, Harley Douglass Rental, [NAI Black Realty](https://www.rangemedia.co/nai-black-workers-no-rent-stabilization/) and Pyrotek. There are also big name conservative donors on his list: former mayor [Nadine Woodward](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-faith-leaders-woodward-separation-church-state/), RenCorp Realty’s Chris Batten and local [Republican megadonor](https://www.inlander.com/news/conservative-donor-and-businessman-larry-stone-is-forming-the-spokane-business-association-to-lobby-city-officials-about-public-safety-homele-28035418?ref=rangemedia.co) [Larry Stone](https://www.inlander.com/news/who-is-larry-stone-and-why-is-he-spending-so-much-money-trying-to-influence-spokane-politics-26790579?ref=rangemedia.co). In an interesting bit of campaign finance digging, we also found that [a May 27 campaign report](https://apollo.pdc.wa.gov/public/registrations/campaign-finance-report/110289315?ref=rangemedia.co) showed County Commissioner Al French and his wife Rosalie had both donated $125 each to Arguelles, but a subsequent report filed on [June 20](https://apollo.pdc.wa.gov/public/registrations/campaign-finance-report/110293510?ref=rangemedia.co) amended the donation to be $250 solely under Rosalie’s name. According to Arguelles’ website, his core campaign issues include public safety, homelessness, economic development, affordability and infrastructure. #### Homelessness and public safety When it comes to homelessness and public safety, Arguelles says he wants to invest funds into a few areas: - More beds and long-term resources for mental health and addiction treatment - Job training and life skills programs - Hiring more police officers - Contracting with the nonprofit [C.O.P.S](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-community-policing-services-cops-city-contract-brady-list/) - Building a new fire station in Five Mile - Getting in on the county’s Real Time Crime Center, which uses things like Flock cameras and other technology to solve crimes Arguelles also wants to “fix the City’s scattered shelter site model.” Instead of spreading shelters through the city to reduce the impacts any one neighborhood might feel, Arguelles wants to put shelters near service providers. If shelters were to be sited in neighborhoods, Arguelles’ website reads, there would need to be “robust community input,” and a prioritization of neighborhood safety. Arguelles also wants the city to mend fences and fully join the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC), instead of building their own network after negotiations fell apart and SREC voted to boot the city from the regional collaboration. #### Economic development Though his own business is somewhat nontraditional, with neither employees nor alcohol/tobacco products for sale, Arguellles’ campaign places a large emphasis on economic growth and small business. “As a downtown small business owner, I know firsthand the barriers to entry and the cost of doing business,” Arguelles wrote. “City Government should be a partner — not a roadblock – for those trying to build and grow in Spokane.” He wants to streamline the permitting and license process to “cut red tape,” give local entrepreneurs access to resources and capital, “reform regulations that hinder economic growth and job creation,” and partner with the trade schools and unions to train workers for economic success and opportunity. #### Other issues Other issues Arguelles highlights on his campaign website include: - The city budget, where he plans to oppose raises for council members and redirect a portion of homelessness spending to build sidewalks and improve road conditions. - Increasing affordability for residents by opposing “unnecessary tax and fee hikes — especially property tax increases.” - Supporting the parks, but not by passing the [upcoming park levy](https://www.rangemedia.co/fast-traffic-slow-improvements-advocates-say-citys-traffic-safety-efforts-are-too-little-too-late/). “I support our parks but before building new ones, we need to focus on keeping our existing parks clean, safe, and family-friendly,” Arguelles wrote. “Let’s make smart improvements that encourage more families to enjoy the green spaces we already have.” You learn more about Arguelles from [his website here](https://www.codyforspokane.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Further Reading - [*The Inlander*](https://www.inlander.com/news/three-candidates-vying-for-a-spokane-city-council-seat-will-be-narrowed-to-two-in-aug-5-primary-election-30200629?ref=rangemedia.co)*:* Three candidates vying for a Spokane City Council seat will be narrowed to two in Aug. 5 primary election - [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/03/ubiquitous-city-council-attendee-christopher-savag/?ref=rangemedia.co)*:* Ubiquitous city council attendee Christopher Savage announces bid for dais - [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/13/retired-air-force-sere-instructor-cigar-lounge-own/?ref=rangemedia.co): Retired Air Force SERE instructor, cigar lounge owner Cody Arguelles running for Spokane City Council - [*The Spokesman*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/13/northwest-spokane-features-only-city-council-race-/?ref=rangemedia.co): Northwest Spokane features only City Council race on August primary ballots - [*Spokane Public Radio*](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/people/eliza-billingham?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Council%20candidate%20Christopher%20Savage%20hopes%20fourth%20time%20is%20the%20charm): Council candidate Christopher Savage hopes fourth time is the charm - [*Spokane Public Radio*](https://www.spokanepublicradio.org/regional-news/2025-07-12/former-fairchild-survival-instructor-seeks-spokane-council-seat?ref=rangemedia.co)*:* Former Fairchild survival instructor seeks Spokane council seat ### Q&A with SPD Chief Kevin Hall on ICE and the protests URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/qa-with-spd-chief-kevin-hall-on-ice-and-the-protests/ Last updated: 2025-07-28T21:03:59.000Z The use of force by law enforcement during the June 11 and 14 protests in Spokane has left our community with lots of questions regarding protesting and immigration rights: what recourse do people have to report excessive uses of force? How does it work when Kootenai County Sheriffs — who explicitly collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — answer a call for aid from Spokane? Was the Keep WA Working Act violated on June 11 when police escorted the ICE van out? What the heck was that green gas law enforcement used? We got the answers to some of those questions and more when Luke and Val sat down with Spokane Police Department Chief Kevin Hall earlier this month. Listen to this full interview [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-the-questions-were-all-asking-about-the-spokane-protests-w-police-chief-hall/). A lot has changed since this interview, which happened on July 2\. Most notably, [nine protesters were arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/) on the federal charges of conspiracy to impede or injure officers. Two of the nine were additionally charged with assault on a federal officer, employee, or person assisting a federal officer. All of the protesters have pleaded [not guilty](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ice-protesters-plead-not-guilty/) to the charges and have since been released on conditions such as not using or possessing marijuana. > **Read more:** > [Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests ](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) > [Queer BIPOC organizer arrested on their way to Spokane Pride](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) > [Where are the protesters’ phones?](https://www.rangemedia.co/protesters-phones-police-custody/) > [Justice Forral pleads not guilty to ‘unlawful imprisonment’ charges from ICE protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/) > [How to take action against injustice today](https://www.rangemedia.co/action-spokane-ice-protest-federal/) *Editor’s note: Pascal Bostic has lightly edited this written conversation for clarity and brevity. Listen to it in full [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-the-questions-were-all-asking-about-the-spokane-protests-w-police-chief-hall/).* **Luke: As you approach your one year anniversary as Spokane’s Police Chief, what did you enter the job hoping to accomplish and how do you evaluate the first 10 months?** **Chief Hall:** The 10 months went by very fast. I realized we were coming up on a year and I really needed to take a look at everything that we’ve accomplished and how we’re measuring what I would call “success.” Going all the way back to establishing my own leadership team, all of my Assistant Chiefs were not in that position previously. We’re in the process of hiring a Director of Crime Strategies – which is a PhD level, classically-trained criminologist – to be able to come in and evaluate the policy and programs we implement to ensure that we’re getting the impact that we want and that we’re not creating harm. It often gets missed when you want to measure both harm and benefit. In law enforcement, we traditionally haven’t been very good at that. That’s why I thought it was important for that position to be created and filled. It was something I wanted to do when I first came in here, and it took this long. That’s just the bureaucratic drag of public government. With the exception of the Director of Crime Strategies position, my leadership team is pretty much in place. We also can look at what has occurred historically and what we can do moving forward to create a better evidence-based, community-oriented policing model in Spokane. Making sure that what we’re doing has some sort of base in research and science is important to me. There are things we didn’t do great traditionally in policing. I think we’re getting there nationally, but especially in Spokane as we start to change some of our processes and our programs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/feds.jpg) Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall speaking at a press conference immediately following the June 11 protests against ICE. (Screenshot) **Luke: When you talk about documenting and qualitatively or quantitatively measuring harm, what are some indicators of that? What things will you look at?** **Chief Hall:** One of the examples that comes to mind right away is hotspot policing. Almost four decades of research shows that it works, but there’s also a lot of research that shows that it’s done improperly. It also causes a great deal of harm to the community. We really have to be careful of racial profiling, indiscriminate stops, and just stopping everything that moves as opposed to being far more targeted and focused on what you're doing there. We’re interested in crime drivers and micro hotspots. We’re not interested in just overall flooding the area with cops who stop everything that moves. That will create harm and quite frankly, affect public trust in what we’re doing. We need to be far more surgical in how we apply those kinds of programs. We need the legitimacy and the trust of that particular neighborhood that we’re in as well. **Luke: As it became clear that Trump was going to follow through on his campaign promises to unleash not just ICE, but a bulk of the federal government on immigration enforcement activities, how did your leadership team prepare? How did the wider department prepare knowing that law enforcement in Washington will be bound by the Keep Washington Working Act?** **Chief Hall:** It actually was pretty easy because of the Keep Washington Working Act. We’re bound to that state law, so there’s not a lot of change there. What we had to address was the fear in the community, which was real and tangible. Not just from folks that were here that were undocumented, but folks who were naturalized citizens, folks who were here on Visas, and folks who were here as asylum seekers. All of these folks who were here legally – at least in the previous administration – were all of a sudden in flux and they weren’t entirely sure how they stood. It was very shaky for them. All the fear we received from the community groups that we work with throughout the region was real. From the beginning, from January on. We did a lot of outreach to try and let everybody know that we’re bound by the Keep Washington Working Act, we’re going to continue to be bound by that, and that we have zero engagement with ICE and Border Patrol. In fact, I have yet to meet any of the ICE or Border Patrol agents that are in town. I talked to them on the phone on June 11th, but I have never physically met with them. We don’t get notified if they’re going to do an operation or go out and arrest somebody. They don't tell us. There was an odd comment that came out of Seattle that they weren’t going to share that information with us anymore – both Seattle and Spokane – because of media leaks. We were a little confused about that because we’ve never had that contact with them. They’ve never, at any point in time, let us know that they’re doing anything in the community. **Luke:** So they’re not talking to any cop at all? **Chief Hall:** No. They operate completely independently. **Luke: Tucson wasn’t the first sanctuary city, but it did kind of birth the modern faith-based sanctuary movement in the 1980s. Did anything from your time in Tucson inform your approach and how you’ve interfaced with immigrant communities?** **Chief Hall:** There were a lot of face-to-face meetings and a lot of trust-building. That was always tenuous and probably always will be. There’s so much historical trauma for a lot of these different populations in public government in general, but in the federal government overall. It’s just constant, ongoing relationship-building and trust-building. Things happen to erode that immediately and you have to start all over again, right? That’s what we did in Tucson. I worked very closely with both refugee resettlement groups and a large asylum seeking population there. We had to set up centers. At one point in time – I’m not casting shade on Border Patrol – but their detainment facilities were so full. They’d do what we call “street drop-offs.” They would just drop off busloads of these folks on street corners. It’s not a rescue operation, but basically I had my cops go out and buy crates of water. They would sit with these folks to make sure that they weren’t exploited or victimized, and had water and shelter. For the most part, they were being transported to or wanted to go to other places in the country. Tucson was sort of a distribution point for them, which started several years ago during the first Trump administration. Pima County and Tucson City built a pretty impressive system with brick and mortar facilities to house these folks. There were literally hundreds. They had “travel agents” for these folks, getting them plane tickets and bus tickets to all the different places in the country they wanted to go. That was my background. Working in that space, setting all of that up and being a part of that was all based on what I call “compassionate policing.” These were vulnerable, marginalized folks who – for the most part – didn’t speak the language in a foreign country. No friends in Tucson, no family in Tucson. They needed a lot of help. **Luke: Whether or not they had entered the country illegally, you’re not in charge of federal jurisdiction. They had just been dropped off on the street corner and hadn’t committed any crimes in Tucson that would’ve been under your jurisdiction.** **Chief Hall:** Exactly. Because quite frankly, in my 32 and a half years in Tucson, foreign nationals were not the crime problem. They were not the drivers of crime. I was a homicide sergeant for five years there and supervised the investigation of over 300 homicides. One time the offender was a foreign national. Tucson is 60 miles from the international border. There is a huge Hispanic population or Latino population. It’s very much ingrained in the culture there. It’s just who Tucson is. So it’s a little different than Spokane, but I still believe in the compassionate policing model. These are still Spokane residents, whether they’re here legally, illegally, or on a visa. Whatever it may be, they're living here. They have the same constitutional rights as everybody else. **Val: On June 11th, we had our biggest civil unrest since 2020 and it wasn’t planned. When you were watching the demonstration grow, at what point did you say, “we need to send in SPD?”** **Chief Hall:** What a lot of folks don’t realize is that we were watching this almost from the beginning. We immediately heard about it. We put eyes on it, and then the phone calls started. Phone calls from the folks inside the building, the ICE agents inside the building, phone calls from the agent in charge in Seattle. Phone calls from the Sheriff, who was also getting phone calls. It very rapidly became something that we couldn't just let simmer and ignore, right? But at the same time, we had some valid questions about the Keep Washington Working Act and *what does our participation in this event look like? Am I placing my officers at risk by taking action here?* We eventually contacted the State Attorney General’s office and spoke to them. We worked through the problem and came up with different contingencies. The point where we finally decided to act – I think it was three hours or more in – where we had been watching this, we began to see a conduct that was unlawful. And this is a conversation I’ve had with many of the participants there. I don’t want to get too far off, but I think it’s important to say that they \[protesters\] kept saying, “it was peaceful.” I have to point out it was peaceful where you were at, but around the corner, it wasn’t so peaceful. Peaceful doesn’t mean lawful. We have to strike a balance of what’s lawful, unlawful, and peaceful. **Luke: For clarity, are you saying you can act “nonviolently” and still be breaking the law with something like obstructing a street? When you’re defining peace, you’re thinking about levels of violence.** **Chief Hall:** Exactly. One of the examples I’ve used is that you can peacefully go up on I-90 and sit down in the middle lane of traffic and protest. That is peaceful. It’s not lawful and it’s not safe. I have to balance all of that. I have 20 plus people inside this building who say they are not free to leave and they want out. There were a lot of phone calls with the agent in charge inside the building. There were a lot of questions like, “Can you stay there for the night?” And it was, “No, we can't stay there for the night. We don't have the facilities, we don't have food, we don't have any of that.” I asked, “Is it possible to release these folks that they want released?” They said, “No, we're not gonna release them.” These are all scenarios we were going back and forth on as we're watching this grow. We know another 300 to 400 people are going to start arriving at the Red Wagon. That’s a very short distance and we already pretty much guessed they were going to join them. And that was the question: *is this an option that these folks can be let go?* And the answer was “no.” **Val:** Did they give any reasoning of why they couldn't let the men go? **Chief Hall:** No. **Luke: At one point, ICE agents came out and pushed through the crowd. I’m not asking you to do the judge’s job of figuring out if people were actually unlawfully imprisoning/detaining somebody, but they could get out. They weren't actually being forcibly detained in the way that you would think.** **Chief Hall:** I don't want to go too in depth. These are all open investigations and I don’t want to speculate on people’s cases, but it was the perception of the agents inside the building that they couldn't leave and weren’t being allowed to leave. **Luke:** So then the conversation you're having rises to the level of helping them leave the situation? **Chief Hall:** Yeah. At some point it became, *this isn't going away*. *It's actually growing*. More and more people are coming. They are vandalizing the transportation, the bus, and the van which they needed to transport these folks. So then it was, *well, now we don't have any way to get these people out of here*. I think at one point they went out to get their cars and the gate was blocked by folks, and that's where that altercation took place. I had to balance, *how are we going to do this if I don't take action? Who is right? Are the ICE agents going to take action?* I didn't want that to occur. Are other folks gonna be called in? Federal, National Guard, whatever. And I didn't want that to happen either. This is my community and we're responsible for the safety of everybody in it. So, I felt that I had no choice but to act in addressing the situation as it unfolded. **Luke: Under your leadership, what is SPD’s objective when a protest rises to the level of needing to intervene? What is the objective you try to communicate to officers from your perspective as Chief?** **Chief Hall:** To do it as safely as possible and then to ensure that everybody is protected. That means the community, the people who are demonstrating, and the officers. So doing this in a way that everybody is safe. Protecting First Amendment rights is what we're trying to do here. When those rights become clouded with unlawful behavior, we have to start making some of those tough decisions and drawing the line. We can be really tolerant. Like following the protests where we basically allowed them to block city streets for hours. It really didn't impact a whole bunch of people. It did impact some business down there, and believe me, I heard from them. But at the same time, if it's safe and it's still protecting people's First Amendment rights, then I'm willing to take that for the good of the community. But it's always going to be a balance, and it's always going to be, what's safe? What constitutional rights are being protected? Are we reaching it's not as safe as it should be? **Luke: Under your tenure, has SPD substantively changed standard operating procedures for protests?** **Chief Hall:** To some degree. We brought in what we call “dialogue policing.” With the exception of Europe and a few places in the States, this hasn’t happened before. You’re embedding uniformed police officers – not undercover officers – into these crowds at these protests. They’re there to create dialogue, to have a chat, and get the vibe of the crowd. It starts before the protest even begins. They contact the organizers and they say, Hey, we're gonna be there. We'd like to help facilitate this and make sure it's safe for everybody. I have a lot of faith in that model and I think it's going to be how policing and protests occur in the nation’s future. It's had a lot of success in Europe, where it's been done for the past 20 years. I think the biggest substantive change you will see is that we're putting more and more officers on the front end to talk and mingle with the crowd, and to let them know the officers are there to help. They have helped in many instances. At a previous protest where we first started doing this, an armed individual showed up. It was very concerning to the organizers. The organizers reached out to our folks and we asked, have you asked him to leave? And they said no. They went over and asked the guy to leave, and he left. That kind of facilitation and partnership will prove to be very beneficial for the community. As far as use of force, I don’t know about any substantial changes. I can't compare it to what happened before since I wasn't here. I can tell you my philosophy on it is “the least amount necessary.” We don't want to use chemical agents if we don't have to. And we want to use the least intrusive chemical agent if we have to use a chemical agent. So it's always going to be “the least amount necessary” to achieve the objective. Things like CS gas are very indiscriminate. Once we throw it, it's in the air and it's going to go in all kinds of different places. It wasn’t a consideration on June 11th because we were very aware of a soccer game. Once we threw CS, it was going to go wherever and we were not going to do that with a crowd of families nearby. **Val: We have unidentifiable masked men driving around without names or badges. It’s really hard to tell. Does it help or hinder local law enforcement to have masked agents running around doing this, legitimate or not?** **Chief Hall:** My officers will not wear masks. They will not. There is a legitimate fear about unidentified men – who are armed and masked – grabbing folks and pulling them into unmarked vehicles. I fully understand that fear. What I don't think is conveyed enough is how limited I am in being able to control that by federal agents. I think we’ve seen a couple of incidents across the country where people were posing as ICE for whatever reason and that's something we will certainly address. LAPD came out with some new guidelines and directions for their officers on how to engage with ICE operations or perceived ICE operations. 9-1-1 is getting calls. I'm going to copy a lot of what they did and give that direction to my officers. You're simply peacekeepers. You're there. You preserve the peace, you make sure the identity of the federal agents is who they are, and you're strictly there to preserve the peace and make sure nobody gets hurt. We can’t interfere with federal law enforcement officers, whether we believe what they're doing is right, wrong, legal, or illegal. **Luke: If someone witnesses a masked man taking somebody off the streets, what should they do?** **Chief Hall:** Call 9-1-1. That’s the direction I gave to a lot of these community groups that we met with. Call 9-1-1 if you don’t know what’s happening. And here's the biggest fear: what if that's an off-duty officer who's witnessing that? What if it was me? I'm going to take police action against that person. In fact, I'm sure all of my officers would. They're looking at an abduction right in front of them. They're going to take police action. That’s enormously dangerous for the agents as well as for everybody around them. And, if this continues as, as it seems it will, there will be people who will take advantage of that ambiguity and, like you said, kit up and, and do what people do sometimes when they behave very badly. **Val: On June 11th, our reporting team witnessed some Spokane Police vehicles escorting the red van ICE used into the ICE facility. Is that considered aiding ICE? And how is it not a violation of the Keep Washington Working Act?** **Chief Hall:** That was in order to get the people out because the bus they were going to use was disabled, and then the red van was very quickly disabled as well. The entire goal was to get the people out of the building. All people – agents, detainees, and whoever was in the building. Unfortunately, what we ended up doing is using our armored vehicles to do that. It was – rightfully so – a little triggering to the folks to see armored vehicles there. But it was the only thing that we had big enough to get those folks into besides another passenger van. It was just the logistics of the situation. **Val: On June 11, a protester was repeatedly slammed into the ground while complying with an officer. On June 14, we saw a protester getting arrested despite following police orders to disperse into the park. What’s the goal of giving orders at these things if people are still going to get arrested or have excessive force used on them, no matter what?** **Chief Hall:** I can speak generally and not to either of those incidents because I don’t know them, but if whoever witnessed that or the individuals who are involved feel like they were treated unfairly or excessively, I would really urge them to either come to our internal affairs office or the police ombuds office. But in a very general sense, the order to disperse is given after criminal conduct has been observed. And it is deemed safer to disrupt the crowd and have them move on as opposed to keeping them there. In a very general sense, that's the objective. **Val: I know the June 14 protest was kind of never-ending and I can totally see how your officers were trying to stop people from blocking the streets. But it was really confusing when officers were saying “disperse to the park” and started throwing the chemical munitions and/or pepper balls. People were running to the park. What do people do in that situation? Do they just run away? Because in one case, a protester was in the park being chased by an officer. They knelt down and just surrendered, but it sounds like they're getting charged with failure to disperse. They did do the dispersing technically, so that's why I'm confused. How do people follow orders and stay safe?** **Chief Hall:** That's a fair point. Maybe we need to be more clear about where they need to disperse to or give them an area or a measurement, whatever makes sense to people. There were also people who were not dispersing. I can guarantee you that those people were the primary focus of the officers. And quite frankly, there were people who never did disperse and we just left. That could be a valid tactic. A lot of times they're there because we're there and if we leave, then what's the point? I don't want to gloss over this point. It’s a fair point. If people were complying and were arrested while they were complying, then that's something we need to address. If those folks are willing to come forward, we can sort of explore what happened and how that went that way. **Luke: At the press conference, you said there weren't any less lethal rounds used. Later, you wrote a letter saying, “actually, that was our mistake. We misunderstood the information.” You took responsibility for that and I wanted to give you credit for that, for sure. How did you realize that force had been used? Was it after action reports? Was it munitions inventories? How did you figure it out?** **Chief Hall:** It was after action reports. That was a communication issue on our part that has since been fixed. But in both of these incidents, I was there. I was in the CP and ultimately it all falls on my shoulders. I have no intention of trying to mislead the community. It was just a lack of information I had at the time. I think we fixed that. That won't happen again. On the following Saturday, I knew immediately and was told immediately. **Val: I’m the Managing Editor at RANGE, so I'm in charge of sending people out to these things and I understand the idea of being responsible for your people. I'm very concerned about my reporters' safety on the ground at these things. At the June 11 protest, my reporter was actually shoved and assaulted by a federal agent or officer even though they were out of the way and they were identifying themselves as press, it's captured on video from multiple angles. Is there any legal recourse for my reporter to press charges against this officer? Or is there any legal recourse for protesters who were assaulted by federal agents? Because it sounds like federal agents are really just able to come into your jurisdiction and commit crimes with no consequences.** **Chief Hall:** They can do the same thing they would do with SPD. If they felt they were treated unfairly by SPD or if SPD – in their view – had conducted a criminal act against them, they can file a complaint with that agency. If it's a federal agency, they can go to the US Attorney General's Office. They can also go to the police Ombuds, who will help facilitate those contacts. They can't do an investigation, though. They won't forward it to SPD, but they can help facilitate that. **Val:** Even though it's a crime and they're doing it in the line of duty, you’re not able to bring charges against a federal officer? **Chief Hall:** That's not technically true. We could do a criminal investigation. In this particular case, we would probably defer that to the Sheriff's department. **Val:** And the sheriff's department would have leniency to do what they want with that? **Chief Hall:** They would have the discretion that all law enforcement has. **Val:** Is there a reason why you would defer to the Sheriff's department? **Chief Hall:** They took over all of the investigations in this case because of potential conflict of interest. **Luke: We’ve now had two pretty big protests under your tenure less than a week apart. One required a relatively heavy presence and one that – to your point – was a much bigger protest at No Kings that seemed to require less of a response from SPD. What lessons have you, the department, and department leadership learned from these protests? How might it impact the way you guys respond next time?** **Chief Hall:** The biggest lesson we learned is that we need to continue the communication, which didn't happen on June 11\. We had no idea that was occurring. There was no pre-planning. We didn't have the dialogue officers in place. None of that occurred, and all of our other demonstrations in Spokane have had that component and they've all gone off very, very well. We have to figure out a way to be more adaptable and flexible with spontaneous demonstrations. With that staff, those personnel, it’s a specialty. You need good communicators to do this work and they need to feel comfortable in a crowd. We need to do that better. One of the things I've been trying to instill for all of my staff – all the way down to the newest patrol officer, all the way up to myself – is we're going to learn from everything we do. Even if we think we did something flawlessly, we're still going to examine it and say, “how do we do it even better next time?” What exactly do you want us to do when this or that happens? And it has to go both ways. It's not just us talking to protestors and telling them how to behave. It's also protestors saying, well, here's what we want to do. It has to be a back and forth. There needs to be some mutual respect for what we're trying to do here and what we're trying to do in the end is protect first amendment rights. That’s the oath that all officers across the United States take, is to the Constitution. We have to have those communications. We have to give expectations to the protestors and then listen to their expectations and what they wanna accomplish. We, as police officers, never want to be the story. If we're the story, in my mind, we failed. It has to be the demonstration, the protesters. It has to be their story and the message they want to tell. And if police are never mentioned, that's our success. We have to learn from everything we do. **Luke: Is there anything else you want to mention?** **Chief Hall:** Like I said, I'm certainly listening to criticisms. We're not always going to do things perfectly and I will own it. We’ll learn from it. If I don't hear about it, how can I fix it? I think officers hear a lot of complaints and they just get defensive and they're like, “okay, I don't want to hear it anymore.” I understand that, and I'm sensitive to it. But I, in my position, need to hear everything. If we can get to a place where this is the premier law enforcement agency in the region, if not the state, and we can have that relationship with our community, that’s truly a partnership. Demonstrators and police working together to make sure that everybody's safe and their message is heard. **Luke:** And that's your ambition? To be the law enforcement agency that everybody in Washington state looks to? **Chief Hall:** It’s not really my ambition. I would hope that organically happens as we do things here that aren’t exactly “conventional” or “traditional” as we try to push policing into the 21st century in a more positive way. I went through 15 straight days of riots, not riots, protests in 2020\. It was taxing, to say the least. But what I discovered there, and I believe this is for the most part, is that the majority of people just want better policing. That's all they're asking for. In the interest of customer service, why don't we work towards doing that? ### Is the Spokane health board about to get a whole lot bigger? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/ Last updated: 2025-07-28T18:49:00.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are the highlights: - Spokane City Council is set to accept millions of dollars of grant funding for homelessness services, choose a new council member and approve a settlement for the family of a man killed by police in 2022. - The Finance and Administration Committee has a bunch of important items for discussion today, but the one that caught our attention was the revival of the ordinance to ban warrantless ICE arrests at ticketed events in the public right-of-way, like street festivals. - The Spokane County Planning Commission will host a discussion about wind energy development as part of its decades-long planning process. - The Spokane Regional Health District Board could get a whole lot bigger: they’re planning to add a county commissioner for every tribal representative they were required to add by new state law. - Liberty Lake City Council will host an “advisory vote” on a “Library/Community Center Project” at a special council meeting. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Finance and Administration Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Spokane County Planning Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Spokane Regional Health District Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/is-the-spokane-health-board-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-bigger/) ## Turn your ballot in! It’s primary season, and ballots are due August 5\. If you live in Spokane City’s District 3, we’ve got [a piece](https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-3-spokane-city-council-candidates/) out that might help you make up your mind, with another one on the way, and a podcast of a recent candidate forum you can listen to [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/). And for everyone else in the city limits, you just have [the aquifer protection tax](https://voter.votewa.gov/GenericVoterGuide.aspx?e=893&c=32&ref=rangemedia.co#/measure/6731) on your ballot! Quick and easy to fill out and turn in at [a ballot box](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/187/Ballot-Drop-Box-Locations?ref=rangemedia.co) near you. ## Human Rights Commission to host conversation on police violence On Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, the Spokane Human Rights Commission will host a panel on ways to improve communication between police and the community. Panelists will include Police Chief Kevin Hall, Police Ombuds Bart Logue and police accountability activists Debbie Novak, Jim Leighty and Cynthia Mannycolors. It will take place on the third floor of the Central Library. Find more details [here](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GoYp3JM61/). # Spokane City ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Housing and Homelessness funding Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Jonathan Bingle are the dual sponsors on three housing and homelessness agenda items: - Accepting nearly $7 million in funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to pay for 2024 housing and homelessness programs that addressed youth homelessness. - An over $24 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce that runs from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027 to be spent on housing and homelessness services. - A $160,000 funding recommendation for SNAP’s housing counseling program, which helps people facing foreclosure stay in their homes, and which suffered from federal funding cuts. The metrics on SNAP’s program are impressive: last year, 419 households received housing counseling assistance from them, and 362 of those were saved from foreclosure, which is a conversion rate of 86%. ### New District 2 Council Member Tonight, council will officially vote to approve the appointed replacement for former Council Member Lili Navarrete, who is now working for the city in the Community Health and Human Services (CHHS) team. Last week, there was a bit of a toss-up between two final candidates, with the council conservatives recommending Ryan Oelrich — who previously served as an appointed council member for District 2 last year — and progressives Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon recommending Shelby Lambdin, the Health Equity director at CHAS. At last week’s Agenda Review session, they narrowed it down to Lambdin, and tonight they’ll have the (sort of perfunctory) final vote to confirm her. You can likely expect to see Lambdin at the dais starting after council’s summer break. She will serve until after the election results for the upcoming city council race are certified. ### Settlement for Robert Bradley’s family The [police shooting](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/police-release-new-body-cam-video-shooting-killed-man-2022/293-c06dedaa-f7a7-44d5-add2-1f4633784d03?ref=rangemedia.co) of Robert Bradley — who was [shot at his home](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-police-accountability-deescalation/) in September of 2022 — has continued to be a very expensive ordeal for the city, and a very drawn out one for Bradley’s family. First, council approved a half a million dollar settlement with his fiancee, Sarah. Since then, though, the city has spent a total of $600,000 fighting a second lawsuit from Bradley’s [family](https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/robert-bradley-family-lawsuit-spokane/293-ed7fb2ef-662a-40cb-8ac9-2b92a4bcee87?ref=rangemedia.co). Tonight, the city council plans to approve a settlement reached by the city’s insurance carrier with Bradley’s family, for a total of $3,655,000\. This brings the total spent on fighting or settling lawsuits around the shooting of Bradley to over $4.5 million. Important side note on transparency here: folks at council meetings have long complained about the lack of clarity behind when the council fights or settles a lawsuit. In this week’s agenda, they’re making it more clear: they do what their insurance company tells them to do. In the case of the $3,655,000 settlement this week, Safety National Insurance is paying the entire settlement cost, and the city is paying $222,123.21 in “self-insured retention,” — essentially, the out-of-pocket cost before insurance kicks in. ### Deferred from last week: Two items we covered in depth last week — the Human Right Commission policy review ordinance and the inclusive contracting resolution — were deferred last week and are up for a vote this week. They’re substantively the same as when we covered them [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) and [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/), but one quick note: the Human Rights Commission ordinance was in fact amended at last week’s Agenda Review session to the new draft by Dillon, which we covered last week. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Spokane City Council is on summer vacay next week, which means the meeting will be cancelled! Spoiler alert — we might be following suit with a small break of our own 👀 > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/documents/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Monday, July 28 at 6 pm* > *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers It’s a really big week at the Finance and Administration Committee, so we honestly recommend just tuning in today, but here’s the quick-and-dirty rundown on what’s on their docket for discussion: - An update on the Internal Audit Office’s performance review of the public records request (PRR) department. (On a related note, the department completely ghosted RANGE on a PRR about cops from early 2024.) - An ordinance draft from the mayor’s administration to establish the Emergency Communications Center, Spokane city’s alternative to Spokane Regional Emergency Communications — which we left or got kicked out of, depending on which side of the [divorce](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jan/30/spokane-srec-board-point-fingers-as-fight-over-911/?ref=rangemedia.co) you ask. - A presentation from Director of Transportation and Sustainability Jon Snyder on how the city is losing around $360,000 every year by not requiring truck drivers to pay Spokane’s Transportation Benefit District fee. - A letter to SCRAPS, asking for Spokane city to have a say in the selection process for the new executive director after [controversial former leader Jesse Ferrari](https://www.rangemedia.co/scraps-dogs-ferrari-spokane/) — who is accused of [ordering the execution of a dog](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/12/former-employee-suing-scraps-for-firing-her-allege/?ref=rangemedia.co) about to be adopted by a whistleblower on poor conditions at the facility — [exited the agency](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/24/scraps-searches-for-a-new-director-after-resignati/?ref=rangemedia.co). ### No ICE at street festivals Perhaps the biggest item on the committee agenda: Dillon is resurrecting the “Safe and Welcome Spokane,” ordinance, which would forbid warrantless arrests at ticketed street festivals. Last time, it was on the table as an emergency ordinance, which meant that even though it got a majority of council votes approving it, it didn’t clear the 5-2 supermajority threshold needed for an emergency ordinance. It’s back in committee as just a regular ordinance, which means it could be passed by Labor Day. Unfortunately, that’s not soon enough for Tacos and Tequila, which [just postponed](https://share.google/eG7ipsnQhLjnu8sXW?ref=rangemedia.co) their annual event due to safety concerns. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 28 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) # Spokane County ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🫑**/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 28 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Wind farm workshop The commission will host a workshop on renewable wind energy, one of the crucial ways for energy systems to reduce the emission of climate warming gasses produced by fossil fuels. It’s a controversial topic in Eastern Washington, with some saying wind energy takes up a lot of land and others saying it’s necessary to decarbonize the economy. Spokane County does not have a zoning ordinance that specifically addresses wind development, so it will be interesting how these conversations play out. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 31 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Regional Health District Board 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### Changing the board structure Last year, RANGE [broke the news](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-regional-health-district-tribal-representative-al-french/) that the Board of County Commissioners was refusing to seat a tribal representative on the SRHD board. Well, in this year’s legislative session, state lawmakers [closed the loophole](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/21/facing-extreme-health-disparities-native-voices-mu/?ref=rangemedia.co) the BOCC was using to avoid seating someone, but instead of just seating tribal representatives, they’re now changing the whole make up of the 8-person board. They’re proposing that for each federally recognized tribe that holds land in Spokane County and each “urban Indian organization recognized by the Indian Health services and registered as a 501(c)(3),” that choose to send a representative to the SRHD board, another county commissioner is also added to the board to balance them out, which could be up to all five county commissioners. The rest of the board makeup would stay the same: one single member to represent Spokane city and all the other surrounding towns and cities in the region and three members chosen by the BOCC who do not hold office and who represent public health officials, public health consumers and other community stakeholders. The stated goal is to make it so the membership of the board always has an equal number of elected and non-elected members. But instead of increasing representation for the surrounding cities and towns at the same time they increase indigenous representation, the BOCC is just going to consolidate power on the board. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 31 at 12:30 pm* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *Spokane Regional Health District* > *1101 West College Avenue* # School Boards ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🫑**/5 peppers** *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) *Monday, July 28 at 6 pm* *Union Event Center* *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️/5 peppers ### Facing federal funding cuts CVSD staff identified a few federal funding grants that are likely to be cut for the upcoming school year, totalling over $800,000\. Those grant dollars were expected to fund multiple Professional Development Teachers on Special Assignment. The district hasn’t yet identified a long-term solution, but the agenda states they’ve found one-time funding options to cover the potential losses this year, and they’re looking at proactive solutions for 2027 and beyond. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 28 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors (special meeting) **🫑/5 peppers** ### Ballot prep The board will appoint members to “for/against” committees who will write ballot pros and cons arguments for voters guides on the proposed building improvement bond that will appear on your ballots this November. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 30 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) # Surrounding Cities ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### SpoVal may apply for $1.84M in state funding for transportation projects The city wants to apply for $1.8 million funding from the state’s Urban Arterial Program for a series of transportation projects that would total $6.2 million. It has already secured more than $6 million in federal funding for the projects. The projects include: - South Sullivan Road preservation from 8th Avenue to 24th Avenue - Full depth pavement repair, sidewalk infill, stormwater system upgrades, a new pedestrian crossing near 9th Avenue and new school zone flashing beacons - A single-lane roundabout at 4th Avenue and Barker Road > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 29 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Advisory vote on new ‘Library/Community Center Project’ The city council will host an advisory vote — a non-binding expression of public opinion — on support for a “Library/Community Center Project’ at a special session initially scheduled for the council to discuss new greenhouse gas requirements in public facilities. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 29 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### 20 Questions with District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/20-questions-with-district-3-spokane-city-council-candidates/ Last updated: 2025-07-25T22:39:14.000Z If you live in the city of Spokane’s District 3, you’re special: you’re in the sole city district that has more than two city council candidates this year, meaning you have a primary election to vote in! Three candidates — incumbent Zack Zappone and challengers Christopher Savage and Cody Arguelles — are running to represent you on council for the next four years. Ballots for the primaries were sent out last week, and are [due August 5,](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/178/Current-Election?ref=rangemedia.co) so you have a choice to make before then: which two of these three men will advance to the primaries to continue fighting for your vote? To help you make your decision, we asked all three candidates to give us brief, clear answers (think something that could fit in a tweet) to 20 questions about some of the key issues emerging for voters this year. *Should Spokane fund a new jail? How should the city council address housing affordability? Which transportation projects should we prioritize for funding?* All that and more in this handy chart, and if this isn’t enough to help you make your choice before election day, don’t worry: we have more detailed coverage on this race coming next week. If you want to dive in even deeper than that, our podcast episode for this week is a full recording of a candidate forum that both Arguelles — via video submission — and Savage participated in. You can listen to that [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/) or wherever you get your podcasts. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data\["datawrapper-height"\])for(var r,i=0;r=e\[i\];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data\["datawrapper-height"\]\[t\]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}(); More about these candidates’ positions can also be found on their websites: - [Zack Zappone](https://zackzappone.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Christopher Savage](https://savageforspokane.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Cody Arguelles](https://www.codyforspokane.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) Ballot drop-off locations can be found [here](http://www.spokanecounty.org/187/Ballot-Drop-Box-Locations?ref=rangemedia.co). ### POD: A (Conservative) City Council Candidate Forum URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-a-conservative-city-council-candidate-forum/ Last updated: 2025-07-25T22:35:14.000Z This week, Aaron Hedge and intern Clarinne Kirk attended a candidate forum hosted by the East Washington Freedom Alliance at Calvary Spokane, at which conservatives running for city council — District 1 incumbent Jonathan Bingle and District 3 challengers Christopher Savage and Cody Arguelles — pitched the audience on their visions for the direction of the city. We’re playing (mostly) raw audio from that event. As a warning, the candidates in this forum do use language and make comments that are harmful to queer and trans communities. ### Man ‘didn’t know they were out there’ until police shot him to death URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/joshua-musselman-police-killing-spokane/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T23:17:26.000Z At 4:42 pm on December 29, 2024, Spokane Police Department (SPD) officers stationed themselves on a hill that gave them a clear view of Joshua Musselman through the open front door of his third-floor apartment. They were there because a neighbor complained Musselman had been shooting a rifle into that same hill, just north of the Northcliff Terrace apartment complex, earlier in the day. As they watched him, Musselman, 29, walked onto the landing to “roll a joint,” according to a newly-released investigation of the killing. Minutes later, at 4:46 pm, the police opened fire from the hill, and Musselman was dying in a hallway just inside the door. The investigative report from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office says Musselman was not armed when the police arrived, despite the neighbor’s complaint. The police were about 100 feet away from Musselman: “a little too far for verbal” commands, SPD Officer Garth Craigen, one of the men on the hill that day, said, according to the report’s narrative of body camera footage. Craigen’s story is contained in the report, which was issued by the Sheriff’s office as part of a mechanism called the “[Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/4755/SIIR---Spokane-Independent-Investigative?ref=rangemedia.co)” (SIIR). It’s a local group of law enforcement agencies set up so when officers in one agency kill someone, a different agency in the group steps in to investigate to avoid conflicts of interest. The report said a communications team in the apartment complex parking area had not yet established contact with Musselman when the officers took their position on the hill. It describes no attempt by police to “[deescalate](https://www.niskanencenter.org/police-de-escalation-tactics-can-lead-to-meaningful-improvements-in-officer-and-civilian-safety/?ref=rangemedia.co),” or make the situation less likely to result in physical violence. The officers tried to stay out of Musselman’s view, the report says. The officers — Craigen, Will Mitchell, Matthew Stewart, Daniel Valencia — said Musselman’s rifle was leaning against the wall near his apartment door when they arrived. They say in the report that Musselman saw them and picked the weapon up, but the sheriff's investigators could not corroborate this. “I am unable to determine if the subject seen moving \[at the time Musselman walked outside\] is holding anything in his hands,” wrote detective Marc Melville, who used the officers’ body camera footage to author much of the SIIR report. After the shooting, the officers cleared neighboring apartments and performed CPR on Musselman. At 5:17, medics pronounced Musselman dead, according to the documents, and Spokane County Medical Examiner Veena Singh ruled his killing a homicide. ### Previous police run-ins lead to killing It was not the first time in the prior month — or even that day — that Musselman had run-ins with the police. The sheriff’s report describes a series of incidents indicating that Musselman’s mental health was deteriorating. Earlier in the afternoon, his downstairs neighbor had called police because Musselman was “screaming at people walking through the parking lot,” she told RANGE in March. Mitchell, one of the officers posted on the hill that day, had responded to that earlier call but “chose to engage in deescalation tactics,” the report said, meaning he’d left the earlier scene without confronting Musselman. The four officers who shot Musselman had fired a total of 15 [.223 rounds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.223%5FRemington?ref=rangemedia.co) from AR-15 patrol rifles at Musselman, a deadly caliber known for its ability to penetrate more than one target. They came in rapid succession just before Valencia called, “Hold fire,” the report says. “It should also be noted that when the first shot rings out, other shots are heard almost simultaneously,” Melville’s report says. The rifle Musselman had turned out to be a Gamo airsoft rifle, a type of BB gun, which can cause harm and in some cases death, but is generally not considered to be lethal. According to the report, the rifle was found leaning neatly against the railing before the officers entered the apartment to render first aid. Spokane County Sheriff spokesperson Mark Gregory declined to comment on the SIIR report because, he said, once it’s sent to the prosecutor, the sheriff’s office no longer has access to it. Jim Leighty, a police accountability activist and the person who obtained the report this story is based on, said the officers did several things wrong during the response. “Instead of using less-than-lethal or perhaps using something that would be less likely to penetrate a wall, all of them chose to go with an AR 15 platform with .223 rounds,” Leighty said in an interview. The bullets have “jacketed tips that will, when they're shot, go through a person. They'll penetrate a wall.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/image-from-ios-2.jpg) **Police accountability expert Jim Leighty holds two bullets. The one on the right is a .223 round similar to the penetrative rounds used in the police killing of Joshua Musselman. (Photo by Aaron Hedge.)* At least three of the rounds went through the exterior of Musselman’s apartment, through the opposite wall and into the next door apartment of Alexis Stojsic, who is the mother of a toddler. Months later, the bullet holes are patched up but still visible near a mirror mounted on the east wall. Before the shooting, Stojsic said her son liked to stand on the couch and look at himself in the mirror, placing himself exactly in the bullets’ path. “The bottom one lines right up with the head,” she told RANGE, referring to the bullet holes. “It gives me goosebumps.” Her son was not home when the shooting happened, but Stojsic said she has rearranged her furniture to make him safer from bullets. A friend who was in Stosjsic’s apartment during the shooting reported hearing a bullet whizz by his ears, she said. “They didn't even slow down and take into consideration they were shooting into an occupied apartment building with rounds that they knew could go through walls and kill people in other apartments,” Leighty said. Leighty, the police accountability activist, said the officers who returned to the complex did not follow state-mandated training for police, which requires them to understand the situation, establish communication with suspects and give them time to understand and follow commands when safe and feasible. Musselman “didn’t know they were out there,” Leighty said. ### A deadly history Three of the four officers who shot Musselman have shot at civilians before. Craigen [fired at](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/may/19/spokane-police-officer-justified-in-firing-round-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) but missed Branden Dozier in the Logan neighborhood in May 2023\. Valencia was among a group of seven officers [who in 2022 shot](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jul/30/seven-spokane-police-officers-justified-in-downtow/?ref=rangemedia.co) Israel Garcia, who they said shot at them. Garcia survived. In April 2024, Mitchell was one of three officers [who shot](https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/spokane-police-responding-shooting-shadle-park-high-school/293-e875a71a-04a5-4ea5-a2fc-736d2852cb4c?ref=rangemedia.co) a person who had reportedly been in a dispute with a tow truck driver. That person also survived. Then-Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell declined to prosecute any of these cases, saying the shootings were justified. This is the same stance Haskell took every time police killed a civilian during his decade-long tenure, which ended last week. As [RANGE](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-police-accountability-deescalation/) and other publications have reported, the police watchdog [Mapping Police Violence (MPV) says](https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/cities?ref=rangemedia.co) SPD ranks fourth in the nation for civilian killings. Last year, that ranking was third, and SPD has been among the 10 most deadly departments per capita since MVP was founded in 2013. Musselman’s killing was the sixth SPD caused in 2024 and the first that took place under the tenure of Police Chief Kevin Hall, who has signalled he’s open to police accountability reforms. The Sheriff sent the SIIR report on the Musselman killing to Haskell in April. Acting prosecutor Preston McCollam told RANGE he could not confirm whether his office had received the document and didn’t know how long it would take to determine whether he would prosecute the involved officers. After Musselman’s killing, his sister [retained](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jan/07/sister-of-man-killed-by-spokane-police-in-december/?ref=rangemedia.co) the high-profile lawyer Rondi Thorp, who has won large settlements from the City of Spokane on behalf of families of police shooting victims, [including](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/sep/22/city-settles-with-family-of-man-shot-by-police-for/?ref=rangemedia.co) a $4 million settlement with Debbie Novak in 2022 after police killed her son David in 2019\. Thorp also represented the family of Robert Bradley, who was killed in 2022 by Spokane police. Just this month, the city [agreed to](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/21/city-of-spokane-poised-to-agree-to-37-million-sett/?ref=rangemedia.co) a $3.7 million settlement with Bradley’s family. In all those killings, Haskel had found the officers justified. The officers who killed Musselman are currently on full-duty status, SPD spokesperson Daniel Strassenberg told RANGE. Strassenberg declined to answer specific questions about the killing because SPD is conducting its own probe into the case. ### Immigration arrests surged last month in Washington URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-surge-washington-trump/ Last updated: 2025-07-23T20:04:23.000Z ***This story was originally published in the [Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co).*** Federal immigration arrests across Washington rose sharply in June as the Trump administration continues its aggressive nationwide push for deportations, according to new data. Arrests in June, more than 275, were at least double any month since President Donald Trump reclaimed the presidency in January. At the same time, the share of arrestees in Washington with criminal records dropped sharply, to less than one-third. The figures come from the Deportation Data Project out of the University of California, Berkeley, where researchers received the information via Freedom of Information Act requests. The data runs through June 26. “I think that every community member in our country who is watching the news and comes from an immigrant family is increasingly concerned about their safety here,” said Caedmon Magboo Cahill, director of policy advocacy at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington chapter. The data provides the most complete look yet at the numbers underpinning the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin defended the administration’s approach. “We are continuing to go after the worst of the worst — including gang members, pedophiles, and rapists,” she said in a statement. “We are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and make America safe,” McLaughlin added. The dramatic rise in arrests last month in Washington, which mirrors national trends, came as top federal officials upped arrest quotas. Congress this month added $170 billion to carry out Trump’s immigration agenda, an extraordinary funding injection sure to expand deportation efforts. The legislation makes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the largest federal law enforcement agency. “We’re bracing for even more ICE activity throughout the country and in our state,” Cahill said. The rise in local arrests coincides with a surge in [flights of migrants detained elsewhere](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/15/deportation-flights-at-wa-airport-up-dramatically-this-year-advocates-say/?ref=rangemedia.co) and brought to Washington for detention. This has strained capacity at the state’s only federal immigration detention facility, the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. The Berkeley researchers’ data isn’t comprehensive. For one, it only includes ICE administrative arrests, excluding Customs and Border Protection. And, in some cases, no state is listed for individual arrest records. So the arrest figures for Washington are likely an undercount. Here are a few other takeaways from the statistics. #### Arrests up In the first five months of Trump’s presidency, ICE arrests jumped 35% in Washington. From Inauguration Day to June 26, the feds arrested 782 people, according to the Deportation Data Project. That’s up from 581 in the same period last year. So far this year, ICE is averaging five arrests per day in Washington, an 85% leap from all of 2024. Catalina Velasquez, the executive director of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, said this increase in arrests since Trump retook office “represents an immeasurable amount of pain on Washington communities.” Still, Washington’s increase pales in comparison to much of the rest of the nation, as many states have seen arrests double or triple, according to a [New York Times analysis](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/27/us/ice-arrests-trump.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Arrests in Idaho, for example, have skyrocketed around 10-fold. “As immigration enforcement agents are ruthlessly targeting, surveilling, and detaining community members, this comparatively lower increase in ICE arrests demonstrates the necessity and importance of a proactive, community-centered deportation defense infrastructure ready to mobilize and protect our communities,” said Velasquez, citing her organization’s rapid response teams. The ACLU’s Washington chapter has seen a nearly five-times jump in immigration-related calls since last year, Cahill said. Examples of calls include people concerned about [Medicaid data sharing with immigration enforcement](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/06/13/wa-medicaid-data-shared-with-federal-immigration-authorities-report-says/?ref=rangemedia.co) and someone who couldn’t get a loan because of the perception they’re from a Latin American country and wouldn’t be able to repay the money if ICE arrests them. #### How many have been convicted of crimes? Since starting his first campaign for president, Trump has especially focused his rhetoric on immigrants with criminal records. In the first five months of his second term, 41% of those arrested in Washington have had criminal records, according to the Deportation Data Project’s statistics. Another 16% have pending criminal charges. That’s up from 36% and 4% respectively in the same span last year when former President Joe Biden was in office. But of those arrested this June, only 31% had criminal records, as immigration agents tried to reach hefty quotas. McLaughlin claimed 70% of ICE arrests nationwide have been of “criminal illegal aliens” and accused the Deportation Data Project of cherry-picking data “to peddle a false narrative.” “Many of the individuals that are counted as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.,” she said. “Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally. It is not an accurate description to say they are ‘non-criminals.’” Living in the United States illegally is a civil violation, not criminal. Liliana Chumpitasi, deputy director at the advocacy organization La Resistencia, said in an email that this tough-on-crime approach “is used as an excuse to destroy our communities.” #### Demographic shift The Trump administration, in Washington and elsewhere, has focused its enforcement efforts on immigrants from Latin American countries. The top six countries from which migrants emigrated are in Latin America. Migrants from Mexico have made up nearly half of the arrests in Washington since Trump took office. Mexico is followed by Venezuelan immigrants, who have been a specific target of the federal government amid claims migrants have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. The countries that follow are Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and Nicaragua. Migrants from India rank seventh. During the same period last year, Indian immigrants were second most likely to be arrested. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has suggested federal agents can question people “based on their physical appearance.” Chumpitasi said, “They can’t be more clear about racial profiling than that.” The Trump administration has also seemed to focus more on arresting men, as they make up seven in every eight arrestees since Inauguration Day. That’s up from less than 75% in this span last year. #### Expedited removal Under Trump, ICE has also moved to more quickly deport immigrants through a process called expedited removal. This process allows immigration officials to deport immigrants without legal status without a hearing before a judge. Trump expanded expedited removal in his first term, before Biden dialed it back. From Jan. 20 to June 26 this year, 13% of arrested immigrants were labeled as expedited removals, according to the data. That’s up from 3% in the same period last year under Biden. The Trump administration came under fire in Seattle and elsewhere in May as it moved to dismiss many immigration cases in court so they could immediately detain those migrants and immediately place them into expedited removal proceedings. Advocacy groups [sued last week](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/16/repub/advocates-for-immigrants-sue-to-stop-courthouse-ice-arrests/?ref=rangemedia.co) over due process concerns associated with this new practice. ### How can Division Street be safer for everyone? 74 advocates walk it to find out. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/division-st-safer-transportation-choices-coalition/ Last updated: 2025-07-22T22:57:18.000Z Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC), a statewide advocacy and lobbying nonprofit, was in Spokane last week for the Washington Traffic Safety Summit and hosted a Walk & Talk event that featured local and regional speakers to discuss the current and future states of Division Street. 74 attendees from across the state walked together along the south end of the corridor to observe for themselves the difficulties present today for those walking, cycling and taking transit. Division Street is a state-owned highway, but it runs through the city, serving dual and sometimes conflicting roles as both a long-distance route and a local-access route. That combination is deadly: [47% of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities occur on roads managed by the state, many of which are state highways running through towns and cities.](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/transportationchoices-org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tcc-one-pager-a-megaproject-for-safety.pdf) According to the Spokane Regional Transportation Council’s [Division Connects study](https://srtc.org/our-work/corridor-planning/?ref=rangemedia.co#division), “bicycle and pedestrian related crashes accounted for just 5% of total crashes, but 64% of severe and fatal crashes involved nonmotorized users.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ad_4nxftgddxncwydlnruewohflxt5o6x0iiglsrqkqcpjlvsks3ag7tpxb-luwiyxnfjfzk1ic7n3fbs_6ggbft4qoekgwltgrnurttsw7rv3_nkv0wbri3pueyf7wcpw3k1roeiacikeyjsdgveu9hagtun2rvyouxg.jpg) *Barb Chamberlain, Director of WSDOT’s Active Transportation Division, speaking with Kirk Hovenkotter, Executive Director of Transportation Choices Coalition. (Photo by Lauren Pangborn)* TCC’s Executive Director Kirk Hovenkotter counts Division Street among the Washington streets most in need of rehab. “Division is a dangerous, state-owned street that doesn't work well for anyone on it, whether you are driving, walking, or rolling,” he said in a statement to RANGE. “That's especially true for the bus riders who make it the busiest transit street in the city. It lacks accessible sidewalks. There are football field sized distances between crosswalks. There's sparse shade, and no place for seniors to wait if they can't cross the street in time. Wide lanes encourage drivers to speed, crashes are frequent, and there are few appealing alternatives to being stuck in your car. There is no safe bike lane, and no bus lane to get the 25 around traffic.” Walking the corridor with Hovenkotter and TCC, attendees saw firsthand evidence of Hovenkotter’s assessment: shade was scarce and sidewalks were narrow and positioned next to very loud traffic with no buffer. Even with a microphone and an amplifier, Walk & Talk speakers could not be heard over the din of traffic — even “regular” traffic noise was deafening, and attendees cringed at each louder-than-average truck or motorcycle. Erik Lowe, Co-Executive Director of local advocacy group Spokane Reimagined, said he wants Division Street to be reshaped to serve everyone, not just those passing through in cars. “Division is geared primarily for those who want to drive highway speeds within the city limits. During the walk and talk, I’m not sure if we were passed by a single vehicle going the posted 30 mph speed limit,” Lowe said. “It is an imposing hurdle for anyone not in a motor vehicle.” The city of Spokane, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), and Spokane Transit Authority (STA) are planning quite the makeover: Dan Wells, STA’s Deputy Director of Capital Development, described for attendees how STA plans to upgrade its existing service on the corridor into a Bus Rapid Transit line, featuring spacious, comfortable, amenity-filled stops, 15-minute headways and modern electric five-door buses. People who use the [City Line](https://www.spokanetransit.com/cityline/?ref=rangemedia.co) — STA’s first bus rapid transit line — know what to expect: frequent, on-time, consistent service. Even better, coaches on Division Street will skip traffic in reserved lanes (which will also allow for right turns by those traveling in cars). STA and the city are also collaborating on 30 active transportation projects in the area, most designed to ensure people can safely walk and cycle to and from BRT stops. Farther north, WSDOT is planning to revamp Division Street from The Y at Country Homes Boulevard to Wandermere to adhere to [Complete Streets](https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/complete-streets?ref=rangemedia.co) laws. The agency plans on reducing speed limits, adding cycling infrastructure and adding more crossings for pedestrians. Hovenkotter and TCC spend their days advocating for statewide legislation to address the Division Streets of other cities and towns — those state-owned highways cutting through urban areas. They hope the state will fund a “Megaproject for Safety,” a $1.5 billion fund spread over 10 years for revamping these dangerous and polluting corridors found in every crook and cranny of Washington. The state is familiar with transportation projects that size — [the North Spokane Corridor will end up costing around the same amount.](https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/major-projects/north-spokane-corridor?ref=rangemedia.co) During the Walk & Talk, Barb Chamberlain, Director of WSDOT’s Active Transportation Division and former bicycling activist in Spokane, encouraged attendees (many of whom work in transportation elsewhere) to dream big when considering how wide rights-of-way can be transformed to serve those walking, cycling and taking transit. “We can make our streets work for everyone,” Chamberlain said. ### Low income fare, coming soon to a bus near you? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/ Last updated: 2025-07-21T18:16:18.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are the highlights: - Equity’s on the brain for the Spokane City Council as they consider a resolution asking the mayor’s office to move the city towards more inclusive procurement and contracting practices and vote on an ordinance that could give the Human Rights Commission a say on all ordinances addressing human rights issues. - The Spokane Transit Authority Board will consider a contract for the newly anointed CEO, Karl Otterstrom, and a plan to implement discounted fare for low-income riders. - Avista will present the BOCC with its decade-long plan — initiated in 2020 — to mitigate wildfire risk in an age of climate change and expanding development in fire-prone areas. - Liberty Lake City Council will host an “advisory vote” on a “Library/Community Center Project” at a special council meeting. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment & Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) - [Spokane Transit Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) - Spokane County Board of Commissioners [Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) and [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/cheaper-busses-spokane-transit-authority/) Sessions - [Spokane Valley City Council](http://Spokane Valley City Council) - [Liberty Lake City Council (special meeting)](http://Liberty Lake City Council %28special meeting%29) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Consent agenda contracts There are two interesting contracts on the consent agenda this week. The first is a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission for $158,861.06, which would cover 75% of the salary and benefits for one full-time police officer “dedicated to enforcement of DUI laws.” The second is an agreement between the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts and Spokane Municipal Court, with the state giving Spokane $430,330 to continue funding our Therapeutic Courts through June 30, 2026\. [Therapeutic courts](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokanes-community-court-handles-most-nonviolent-offenses-downtown-while-arrests-increase-founders-say-improving-quality-of-life-is-not-an-29370174?ref=rangemedia.co) are an opportunity for people to get connected with resources and accountability measures, as opposed to incarceration and other punishments. ### Intentional and inclusive procurement (This one got deferred from last week, so we’re reusing our own work.) The city of Spokane is constantly running procurement processes, asking local businesses, companies and nonprofits to submit bids for labor contracts with the city. A new resolution from Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon that’s up for a vote tonight would ask Brown’s administration to “direct the department of purchasing and contracts to collect and track data, coordinate with community partners, develop assistance to women, minority, veteran-owned businesses and other underutilized firms, and provide council a yearly report on progress.” It also asks the administration to identify and work to address any barriers in the procurement process that might specifically be impacting these businesses. Essentially, they want to make sure that small, women-owned, minority-owned and veteran-owned businesses are getting their fair share of the pie — the city-funded projects pie, that is. Our warning with all resolutions: no matter how cool they are, they are nonbinding, so this one would rely on the mayor’s — current and future — voluntary compliance to make it happen. ### Changes to the Human Rights Commission ordinance Deferred from June, the ordinance penned by Council Member Jonathan Bingle and now former-Council Member Lili Navarrete to expand the duties of the Spokane Human Rights Commission “to include automatic review of proposed changes to Title 18 of the Spokane Municipal Code and related provisions,” is back up for a vote, this time with a potential amendment from Council Member Paul Dillon. The aim of the ordinance was to give the commission to weigh in on any legislation that would regulate discriminatory practices and claims before it was voted through, but the original draft had provisions that could greatly slow the passage of new legislation intended to address human rights issues. In the original draft, council members would have had to provide the commission a copy of each ordinance a minimum of 15 days before it would appear at a committee, and the commission would have up to 45 days after to provide written comments. Normally, a piece of legislation appears at a committee and can be voted on and passed as early as two weeks later. If the council chooses to wait to move on an ordinance until they receive feedback from the commission, it could delay the passage of the ordinance by a month. However, Dillon’s proposed amendment, which could be adopted at the 3:30 Agenda Review session today, would remove the 15 and 45 day requirements. Instead, it would keep the timeline for ordinances the same and simply require council members to provide ordinances to the Commission any time before the ordinance would appear in committee, and stipulate that the Commission can provide comments and feedback any time before final action on the ordinance. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Next week, council could pass an Interlocal Agreement between the county and all cities within the county to add representatives from the Spokane Tribe and Kalispel Tribe as voting members on the [Steering Committee](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/spokane-county-growth-management-steering-committee/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20Steering%20Committee%20is%20staffed,Klitzke%2C%20and%20Councilmember%20Paul%20Dillon.) of Elected Officials, which looks at growth management in the region. - Council will decide on a replacement for Navarrete, who is now working for the city in the Community Health and Human Services (CHHS) team. The two council conservatives are recommending Ryan Oelrich, who previously served as an appointed council member for District 2 last year, while Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Dillon are recommending Shelby Lambdin, the Health Equity director at CHAS. Which candidate advances for the final confirmation vote will be decided at the 3:30 pm Agenda Review session next week, then the final vote will happen at the 6 pm Legislative Session. - The new Complete Streets program ordinance is up for a vote. That ordinance integrates routine street construction with planning to make streets safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists too. There’s an amendment from Council Member Kitty Klitzke on this one too, which does a few things, but chiefly, it directs the city to “prioritize continued access to all sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes and bus stops,” during street construction. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 21, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment & Sustainability Committee 🌶️/5 peppers Sounds like this week’s meeting might be like Cocomelon for infrastructure wonks: there’s nothing terribly interesting or controversial on this agenda that we noticed, but there will be a monthly report on infrastructure from the Public Works Director, a presentation on wildfire (no additional details given) from Avista Utilities and two low-bid contract awards for adaptive design traffic calming projects. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 21, at noon* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers ### The new CEO Last week, at a special meeting where no public comment was allowed, the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) Board of Directors approved internal hire and former interim Co-CEO Karl Otterstrom as the official pick to be the new CEO for STA. It was the frustrating end to a drawn-out hiring process where public transportation advocates [fought tooth and nail](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-ceo-french-zappone/) for any kind of meaningful public participation, only to have the semblance of [participation they’d won](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-ceo-public-opinion/) snatched away when the four person operations committee [chose to forward only one candidate](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-ceo-search-one-candidate/) — Otterstrom, but it was a secret at the time — for public consideration. This week, at the regularly scheduled meeting where they \*do\* take public comment, the board will vote to approve Otterstrom’s new contract, and we predict there will be public testimony. It’s not all doom and gloom though. While the process was less than ideal for anyone who thought the public should get a say in who leads our public transportation benefit area’s transit agency, there’s a lot to like about Otterstrom: he’s a transit rider, an infrastructure nerd and a longtime Spokanite who clearly loves the region and public transit. Otterstrom started at STA as an intern about 20 years ago. Anthony Gill on Bluesky said it best: “I think \[Otterstrom\] deserved better than what Al French gave him.” ### Bus riding about to get even more affordable? Initially approved in STA’s [Connect 2035 strategic plan](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-connect-2035-strategic-plan/), discounted fare for low-income riders could go into effect. If passed, qualifying riders would pay just $1 a bus ride, with fare capped at $2 a day and $30 a month. The pilot program would last for three years, and then be subject to annual reports on effectiveness and potential adjustments from the board. Here’s who could qualify for the reduced fare under the board’s current plan: - Individuals residing in housing managed by or receiving a housing voucher from the Spokane Housing Authority - Individuals whose income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and receive Basic Food benefits managed by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services - Individuals whose income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and are determined to be eligible based on other appropriate documentation. Curious if you fall under that 200% FPL line? Here’s the current 2025 income caps by household size: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1_ad_4nxfcvtrlubqrrmvoliukdk9ionnas9-fzrtknavqfmgrrbf3-3vav5oqdsm7lmvntwfxr8i-pk-i5xrwzcly3yyptoytu5ynrg3b5yhprrqljzywmwt3u-8seuktk5kexkexeidomgkeyrrtsrz7zutfrctlhql5sqw.png) Staff estimated that the pilot program could cost STA between $800,000 to $3 million annually, which likely comes out of the $25 million line item in the 2025 capital budget for Connect 2035 projects. An interesting footnote: Spokane City Council Member Michael Cathcart joined County Commissioner Josh Kerns in voting against the proposed structure and implementation of the low-income fare pilot program at the Performance Monitoring & External Relations. Cathcart represents the lowest income district in the city of Spokane, and [fought hard for District 1](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-city-council-committee-assignments-bingle/) to have representation on the STA board. It wasn’t clear from meeting minutes why he voted against moving the low income fare structure and implementation forward, but it will be interesting to see how he votes at the full board level. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 24 at 1:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️/5 peppers ### Racist zoning examination The state requires cities to “examine racially disparate impacts (RDI), displacement, exclusion and displacement risk in housing policies and regulations,” when updating their comprehensive plans, which Spokane is in the middle of doing right now. On Wednesday, the Plan Commission will present a briefing paper on racially disparate impacts in the city. There’s nothing else attached, so it’s not super clear if they’re presenting findings at this point, or just outlining how they plan to analyze for RDI. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, July 23 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District **🫑/5 peppers** NORMAL MEETING CANCELLED > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, July 23 at 12:30 pm* > *Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room* > *720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Avista to present 10-year fire plan Avista, the energy utility that provides electricity to most Eastern Washingtonians, will present its plan to deal with wildfire danger in the decade starting in 2020\. There are four aspects of the program: - Grid hardening, which includes placing component of grid systems underground, swapping wooden pole with steel ones and placing electricity-absorbing mesh under grid components - Enhanced vegetation management, which entails inspecting all “risk trees” annually - Situational awareness, which includes AI fire detection cameras and gathering real-time data from weather station installations - Operations and emergency response, which includes expanding fire protection settings in grid components and using public safety power shutoffs, which deenergizes components when the fire danger reaches a certain point In an age of a warming climate, which is drying out the West, utilities have had a harder time making sure their equipment does not spark wildfires. The Washington Department of Natural Resources [found](https://www.kuow.org/stories/investigation-finds-utility-s-security-light-at-fault-for-devastating-gray-fire?ref=rangemedia.co) an Avista warning light was the cause of the Gray fire of 2023, which destroyed hundreds of buildings in and near Medical Lake and killed one person. ### Financing for clean buildings County staff is asking for input from the BOCC to finance the purchase of new boilers and electric switch gears and to update other energy equipment in county buildings to comply with new state clean energy requirements. The purchases are estimated in the [agenda sheet](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1956/files/report/5170?ref=rangemedia.co) to cost $35 million. The cost could be covered by bonds or existing county funds that are not already dedicated to other projects. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 22 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Board appointments The BOCC is set to appoint: - Sindhu Surapaneni, Rachel Ji, Michael McCauley, Ellie Henshaw and Miles McLane to the Chase Youth Commission - Undersheriff Michael Kittilstved to fill the Law Enforcement Officer position on the Spokane County Behavioral Health Advisory Board - Kenny Carlson to fill one of the Spokane County positions on the Spokane County Behavioral Health Advisory Board - Acting Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam to the Criminal Justice Treatment Account Panel ### Nearly $1M for Creekside Elementary ADA, pedestrian upgrades The BOCC will accept a $940,000 grant from the Washington Department of Transportation for the following projects on sidewalks and intersections at Creekside Elementary School: - Two ADA curb ramps - Rectangular rapid-flashing beacons - High-visibility crosswalks - School 20-mph flashing speed zone with flashing beacons ### Nearly $4M in improvement funding for Argonne Road The BOCC is set to accept $3.9 million in state funding for improvements to a long stretch of Argonne Road, from the Spokane River to Bigelow Gulch Road. They are scheduled to be completed by 2027. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 22 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 22, at 5 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council (special meeting) 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Advisory vote on new ‘Library/Community Center Project’ The city council will host an advisory vote — a non-binding expression of public opinion — on support for a “Library/Community Center Project’ at a special session initially scheduled for the council to discuss new greenhouse gas requirements in public facilities. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 22 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The Pod: A Human Rights Commissioner on the events of this week URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-anwar-peace-ice-arrests/ Last updated: 2025-07-19T02:49:55.000Z Anwar Peace, a police accountability expert, former chair of the Spokane Human Rights Commission and a current HRC commissioner joined Hedge to discuss the US Marshals arrests of several Spokanites who participated in the June 11 ICE protests. Additional reading: #### **[At least 9 Spokanites arrested by federal agents in connection to ICE protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/)** #### [**All 9 Spokane protesters plead not guilty to federal charges**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ice-protesters-plead-not-guilty/) ### New Spokane Police Department guidelines on ICE & impersonators just dropped URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-police-ice-mask-guidelines/ Last updated: 2025-07-18T00:39:03.000Z Is there a masked man with a gun in your neighborhood, claiming to be a federal agent and attempting to take a member of your community? Now, you can call the Spokane Police Department (SPD) about it. On July 15, the same day that federal agents arrested nine Spokane community members in connection to the June 11 anti-ICE protests, Police Chief Kevin Hall sent out an all-staff training bulletin that lays out the SPD officer protocol for responding to calls potentially involving immigration enforcement. “As federal law enforcement officers may be using face masks, unmarked cars and generic police gear while concealing and refusing to identify themselves, any individual may replicate this behavior with little effort,” Hall wrote. “As community fear grows, it will likely lead to increased 911 calls reporting abductions, fights or other disturbances with responding SPD officers being unaware or unsure of whether the incident involves federal law enforcement, criminal imposters or other illegitimate actors.” It’s not an unfounded fear: since President Donald Trump took office and ICE agents have taken to masked arrests, there has been [a wave of ICE impersonations](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/28/civilians-impersonating-ice-officers?ref=rangemedia.co), including [attempted kidnappings](https://ktla.com/news/local-news/south-l-a-woman-charged-with-staging-fake-immigration-kidnapping/?ref=rangemedia.co), [robbery](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/fake-law-enforcement-officer-robbery-philadelphia-business-police/4205126/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [scam phone calls](https://disb.dc.gov/page/ice-agent-imposter-scam?ref=rangemedia.co). Hall didn’t explicitly say it in memo, but when RANGE interviewed him earlier this month, the safety of himself and his officers was on his mind when encountering masked men. “What if that's an off-duty officer who's witnessing that? What if it was me, and I'm armed? I'm gonna take police action against that person,” Hall said, “That's enormously dangerous for the agents as well as for everybody around them. And, if this continues as, as it seems it will, there will be people who will take advantage of that ambiguity and, like you said, kit up and, and do what people do sometimes when they behave very badly.” Hall’s memo goes into some detail on officers’ responsibilities in these situations, including verifying the identity of actors in “apparent enforcement action,” by asking for the senior member or supervisor and requesting credentials. However, if SPD officers find that the masked men taking our community members are actually federal agents, SPD is instructed to “not interfere with federal law enforcement efforts.” Instead, they’re directed to: - Maintain public and officer safety with “a level of tactical separation from the federal officers … taking only those actions necessary to preserve the peace and protect lives and property,” - “De-escalate tensions of all involved,” - “Provide clear, respectful communication to bystanders, assuring them of the SPD’s neutral role and compliance with state law surrounding immigration enforcement,” - and collect evidence, documenting all witness statements, getting federal supervisors name and contact if possible and logging the information in the local evidence system. While SPD officers cannot step in to protect people from federal immigration agents, collecting and storing local evidence could be a critical step to tracking detained community members, as people have disappeared into ICE detention centers across the country, and in some cases, [on unlogged flights to prison in El Salvador](https://www.404media.co/flight-manifests-reveal-dozens-of-previously-unknown-people-on-three-deportation-flights-to-el-salvador/?ref=rangemedia.co) with no official record, leaving family members without even a place to start looking for their loved ones. “We recognize the fear and confusion in our community, particularly around questions of which law enforcement agencies are involved and who is taking action,” said Mayor Lisa Brown in a statement to RANGE this afternoon. “While the Spokane Police Department does not have the authority to intervene in the operations of federal agents, officers can support the public by verifying if someone is legitimately identifying as a federal officer. If there are concerns about someone claiming to be a federal agent, our officers can be a resource to assist.” If folks see a masked person trying to take someone off their streets, “Call 911,” Hall said. “Call 911 if you don’t know what’s happening.” The protocol can be read in full below. TLDR: the cops won’t stop the feds, but they’ll do their best to stop any fed impersonators. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/screenshot-2025-07-17-at-2-14-05-pm.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/screenshot-2025-07-17-at-2-14-13-pm.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/screenshot-2025-07-17-at-2-14-27-pm.png) ### Deportation flights at WA airport up dramatically this year, advocates say URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-deportation-flights-2025/ Last updated: 2025-07-17T17:24:37.000Z *Originally published by Jake Goldstein-Street at [the Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/07/cap-on-rent-increases-across-washington-is-signed-into-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) on July 15, 2025.* More migrants were flown out of King County’s Boeing Field during the first six months of this year than all of last year as the Trump administration has moved to drastically ramp up deportations. That’s according to activists who hosted a press conference Tuesday outside the county-owned airport in south Seattle, where they also complained of increased obstacles from the county that hinder their efforts to observe and document the flights. Through June 30, the advocates witnessed 42 immigration flights arrive in Washington this year, said Stan Shikuma, of the Japanese-American organization Tsuru for Solidarity. Three of those flights [went to Yakima](https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/government/three-ice-flights-used-yakima-air-terminal-in-may/article%5Fbcb53345-dbe2-4f48-a9e0-cfa950c70740.html?ref=rangemedia.co), not Boeing Field. Advocates couldn’t observe two of the Boeing Field flights, one because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made it harder to track its flights and another because it arrived close to midnight. All of last year, 52 so-called “ICE Air” flights came into Washington. Those planes picked up at least 1,222 people transferred from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma before likely deportation, according to the advocacy group La Resistencia, which has called for the detention center’s closure. That doesn’t include a few flights volunteers couldn’t observe, and others they may not know about entirely. Through six months this year, more migrants have already flown from Boeing Field, a total of 1,342, said Shikuma. And 913 people were brought in to be detained at the detention center. The facility, run by the for-profit GEO Group has long faced scrutiny over alleged human rights violations that have received renewed attention as President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign has reportedly strained capacity there. This month, another five flights have passed through Boeing Field, officially known as King County International Airport. That includes a flight Tuesday morning from which 15 detainees disembarked and 13 boarded, Shikuma said. All the migrants are shackled at their wrists, waists and ankles, said Shikuma. They use stairs to get on or off the planes. “What we’ve observed, as we’re watching these flights come in and out, are people in chains being taken off the buses from the Northwest Detention Center. They’re patted down, head to toe, mouths examined, sometimes the chains are tightened before they’re allowed to board the plane,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference. “Then, people coming off the plane, same procedure.” Volunteer observers have also occasionally witnessed detainees held in a full-body restraint called a “[Wrap](https://www.saferestraints.com/the-wrap-safety-restraint?ref=rangemedia.co)” that is [similar to a straitjacket](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-ice-air-deportation-flights?ref=rangemedia.co), including in the past week. The issue of Boeing Field being used for immigration flights has long been a concern. #### Transparency concerns Then-King County Executive Dow Constantine signed an [executive order](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/cdn-kingcounty-gov/media/king-county/depts/executive-services/policies/documents/pfc-7-1-1-eo-immigrant-deportation-rev-a834fbc1fec549c7b12023f5b897e40c-amp-hash-384e73d65580fb477fd6e02433311128.pdf) in 2023 committing to not using discretionary resources to support ICE operations. He also ordered the county to publish monthly data on the flights and how many migrants are on them. But La Resistencia says these logs sometimes provide incomplete lists of the flights and have never included the number of detainees. “Why can’t the county keep the promises it made in its executive order in 2023 which is a commitment to A, transparency about the flights which they are not delivering, and B, advocacy for more humane solutions, which also I’m unaware of their action,” said Angelina Godoy, who has researched ICE Air extensively as the director of the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights. In a statement, the county said Executive Shannon Braddock “remains committed to transparency, protecting vulnerable communities, and holding federal immigration operations accountable to the values of King County residents while complying with state and federal law.” Since 2023, volunteers from La Resistencia and Tsuru for Solidarity have frequently sat around a conference table with [live video feeds](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/03/11/at-seattles-boeing-field-a-rare-glimpse-of-americas-troubled-deportation-flights/?ref=rangemedia.co) as immigration flights from the private charter airlines arrive at and depart the airport. The airlines include GlobalX, Eastern and, more recently, Avelo. The volunteers count one by one as detainees walk down the plane’s steps, and look for anything out of the ordinary: people restrained in unique ways or who look particularly young, for example. Another group sometimes watches from a fenceline near the planes, which are serviced by Signature Aviation in Seattle. Signature, with an office next door to the main terminal, is “profiting from this business,” Godoy said. “They lease property from King County. So yes, King County does not have any contract with ICE. King County does not profit from deportation flights. King County makes money from Signature’s rent,” she continued. After leaving the planes, people are loaded on buses and taken to the Northwest ICE Processing Center. The center has been a local flashpoint for frustrations over Trump’s increased immigration enforcement. In one instance in early February, activists counted [110 detainees getting off a flight](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/02/03/feds-fly-110-detained-migrants-to-washington-state-advocacy-group-says/?ref=rangemedia.co). The biggest flight La Resistencia said it had observed up to that point carried half as many people. A county spokesperson pointed to a lack of information shared by Signature Aviation to explain its incomplete data. “ICE has no obligation to provide information about its flights to KCIA,” spokesperson Barbara Ramey said in an email, referring to King County International Airport. “Signature is not required to notify KCIA of ICE flights. While Signature provides some basic information about some of the flights, the information is often inconsistent.” It took years to get to the point where activists could directly observe the flights. In 2019, Constantine looked to stop immigration flights at the airport through an executive order. The first Trump administration sued the county over the order. A federal judge sided with the federal government in 2023, and an appeals court upheld the ruling, allowing the feds to again use Boeing Field for deportation flights. The county then offered the observation room and Constantine signed the 2023 executive order. King County Council member Teresa Mosqueda said in a statement read by advocates that she plans “to follow up on these calls for action.” “We must now ensure the executive order on transparency be upheld at the last backstop for families and communities who are relying on flight visibility and tracking,” Mosqueda said. Signature Aviation didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. A King County spokesperson couldn’t respond by the Standard’s deadline. *This story was updated to add comment from King County.* ### All 9 Spokane protesters plead not guilty to federal charges URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ice-protesters-plead-not-guilty/ Last updated: 2025-07-16T22:01:35.000Z Nine Spokanites who protested the June 11 detention of two men who were in the US legally, and allegedly blocked their transport from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Cataldo Avenue, pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy charges on July 15. Agents with the US Marshals Service, some in full tactical gear, [arrested the defendants](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/) at their homes and on their way to work or school that morning. All will face jury trials after pleading not guilty. Judge James Goeke released the seven who were only charged with conspiracy to impede or injure officers, which can carry a sentence of six years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. Two, Mikki Hatfield and Bobbi Silva — both additionally charged with assault on a federal officer, employee, or person assisting a federal officer, according to the [federal indictment](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/storage-courtlistener-com/recap/gov-uscourts-waed-113029/gov-uscourts-waed-113029-1-0.pdf) — were held in the Spokane County Jail. There is no bond for their release, according to the jail roster. Hatfield is accused of throwing back a smoke canister police shot at protesters on June 11\. Silva is accused of blocking the exit from the ICE facility and striking a federal officer from behind, according to the indictment. The other seven were released on several conditions, including that they don’t break any laws, don’t work for the federal government, appear at all scheduled proceedings and don’t possess guns or drugs, including marijuana. But defense lawyers Jeffry Finer and Andrea George, representing Jac Archer and Thalia Ramirez respectively, requested that the additional condition that the defendants don’t communicate with each other be relaxed. Finer noted that another defendant, Justice Forral, works for Archer, and they need to communicate about work. Goeke allowed Forral to communicate with Archer about work matters as long as they don’t discuss their legal cases. George also asked that the ICE officers the defendants are accused of conspiring against, who may testify in the trial, not be allowed to communicate, in case they collude to distort the facts of the cases. “They have the incentive to collude and match up their testimony,” George said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux bristled at this suggestion, saying “ these officers have to work together, and that would further preclude them from doing their duties, which is exactly what these defendants tried to do on June 11.” She referred to the agents as “victims,” which elicited muted groans from the audience in the packed courtroom on the seventh floor of the Thomas Foley Federal Courthouse. All nine defendants are accused of conspiracy to impede or assault law enforcement officers. The alleged crime was initiated when former City Council President Ben Stuckart, who was with Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres — two young asylum seekers who [came to the US legally](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/two-refugees-came-here-legally-they-were-detained-/?ref=rangemedia.co) and arrived at the ICE office for scheduled appointments where they were then detained — wrote a message on Facebook asking Spokanites to block their transport to the Tacoma ICE facility, and the defendants responded. Outside of the arrest of Los Angeles union leader [David Huerta](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/la-protests-david-huerta-ice-raid?ref=rangemedia.co), there appear to be no other recent examples of protesters being charged solely with the federal crime of “conspiracy to impede or assault law enforcement officers.” The Spokane arrests represent a significant escalation in the Department of Justice’s crackdown on protesters. In a separate, local case related to the protests, Forral is also [being charged](https://www.rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/) with six counts of unlawful imprisonment, which they pleaded not guilty to. On Tuesday, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) waited for hours at the apartment where the Marshal’s arrested Mikki Hatfield, an unhoused Spokanite who was housesitting there at the time of the protest. The agents would not allow the residents to enter the apartment until they got a warrant to search Hatfield’s things, which Finer told RANGE was legal. Across the city, at least one other home connected to a protestor was searched by federal agents, according to [reporting by *The Spokesman Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/15/spokane-ice-protesters-including-stuckart-arrested/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* Four of the defendants — Stuckart, Forral, Lang and Ramirez — were arrested by local law enforcement during the June 11 protest. But the other five — Archer, Hatfield, Silva, Bajun Mavalwalla II and Collin Muncey — were not arrested on June 11, which suggests the federal government is expanding the scope of its crackdown on protesters. Archer told RANGE they saw a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officer at the scene of their arrest, meaning at least four agencies — the US Marshals, FBI, the DEA and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office — were involved in the arrests. Political leaders, including Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown, City Council Member Paul Dillon, former Chair of the Spokane County Democratic Party Carmela Conroy and US Senator Patty Murray condemned the arrests in statements and social media posts. “ICE’s cruel, inhumane practices thousands of miles from the southern border are tearing apart our communities in \[the Fifth Congressional District\],” Conroy, who in 2024 ran unsuccessfully against Republican Michael Baumgartner to represent Spokane in the US House of Representatives, [wrote](https://bsky.app/profile/carmelaconroy509.bsky.social/post/3lu24zvlg5s2c?ref=rangemedia.co) on BlueSky. “Arresting immigrants seeking to comply with our laws is unjust & arresting those who protest injustice is an attack on the First Amendment. I stand with those fighting for justice.” Murray aimed her [comments](https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-statement-on-federal-arrests-of-spokane-residents-for-protests-against-ice/?ref=rangemedia.co) directly at the Trump administration. “The Trump administration is abusing the force of the law to intimidate Americans exercising their First Amendment rights — whether you are a Democrat or Republican, this is wrong and we all need to speak out against this disturbing perversion of justice,” she said. ### How to take action against injustice today URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/action-spokane-ice-protest-federal/ Last updated: 2025-07-15T20:08:10.000Z This morning, nine local Spokane activists, organizers and protesters were arrested by federal agents in connection to the June 11 protests against ICE. (More on that [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/)) It’s a direct escalation of federal pressure in Spokane, especially with the arrest of additional protestors who were not arrested by local law enforcement on June 11, like Jac Archer, Co-Executive Director of Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR). If you’re feeling frustrated, angry or powerless, we spent the morning talking to local organizers — including Archer, who is still in federal custody — about where you should be directing your energy. ### Do Not: Do not protest today. Organizers from SCAR and the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS), as well as lawyers for those arrested, are encouraging community members NOT to protest today. “We don’t want to risk doing anything that could escalate their situation or hurt their cases,” SCAR wrote in a social post. ### Do: Center immigrant communities in your support and conversations today, not just the protestors who were arrested. “I would really love it if people in the community could remember and focus on what this is about,” Archer told RANGE from holding this morning. “It really feels to me like an attempt to chill and intimidate support of our immigrant community members. I’m being inconvenienced for an afternoon, but some people are losing their whole lives, their homes. I just wanna make sure people remember that, and also remember that right now. The best thing we can do is choose not to let things like this intimidate us from supporting our community.” ### Do: Go to PJALS’ Protesting 101 - A People’s Training tonight from 5:30 to 7 pm. The 90-minute training is free to attend, and will teach people how to “protest safely, effectively and with intention.” The registration link is [here](https://secure.everyaction.com/0JxgSHbjDkSSi4YUnEYCSA2?ref=rangemedia.co), location provided upon registration. “Coming to the training tonight would be fantastic because this is also a time when we need to be thinking about what kinds of risks we're each willing to take,” Liz Moore from PJALS said. “And particularly for those of us who have white skin to be really engaging in some preparatory thought about what kind of risks we're willing to take, what kind of discomfort we're willing to engage in.” ### Do: Sign up for a training with the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network to join one of their local [Rapid Response Teams](https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-immigrant-solidarity-network/). There are two upcoming training sessions: one on July 31 from 6 to 8 pm, registration [here](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nX1%5FFx34Tnyv1cIPR1rmtw?ref=rangemedia.co#/registration); and one on August 28 from 6 to 8 pm, registration [here](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8tbixs2zQsmk8jcYQfSyZg?ref=rangemedia.co#/registration). ### Do: Donate, if you’re able! Moore suggested “immigrant-led organizations whose communities are feeling the full weight of the power of government being used against them.” Here’s her list: - [Nuestras Raices Centro Comunitario](https://www.hbpaofspokane.org/donate?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Mujeres in Action](https://miaspokane.networkforgood.com/projects/183867-celebrating-resiliency?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Latinos en Spokane](https://www.latinosenspokane.org/donate?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Manzanita House](https://www.manzanitahousespokane.org/donate?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane](https://refugeeconnectionsspokane.networkforgood.com/projects/244635-help-refugees-and-immigrants-thrive-in-the-inland-nw-in-2025?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition](https://fusewashington.actionkit.com/donate/sirc-donate-2019?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Creole Resources](https://givebutter.com/CreoleResources?ref=rangemedia.co) Moore also suggested donating to [PJALS ](https://secure.everyaction.com/RxUFJ4B0oE-nHBa2NCSB7w2?ref=rangemedia.co)and [SCAR](https://secure.everyaction.com/BYbZeBsUiECYGjGIxoipSg2?ref=rangemedia.co) as organizations engaged in “this long, important work of fighting the fascist power grab.” SCAR also has an ongoing bail fund used to free arrested protestors. You can donate to that by calling 509-240-9393 or emailing [bail@scarspokane.org](mailto:bail@scarspokane.org). ### Do: Stay connected on social media and other channels with organizations like PJALS and SCAR, who regularly update folks on upcoming actions. “There will be times when it's important to have a courtroom be full or have people be outside a courthouse during a hearing,” Moore said. “It's not the case today, but there will be opportunities when that's really important.” The best way you can stay up-to-date on when protesting or showing up for folks is strategic and necessary is by turning notifications on for posts from PJALS and SCAR. ### 9 Spokanites arrested by federal agents in connection to ICE protests URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-activists-arrested-federal-agents-ice-protests/ Last updated: 2025-07-15T16:53:40.000Z *Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information, including more confirmed arrests and where those arrested are being held.* Early Tuesday morning, federal authorities executed arrest warrants on nine Spokanites who were part of the June 11 protest at Spokane’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. These are the names and [charges](https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa/pr/defendants-charged-assaulting-federal-law-enforcement-officers-other-offenses-during?ref=rangemedia.co) of the nine people arrested: - Jac Archer, Co-Executive Director of Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR): charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers - Justice Forral, a prominent organizer and fulltime staff member of SCAR who also sits on the Spokane Human Rights Commission: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers - Ben Stuckart, a former city council president: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers - Mikki Hatfield: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers and Assault on a Federal Officer, Employee, or Person Assisting a Federal Officer (intent to cause another felony/use of a dangerous weapon) - Erin Lang: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers - Bajun Mavalwalla II, the son of Bajun Mavalwalla who was the campaign manager for Bernadine Bank, who ran for the Congressional District 5 House of Representatives seat in 2024: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers - Collin Muncey: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers - Bobbi Silva: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers and Assault on a Federal Officer, Employee, or Person Assisting a Federal Officer (physical contact / intent to cause another felony) - Thalia Ramirez: charged with Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers It’s unclear what time each person was arrested, but both Forral and Stuckart were picked up around 6 am. Initial sources said the arrests were conducted by agents with the US Marshal Service (USMS) and Spokane Police, though Police Chief Kevin Hall said SPD was not involved. In a follow-up call with city spokesperson Erin Hut, she said “we followed up with our police teams and they confirm they were not there.” The nine people are being held in the US Marshals lockup in the Federal Building, which is neither the Spokane County Jail nor the ICE office. RANGE reached out to USMS for comment, but they have not responded. We’ll update this story if they do. Spokane criminal defense lawyer Jeffry Finer said seven of the people arrested will be released later today. He said he had expected more people would be arrested on more serious charges, though even the"Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers" charge carries some hefty potential consequences; up to 6 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. All arrests were reportedly made at the homes of the activists, Finer said. The arrests were initially confirmed by friends and colleagues, then later confirmed by the Justice Department in a statement. Local attorney Rick Eichstaedt, who was preparing to meet Stuckart for a weekly round of golf the two men have been playing in good weather for almost 5 years, later clarified that Stuckart was picked up en route to the golf course. Alison Collins of Boots Bakery also later confirmed Erin Lang was arrested near the bakery, as she arrived to open the bakery that morning. The most surprising arrest, by far, though, is Jac Archer. Archer is a colleague of Forral’s at Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) and was among the leaders of the June 11 protest, but crucially, they were not arrested that day. Forral, Stuckart and Lang were [all arrested June 11](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/), along with 28 other people. Forral was rearrested on June 14 as they walked into Spokane’s Pride Celebration. Many of the arrested [had their phones taken](https://www.rangemedia.co/protesters-phones-police-custody/). Archer’s arrest represents a real escalation by the US government to pursue federal charges against someone who had no local charges pressed. The Marshals are a branch of federal law enforcement within the US Justice Department, not the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the department in charge of ICE. This likely means if local jurisdictions support them, it would not be a violation of the Keep Washington Working Act, the state’s sanctuary law. The Marshals’ primary job is locating people wanted on federal charges, so this is within their jurisdiction. SPD Chief Kevin Hall told RANGE that SPD did not coordinate with the Marshals, and “had no idea it was happening until after it already started.” Hall said they could not confirm charges, how many people the Marshals had warrants for, or any additional information. Mayor Lisa Brown sent out a statement at 9:47 am: > “I just learned that several community leaders were detained this morning by federal agents apparently for their roles in the June 11 demonstration at the ICE facility. I’m outraged. > > “This politically motivated action is a perversion of our justice system. The Trump Administration’s weaponization of ICE and the DOJ is trampling on the U.S. Constitution and creating widespread fear across our community. > > “Spokane has been a welcoming city for immigrants and refugees for decades. The Trump Administration and Congress must provide legal pathways for people fleeing violence and seeking the American dream. That will make America great.” Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon also sent out a statement at 11:26 am. > "Like many of you this morning, I am closely following the news of arrests by federal agents this morning as a result of the June 11th demonstration at the ICE facility in Spokane. > > Today is another reminder of the pain, fear and chaos by the Trump Administration. > > I stand with Ben, Justice, Jac and others – these are our friends and neighbors. It is important to follow the lead of organizations that are demanding accountability against these unlawful actions. > > I will advocate for charges to be dropped and the two young men who were detained on June 11th in violation of their due process to be released. If it’s in the courts or with policy or in the streets, we must come together to defend and stand for the rights of people in Spokane. We must be the city that welcomes all." Spokane City Council Member Zack Zappone posted a statement on social media after 3 pm. > “As many of you have heard, Spokanites have been arrested on federal charges for peacefully protesting. This is wrong. Everyone deserves to be at home with their families. > > This Administration continues to stoke fear with these arrests of protestors - and by illegally taking lawful immigrants from their homes every day. We have to keep fighting together for a city - and a country - where everyone belongs.” The action by the Department of Justice sparks a new phase of the conflict between local organizers and the federal government over the detention of immigrants in Spokane. As of publication, local organizers say they are gathering information but declined to give any specifics about potential action. Anwar Peace, a Spokane Human Rights Commissioner, spoke to RANGE about the arrest of Forral, who is also a Human Rights Commissioner. “It’s completely scary that we're living in a time where a Human Rights Commissioner is standing up for human rights violations and goes through what Justice is dealing with right now,” Peace said. “It’s not just Justice. This is gonna be coming to your neighbor soon. This is gonna be coming to your kids’ teacher soon. This is gonna be coming to your local grocery clerk soon. This is gonna be coming for all of us that stand up for the First Amendment. These are very scary times.” We will update this story as new information becomes available. --- ### Council is about to appoint a new District 2 rep, so tell them what you want URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/council-is-about-to-appoint-a-new-district-2-rep-so-tell-them-what-you-want/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T18:49:09.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - Spokane City Council wants to hear your opinion on who they should appoint to fill former Council Member Lili Navarrete’s vacant seat. If you’re a District 2 resident, consider going tonight to share your thoughts on what you’re looking for out of a short-term appointed representative. - The 2025 Point-in-Time Count data is getting presented at today’s Urban Experience Committee, which will give us additional information about unhoused people living in Spokane. - West Central is getting new infrastructure projects to make pedestrians and bicyclists safer, including bike lanes on Broadway! Learn more about the timeline and funding at the Bicycle Advisory Board. Important meetings this week: - Spokane City Council - Urban Experience Committee - Bicycle Advisory Board - Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees - Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session and Legislative Session - Spokane County Planning Commission - Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors - Spokane Airport Board - Spokane Valley City Council - Liberty Lake City Council ## Come to our prison reform event! Don’t miss the Look 2 Justice symposium on the trauma-to-prison pipeline, which we’re co-hosting with L2J and the Black Rose Collective this Saturday. You’ll hear from incarcerated journalists and pastors, formerly incarcerated activists and lawyers. RSVP [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/dear-readers-come-to-our-prison-reform-event-its-free/). ## Protesting 101 Looking for a primer on how to protest with a purpose? The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) is holding Protest 101: a People’s Training on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 pm. You’ll learn strategies for keeping your community safe at protests, how to prepare to attend one, how to assess your own risk level, and more. You can contact PJALS for more information [here](https://pjals.org/contact/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Ballot committees One nontraditional way to get involved in local democracy: writing the “For” and “Against” sections on local ballot measures for the nonpartisan Spokane County Voter’s Guide. The council is getting ready to appoint the committees for this year’s Parks Levy based on the applications they received. On the pro-Parks levy side is a bipartisan duo of former conservative Mayor David Condon and former liberal state Senator Andy Billig. On the con side is a committee of one: Dennis Flynn, a frequent commenter at city council meetings who says the word “dictate,” more frequently than perhaps anyone in the world, and is currently exploring [a run for council](https://voteflynn.com/Issues/?ref=rangemedia.co) at some point in the future. Tonight, the council will likely vote to approve these committees, and come the end of summer, you’ll see their statements in your voter’s guide. ### Thinking long-term Spokane has something called the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE), which is a tax credit used by the city to incentivize new affordable housing construction. The tax credit is currently given to developers of new housing who meet certain criteria, like keeping a certain percentage of newly constructed units affordable. The council will vote tonight on an ordinance that would add one more piece of criteria to the qualifying standards for the MFTE: no units in a building that received the MFTE can operate as “short-term rentals,” — think AirBnBs — because they “reduce the project's contribution to the number of units available for long-term occupancy.” The goal of this policy is to ensure that projects receiving the tax exemption are actually contributing long-term to Spokane’s housing stock. ### Public hearing on council appointment After appointed Council Member Lili Navarrete resigned her position representing District 2 for a job in the mayor’s administration, the council is looking for a new temporary member who will serve until the results of the upcoming November election are certified. Four candidates out of nine applicants were interviewed — Kris Neely, Kristina Sabestinas, Ryan Oelrich and Shelby Lambdin — and tonight, there will be a public hearing where folks can offer their opinion on who should fill the seat. One of those names caught our attention: Oelrich could be coming back as a recurring council appointee. He previously represented District 2 when Council President Betsy Wilkerson was appointed to temporarily fill the council president seat after Breean Beggs’ departure, leaving her member position vacant. If he’s chosen, he could be Spokane’s own comeback kid/season regular. If you want to learn more about the four candidates up for consideration and offer testimony tonight, you can watch their interviews [here](https://vimeo.com/1100409642.?ref=rangemedia.co), or read their applications starting on page 761 of the agenda. ### Intentional and inclusive procurement The city of Spokane is constantly running procurement processes, asking local businesses, companies and nonprofits to submit bids for labor contracts with the city. A new resolution from Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon would ask Brown’s administration to “direct the department of purchasing and contracts to collect and track data, coordinate with community partners, develop assistance to women, minority, veteran-owned businesses and other underutilized firms, and provide council a yearly report on progress.” It also asks the administration to identify and work to address any barriers in the procurement process that might specifically be impacting these businesses. Essentially, they want to make sure that small, women-owned, minority-owned and veteran-owned businesses are getting their fair share of the pie — the city-funded projects pie, that is. Our warning with all resolutions: no matter how cool they are, they are nonbinding, so this one would rely on the mayor’s — current and future — voluntary compliance to make it happen. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 14, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee **🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### More homelessness survey results If the Spokane Business Association’s “[study](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/)” didn’t scratch your itch for comprehensive data on homelessness in Spokane, maybe today’s Urban Experience Committee will do it for you; Mayor Lisa Brown’s administration just got finalized results of the 2025 Point-In-Time Count back and they’re presenting those to the council today. A reminder, though: even though the city’s PIT count likely has a much more robust sample size, data analysis and survey methodology, it’s still another cross-sectional study, which is [not as accurate](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/) as longitudinal studies like the city’s yearly Longitudinal Systems Analysis. ### Affordable housing awards The city is set to allocate $7,499,098 for Affordable Housing Development and Tenant-Based Rental Assistance programs in Spokane. The funding comes from a combination of [1590 funds,](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/citycouncil/interest-items/2020/10/1590-infographic-2020-11-04.pdf) [1406 dollars](https://dor.wa.gov/laws-rules/shb-1406-local-state-shared-tax-affordable-and-supportive-housing?ref=rangemedia.co), [HOME Affordable Housing Development Funds](https://my.spokanecity.org/housing/affordable/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Affordable%20Rental%20Housing%20Development%20%28HOME%20Investment%20Partnership%20Program%29) and [HOME-ARP Tenant-based Rental Assistance Funds](https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/home/topics/tbra/?ref=rangemedia.co). After a regular Request for Proposals (RFP) process, nine of the 11 applicants are being recommended for potential or full funding. Here’s what got recommended for funding: - Mujeres in Action - Safe Harbor: $224,000 - Family Promise of Spokane: $276,000 - Ben Burr Townhomes home ownership program: $1,000,000 - Proclaim Liberty Bethany new construction: $885,000 - Volunteers of America Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, new construction: $2,000,000 - Threshold Project: $1,599,098 - Mujeres in Action Affordable Housing Program: $222,494 - The Collins Building (rehabilitating the building to create new units): $892,506 - Cornerstone Courtyard (rehabilitating the building to create seven new units): $400,000 No additional details on the projects who applied were provided, but we do know the two projects not recommended for funding were Proclaim Liberty Knox-Lumen and Latinos En Spokane. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, July 14 at noon.* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co)| > *Tuesday, July 15 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Bicycle Advisory Board **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Good news for West Central! At today’s Bicycle Advisory Board, folks will get a presentation on the results of the West Central Neighborhood Infrastructure project, which engaged the public and the city in a public process to choose a few infrastructure projects to make the neighborhood safer. Many of the projects are only partially funded at the time, but here are a few of the improvements coming to the West Central neighborhood: - Bike lanes on Broadway Avenue - Traffic calming on Nettleton Street, Boone Avenue and Dean Avenue - An accessible pathway from Ash Street to Maple Street - Sidewalk repair throughout the neighborhood You can view the project details in full starting on page 6 of the agenda linked below. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 15 at 6 pm* > *City Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting%5FNWNlYjdjMDktMGYwMy00NDExLWE1ZTItN2UwYzliMGY1NzI2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2295fa1d6e-6a27-496e-9117-fc34d9076661%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8a149ab-0094-4c4e-b7e3-3633a0ca624f%22%7d&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Airport Board **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, July 17 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Transit Authority Board of Directors **???/5 peppers** There’s a special meeting of the Spokane Transit Authority board on Thursday. No agenda has been linked yet, but a little birdie told us they might be doing a board interview of [the single candidate advanced in the hiring process](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-ceo-search-one-candidate/), who has now been confirmed as interim co-CEO [Karl Otterstrom.](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/27/spokane-transit-authority-confirms-karl-otterstrom/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanetransit.com/board-and-committee-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 17 at 2:30 pm* > *STA Boardroom* > *1230 W Boone Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://spokanetransit.webex.com/spokanetransit/j.php?MTID=m963c4ccfe49011c0b2337745fca1e480&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Nearly $4M in improvement funding for Argonne Road The BOCC is set to accept $3.9 million in state funding for improvements to a long stretch of Argonne Road, from the Spokane River to Bigelow Gulch Road. They are scheduled to be completed by 2027. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 15 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $1M for Country Homes asphalt improvements The BOCC is set to award a $921,921 contract to Shamrock Paving to fix the blacktop on Country Homes Boulevard from Cedar Road to Wall Street in North Spokane. We hope this means any Spokanite driving that particular stretch of pothole-ridden road will soon have a smooth ride. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 15 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission 🫑/**5 peppers** ### Comp plan workshop The commission will host a workshop on the Comprehensive Plan that will govern growth in the county until 2046\. There’s not much detail in the agenda item, but it does say the workshop will address: - Comp Plan Goals and Policies — policy analysis and discussion, and - Environmental Impact Statement — progress report and alternative development scenarios > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanecounty.org/AgendaCenter/Planning-Commission-5/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 15 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81213204662?pwd=sVofnVf6CYEASWhmGnYg9XPbeWmLWs.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Valley City Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### ‘Community Conversations’ meeting The agenda includes no details, but references a project that will be up for public feedback. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 15, at 5 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 15 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### The Pod: How to help local Haitian immigrants URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-how-to-help-local-haitian-immigrants/ Last updated: 2025-07-11T18:22:46.000Z This week, Luke and Val talked to Katia Jasmin and Thamar Sauveuer of [Creole Resources](https://creoleresources.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), an organization supporting Haitian immigrants in Spokane, about an [emergency fundraiser](https://givebutter.com/HaitianSupport?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwLaTthleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp7fVQZx0jAtanqk0ntkkaIoMq%5FgS0VZ1VFjDMXsT1OhReWvTpH6qHdtYvDrb%5Faem%5FDNkQ3vwoGy--Si7fEWxoOA&ref=rangemedia.co) they launched this week. According to the organization, dozens of Spokane Haitian immigrants with legal work permits were fired from their jobs this week because of the Trump administration’s revocation of the Temporary Protected Status program. Additional reading: [Uncertainty for Spokane’s Haitian migrants — and for employers](https://www.rangemedia.co/haitian-migrants-employers-temporary-protected-status/) ### Trump’s tax law by the numbers: $1 trillion less for Medicaid, $75 billion more for ICE URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trumps-tax-law-by-the-numbers-1-trillion-less-for-medicaid-75-billion-more-for-ice/ Last updated: 2025-07-09T19:21:29.000Z *[This story](https://19thnews.org/2025/07/trump-big-beautiful-tax-law-numbers?utm%5Fsource=partner&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=19th-republishing&utm%5Fcontent=/2025/07/trump-big-beautiful-tax-law-numbers) was originally reported by Amanda Becker of [The 19th](https://19thnews.org/?utm%5Fsource=partner&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=19th-republishing&utm%5Fcontent=/2025/07/trump-big-beautiful-tax-law-numbers). [ Meet Amanda and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy](https://19thnews.org/author/amanda-becker?utm%5Fsource=partner&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=19th-republishing&utm%5Fcontent=/2025/07/trump-big-beautiful-tax-law-numbers).* President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans’ sweeping tax-and-spending law, which renews tax breaks that largely benefited corporations and the wealthy, also contains sharp increases in spending on immigration enforcement and steep cuts to funding for government programs that serve lower-income Americans. Like other areas of Trump’s agenda, parts of what he has called the “big, beautiful bill” could face legal challenges. On Monday, a federal judge in Boston [temporarily blocked](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25992555-pptro070725/?ref=rangemedia.co) a provision that prevents Planned Parenthood clinics from accessing Medicaid funding. If it takes effect, the provision could result in $52 million less being spent on reproductive health care, including preventative care, over the next decade. Here is a by-the-numbers look at the law and its significant impact on the lives of women, children and LGBTQ+ Americans, who [disproportionately rely](https://19thnews.org/2025/05/trump-big-beautiful-tax-bill-impact-medicaid-snap/?ref=rangemedia.co) on many of the affected programs. ## **$3.7 trillion** The tax revenue the federal government will not collect over the next decade due to the law’s extension of 2017 cuts. More than two-thirds of the tax cuts will benefit households with annual incomes of $217,000 or more. Roughly one-fourth of the tax cuts’ total value will benefit those with annual incomes of $1.1 million or more. *Sources: The [Tax Foundation](https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-tcja-permanent-analysis/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the [Tax Policy Center](https://taxpolicycenter.org/tax-model-analysis/preliminary-ways-and-means-committee-bill-released-may-9-2025?&utm%5Fsource=urban%5Fnewsletters&utm%5Fcampaign=TPC&utm%5Fid=taxes%5Fand%5Fbudget), both nonpartisan research groups.* ## **$3.4 trillion** The lower-end estimate of the amount that will be added to the country’s deficit over the next decade, with upper estimates exceeding $5 trillion. *Source: The [Congressional Budget Office](https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61534?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## **$1 trillion** The amount of federal spending that will be cut over the next decade from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for lower-income Americans. *Source: The [Congressional Budget Office](https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61534?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## **$186 billion** How much will be cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps, through 2034. *Sources: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf) passed by the U.S. Congress.* ## **5 million** The number of Americans participating in the SNAP program who would be at risk of losing benefits due to new work requirements. This includes 800,000 children and more than 500,000 adults who are 65 or older or disabled. *Sources: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf) and the [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities](https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/by-the-numbers-senate-republican-leaderships-reconciliation-bill-takes?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## **2.9 million** The average number of Americans who will likely lose their SNAP benefits in a given month once the provisions take effect. *Sources: The [Congressional Budget Office](https://x.com/senateagdems/status/1937565304646779171?s=42&ref=rangemedia.co) and the [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities](https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/by-the-numbers-senate-republican-leaderships-reconciliation-bill-takes?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## **11.8 million** The number of Americans expected to lose health care coverage due to Medicaid cuts over the next decade. *Source: The [Congressional Budget Office](https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61534?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## **$2,200** The amount of the new child tax credit, up from $2,000\. One parent must have a Social Security number to claim the credit, and there is a cap on its refundable portion, limiting the ability of the country’s lowest-income parents to access it. Parents of children under 8 years old will also receive $1,000 if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen to open “Trump accounts,” which are similar to retirement savings accounts and can be accessed once the children become adults. *Source: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf).* ## **338** The number of rural hospitals at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts. More than 700 rural hospitals were already facing that risk before the tax-and-spending law was enacted due to serious financial strain. Kentucky and Louisiana will likely have the highest number of closures. These happen to be the home states of Republican leaders who pushed the law through Congress: former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is from Kentucky, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Louisiana. Congressional negotiators created a $50 million fund for rural hospitals as they tried to get Republican holdouts to vote for the legislation. But even with this fund, there will still be a Medicaid-related revenue shortfall at many facilities. *Sources: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf), the [Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/chqpr-org/downloads/rural%5Fhospitals%5Fat%5Frisk%5Fof%5Fclosing.pdf), the [Center for American Progress](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-truth-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-acts-cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The%20nonpartisan%20Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20%28CBO%29%20estimated,With%20new%20federal%20limits%20on%20Medicaid%20eligibility) and the [Sheps Center for Health Services Research](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-markey-senate-gov/imo/media/doc/letter%5Fon%5Frural%5Fhospitals.pdf) at the University of North Carolina.* ## **$46.5 billion** The amount of money the law designates for Trump’s desired wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. *Sources: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf) and the [Department of Homeland Security](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/04/secretary-noem-commends-president-trump-and-one-big-beautiful-bill-signing-law?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=In%20June%2C%20Secretary%20Noem%20laid,for%20the%20next%20four%20years.).* ## **$45 billion** The amount earmarked for the construction of new immigration detention centers. An additional $30 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, will go to facilities maintenance, personnel, transportation and other costs. The American Immigration Council, which supports immigrants, estimates that detention capacity could increase by as many as 125,000 beds — nearly the size of the entire federal prison system. *Sources: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf) and the [American Immigration Council](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/our-impact/mission-vision/?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## **$14.4 billion** The amount that will go to the Department of Homeland Security to transport immigrants to and from detention centers and to deport them to other countries. *Sources: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf) and the [Department of Homeland Security](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/04/secretary-noem-commends-president-trump-and-one-big-beautiful-bill-signing-law?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=In%20June%2C%20Secretary%20Noem%20laid,for%20the%20next%20four%20years.).* ## **$3 billion** The amount of money that will go to the Justice Department for immigration courts, including for the hiring of additional judges. *Source: [Legislative text](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/rules-house-gov/sites/evo-subsites/rules-house-gov/files/evo-media-document/file%5F8654.pdf).* *Shefali Luthra contributed to this report.* ![](https://pixel.19thnews.org/2025/07/trump-big-beautiful-tax-law-numbers) ### SpoVal is looking to make opioids extra illegal URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-is-looking-to-make-opioids-extra-illegal/ Last updated: 2025-07-07T18:35:12.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - SpoVal is looking to establish criminal penalties for exposing another person to controlled substances, an expanded version of an ordinance they previously considered that would have just protected kids or vulnerable adults. - The Spokane Regional Transportation Council is divvying out millions in funding for transportation projects across the region, and some of your favorites might be getting funded! - As it sits, Spokane is not projected to have enough affordable housing to meet population needs by 2046\. What will the city do about it? Tune into the Plan Commission to find out. - Keep reading the words “transit-oriented development,” and feeling confused? The Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board is getting a crash course on the concept, and you can too, by watching the meeting! Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-is-looking-to-make-opioids-extra-illegal/) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-is-looking-to-make-opioids-extra-illegal/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-is-looking-to-make-opioids-extra-illegal/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spoval-is-looking-to-make-opioids-extra-illegal/) ## Spokane City Council **/5 peppers** The July 7 meeting is cancelled ### Next week’s sneak peek: - The council is set to vote on Special Budget Ordinances to accept grants and add them to the biennial budget, plus spend $730,000 of the opioid settlement dollars on “contractual services.” Contractual services for what, you may ask? Great question. No additional information was included. - A vote on an ordinance to prohibit new housing developments receiving the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption credit from operating units in the building as short-term rentals (think Airbnb). This is intended to ensure projects receiving the tax credit are actually contributing in the long term to the region’s housing supply. - A vote on the deferred ordinance to create a [simplified civil infraction system.](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - A first read on the ordinance to [update the city’s old Complete Streets ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/sheriff-you-cant-spend-all-your-behavioral-health-money-on-more-cops/). ## Spokane Plan Commission 🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### Too much unaffordable housing, not enough affordable housing The results are in and they’re not looking good: Spokane will not have enough affordable housing units to accommodate estimated population growth by 2046 (that would be just over 20 years from now, but that doesn’t mean we have enough affordable housing as it stands now either). The report, prepared by a senior city planner, was a necessary step in updating the Comprehensive Plan and meeting the requirements of both the Growth Management Act and [House Bill 1220.](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2021&BillNumber=1220&ref=rangemedia.co) The analysis found that the city is projected to fall short of housing for people in the 0-80% Area Median Income (AMI) bracket — which is any household making less than $72,600 — by 4,365 units. At the same time, the city is projected to have an excess capacity of almost 13,000 units for people making more than $72,600. “To comply with the requirements of House Bill 1220, the City must consider, as part of the overall Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update, actions sufficient to raise the capacity in the 0-80%AMI bracket by nearly 4,400 units,” the report reads. The Plan Commission is set to discuss these results in depth on Wednesday, and you can review the full plan starting on page 24 of [this document](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2025/07/plan-agenda-2025-07-09.pdf). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, June 9 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers for global warming, 🌶️/5 peppers for the actual meeting content ### A crash course in transit-oriented development You may have seen the phrase “transit-oriented development,” in past editions of CIVICS. If that term is word salad to you, you can tune in to the Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board for a crash course — TransitOriented Development 101, the agenda says. Staff will present an overview of transit oriented development work conducted to date, answer questions like “What could transit-oriented development look like in Spokane?” and “What land use and zoning tools would support this type of development?” > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/climate-resilience-and-sustainability-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Thursday, July 10 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed [here](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council 🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### Funding announcement for street projects For all you urbanist/city planner types who have been watching municipal budgets and funding announcements like a hawk to see if your pet project has the money to get completed soon (looking at you, [Lauren](https://rangemedia.co/author/lauren-pangborn/?ref=rangemedia.co)), the Spokane Regional Transportation Council has a big update. At this week’s meeting, they’re announcing the projects slated for 2027 through 2029 that they’re awarding funding to, and we got a sneak peek in the agenda docs. Here’s the highlights: - Division Street Active Transportation Projects were fully funded at $2,102,926, which means Division Street could finally start to get a whole lot friendlier for pedestrians. [Sorry, Larry Stone](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/aug/08/division-over-division-street-new-video-from-larry/?ref=rangemedia.co). - The Latah Bridge has the funds now to start thinking about getting fixed up, as the design element of the rehabilitation was fully funded at $2,780,000\. However, you can’t get too excited; the project in its entirety is slated to [cost around $65 million](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/latah-bridge-rehabilitation-study/?ref=rangemedia.co). - Phase 2 of connecting Fish Lake Trail to the Centennial Trail was partially funded at $4,705,203 of the requested $5 million+. - Do you like the Spokane City Line? Spokane Transit Authority is in the process of looking at similar high performance transit on Wellesley, and the design and engineering for that project was fully funded by SRTC for $630,000. For those of you who want to peruse the whole list of fully and partially funded projects, it can be found [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/srtc-org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-10-board-meeting-draft%5Ffinal%5Fcompressed.pdf), starting on page 24. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, July 10 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Proposed substance abuse ordinance expanded The city council is set for a second reading on its proposed new law governing punishment for “reckless endangerment with a controlled substance,” which is when someone exposes another person to a controlled substance. The previous ordinance would have made it a crime to expose a child or a dependent adult — a person older than 18 who needs special assistance with daily life — to controlled substances. The new ordinance makes it a crime to expose “all people” to opioids and establishes a minimum sentence of 90 days in jail and a maximum of 364 days and allows the city to fine offenders $5,000\. The agenda sheet says the law is needed because [existing state law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.42.100&ref=rangemedia.co) does not specifically mention opioids among the controlled substances it bars people from exposing others to. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 8, at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### POD: The questions we're all asking about the Spokane protests w/ Police Chief Hall URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-the-questions-were-all-asking-about-the-spokane-protests-w-police-chief-hall/ Last updated: 2025-07-04T22:16:05.000Z The use of force by law enforcement during the June 11 and 14 protests in Spokane has left our community with lots of questions regarding protesting and immigration rights: what recourse do people have to report excessive uses of force? How does it work when Kootenai County Sheriffs — who explicitly collaborate with ICE — answer a call for aid from Spokane? Was the Keep WA Working Act violated on June 11 when police escorted the ICE van out? What the heck was that green gas law enforcement used? We got the answers to some of those questions and more when Luke and Val sat down with Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall this week. ### Sorting truth from fiction in the Idaho shooting case URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/idaho-shooting-canfield-mountain-wess-roley/ Last updated: 2025-07-03T18:47:04.000Z Almost immediately after news of a brushfire and subsequent shooting on Canfield Mountain broke on Sunday, rumors and conspiracy theories started flying on social media. It was true that 20-year-old Wess Roley had just shot and killed two firefighters, who responded to a brush blaze police believe Roley set, but basically everything that consumed mostly right-wing social media accounts was wrong or unsupported. This is typical of fast-moving stories of complex tragedies. Hark back to Cassie Bernall, a student who was killed during the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado in 1999\. Shortly after students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 13 students and then themselves on April 20, [a story](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-20/a-massacre-at-columbine-high-school?ref=rangemedia.co) started circulating that Bernall told Harris she believed in God, and so he killed her. The Bernall story was only a rumor that’s not supported by evidence. Yet many still believe it’s true, and in a world where the spread of misinformation is exponentially faster than that of verifiable facts, fabrications make an impact on people’s worldviews long before the truth has a chance to get off the ground. And they’re difficult, once established, to reverse. We’re going to start with the truth, followed by a list of falsehoods reported in right-wing social media accounts and publications. ### Here’s what’s credible - The shooter’s grandfather, Dale Roley, [told](https://www.kxly.com/news/coeur-dalene-gunmans-grandfather-says-he-had-no-idea-grandson-was-capable-of-acts/article%5F9da5ab08-cda8-4515-81a2-6b5b673331cd.html?ref=rangemedia.co) news organizations that Wess Roley had wanted to be a firefighter, though Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris [told](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/wess-roley-idaho-shooting-suspect.html?ref=rangemedia.co) *The* *New York Times* the county didn’t have any applications or interest forms from Wess. [Later reporting](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/02/idaho-firefighter-shooter-inquired-about-being-a-f/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the *Spokesman* showed Roley may have tried to apply for a firefighting position somewhere in the region. - Dale Roley also told news agencies that Wess worked for a “tree company,” which could have been Jason Roley’s own Roley Tree Service. - Wess Roley’s former [roommate told](https://idahonews.com/news/local/the-man-accused-of-killing-2-idaho-firefighters-had-once-aspired-to-be-one?ref=rangemedia.co) the Associated Press that Roley had shaved his head and was starting to “go downhill” early this year. The roommate said Roley was living in his car at the time of the shooting. - Police say Roley took his own life and was located by one of several federal agencies that responded to the scene using helicopter cell phone signal tracking technology. - Roley had had five previous contacts with law enforcement, but they were mostly wellness checks, and he didn’t have a criminal record, according to the *Times*. - ABC News [interviewed](https://abcnews.go.com/US/probe-idaho-firefighter-ambush-suspect-digging-childhood-gun/story?id=123389416&ref=rangemedia.co) a former classmate of Roley’s who said he was obsessed with guns and had gotten in trouble at school for drawing swastikas in notebooks. - Jason Roley, Wess Roley’s dad and an Army veteran, posted photographs of himself to Facebook displaying an “88” tattoo, a [symbol of Nazism](https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/88?ref=rangemedia.co). His profile picture is a meme showing the American flag with text reading, “This is my Pride flag.” (He did not respond to a request for comment.) - Wess Roley’s mother, Heather Lynn Cuchiara, recently visited Washington DC with a man, presumably Wess Roley’s stepfather, where they posed for photos at famous sites, including the Washington Monument, wearing “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hats. She posted the photos to her Facebook account, which appears to have now been taken down — luckily, we archived many of her posts prior to deletion. (She did not respond to a request for comment.) - After Jason Roley and Cuchiara divorced in 2015, she took out a protective order against him that covered herself and their son, though the order for Wess was later removed. - While no direct tie between Roley and the Aryan Nations has been identified, the shooting took place on June 29, which is the [24th anniversary](https://www.deseret.com/2001/6/29/19593794/aryan-inferno/?ref=rangemedia.co) of the burning of the Aryan Nations headquarters in 2001 in a training exercise by the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department. ### Here’s what we can say isn’t true Roley’s story is not completely clear yet, but far-right pundits were quick to ascribe leftist motivations to him as soon as the shooting was being reported by local media. Before we even knew the identity of the shooter, these unsupported claims spread on social media: - The far-right Spokane pastor Matt Shea reposted a conspiracy theory that the timing of the shooting seemed to be related to the striking of pro-gun measures in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the vast [domestic policy bill](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0eqpz23l9jo?ref=rangemedia.co) moving through the federal legislature. - Lara Loomer, the influential right-wing conspiracy theorist, reposted a *Spokesman* story from April 2024 about Alexander Mercurio, a Coeur d’Alene student accused of planning attacks on churches on behalf of the Islamic State (ISIS). Her commentary: “2024, Coeur d’Alene, Did you know there is an ISIS terror cell there,” implying the shooter belonged to ISIS. (Norris said there are no indications that Roley had connections to terrorist groups.) - Countless Facebook, Reddit and forum posts — some of which went viral — suggested Wess Roley was transgender. - The Idaho Tribune, a far-right, anti-queer publication that writes about North Idaho politics, also tweeted inflated body counts, claiming four people had been killed early during the attack. It noted that information was based on police scanner activity and subject to change. - The Tribune has also repeatedly suggested on Twitter that Roley was either transgender, or that he was a “Bronie,” a boy or man who likes My Little Pony. The former claim has no evidence to support it, and is part of a growing national trend to try to link shooters to transness and therefore frame trans identities as being inherently linked to violence and mental illness. (It’s also a baseless accusation — [most mass shooters are cisgender men.](https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check/majority-of-us-mass-shooters-are-cis-men-not-transgender-or-non-binary-people-idUSL1N363273/?ref=rangemedia.co)) The latter allegation is based on social media posts of Roley displaying My Little Pony imagery. The Tribune’s post seems to imply that if a man likes My Little Pony — a toy and entertainment franchise that tells the story of colorful, magic ponies — he is queer and potentially represents a left-wing threat to society. This is a common tactic of far-right commentators trying to vilify queer communities. But liking My Little Pony does not mean someone is queer. In fact, far-right ideology — including overt Nazism — and an affinity for niche communities like the fandom for My Little Pony are not always mutually exclusive. As Kaitlyn Tiffany [writes](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/06/my-little-pony-nazi-4chan-black-lives-matter/613348/?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Atlantic*, one website dedicated to Bronyism tags hundreds of images as “racist.” Much far-right activism centered around Bronies was organized on the social media community 4chan, which is infamous as an unfiltered hub [described](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/how-the-internet-left-4chan-behind?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The New Yorker* as “a staging ground for incel culture.” As Wess Roley’s profile came into fuller view in the days after his attack on firefighters, these accounts that initially implied Roley was a left-wing radical seemed to drop that narrative, refocusing on supporting the first responders. Meanwhile, the firefighters Roley killed should be remembered and mourned. Here are their names: Kootenai County Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Harwood and Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Battalion Chief John Morrison. A third firefighter was critically injured in the shooting: Coeur d’Alene Fire Department engineer Dave Tysdal. Efforts to support the Tysdal and the families of Harwood and Morrison have sprung up across the community, including a promotion at No-Li Brewhouse to fund donations to the first responders and local organizations that provide ongoing support for fallen first responders and their families. More information on those efforts can be found [here](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jul/02/how-to-help-families-of-firefighters-shot-no-li-br/?ref=rangemedia.co). For ongoing updates on the Canfield Mountain shooting and fire, we recommend following local reporters like *The Spokesman*’s [Alexandra Duggan on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/alexdugganreports.bsky.social?ref=rangemedia.co), and reading *The Spokesman’s* coverage [here](https://go.bsky.app/redirect?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spokesman.com%2Fsections%2Fcanfield-shootings%2F&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### A roundabout 65 years in the making, a trail connection delayed and new South Hill protected bike lanes URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/a-roundabout-65-years-in-the-making-a-trail-connection-delayed-and-new-south-hill-protected-bike-lanes/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T23:37:10.000Z On June 23, the Spokane City Council approved the addition of 15 projects to its [Six-Year Comprehensive Street Plan](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/six-year-comprehensive-street-program-2026-2031/draft-six-year-streets-program-2026-2031-2025-06-20.pdf), and nearly all of those have at least a small element that could make it easier to walk, cycle or take public transit. Every annual update to the street plan also gives us the opportunity to see how timelines or construction plans have changed for projects previously included in the street plan. RANGE found seven active transportation projects that have been delayed, increased significantly in cost — or both. ## First, a primer on street plans *Warning: this is boring if you’re not into municipal bureaucracy, so skip ahead if you want the juicy project details.* Each year, the city is legally required to create a street plan for the following six years. Last year’s street plan ran from 2025-2030, and this year’s plan runs from 2026-2031\. You might say “Amazing, is this a list of every single street project that will get built here for the next six years?” Unfortunately, the answer to that question is “No.” It does *not* include: - detailed plans of the annual residential street maintenance projects (paid for by vehicle registration fees) - projects in the County (unless you’re intimately familiar with the shape of the city, it can be tough to know if a given street segment is in the city or the county) - projects done by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) — even if they’re done inside city limits - info about which traffic calming projects will be built - details about years five and six, typically To be fair, in an environment where federal grants are disappearing overnight, street surfaces decay at different rates and traffic calming needs depend on land use changes and other streets projects, agility is sort of a necessity in government planning. Another interesting bit for my fellow municipal politics nerds: the six-year street plan notes where the funds for each project come from. Hint: it’s *a lot* of federal and state grant money. ## Bike, ped and transit projects added to the plan **1\. High visibility crosswalks** In 2026, the city expects to replace existing crosswalks at 30 signalized, arterial intersections with so-called “continental-style” crosswalks. [This design is preferred by the National Association of City Transportation Officials](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/intersection-design-elements/crosswalks-and-crossings/conventional-crosswalks/?ref=rangemedia.co), of which Spokane is a member. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1_ad_4nxequgndq9_2xoylki4l8-d6-yjtz80bjv9byvs13vmt-pftyue4xjzxbndboglbyymdhwkjbdgc0kejhvk-mgi-rqgewklvqsbaopvasklob-bhvrnzjticmpd-wqoyb3vaxmxjpakeycvoiatigornmkmrsjvayqw-1.png) *Many signalized intersections in Spokane have this style of crosswalk.* *Image credit:* [*NACTO Urban Street Design Guide*](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/?ref=rangemedia.co) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1_ad_4nxeludv6eix5dsfxg5yhqdpgfgkgwdlrfd7xrogjmn7z2shayzrnule_j3edxz_fxthorhau7lnwwd4gc62z0fonomigvvdc9frcvwepua0ajwri-4vmiqg1nxybsvgpxbhhrrcsawkeycvoiatigornmkmrsjvayqw-1.png) *Continental-style crosswalks the city will install at 30 signalized intersections. Image credit:* [*NACTO Urban Street Design Guide*](https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/?ref=rangemedia.co) **2\. Sidewalk infill on Driscoll Boulevard from Garland Avenue to Wellesley Avenue** This section of Driscoll is served by Spokane Transit Authority’s Route 33, which STA intends to transform into a High Performance Transit line in the next few years. Having sidewalks in the area is crucial for both able-bodied and disabled folks alike to access bus stops and all other destinations. Construction is planned for 2026. **3\. Sidewalk and ramp infill around schools** It’s not clear exactly where these improvements would happen, but the city is planning to spend about $1.8 million next year to spruce up sidewalks and improve accessibility around some of our local schools. This is distinct from school-specific projects that follow. **4\. Fixing Assembly Street and Wellesley Avenue for safer access to Flett Middle School** This intersection is an odd duck: it’s a four-way stop controlling Assembly Street’s two south-bound lanes and two north-bound lanes where they cross Wellesley Avenue, and the bike lanes disappear two blocks north of the intersection and reappear again one block south. Additionally, there are no sidewalks from Wellesley Avenue’s south side between the intersection and the school. This project will bridge the bike lane gap, install sidewalks and install a new traffic signal. Construction is scheduled for 2027. **5\. Right-sizing Grand Boulevard for Sacajawea Middle School** Grand Boulevard sports three, four and sometimes five lanes in this section of street between 29th and 37th, and the city plans to reduce lane widths, add bike lanes, and improve one of the intersections to enable safer walking routes to the middle school. Construction is scheduled for 2027. **6\. Adding bike lanes to 29th Avenue between Southeast Boulevard and Ray Street** While there aren’t bike lanes east and west of this stretch of 29th Avenue, lanes here would provide connection between Southeast Boulevard – a popular cycling route – and what is likely a RANGE reader favorite: the South Hill Trader Joe’s. In addition to creating safer conditions for those on bikes, narrowing the roadway from four to three lanes [should boost safety for all users](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667091724000013?ref=rangemedia.co#sec0003), including car occupants and pedestrians. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1_ad_4nxdtnmoegfm_rgcd81hmdoj3gkopncpha2af554slsxqynpl4z0dufvry8kkeo43kbwpcumogdzfhss1zmgqz4zaeq3brb6snxya2mdrqff8ec0f1luaqde8n3qokqe6xlji_xzkkeycvoiatigornmkmrsjvayqw-1.png) **7\. Creating safer access to Division Bus Rapid Transit stops** When STA transforms Route 25 into [a BRT line](https://www.spokanetransit.com/division-street-brt/?ref=rangemedia.co), safe walking and cycling routes to and from stops will become even more crucial. The Division Connects Study identified [a suite of improvements worth making](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/srtc-org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/appendix-i%5Factive-transportation-project-recommendations%5Fred%5Fcompressed.pdf) (some of which have already been made, like the enhanced crosswalks at Longfellow Avenue and Weile Avenue). One suggestion involves protecting the existing bike lane on Rowan Avenue. Importantly, these improvements are not yet funded, but adding it to the street plan shows meaningful commitment to the projects. The city is estimating the suite will cost $14.3 million. **8\. A city-wide bike boulevard network, also known as** [**27 by 2027**](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-27-mile-bike-urban-mobility-network-bikeway-infrastructure/) Unfortunately, this landmark project is only partially funded as the city seems to be chasing [around $7 million](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/six-year-comprehensive-street-program-2026-2031/draft-six-year-streets-program-2026-2031-2025-06-20-page-101.pdf) of grant funding. The estimated cost for the network is now at roughly $8.5 million, and it seems most of the construction is expected in 2027, so perhaps a better name is “27 in 2027.” In the spirit of fairness, it seems like at least a couple segments will be built this year: the [Elm Street Greenway](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/transportation-commission/presentations/2025/06/18/2025-adaptive-projects-design-and-safe-streets-for-spokane-project-list-page-16.pdf) and a two-way cycle track on Belt Street near Shadle Park. **9\. New traffic signals where Rowan Avenue meets Maple Street and Ash Street** Rowan Avenue is a decent east-west connector for cycling, but without traffic signals nor enhanced crosswalks, the high speeds and traffic volume on Maple and Ash Streets can make crossing on foot or on a bike difficult. This project looks to turn Rowan Avenue’s crossings with Maple Street and Ash Street into full signalized intersections. While this project is mostly car infrastructure — and therefore more expensive than it would need to be if it solely served pedestrians and those on bikes — these added traffic signals will make crossing these arterials easier for everyone. Construction is scheduled for 2026 and is, in part, funded by the Safe Streets for All Fund (previously known as the Traffic Calming Fund). **10\. Studying a one-way to two-way conversion of Haven and Market Streets through Hillyard** In decades past, two-way streets were converted to one-ways under the guise of faster vehicle movement through an area. And for decades, the couplet of Haven and Market Streets has been a freight corridor, but planners hope most freight traffic will move to the North Spokane Corridor once it is complete. [Planners and researchers are realizing the detrimental effects one-way streets have in urban areas](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17549175.2017.1422535?ref=rangemedia.co): those on bikes and those on foot are less safe and businesses suffer. After all, drivers passing through don’t spend money at businesses, only people coming in the door do. This project funds a study, not construction, but the evidence is clear that one-ways harm the type of neighborhood center we all want central Hillyard to be. **11\. Downtown Sprague Avenue rebuild, a la Riverside Avenue rebuild of 2022** Riverside Avenue was rebuilt in 2022 to allow for utility work, but created some of the city’s first protected bike lanes as well as City Line stops. This project on Sprague Avenue from Division Street to Post Street has similar themes. Here’s the description: “Initiate project planning to define scope of work. Anticiapted (sic) to be a collaborative project with STA to incorporate HPT stop improvements. Potential improvements include full street reconstruction, traffic signal replacement, lane configuration and cross section revisions, sidewalk and ADA ramp improvements along with utility replacements and upgrades.” STA’s Connect 2035 plan for Sprague Avenue includes an initiative to transform Route 9 – the Sprague route – into a high performance transit line, and of course the south side of the STA plaza sits on Sprague, so several west-bound routes use this corridor and could benefit from better bus infrastructure. Construction is scheduled for 2030 and 2031 as of now, but it’s quite common for street plan projects to get pushed out over the years. The project is only partially funded. **12\. Traffic control and a shared-use path at Ferris High School, 65 years in the making** The city plans to add a signal or roundabout at 37th Avenue and Ray Street – the main entrance to Ferris High School. Plans also include a new traffic signal at 37th Avenue and Freya Street and a shared use path in the area. Plans for traffic revisions in this area [date back to 1966](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/feb/15/getting-there-ray-freya-crossover-back-in-play-wit/?ref=rangemedia.co), but were adjusted in 1986, [removed from the street plan in 2017](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/aug/12/spokane-leaders-scrap-decades-old-plan-for-ferris-/?ref=rangemedia.co), [studied again in 2021](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/ray-freya-alternatives-analysis/ray-freya-alternatives-report-final-2021-10-13-with-appendices-a-e.pdf) and added back into the plan this year with a construction date of 2031\. 2031 will be the 65th anniversary of the initial plans. [Several different concepts have been planned and studied over the years.](https://spokane.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=2864427503d5441f85a27556f08b07b4&ref=rangemedia.co) The city owns a diagonal swoop through Ferris, sometimes considered for a street, and more recently for a shared use path. The city also owns eight parcels near 37th Avenue and Ray Street, which were purchased over the years in anticipation of needing more right of way for whichever traffic revision was landed on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ad_4nxeihbdldchue-60xk5ggyb7-7sbzjb2z8mel_0owe-i7eqm8cmmmwwzsoqdkznqjyw4fp2oqdn5pqf3yprpy42xm6gh-zfta8ftsz_0kgstiaozvakjl1uh8rc9kzgo2sbdmjpswqkeycvoiatigornmkmrsjvayqw-1.png) *Source:* [*Ray-Freya Alternatives Report*](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/ray-freya-alternatives-analysis/ray-freya-alternatives-report-final-2021-10-13-with-appendices-a-e.pdf) Those are the shiny new projects that were just added, but there’s still some excitement (and disappointment) in the edits planners made to projects that were previously included. ## Major bike, ped and transit projects changed in the plan 1\. [The Spokane Falls Boulevard rebuild](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-falls-boulevard-redesign/) was estimated in the 2025 plan to cost $11.5 million, but sports a $14 million price tag in the 2026 plan. 2\. Fish Lake Trail - Phase 3b, which would bridge the roughly one mile gap between the north and south sections of the beloved trail that connects Spokane to Cheney, was estimated in previous years’ plans to cost around $6 million, but is now estimated at $10.7 million. 3\. Fish Lake to Centennial Trail Connection - Phase 2, which would connect Sandifur Bridge to a trail paralleling Government Way, was scheduled for construction in 2026 and 2027 in the 2024 street plan, but is now scheduled for construction in 2027 and 2028. 4\. The Latah Bridge Rehabilitation, which will replace the bridge deck and certain structural elements, was estimated in the 2024 plan to cost $49 million. This year’s plan lists it at $65 million. [STA has historically requested](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/mar/19/span-of-a-century/?ref=rangemedia.co) that the bridge rehab take into account the weight of a light rail line to the West Plains. 5\. The street plan has included a project to study (not build) a protected bike lane on Boone. The study was scheduled for 2024, then 2025 and now 2026\. It’s part of the [Division Connects suite of recommended active transportation projects](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/srtc-org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/appendix-i%5Factive-transportation-project-recommendations%5Fred%5Fcompressed.pdf), but has met pushback from local leaders over concerns about traffic leaving the Spokane Arena after events. 6\. Pacific Avenue Greenway - Phase 1, which will run from Howard to Sherman, was scheduled to be constructed in 2026, according to the 2024 street plan. The 2026 street plan now estimates that construction will bleed into 2027, and adds about $1 million to the overall cost. 7\. Pacific Avenue Greenway - Phase 2, which will connect Sherman to the Ben Burr Trail, has increased in price from $4 million in the 2024 plan to $7 million in today’s plan. ## Lastly, active transportation projects removed from the plan Projects are removed when they are complete, or if they are expected to complete this calendar year. 1. Post Street Bridge 2. [Scott Elementary Safe Routes to School](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/scott-elementary-safe-routes-to-school/?ref=rangemedia.co) 3. [Stevens Elementary Safe Routes to School](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/stevens-elementary-walk-route/?ref=rangemedia.co) 4. [Lincoln Street Pedestrian and Bike Safety](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/lincoln-street-summit-to-sinto-pedestrian-and-bike-safety/?ref=rangemedia.co) 5. [Maxwell Avenue – Pettet to Walnut Bike/Pedestrian Safety Upgrades](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/maxwell-avenue-pettet-to-walnut-bike-pedestrian-safety-upgrades/?ref=rangemedia.co) **A note from Lauren:** If you find yourself wanting to track what bike infrastructure is getting built and when, whether by the city of Spokane or by others, you might enjoy [my project tracking tool](https://trello.com/b/eFMhFOsB/unofficial-spokane-bike-infrastructure-project-tracker?ref=rangemedia.co). It’s been updated with the 2026-2031 Six Year Street Plan from the City of Spokane. I’ll update it with this year’s plans from the County, Spokane Valley and the other small cities when those become available. ### Dear Readers: Come to our prison reform event (it’s free!) URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/dear-readers-come-to-our-prison-reform-event-its-free/ Last updated: 2025-07-02T23:32:11.000Z For the last four years, the west side nonprofit [Look 2 Justice](https://look2justice.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) (L2J) has hosted annual symposiums in Tukwila to educate laypeople on the horrific consequences of the “trauma-to-prison pipeline,” a carceral system that primes young people from poor communities for a life of incarceration. For the first time, L2J, in partnership with RANGE Media and the [Black Rose Collective](https://www.theblackrosecollective.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), is bringing that symposium to Spokane on July 19\. The event, titled, “Breaking the Cycle: Healing Past Harms,” will feature addresses by L2J founder [Christopher Blackwell](https://www.christopher-blackwell.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), an incarcerated journalist; the Gonzaga University law professor [Inga Laurent](https://www.ingalaurent.com/?ref=rangemedia.co); [Anthony Covert](https://www.law.uw.edu/news-events/news/2024/sweet-clemency?ref=rangemedia.co), a formerly incarcerated man advocating for retroactive applications of prison reform; [Latrice Williams](https://www.whereweconverge.com/post/latrice-williams-is-making-an-impact-in-spokane-through-real-estate-and-more?ref=rangemedia.co), a formerly incarcerated woman who started the first Black-woman-owned real estate company in Spokane; and [Antoine Davis](https://look2justice.org/antoine-davis/?ref=rangemedia.co), an incarcerated pastor and journalist. The speakers will illuminate the trauma-to-prison pipeline and talk about pathways out of that system. L2J is led entirely by incarcerated activists and journalists dedicated to prison reform in Washington state, whose Department of Corrections oversees an ever-expanding network of 11 prisons and a nearly $3 billion budget. L2J looks to reform this system through legislation that reduces its size and impact and creates opportunities for incarcerated people to reenter society and be successful human beings. Best of all: **it’s free** and there will be coffee and snacks. Here are the deets: July 19 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Empire Health Foundation’s Philanthropy Center at 1020 W Riverside Ave in Spokane. The event is sponsored by the [Initai Foundation](https://inatai.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Empire Health Foundation](https://www.empirehealthfoundation.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). More information is available in our [program](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Iwqyoyq82WgeYc18ib59hF9dEEABdjzC/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co). Please RSVP [here](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-spokane-symposium-tickets-1368201330009?aff=oddtdtcreator&ref=rangemedia.co). Also, read RANGE's prison and criminal justice reporting [here](https://rangemedia.co/page/2/?s=prison&ref=rangemedia.co). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/screen-shot-2025-07-03-at-1-43-36-pm.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/screen-shot-2025-07-03-at-1-46-16-pm.png) ### Spokane could ban warrantless ICE arrests on city property URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ban-warranteless-ice-arrests/ Last updated: 2025-06-30T19:18:50.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - The Spokane City Council has a new draft of an ordinance that would criminalize homelessness citywide. - They’re also voting on an emergency ordinance to ban warrantless ICE arrest in “nonpublic,” city property, which would include events at the parks and city streets. - It’s 4th of July this week, which means there’s a lot of city closures — including libraries and aquatic centers — and a lot of meeting cancellations, hence the shorter CIVICS. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ban-warranteless-ice-arrests/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-ban-warranteless-ice-arrests/) But, before we get into it: ### Here’s what we know about the Idaho fire and shootings To bring you up to speed, about midday on June 29, police say, a gunman set flame to the dry forest on Canfield Mountain just east of Dalton Gardens between Coeur d’Alene and Hayden. As the blaze spread and firefighting crews were investigating how to fight it, he opened fire on them, killing two and wounding one, who was in critical but stable condition Sunday evening. Local, state and federal law enforcement immediately responded and a short time later the shooter was dead. We don’t know whether he died from police gunfire or from shooting himself. Police recovered the body before the fire reached it. Here is what we know: - There is no evacuation ordered at the moment, but the fire is still burning. Kootenai County Sherif Bob Norris advised local residents to monitor the Kootenai County [Alert Center](https://www.kcsheriff.com/228/Alert-Kootenai?ref=rangemedia.co) for up-to-date information. - Several news agencies, including the [Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press](https://cdapress.com/news/2025/jun/30/shooting-suspect-in-firefighter-slainings-identified/?ref=rangemedia.co), have identified the suspect as 20-year-old Wess Roley; we’ll be digging into his story in the coming days. - About 300 law enforcement agents responded to the scene, including at least one Spokane-based Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Most were stationed for several hours at Cherry Hill Park, on the east side of the ridge, opposite the attack scene. - RANGE saw the following law enforcement agencies on scene: the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; US Border Patrol; US Marshals; Washington State Patrol; Idaho State Patrol; Spokane County Sheriff; the Kootenai County Sheriff; Liberty Lake Police Department; Spokane Police Department; Post Falls Police Department; Kellogg Police Department. - The shooter’s body was located via a stagnant cell phone signal by a federal surveillance helicopter at 3:16 pm and “scooped up” about an hour and a half later, according to Norris. - Though investigators are still trying to determine a motive, Bruce Mattare, the chair of the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners, referenced Coeur d’Alene’s long history with white supremacy in a press conference. He said his comments were inspired by media speculation that the shooter could be influenced by white supremacy. Here is a lengthy quote from Mattare, which references activity by the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist hate group that was headquartered in Hayden and was [later dismantled](https://www.niot.org/blog/documentary-chronicles-human-rights-movement-idaho?ref=rangemedia.co) largely by grassroots activism: “*June 29th, 2025 is a day that we will not forget in this community. It is the day evil showed his face, and we lost two outstanding professionals of the highest quality. I cannot fathom why anyone would commit such a heinous act. This kind of senseless violence is unheard of here. This is not who we are as a community, and when you hear how others portray the people who live here on the news, it's not true. What happened here decades ago is not reflective of fine people who live here today. I want everyone to know that this is a wonderful place to live.”* ## July 4th Spokane City Closures Straight from the mouth of the city (and by that, we mean we copied-and-pasted the city press release) here are the closures you should plan for on Friday: “In observance of the Independence Day holiday on Friday, July 4, City Hall will be closed along with other City facilities, including the Waste-to-Energy facility. Garbage, recycling, and food & yard waste services will be a day late after the Fourth of July holiday, with normal Friday services planned for Saturday. Here are some additional Independence Day closures and cancellations: - On-street paid parking meters and kiosks will not require payments but remember even when parking is free on holidays, all parking rules, including time limits, still apply. - All Spokane Public Library locations will be closed. - The Spokane Municipal Court and Community Justice Services will be closed. - Spokane 311 employees will not be available for in-person, phone, or online customer service inquiries. The public can go to Spokane311.org 24 hours a day to submit a request. - Development Services Center employees will not be available. - The City’s six aquatic centers will be closed.” ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Camping to be illegal citywide Last week, we had a lot of whiplash from the way the council [handled Mayor Lisa Brown’s slate of homelessness ordinances](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/22/brown-promises-something-better-than-prop-1-as-spo/?ref=rangemedia.co): passing a few and voting down the one that would criminalize camping citywide but give a seven-day grace period for someone to move, then choosing late in the evening to reconsider the ordinance but with an amendment dropping the grace period to three days, then finally, voting to defer the ordinance in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The deferred ordinance is coming back for a vote tonight, but it looks a little bit different. After stakeholder meetings with folks from Experience Matters, the Downtown Spokane partnership and more, there are a few amendments up for a vote at the 3:30 pm Agenda Review session, with the new draft coming for a vote at the 6 pm legislative session. Council Members Paul Dillon, Zack Zappone and Lili Navarrete have filed a joint amendment that would change some of the language around obstruction. In the new draft, the 7-day notice that became a 3-day notice at the last meeting is now just “a notice.” The text of the ordinance no reads, “A notice shall be posted prior to a citation issued under SMC 12.02.1007(B) so that the Spokane Homeless Outreach Team or a City-designated service provider may offer navigation and relocation assistance to services including but not limited to an emergency or permanent housing solution, day center, crisis stabilization or crisis relief center, or substance use treatment facility.” A notice will not be required in advance to remove an unauthorized encampment if there is a “reasonable belief,” that the encampment “presents an immediate threat and/or an unreasonable risk of harm to life, public health, or safety, or public property which shall include, but is not limited to: - physical threats or violence. - criminal activity not inherent in the act of unauthorized camping (e.g., drug use or sales, theft, sex trafficking) - a condition that significantly increases the likelihood of disease or the spread of disease (e.g., rodents, exposed meat, human waste) - a condition that presents a significant risk of bodily injury or death (e.g., discarded needles, vehicular traffic, weapons) - any other substantial threat to public health or safety - damage (including potential or foreseeable damage) to the natural environment of environmentally critical areas - significant amounts of trash - any knowing obstruction of access to or use of any portion of public property, or any camping in or upon any public property unless authorized by a local or state emergency declaration or pursuant to a permit as set forth in SMC 12.02.1007 A and B - occupation of an area in which the public is not allowed to be present during the times camping is occurring - directly adjacent to streets and moving vehicles.” Those last three are what stood out to us the most, because these changes essentially say, “When people are camping on public right-of-way and they aren’t doing other crimes, we’ll do our best to give them notice to move and case manage them, *unless* they’re knowingly camping on public property or next to streets and moving vehicles, where much of the city’s camping happens. Then we’ll just tell them immediately to go somewhere else, or get arrested!” The new amendment also states that the city will prioritize encampment removal for anything within 1000 feet of schools, parks, day care centers or childcare facilities, and emergency shelters — the original parameters of the voter-approved, Washington State Supreme Court-overturned Proposition 1. We’ve been told this is a compromise amendment, but it does seem like most of the compromise here has been done by the side that previously advocated for compassion and giving people time to move (although, to where?) rather than face citations or arrests that could hinder their ability to seek housing or employment in the future. ### No ICE on city property? The complete text of this ordinance was not included in the agenda, which means we’re working off what we’ve been told the ordinance does by Dillon, but an emergency ordinance that would ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement from executing warrantless searches or arrests on any city-owned “nonpublic,” property is up for a vote tonight. What does nonpublic property mean, you ask? Luckily, the definitions section was included in the agenda, so we know how the city is defining it: “Any area of a city facility property, or public right of way that is not generally open and accessible to the general public or for which public access is temporarily restricted, such as a permitted special event that requires express permission from the permit holder to enter, an area requiring a valid ticket for a bona fide attendee or passenger, or an area where permission to enter has been given by a city employee or an employee of a tenant in a city facility on an individual basis.” Dillon told us that definition also expands to public right-of-way areas, like streets, and events or festivals in ~~the park or~~ streets that require the festival to get a city permit and also requires tickets — for example, ~~Pride or~~ Tacos y Tequila. If this ordinance passes, it could be a huge step in protecting immigrants in Spokane from warrantless arrests — a large problem nationwide as [statistics](https://www.cato.org/blog/ice-arresting-1100-percent-more-noncriminals-streets-2017?ref=rangemedia.co) show ICE has mainly arrested people with [no violent criminal charges](https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/ice-detentions-criminal-convictions-data/3856326/?ref=rangemedia.co), and has even [arrested citizens](https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/27/us/american-citizens-detained-ice-immigration?ref=rangemedia.co) in some cases. *Edit: this section has been edited to reflect changes made to the ordinance.* ### Expanding human rights commission, or slowing down human rights? Up for a vote today is an ordinance from Council Members Jonathan Bingle and Lili Navarrete, which would expand the duties of the Spokane Human Rights Commission “to include automatic review of proposed changes to Title 18 of the Spokane Municipal Code and related provisions.” If passed, it would require the commission to review and comment on any legislation that would regulate discriminatory practices and claims before council could discuss legislation in committee, and before they take final action on the proposed ordinances. Navarrete and Bingle added new provisions to the ordinance after its initial committee hearing that could slow the passage of new legislation intended to address issues related to human rights and discrimination: council members would have to provide a copy of each ordinance a minimum of 15 days before it would appear at a committee, and the commission would have up to 45 days after to provide written comments. Normally, a piece of legislation appears at a committee and can be voted on and passed as early as two weeks later. If the council chooses to wait to move on an ordinance until they receive feedback from the commission, it could delay the passage of the ordinance by a month, which is a big con. However, the council could choose to bypass the requirement with a majority vote. ### Testimony Sign-up Don’t forget to exercise your right to public testimony, if you feel so called! You can sign up to speak at tonight’s meeting [here](https://forms.gle/Vd7n381x3seaL1NW6?ref=rangemedia.co) before 6 pm. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Next week’s meeting is cancelled for “Fourth of July Week.” We’re betting council members wanted to take a long weekend with their families. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 30, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### Regional library kerfuffle and reshuffle Regional library goings-on have been wildly complicated as of late, with book bannings and restrictions for youth ramping up across the border in Idaho. The Cooperative Information Network (CIN) is a library consortium that spans the border, with libraries in both Idaho and Washington participating. But [changes at Idaho libraries are impacting Washington patrons](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/18/internal-talking-points-reveal-details-about-commu/?ref=rangemedia.co), and now minors’ cards will no longer work at every library in the system. Liberty Lake Library is part of the CIN, but tonight, with the council’s permission, they could [follow the lead of Coeur d’Alene Public Library](https://cdapress.com/news/2025/jun/26/cda-library-trustees-vote-to-dissolve-regional-library-consortium/?ref=rangemedia.co) and authorize the Library Director vote in favor of dissolving the CIN at the next CIN meeting. This came at the request of the Library’s Board of Trustees, and it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of cross-border library information and materials sharing: the goal is for a new, reformed consortium to be brought forward that Liberty Lake could join at a later date. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, July 1 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### POD: A simple, seductive narrative URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-a-simple-seductive-narrative/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T20:42:25.000Z This week, Erin and Aaron talk about Erin’s deeply-reported story on a study that implied most unhoused people living on the streets of Spokane shouldn’t be here, and why we need to push back on narratives that undermine community care. Read the full analysis [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/). ### 'It’s Hard to Really Call it a Study' URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-study-findings-analysis/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T01:17:07.000Z If the headlines from earlier this week are to be believed, more than half of unhoused people in Spokane aren’t actually from our city. Much of the local media ate it up. “Report: Over 50% of Spokane homeless population moved there after losing housing,” the headline from The Center Square proclaimed. “Study reveals over half of unhoused moved to Spokane after losing housing,” reads a headline on Fox 28 and KHQ. KREM had the most nuanced headline: “Leaders clash over study claiming more than 50% of those experiencing homelessness moved to Spokane from elsewhere.” One big problem? None of these stories actually analyzed the study, its backers or the narrative it's trying to weave about Spokane, instead choosing to report a sensational statistic that is likely inaccurate — according to a prominent expert on homelessness data. The survey cited in these stories was commissioned by the Spokane Business Association (SBA) and designed by President Donald Trump’s former homelessness czar Robert Marbut. One of the most obvious issues with the study is a sample size so small it’s hard to make accurate conclusions about the findings. Further, the survey questions themselves seemed designed to create a specific result — that most homeless people in Spokane aren’t from Spokane — by using questions about birthplace and school attendance to break people into two tracks: individuals with “direct connections to Spokane,” and “visitors,” who should be given a bus ticket back to wherever their family is. Under Marbut’s rubric, which we’ll discuss in greater detail below, a majority of the RANGE team — to almost the same percentages found in the SBA survey of unhoused people — would be put into the “visitors” category. Preparation for the survey included conducting a “grid search” to estimate the total number of unhoused people on Spokane streets, used to calculate how many people surveyors needed to contact to get representative data. That data was collected by volunteers who drove around the city flagging people who looked homeless. There was no consistent control mechanism for duplicates or filtering out people who may have looked homeless but had shelter or housing. Large chunks of content in the Spokane study were copied word-for-word from another Marbut did in King County on behalf of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle think tank [first known for pushing schools](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/discovery-institute-still%5Fb%5F8479280?ref=rangemedia.co) to “teach the controversy” meaning teach biblical young Earth creationism alongside accepted science. “ There's no methodology. It doesn't tell us how many people they interviewed. It doesn't provide any base statistics regarding the people other than median age,” said Dr. Dennis Culhane, a homelessness and housing researcher at the University of Pennsylvania (who served as Director of Research at the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans from 2009 to 2018\. “So it's hard to really call it a study.” So if news stories parroting a study that contradicts past findings and which doesn’t have raw data to allow specialists to corroborate its conclusions, with policy recommendations copied and pasted from a Seattle survey isn’t cutting it for you, join us for a deep dive to correct the record on homelessness data in Spokane, and analyze what the SBA narrative says about our city. ## The Story The survey and the rapid-take news coverage that followed may not tell an accurate story, but they do tell a story about Spokane that is both familiar and seductive: there are people who are not “from here.” Those people are a drain on our resources and if we could just send them back to where they came from, our community would be better off. The implicit moral of the story: If these unhoused aren’t “our” people, then their homelessness is not our problem. It’s a story that long predates the SBA survey. Three years ago, Mayor Nadine Woodward said “[we make it easy to be homeless](https://www.khq.com/news/we-make-it-easy-to-be-homeless-spokane-mayor-introduces-changes-to-citys-illegal-camping/article%5F9219688e-fd62-11ec-b1f0-bf724b12d6bf.html?ref=rangemedia.co).” Rumors of people from less hospitable jurisdictions being given bus tickets to Spokane have been around for decades, [repeated last year by Phil Altmeyer, CEO of Union Gospel Mission](https://www.khq.com/news/homeless/homelessness-in-spokane-where-are-people-coming-from/article%5F51fb9b18-9b09-11ef-bb9a-a3d81a87461f.html?ref=rangemedia.co), one of the shelters where SBA conducted many of its surveys for this study. The story is not unique to Spokane. Marbut told an almost identical one with his survey in Seattle. Similar stories about the unhoused are told across the country. This is a refrain heard everywhere,” says Culhane. “ Every community in this country thinks that they're doing the greatest thing on homelessness and that they are a magnet for homelessness. I scarcely find anyone who doesn't claim that ‘*We're so good to the homeless, everyone wants to come here*.’” The only problem with that story, Culhane says, is that it’s largely untrue. “When researchers have actually gone to measure these things, they don't find a very strong relationship between migration and homelessness,” he said. “ People are not usually shopping for a good place to be homeless, and I hardly think that Washington State is a place you would go to because the weather is good.” Even Barry Barfield, administrator of the local homelessness coalition, who was among the volunteers who helped conduct the survey for SBA, says that while he agrees with “99% of the policy recommendations in the Marbut report,” he just doesn’t buy the narrative that 50% of unhoused people in Spokane aren’t from here. And Barfield thinks Marbut knows it, calling him a “highly educated individual” who knows how to create reliable surveys. Given that pedigree, Barfield believes, “\[Marbut\] knows that what he’s asking is not getting a reliable response.” “I think it is his business model,” Barfield said. “I don't think he is being dishonest, unless you think used car salespeople are being dishonest when they hype the beautiful paint job but ignore what is under the hood,” “This is just my assumption: That he is hired partly to produce an answer like that. Spokane Business Association hired him and they, I'm sure, are thrilled with that 50% answer,” Barfield added. Still, Barfield is on board with most of the survey's recommendations for what to do about homelessness in the city, which include treatment and long-term recovery for unhoused people struggling with addiction — just not the recommendation to only provide those services to a select group of people who have deep ties to the area. Even if the two-track model of resources for some and a ticket to elsewhere for people “not from here” was implemented, Barfield thinks that very few people would leave because “ a significant portion of homeless people have connections with Spokane and putting them on a bus and sending them home will be of no service to them whatsoever.” “ My bottom line is I strongly support 99% of his report. I just don't think you can draw a conclusion that half the folks have no connection with Spokane.” Of course, there are kernels of truth: some people *are* given a bus ticket to Spokane from other cities, though usually it is through programs that require proof of a family connection to Spokane. The cry of “people are bussed here!” is only half the story: Spokane busses people elsewhere, too. “We cannot pretend like Spokane is doing something completely different than everybody else because we have two programs in town that bus people wherever they wanna go,” said Julie Garcia of Jewels Helping Hands, the operator for some of the city’s scattered site shelters. “We've bussed hundreds and hundreds of people to other cities.” There’s an additional wrinkle to this story: the people who aren’t bussed anywhere. The Airway Heights Corrections Center is a major part of the state’s carceral system. People from across the state are imprisoned just minutes from downtown, and are often released with no resources: no bus ticket home, no job lined up, no safety net. In Garcia’s experience doing outreach to the prison, this accounts for some of the percentage of people who are from Washington, but not Spokane. “People are brought here from other parts of our state, and then when they're released, they're just let out the door with no resources, no way to get back to where they had resources and they fall into the homeless trap,” Garcia said. Many other communities face this same burden; Airway Heights is one of 11 state prisons. It’s the same story told about immigration — see [a log of Trump’s comments on immigrants](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-degrading-language-immigrants-rcna171120?ref=rangemedia.co). “Immigration and homelessness, same thing, same problem,” said Garcia. “It's othering an entire community. It's making them less worthy to receive services or help than people who were born here. And none of us were ‘born here.’ This is not our country — this is stolen land.” ### The statistics One of the largest surveys of unhoused people ever conducted in the United States — [a study](https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00504?ref=rangemedia.co) by Association of Military Surgeons of the United States members studying Veterans Affairs records of more than 100,000 homeless veterans from 2015 — found that just 15.3% of veterans who were homeless “migrated across large geographic areas while they were homeless.” The rest stayed close to the area they originally sought homelessness services in. In broad strokes, data collected by the city over the years matches these findings. SBA’s Marbut study, by contrast, reports that 50.2% of the people they talked to in Spokane had been homeless before they came here. More than 80% of unhoused people, the study asserted, were not born in Spokane. More than 60% have no “family ties” to Spokane, and 73.5% did not attend high school here. Those are some shocking statistics, especially because they’re dramatically different from two separate studies conducted with city-collected and national data on homelessness and its causes. In Spokane, data from the 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) Count found that roughly 80% of unhoused people in Spokane are from Spokane County, while 85% are from Washington and the remaining 15% are from the Pacific Northwest, which aligns much closer with national data. There’s three big differences between SBA’s data and the city’s data that could explain the huge difference in results: sample size, type of study and the questions each being asked. #### Sample size 101 While SBA’s published study results didn’t include a sample size, they told reporter Belle Lewis of KHQ (who wrote [a story](https://www.khq.com/news/breaking-down-the-new-homeless-survey-in-spokane/article%5F5d37b8c7-16a4-4d67-ad02-17ab489addce.html?ref=rangemedia.co) doing some actual data breakdown of the survey) that the sample size was “about 230 surveys.” (However, reporting from KREM states the survey [included 260 people](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-leaders-clash-homelessness-data-moved-spokane/293-140c90dc-9ee8-4457-bcad-213d637e5fce?ref=rangemedia.co).) Today, Marbut told RANGE they analyzed 223 complete surveys and excluded 30 to 35 surveys that were turned in incomplete because they would throw off the calculations. “Without all the data \[filled in\], we could not use \[incomplete surveys\] since it would kill the calculations,” he wrote in a text to RANGE. For a poll to be truly representative of a population of people, it needs to be conducted in such a way that a representative survey of the population is taken — or a statistician would need to control for discrepancies. Neither the PIT count nor Marbut’s survey claims to have done that level of analysis, so neither survey can purport to be a “representative” sample of the unhoused population. In general, though, collecting data on more people will diminish the impact of what statisticians would call “extreme” or “very unlikely” observations. When sample sizes are too small, you run a greater risk of accidentally polling a clump of people who don’t truly represent the whole group. For example, if you did a poll about the favorite color of goth bands, but only polled one band who happened to prefer pink, you might wrongly conclude that pink is the chosen color of goth culture. If you interviewed five bands, you might still poll the band that likes pink, but you’d also likely get four others who say they prefer black. Where Marbut and SBA say they polled 223 people, the city’s PIT Count had a sample size of 2,021 unique people — more than 9 times more. Still, Marbut claimed in a text to RANGE that his survey has a “99% confidence level with a 6% error margin.” In the same text, he quoted different numbers explaining how confidence and margin of error work, “Our 95% confidence level had a 4% error margin \[This means we had a 95% chance that all the data was within 4% of the error rate\].” He came to this conclusion by putting the total number of unhoused people in downtown at 403 — the 403 individuals identified by a grid search with no unique markers (though Marbut said they took photos to compare) or control for whether or not a person was actually unhoused — and claiming 223 fully completed surveys is “a 55.3% penetration rate — which is VERY HIGH completion. As a comparison, political polling runs about 3.5%.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxfutkohzibxf8aemjcbvyz1lkwucdofpif9y8bbttwmkztluydckaofsebrohinhhmw2owpothqwlfcxyjlu76ujy0h9qcjj96_7vcfqu8s1wsuswy47dxmytrwh7n_vdfh6mne.jpg) *Someone sits under a viaduct, behind a “No Camping,” sign. Photo by Ben Tobin.* A high penetration rate only matters if the 403 people he counted was a coherent population — either all of Spokane’s unhoused or all of our “visibly” unhoused or unsheltered and unhoused — but there’s no indication that it is. If the PIT count of 2,021 of unhoused is closer to the correct count of unhoused people, then Marbut’s penetration rate drops to just over 11%. If the real number is even higher — as it almost certainly is, because people who are living with friends, or sleeping in their cars in areas not covered in these counts — the penetration drops further. Despite these issues, Marbut told RANGE he has “very high confidence, if not 100% almost 100%,” that his results are more accurate than the city’s data. #### Type of study According to Culhane, there’s an even deeper issue with the SBA study — and Spokane’s PIT count, for that matter. Both the SBA study and the PIT count are cross-sectional studies, which means they pull a sample from a given point in time. SBA conducted studies over the course of almost two weeks, Marbut said. The city’s PIT count data was collected over the course of seven days. Culhane says cross-sectional studies have “ tremendous bias in the sample,” because they combine people who have been homeless for a long period of time with people who are newly homeless, which makes it hard to interpret meaningful characteristics about a population. Culhane said that data collected from a cross-sectional study do not account for the large chunks of people who exit homelessness quickly. For that more rigorous approach, you need a longitudinal analysis, which would examine Spokane’s homeless population over an extended period of time. “ When you look at these point in time surveys, they tend to look like most of the people are chronically homeless,” Culhane said. “They've been homeless for very long periods of time. They have very complex service needs and you're inclined to think that that's what causes homelessness, when in fact, it's different.” Luckily, Spokane already has this more robust longitudinal analysis data — collected from its Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database, comprised of ongoing data collection from “a diverse range of service providers and organizations located throughout Spokane County.” In 2024, the city’s Longitudinal Systems Analysis (LSA) found that 7,221 unique individuals had sought homelessness services that year — a much larger sample size. Data both from the LSA and from by the confidential HMIS system aligned with the PIT count’s findings, city spokesperson Erin Hut said, showing that around 80% of the people who received homelessness services in Spokane were from the city or surrounding areas, like Spokane Valley, who contracts with Spokane city for shelter bed space and other services. #### Survey questions Another key difference in the two studies was the design of the survey questions. Here are the Marbut-designed questions SBA used: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxe_kr9uks5e1mveadsmgc4hhautbh9xvkj6xzptiy9hwpqyunaf7sfe5pldvhyxo217jwvnudt6a27f7gy4-ebj9yahofhfkirnui76sd877p_8chvkbo3cgqa-wh6ufyi7p7vhug.png) And here are the questions asked by the city on their 2024 PIT count: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxcprhcjkolh3ctmea2totd4vruqte_zwcjfg509pe6jxht6abr4rm17ccdfe_9leru21n4lo5srojk4kx4bk76waruioejwz3aby3zymrq15c2cz59_tktmmp_lszv-wokvus2pfq.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxddplcq_47vrvdkpnojtinoljmobxmv47pizvhndol8txobgel2rcjhhk-5z4qefondjln8te3onlalqeir1kj5snq4llrpz7vw0cvcpp_smr99qwjjxq0oimgemds0odu33kq9cw.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxfxqj3as3kddpskoetdmocwv1fy3ntlvlt26fqtugcdigkqwwuz4bn1swjmnarnr_zkl9bbfsqpumjcs9cegrrj_a59bg-s8ixrntznxslubgsukx5q8xm3yp6d4zy9kvedi82y.png) There are several differences between the surveys. One key difference for this analysis: the way each survey attempts to answer the question of “are you from here?” The Marbut-designed study asks for high school attendance, where someone lived when they first experienced homelessness, when they first experienced homelessness and why they came to Spokane, as well as whether or not someone has a parent or sibling living in the city. The PIT count question asks more simply: “Did you live in Spokane County before you became homeless?” It’s not a perfect question, by any means, but it does more accurately collect data to answer the question: is any given surveyed homeless person “from here.” Still, despite all this, he thinks his methodology is more accurate than the PIT count data, at least on this one issue of local residency, because city data “falsely skews data towards a higher level of local residency.” Citation? Himself. He’s also wrong. Marbut highlights his questions as being better designed than the PIT survey. Culhane disagrees. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxenj0ajkh6_fqvxvjgnavln7cddxdskw3iwi72e8xabkxw-gyzcj_khwaormoqhnr_zo0ospsztljihgjjlum179hfdedyoohq60hn0wx-4r9jtaormmbwuw42ch3c6wpmywux0ma.png) “He erroneously describes the \[PIT\] survey question,” Culhane said. “ The question does not say, ‘immediately before’ it says, ‘where were you before you became homeless?’” Here’s a screenshot of the actual question: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxcg6j-hxbh5edylhnkxtso7q6xdlgbtpfu1fhqvendmy7nx7aoxlwzy572bxzhv3cx9jpo6eawulsh-dxvro639vhuj6lteorzqlqcji0d4gampgo0oajscyv93dp0iyjgcp0yb.png) Marbut criticizes (and misquotes) the PIT survey question, but the questions from his survey seem designed to cast as broad a net possible to catch and define the largest group possible as not being “from here,” but the questions fail to account for a number of things: - What if a person first became homeless at a different point in their life, for example, as a child, when they lived elsewhere, but have had housing in Spokane for their entire adult life? - What if they first became homeless in Spokane Valley, Mead, Cheney or elsewhere in Spokane County? - What if you have no family connections here, weren’t born here, didn’t go to high school here but moved here as an adult and then decades later became homeless? Consider the central finding of the Marbut study: 50.2% of people surveyed first experienced homelessness elsewhere, which the study authors claim “highlights that Spokane is often a secondary destination after individuals start experiencing homelessness.” However, their own survey also found that the median age for people experiencing homelessness was 45\. That’s a lot of years where someone could have first experienced homelessness elsewhere and then moved here later in their life. Another interesting detail: one of their questions asked how long the person surveyed had lived in Spokane, which could be used to compare against other data points like length of homelessness and date of first experience of homelessness to make more accurate claims. Though he declined to include this detail in the published findings, in a text to RANGE, Marbut wrote that of the people he surveyed, the average time lived in Spokane was 15.5 years with a median of 7 years. He says he excluded that information because, “We wanted to focus on the critical data. The report was already getting pretty long.” **It’s worth noting that we ran the Marbut survey on the entire RANGE team; no one would have counted as fully “from here,” despite all living in the Spokane area for between three and 40-some years and making it their permanent home.** ### Other issues with the SBA survey There are other big issues with the Marbut-designed study; chiefly, its lack of citations for major claims and lack of information around methodology. “It’s hard for me to call this a study. It does not describe the sample, it only mentions that they did street interviews with some number of people,” Culhane said. “ There's no methodology: it doesn't tell us how many people they interviewed. It doesn't provide any base statistics regarding the people other than median age.” Among the big claims in the study that go uncited: - “If significant policy and procedural changes are not made immediately, the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Spokane will dramatically increase in the coming years, and will likely double in less than five years.” - “Spokane’s homelessness crisis is one of the worst in the nation, and if nothing dramatically changes, Spokane’s unsheltered population will likely continue to grow rapidly in the coming years.” - “‘Housing First’ policy directs funding away from wraparound services such as substance use treatment or job training programs.” - “The prevailing policies aimed at addressing homelessness in Spokane have discontinued funding treatment for substance use disorders, removed treatment requirements, redistributed funds away from an emergency response system to long-term taxpayer subsidized housing, and utilized a one-size-fits-all approach to populations with varying needs.” - Compared to prior Spokane observations in October 2019, September 2022 and September 2024, the number and size of dogs had increased noticeably. Of note, most of the people experiencing homelessness who had dogs with them were women. Increases in the number of dogs or the size of dogs are often a future indicator of increased levels of violence on the street.” Marbut later told us the info about the dogs came from his previous visits to Spokane when he saw “less than three dogs,” but did not specify the actual number. He also did not say how many dogs he saw this time, or how big any of these dogs were, or where he got the information that dogs of any size are indicators for increased levels of violence. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxdmxevufa5fsmflangujwckrh9v8pbf_c7tam_hknsmnozq0flxh_emyxtk41psxrme0cajhz3marsuxugj-g1f-88sbnm0wj2k1rnuyox3i7cslsjia5s1u8yxujrlgefxhnxy3a.jpg) *A dog leashed on a sleeping bag on the streets of Spokane, under a sign that reads, in part. “Be a Good Neighbor. NO CAMPING.” Photo by Ben Tobin.* Marbut said the lack of citations was intentional: “I've never been asked by community groups, agencies, cities, counties and states to provide citations.” In response to Marbut’s uncited claims, city spokesperson Erin Hut stated it is illegal for the city to establish treatment requirements for any programs that receive federal HUD dollars. She also said that the city has increased funding for substance use disorders, pointing to the installments of opioid settlement dollars directed towards expanding medication assisted treatment programs and co-responding units at the Spokane Police Department and Spokane Fire Department. She also said Mayor Brown’s administration has been specifically moving away from the “one-size-fits-all” approach used by former Mayor Nadine Woodward. “When Trent Shelter was in place, we didn't have that kind of unique case management where we were really focused on people who have differing needs,” Hut said. “We just kind of warehoused people in a big facility and said, ‘Well, okay, they have a roof over their heads, that's shelter.’ We’ve been very firm in our approach to moving away from that because we know it's not effective.” The Marbut survey also fails to ask about substance use or mental health disorders, instead choosing to make broad and uncited statements like “the homelessness crisis in Spokane is on track to dramatically increase in the coming years. Furthermore, 2025 projections indicate nearly 10 people within Spokane dying each week due to drug overdose, often due to fentanyl.” One of the few citations the Marbut study did point to was a study of homelessness conducted by UC Berkeley and UCLA that found “78% of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness have a substance use disorder and/or untreated mental illness.” Two issues with that: - First, the number is large, but it’s another cross-sectional survey, which means researchers weren’t catching proportional amounts of people who exited homelessness quickly, or who were less visibly homeless, Culhane said. - Second, the Marbut study is trying to draw a direct line from a study of unsheltered individuals conducted in California to the survey they ran here in Spokane. In addition to being different geographic regions with different state and municipal governments, a large chunk of people Marbut surveyed were actually sheltered individuals residing in Union Gospel Mission shelters and two of the scattered site shelters run by Jewels Helping Hands — not an exclusively unsheltered population. None of this data analysis touches a huge issue of authenticity: the language used in the Spokane survey report — including both the assumptions about the city and Marbut’s conclusions — is nearly identical in large sections to a similar survey Marbut recently conducted in King County. ## The Source When analyzing the accuracy of a survey, it’s important to consider the source. In the case of this survey, there are a few sources: Spokane Business Association, who paid to have it conducted, Marbut, who created the survey and prepared the report and a third source: Marbut’s earlier report on homelessness in King County that has nearly identical language to this Spokane survey. ### Spokane Business Association The Spokane Business Association is a relatively new entity in Spokane, [founded in 2024](https://www.inlander.com/news/conservative-donor-and-businessman-larry-stone-is-forming-the-spokane-business-association-to-lobby-city-officials-about-public-safety-homele-28035418?ref=rangemedia.co) to advocate for business interests in the region. Its relative newness, though, doesn’t mean SBA doesn’t have deep Spokane roots: [founder](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/26/business-advocacy-group-names-prominent-board-of-d/?ref=rangemedia.co) [Larry Stone](https://www.inlander.com/news/who-is-larry-stone-and-why-is-he-spending-so-much-money-trying-to-influence-spokane-politics-26790579?ref=rangemedia.co) is one of the largest conservative donors in the area. He’s spent millions of dollars to oppose progressive candidates, put up billboards against the Division Street Road Diet and fund the fearmongering “Curing Spokane” film. Stone also bought the building that housed the [Trent Shelter](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/) — the city’s former large congregate shelter with [no running water or bathrooms](https://www.rangemedia.co/trac-spokane-lutz-woodward-health-homeless-shelter/) for residents — and rented it to the city. Stone hired Gavin Cooley — former CFO of Spokane, architect of the movement to create a new regional homeless authority and member of Mayor Lisa Brown’s transition team — as SBA’s first CEO. “We’re not just another organization to stand up and say, ‘We have a crisis,’ and start throwing rocks,” [Cooley said](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/sep/12/new-spokane-business-association-makes-public-debu/?ref=rangemedia.co) during the launch event for SBA. Months later, Cooley started what he called 5 am Crisis Walks, where he led primarily business owners and downtown residents on early morning walks of downtown Spokane to look at homeless people and [throw rocks](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/) at Brown for what he sees as her failure to properly address the city’s dual homelessness and opioid crises. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxeog4ratgfgxefiwrht5rnf504am6opgbff_xj3dimyayzc1ggzoycwvjegrxvvfn_4oilj4ubtmxis20b1kq1hyjzh20am3p36kj6hlwc2enrv-ggqpot75fdln9j_h503nxtz.jpg) *Cooley, fourth from left, leads a small group on a 5am Crisis Walk. Photo by Ben Tobin.* Since their inception, SBA’s efforts have mostly focused on advocating for harsher penalties for camping within city limits, pushing people to vote against statewide rent stabilization and leading those 5 am walks to demand their version of a “real emergency response.” Then, in March, they expanded their efforts to data collection, by hiring Marbut to conduct a homelessness survey. “If we’re creating the conditions where people can come to Spokane and go to a marketplace for fentanyl and methamphetamine, like downtown, they can engage in open drug use without any intervention whatsoever,” Cooley said prior to conducting the survey, the data would reveal it. ### Dr. Robert Marbut We covered Marbut pretty deeply [in an earlier piece](https://www.rangemedia.co/sba-survey-homelessness-trump-marbut/), but here are some highlights: - He worked under Trump guiding homelessness policy, and once argued that [feeding unhoused people is enabling them](https://www.texastribune.org/2019/12/06/donald-trumps-new-homeless-czar-robert-marbut-jr-has-deep-texas-roots/?ref=rangemedia.co). - He is famous for his “Housing Fourth,” philosophy, which purports that people shouldn’t have housing until they have demonstrated they have gotten clean. - During work with cities like Daytona Beach and St. Petersburg, Marbut’s recommendations have included criminalizing all behaviors associated with homelessness (like panhandling and camping on public property) and warehousing people at large congregate shelters, similar to the former Trent Shelter. - While the Trent Shelter had no indoor showers or bathrooms, the Marbut-designed shelter in St. Petersburg [went even further](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/robert-marbut%5Fn%5F6738948?ref=rangemedia.co): though it was zero barrier, anyone who broke the shelter’s rules were forced to sleep outside in a courtyard that frequently flooded. - Marbut also designed and executed a similar study to Spokane’s in King County, which yielded remarkably similar — and in some cases, identical — results. ### The King County study: “one of the worst in the nation.” A potential source for some of the material in the Spokane study is a similar one conducted by Marbut last year in King County, which can be viewed in its entirety [here](https://fixhomelessness.org/2024/discovery-releases-new-data-and-policy-approach-for-seattles-homelessness-crisis/?ref=rangemedia.co). We ran both reports through a plagiarism checker that identified multiple sections of language that were substantively the same, and others that were cut-and-paste verbatim. Both surveys proclaim that the city’s “homelessness crisis is one of the worst in the nation,” with no citations. Both surveys have the same guiding principles, nearly word for word. And both surveys have nearly identical policy recommendations for how each city should handle its crisis. #### **FLIP THROUGH THE GALLERY BELOW TO SEE SOME OF THE IDENTICAL AND MOST SUBSTANTIVELY SIMILAR SECTIONS:** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/3.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/4.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/5.png) Both surveys contain the key finding that most of each city’s homelessness population is not from there, and the recommendation that they should split responses into two tracks: - One for “Individuals with direct connections to Spokane should receive long-term treatment services to successfully transition out of homelessness and be provided with continued support for sustainable recovery, housing and employment.” - One for: “Visitors with no direct connection to Spokane should receive immediate and robust case management for family reunification in order to enable the highest chances of successful recovery and transition out of homelessness by being in close proximity to their longstanding support network. A priority focus should be placed on those who have been in Spokane for fewer than 90 days.” Many in Spokane would balk at conflating both the problems and potential solutions in Seattle with those in Spokane. In fact, during her first campaign for mayor, Nadine Woodward vocally called for homegrown, “Spokane Solutions.” Marbut, though, said the similarities were intentional. Here’s his response to this question, in full: “Purposeful - Seattle and Spokane have very similar problems and issues that must be solved - best practices should be followed - focus on the data - Spokane is different.” We asked SBA a few months ago how much it cost to have Marbut conduct the survey, and Cooley then declined to comment. We asked Marbut how much SBA paid him — he stopped answering our texts. ## The end of the story Though it has become more frequent, city spokesperson Erin Hut says she began hearing the story about homeless people from outside Spokane draining the city’s resources far before she started working in Brown’s administration. “There has been this long-time narrative that folks who are experiencing homelessness are not from here, and I think labeling people like that is kind of a weak excuse for ignoring your neighbors,” Hut said. “ It's really easy to vilify ‘others,’ but the reality is here, that people experiencing homelessness and our community are our family members. It's our friends, it's our coworkers, it's our neighbors.” Since Brown took office, her administration has been focused on data-based responses to homelessness, Hut said, like transitioning the city away from the congregate Trent Shelter to a scattersite model where they can address the unique needs of specific populations, like domestic violence survivors or people with high medical needs. Hut described SBA’s survey as “vague,” and “a cut and paste report that didn't actually look into the policies in place and the funding here in Spokane.” “It's so dehumanizing. There are people who have struggles and we should all want best outcomes for people,” Hut said. “It doesn't need to be this back and forth of ‘I'm right, you're wrong.’ It should just be okay, what's the best outcome to serve the people in our community? But I guess that's too empathetic for a government official to say.” Even Garcia, who has at times been [vocally critical](https://www.rangemedia.co/scatter-site-shelter-spokane-city-billing-jewels-helping-hands/) of Brown’s response to homelessness, thinks SBA’s survey and the narrative it portrays is counterproductive. She’d rather see business owners who want to help address homelessness in Spokane funnel their money into programs and service providers that are already doing the work. “People like Gavin \[Cooley, now director of strategic initiatives at SBA\]: what is your end result? What are you looking to accomplish?” Garcia asked. “We could really use some help down here on the ground, so could you walk alongside homeless service providers and compliment their programs instead of just criticizing them or our city? Are the mayor’s plans perfect? No. But they’re better than they have been. We’re getting somewhere. We’re working towards a goal and it can’t be political all the time.” Garcia says she would like to see work done to collect other data she thinks would be more useful in getting and keeping people housed. “How about acquiring how many people got housed, and how much our housing inventory is lacking?” Garcia added. “That's the data we should give a shit about. Not where somebody was born. It is very, very, very much in line with how we treat immigrants.” ### What you can do: protect immigrants locally URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-immigrant-solidarity-network/ Last updated: 2025-06-26T16:59:48.000Z ## What you can do: - Sign up for a training to join the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network’s (WAISN) rapid response team. The next training is: today, Thursday, June 26, at 6 pm. You can sign up at[ this link](https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vhymrFaBQESewBRUEUcoqQ?ref=rangemedia.co#/registration). - To report suspected ICE activity to WAISN, call or text the Deportation Defense Hotline at 1-844-724-3737\. The hotline is open Monday-Friday, 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. When Jeff DeBray received a call early this summer reporting suspected ICE activity, he showed up to the scene to verify the report and was shocked at the presence of military-sized vehicles for the detainment of a single individual. “The militarization of our government against immigrants, I saw that in front of my own eyes,” DeBray said. While ICE detains these individuals, DeBray said all he can do is watch and try to provide support to people who are often alone at that moment. “All we can do is sit there and watch ICE attack immigrants and then try to provide them with as many resources afterwards by witnessing, recording and communicating with family members of the individuals that was detained,” DeBray said. “So, I felt scared, I felt sad, I felt angry for them.” DeBray was there that day as part of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN) rapid response team, which verifies reported ICE activity and documents the activity that is seen to create a record of ICE actions. DeBray said that the importance and urgency of these teams’ work is increased given the historic state aggression toward migrant communities carried out under the Trump administration. Formed in 2016 when a coalition of immigrant organizations joined forces, WAISN is the largest immigrant-led coalition in the state, working to protect and advance the rights of immigrants and refugees in our communities, according to[ its website](https://waisn.org/?ref=rangemedia.co). WAISN’s tactics take a multi-pronged approach, both actively defending immigrant communities from deportation and advocating for policy reforms to further immigrant rights. “\[WAISN\] has been a really important source of support,” said DeBay, a lead coordinator for the rapid response team in Spokane and Eastern Washington Director of Fuse, a progressive organization and member of the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition with connections to WAISN’s work. “They provide the infrastructure for us to deliver \[support\] for our community.” Part of WAISN’s deportation defense work includes maintaining a Deportation Defense Hotline where individuals can report ICE activity within their communities. Through these reports, WAISN confirmed four ICE operations in May, including 20 individual detentions and one workplace raid of a beverage warehouse in Kent, Washington, where ICE arrested 17 people on Tuesday, May 20\. They also tracked 13 unconfirmed reports. “Our updates reflect what’s reported to the WAISN Deportation Defense hotline and help us to keep our communities informed and empowered,” WAISN said on its[ Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DLSpSQkxE45/?igsh=MWswMHNlYThpNmF0MQ%3D%3D&img%5Findex=9&ref=rangemedia.co). “Immigration enforcement isn’t just raids or arrests. It’s also unmarked vehicles parked near schools and homes, officers walking through neighborhoods and quiet acts of surveillance that instill fear.” Beyond reporting suspected ICE activity, average people can boost their involvement by joining the organization’s rapid response team. hadley morrow, a volunteer with WAISN’s rapid response team in Spokane, said bearing witness is crucial to making sure ICE follows the law. “Any institution that’s so emboldened that they get to have the right to disappear people deserves an American citizenry that is watching it,” morrow said. “It doesn’t sit well with me that there are people in Spokane right now who are afraid to leave their homes and afraid to go to work and afraid to go to school because of the way that ICE is behaving, and feeling as though that may go unregulated or unchecked in a lot of ways feels deeply un-American to me.” morrow said WAISN’s work is both urgent and stressful, and the organization needs many hands to share the burden of that work. “We need bodies,” morrow said. “One of the risks is burnout. The people who jumped at this really quickly were the people who are already supporting immigrants and refugees, who are already under-resourced to do so, who are closer to the fear and the impact. If we’re going to sustain another three and a half years of this energy, it will require more people at all sorts of diversified levels to get involved. Any level helps.” DeBray said that while volunteering may seem daunting, individuals don’t have to be “a hero” to show up and have an impact. “What is needed the most is for allies to show up,” DeBray said. “Being there is most of the ask at this point.” While WAISN runs statewide operations, providing training to rapid response teams, it also partners closely with local organizations throughout the state, including the Spokane Immigrant Rights Coalition (SIRC), which oversees much of the organizing and infrastructure of immigrant defense and support on a local level. To achieve its mission of advancing equity for all through the empowerment of immigrant communities, SIRC provides direct support for immigrants beyond the rapid response teams’ work of verification and documentation. “SIRC is really coordinating how to make sure we’re not just showing up to watch people get taken by ICE or showing up to people’s appointments and then leaving them without resources,” morrow said. “SIRC is really trying to make sure that people feel like they belong here and have the resources to stay here.” Currently, SIRC is collecting donations for its Community Justice Fund, which pays for basic living costs for immigrants who can’t work because they fear deportation. The fund also helps cover legal fees, transportation to court and medical expenses. You can donate to the SIRC Community Justice Fund at [this link](https://fusewashington.actionkit.com/donate/sirc-donate-2019?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Justice Forral pleads not guilty to 'unlawful imprisonment' charges from ICE protests URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/forral-not-guilty-unlawful-imprisonment-ice-protests/ Last updated: 2025-06-25T23:24:43.000Z Community organizer Justice Forral pleaded not guilty to six felony counts of “unlawful imprisonment” on June 25 at an arraignment in Spokane County Superior Court. The charges stem from a June 11 [immigration protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) at which hundreds of Spokanites demanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents release two asylum seekers they’d detained who were in the country legally. Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren set a trial date for September 15. Police arrested 31 people that day, but Forral and another protester Erin Lang — both queer — were charged with felonies. Both have no prior criminal history. (Lang's arraignment was moved to July 2 at the request of the defense.) The charges specifically focus on allegations that Forral constructed a barrier at the protest blocking the gate through which ICE agents wanted to transport the men they’d detained, presumably to process for deportation. The number of unlawful imprisonment charges has fluctuated since they were arrested, but is now settled at six. If Forral is found guilty, they could face years in prison, according to Kevin Curtis of the Spokane defense firm Winston & Cashatt, part of the team representing Forral. But a felony conviction can carry “collateral consequences,” like ineligibility for certain jobs, housing opportunities or to purchase guns. Carl Hueber, also of Winston & Cashatt, and Karen Lindholdt are also representing Forral. Many local lawyers, including those three, have volunteered their time to represent Forral and other protesters who are facing charges. “There are many others who have said that we are outraged by the violation of civil liberties that we are seeing and the reach for the federal government, and we are going to vigorously defend justice as this case moves forward,” Lindholdt said. She was referring to dozens of arrests — many of which reportedly caused minor injuries as police slammed protesters to the ground, dragged them across pavement and cuffed their wrists too tightly — made June 11 and June 14\. The former day, on which Forral was arrested for the charges they faced June 25, police deployed pepper balls and less-than-lethal munitions, leaving large bruises on a number of protesters. On June 14, thousands of Spokanites marched in the No Kings march, a broad protest against the policies of President Donald Trump that also took place in cities across the nation. Eleven people were arrested as the march stretched into the night. Police deployed pepper balls and smoke grenades to disperse the crowd that night too. Forral’s plea June 25 was for the original batch of charges brought immediately after the June 11 protest. It is a separate case from a [second charge](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) brought days later. About a dozen people showed up to support Forral during the June 25 arraignment. Standing in the hallway after entering their plea, Forral announced a fundraiser event for their legal costs at the Grain Shed tonight at 7 pm. ### 2 protests, 2 arrests, separate cases Forral, who’d had an initial court hearing for their charges June 13, [was arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) a second time the following day on suspicion of assault in the third degree stemming from the first protest. The Spokane County Sheriff issued the warrant for the second arrest alleging Forral had knocked off a deputy’s hat. Lindholt said that case is being litigated separately. Forral was released on their own recognizance the day after their second arrest. They appeared in court, wearing a newsprint dress, on June 17 for the assault charge. Dozens of supporters filled a small courtroom on the Spokane County courthouse’s fourth floor to the point the judge said spectators could sit in the jury gallery. “I didn’t think this is what they meant by ‘jury of my peers’,” Forral joked before the judge entered the courtroom. The judge scheduled Forral for an arraignment for the assault charge and released them on several conditions, including that Forral maintain contact with their attorney, Morgan Maxey, attend all court dates and not return to the scene of the protest. Maxey specifically requested Forral be allowed to visit family in Stevens County, which the judge granted. In remarks on the front steps of the courthouse after the short June 17 hearing, Forral emphasized that the protests and the solidarity of the community supporting them at court was about collective action. “ It's not us as individuals. It's about our collective rights. It's about everything we do together. And if they want to make me infamous — for whatever — well, it shows how much one person can do,” Forral said to the group of supporters. The [June 11 protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) formed when former City Council President Ben Stuckart called for people to come to the ICE facility to protest two young men, Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres, being detained after a routine check in. Hundreds of people eventually showed up and several law enforcement agencies, including Spokane Police Department, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Valley Police Department, appeared in tactical gear, gas masks and armored police vehicles. The police escalated what had for hours been an overall peaceful protest, shutting down Washington Street and several other roads near the Cataldo Avenue ICE facility the protest focused on. The Spokane County Sheriff detailed the assault allegation in a June 16 press release, alleging that during the June 11 protest, “a uniformed deputy at the location had his head grabbed by a male suspect who ripped/knocked his uniform hat off. Due to the agitated and volatile situation, the deputy could not safely arrest the suspect, who remained unidentified, for the felony assault.” On Facebook days after the second arrest, Forral wrote of their actions, “I am a Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Spokane. Inside the ICE building we knew the human rights of at least 2 individuals were being violated by ICE agents. Whose job is it to stand up for Our Human Rights, if not our federal agents, local police, judges, and politicians? Who is left? I, like many others that day, took action to protect people from harm and to stand for the rights of us all. “They can scapegoat one person but they cannot scapegoat the movement for change, and the demand that Our Human Rights be protected.” ### Spokane Regional Health District’s Treatment Services Division could be expanding URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/ Last updated: 2025-06-23T18:49:04.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - The Human Rights Commission may get more say in changes to the city’s Title 18 code, which is designed to prevent discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. - The Mead School District has written a letter to the private high school sports rule-making body saying it may not renew its membership in the future because the board is not assertive enough in protecting districts that implement anti-trans policies. - Treatment services provided by the regional health district — which only a year ago was at risk of being privatized — may instead be expanded, pending a vote by the Board of Directors this week. - The city of Spokane Valley is pushing into the next phase of a police-hiring spree city council members say are required to bring the city’s public safety infrastructure up to par with its growing population. - Mayor Lisa Brown has asked the Spokane City Council to table discussions of providing more robust language access to city services. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Finance and Administration Committee](http://Finance and Administration Committee) - [Spokane Housing Authority Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Spokane Public Facilities District](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Spokane Regional Health District](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners [Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) & [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/treatment-services-may-be-expanding/) Session ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Human Rights Commission could get more say Up for a first read today is an ordinance from Council Members Jonathan Bingle and Lili Navarrete, which would expand the duties of the Spokane Human Rights Commission “to include automatic review of proposed changes to Title 18 of the Spokane Municipal Code and related provisions.” If passed, it would require the commission to review and comment on any legislation that would regulate discriminatory practices and claims before council could discuss legislation in committee, and before they take final action on the proposed ordinances. Navarrete and Bingle added new provisions to the ordinance after its initial committee hearing that could slow the passage of new legislation intended to address issues related to human rights and discrimination: council members would have to provide a copy of each ordinance a minimum of 15 days before it would appear at a committee, and the commission would have up to 45 days after to provide written comments. Normally, a piece of legislation appears at a committee and can be voted on and passed as early as two weeks later. If the council chose to wait to move on an ordinance until they received feedback from the commission, it could delay the passage of the ordinance by a month, which is a big con. However, the council could choose to bypass the requirement with a majority vote. ### Public hearing: alcohol impact area In April, the council voted to pass an[ interim ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/impact-areas-downtown-spokane/) to prohibit new alcohol outlets — stores that sell alcohol for off-premises use — within 500 feet of parks, schools, libraries, transit centers and community centers. That ordinance was passed as an interim, emergency ordinance, which meant it went into effect immediately in April without much opportunity for public feedback. Tonight, people will have a chance to testify on it at a hearing during the council meeting and offer any insights or perspectives they didn’t get to share before. If that sounds like you, come on down to council tonight and sign up for the hearings section, which also includes hearings on the Six-Year Comprehensive Street Program and a new ordinance to expand opportunities for commercial development — like bakeries, cafes and other small businesses — in new residential neighborhoods. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - A final vote on the ordinance to require the Human Rights Commission’s review on relevant ordinances - An ordinance to prohibit new housing developments receiving the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption credit from operating units in the building as short-term rentals (think Airbnb). This is intended to ensure projects receiving the tax credit are actually contributing in the long term to the region’s housing supply. - Possibly an emergency vote on an ordinance to limit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ability to arrest people without a judicial warrant in city-owned spaces. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 23, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Finance and Administration Committee **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### About those homelessness ordinances… Last week, we had a lot of whiplash from the way the council [handled Mayor Lisa Brown’s slate of homelessness ordinances](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/22/brown-promises-something-better-than-prop-1-as-spo/?ref=rangemedia.co): passing a few and voting down the one that would criminalize camping citywide but give a seven day grace period for someone to move, then choosing late in the evening to reconsider the ordinance but with an amendment dropping the grace period to three days, then finally, voting to defer the ordinance in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It was a lot for any lay-person to follow, and sparked heated testimony from the public and arguments on the dais from council members. Today though, the council is going to take a deep breath and have a discussion on the ordinances, and what exactly they should do next. ### A new council member is coming We found out early last month that Council Member Lili Navarrete — appointed to fill the District 2 seat left vacant by then-Council Member Betsy Wilkerson’s election to Council President — was [resigning her seat,](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/15/spokane-councilwoman-lili-navarrete-to-step-down-a/?ref=rangemedia.co) effective June 30\. We now know Navarrete is staying at City Hall, but moving into a job in the city’s Community Health and Human Services (CHHS) team. And today, we got a clear timeline for what appointing her replacement will look like: - On July 10, council will interview candidates who applied to fill the seat by the June 20 cut-off date. - On July 14, the council will hold a public hearing during the evening meeting on July 14 to hear testimony on the applicants. - On July 28, the council will vote to appoint a new council member, who will serve until results of the upcoming election are certified this fall. ### Language access, later. In the last few years, the council has been moving to commit the city to improve language access to city services. In 2022, they passed a resolution encouraging the development of a citywide language-access program. In 2023, they passed an ordinance requiring the creation of language-access programs within city departments, beginning with budgeting for it in the 2025 budget. That all sounds great, except, according to the agenda notes, “given the financial challenges facing the city during years 2025 through 2026, the Brown administration did not include language access planning programs in its proposed biennial budget.” Instead, the council’s agenda sheet says Brown’s administration is asking the council to push back the timeline for full implementation of language access initiatives by two years to 2029\. Erin Hut, the city spokesperson, disputes that the request to move deadlines came from the mayor’s administration. “We told the Council back in November that there would be funding challenges with the implementation deadlines, but budgeted ARPA dollars through 2026,” Hut wrote. “We didn’t ask for the deadlines to move, but that’s where the council went with it. *Editor’s Note: This section has been edited to reflect comments from the mayor’s office.* > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 23 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Housing Authority Board **​​🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 23 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Facilities District **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanepfd.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, June 25 at 12:30 pm* > *Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Board Room* > *720 W Mallon Ave, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730871979447016541?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Plan Commission ****🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, June 25 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Mead School District Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Trans students policy revision The school board is revising its policy on transgender and gender nonconforming students to reflect state superintendent requirements. The agenda item is not clear about the specific nature of the changes, but the Mead School District has a controversial history in terms of how it treats queer students and employees. This revision is a result of a civil rights audit the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) recently conducted in the district, which said MSD must update its transgender student policy — known as Policy & Procedure 3211. Mead sent an initial revision earlier this year that OSPI rejected on April 28, “stating the policy and procedure, as drafted, were not sufficient to bring the district into compliance.” That revision removed language from the policy that promised students equal protection. Additionally, MSD wrote the Trump administration a letter asking it to intervene and allow it to violate state policy by not respecting pronouns, bathroom preference or locker rooms for trans students, which would have violated state law. MSD has until June 30 to come into compliance with state rules. ### Mead may pull out of the WIAA next year MSD has renewed its membership with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) but is questioning its future relationship with the private high school sports regulatory body because WIAA is not being assertive enough in defending districts that don’t want trans students playing sports, according to a letter the directors penned to WIAA. The letter framed the board’s stance as trying to protect Title IX protections for female athletes, who they argue are endangered by trans girls playing in sports according to their gender identity. State lawmakers have been trying to push trans athletes out of sports for years, but the civil rights lawyers Chase Strangio and Gabriel Arkles, [writing for](https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked?ref=rangemedia.co) the American Civil Liberties Union, argued keeping trans girls and women out of sports hurts all female athletes. “It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being ‘too masculine’ or ‘too good’ at their sport to be a ‘real’ woman,” they wrote. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 23 at 6 p.m.* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 23 at 6 p.m.* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Regional Health District Board **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Health equitycould be set back In June of 2020, right after the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, the Spokane Regional Health District passed a resolution adopting a new approach to health equity in the region. That resolution was detailed in acknowledging the racial disparities of health impacts, the negative health repercussions of historical racism, including redlining, and made specific commitments to advance health equity, including “hiring a workforce that reflects the demographic, cultural, and linguistic characteristics of the populations it serves.” This week, the board could vote to go from the [extensive list of equity commitments ](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/assets-srhd-org/assets/media/documents/2025-06-26-06a-resolution20-07-adoptingasrhdhealthequityresponse.pdf)to [a new resolution](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/assets-srhd-org/assets/media/documents/2025-06-26-06a-resolution-25-02-clarifying-resolution-20-07.pdf) that strips those commitments back to the bare minimum: a commitment to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and Washington’s Law Against Discrimination. This change was “warranted to avoid any misunderstanding or misconstruction of the language” in the first resolution, it says in one of the WHEREAS clauses. It’s unclear whether this is complying in advance to avoid any potential notice or loss of funding from the Trump administration, or just an abrupt about-face in values. Either way, it’s worth opening up both the [old resolution](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/assets-srhd-org/assets/media/documents/2025-06-26-06a-resolution20-07-adoptingasrhdhealthequityresponse.pdf) and the [new](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/assets-srhd-org/assets/media/documents/2025-06-26-06a-resolution-25-02-clarifying-resolution-20-07.pdf) one to see just how stark the difference is. ### Treatment Services expansion In better news, the Treatment Services Division of SRHD — which handles medication assisted treatment and counseling for those struggling with opioid usage — could be expanding! A year ago, we were writing about the [potential privatization](https://www.rangemedia.co/will-spokanes-public-opioid-treatment-services-continue-down-the-road-to-privatization/) of the division, as SRHD explored options to turn it over to a private company. The community largely did not support this move. Now, with board approval, it could expand. The division’s services are in high demand, with more than 950 individuals in Spokane County enrolled. In the last six months of 2024, the division had to turn away almost 200 patients because they didn’t have capacity to take on new patients. In the first quarter of 2025, they’ve already had to turn away 54 patients. The proposal up for a vote this week could “eliminate the need to turn away individuals seeking treatment, leading to increased access to life-saving care, improved patient outcomes, reduced wait times, enhanced community health, and potential for increased revenue to sustain operations.” It outlines a plan to expand operational capacity, extend service hours to accommodate all individuals seeking timely access to care and increase staffing levels. It would change the hours of the facility from Monday through Friday 5:15 am to 6 pm, and Saturday 7 am to 3 pm, with an estimated increase in client capacity from 1,200 a week to 1,350. Staffing up would cost an estimated $889,423.46, but it’s estimated that client expansion could bring in up to an additional $3 million per year. If approved by the board, the expansion funds would come from surplus revenue generated by the Treatment Services Division last year. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://srhd.org/programs-and-services/board-of-health/meetings?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, June 26 at 12:30 p.m.* > *Auditorium, First Floor* > *Spokane Regional Health District* > *1101 West College Avenue* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Update on overdose deaths The county medical examiner will present an inaugural data set showing a steady rise in Spokane and Eastern Washington in drug overdose deaths — which are largely driven by the opioid crisis — even as drug overdose deaths are declining in Washington state overall. The presentation is part of new requirements in the data sharing agreement between the medical examiner’s office and the Spokane Regional Health District. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 24 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Possible COPS show The Spokane area is no stranger to the controversial police show COPS, and Spokane County may host the show pending a decision by the BOCC Tuesday that would give the sheriff permission to let its producers accompany deputies on ridealongs. The show has a storied history of sensationalizing police interactions with local people struggling with the worst circumstances of their lives in jurisdictions across the country. The Spokane Valley Police Department, which is an arm of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, [has hosted](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/18/resurrected-reality-tv-series-cops-to-return-to-sp/?ref=rangemedia.co) the show several times in recent years. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 24 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Hiring grant for more police Spokane Valley is looking to move into the next phase of its police hiring program, requesting authority from city council to apply for a $1.25 million hiring grant from the US Department of Justice to hire 10 new officers in addition to the 10 the city has hired over the last year. The need for these new officers was identified by a consultant the city hired to analyze its policing environment in 2022\. Hiring more police is one of the council’s central priorities because the members see more cops as the main solution to public safety problems. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 24, at 8:30 am* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Where are the protesters' phones? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/protesters-phones-police-custody/ Last updated: 2025-06-20T20:44:14.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/s_rivera_latospokaneprotest_edited-41_websize-1.jpg) *Spokane police detain protesters on June 11\. Between that day and June 14, they arrested 42 people at protests in Spokane. Many went more than a week without their cell phones and wallets. (Photo by Sandra Rivera.)* Tatyana Lopez Strauss had never been to a protest before, but she came to the No Kings march in Spokane on June 14, partly to make her voice heard and partly to hand demonstrators water and, if necessary, gas masks. Lopez Strauss is a former medical assistant and said she wanted to help people. She did not at first think she’d be arrested, but after bicycle cops drove her and a throng of protesters into Riverfront Park and then chased them down, she felt she wasn’t going to escape. So, having followed the police orders to leave the street, she turned to face the cops, knelt in the median between the park and Spokane Falls Boulevard and put her hands up in a show of peace. If they were going to take her, it wouldn’t be her fault. “ I was like, we're here on the park, and you're still telling us this isn't enough,” Lopez Strauss told RANGE. “We've followed your rules. What else are we supposed to do? I was like, you know what? Fuck it. This is where I take my stand. ... I was peaceful. I want to set that example because if they have no reason to hurt us, I don't want to give them that reason.” They arrested her anyway, along with two other protesters who knelt at her side. Eight others were arrested at other locations in the park and along the street. The police took Lopez Strauss’s wallet and cell phone and almost everything else she and her fellow protesters carried, which is standard when people are arrested. But by the morning of June 18 — four and a half days after she’d been detained — she’d not been able to access her belongings. Lopez Strauss is among dozens of demonstrators arrested at two protests over the last week and a half. The [first protest](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) took place June 11 when hundreds of Spokanites appeared outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Cataldo Avenue. They demanded the agency release a pair of detained immigrants who were here legally before the city declared the peaceful protest an unlawful assembly and police arrested 31 people. Some also physically blocked ICE agents from leaving the facility with the immigrants. At Saturday’s No Kings march, part of a national protest that saw millions of demonstrators across the country [oppose an array](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-polls-no-kings-protests-2087815?ref=rangemedia.co) of policies being set by the administration of US President Donald Trump, police arrested 11 people, including Lopez Strauss. In total, police arrested 42 people between Wednesday and Saturday for “failure to disperse” and two for “unlawful imprisonment” from the demonstrations. Some people who were arrested had left their phones in their car or at home or handed them to friends before they were handcuffed. But many others had their phones confiscated. It wasn’t until at least Wednesday, a full week after the first protest, that phones started being released. ### Who has the phones? Between Monday and Wednesday of this week, RANGE spoke with more than a dozen protesters whose phones were seized; they each said some version of *I don’t know where it is or when I’ll get it back*. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared that speaking publicly about their phones could hamper their legal cases stemming from the mass arrests. Two protesters arrested at the Wednesday night demonstration told RANGE that when they contacted the Spokane Regional Evidence Storage Facility (RESF), the custodian told them their phones were being held by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). When they were released, they were told to call an FBI hotline to retrieve their phones. They both said the number went to voicemail. RANGE also called the number and got the same result. RANGE visited the Spokane FBI field office for comment and was referred to an email media contact in Seattle. That account did not respond to questions by the time of publication. The Spokane Police Department (SPD) declined to give any information about whether it had turned phones over to the FBI. “SPD, as a law enforcement agency, has standard obligations to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies,” SPD spokesperson Daniel Strassenberg wrote in an email. “Any questions regarding FBI involvement should be directed to that agency as we have no information regarding their activities.” Jeffry Finer, a long-time Spokane criminal defense attorney, told RANGE it was conceivable the police handed some of the phones to the FBI. He said everyone should get their property back, but it would take a long time. One of the protesters who said his phone was with the FBI, Shaun Donnelly, said he visited the Spokane field office on June 18, where an agent gave him more information. Donnelly told RANGE, “they made it to the part in their process where they know which devices will not be needed for their ongoing investigation and those will now be returned to the police property building,” where protesters could pick them up. “I was assured that our devices were not searched and that to do so would require a warrant. I was left with the strong impression that a few devices will be subject to a search warrant and the feds are building a case against one or more of the people arrested on \[June\] 11,” Donnelly said. “ Any phone that doesn't have contraband on it or evidence of a crime is gonna be returned,” Finer told RANGE. “If the phone has contraband, which for the feds would be a picture of marijuana or child pornography … those phones are gonna be withheld, and the cases would get worked. I think the likelihood of that is probably close to zero, but it's there.” RANGE does not know the methodology the FBI used to determine which phones to release and which to hold because they did not respond to a request for comment. ### For protesters, a week of limbo Some whose phones were confiscated are artists, some local business owners, some activists, many of whom rely on their phones to make ends meet. Some work in the gig economy, delivering food or giving rides, which is impossible without a smart phone. RANGE encountered Lopez Strauss at the RESF where she tried to retrieve her phone for the second time. The chain of custody manager at the front desk told her he should have the phone later the same day and to come back. Strassenberg told RANGE the department “seizes property within the confines of the law and rules of evidence daily. The property is released as soon as possible out of respect for the property owners.” He added the phones would all be returned “once they are no longer deemed of evidentiary value through the investigative process. This is done as expeditiously as possible.” Finer noted that having a cell phone confiscated for days is extremely impactful for people living in a society that largely organizes itself on the internet. At least until June 18, Lopez Strauss couldn't communicate or buy food. Her husband is a Marine who’s stationed in another state, meaning that, at least until June 18, she had to fend for herself without her phone or money. At a court hearing on June 18 several hours after she’d visited the RESF, Lopez Strauss told a fellow arrestee she’d gotten word the facility now had the phones and would start releasing them. The facility, located deep in the warehouse parks on Alki Avenue east of town, is only open Monday, Wednesday and Friday. RANGE called RESF the morning of June 20, and the custodian who answered said some of the phones had been retrieved by their owners. The person, who would not tell RANGE their name because they were not authorized to speak to the media, was not immediately sure how many phones were released and how many were still in custody. Strassenberg did not respond to a Friday morning email asking for that information by press time. We will update this story if he does. Justice Forral, an organizer with Spokane Community Against Racism, was arrested on seven counts of unlawful imprisonment and two misdemeanor failure to disperse charges. Their phone was also confiscated, they said, along with their car and ID. They were later released without bail after an initial court date but they [were arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) a second time as they made their way to the Pride festivities in Riverfront Park Saturday on a new allegation that Forral had assaulted a sheriff deputy. Forral said their wrists were still in pain from a too-tight handcuffing. Forral asserted that SPD held the phones this long not for legitimate investigation but to further punish the protesters. “They’re just so petty,” Forral said. “Any allegation that property is seized for punitive measures, in this case, or any other, is patently false,” Strassenberg wrote when RANGE asked about Forral’s allegation. ### POD: Protest to Politics URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-protest-to-politics/ Last updated: 2025-06-20T18:41:57.000Z This week we have a convo between Luke Baumgarten and former City Council President Ben Stuckart, focusing on the June 11 protest at the Spokane Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility. The protest was sparked by the detention of two young refugees, Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres during a routine check-in with immigration. Ben shares the emotional and community-driven journey to support and advocate for the detained men, discussing the legal challenges, the supportive roles of various community members, and the broader implications of immigration policies. 01:00 Meet Cesar and Josar and the asylum process 10:00 Challenges and injustices 15:30 Protests and political context 31:00 The spontaneous protest begins 37:30 Arrest and jail conditions 50:31 Solidarity and community support **Read more:** [Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) [Queer BIPOC organizer arrested on their way to Spokane Pride](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) [Faith leaders plan prayer vigil at Spokane ICE Center to support immigrants June 24](https://www.rangemedia.co/faith-leaders-prayer-vigil-spokane-ice/) ### Faith leaders plan prayer vigil at Spokane ICE Center to support immigrants June 24 URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/faith-leaders-prayer-vigil-spokane-ice/ Last updated: 2025-06-19T00:23:58.000Z *This story was [originally published](https://favs.news/faith-leaders-prayer-vigil-spokane-ice/?ref=rangemedia.co) by FāVS News, a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience (FLLC) of Eastern Washington and North Idaho will lament current immigration policies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at their next Truthful Tuesday Vigil on June 24\. Instead of protest, there will be prayer. Instead of signs, there will be grief. ### Not an ICE Protest “This is not a protest,” said Jessa Lewis, a former state senate candidate and an FLLC supporter who helped with the event’s coordination. “This is more of an opportunity to come together prayerfully and with intention. To call the community to stand with our neighbors.” The theme will be “The Golden Rule, a Universal Law.” FLLC believes this rule is a part of other faith and non-faith traditions and one that calls people to respect all humanity, according to a draft of their speech. This rule — “In everything do to others what you would have the do to you” — will be discussed and visibly expressed with attendees gathered at the ICE Center, 411 W. Cataldo Ave. There, individuals in the area are invited to stand with immigrants in the community and on their behalf. Jennyfer Mesa, executive director and founder of [Latinos en Spokane](https://www.latinosenspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), will be the guest speaker. Lewis said she will talk briefly about what these new immigration policies are doing to immigrants and their lives and livelihoods. “None of this is new,” Lewis said. “We’ve had an immigration crisis for a while.” She hopes through this event, others will be inspired to walk alongside and help community leaders who’ve been advocating for immigrants for a while. ### **About morals** “This should not be a political thing. It’s a moral one,” Lewis said. “These are our friends. These are our neighbors. These are our family members. What’s being done to them is immoral.” Also, as part of the event, three faith leaders and leaders of conscience will speak about their own spiritual practice’s version of the golden rule. The Rev. Walter Kendricks will speak from the Christian perspective; author William Aal will speak from the perspective of Earth spirituality; and the Sufi speaker is still yet to be announced. The event will take place at “high noon,” 12:10-12:50 p.m., because that’s when the light of day will be the greatest said the FLLC in an email. “May that light shine in all hearts and minds. May the humanity of all people be respected,” they said in the draft of their speech. “We firmly declare that lawlessness, bigotry and violence have no place in our communities.” More information will be added to the FLLC [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064380921471) page as the vigil nears. ### City council to end state of emergency set by mayor for ICE protests URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/ Last updated: 2025-06-16T19:47:20.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. We’re keeping it short this week because we’re still busy following up on all of last week’s news and we have one reporter out for a conference, but there are a few important items up for consideration in local meetings: - The city council will vote whether to close out Mayor Lisa Brown’s emergency and curfew declaration over Wednesday’s high-profile protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). - Some changes are coming to the proposed ordinance to protect people from ICE in city-owned spaces. - Spokane County Board of Commissioners will vote on a new interim county prosecutor to replace Larry Haskell after he announced his retirement last week. - BOCC will also vote whether to allow the sheriff to host the controversial reality TV show COPS, which sensationalizes police interactions with people in their jurisdiction. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners [Briefing ](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/)& [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/) Session - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-to-end-state-of-emergency-set-by-mayor-for-ice-protests/) ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Ending Brown’s emergency declaration The council will vote on ending Mayor Lisa Brown’s emergency and curfew declaration from last Wednesday after an intense standoff between protesters and law enforcement agencies. Spokane Municipal Code requires emergencies issued by the mayor to be sent to city council for ratification and confirmation, modification or rejection. On Wednesday, former City Council President Ben Stuckart called for a protest to [block](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/) ICE agents from transporting two immigrants who were in the US following the legal process to seek asylum. They were being sent to a detention facility to be processed for deportation. Stuckart was quickly joined by dozens and eventually hundreds of Spokanites demanding ICE let the immigrants go. Stuckart and more than 30 other protesters were arrested, with two protesters in particular accused of felony “Unlawful Imprisonment”. Police used pepper balls and a chemical smoke to attempt to disburse the crowd and sheriff’s deputies shot a number of protesters with rubber bullets, according to social media and interviews with protesters and witnesses. As the protest unfolded, Brown declared a 9:30 pm curfew in an area of downtown spanning several square blocks, including Riverfront Park. In a press conference that night, Brown justified her declaration by saying there were reports of vandalism at the beginning of the protest. One person who was not working with the protesters spray-painted the van ICE agents were going to use to transport immigrants to facilities where they can be held. The Wednesday protest was largely peaceful until law enforcement arrived on the scene. Still, on Saturday, [Spokane police arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/) local organizer Justice Forral on a county warrant alleging a third-degree assault stemming from the protest. Forral was on their way to the weekend’s Pride festivities. Local police agencies are barred by state law from helping federal agents enforce immigration law. Brown said Spokane police were enforcing municipal code that prohibits people from obstructing rights of way. This is a fast-moving story, and we’ll keep reporting on it. ### New-ish ordinance aimed at ICE searches Council members Paul Dillon and Lili Navarrete are introducing some changes to a [proposed ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) that was originally meant to protect people from ICE while they’re at public parks. Tonight, they’re amending that draft ordinance to replace it with one titled “Safe and Welcome in Spokane” that would expand “protections against warrantless searches from immigration enforcement in designated non-public areas.” Dillon and Navarrete announced the ordinance on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DK0WTqISJyH/?ref=rangemedia.co), stating that it will bar ICE from arresting people or executing warrantless searches during public events on city-owned private areas. The first reading will be on June 23 and the final reading will be on June 30. ### Mayor’s homeless ordinances Mayor Lisa Brown’s [homeless ordinances](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/09/spokane-city-hall-aims-to-overhaul-city-homelessne/?ref=rangemedia.co) are up for a vote this week. One, which would make camping or obstructing public right-of-way illegal citywide but give people up to seven days to stop camping in that spot, was panned by many homeless rights advocates for being too harsh and by business owners for being not harsh enough. ### Virtual currency kiosk ban The city wants to ban kiosks where people can purchase cryptocurrency — digital money — outside of online marketplaces, which law enforcement [have identified](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/02/spokane-city-council-eyes-banning-crypto-kiosks-ci/?ref=rangemedia.co) as ripe for scams. The agenda item says “Spokane has seen a significant increase in scams arising from the use of cryptocurrency kiosks, and there has been a steady increase in victims losing thousands of dollars.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 16, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 16 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Possible COPS show The Spokane area is no stranger to the controversial police show COPS, and Spokane County may host the show pending a decision by the BOCC Tuesday that would give the sheriff permission to let its producers accompany deputies on ridealongs. The show has a storied history of sensationalizing police interactions with local people struggling with the worst circumstances of their lives in jurisdictions across the country. The Spokane Valley Police Department, which is an arm of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, [has hosted](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/18/resurrected-reality-tv-series-cops-to-return-to-sp/?ref=rangemedia.co) the show several times in recent years. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 10 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Preston McCollam may replace Haskell as interim county prosecutor Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell announced the end of his decade-long tenure as the top local cop, and the BOCC must find someone to lead prosecutions as it seeks a replacement. The board will vote on the interim appointment of Preston McCollam, the chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney. Haskell will leave a legacy that typifies local prosecutors in Washington, having never found a police shooting unjustified, which RANGE [has covered](https://www.rangemedia.co/police-shooting-spokane-sheriff-independent-prosecutor/) in depth. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 17 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 17, at 8:30 am* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 17 at 6 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### Queer BIPOC organizer arrested on their way to Spokane Pride URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/justice-forral-spokane-protest-police-arrest-ice-pride/ Last updated: 2026-02-19T11:16:15.000Z **Editor's note:* This story was updated on Monday, June 16 with additional comments from Mayor Lisa Brown.* On their way to Pride, Justice Forral — an organizer with Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) — was arrested by Spokane Police Department officers on a warrant from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office alleging third degree assault. Forral was on their way to celebrate Spokane Pride when officers ran up to them. Folks nearby started taking video as Forral quickly turned around, put their hands behind their back and told bystanders to notify SCAR. 0:00 /0:30 1× These were additional charges resulting from Forral’s presence at a protest against Immigration Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) detainment of two young men who [came to the US legally](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/two-refugees-came-here-legally-they-were-detained-/?ref=rangemedia.co), which we covered in depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/). At the protest, Forral was one of two people — both queer — who were arrested at Wednesday night’s protest with seven counts of “unlawful imprisonment”, a class C felony in the state of Washington. It is still unclear why exactly Forral and Lang were specifically targeted for felony charges while other protesters were not, but court documents showed that [ICE agents told police](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/2-spokane-ice-protesters-charged-felonies-released/293-2dde249c-38fb-442c-9c28-185d80ccf918?ref=rangemedia.co) that agents, employees and the detainees in the building were "concerned for their safety and felt that they were being held hostage." Forral was released without having to pay bail for the initial seven felony charges on Thursday afternoon, with a scheduled court hearing later this month. After the arrest on Saturday, organizers from SCAR went to the jail to talk to Forral and bail them out, but were told that no bail would be posted. Forral could be held for the entirety of the weekend, pending a potential decision from a weekend judge at 2 pm tomorrow, organizers told RANGE. When shown the footage of Forral’s arrest, Council Member Paul Dillon said,“This feels like a political arrest.” Dillon told RANGE Saturday that he was going to try and speak with Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall or someone at SPD about the agency pausing future arrests of activists from Wednesday night’s ICE protest on charges brought by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office. This is especially pressing right now, as the only other person arrested on multiple felony charges along with Forral was Erin Lang, who is also queer and likely to be at Pride. On Facebook, Guy Thompson, a former court watcher with SCAR, wrote “Spokane Police and Chief Hall absolutely can and do choose when to serve warrants. Arresting Justice on the way to Pride was an intentional provocation by SPD.” Brown said she had no details on why the Spokane Police Department’s Tactical (TAC) team chose to execute the arrest at that time, and requests for comment from SPD haven’t yet been returned. Brown did, however, paint a broad picture of conversations she’s having with Hall about rethinking the relationship between the City, SPD and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. “We are operating in a new environment for Spokane,” one she characterized as “clearly a departure from the 12 years past.” This environment, she said, is “one in which we have a new chief and a new mayor. And one in which we do not necessarily defer to the county sheriff to make the decisions about how to operate \[during\] an incident \[like Wednesday night\]. Brown reserved her biggest concerns, though, for “the threat of federal engagement” in volatile situations such as Wednesday night. “My decision was in regard to what I felt was best for the overall safety of the community, as well as an awareness that if there was no response, it was extremely likely — and it became more likely as time went on — that federal agents would take charge of the operation,” she told RANGE. We have requests for comment out to the Spokane Police Department about why Forral’s re-arrest happened during Pride and whether SPD will continue to use community events like this — including Juneteenth, which is this Thursday — to execute arrests of queer and BIPOC community organizers and activists. We will update this story with any additional details as we get them. ### The POD: About Last ICE (protest) URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/the-pod-pod-about-last-ice-protest/ Last updated: 2025-06-14T00:52:27.000Z This week we talk about the marathon protests in Spokane this week against the ICE detention of two migrants. Luke pops in for a cameo because it was all hands on deck — even unpaid ones. Read our comprehensive run down [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/). ### How to stay safe and have fun at Pride! URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/how-to-stay-safe-and-have-fun-at-pride-2/ Last updated: 2025-06-13T23:45:32.000Z **Editor's note:* We published this story last year. It was true then and it's more true than ever today.* Spokane’s Pride Parade and Festival kicks off tomorrow and we wanted to help all of our community have a safe and fun time during the festivities. We talked to community leaders, event organizers and safety experts to get quick tips to ensure you have the best Pride possible. ### Tip Number 1: Come with friends! Kate Bitz, a program manager for [Western States Center](https://www.westernstatescenter.org/our-work?ref=rangemedia.co) — an organization that monitors extremist movements and helps people mobilize to respond to bigoted activity in their communities — told RANGE that attending in a group helps everyone stay safer in any type of festival setting. “It’s always good to use the buddy system,” Bitz said. “Bring friends, be in a group chat with those friends and make sure you’re keeping track of each other.” She suggested setting a meeting point that everyone can rendezvous at if the group gets separated and a phone gets lost or dies. Bitz also recommended leaving together, and if the group decides to separate, making sure people get safely to their next location. “It just helps if anything’s happening to have your people by you,” she said. If you do come alone, Pride can be a great place to make friends that you can spend the day with! All the same advice applies for new friends: stay in communication, check in frequently and have each others’ backs. ### Tip Number 2: Stay alert and know your emergency contacts. While organizers say any kind of “high conflict” event is unlikely, it’s still great to be prepared and know who to call. Spokane Pride is running what they call a “command center.” The number for that command center is 509-593-8523, if you want to save it in your phone in advance. Operators, some of which have professional dispatch experience, are volunteering their time to field calls and direct people to the appropriate resources. Matthew Danielson, the executive director of Spokane Pride, suggested attendees call that number for anything that is not a crime or an immediate emergency — for example, questions about locations of things, non-emergency first aid needs, event and technical issues or to report suspicious behavior that does not rise to a criminal level. Knowing what exactly “suspicious behavior” is and how to report it can be tricky. Event organizers told RANGE that you can usually tell when people aren’t there to enjoy the festivities and are planning to disrupt. “You can tell when somebody is there for trouble and you just kind of gotta be aware,” Danielson said. Some clues that that could be the case may involve displaying visible weapons, wearing all black, tactical gear or [symbols](https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbols/search?ref=rangemedia.co) for extremist groups and aggressive behavior. Spectrum Center, a 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy group in Spokane, directed RANGE to a [guide](https://www.instagram.com/p/CekSVkNh4of/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) they posted on the most efficient way to report suspicious activity — the S.A.L.U.T.E. method. When speaking with dispatchers, it is helpful to frame your report in terms of the size, activity, location, uniform, time and equipment of the group. An example from their post of efficient reporting language is, “I just saw six men wearing what looked like bulletproof vests, heading east at the corner of Sprague and Washington. They were carrying assault rifles. The time is 1:30 pm.” **If there is an injury or an active emergency situation, always call 911.** In addition to their command center, Danielson said the police officers would be present at the event and Spokane Pride has also hired additional private security. ### Tip Number 3: Do not engage. There may be protestors at the event, but event organizers ask that attendees do not engage with protestors and instead focus on having a good, safe time. Volunteers from the Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) will be present at the park in brightly colored vests to help deescalate tense situations. If you witness a situation that could be helped with deescalation, like someone aggressively filming attendees, you can call the command center number and share the location, or flag down a PJALS volunteer if you see them in the crowd. While it may be tempting to bring personal protection equipment because of increased [tensions](https://www.rangemedia.co/pride-mural-repainted-vandalized/) and [threats](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/worldwide-caution.html?ref=rangemedia.co), Bitz said that can actually make situations more dangerous. “There is no faster way to pepper spray a bunch of people who are on your side than to just pull out your pepper spray in a crowd. Do not do that,” she said. If you do end up deciding to carry some kind of personal protection device, make sure it is something you feel comfortable and experienced using. “If you have not practiced with whatever it is, do not bring it,” Bitz said. “And if it is against the Pride organizing team’s rules, absolutely do not bring it.” There is no specific policy shared on the Pride website or event guide, but Danielson stressed that attendees should not engage with protestors or potentially dangerous situations. ### Tip Number 4: Take care of yourself! At any festival or large celebration, it is important to take care of yourself and your basic needs. “You are probably much more likely to get a nasty sunburn or get super dehydrated than to encounter some kind of high conflict situation,” Bitz said. We’re not your mom, but here’s your classic reminder to stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, eat food and, if you’re of age and drinking, do so responsibly: cover your drink, don’t leave it alone and monitor your intake. Booths at Pride typically offer water bottles and sunscreen, and sometimes other equipment to make your Pride safer, like condoms, dental dams, alcohol and drug test strips and sometimes, even vaccines and STD tests. This year, Spokane Pride is also focused on meeting attendees’ accessibility needs. They have hubs placed around the park where you can find sensory-friendly spaces, get connected with services and request shuttle rides. More information on the festival’s accessibility services can be found [here](https://www.spokanepride.org/accessibility?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Tip Number 5: Have a good fucking time! The theme of Pride this year is “Never Gonna Hide,” and we think their promotional [materials](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static1-squarespace-com/static/60f0c93fb830100cea95e9b0/t/66590c5c8b9b945a2b84824b/1717111914368/pride-festival-program-1.pdf) said it best: > “By being unapologetically ourselves, we pay homage to those who never had the chance. To honor Spokane’s first marchers and all who were forced to hide, we promise to never stop being who we are,” they wrote. “We will never go back. We are Never Gonna Hide.” It’s important to be prepared, but as Bitz told RANGE, you can also relax and enjoy the festivities. “If you are going to Pride in the Inland Northwest this year, you can put some trust in the folks who are organizing it because they have done a lot of the work ahead of time to speak with local government and put together trained volunteer teams that do deescalation,” Bitz said. Details on the parade route, the festival map and other information can be found [here](https://www.spokanepride.org/pride2024?ref=rangemedia.co). Once you get to Pride, enjoy the experience! There is a whole community of people here who love you for who you are. Stay safe, have fun and celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. “Take care of your people,” Bitz said. “Because in the end, that is what’s going to keep us all safe.” ### Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T22:16:31.000Z This is a long one. We wanted to make sure to gather everything for the record. Here’s a table of contents to help you navigate: - [Background](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=outlets%20saw%20it.-,Background%3A,-On%20Wednesday%2C%20June) \- What sparked the protest - [A Timeline](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=friend%2C%20whatever%20happens.%E2%80%9D-,A%20Timeline,-A%20detailed%20timeline) \- Important moments from a very long night - [The Court Hearing](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=less%20lethal%20munitions.-,The%20Court%20Hearing,-Of%20the%2034) \- 34 people were arrested. 2 were charged with a slew of felonies, we went to that hearing - [Quotes from the first four hours](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=what%20happens%20next.%E2%80%9D-,Quotes%20from%20the%20first%20four%20hours,-Some%20random%20quotes) - [Why people were willing to be arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=other%2C%E2%80%9D%20%2D%20Moore%2C%20PJALS-,Why%20people%20were%20willing%20to%20be%20arrested,-%E2%80%9C%E2%80%8AI%27m%20a%20brown) - [Late Night Presser](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=the%20bus%2C%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Jude-,Late%20Night%20Presser%3A,-Brown%20defends%20police) \- Mayor Brown, Chief Hall and others gathered to explain the rationale behind the dispersal order and decision to arrest the people impeding ICE - [Photo Gallery](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=we%20all%20belong.%E2%80%9D-,Photo%20Gallery,-Photos%20by%20Ben) \- As always, local photo journalists captured powerful images of the moment - [Official Responses](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=by%20Sandra%20Rivera-,Official%20Responses,-We%E2%80%99ve%20collated%20responses) - [Other Coverage](https://www.rangemedia.co/everything-we-know-about-the-spokane-ice-protests/#:~:text=and%20each%20other.%22-,Other%20Coverage%3A,-A%20piece%20from) \- The way our colleagues at other outlets saw it. ## Background: On Wednesday, June 11 between noon and 1 pm, former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart sent out an alert to the general public: Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez, a young man who had, until that very day, been in Stuckart’s care as a “Special Immigrant Juvenile,” (SIJ) was detained during a last minute appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Stuckart was refused entry to the appointment, and only found out about the detention after Perez was already in custody. Stuckart asked for folks to join him in protesting the detainment of Perez and of Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres, a Colombian national in his late twenties, who had walked across multiple states with Perez, trying to find safety as refugees. As the RANGE team texted him asking to connect once we arrived at the demonstration, he responded, “who knows if anyone shows up.” He didn’t need to worry. Under the [SIJ program](https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-US/eb4/SIJ?ref=rangemedia.co), Stuckart was considered Perez’ legal guardian. Though he did not live with Stuckart, Stuckart took the young man — who he met while volunteering at Latinos en Spokane (LeS) — under his wing, helping him get to immigration hearings and navigate the complicated process. They were both under the impression that things were going well: Perez had attended every meeting he was told to, had been filing paperwork on a limited basis through a contract attorney from LeS and even had a court date scheduled for 2026, Stuckart said. Yesterday, everything changed: it was Perez’ birthday. He turned 21, which meant Perez had aged out of the SIJ program. ICE called Perez in for a check-up. When Stuckart tried to go in with him, he wasn’t allowed. “It took them seven minutes,” Stuckart said. “And then they came out and said we’re detaining them — Joswar and Cesar.” (Torres had also been called in for a meeting that day.) ICE agents wouldn’t let Stuckart in to talk to the young men, nor would they give a clear reason for their detainment, just stating they were being sent to an immigration judge in Tacoma. It was confusing for Stuckart: Perez had an asylum court date scheduled for next year, and had a legal work permit up until last Friday, when it was abruptly revoked with no clear communication as to why, Stuckart said. “ He's done everything right,” Stuckart said yesterday afternoon, smoking a cigarette in front of the bus. “So me? I'm gonna sit in front of this bus and tell them I don't want them to take my friend, whatever happens.” ## A Timeline A detailed timeline of events with photo and video logs. ### Wednesday, June 11 **1 pm-ish**: Former Council Member Ben Stuckart sent out [an action alert](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b33GROjGQo3BfufCtBjlUQhX3CeWgILk/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co), calling for protestors to come to the ICE Office at 411 W Cataldo Ave. **1:56 pm**: A young man in a different case went in for a scheduled ICE appointment. A translator was denied access to the building. Shortly after, around 20 protestors and members of the media arrived at the office. There was an ICE van parked in front of the office. Stuckart and representatives from Latinos en Spokane spoke to the press. Stuckart pledged to stay in front of the van and not let it drive off. Other protestors discussed their willingness to get arrested to block the bus, including two youth who were sitting in front of the side doors to the bus. 0:00 /0:56 1× **2:30 pm**: Someone in a mask rode up on a bike, [spray-painted the windshield of the ICE ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CZpOB53C5%5F-JQWmra5CeMEJPnbn-368M/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co)transport van and rode off. Stuckart and other protest leaders communicated what had happened to city and state officials and reiterated the group’s intent to stay nonviolent. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_3932.jpg) **2:31 pm:** Justice Forral drove a red car to [park in front of the ICE transport van](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qBmp4q9JkJhP9RlmuOOOslq54OEvMlrg/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co), boxing it in from the front. **2:34 pm:** Two people, presumably ICE agents, [exited the building to tell a protester](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MyciV6sviKAkFgyyduTaoqnpnD2aqPiR/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) sitting in front of the bus that they would be arrested if they did not move. One of the agents walked up to Party for Socialism and Liberation member David Brookbank and asked if there was anyone they could talk to representing the protest. The agent stressed that people blocking the van would be arrested. Others who were willing to be arrested, including Stuckart, Liz Moore (of Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane), Angel Tomeo Sam (of Yoyot Sp'q'n'i) and Julie Garcia (of Jewels Helping Hands), jumped in to join the sit-in in front of the bus. Protestors shouted “Shame, shame,” through the entire interaction. 0:00 /1:56 1× **2:43 pm:** ICE personnel [filmed from the windows](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IZd2AAkvV0i4K5n5AGovRXJpHnSMXhgW/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) of the building as protestors chanted “Asylum seekers are welcome here, immigrants are welcome here, refugees are welcome here.” As protestors noticed the agents filming, t[hey started shouting.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zvCos0rkcOguNBlIoADNT5Ou135zmaeV/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) The group of protesters blocking the bus grew to 12, [including Naida Spencer, chair of the Spokane County Democrats.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wPaWVa7XkxPfbEmNTx%5FvRW8DRsSa4FC9/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) **3:01 pm:** A [second car arrived](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EIVl4hn4hsZncyg2n8Op1d8wQcg2g5hu/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co), boxing in the ICE van from the rear. **3:15 pm:** A second crowd [began to form on the back of the building](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qMMdPUSKACozK3SHTBmNpd-IM3cwUudT/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) after protestors noticed a second ICE vehicle preparing to leave. At this point RANGE estimates there were between 75 to 100 people spread between the exits. **3:49 pm**: Protestors [willing to get arrested huddled up,](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vOJIeI%5FQKkdTo9JayNmz8xkjU5e-q06s/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) agreeing on their strategy and community norms. **3:51 pm:** Community members started forming a [pile of donated supplies](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WmF7jchOrzITHl91EjLiUfOAELfRs8rP/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) including snacks, sunscreen, electrolyte powder and water. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/img_3947.jpg) **3:55 pm:** [Stuckart told the crowd](https://drive.google.com/file/d/149M9l8SBb4Rg4TfKwuEc%5FEn4eQcb9ml7/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) that Mayor Lisa Brown and Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall were in contact with ICE trying to negotiate the release of the people who had been detained. Brown later denied this happened. Hall said his office had been in contact with ICE, though it was unclear if it was to push for release or to coordinate the law enforcement response. After two hours of protest there had been no violence. **4:46 pm:** RANGE [received a press release](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Cv4IvElDiHidTui-LroBD9NJiIZA7yig/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) from Mayor Lisa Brown with her stance on the protest. **5:02 pm:** [Two immigration lawyers from Manzanita House](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sjg1CJb-fTN9DaMTCKr--jnpQk30Uflz/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) were working in a corner with colleagues on the other side of the state, trying to find any legal statute to argue for release of the two detained people. One of the immigration lawyers said she had spoken to ICE through the callbox on the front of the building and offered to represent the detained immigrants who had no legal representation on site. **5:08 pm:** At The Podium nearby, Spokane Velocity FC prepared to face Charlotte Independence SC in a soccer match celebrating Pride. The national anthem [could be heard faintly](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pNO-VSLIy7-Hx1rhop23AmmMYymvA4rp/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co) from the protest. Video provided by a protestor. **5:20 pm:** Protestors from the south exit shouted for backup as they saw an ICE transport start to leave. We got no footage of this moment as we were running to cover it. **5:24 pm:** ARANGE reporter arrived at the open south gate as protestors lined up in front of the exit to stop them from leaving. We filmed from the side as protestors shouted “Let them go.” ICE agents and men with no uniforms then began indiscriminately shoving protestors who had linked arms as well as the RANGE reporter, who had identified themselves as press . The ICE agents and men with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) insignia shoved people to the ground then retreated behind the facility gate. Here is [footage from the reporter](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ID0aLuhaDP3UfItAFEhVKypVJ8dKBAHY/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) and [footage sent to us by a protestor](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A-pQ2FekH6zHF2jSGs15MdApPPm7G0Zb/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co). 0:00 /1:54 1× **5:35 pm:** Protestors had begun to [build a barricade](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dR75fzE4246CKiWuquHQ1j-%5FwmPJMNxm/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) in front of the lower gate with Lime bikes and plastic bollards. **6:24 pm:** For about an hour, things were uneventful. Protestors maintained groups at all three exits. No one was in the street. Then, at 6:24, after a warning to protestors from a source inside City Hall, [police arrived](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VjR20wlf%5FSJeXcUIj61xxNH4oV9OU%5FC8/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co). **6:25 pm:** At least 10[ vehicles and a red ICE transport van](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vQJISStSamRzgnxYnOkA%5FNnxn89TwDWL/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) and shut down Washington Street. **6:26 pm:** Police officers from SPD’s tactical team [quickly cleared a path](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aCY5-cug0GCmdyfbXP%5FKsoz820NV8JEQ/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) from the sidewalk into the building to the red ICE transport van. **6:26 pm:** Protestors then started to coalesce near the police presence, gathering[ around the red ICE van](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IMJgUZsIfHP%5FRWLTVn5ykKM9MeXdj8Yp/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co), including a group that was willing to risk arrest. **6:29 pm:** A group of protestors willing to risk arrest sits [in front of the red van](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15SQEjyJntBBXsM0r91HJdf%5FIFzyAjNVT/view?usp=sharing&ref=rangemedia.co). **6:33 pm:** [View from above](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p9jAiF0M6CuCdcmfY8TZcafYVtis2WQi/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) as protestors continue to gather and shout “Let them go.” **6:34 pm:** Protestors, including Tomeo Sam, Garcia and Stuckart [linked arms](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zCy2EzquC%5FUp2s04ibYOWubWlzTa9FZH/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) on one side of the transport van to stop it from leaving. 0:00 /0:07 1× **6:36 pm:** The County Sheriff [officers arrive](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EHyARuk0hE%5FY3u2ZmPgMhgVN5y6%5FjVH4/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co), increasing the police presence at the so-far peaceful protest. **6:45 ish:** the RANGE reporter started livestreaming. Their phone died so a chunk got deleted. Footage then resumes and can be watched in full [here](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKyhbGhuSop/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). Police started violently arresting people, which can be seen on film. The tires of the red ICE van were deflated or slashed. Protestors were warned that the gathering had been declared unlawful and that chemical munitions would be deployed. We didn't get footage of the moment, but amidst the chaos, ICE agents walked three people who had been detained to a third ICE van and departed the police barricade for the Tacoma ICE detention facility. By 8:45, chemical munitions had been deployed against protestors. One protestor, who was later arrested, kicked a smoke bomb back towards officers (which was the lone act of violence against officers that we witnessed in the entire evening.) Smoke bombs were thrown in the direction of media members who were corralled into a small area with no clear, safe exit. There was one smoke bomb [with green smoke](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U7FreFmkpv-qpM6v%5FpG7mBRsKyvJPXBk/view?usp=drive%5Flink&ref=rangemedia.co) which may have been tear gas, as multiple reporters felt stinging in the eyes and mouth after its deployment. Pepper balls were shot by SPD into the crowd, as were rubber bullets by the Spokane County Sheriffs. Over the course of the evening, tactical equipment and officers from other jurisdictions arrived on scene, like surveillance drones, a helicopter and additional Bearcats — heavily armored vehicles. We got an anonymous tip that Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels tried to call in the National Guard for what was a nonviolent protest (at least on the part of the protestors) until police arrived. Nowels later [told another outlet](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article%5F89b7bcb8-a01c-4b95-a7cc-175a742a1d4f.html?ref=rangemedia.co) the Department of Homeland Security had called him rather than SPD. Attendees of the Spokane Zephyr Pride game described smoke hovering over the game, and experiencing burning sensations in their eyes and mouth. 0:00 /0:05 1× **8:30 pm:** Multiple vans filled with protestors had been taken to the county jail. Folks with various mutual aid groups showed up with bail, as did multiple pro bono lawyers. Most of the people arrested were charged with misdemeanor obstruction and $500 bond, though two queer people — at least one of whom is a queer BIPOC person — were charged with multiple counts of unlawful imprisonment after Forral built a barrier outside the ICE facility. One lawyer told us “it was chaos,” with additional charges being threatened against prominent politicians who had been arrested. **9:30 pm:** A curfew on the area around the ICE office was imposed by Mayor Brown, running from 9:30 pm to 5 pm. Despite the curfew, we did not witness any additional arrests or chemical munition deployments from this point, but our reporter was cordoned on the South side of the protest and wasn’t able to record from the North side of the protest — after officers split the group into two halves near the beginning of the police response. **10 pm:** Brown held a press conference during which she defended SPD facilitating ICE officers as they tried to transport the immigrants out of the Homeland Security building, saying the protesters had violated city law by impeding public rights of way. SPD Chief Kevin Hall said his officers deployed white smoke grenades and pepper balls but did not fire rubber bullets. He could not speak for the other agencies. **10:30 pm:** Bond had been paid for most of the 31 protestors who had been arrested. Only two faced felony charges and were not allowed to have their bond paid. ### Thursday, June 12 **10:00 am-ish:** We received reports that those arrested who were bailed out had been released, leaving Justice Forral and Erin Lang — the two charged with felonies — in custody. **10:46 am:** We received visual confirmation from two freelance photographers of rubber bullets or long distance foam batons being fired into the crowd. Here’s [a quick guide](https://www.tampabay.com/news/2020/06/05/a-guide-to-non-lethal-and-less-lethal-weapons-used-in-local-national-protests/?ref=rangemedia.co) to the difference between less lethal munitions. ## The Court Hearing Of the 34 people who were arrested in Wednesday night’s protest on suspicion of the misdemeanor charge of failure to disperse, two were also charged with seven counts of “unlawful imprisonment”, a class C felony in the State of Washington. Justice Forral, an organizer with Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR), and Erin Lang, a local artist, were both given the unlawful imprisonment charges and one count of failure to disperse each. On Thursday afternoon, a Superior Court Commissioner released them both on their own recognizance without an additional bond. It’s unclear why exactly Forral and Lang were specifically targeted for felony charges while other protesters were not, neither the prosecuting attorney nor the court documents gave any details. Even though this was just a first appearance hearing, dozens of people crowded into a tiny courtroom at the Spokane County Courthouse, sitting on the floor and spilling into the hallway. The crowd was a mix of press and supporters of Forral and Lang. The presiding judge, court commissioner Anthony Rugel, decided to move the hearing to a larger courtroom to accommodate the crowd. Both defendants appeared separately on a large video screen with their attorney Sarah Freedman: Forral in bright yellow scrubs and Lang in grey scrubs and a bright orange undershirt. Stuart Fox, an attorney with the Spokane County Prosecutor's Office, asked the judge for a $2,500 bond in each case, arguing that there was “a concern for community safety” because “individuals were trapped at the location.” Fox said both Forral and Lang had obstructed justice and had a “potential impact to the administration of justice.” He prefaced his argument in both cases by acknowledging that neither defendant had a criminal record. Freedman argued against any bond being set and also asked that probable cause “be reserved,” meaning that she wanted the judge to wait to determine if there are reasonable grounds for the charges in these cases. She also noted during the hearing that she gave the prosecutor copies of the [professional conduct rules](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-courts-wa-gov/court%5Frules/RPC/ga%5Frpc%5F03%5F08%5F00.pdf) for attorneys that states the special responsibilities of prosecuting attorneys — among which include that they “refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause.” She noted specifically that “prosecutors are administers for justice.” “There is no evidence of a violent crime here,” Freedman told the judge during the hearing, and no allegation that either Forral or Lang committed a violent act that risked the safety of a person. Rugel, told the court that with no criminal history for either defendant, he would be releasing them both on their own recognizance. He set their arraignment — where the defendants will enter their pleas — for June 25. After the hearing, Freedman came to the courthouse to talk with press and family members of Lang and Forral and to represent another client in a completely separate case. She described a chaotic night: she and several other attorneys who had volunteered to help the arrested protesters were at the jail until about 2:30 am ensuring that the people arrested were bailed out and had representation. It was unclear at first who exactly was arrested at the protest, as law enforcement was arresting people and placing them in plastic cuffs on the sidewalk before transporting them to the Spokane County Jail. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxdn9gs0byr64c1wnib76kbta87fqk4_nqvveqievxsr3cfpwnuuywi4tvxaoeqiyfnrd0uujbaxqyusws-zeilweurs0eoqeyy4_hvfzsqfnfjt9exbvn2yli0iuodugwcu4n5vhg.jpg) *A protestor held in plastic restraints. Photo by Sandra Rivera.* “We were trying to guess who people were based on the inmate roster,” she said. They went off recent bookings, bondable people and bond size, which was $500 for the charge of “Failure to Dispurse.” Forral and Lang were released today, and Freedman said that they are both OK and happy that bond wasn’t imposed for these charges. “Right now, we’re just waiting to see what happens next.” ## Quotes from the first four hours *Some random quotes collected from reporter Erin Sellers from 1:45 to 4:30 pm.* “We’ve seen this before. The US has always written policies that criminalize who we are,” - Angel Tomeo Sam, Yoyot Sp'q'n'i “What is justice to you?” - protestor, attribution unknown “This is no different than when presidents endorsed slavery because it was good for the economy,” - Mark Finney, Thrive International “ We fucking feed you. We work. We clean your houses. We take care of your kids. We make your food, take care of your kids. Stop kidnapping our people without due process. We deserve our day in court,” - protestor, chose to remain anonymous. “ Our commitment is to the people who are being held inside. Our commitment is to the people who are being targeted and harassed for trying to live. Our commitment is to each other. Our commitment is to stand up against the billionaire agenda that's using racism to target and weaken our entire career. Country and community and to directly harm wonderful people who are just trying to live. So we are not here to satisfy our own egos. We're here to prevent this bus from moving and say, no more deportations, abolish ICE, not in our name. So it's not about being peaceful, it's not about being calm, it's about being calm, disciplined, nonviolent and committed to each other,” - Moore, PJALS ## Why people were willing to be arrested “ I'm a brown person who has the privilege of being born here. That does not mean everyone in my community does, and that their lives are not valued,” — Julie Garcia “ I'm with Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR), and this is the definition of standing up against racism to me. Like this person said, I have a privilege of being able to take this risk and so if I'm not willing to do that, I don't know how I can expect anyone else to,” — Jac Archer, SCAR “ I am the executive director of Yoyot Sp'q'n'i, and we actually made a statement condemning ICE, condemning these orders, from our president. And I just want to pull a little piece out of our statement that says, ‘I stand with all these targeted by these violent and hauntingly familiar policies. We will not be silent as our relatives are caged, disappeared and torn from their loved ones. We believe in liberation, not incarceration; care, not cruelty; belonging, not banishment. And I also wanna say that we are on the lands of the Spokane people. And this was always a gathering place. And, it's a horrific time for other people, but we know about these borders on stolen land and there shouldn't be. I stand with every single person here who says, abolish ICE. So that's what I hope to do. Abolish ICE,” — Angel Tomeo Sam, Yoyot Sp'q'n'i “The way that the multiracial, working class of this country is being manipulated and split by strategic racism to benefit a handful of billionaires who are trying to trick us all into advancing their deeper and deeper pockets. So we say no. We say no to racism. We say no to anti-immigrant hatred, and we're gonna put our bodies in the way,” — Liz Moore, PJALS “ My father was not born here. He came here from South America when he was four. At that point in time, there was not a long waiting list that people had to stay in their terrible, terrible situations while wanting to come here for a better life. I am blessed to have been born here, right? And … I don't have the same complications as other people — my skin is white even though I'm not. I am here because this is not right. Like we've sat there and watched people get pulled out of their homes, get tackled and assaulted, and all of this. The literal slogan of America is a complete contradiction to what is going on right now,” — a person willing to be arrested who chose not to give their name. “I like my ICE crushed and I'm here to show white men what it means to do the bare fucking minimum,” — Mickey Pike “ I'm the chair of the Spokane County Democrats. I'm also a Kosovo, Afghanistan veteran, and this is not what I served for. Everyone deserves due process. It's time for our elected officials and our law enforcement to follow the constitution. Thank you,” Naida Spencer, Chair of the Spokane County Democrats “ ICE is trying to deport people. They can't deport 'em if they can't get in the bus,” — Jude ## Late Night Presser: Brown defends police facilitating ICE access to agency building As a standoff between protesters and four separate law enforcement agencies began dying down on Wednesday, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown hosted a 10 pm press conference at City Hall during which she defended law enforcement helping federal officials transport the two immigrants they’d arrested from their Cataldo Avenue facility. The police had closed down Washington Street near the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered to protest the detentions. The immigrants are in the country legally. Washington is a sanctuary state under the Keep Washington Working Act (KWWA), a law that bars local agencies from helping federal agents enforce immigration law. Brown said she didn’t see a contradiction between her vocal commitment to the KWWA and ordering Spokane police to clear away the protesters, effectively allowing the ICE vehicles to leave with the detained men. Brown said the KWWA didn’t come into play at all, as Spokane police officers were enforcing municipal code that bars people from impeding rights of way. “It's pretty clear from the observations I had of what was occurring there and frankly from my communication throughout the afternoon with some of the protestors that they did not expect that they would be successful in stopping ICE — a federal agency — from completing their mission,” Brown said. Brown argued that by responding to the protests with city police, she had made it less likely that President Donald Trump would send in National Guard and Marines as [he has done](https://apnews.com/article/insurrection-act-trump-troops-newsom-military-national-guard-a842f79e1c0e244039be274a6f266a7a?ref=rangemedia.co) or threatened to do in California and other places that have seen similar protests. Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall also took questions from reporters, saying SPD deployed white smoke in the crowd of protesters and fired pepper balls at the demonstrators’ feet. He said SPD did not use rubber bullets, though it’s unclear how he could be absolutely sure of that so soon after the conclusion of the protest. Many protestors described being shot with bean bag rounds, rubber bullets and other less-lethal munitions and had the welts to prove it. Spokane County Sheriff deputies do appear to have shot protesters with less-lethal rounds. Hall said about 185 city officers responded to the scene, not including sheriff’s deputies. By about 10:45 pm, there were around 20 protesters still on Washington Street, though a small group of people started gathering near City Hall. Brown reiterated Spokane’s commitment to making sure immigrant communities are safe and feel welcome. “ I know there is tremendous fear among our local immigrant and refugee community,” Brown said. “My heart goes out to families who are separated or are fearful of what might happen to them in their workplace or as they proceed about their lives in Spokane. That's why I've been coordinating with some of our local partners to understand how we can be supportive of those communities. Because in Spokane, we all belong.” ## Photo Gallery ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/425A5506.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/425A5802.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/425A5842.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/SA4A6055.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/SA4A6063-2.jpg) Photos by Ben Tobin ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-17.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-18--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-18.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-19.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-41.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-44--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-45.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-47.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/2026/03/S_Rivera_LAtoSpokaneProtest_Edited-50.jpg) Photos by Sandra Rivera ## Official Responses *We’ve collated responses from officials and some of those arrested at the event. Here’s everything we’ve seen so far, and we’ll update as more information comes out.* ### Former City Council Member Ben Stuckart From Stuckart’s Facebook: “Spokane shows up! I am out of jail. Up until I was arrested the protest was 99.9% peaceful. Not sure what happened that led to the use of pepper spray. I was peacefully detained before any of that went down. Unfortunately Cesar and Joswar were taken by ICE to Tacoma. They were illegally detained, had work permits and had gone through every single correct procedure and only showed up at the ICE office to follow the rules. They have been following the rules. They are good upstanding young men. Those that judge my actions harshly are on the wrong side of history. What is happening is wrong. These two young men were not criminals and were following the law. I have much privilege and am able to protest and be arrested. Many others in our community need us to stand up for them. They are not in a position to do this. It is our moral responsibility to stand for them. FYI : after cooking in the van during processing my mug shot is going to be priceless.” ### County Democrats Party Chair Naida Spencer From Spencer’s Facebook: “I was just bailed out alongside a handful of others. I want to be clear: this action was about standing up for working, tax-paying individuals and their constitutional right to due process. We were peaceful and remained off the road until the police themselves closed it off. Only then did people move into the street. I’m proud of how peaceful everyone remained, even as police pushed and shoved protestors from the designated protest area into the road. This moment is a clear example of the world conservatives have long warned us about—yet it’s they who are shaping a system that serves only the ultra-rich and keeps the rest of us down. Those of us with the privilege of due process, those who can afford to miss a paycheck without losing everything, have a responsibility to act. An injury to one is an injury to all. Stay peaceful. Stay strong.” ### Congressman Michael Baumgartner “I have spoken with Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown and other local government officials about last night's protests. I’d like to applaud our law enforcement’s timely response and effective use of restraint to not let the situation escalate. It is imperative that local government officials in Washington state work collaboratively with federal officials to enforce immigration laws. We need both secure borders and immigration reform. Peaceful protest is guaranteed under the Constitution, but there is no excuse for violence or impeding law enforcement officials.” ### Washington Senator Patty Murray “It’s totally wrong to abruptly detain legal asylum seekers at their check-in appointments without any justification—we’re talking about people who were following the legal process, contributing to their communities, and pose no threat to public safety. As I’ve said time and again, diverting law enforcement resources away from fighting violent crime to round up immigrants who are working and going through the legal process is nothing but a cruel waste of taxpayer dollars that makes all of us less safe. The Trump administration is intentionally provoking chaos, terror, and disorder in our communities by bringing in federal agents to grab people off the streets. I stand with the citizens of Spokane who are peacefully speaking out against these egregious abuses of our immigration laws, and those who are mounting challenges in the courts. I will always support people exercising their First Amendment right to peaceful protest and I urge anyone taking part in protest activities to remain calm and never resort to violence, which only plays into the Trump administration’s hands. The Trump administration needs to let local law enforcement do their job—federal troops should never be deployed over the request of state and local officials to escalate situations that local police are already effectively managing.” ### Mayor Lisa Brown Press statement at 4:34 pm: “I am aware of the situation unfolding outside of the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Spokane. The City of Spokane respects and upholds everyone’s First Amendment rights and right to be on public property. “The City of Spokane continues to uphold the Keep Washington Working Act. The Spokane Police Department will address violations of Spokane Municipal Code. “I encourage everyone to remain peaceful and safe, and my heart goes out to families being separated. Our unity is stronger than any attempt to divide us.” She then held a press conference, which we covered above. ### Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson “In response to the recent immigration protests, I feel it is imperative to speak directly to our community. Let me be clear: those who were arrested during these events did not face consequences for exercising their right to protest. The actions taken by the Spokane Police Department (SPD) were aimed at keeping our residents safe, not at supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. We are still gathering information on the events last night, but we are confident that SPD arrests targeted only those individuals who unlawfully obstructed justice or engaged in acts of vandalism. Our right to protest is sacred, but it must be exercised responsibly and with respect for the law and the rights of others. We stand firmly behind the Mayor's decision to implement a curfew, a necessary measure to maintain peace while also respecting the fundamental First Amendment rights of our residents. I recognize that the civil unrest we are experiencing can create deep divisions within our community. However, now is not the time for discord; it is a time to focus on finding a path forward that prioritizes the safety and well-being of our immigrant community. I firmly believe in our motto, "In Spokane, We All Belong." We will continue to support the Keep Washington Working Act, which protects immigrant communities by minimizing the involvement of SPD to the greatest extent possible. Our immigrant community adds immense value, culture, and a strong workforce that contributes to what makes Spokane the place we call home. I would also like to commend Chief Hall for his leadership and the collaboration with regional jurisdictions, demonstrating that working together for the betterment of our community is possible. Together, we can create solutions that uphold our values and ensure that every citizen feels secure and respected. I urge each of you to continue using your voices. Enhance your civic engagement by collaborating with the Council on ordinances and laws that will protect our most vulnerable and ensure their safety and freedom in Spokane and throughout the United States.” ### Spokane City Council Member Paul Dillon “No human being is illegal. We are witnessing in real time the direct result of the escalation the Trump Administration inflicts on communities which creates chaos and fear. These actions do not improve public safety in Spokane and the two young men detained deserve their due process and the protections under the Constitution. I support the right to peaceful assembly and we must resist efforts to divide us. I remain committed to the fight for equal justice for all.” ### Joint Statement between CM Dillon and Council Member Lili Navarrete From a video posted [here](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK0WTqISJyH/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). Transcription of joint statement: **Dillon**: Everybody this is council member Paul Dillon for Spokane City Council District two. And yeah, go ahead. **Navarrete**: City council for district two. **Dillon**: Yeah. And obviously we're still processing yesterday's events. I know the c is in a lot of pain right now. Obviously we're holding in our hearts all of the protestors and people that came out to speak out. Engage and show up for community and express solidarity against a lot of the enforcement actions that we are seeing from the Trump administration and ice. We're obviously seeing this around the country and Spokane is not exempt. I think from a lot of the abuses of power that we are seeing from the Trump administration. We are excited to announce that we do have. A new ordinance that is moving, that was dropped yesterday. **Navarrete**: The ordinance can, do you wanna say the name? **Dillon**: Yes. It's safe and welcome in Spokane **Navarrete**: Safe and welcome in Spokane. So this ordinance will be first reading on the 23rd and final reading on the 30th of this month. And what that ordinance basically will pertain is that any public events, in private areas that are city owned will be protected. So no ice agents or border patrol will be allowed in all those events. We are doing this thinking of our community that right now are being, they're being heard they're being targeted. So we want to promote where our motto in Spokane, we all belong. And this is thinking about our community to feel safe. And to be able to relax and be with families. And this will be again, final rating June 30th for calling everyone to come in solidarity and help us bring this forward. It will be read in my last city council meeting. So it would be great to see. A lot of faces supporting our community and this ordinance. **Dillon**: Thank you so much. Thanks for continuing to engage. Reach out. Again, I know this is a very hard time. We're gonna power through and looking forward to moving this ordinance forward. Thank you so much. Thank you. ### County Commissioner Josh Kerns From [KXLY coverage](https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-county-commissioner-josh-kerns-issues-statement-on-riots-in-spokane/article%5F38bf06c6-24c2-4225-bc06-461d9a936e5e.html?ref=rangemedia.co), where he labelled the protests “riots,”: “The unrest we have seen in the City of Spokane is unacceptable,” said Commissioner Kerns. “I stand with the dedicated men and women of law enforcement who put themselves in harm’s way to protect lives, businesses, and public safety.” He continued, “Thank you to our police officers, deputies, and their families tonight. We support you and have your back”. Commissioner Kerns also stated, "I strongly support every American’s First Amendment right to speak freely and protest peacefully—but that right does not include violence, obstruction of law enforcement, destruction of property, or putting others at risk. We must uphold both our freedoms and our responsibility to exercise them lawfully." ### Manzanita House “‘I am afraid to go to the check-ins.”’” Recent events have underscored a climate of fear as immigrants reach out to our immigration office in distress. Many express deep concerns over potential detentions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This fear is palpable and reflects a troubling reality that immigrants, who are already highly vulnerable, face daily. We are urgently calling upon our collective strength in response to alarming trends threatening the safety and well-being of immigrants in our community. To combat this growing fear and to ensure that no one faces immigration proceedings alone, we are building a network of attorneys willing to attend check-ins with unrepresented individuals. We urge legal professionals within our community to step forward and help protect the rights of immigrants. Email: mila@mhspokane.org Want comprehensive immigration reform? Let your voice be heard. Reach out to our representatives at all levels including Luc Jasmin, Eastern Regional Outreach Representative for the Office of the Governor Bob Ferguson: luc.jasmin@gov.wa.gov, 564-250-1713. Together, we can show up with courage and care, standing firmly against the intimidation tactics currently impacting our immigrant community.” ### Latinos en Spokane ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxfwlejzb30-ewpdwvvqrmblmgte2zysah21lifaceimju38lq2mexxipoafllmp764uawlbtvvlikk82bvt0uebeudal-9mqqgztli9mfe6yvog8_hqn2okknl4qdeipmftduxv.jpg) ### Nuestras Raices Centro Comunitario “ICE agency has become a symbol of fear for many families across our nation. The core belief that families belong together is not just a slogan; it is a fundamental truth that resonates deeply within our communities. Every individual deserves to live with dignity, free from the shadows of fear and uncertainty. We are not just a center; we are the community, united in our mission to uplift and empower one another. Please stay safe out there! We continue to voice our concerns regarding the injustices that impact us, and ensuring that those in positions of power are held accountable for their failure to defend our rights.” ### ACLU of Washington "We condemn the actions by law enforcement at Wednesday’s protest of unjust immigration enforcement policies in Spokane. Whether it was smoke grenades, pepper balls, or other so called “less-lethal” weapons, the effect is the same: these tactics escalate conflict, chill free speech, and inflict real harm. Protesters have a clear constitutional right to gather and publicly criticize government action. The use of chemical agents, impact munitions, and aggressive tactics against largely peaceful protestors is not only dangerous, it undermines public trust and suppresses dissent. Police should be protecting rights, not relying on force or inciting fear and chaos. We stand in solidarity with protesters and asylum seekers who are advocating for fair treatment, dignity, and safety. We call for full transparency from Spokane officials, including the release of bodycam footage, use-of-force reports and any other reviews of police misconduct at the protest.” ### Sarah Dixit, Candidate Spokane City Council, Distinct 1 "Freedom and justice are won through protest As an advocate and organizer, I know what it means to stand up against injustice. Back in 2018, I stood alongside WAISN to demand that Customs and Border Patrol be barred from Spokane’s Intermodal Station and we won that fight. So when the community was asked to stand up to ICE again on June 11, I didn’t hesitate to answer that call. The young people we tried to protect were following the rules, but ICE unjustly detained them anyway, breaking with their own proper procedure. I’m saddened by the escalation at the hands of law enforcement and that so many of my friends and community members were arrested for expressing their first amendment right to protest. Accountability, Belonging, and Community aren’t just buzz words to me – they are the values that guide my personal, professional, and political life. What I saw on June 11 was a beautiful demonstration of these values in action. Spokane is a city full of people who care deeply. A lot of us are upset about what’s going on and feel like we have to do something. We showed up for each other, brought water, shared snacks and sunscreen, and held the protest as long as we could. We showed up to say that what ICE is doing is not okay and that we are paying attention. Unfortunately, the police response was a stark example of state violence being deployed against our community. Our words matter. The way we frame protests matter. Too often, the focus is on if a protest is “peaceful” and “non-violent,” which, yes, is important. But those terms are subjective and are twisted by those in power. Peace isn’t simply the absence of violence. It is the presence of Justice. I will continue to stand with my community members until we win Justice for all people in Spokane." ### Spectrum Center Spokane "Still here. Still proud. Still showing up for each other and for justice. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️✊ We celebrate Pride with love and resistance. We honor our history by standing against the violence we witnessed this week from ICE, from the police, from the systems that continue to harm our communities. What happened on Wednesday was unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with those targeted, and we remain committed to showing up, loudly and unapologetically, for Queer and Trans lives, especially Indigenous, Black, Brown, undocumented, and marginalized ones. We will see you tomorrow at Pride. Bring your joy, your authenticity, your love, and each other." ## Other Coverage: - [A piece from *The Spokesman Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/12/two-refugees-came-here-legally-they-were-detained-/?ref=rangemedia.co)on the immigration status of the young men who were detained. Spoiler: they were here legally. - Sheriff Nowels confirms talking to the Department of Homeland Security and wanting to charge protestors with felonies.[ Story from The Center Square](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article%5F89b7bcb8-a01c-4b95-a7cc-175a742a1d4f.html?ref=rangemedia.co). - Another [independent angle on the protests](https://www.inlander.com/news/police-respond-in-force-to-largely-peaceful-spokane-protests-over-immigration-enforcement-29994528?ref=rangemedia.co) from the news team at *The Inlander.* - [An update on use of force ](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-ice-protesters-charged-with-felonies-released-after-first-appearance-and-other-updates-29996070?ref=rangemedia.co)from *The Inlander.* - [Coverage from *The Spokesman Review*](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/11/protesters-including-former-city-council-president/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* Editor's Note: *This story has been updated to include additional official responses.* ### Time-share presentation or good Christian representation of the gospel? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/life-surge-says-gold-is-way-to-serve-god/ Last updated: 2025-06-10T14:00:00.000Z ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxdbh2uygglmby32vmsdib-ir71fqq0vb-9gd3xbynzms3zbp5n_tetuy20phijqtjdtu63hoffw4ejgjociwj33i-9oovj9fndb4knrrf1pxcmq2ywuggwo_vjnyqzmkzzxepxha.jpg) *Twins David and Jason Benham, former professional baseball players and motivational speakers, tell thousands of Spokane Christians gold “is good.” (Photo by Aaron Hedge)* *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and* [*FāVS News,*](https://favs.news/christians-flock-to-life-surge-event-learn-god-approves-of-wealth-to-advance-his-kingdom/?ref=rangemedia.co) *a nonprofit newsroom covering faith and values in the Inland Northwest. Learn more about FāVS’s work* [*here*](https://favs.news/about/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* It wasn’t about the wealth for Mary Branda and Candice Dyreson, who sat high up in the cheapest tier of seats at the Spokane Arena Saturday. It was about maximizing Christians’ capacity to go into the world and spread the gospel. Listening to former professional athletes, pastors, inspirational speakers and financial managers — all of whom professed they’d earned vast sums of money making biblically-prescribed investments in “passive income” — they learned that their God approved of wealth. “ I think what it means is if you can build personal wealth, you're able to give more back to the community around you,” Dyreson said. The two women were among thousands of Spokane Christians who shelled out for tickets to the Spokane stop of Life Surge, a [flashy](https://lifesurge.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) national worship and speaking tour [where](https://lifesurge.com/events/?ref=rangemedia.co) God’s faithful gather “to learn why and how to create and multiply financial resources for kingdom impact.” It was the tour’s first Spokane stop, where stage smoke and a highly-produced light show had accompanied the kick-off concert by Grammy-nominated Christian music icon Natalie Grant. Life Surge bills itself as the “largest touring Christian brand.” (It’s unclear if that’s nation- or worldwide.) Branda was retired, and Dyreson, a clinical trainer at CHAS Health, said she and her husband do not live hand-to-mouth because they have some amount of passive income, or earnings made with little to no labor. Some examples of passive income include stock investments, rent payments for real estate and royalties on copyrighted items. Most such income requires some investment upfront. (Dyreson did not say what kind she and her husband have.) Both women said they go to churches that do important community work like feeding the hungry and clothing the poor. They said they saw that mission come alive at Life Surge. But Life Surge is laser-focused on accumulating material wealth as an avenue to serving the Lord. “The very first specific resource mentioned by name in the Bible is gold,” said David Benham, a former professional baseball player, businessman and Christian evangelist, during a Bible study he and his twin brother Jason Benham gave at the beginning of the event. Is gold “good or is it bad?” David Benham asked the crowd, referencing Genesis 2, which tells part of the creation story. “Good. It is good. God made gold before he made man. … Then the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to do what? You see before sin, Adam was to acquire and develop, to cultivate the resources that were in the ground, including gold. To provide for his family and future generations and to promote God's kingdom agenda on the earth. When did that call stop? It never stopped.” ### **An array of ‘surges’** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ad_4nxetkex1hmldodh0497flqphtrsgmg758q2i8n5qmdvd4pe0wnatpqfticyfohu4p8txqyj3megv2plfnd4iwi4u0svaqizzg1qigf2ujw69mmd9470sckqfgtjyz1caqyppvlhv.jpg) *Tables where Life Surge employees sign attendees up for three-day classes on how to gain wealth in service of the Christian God. (Photo by Aaron Hedge)* Life Surge leverages the influence of celebrity professional sports players like former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who was at the Spokane event; the Benham brothers, who both played in baseball’s National League before becoming stalwart anti-queer entrepreneurs; and at least five prominent Philadelphia Eagles, who headlined a Life Surge event in Philadelphia earlier this year. In Spokane, Tebow was also joined by Gonzaga University men’s basketball coach Mark Few. These athletes introduce the idea of “kingdom impact” through sermons, like the Benhams’. The twins are famous for having their house-flipping reality TV show cancelled after David Benham [told a pundit](https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/charlotte-prayer-rally-repents-for-homosexuality-and-its-agenda-that-is-attacking-the-nation?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2012 America’s ills were the fault of Christians who accept homosexuality, no-fault divorce and abortion. They talked at length about this saga in their sermon to the Spokane audience, maintaining their hardline stance against legal gay marriage. The program interweaves the athletes’ presentations with motivational speakers and financial managers, who promise to revolutionize the way attendees manage their money. They will do that, they say, by training people willing to pay $97 for a second set of three-day lessons that will be held in Spokane later this summer. These lessons come in three categories: Trade Surge, which teaches on how to invest in the stock market using a trial of Life Surge’s proprietary software; Real Estate Surge, which teaches how to invest in property; and Business Surge, which teaches how to create successful businesses. The presenters said the classes were fully refundable. Life Surge would not be able to accommodate everyone who attended the Saturday event, so the pressure to sign up was on: “You need to do it while we're here right now,” said Steve Champa, a stage presenter with Life Surge who introduced the first round of training sign-ups. “The reason is because we've got limited venue size. So in order to take advantage of it, you need to do it right now.” Attendees of those classes would then have the opportunity to purchase yearlong coaching relationships with financial managers for $38,000\. These were the ways Spokane Christians could amass wealth in pursuit of advancing Christ’s kingdom. Branda and Dyreson both signed up for Trade Surge; Dyreson said her husband, who was not at the event, would be surprised. Tickets to the Saturday event were sold in tiers, from lowest to highest: Executive, $40; Premier, $55; VIP, $95; and Ultimate, $497\. But each was subject to discounts that would “expire” just before becoming available again. (Spokane FāVS bought an Executive ticket for this reporter a few days before the event for a 25% discount, paying $30.) The pitches from the stage were attractive in a similar way that pitches for time shares or multi-level marketing programs or other [get-rich-quick schemes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get-rich-quick%5Fscheme?ref=rangemedia.co) are attractive. But Life Surge has been the subject of [a number](https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/life-surge-controversy-eagles-joe-johnson-20250531.html?ref=rangemedia.co) of [critical articles](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/27/life-surge-conference-evangelical-money-finance?ref=rangemedia.co), including [a Thursday piece](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/05/evangelical-wealth-building-conference-accused-of-/?ref=rangemedia.co) by *The Spokesman*’s Emry Dinman, and a [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFmJ8yPE6zY&ref=rangemedia.co) by Missouri pastor John Simmons, who attended a Life Surge event last year. “I thought it was more a time-share presentation than a good Christian representation of the Gospel of Christ,” Simmons said in his video. These media critiques broadly accuse Life Surge founder Joe Johnson of a long history of business foibles and running Life Surge as a scam that encourages Christians to go into debt to access Life Surge services and classes in order to grow their wealth. During the event Simmons attended, if one couldn’t afford the $38,000 personal mentorship classes, Life Surge encouraged them to sign up on the spot for credit cards with high limits. Life Surge did not respond to a request for comment on this story. ### **Seven Mountain Dominionism adjacent** The Life Surge event in Spokane was not explicitly Christian nationalist, but it contained some of the central common tropes of some of the most powerful sectors of the Christian nationalist movement. A generous reading of the messaging that characterized the stage Saturday could be interpreted this way: If Christians have more money — which equates to influence — they will be in a better position to save as many souls as possible. But it’s a short journey from there to what’s referred to in Christian circles as the “[Seven Mountain Mandate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven%5FMountain%5FMandate?ref=rangemedia.co)” (7M) a theory of social control developed by the dominionist pastor Lance Wallnau. 7M says there are seven realms, or mountains, of social influence in society: education, religion, family, business, government-slash-military, arts and entertainment and the media. If Christians take control of these mountains, Christianity can then flow down into the rest of society and control it. One of the speakers at some of Life Surge’s tour stops is Kevin Sorbo, the television actor who played Hercules in the eponymous syndicated 1990s show. Sorbo started the film production company [Sorbo Studios](https://sorbostudios.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) in recent years in order to exert Christian influence from the arts and entertainment mountain. The “kingdom impact” rhetoric strongly follows dominionist rhetoric, which basically says Christians are not only supposed to save the individual souls of their fellow humans but to bring Christ’s kingdom to earth. [It also asserts](https://favs.news/what-dominionism-and-the-new-apostolic-reformation-are-and-what-they-have-to-do-with-spokane/?ref=rangemedia.co) that Christians are supposed to govern other humans. The ties are not only aesthetic: Life Surge advertises on its website that it has a relationship with Bethel Music — the music label of Bethel Church in Redding, California — that has kickstarted the careers of overtly dominionist touring worship pastors like Sean Feucht. Feucht, who has [strong ties to](https://favs.news/matt-shea-prays-with-mayor-nadine-woodward-at-sean-feucht-worship-event/?ref=rangemedia.co) and prominent [beefs](https://www.rangemedia.co/sean-feucht-spokane-lawsuit/) with Spokane, has dramatically grown his wealth off his ministry, even though he does not charge admission to his events, as Life Surge does. Former employees of Feucht’s ministries recently launched a [website](https://truthandfreedomstories.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) detailing a wide range of abuses committed by Feucht against his workers and followers. The website also lists a number of financial and real estate abuses, including using ministry credit cards for personal expenses, committing fraud on tax filings and failure to pay his employees the minimum wage. Bill Johnson, the pastor of Bethel Church, co-authored a book with Wallnau in 2013 titled “Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate,” in which they lay out the theory of 7M. Bethel has some Spokane ties, including the former Bethel elder [Cal Pierce](https://www.rangemedia.co/healing-rooms-ministry-spokane-cal-pierce-property-taxes/) who came here in 1999 to found the global ministry franchise the Healing Rooms. Pierce rents downtown office space and a church sanctuary to the former state legislator-turned-dominonist-pastor [Matt Shea](https://www.rangemedia.co/dominionism-new-apostolic-reformation-spokane-matt-shea/). ### **Porsches, diamond Rolexes, lavish vacations** **and wealth** Though the audience was supposed to support mission trips and help the less fortunate, making money for kingdom impact was not entirelyabout service. Christians were expected to strive to give their families the finest material possessions and to bring them on voyages to exotic locations. “We can afford to go on vacation,” said Nick Vujicic, the Australian-American motivational speaker and investment banker. “You see this tan?” He turned his bronzed face back and forth for the camera. “This is two weeks old. Do you know where we were for two weeks? Mexico — Cancun and Cozumel. It was beautiful. Very, very nice. It's one of our vacations we're having this summer. When you don't have the money, you can't do it.” Vujicic had just told a rags to riches story in which his parents, who had fled oppression in communist Yugoslavia and landed in Australia before having him, instilled a hard work ethic rooted in free-market capitalism. He was making stock investments for his dad at 16, which set him on the path to wealth. This was despite having been born without arms or legs and only with incomplete feet at the bottom of his torso, he said. Early in life, he said, he tried to drown himself in the bathtub, but he realized he would be successful despite his disability by believing and investing in the free market. He’s the founder of Pro Life Fintech, an anti-abortion bank that provides “a financial choice for the world, through all aspects of banking, that honors God and aligns with His principles,” according to its [mission statement](https://prolifefintech.com/about/our-mission/?ref=rangemedia.co). James Smith, a prominent motivational speaker and real estate investor, told a story about a Honduran immigrant named Jose whom Smith helped gain wealth. ”He said, ‘I make, I make, I make $10 an hour as an ACEC repairman helper,’” Smith said, crudely imitating a Hispanic accent. “‘And they put me in attics in Houston and I've worked so hard, and I live in an apartment with five other Hondurans and I've never heard anybody like you.’” Smith, a 6-foot-6-inch man with wispy blond hair, described bequeathing his generous knowledge on Jose, and though the immigrant was supposed to bring the magic stick of investor capitalism back to his country, he also became very comfortable in his personal life. “ He bought a black Ferrari, brand new, not used,” Smith said of Jose. “He bought a brand new red Porsche Carrera, brand new, not used. He bought a Rolex watch with diamonds, some custom clothes. He bought some stupid shoes that Gucci makes. I call 'em elf shoes. Real men should not wear Gucci shoes. If you have on a pair, you're a fruit cup.” The audience cracked up laughing. Smith’s appearance was not advertised in the Life Surge promotional materials, he said, because he had a penchant for offending people, particularly “fruit cups” — an insulting term referencing gay people and people with mental health conditions. Smith would be at the future classes in Spokane, and if anyone who was offended at Life Surge showed up to that they’d be worse off. “ If you're a fruit cup, I'll turn you into a smoothie.” Dyreson didn’t comment on Smith’s slurs but seemed to believe in his messaging about wealth. “I want to give back to people,” she told FāVS, just after Smith left the stage. “Having the income to do \[that\] allows you to do a lot more than if you were living paycheck to paycheck.” ### Sheriff, you can’t spend all your behavioral health money on more cops URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sheriff-you-cant-spend-all-your-behavioral-health-money-on-more-cops/ Last updated: 2025-06-09T19:07:49.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - This afternoon, you can make your voice heard on the Spokane Transit Authority’s 5-year transit development plan with a public engagement opportunity at the Plaza. - The Spokane City Council is having a District 2 Town Hall tonight, so there’s going to be a different venue and format than usual. - The city’s Urban Experience Committee has a few big items up for discussion: an ordinance to require the Human Rights Commission to weigh in on legislation related to human rights, an ordinance to streamline the process for holding street festivals and a presentation on the future of Spokane Arts. - The Spokane County Planning Commission will discuss several urgent issues as it complies with new state requirements re: racial disparities in housing, climate change and environmental impact. - Spokane County will need to revise its budget for its planned behavioral health unit to make it actually focus on responding to behavioral health crises by deploying health professionals rather than cops. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/sheriff-you-cant-spend-all-your-behavioral-health-money-on-more-cops/) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/sheriff-you-cant-spend-all-your-behavioral-health-money-on-more-cops/) - [Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board](http://Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/sheriff-you-cant-spend-all-your-behavioral-health-money-on-more-cops/) - [Spokane Regional Transportation Council](http://Spokane Regional Transportation Council) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](http://Mead School District Board of Directors) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](http://Central Valley School District Board of Directors) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](http://Spokane School District Board of Directors) - [Spokane Valley City Council](http://Spokane Valley City Council) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners [Briefing](http://Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session) & [Legislative](http://Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session) Session - [Spokane County Planning Commission](http://Spokane County Planning Commission) ## Shape the future of transit If you have a free afternoon and a desire to help shape the Spokane Transit Authority’s (STA) 2026 to 2031 Transit Development Plan, you can join staff at the STA Plaza (701 W Riverside Ave) from 2:30 to 5:30 pm to learn more about the plan and offer feedback and thoughts on the future of transit. More information [here](https://www.spokanetransit.com/open-house/tdp-open-houses/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** Today’s meeting is a District 2 Town Hall, held at the MLK Jr. Community Center (500 S. Stone St., Multi-Purpose Room). There will be discussion on how the city’s 311 number works and an overview of the process for appointing a new council member to temporarily fill Council Member Lili Navarrete’s soon-to-be vacant seat until after the November election. Then, there will be time for discussion and questions from the community, with priority given to residents of the district. Unlike traditional meetings, council and key city staff will be able to answer questions, provide context and address criticism, so these meetings can actually be pretty interesting and informative. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Council will vote on spending an additional $100,000 to fight [a lawsuit against the city from Sean Feucht](https://www.rangemedia.co/sean-feucht-spokane-lawsuit/), a Christian worship pastor who brought former legislator and alleged domestic terrorist Matt Shea [on stage with former Mayor Nadine Woodward](https://www.rangemedia.co/nadine-woodward-spokane-matt-shea-christian-nationalist/) in 2023\. This would bring the total amount spent fighting the lawsuit to $200,000. - They could also vote to approve an additional $100,000 to fight a lawsuit from former Spokane firefighters who claimed their rights were violated when they were fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This would bring the total spent on fighting that lawsuit to $385,000. - In another lawsuit-related item, council could also approve a $53,000 settlement with Roxann McNaughton for “an incident,” in February, 2025\. There aren’t any details on what the “incident,” was (and we couldn’t find anything with a quick Google), but it’s a pretty quick turnaround for a settlement. - Mayor Lisa Brown’s [homeless ordinances](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/09/spokane-city-hall-aims-to-overhaul-city-homelessne/?ref=rangemedia.co) are up for a vote next week. One of those ordinances — which would make camping or obstructing public right-of-way illegal citywide, but give people up to seven days to stop camping in that spot — was pretty universally panned: by homeless rights’ advocates for being too harsh and by business owners for being not harsh enough. - The ordinance to [ban cryptocurrency kiosks](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jun/02/spokane-city-council-eyes-banning-crypto-kiosks-ci/?ref=rangemedia.co) throughout the city is also up for a vote next week. - Council will do a first read of [the ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) which would give the Spokane Parks Board or Director the authority to designate sections of the parks as “nonpublic,” for events or other circumstances, making it harder for ICE agents to issue nonjudicial warrants and detain community members. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 9, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Urban Experience Committee (Spokane city) **🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Human Rights Commission Up for discussion today is an ordinance from Council Member Jonathan Bingle, which would expand the duties of the Spokane Human Rights Commission “to include automatic review of proposed changes to Title 18 of the Spokane Municipal Code and related provisions.” If passed, it would require the commission to review and comment on any legislation that would regulate discriminatory practices and claims before council could discuss legislation in committee, and before they take final action on the proposed ordinances. There are potential pros and cons to this: the biggest pro would be establishing a firm process that requires more input from the public. The biggest downside would be that it could slow down ordinances intended to quickly create protections for people facing discrimination. We also have to wonder if this ordinance is a direct response to the recently-passed ordinance affirming the rights of [LGBTQIA2S+ people ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-law-nyne/), which Bingle was opposed to. He also proposed some pretty [transphobic amendments,](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-meetings-on-break/) and it’s unclear if amendments to ordinances would be subject to the same scrutiny from the Spokane Human Rights Commission (since they’re proposed after an ordinance is discussed in committee), or only if they get adopted. ### Festival Streets Continuing their trend of trying to make the streets more people-friendly, the city is seeking to identify and label the sections of streets that are typically closed for large pedestrian-oriented activities like festivals. Once these streets are identified, they could be labeled as “festival streets,” and be privy to a new, stream-lined closure process with standardized traffic control requirements and potential cost reductions for both event organizers and the City. Basically, the ordinance seeks to make it easier to hold events like Tacos y Tequila, Spokane Pride and Terrain’s Bazaar. The full list of street sections up for consideration to be labeled “festival streets,” can be found starting on page 74 of the agenda. ### Spokane Arts report Spokane Arts, a non-profit arts organization that distributes SAGA grants to artists across the city, has an update presentation scheduled for today’s committee meeting. This will likely be an interesting item, because of Spokane Arts history and potential future. The organization was spun up over a decade ago when former mayor David Condon eliminated the Arts Department from the city budget. Spokane Arts arose from the ashes, funded mostly with the city admissions tax — a small tax charged on event tickets across the city. Last year, Mayor Lisa Brown [announced she wanted to bring Spokane Arts back](https://www.inlander.com/culture/after-being-eliminated-from-the-citys-budget-over-a-decade-ago-mayor-lisa-brown-wants-spokane-arts-back-in-the-city-28891596?ref=rangemedia.co) into the city as an official arts department — after all, much of their funding comes from city tax. However, that project quietly stalled, as Spokane Arts was given a short-term contract to continue their usual operations as the organization and the mayor’s office laid further plans for what reabsorption could look like. Then, a little over a week ago, *The Spokesman* broke the news that planning efforts were not, well, going according to plan. The Spokane Arts Commission, a board overseeing arts in the city, voted to recommend against moving forward with reabsorption, as did Spokane Arts board, which oversees the nonprofit. Today, Skyler Oberst, the executive director of Spokane Arts, is scheduled to present to the council, and we anticipate some interesting discussion about the future of the organization and the future of Brown’s plan to create an Arts Department within the city. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 9 at noon* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board **🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers for global warming,** **🌶️/5 peppers for the actual meeting content** ### Walking tour The Spokane City Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board is hitting the streets with a walking tour of the city’s [CSO 26 Tank](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/spokane-falls-cso-tank-26/?ref=rangemedia.co) located at 930 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard. The group will meet at 3:30 pm at the Spokane City Hall Briefing Center and walk to the Place of Truth Plaza for the tour, which begins at 3:35 pm. > *Agenda [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/climate-resilience-and-sustainability-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)* > *Wednesday, June 11 at 3:30 pm* > *Council Briefing Center in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed [here](http://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co).* ## Spokane Plan Commission **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### New Complete Streets Ordinance Spokane’s complete streets ordinance was originally passed in 2011 after years of work by a few familiar faces: then-council member, now Director of Transportation and Sustainability Jon Snyder; then-legislative assistant, now-council member Paul Dillon; and then-organizer, now-council member Kitty Klitzke. The original ordinance ensures that whenever the city is tearing up a road, it is rebuilt with all the master-planned bicycle and pedestrian facilities. But it’s kind of old now, so Snyder has been working on an updated version — A Complete-r Streets ordinance, if you will. The final draft of that ordinance will be presented at the Plan Commission this week. It will then start to make its way through the official city council process, so we’ve still got a few weeks before it could be eligible to be signed into law. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, June 11 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Regional Transportation Council **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://www.srtc.org/srtc-board-of-directors/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Thursday, June 12 at 1 pm* > *Spokane Regional Transportation Office* > *21 W Riverside Ave, Suite 504, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88995178182?pwd=SFRkSlRQSHE3UlFpQ3ZFeHJvbWMxdz09&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Mead School District Board of Directors **??/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Thursday, June 12 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors **🫑/5 peppers** > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, June 9 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Special meeting: participation opportunity At a special meeting at 4:30 pm before their regular meeting, the Spokane School District Board of Directors is holding their annual Community Budget Forum. There will be a presentation on budget principles, the general fund and priorities for the upcoming year, with an opportunity to provide public comment on the direction of the budget. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, June 11 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Budget meeting Spokane Valley City Council is different this week: it starts at 8:30 am and is a marathon of presentations by city staff on the budgets and economic goals for the next year. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 10 at 8:30 am* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $620K for BHU funding The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) expects to award Spokane County $620,000 to fund a Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) the county is trying to stand up. A letter sent to the county by WASPC asked for a budget from the county that reflects the amount offered and stressing that “your agency to focus funding efforts on clinicians, rather than deputy positions as you develop your revised budget.” This reflects a focus on having health professionals respond to behavioral health crises and not law enforcement officials. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 10 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $2.5M in state funding for Hatch Road improvements The Washington Transportation Improvement Board has awarded the county with $2,434,400 for reconstruction of Hatch Road between Ballard Road and Colbert Road. That’s not the entire cost of the project: Spokane County will have to fund sewer improvements, a cost of $200,000 and $515,212 in local funds in a local match for the remainder of the project costs. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, June 10 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane County Planning Commission **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Plan Spokane update Every decade, counties in the state of Washington are required to update their plans to comply with evolving state law regarding development of county economies. Spokane County is in the thick of this process right now. Part of this is engaging with the public on how it wants the county to develop in the long-term future. The commission will host a workshop on several critical subjects that fit into how the county develops as populations increase and resources must be allocated among more people. The subject will include: - How to construct environmental impact studies - How to address racial disparities in housing, and - How to address climate change in planning > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Thursday, June 12 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ### POD: Opioid overdose in rural WA & ID URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-opioid-overdose-in-rural-wa-id/ Last updated: 2025-06-06T23:04:29.000Z This week we had a visit from our WSU Murrow Fellow in Newport, Sophia Mattice-Aldous. She and Aaron Hedge discussed her deeply-reported piece on the landscape of opioid overdose in the rural areas of North Idaho and Northwest Washington, highlighted by the tragic story of Jasmine Martin, a 23-year-old who died from an overdose in 2024 while trying to get sober. The conversation delves into the availability of recovery resources, stigmas surrounding addiction, and the complexities of fentanyl use in small communities. Despite their grief, Jasmine's family, particularly her mother Tish and sister Antonia, are actively working to raise awareness and improve access to life-saving measures like Narcan. Read the story [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/when-you-look-at-an-addict-thats-someones-child/). ### STA’s CEO search may have gone off the rails URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-ceo-search-one-candidate/ Last updated: 2025-06-05T01:31:14.000Z After [public pressure](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-ceo-french-zappone/) last summer, the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) Board [decided that they would take input ](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-ceo-public-opinion/)from the community in their search for a new CEO to lead the agency after the retirement of longtime CEO Susan Meyer. It was a departure from the original proposed process, in which the CEO search task force wanted to mint a new CEO with no public engagement. That was almost a year ago. Since then, the hunt for a new CEO has gradually marched forward, with Meyer stepping down and the board appointing two interim co-CEOs — Karl Otterstrom and Brandon Rapez-Betty — to lead the agency until a permanent candidate could be selected. But at a meeting of the board’s four-person CEO search task force last week, the group used a technicality in the outlined hiring process to forward just one candidate on to public consideration — a move that transit advocates and at least one member of the task force believe skirts the entire point of including the public in the hiring process. While the number and names of the candidates still in the running as of last week was kept confidential in the task force’s executive session, minutes from the February 7 meeting said the task force was supposed to recommend four to six candidates to move forward, then interview and “further narrow the field to one to three finalists.” Finalists would then participate in a public engagement process with key stakeholder groups like employees and transit riders and appear before the full board for a vote. Minutes from the task force meeting on May 30 show that County Commissioner [Al French](https://www.rangemedia.co/transit-board-zappone-wilkerson-french/) moved to advance only “candidate #2” to the Board for selection as CEO. French’s motion was seconded by Liberty Lake City Council Member Dan Dunne. According to the minutes, Spokane City Council Member Zack Zappone said the task force should “forward multiple candidates for a more full process.” There were no additional comments and French’s recommendation to advance just one candidate passed three to one, with Zappone voting no. " I was a lone vote because I believe that my job on the task force was to vet candidates, to bring forward the highest quality candidates to the full board and the public to give options on ," Zappone said. " I believe that there were multiple candidates that should have been moved forward to the full board that warranted a full public process." Dunne believed the task force, in putting only one candidate up for public comment, was honoring the process approved by the STA Board. “The process dictated very clearly that there would be one to three candidates,” Dunne told RANGE. “I really do feel that the task force executed the mission dictated by the STA Board. … If the board had felt differently I think they would have voted differently.” Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke, who sits on STA’s full board but not on the smaller task force, isn’t happy with the sole recommendation. Not only does it limit the scope of engagement that can be done with the public, it also ties the hands of the full STA board, which can only vote on candidates recommended by the four-member taskforce. “It's a pretty hard pill for me to swallow, that I'm just supposed to vote thumbs up or thumbs down on one person instead of having a menu of options,” Klitzke said. “My concern is that we don't wanna just bring one person forward out of all of this process and all of this investment. We're hoping to have a public process and robust participation from the board.” Though she hadn’t been provided with resumes or information on other candidates, Klitzke said French told her more than 30 candidates had applied for the job. She’s “skeptical that there's no other qualified candidates” who would warrant consideration by the full board. Klitzke is pushing for Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley, the chair of the STA board, to call an emergency board meeting or hold an executive session with the full board to discuss the path forward. Haley and French did not respond to requests for comment this afternoon. We will update this story if they do. ### The engaged public doesn’t like the engagement process. Though the task force’s decision was technically allowable in the process approved by the STA Board, it has left employees disappointed, said Chad Camandona, president of the union representing the transit workers in Spokane, Pullman and Moses Lake. “ By forwarding only one candidate, they're doing absolutely the bare minimum of what was promised to labor and the public. I think the public and labor deserve to have multiple candidates to express their opinions on,” Camandona said. “ It's just disappointing. I think all of labor was looking for a change.” Transit advocates also believe the move could have long-term consequences when it comes to public trust. Trust is especially important, they said, as STA needs to ask [voters in the public transportation benefit area](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2117-spokane-transit-authority-climate-commitment-act/) to renew a .02% sales tax that supports the agency [before 2028](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-spokanetransit-com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2016-washington-state-auditors-office-financial-statements-and-federal-single-audit-report.pdf). Members of the grassroots organizing group Spokane Reimagined, who lobbied STA to include public input in the CEO selection process last year, said the decision to send only one candidate on to the public was against the spirit of the process. “How do we know \[candidate #2\] is the best choice when they’re the only person we get to consider?” said [Erik Lowe](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transit-advocate-lowe-security/). “Not only is the CEO search task force doing a disservice to the board of directors and the voters in the public transportation benefit area, they are also kneecapping their preferred candidate by putting them forward as the result of a tainted process.” Camandona, the union representative, expressed a similar sentiment, saying “the public will have no faith in any decision \[candidate #2\] makes,” because of the lack of input. Lowe compared the move to a similar one in March where King County’s Sound Transit [picked longtime board member Dow Constantine](https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/03/24/sound-transit-picks-dow-constantine-as-ceo/?ref=rangemedia.co) as their new CEO [without public input](https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-open-sound-transit-ceo-hiring-to-public-review/?ref=rangemedia.co), spurring pushback [from transit riders](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-theurbanist-org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tru-letter-about-ceo-selection.pdf). “The insistence of some members of the STA Board to push through their preferred candidate, without public input or oversight, not only stains that candidate’s tenure as CEO, it also dramatically weakens the agency’s ability to ask voters for reauthorization of the voter-approved sales tax in the coming years,” Lowe said. “The actions of the CEO search task force show that this entire selection process has been a farce. Those in charge had a person in mind from the outset and they have tipped the scales from the beginning to ensure their candidate is the only option presented to the Board of Directors and the public.” We have heard whispers that “candidate #2,” the sole candidate advanced, was an internal candidate, but no one on the CEO search task force would confirm. Anton Henry, also a member of Spokane Reimagined, felt the process was “secretive,” and hard for the public to follow or engage with. “It’s extremely disappointing to see that our public officials don’t want to allow their constituents to be heard," Henry said. Sarah Rose, Spokane Reimagined member who fought for [public involvement last year](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-ceo-french-zappone/), took issue not just with the single candidate selection, but with the engagement process itself. According to the meeting minutes, after it was narrowed down to one candidate, Celia Kupersmith, the executive recruiting consultant hired by STA, suggested the process move like “a cabinet position with one person brought forward in front of the public. She suggested a public open house and invite the community as a whole to participate — to ask questions and build relationships.” Rose described that version of public engagement as “like when a parent is introducing you to your new stepparent after they're already married.” “It’s like ‘this is the only candidate we're putting forward, you can now ask questions and start to build your relationship because they're not going anywhere, and you don't have a say,’” Rose said. For Rose, the stakes are high: “The new CEO could be in place for [20 years or more](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/20/after-nearly-20-years-driving-the-bus-spokane-tran/?ref=rangemedia.co) without public input. As a young person who has seen what 20 years of local elected leaders can do, that is really stressful.” *Reporting contributed by Aaron Hedge.* *Editor's Note: this story has been edited to reflect additional comments from a transit advocate*, *as well as comments received by Zappone after publication.* ### ‘When you look at an addict, that’s someone’s child’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/when-you-look-at-an-addict-thats-someones-child/ Last updated: 2025-06-04T20:14:11.000Z In the illustration a woman’s hair blows in the wind, obscuring her face. At first glance, the strategic shades of black and gray make the image look like a computer graphic, but it’s hand drawn with pencil. That creativity is one aspect of Jasmine Irene Martin that her older sister, Antonia Patterson, would like people to remember her for. “I don’t want people to judge her by her death, because that’s not who she was,” Antonia said. “She was sunny, a good athlete, a really talented artist, extremely loyal. Anyone can become an addict; I don’t care who they are or who they think they are. When you look at an addict, that’s someone’s child.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/fentanyl-story-1-1.jpg) *Priest River graduate Jasmine Irene Martin, who died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 23 in March 2024\. Her mother and sister remember her as a skilled artist with a bright disposition and deep love for her friends and family. Photo courtesy of Tish Washburn.* Jasmine was Tish Washburn and Tony Martin’s child, the middle of four girls, including Antonia, Jordan and Stormie. Jasmine was a 2019 graduate of Priest River Lamanna High School who enjoyed school, playing softball, basketball and soccer. She was voted softball All League her senior year. As a child she was described as bossy, funny and extremely loyal to her loved ones. Tish found Jasmine, 23, dead in her trailer from a fentanyl overdose on March 31, 2024\. Jasmine was living in the trailer on the Washburn’s property in Priest River, Idaho, working on her sobriety. Nationally, drug overdose deaths decreased by 10%, with more than 11,000 fewer deaths than the year before, as of April 2024\. But that trend obscures rising rates in some Western states and the District of Columbia. In Washington the death rate is up 14%, 42% in Alaska, 22% in Oregon and 18% in Nevada. Deaths climbed by almost 1,300 total in those states, according to preliminary data produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to Washington Department of Health spokesperson John Doyle, Washington experienced a sharp increase in deaths from synthetic opioid overdoses in 2020, 2021 and 2022\. It appears the numbers plateaued in 2023. “Preliminary 2024 data have generally remained at a similar level as 2023, with a drop in the late summer/early fall,” Doyle wrote in an email. “However, the 2024 data is still coming in to DOH and these counts will change.” Early data from 2024 shows there were 3,066 drug overdose deaths in Washington with 2,239 of those involving a synthetic opioid. In 2023 there were 3,450 overdose deaths, with 2,642 involving a synthetic opioid. Number of deaths attributed to drug overdoses in Pend Oreille County: 2020: 2 total 2021: 4 total, 2 involving fentanyl 2022: 4 total, 1 involving fentanyl 2023: 4 total, 3 involving fentanyl 2024: 6 total, 4 involving fentanyl Number of deaths attributed to drug overdoses in Bonner County: 2020: 4 total, 2 involving fentanyl 2021: 1, no fentanyl involved 2022: 3, 2 involving fentanyl 2023: 2, both involving fentanyl 2024: 5, 2 involving fentanyl ### ‘And then she met a boy’ To Jasmine’s family and friends, there was never any indication in high school that she used drugs recreationally or even, “partied.” “She excelled at everything,” Tish said. “I never thought her life would go the direction it did, or that I would have to worry about her like that.” Jasmine earned her Certified Nursing Assistant license after graduation and was doing freelance tattoo design jobs now and then. She was leaning towards getting an arts or nursing degree. “And then she met a boy,” Tish said. According to Tish and Antonia, this boy was local and several years older than Jasmine with a reputation for selling drugs. “He told her that fentanyl was just like smoking pot,” Tish said. Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that can be prescribed by a physician, but over the last decade is more commonly found in illegal drug supply. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is developed in laboratories in various forms: pills; liquid, such as nasal sprays or eye drops; powder; and small candies. Illegally manufactured fentanyl is often mixed with other substances, including but not limited to cocaine or methamphetamine. “Pharmaceuticals are federally regulated by the FDA \[Food and Drug Administration\], so when you get pills from your pharmacy, there is a specific amount of ingredients in all those pills that follow strict processing rules”, said Priest River Police Chief Drew McLain “Fentanyl that is made and sold on the streets is like someone making chocolate chip cookies and putting one or two chips in one cookie and 20 in another. There is no uniform distribution. So when someone uses it, they have no idea what kind of dose they are getting. It could get them high or kill them.” Tish, a recovered drug addict of 16 years, first noticed something wrong with Jasmine when she came to visit in late 2019, and she kept nodding off mid-conversation. She told her mother she had been trying dabs, a concentrated form of cannabis that involves inhaling vaporized oil. “I had done my fair share of partying when I was young, and I knew it wasn’t that,” Tish said. Both Antonia and Tish agree that the change in Jasmine seemed to have happened overnight. Antonia was living in Coeur d’Alene in the early 2020s and newly married. She didn’t see her family as often as she would have liked, but she remained close to them. She knew something was “off” about Jasmine, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was, and Jasmine avoided conversations about the change in her demeanor. ### Neighbors on common ground In 2023 the state experienced 264 deaths related to opioid overdoses, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (data has not come in yet for 2024). The number of items testing positive for fentanyl at forensics labs statewide is down 32.4% from last year to date, according to [data from Idaho State Police](https://isp.idaho.gov/forensics/services?ref=rangemedia.co). In March 2025, there were 105 items submitted to the labs in Coeur d'Alene, Meridian and Pocatello that tested positive for fentanyl or fentanyl analogues, which are similar in chemical composition to the drug. “Because we’re neighbors, we see that overlap,” McLain said. “People in Pend Oreille and Bonner counties know each other, they work together, there are family members on both sides of the border.” In March, Priest River Police officer Scott Kennedy was off duty getting a milkshake at McDonald’s in Newport. The staff knew Kennedy was a cop and told him a man was having an opioid overdose in his car in the parking lot. McLain said Kennedy gave the man Narcan, saving his life. Narcan, also known as naloxone, is a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. “We’ve pulled over Idahoans and people from Washington traveling in Idaho for speeding or on a different warrant, and you see used Narcan dispensers in the back of their car or see burnt tinfoil squares,” McLain said. “Some of them know they have a problem, they know they might die, but they can’t stop using. That’s how strong it is.” ### ‘It was easier to get drugs than it was to stay clean’ It was January 2023, Jasmine’s birthday month. Antonia and Jordan took Jasmine to Cole’s Bakery in Spokane for a treat. Then the sisters drove around, talking and listening to music, mostly Mac Miller and singing along to the Black Eyed Peas, ‘My Humps.’ Then Antonia and Jordan told Jasmine they were worried about her. She was isolating herself from friends and family and her appearance was haggard. Antonia remembers that Jasmine started to cry. “She was so ashamed to face anybody (about her addiction),” Antonia said. “She thought she was disappointing us, which made her addiction worse.” At the height of her addiction, Tish thinks Jasmine was smoking around 50 fentanyl pills a day. According to information from the Drug Enforcement Agency, two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage. DEA analysis has found counterfeit pills ranging from .02 to 5.1 milligrams (more than twice the lethal dose) of fentanyl per tablet. Jasmine had tried to get sober before, traveling to a methadone clinic in Coeur d’Alene so she could get a daily pill to wean herself off fentanyl. The problem was she had to be on the road by 4 a.m. to arrive at the clinic at 5 a.m. and stand in line until the clinic opened at 6 a.m. Pills were distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. With unreliable transportation, the schedule was unsustainable, and Jasmine stopped going. “It was easier for her to get the drugs than it was to stay clean,” Antonia said. There was one time she went through withdrawal with Tish by her side. Some of the symptoms of opioid withdrawal can include nausea and vomiting, hot and cold flashes, anxiety, insomnia and severe muscle cramps. “It was so hard to watch,” Tish said. “One minute she would be begging me to hold her, then the next she would be jerking away saying, ‘Don’t touch me, it hurts!’” A little under a year before Jasmine died, Tish had to file a missing person’s report for her with the Spokane Police Department. Jasmine had been living at the [Camp Hope](https://www.rangemedia.co/pod-02-06-26/) homeless encampment in Spokane where Tish would visit her regularly. Except after repeated attempts to contact her, Tish realized Jasmine wasn’t there, and no one could tell her where she was. “We were calling jails, funeral homes, hospitals, passing out flyers, posting all over Facebook, and then one day she showed back up with staples in her head,” Tish said. “She had been beaten up while she was high, and her stuff, including her phone, was stolen. She had no idea we were looking for her.” Afterwards, Jasmine moved into a trailer on Tish’s property to try and get sober. By Tish’s account, it seemed to be working. She had stopped keeping company with other drug users, was getting back into making art, and she and Tish would often have long conversations in the evenings about their addictions and sobriety, among other things. “She looked so much better,” Tish said. “She didn’t look so worn down, she was putting on weight, she was glowing again.” ### A persistent stigma Those looking to overcome addiction often face uphill battles from a variety of sources, according to Dirk Swartz, Substance Use Disorder Professional drug and alcohol counselor at Pend Oreille County Counseling. POCC provides mental health services, crisis counseling, support groups, and intensive outpatient substance use treatment services. Pend Oreille County Counseling substance use support groups: \- Outpatient (Substance Use/Co-Occurring Disorders) Thursdays, from 1 to 3 p.m. \- Intensive Outpatient (Substance Use/Co-Occurring Disorders), Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 9 a.m. to Noon at the Pend Oreille County Counseling, 105 S. Garden Ave., Newport. For more information on Pend Oreille County Counseling Substance Use Disorders, go to [www.pendoreille.gov/counseling-services/page/substance-use-disorders](http://www.pendoreille.gov/counseling-services/page/substance-use-disorders?ref=rangemedia.co). Walk-in assessments are available with no appointment necessary on a first-come, first-served basis. For faster check-in, people can pick up a new client packet before their walk-in appointment. A printable new client packet is available on the website or at Pend Oreille County Counseling Services. “There is unfortunately still a stigma about addiction, especially in small towns, rural areas where everyone knows each other,” Swartz said. “Some people still think that addiction is not a disease, that it’s just a matter of willpower, and if you don’t have it, you must be weak and morally lacking.” A recovering alcoholic himself, Swartz said he does not judge others for where they are at in their journey. While there are a few fentanyl users who attend the group meetings, Swartz said it runs the gamut from alcohol; opioids, including heroin; cocaine; marijuana; and meth. “Some people are there because the court said they have to be, and they don’t want to talk. Others are at the point in their lives where they know something has to change,” Swartz said. “Wherever they are at, it’s our job to help them navigate their options, not to lecture, scold or withhold. That’s not how you reach people.” Despite its proximity to Bonner County, the program can only accept Pend Oreille County residents. The closest certified drug and alcohol rehabilitation program to Priest River is at least an hour away. It's been more than a year since Jasmine died. Tish and Antonia agree it’s simultaneously been the slowest and fastest year of their lives. Antonia is a full-time medical technician at River Mountain Village Advanced Care. Tish is a volunteer for Heartbridge Life Center, a new non-profit based in Newport that will eventually offer various supportive services for those in need, including counseling, coaching and educational programs. They share Jasmine’s story hoping it will reach people about not just the dangers of addiction but the harmful stereotypes associated with it. “I think Narcan should be available to everyone,” Antonia said. “I think we need to talk openly about this topic, which a lot of people don’t want to do. I understand that it’s uncomfortable and awkward, but that won’t make it go away.” McLain said he sometimes hears comments from people along the lines of, “Why should we waste money on these people if they won’t help themselves” or “They got themselves into this situation, they can get themselves out.” While he understands the anger and fear that can come from being the target of a drug-related crime, he believes those addicted to drugs are also community members in distress. “It’s not about being worthy or unworthy of help,” McLain said. “God forbid, if my kids were in a situation like that where they were addicted to drugs and overdosed, I pray that someone helps them. They’re not just drug addicts, they’re your neighbors, your family, your friends. At the end of the day, that’s someone’s kid.” **Free Narcan is available at Northeast Tri County Health, located at 605 Hwy. 20, Newport. Business hours are Monday – Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday, 7:30 – 11 a.m.** ### ‘I just felt there was something wrong’ The evening before Easter, March 31, 2024, Tish did not go out to visit Jasmine in her trailer like she did most days. Tish’s youngest daughter, Stormie, wanted to cuddle on the couch and watch a movie with her. “She’s a teenager, so those moments are pretty rare,” Tish said. After the movie, Tish went to bed. The next morning, she awoke early for sunrise service at House of The Lord Church in Oldtown and left, wanting to let Jasmine sleep in. When she returned several hours later, Stormie said she woke up late herself and hadn’t seen Jasmine yet. Tish went to the trailer and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Tish knocked louder and called Jasmine’s name. Still no response. She tried the door to find it was locked. “I got this sinking feeling in my stomach,” Tish remembers. “It just felt like there was something wrong.” Tish peered through a window and saw the shape of Jasmine’s body in bed, unmoving despite Tish’s repeated pounding on the trailer and yelling. Hearing the commotion, Stormie came outside, and Tish told her to call their next-door neighbor, that Jasmine was in trouble, and Tish couldn’t get into the trailer. The neighbor arrived soon after, and she and Tish forced open the door. Tish rushed to Jasmine’s side, grabbing her shoulder to turn her over. Her body was stiff and cold. “I know we gave her Narcan, but I don’t remember what happened after that,” Tish said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/fentanyl-story-2-1.jpg) *In this photograph, Antonia Patterson and Tish Washburn, Jasmine’s sister and mother, show their tattoos commemorating her. The signature on Antonia’s shoulder is Jasmine’s handwriting. Tish’s tattoo depicts a waxing moon, which was the phase of the lunar cycle when Jasmine was born and when she died. The words are, “Take her to the moon for me.” The number, 8,460, is how many days Jasmine was alive. Photo by Sophia Aldous.* That same day, Antonia and Jordan were at their father Tony Martin’s house in Laclede, making Easter breakfast. Martin’s cell phone rang, and they saw it was Tish, which they all considered odd since the pair were long divorced and rarely called one another. Jordan answered the call. Atonia remembers her sister’s face turning pale and she hung up. “Jazzy is dead,” Jordan whispered. Antonia said she had an immediate gut reaction to the news. “No, she’s not,” she replied, taking the phone from Jordan. Jordan told her Tish had been crying and screaming. “I thought she had misheard, that there was some mistake, that there was a misunderstanding between what was actually happening and what Jordan heard,” Antonia said. She called Tish back. Her mother was still screaming. When Antonia, Jordan and Martin arrived at Tish’s house minutes later, Antonia saw there were law enforcement cars outside Jasmine’s trailer, but no ambulances. “I knew right then that she was really gone,” Antonia said. There was evidence in Jasmine’s trailer that she had been smoking fentanyl. She had been dead for at least six hours. Antonia remembers Tish cursing at a police officer as he approached the family, who were standing off to the side of the trailer. “Get the fuck away from me,” she said. “Don’t fucking come near me.” Tish said she wasn’t angry at the officer specifically. But she had touched Jasmine, felt how frigid her body was, how she hadn’t responded to Tish’s frantic cries. She just remembers not wanting to hear what she already knew. Her daughter was dead. It is currently unknown where Jasmine got the fentanyl. Her death is under investigation by the Idaho State Police. *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Prison strip searches have a racist, dehumanizing legacy URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/strip-searches-have-a-racist-dehumanizing-legacy/ Last updated: 2025-06-04T16:34:58.000Z *This story was originally [published](https://theappeal.org/strip-searches-racist-dehumanizing-prison/?ref=rangemedia.co) by [The Appeal](https://theappeal.org/?ref=rangemedia.co).* In March 2018, J’Allen Jones, a 31-year-old Black man incarcerated at Garner Correctional Institution in Connecticut, [died after refusing to comply with a strip search](https://ctmirror.org/2025/03/25/jallen-jones-ct-prison-death-video/?ref=rangemedia.co). When officers told Jones he needed to submit to the procedure, he resisted. That is when the violence started. Officers forced him onto a bed, pepper-sprayed him, and kneed him in the thighs. Then, officers placed a spit hood over his head, a practice that experts have [linked to dozens of in-custody deaths](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/02/15/florida-texas-police-deaths-spit-hood?ref=rangemedia.co). After 20 minutes, Jones’s breathing became labored and his body went limp, which officers ignored It took another seven minutes before a nurse discovered Jones had no pulse. The Connecticut medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The J’Allen Jones case has returned to the spotlight this year after [CT Insider reviewed a 350-page report](https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/jallen-jones-ct-garner-prison-death-video-lawsuit-19813830.php?ref=rangemedia.co) by a Department of Correction investigator. The report included still photos from the video footage documenting the incident. Now, the ACLU of Connecticut is fighting for the video’s release, arguing the public should know what happens behind prison walls. Strip searches—the procedure that triggered this deadly encounter—represent a form of state-sanctioned violence with deep historical roots in American racial oppression. The practice of forcing people to disrobe and submit to bodily inspection directly echoes the dehumanizing treatment of enslaved people, who were regularly stripped naked and paraded in front of potential buyers. This historical connection is particularly salient given the disproportionate incarceration rates of Black Americans. Kevnesha Boyd, a licensed counselor who left the Connecticut Department of Correction in 2019, was traumatized by what she witnessed, according to a public testimony supporting a 2023 bill to limit strip searches. “Watching a strip search is like watching a slave auction taking place in an area that offers no privacy,” Boyd stated. She emphasized that the psychologically damaging effects made mental health treatment “almost impossible” for those in her care. Boyd’s testimony echoes what former Washington state prisoner Eugene Youngblood experienced during his nearly 30 years of incarceration. “Each time I had to face this routine, whether to visit my children, mother, or a friend, I felt reduced to nothing, stripped of any sense of respect or humanity,” Youngblood recounted. “The dignity taken from me during those searches is not easily restored, and may never be restored if I’m being honest.” For women, strip searches inflict particularly acute trauma, as revealed by numerous lawsuits against prison systems. In Illinois, female prisoners [won a $1.4 million settlement](https://truthout.org/articles/12-years-after-degrading-mass-strip-search-women-in-prison-won-1-4m-settlement/?ref=rangemedia.co) after a 2011 mass strip search where menstruating women were forced to remove tampons and bleed onto the floor while guards made lewd comments. In California, an incarcerated man’s wife received [$5.6 million after being sexually violated](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-inmate-wife-christina-cardenas-strip-search-settlement-lawyers/?ref=rangemedia.co) during an invasive strip search while visiting her husband. These cases expose how such searches serve as weapons of humiliation rather than security measures, with one prison official telling a woman that degrading searches were simply “part of visiting.” The U.S. is far behind other nations in reforming strip search policies In 2020, the [European Court of Human Rights](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-statewatch-org/media/1424/echr-germany-prison-strip-searches-roth-10-20.pdf) ruled that Germany’s practice of random strip searches constituted degrading treatment in violation of human rights, finding these searches to be intrusive and lacking legitimate security purposes, particularly when conducted on people who posed no security risk. Evidence [from around the world](https://www.hrlc.org.au/explainers/2020-12-22-explainer-routine-strip-searching-of-kids-in-prisons/?ref=rangemedia.co#%5Fftn1) demonstrates that reducing strip searches does not increase contraband in prisons. Body scanners and other technology have shown [time](https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/scanners-not-strip-searches-are-better-for-prisons/?ref=rangemedia.co) [and time ](https://justice-trends.press/a-win-win-for-contraband-detection/?ref=rangemedia.co)again to be more effective alternatives while preserving human dignity. Despite this evidence, Connecticut legislators passed a watered-down version of the [2023 bill](https://ctmirror.org/2023/05/30/ct-strip-search-prison-end-bill-study/?ref=rangemedia.co). Instead of raising the standard for strip searches from “reasonable suspicion” to “probable cause,” the final legislation merely mandated a study of alternatives, such as body scanners. This compromise left advocates deeply frustrated as routine strip searches continued. Until we acknowledge strip searches as the traumatizing racial and sexual violence they are—not security measures but tools of domination with deadly potential—more incarcerated people will suffer the trauma, humiliation, and in some cases, like J’Allen Jones, death that comes from being treated as less than human. [*The Appeal*](http://theappeal.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) *is a nonprofit newsroom that exposes how the U.S. criminal legal system fails to keep people safe and perpetuates harm.* ### The new laws of the land in WA URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/new-laws-washington-2025/ Last updated: 2025-06-03T21:19:00.000Z The Washington State Legislature wrapped up its 2025 legislative session in April, and Governor Bob Ferguson has been busy signing bills into law. You may recognize some of these bills from [our bill tracker](https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-state-legislature-session-bills-olympia/), and some might be new to you, but take a gander to find out what’s changing in Washington. ### Workers’ rights [**SB 5041**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=5041&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for striking or lockout workers. Sponsor: Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane) **Bill Cosponsors:** [Conway](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=972&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Hasegawa](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=10030&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Saldaña](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27290&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Salomon](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=29089&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Stanford](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=15809&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Dhingra](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=28022&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Nobles](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=31536&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Trudeau](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=20732&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Valdez](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27975&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Bateman](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=17117&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Lovelett](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=29548&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Cleveland](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=17294&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Frame](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=23902&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Orwall](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=14205&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Pedersen](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=12002&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Slatter](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27504&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Wellman](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27211&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Wilson, C.](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=29090&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co) The new law allows people unemployed due to a labor strike to receive up to six weeks of unemployment insurance benefits after a qualifying strike or lockout, which is when unionized workers boycott their shifts to convince employers to grant them demands. Benefits would start 15 to 21 days after the strike begins, depending on what day the strike starts. If the contract is resolved before that time, no benefits would be issued. The bill also requires the state Employment Security Department to produce an annual report on the number of strikes that happen in Washington and the impact of strikes on the unemployment insurance trust fund. A sunset clause requires state lawmakers to review the policy in 2036 and decide whether to extend the law or let it expire. *Effective date 7/27/2025.* [**SB 5104**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5104&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) Protecting employees from coercion in the workplace based on immigration status. **Bill Sponsor:** Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-11 Bill **Cosponsors:** [Bateman](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=17117&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Conway](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=972&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Nobles](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=31536&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Saldaña](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27290&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Stanford](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=15809&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Valdez](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27975&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Wellman](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27211&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Wilson, C.](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=29090&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co) The bill requires the state’s Department of Labor and Industries to investigate complaints of coercion and would allow the agency to impose civil penalties against employers when violations occur. During the complaint process, when a worker files a complaint, the department will notify the employer. Language in the bill was added to make a worker’s personal information confidential to anyone other than the department and the employee. *Effective date 7/1/2025.* ### Pregnancy loss gets a reprieve [**SB 5093**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5093&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) Concerning dignity in pregnancy loss. **Bill Sponsor:** Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-45 **Bill Cosponsors:** [Wellman](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27211&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Cleveland](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=17294&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Bateman](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=17117&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Pedersen](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=12002&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Wilson, C.](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=29090&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Hasegawa](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=10030&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Liias](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=13546&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Nobles](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=31536&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Salomon](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=29089&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Slatter](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27504&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Stanford](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=15809&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co), [Valdez](https://app.leg.wa.gov/bi/report/billsbysponsor/?biennium=2025-26&senateSponsorId=27975&sponsorType=senate&billsBySponsorReportType=primarybills&hasCompanionBills=false&ref=rangemedia.co) The law removes coroners’ and medical examiners’ jurisdiction over cases involving miscarriages, stillbirths or abortions unless other criminal circumstances — like violence or homicide — were involved. It also ensures pregnancy loss isn’t subject to unwarranted legal scrutiny. The bill repeals a century-old law that critics argue could be used to criminalize individuals who experience an abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth. *Effective date 7/27/2025.* ### Clarifying hate crimes [**HB 1052**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1052&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) Clarifying a hate crime offense. **Bill Sponsor:** Rep. Cindy Ryu, D-32 **Bill Cosponsors:** [**Ryu**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/15736?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Ramel**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/30127?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Leavitt**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29102?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Berry**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31531?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Taylor**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31530?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Reed**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/34033?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Thai**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29107?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Obras**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/35464?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Macri**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/26178?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Cortes**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/34028?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Callan**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29092?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Parshley**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/35415?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Fosse**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31542?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Gregerson**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/18264?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Goodman**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/11999?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Pollet**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/16596?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Kloba**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/26168?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Berg**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31534?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Davis**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29104?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Ormsby**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/9207?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Salahuddin**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/35655?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Reeves**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/27182?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Hill**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/35429?ref=rangemedia.co) The new law aims to clear confusion caused by the existing language in RCW 9A.36.080, which defines a hate crime as one committed “because of” a victim’s identity. Jurors have grappled with whether a defendant’s bias needs to be the sole motive behind the crime or just one factor. The uncertainty has led to “not guilty” verdicts in cases where bias was one of several motives. The new law adds the phrase “in whole or in part” in front of “because of.” The goal is to make it clearer that hate crimes can be charged even if bias is just one factor behind the offense. In 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed ESB 5623, reclassifying hate crimes as crimes against persons and allowing for community or therapeutic treatment in addition to jail time. It also expanded the definition of hate crimes to include assaults that do not result in physical injury. *Effective date 7/27/2025* ### Farmer compensation [SB 5165](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5165&Initiative=False&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) Concerning compensation in frontier counties for deer and elk damage. Bill Sponsor: Shelly Short, R-Addy Bill Cosponsors: [**Chapman**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/26176?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Dozier**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31535?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Wagoner**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/28317?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Warnick**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/12084?ref=rangemedia.co) The law allocates a minimum of 20% of available funds specifically for claims of crop damage from elk and deer arising from frontier one counties — areas with a population density of 20 people or fewer per square mile. To be eligible for compensation, commercial crop owners must have grown or produced agricultural products valued at more than $10,000 in the previous year or be in their first year of agricultural production. They must also show efforts to prevent wildlife damage. Compensation for claims will only be issued if the assessed damage equals or exceeds $1,000, according to guidelines set by the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission. As of 2024, the designated frontier one counties include Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan, Lincoln, Adams, Columbia, Garfield, Klickitat, Skamania, Jefferson and Wahkiakum. *Effective date 7/27/2025.* ### Immigrants’ rights [**HB 1232**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1232&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) Concerning private detention facilities. Bill Sponsor: Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo Bill Cosponsors: Sponsors: [**Fey**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/17241?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Reed**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/34033?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Ramel**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/30127?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Leavitt**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29102?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Mena**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/27494?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Macri**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/26178?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Callan**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29092?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Farivar**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/34030?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Gregerson**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/18264?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Simmons**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31527?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Peterson**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/20755?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Wylie**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/16462?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Ormsby**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/9207?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Fosse**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31542?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Hill**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/35429?ref=rangemedia.co) The law paves the way for the state’s Department of Health to inspect the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and enforce compliance with state and federal laws there. It establishes added standards for such facilities in areas like medical care, sanitation and ventilation, along with new safeguards against abuse. The bill also expands the definition of private detention facilities to include those run by nonprofit organizations after The GEO Group, a for-profit company which runs the Tacoma facility, claimed to be singled out under existing law. The nonprofit Martin Hall Juvenile Detention Facility, near Spokane, is included under the new law. [State lawmakers have been calling for more transparency](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/02/17/push-for-inspections-at-tacoma-immigration-detention-center-reemerges-in-wa-legislature/?ref=rangemedia.co) at the for-profit immigrant detention center in Tacoma. Previous efforts have landed the state in court battles with The GEO Group. *Effective date 5/12/2025.* ### Immigration enforcement [**SB 5714**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5714&Initiative=False&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co) Declaring civil immigration enforcement as unprofessional conduct of bail bond recovery agents. Bill Sponsor: Sen. Yasmin Trudeau, D-Tacoma Bill Cosponsors: [**Torres**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/34047?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Hasegawa**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/10030?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Nobles**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31536?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Valdez**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/27975?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Wilson, C.**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29090?ref=rangemedia.co) The law expands the list of unprofessional conduct for bail bond agents to include enforcement of a civil immigration warrant. The Department of Licensing could take disciplinary action against agents found to be in violation. Bail bond agents already largely lacked the authority to get involved in immigration issues. The law aims to provide clarification about those boundaries and the penalties for crossing them. It would also prevent agents from sharing a defendant’s immigration status with anyone outside their business. *Effective date 7/27/202.* ### Right to Repair [Senate Bill 5680](https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fapp.leg.wa.gov%2Fbillsummary%2F%3FBillNumber=5680%26Year=2025%26Initiative=false/1/01000196ea9cba94-f3aacf27-da7e-47ac-bf1e-71a05f52f7b3-000000/tpCgaAaz-2bwu7pJAMCGgYf%5FlJsFSx-LjbF8qp41p-c=405?ref=rangemedia.co) Establishing a right to repair mobility equipment for persons with physical disabilities. Bill Sponsor: Sen. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island Bill Cosponsors: [**Frame**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/23902?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Hasegawa**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/10030?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Lovelett**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29548?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Short**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/11952?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Stanford**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/15809?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Valdez**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/27975?ref=rangemedia.co) The goal of the law is to aid wheelchair users, ensuring they and independent repair shops have access to parts, tools, and information needed to keep their equipment working. Many repairs that wheelchair users need involve fixes such as batteries, wheels, joysticks and bearings. Currently, a lack of access to tools and information limits repair options, causing service delays that can drag on for weeks or even months. This can become a quality of life issue and even cause [health problems](https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/stranded/?ref=rangemedia.co) for wheelchair users. The bill makes Washington the [eighth state](https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/the-state-of-right-to-repair/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the country with a Right to Repair law. *Effective date 7/27/2025.* [**HB 1483**](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1483&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) Supporting the servicing and right to repair of certain products with digital electronics in a secure and reliable manner to increase access and affordability for Washingtonians. Bill Sponsor: Mia Gregerson, D-33 Bill Cosponsors: [**Reeves**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/27182?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Wylie**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/16462?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Berry**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31531?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Doglio**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/26175?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Fitzgibbon**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/13198?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Davis**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/29104?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Reed**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/34033?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Ramel**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/30127?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Bergquist**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/17227?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Peterson**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/20755?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Macri**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/26178?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Fosse**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31542?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Ormsby**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/9207?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Hill**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/35429?ref=rangemedia.co), [**Simmons**](https://leg.wa.gov/legislators/member/31527?ref=rangemedia.co) Currently, manufacturers can restrict access to the tools, parts, and information needed for consumers in Washington to fix electronic devices and household appliances. When devices can’t be fixed, consumers are often left with no other option but to pay high prices for repair or replacement of the item, which adds to e-waste issues. [The Right to Repair](https://pirg.org/washington/articles/the-right-to-repair-and-why-it-matters-to-washington/?ref=rangemedia.co) looks to ban these restrictions, make repair more affordable and accessible for Washingtonians and reduce electronic waste.The law also requires manufacturers to make documentation, tools and parts needed for diagnostics and maintenance available to independent repair businesses. *Effective date 7/27/2025.* *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News fellow working directly with newsrooms at The Newport Miner and RANGE Media through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Know your (new & old) renter rights URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/ Last updated: 2025-06-02T18:42:29.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - Having issues with your landlord? Wondering if your new lease or rent raise is legal? Check out the Tenants Union of Washington’s free Know Your Rights training today. - The Spokane City Council has a number of first reads on important legislation scheduled for tonight, including homelessness ordinances and a ban on cryptocurrency kiosks across the city. - The Public Safety & Community Health Committee will discuss the creation of an advisory subcommittee with subject matter experts to decide on how to spend opioid settlement dollars in the region. - The sheriff wants to waive the competitive bidding process for buying new vehicles because the Ford Motor Company moved up a deadline for purchasing. - Contracts to manage the sheriff’s body-worn camera program are starting to go out for the Sheriff’s Office, the first of which is a training contract for about $250,000 to CRA Consulting - The Spokane Valley City Council may settle an open records lawsuit with freshman City Council Member Al Merkel, ending a months-long conflict … or they may drag it out more. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/) - [Public Safety & Community Health Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners [Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/) & [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/) Session - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-cop-cars-and-al-merkel/) ## Know Your Rights Join the Tenants Union of Washington State for a free, virtual Know Your Rights workshop today at 6 pm. You can learn about the protections afforded to you as a renter by both Spokane-specific ordinances and new state rent stabilization laws. You can also get your specific questions on your tenant rights answered at the workshop by one of the Tenants Union’s counselors. Register for the workshop [here](https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/%5FB5NfKFoQ3KNFXvacV9tLQ?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane City Council 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 peppers ### Special spending There is a slate of special budget ordinances to change budgeted spending for police and fire, including replacing Spokane Police Department’s armored vehicle and increasing a Community Assistance Response Team ([CARES](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2025/04/02/spokane-cares-team-expands/?ref=rangemedia.co)) position in the fire department from part time to full time. ### Sexual assault settlement The council is set to approve a $400,000 settlement with [one of the women](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/aug/23/woman-describes-horrible-rape-by-former-spokane-po/?ref=rangemedia.co) who was sexually assaulted by Spokane Police Officer Nathan Nash, who was [found guilty](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/aug/30/former-spokane-police-officer-found-guilty-acquitt/?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2022 of raping multiple women while on duty in 2019\. Last year, the council [approved a $300,000](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/mar/25/spokane-to-pay-300000-to-woman-raped-by-former-off/?ref=rangemedia.co) settlement for another one of Nash’s victims. ### New name for the Post Street Bridge Also on the agenda is a vote on the new honorary name for the Post Street Bridge: the “Friends of the Falls Memorial Bridge.” The new name is supported by two former mayors and Mayor Lisa Brown, who want the name change to honor the late Senator John Moyer and his group Friends of the Falls, who were instrumental in killing a proposed Lincoln Street Bridge — which would’ve blocked the Post Street Bridge’s beautiful view of the Falls. It’s important to note this is an honorary name change, so Google Map labels and street signs are likely to stay the same. ### No more crypto Currently, there are about 20 “Bitcoin ATMs” located at grocery stores across the city. A new ordinance getting a first read this week would make those disappear, in an effort to protect consumers from cryptocurrency scams. The Spokane Police Department noticed a recent increase in scams from these kiosks, “reporting several scams daily which resulted in three suicides that have been associated with victims losing lifesavings,” according to the agenda. Across the state, victims of cryptocurrency scams, sometimes through kiosks, have lost $141,756,936 as of 2023. ### Support for Indigenous community center Individual council members can decide during the “special considerations” section of the meeting if they want to sign on to a letter expressing support for the new permanent siting of the American Indian Community Center in Highbridge Park, funded by a state grant and individual donations. The community center has had to move 11 times since its establishment and this permanent home would empower them to continue “providing a wide variety of social services including food distribution, employment and training opportunities, rental assistance, child welfare services, alcohol and drug assessments and mental health programs,” according to the letter. ### Homelessness ordinances It’s possible they get deferred during the briefing session, but right now, all of the mayor’s new homelessness ordinances are scheduled for a first read. There have been a number of amendments submitted that would need to be dealt with, and we’ll do a more detailed write-up once we know exactly what’s on the table for a final vote, but here’s the gist of what could be taking public comment tonight: banning “aggressive solicitation,” like intense panhandling citywide, establishing requirements like Good Neighbor agreements for the siting of new homelessness or behavioral health facilities and criminalizing camping and “obstruction” of public spaces (so basically, criminalizing homelessness) citywide — although the legal consequences element will be easier to avoid now as complying with orders to leave is considered a remedy. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Next week is a District 2 Town Hall-style meeting at the MLK Jr. Community Center (500 S. Stone St., Multi-Purpose Room). There will be discussion on how the city’s 311 number works and an overview of the process for appointing a new council member to temporarily fill Council Member Lili Navarrete’s soon-to-be vacant seat until after elections. There will also be time for discussion and questions from the community, with priority given to residents of the district. *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Monday, June 2, at 6 pm* *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/2025/02/10/legislative-meeting/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee ### Our favorite reports This committee always serves as an interesting data dump for us. The council (and the press and the public!) get reports today on: - What the Office of Police Ombuds was up to in April (reviewing three complaints, giving commendations, engaging with the community) and year-to-date. - SPD will give an update on how many sit-and-lie citations they issued in April and May (10), how many tickets the red light cameras issued in April (1,971, which is up more than 200 from the same period last year) and how many speeding tickets the cameras issued in April (1,737, which is down by about 80 from last year) - Overtime spending for both police and fire: Police are under budget by $473,092 and Fire are over budget $438,265. - The outcomes from [Community Court](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokanes-community-court-handles-most-nonviolent-offenses-downtown-while-arrests-increase-founders-say-improving-quality-of-life-is-not-an-29370174?ref=rangemedia.co) - Police asset forfeiture ### Opioid Advisory Committee The committee will discuss a resolution from Council Member Zack Zappone to create an Opioid Advisory Subcommittee of the Public Safety and Community Health Committee, which would make policy and funding recommendations to council for the use of Opioid Settlement dollars. The subcommittee would consist of 13 Spokane residents — most of whom would be appointed by the council (the other two would be the Public Safety Chair and the City Administrator) — with experience in the fields of “Addiction Studies, Substance Use Treatment, Medicine, Overdose Response, Toxicology, and Peer Counseling and Navigation in the area of Substance Use Disorders.” At least one member would be a member of the Spokane Tribe. *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Monday, June 2 at noon* *City Council Chambers – Lower Level of City Hall* *08 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️**🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Merkel social media saga may be coming to a head The city council is considering a settlement in the case regarding City Council Member Al Merkel’s social meda use. Last year, his fellow freshman City Council Member Jessica Yaeger accused Merkel of violating open records laws by posting information on his personal accounts about official city business. After an investigation found he’d violated the body’s Governance Manual, Merkel was censured and removed from his sole committee, the Spokane County Regional Opioid Abatement Council. But Merkel continued posting to his Nextdoor account, and the city sued him. The settlement, which is proposed by Merkel’s lawyer, asks for the following actions, which are listed in the agenda item: - The city dismisses its case against Merkel with prejudice – “with prejudice” generally means the city would be giving up the ability to pursue the same claims based on events that occurred before the effective date of the settlement. - An “independent master” be appointed to review Merkel’s personal social media posts, and determine whether and which posts constitute a public record. The city and Merkel would have to agree on who would serve as the “independent master.” - Merkel would only be legally obligated to produce those personal social media posts the “independent master” determined to be public records as defined by the Washington Public Records Act. - The city would be responsible for 100% of the expenses charged by the “independent master.” - The city would reimburse Merkel “for all of his attorney fees, both past attorney fees and those incurred in the future as they pertain to this dispute.” *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* *Tuesday, June 3 at 6 pm* *City Hall* *10210 E Sprague Ave* *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Tuesday, June 3 at 9 am* *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Union agreement up for approval The BOCC is set to approve its [collective bargaining agreement](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1896/files/attachment/17193?ref=rangemedia.co) with the juvenile court services employee union, Local 492-J, a $989,671.29 agreement that establishes pay rates, holiday, benefits and hours for the next year for juvenile court workers in Spokane County. ### Sheriff wants to waive competitive bidding for $1.1M in new vehicles The Sheriff’s Office will ask the BOCC to waive the competitive bidding process for $1,187,233.67 for new vehicles because the Ford Motor Company moved up a deadline for vehicle ordering, creating a “special market condition” that would make it legal to do away with competitive bids. The Sheriff wants 21 Ford Police Interceptor sport utility vehicles, 19 white and two blue. Each vehicle costs $51,771.92. ### New rescue tech available for sheriff’s office The Spokane County Sheriff has an opportunity to improve its search and rescue technology for free. The BOCC will discuss approving an agreement between the office’s Regional Air Support Unit and a company called RECCO to use its “helicopter detector” — deployed from the bottom of search helicopters — and “handheld detector” — which is carried by on-the-ground search crews. The contract would allow the sheriff’s office to use the technology for two years to find people lost in remote parts of Spokane County. RECCO agreed to train sheriff staff on how to use the technology and replace the units if they break. They work by detecting passive signal-emitting devices manufactured by RECCO that can be sewn into hiking, climbing, skiing and other outdoor gear. ### Body-worn camera contract among nearly $1M in federal money The BOCC is set to award CRA Consulting, LLC $269,200 to help administer the Sheriff’s body-worn camera program. If awarded the contract, the company will do the following, according to the agenda sheet: - Develop, implement and evaluate the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) curricula as it relates to body-worn camera analysis and de-escalation. - Facilitate obtaining International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) National Certification for developed content. - Provide tailored training solutions to meet SCSO’s unique operational challenges. - Track and document participants' progress throughout the program, identifying areas for improvement and success. - Evaluate participants' interpersonal and social interaction skills through observations, assessments and feedback sessions. - Provide constructive feedback and personalized coaching to participants to improve de-escalation efforts. - Supply participants with relevant resources, materials and tools to support their learning and application of developed curricula. - Conduct evaluations of the program's effectiveness and compile reports for stakeholders on outcomes and recommendations for improvement. - Provide relevant data for grant reporting purposes. The contract is among more than $945,000 to three contractors to provide body camera equipment and services for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. Polis Solutions, Inc. is up for $399,172 in federal funds, and the National Policing Institute for $277,148 in federal funds. *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Tuesday, June 3 at 2 pm* *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/5 peppers *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) *Tuesday, June 3 at 6 pm* *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake, WA 99019* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* *Correction: The Ford Motor Company moved up a deadline for vehicle purchasing, not Wendle Ford, the Spokane dealership.* ### With new campus, Pastor Doug Wilson’s Christian Valhalla grows in Idaho URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/doug-wilson-growing-idaho-empire/ Last updated: 2025-06-02T17:49:52.000Z *This story was [originally published](file:///Users/aaronhedge/Desktop/doug%20wilson.htm)* *in [FāVS News](https://favs.news/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the [Religion News Service](https://religionnews.com/2025/05/30/with-new-campus-pastor-doug-wilsons-christian-valhalla-grows-in-idaho/?ref=rangemedia.co)*. MOSCOW, Idaho — On 30 acres at the edge of Moscow, Idaho, construction crews are erecting a Jeffersonian set of classical buildings arranged around a central quad, resembling a miniature University of Virginia. But this isn’t a public university. It’s the new campus for Logos School, part of the influential pastor Doug Wilson’s decadeslong effort to transform this college town into a conservative Christian redoubt. The expansion reflects the rapid growth of Wilson’s Christ Church, which he has led for nearly 50 years. Driven by families with four to six children on average and emigration (“people were chased here by blue state governors,” Wilson said), the church has doubled in size since 2019 to about 3,000 people — roughly 10% of the population of this university town in Idaho’s northern panhandle. ### Wilson Trying to Keep Up With Growth The pace has even caught Wilson off guard. The church recently completed a new church hall — next to the burgeoning Logos Quad — that seats 1,200 people. Wilson says they’ve already outgrown it. “We didn’t anticipate it being this rapid,” he said during a recent interview at Kirker Commons, where his office is located alongside other church pastors. “We don’t know what to do with all the people. We’re scrambling.” COVID-19 was instrumental in the Wilson boom, he believes. Not only were conservative believers disconcerted by other states’ pandemic strictures, but remote work proved to employers that location didn’t matter. Remote church services exposed more people to Christ Church. Many asked, “Why not Idaho?” Wilson said, where conservative values and natural beauty offer its families a different quality of life. “There was a stretch there a year or two, where pretty much every Sunday at church I would meet someone who would say, ‘Well, we’re here now,’” he recalled. ### Wilson’s Reach It doesn’t hurt that Wilson’s influence extends far beyond Moscow. He has been featured on conservative talk shows, including Tucker Carlson’s. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a church in Wilson’s denomination and has praised Wilson’s writings. In July, Wilson will open a new congregation in Washington, D.C., [aimed at](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/05/a-christian-nationalist-theobro-church-is-coming-to-dc/?ref=rangemedia.co) ”strategic opportunities with numerous evangelicals who will be present both in and around the Trump administration.” For decades, Christ Church met in borrowed spaces — auto body shops, school gyms, parks. The new church hall, completed in 2024, holds three identical services on Sundays, with additional congregations meeting in downtown Moscow and in nearby Troy, with five churches in all. The growth goes beyond Sunday services. Wilson’s network includes New Saint Andrews College, with about 300 students; Canon Press publishing house; and the growing Logos School system. Nationally, Christ Church is part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, which has approximately 150 congregations all across the country. As construction continues on both the church complex and school campus, Moscow finds itself at the center of a larger American debate about the role of faith in public life — one that now reaches from small-town Idaho to the highest levels of government. ### 'Dominion' The church hall’s street address, on Dominion Avenue, reflects Wilson’s theological vision. “I like the word and the word describes what we’re seeking to do,” Wilson said, explaining that dominion means influencing society “by means of service” rather than coercion. (The city denied Wilson’s first choice, “Logos Street,” a gospel reference to Jesus as the word of God.) Wilson’s decentralized church planting strategy is deliberate. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/webrns-wilson-campus2.jpg) The new church hall for Christ Church was completed in 2024 and seats 1,200 people in Moscow, Idaho. (Photo by Tracy Simmons) “We don’t want a big Death Star church,” he said, preferring to create multiple smaller congregations that maintain “a human scale.” He’s currently planning another congregation in Potlatch — a small town about 18 miles outside of Moscow — to serve families who moved to outlying communities after the influx of newcomers overwhelmed Moscow’s real estate market. ### The Future of Christ Church The new campus and continued church planting, Wilson said, are necessary to serve a growing population. With 40% of his congregation under age 14, he anticipates practical needs ahead. “All those kids are going to have to go to school somewhere,” he said. “All of them are going to have to marry somebody.” That reality drives demand not just for more churches, but for expanded educational infrastructure. Logos School currently serves 750 students from kindergarten through high school. The new campus will house grades 7-12, while the existing elementary school will operate at its current separate location in town, creating what Wilson describes as a district model. Moscow’s public school district serves approximately 2,397 students. Wilson’s approach emphasizes what he calls “entrepreneurial” Christianity. Church members operate multiple businesses throughout Moscow’s downtown. Wilson describes this as “dominion” — influencing society through service rather than coercion. “We don’t direct them, but we do teach our people that they should be entrepreneurial. They should be service oriented. They should do good work,” Wilson explained. The church’s business network helps fund its expansion. Wilson said individual members, not the church itself, own the downtown businesses, maintaining what he calls “[sphere sovereignty](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/05/23/doug-wilson-new-right-pastor-hegseth-trump-officials-00355376?ref=rangemedia.co)” — separate roles for church, family and civil government. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/webrns-wilson-campus3.jpg) Joann Muneta speaks during a community event in Moscow, Idaho. (Photo by Tracy Simmons) [Not everyone welcomes the growth](https://favs.news/we-want-to-get-along-christ-churchs-doug-wilson-addresses-critics-at-forum/?ref=rangemedia.co). Joann Muneta, who has lived in Moscow for 65 years and chairs the Latah County Human Rights Task Force, said Wilson undercounts the number of newcomers. “Are they counting all the children?” she asked. And though she doesn’t notice the growth locally, she acknowledges seeing “quite a few Kirker” businesses on Main Street. Nonetheless, Muneta said, “Christ Church can own every brick on Main Street, but they won’t own the soul of Moscow.” She has helped organize three community events in response to Wilson’s influence, drawing hundreds of residents concerned about the church’s impact. Muneta emphasizes the events aren’t “an anti-Wilson campaign” but rather “a pro-community campaign” focused on building bridges and unity. She said new alliances are forming between faith communities and human rights groups. The events have created momentum around a simple question residents keep asking: “What can I do?” Wilson is aware of the community’s unease. “There is a certain element of the community that’s hostile no matter what we do,” he said. Muneta’s advocacy crystallized during the pandemic. While other faith communities formed mutual aid associations to help vulnerable residents, which includes Muneta and her late husband, she said, Wilson organized protests against lockdown measures, leading to arrests that gained national attention. “Here we were in a situation where people are dying and people are getting sick, and the hospitals are full,” Muneta said, but Wilson “felt that the government was trying to find out how much power they could wield.” The church-planting efforts outside Moscow have [faced legal challenges](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-religious-liberty-lawsuit-against-troy-idaho-discriminating-against?ref=rangemedia.co). In 2022, Christ Church began holding services in Troy after outgrowing its existing space and being unable to find rental options. When the church sought a conditional use permit to operate in Troy’s commercial district, the city denied the permit, citing a public that was “heavily against” it and that the “great majority of city residents” opposed granting approval. The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit alleging religious discrimination, noting that Troy allows nonreligious assemblies like clubs, museums and art galleries in the same zoning district. The federal lawsuit argues the denial was based on “discriminatory animus” rather than legitimate zoning concerns, pointing to local residents’ written and verbal comments reflecting what federal officials describe as a rejection of the church’s beliefs. But in Moscow, the construction timeline remains aggressive. The first phase of the Logos campus must be completed by fall 2025 to accommodate the growing student body, Wilson said. Additional phases will add three more buildings and a gymnasium to complete the “academic village.” Attempts to reach Logos School Superintendent Matt Whitling for comment were unsuccessful. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/webrns-idaho-takeover7-110519.jpg) People amble through a farmer’s market in Moscow, Idaho, in 2015\. (Photo by Jeremy Segrott/Creative Commons) For Muneta and other longtime residents, the rapid changes represent a test of Moscow’s character. Despite national attention that “saddens me greatly, because this is a fantastic community,” she remains optimistic about local resistance to Wilson’s influence. “It’s a very peaceful, loving, inclusive community,” Muneta said. “They don’t want to fight” — even as Wilson’s movement, with its “Sword and Shovel” bookstore and “Fight and Build” New Saint Andrews T-shirts, projects a more combative message. Wilson, for his part, sees the growth as validation of his half-century project. “The engine that drives it is preaching the gospel, preaching out of the Bible,” he said. ### Trump’s new list of sanctuary jurisdictions includes the county but not Spokane city URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/trump-dhs-sanctuary-city-spokane-list-homeland-security/ Last updated: 2025-05-30T22:49:26.000Z **Editor's Note: The DHS list has since been pulled down after[ backlash and reports of inaccuracies.](https://www.npr.org/2025/06/02/nx-s1-5421232/homeland-security-sanctuary-cities-immigration?ref=rangemedia.co)** The Trump administration just dropped a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website that published the list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” across the country — cities, counties and states that have policies saying they won’t help the federal government enforce immigration law. The entire state of Washington made the list, as did Spokane County. Shockingly, the city of Spokane, which [passed a resolution](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-immigration-solidarity-resolution/) early this year affirming their commitment to following the state’s Keep Washington Working Act (KWWA) — the sanctuary law that prohibits city staff and law enforcement from collaborating with immigration officials — did not. The Washington section of the DHS list notes that the whole state “self-identifies” as a sanctuary jurisdiction, then lists 35 of the 39 counties in the state and five cities, Everett, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle and Yakima. Adams, Douglas, Klickitat and Yakima Counties were the only counties left off the list, which sort of makes sense — at least for two of the four. Adams County is currently [being sued](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/03/10/eastern-washington-county-accused-of-aiding-feds-with-immigration-enforcement/?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Washington State Attorney General’s Office for collaborating with ICE. The Adams County Sheriff has also [vocally opposed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/09/adams-county-sheriff-opposes-washingtons-sanctuary/?ref=rangemedia.co) the KWWA. Klickitat County’s sheriff has also [vowed to break state law](https://mynorthwest.com/ktth/washington-sheriff-songer-ice/4057059?ref=rangemedia.co) and collaborate with the feds, even going as far as to tell Trump’s border czar Tom Homan to put him on speed dial. It’s less clear how Douglas and Yakima counties avoided the list. Yakima’s sheriff has [emphasized his commitment to state law](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25538164-robert-udell-yakima-county/?ref=rangemedia.co), and Douglas County has largely stayed out of the news, with its sheriff refusing to [comment](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/most-wa-sheriffs-say-they-will-follow-states-sanctuary-law-with-a-few-exceptions-17814841?ref=rangemedia.co) on whether he would help ICE. (However, the leadership of Douglas County, Colorado has been [very vocal](https://www.douglas.co.us/illegal-immigration-while-sanctuary-cities-defend-their-policies-douglas-county-commissioners-have-been-proactive-at-solving-this-crisis-locally/?ref=rangemedia.co) about being against sanctuary policies so maybe the administration confused the states?) Conversely, Clark and Grant counties in Washington, which the state AG found to have [worked together with ICE hundreds of times](https://www.kuow.org/stories/as-some-washington-law-enforcement-leaders-vow-to-help-with-mass-deportations-immigration-advocates-prepare-to-resist?ref=rangemedia.co), were still included in the list of sanctuary jurisdictions. Other jurisdictions across the country have also argued today that the list is inaccurate and includes even cities and counties that have [voiced support for Trump’s immigration policies](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/trumps-list-sanctuary-jurisdictions-includes-support-immigration-policies-122359538?ref=rangemedia.co). According to DHS, inclusion on the list was determined by “factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.” ### Ok, but what really is a ‘sanctuary jurisdiction’? The statement on the DHS website claims that sanctuary jurisdictions “are deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities \[sic\]. Sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril.” Legally, the question of what “sanctuary” means is pretty murky, though. There’s no official legal designation for “sanctuary city,” but sanctuary is typically used as a term to describe policies that afford protection to undocumented immigrants. In Washington, the [KWWA](https://www.atg.wa.gov/keep-washington-working-act-faq-law-enforcement?ref=rangemedia.co) “restricts the extent to which local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) may participate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” according to the AG’s office. It limits the information law enforcement, like county sheriffs or city police departments, can share with federal officers, like those with ICE or Border Patrol, and prevents them from asking to see a person’s documentation status unless there’s a direct connection to the violation of a state or local law. It also keeps state resources from being spent on federal enforcement — a right protected by the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution prevents the federal government from commanding the states’ officers — which functionally means immigrants arrested by federal agents can’t be housed in city, county or state facilities like jails and have to be taken to a federal detention center. In Spokane’s case, this often [results in](https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-spokane-idaho/) immigrants being housed in Idaho’s Kootenai County Jail, which has an operating agreement with the federal agencies. Statewide or local sanctuary policies can’t stop federal agents from enforcing federal immigration law, or protect immigrants who are arrested on those federal charges then deported, but they do make it harder for the federal government to [conduct mass deportations](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/us/politics/trump-team-immigration-deportation.html?ref=rangemedia.co). ### So, *is* Spokane city a sanctuary jurisdiction? Because there is no clear legal definition for what is and isn’t a sanctuary jurisdiction, and by the common definition, everywhere in the whole state is a sanctuary jurisdiction, the answer is complicated. We reached out to local officials at the city, the county and Spokane Valley to ask their perspective on the list and the jurisdictions that were included. In the case of Spokane city, leaders vocally support following state law. Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall released a statement that Spokane Police Department officers would not be collaborating with federal officers, and the city council passed a resolution reaffirming their commitment to state law with a 5-2 vote. Recently, Council Member Lili Navarrete proposed an ordinance that would limit the ability of ICE to arrest immigrants on park property. Because of these policy decisions, conservative council member Jonathan Bingle told RANGE he was “surprised” Spokane didn’t make the list. “Even though you never say the word ‘sanctuary,’ doesn’t mean that you’re not enforcing sanctuary policies,” Bingle said. “When we’re saying we don’t want our law enforcement collaborating with federal enforcement, we’re clearly a sanctuary city even though we’re not saying the word city.” Council Member Michael Cathcart, who joined Bingle in voting no on the resolution to reaffirm the KWWA, wrote in a text that, “It seems like a mistake that Spokane was omitted; however, what would be even more helpful and likely drive greater compliance is for the federal government to offer clearer guidance on the penalties or adverse actions they intend to pursue.” City progressives agreed with Bingle and Cathcart on at least one thing: they were surprised that the city was left off the list. Navarette said she was “perplexed” by the list, and city spokesperson Erin Hut said she didn’t know why the city wasn’t listed but the county was. Still, they both said that the city isn’t technically a sanctuary city; it just follows state law. “Resolutions have been passed in favor of the KWWA, but our rule is that we follow state and federal law,” Hut said. “I think a lot of people have seen the action taken by the council and see Spokane as a sanctuary city. The perception is that we are, but the law doesn’t state that. I don’t even know what the parameters are from the Trump administration to classify cities as sanctuary cities.” The DHS website says Washington is a sanctuary state because it “self-identifies as one.” Hut said no one from the Trump administration had contacted the city to ask if the city considered itself a sanctuary city. Council Member Paul Dillon was more blunt about DHS’ exclusion of the city: “I don’t think they’re very good at their jobs,” he said. “But I always return to: there’s no legal definition of ‘sanctuary.’” ### What’s going on with the county’s inclusion? If things are confusing at the city — they proposed legislation to protect undocumented immigrants and publicly state their support for state sanctuary law while still arguing they aren’t a sanctuary city — it’s even more complicated in the county. Multiple jurisdictions, including Spokane city, exist within the county boundaries. And while Spokane city affirmed its support for state law, Spokane Valley, another jurisdiction within county lines, did the opposite: passing a nonbinding resolution that basically stated they were explicitly not a sanctuary city. Spokane Valley Council Member Jessica Yaeger consulted earlier this spring at the White House with DHS officials. After that meeting, she introduced a resolution at the April 1 council meeting that did two things: 1) it said it would follow state law, and 2) stated Spokane Valley was *not* a sanctuary city. Spokane Valley was also not included on the list. The council [passed it that night](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-valley-immigration-policy/). Yaeger specified in the meeting and in a later phone interview with RANGE one reason she drafted the resolution was to ingratiate Spokane Valley with the Trump administration so it wouldn’t lose funding. Speaking to RANGE, she brought up Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan gang the Trump administration has accused immigrants of being members of based on [tattoos](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-deportations-scorecard-tattoos-venezuelans-el-salvador-rcna199116?ref=rangemedia.co) that have no confirmed connection with the gang. “Our citizens should be safe and free from TDA members,” she said. “They’re criminals. They’re violent, violent murderers.” Some immigrants accused of being TDA members have been arrested in Spokane County. The Spokane Valley Police Department has been expanding, partly through the use of American Rescue Plan funding, as the council has argued its police force has not kept pace with the city’s population growth. It hired 10 new full-time officers over the last year and [wants to hire more](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-valley-immigration-policy/). But the Spokane Valley Police Department is under the umbrella of the county sheriff, so if the Trump administration follows through on canceling federal grants for what it deems sanctuary jurisdictions, Spokane Valley could be at risk of losing the funding Yaeger said she wanted to preserve. Yaeger did not respond to a request for comment. When asked directly by *InvestigateWest* whether he would follow state law or collaborate with federal immigration officers, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels gave [conflicting answers](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25538162-john-nowels-spokane-county/?ref=rangemedia.co). He wrote that his office “will comply with state laws, including the Keep Washington Working Act,” but also included a longer response that is more complex: “If federal authorities request our assistance and they are willing to provide the proper federal authority to my deputies, I would consider assisting them (federal agencies) with identifying and detaining illegal immigrants who are committing crimes in Spokane County. I would add that I urge our U.S. legislature to address our national immigration policy, which has been broken for years and throughout several administrations. I believe the process to LEGALLY enter our country and become a productive citizen of our country should be streamlined, providing good and law-abiding people with a reasonable pathway to citizenship.” We reached out to county officials to see if they were notified Spokane Count was on the listand Yaeger, but did not hear back by press time. We will update this story if they respond. ### What does being on the list mean for the county? So far, the DHS website doesn’t include any clear guidance on penalties. “​​Each jurisdiction listed will receive formal notification of its non-compliance with Federal statutes,” reads a statement at the top of the sanctuary jurisdiction list. “DHS demands that these jurisdictions immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous illegal aliens. Note that the list can be reviewed and changed at any time and will be updated regularly. No one should act on this information without conducting their own evaluation of the information.” [Reporting from the Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/us-immigration-trump-sanctuary-cities-list-public-ebfd1c9bedaad73a145932d2247af8de?ref=rangemedia.co) states that the Trump administration intends to remove federal funding and grants from jurisdictions on the list if they are notified of their inclusion on the list and do not comply. However, Washington is [already suing](https://www.axios.com/2025/05/14/states-sue-trump-immigration-federal-funding?ref=rangemedia.co) the federal government for previous threats to withhold federal funding over the KWWA, so this will likely continue to get fought out in court. ### What the Flock? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-news-email-newsletter-round-up/ Last updated: 2025-05-30T20:16:21.000Z **Editor's note:** If you don't get our email newsletters, you might be unfamiliar with the joy of our Friday news round-up, Wide RANGE, where we give you a fun, irreverent and QUICK rundown of the news happening in the Inland Northwest. You'll not only find links to our stories and podcast, but stories from all our brilliant colleagues at other news outlets in our area, the good, bad and embarrassing news of the week, a tiny bit of national news and even things to do each weekend. **This is just a special peek into what we send out every week, so don't miss out and be sure to subscribe [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/newsletter/)!** **Happy Friday and welcome to Wide RANGE**, where we keep track of (and joke about) the news, in case you didn’t have the time or energy to. The county and the city are back to beefing, SpoVal Council Member Al Merkel and his fellow council members never \*stopped\* beefing and the state of Texas used Washington Flock cameras to track a Texas woman getting an abortion. Don’t know what we’re talking about? **Read on!** ## RANGE News You may have noticed it’s been a quiet week for us on the “publishing stories and sending you emails” front. We promise, we have a good excuse: Luke’s [laid off](https://www.rangemedia.co/range-furlough-journalism-funding-local-news/), Erin was on vacation, Hedge is event-planning a community forum on incarceration justice and Val’s just trying to fundraise and keep everything else afloat. Rest assured, we’ve got our irons in the fire and we’ll be back to filling your inbox next week like usual. \~ ES ## The Pod ### The Spokane connections to the Seattle Christian nationalist event Val and Aaron explore the networking and marketing tactics — including those of at least one church in Spokane — of the Christian nationalist movement that staged an event in the Cal Anderson Park (named for a gay legislator) in Capitol Hill, Seattle’s historically queer neighborhood, where 23 [protesters](https://www.sgn.org/story/154841/News/Seattle/Cops%20mob%20Trans%2C%20Queers%2C%20and%20allies%20over%20popped%20balloon%20at%20Mayday%20USA%20counterprotest?ref=rangemedia.co) were arrested last weekend. The incident, which took place May 24, has gained national headlines, [spawned more protests/counterprotests](https://www.sgn.org/story/154880/News/Seattle/Seattle%20police%20allow%20Christian%20extremists%20to%20provoke%20Queer%20protesters%2C%20leading%20to%20another%20day%20of%20violence%20and%20arrests%3B%20FBI%20launches%20investigation%20into%20targeted%20violence?ref=rangemedia.co) and drew [the gaze](https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/special-episode-militias-mama-bears-and-the-new-apostolic-reformation/?ref=rangemedia.co) of prominent watchers of Christian supremacy to Seattle. Listen [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-seattle-christian-nationalist-mayday-america-tour/) or [wherever](https://feeds.captivate.fm/range/?ref=rangemedia.co) you get your podcasts. ## In Case You Missed It ### The neverending story Since he took office, Spokane Valley City Council Member Al Merkel and his coworkers on the council have been at odds — and that’s putting it probably far too gently. Allegations about Merkel’s behavior sparked a [couple](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-valley-concludes-its-investigation-into-city-council-member-al-merkels-use-of-a-personal-nextdoor-account-for-city-business-28601439?ref=rangemedia.co) of [investigations](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/may/09/investigation-into-valley-councilman-al-merkel-fin/?ref=rangemedia.co), [lots of news coverage](https://www.google.com/search?q=al+merkel+investigation&sca%5Fesv=151be9a0a91a555a&tbm=nws&ei=Leg5aLa3GNOj0PEP4Z6PIA&start=10&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwj2gfu32cuNAxXTETQIHWHPAwQQ8tMDegQIBRAE&biw=1600&bih=746&dpr=1.8&ref=rangemedia.co) and even a new [state law](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/18/new-washington-law-keeps-identifying-information-o/?ref=rangemedia.co) that [limits transparency](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-records-al-merkel-spokane-valley/) in public records about what info people can request about city investigations. The next update in the saga? SpoVal is pulling back $350,000 in funding they planned to spend on cops to instead spend on “[legal costs](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/05/spokane-valley-city-council-will-sue-councilman-al/?ref=rangemedia.co) associated with Merkel.” Read the full story from Nick Gibson at *The Spokesman* [here](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/28/spokane-valley-city-council-pulls-public-safety-fu/?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ ES ### Back taxes and bad vibes We highly recommend you read [this whole story](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/29/spokane-county-fling-accusations-of-toxic-relation/?ref=rangemedia.co) from Emry Dinman and Nick Gibson at *The Spokesman* because this issue is pretty complex, but here’s the gist: Spokane County may owe Spokane city a LOT of back taxes because of a utility facility located within the city’s borders. There was apparently a handshake agreement between former Mayor Nadine Woodward and the county exempting the county from paying the tax, but nothing was put in writing. Now, the city wants what could be up to $57 million in back taxes. Stay tuned on this fight, it’s likely to turn messy (and probably legal) and impact other county/city collaboration efforts. \~ ES ### Title IX against trans people The federal government has announced its investigation into the state of Washington over the state’s refusal to discriminate against transgender students who want to play sports and use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The way the government is going about the investigation is out of the norm, with former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO (and current Secretary of Department of Education) Linda McMahon claiming Washington’s policies “covertly smuggle gender ideology into the classroom,” and violate discrimination protections. Maggie Mertens for Cascade PBS has a breakdown on the investigation [here](https://www.cascadepbs.org/news/2025/05/title-ix-federal-investigation-clashes-wa-gender-identity-laws?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ ES ## The Good, The Bad & The Embarrassing **The Good:** After a particularly deadly year of crashes in 2023, preliminary data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission [shows that deaths across the state were down](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/28/washington-traffic-deaths-down-after-record-year/?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2024\. And unlike some other statewide trends, that pattern [extends to Spokane](https://wtsc.wa.gov/dashboards/fatalities-dashboard/?ref=rangemedia.co), where traffic deaths dropped from 60 in 2023 to 55 in 2024\. We consider this bittersweet news: we love to see things getting even a little bit better, but it doesn’t do anything for the 265 people who have died in Spokane County from 2020 to 2024\. \~ ES **The Bad:** Refusing to tax the rich has real consequences. Right now, those consequences are for kids and families in Washington, where both the federal and state governments have [cut funding for early learning programs](https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/05/federal-and-state-cuts-threaten-washington-early-learning-programs?ref=rangemedia.co). Everyone say: “thank you, Governor Ferguson and President Trump.” \~ ES **The Embarrassing:** It’s really hard to narrow down “the embarrassing,” when RFK Jr. did like [eight](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/trump-admin-corrects-rfk-jrs-maha-report-citation-errors-rcna209913?ref=rangemedia.co) all by himself this week, but here’s one: he and former television presenter, current Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Oz are [pressuring hospitals ](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/28/repub/hhs-presses-health-care-providers-hospitals-to-curb-gender-affirming-treatments-for-kids/?ref=rangemedia.co)to stop providing gender-affirming treatments for kids. At what point can we say his [brainworms](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/rfk-jr-brain-health-memory-loss.html?ref=rangemedia.co) are transphobic? \~ ES **The National:** For a bit of bad national news with a local tie-in, Texas cops [searched data from Flock cameras](https://www.404media.co/a-texas-cop-searched-license-plate-cameras-nationwide-for-a-woman-who-got-an-abortion/?ref=rangemedia.co) all over the nation (including Washington), trying to track a woman who left the state to get an abortion. In case you missed it in CIVICS, Spokane County could be getting a [whole bunch of new Flock cameras](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/), which opens up a big can of worms on data protection: cops can currently search the whole nationwide network of cameras without a warrant. We might be a sanctuary state for immigrants and people seeking reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare, but what happens when Texas cops (or [ICE agents](https://www.404media.co/ice-taps-into-nationwide-ai-enabled-camera-network-data-shows/?ref=rangemedia.co)) start pulling \*our\* Flock data? \~ ES (shoutout to multiple RANGE readers bumping the Flock issue to the top of our radar) ## Things You Can Do 🍅🍞 **Celebrate Farmers Market Szn:** It’s officially \*that\* time of year and this one is extra special: the long-awaited permanent farmers market, [Scale House Market](https://thescalehousemarket.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), is holding its grand opening Saturday in Spokane Valley. Also, our pals at KYRS are doing a live radio broadcast from the market, so you could even be on the radio. The Outdoor Market will be open from 8 am to 2 pm and the indoor Mercantile will be open from 8 am to 4 pm on Saturday. (We’re also especially excited that our very own [Great Harvest Bakery](https://greatharvestspokane.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) is a vendor for their Wednesday markets, so you can find delicious, nutritious and worker-owned bread there too!) There’s also all the other weekend farmers markets: [El Mercadito](https://www.visitspokane.com/events/el-mercadito/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Liberty Lake](https://www.visitspokane.com/events/liberty-lake-farmers-market/?ref=rangemedia.co), [Brownes Addition,](https://www.visitspokane.com/events/spokane-farmers-market/?ref=rangemedia.co) [Millwood](https://www.visitspokane.com/events/millwood-farmers-market/?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Spokane Valley](https://www.visitspokane.com/events/spokane-valley-farmers-market/?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ VO **🤓🗳️ Apply to be on a Pro or Con committee:** Ever wonder how the pro and con positions in the city’s official voter pamphlets are made? It’s members of our community (like you!) who come up with them, appointed by Spokane City Council. In June, the council will appoint members to the pro and con committees for the park levy that will be on November’s ballot. The committees prepare arguments in favor of and against the ballot measures and rebuttal statements. So dust off your debate team skills and reach out to Council Office Director Giacobbe Byrd (gbyrd@spokanecity.org) by 5 pm on June 13, 2025\. \~ VO 🍃🌀 **Go a little mad:** Learn all about how the devil’s lettuce leads to ruin with a showing of the political satire Reefer Madness: The Musical by Spokane Falls Community College’s Spartan Theatre. Showings are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and [tickets](https://sfcc.ticketspice.com/spartan-theatres-reefer-madness-the-musical?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaeEzU32PIASz3aQYezVQ0hWaT1bYmGT2Mq9sNY3nAJbsV1wfugpXbJcpYpWzA%5Faem%5F9rUskLGj-6ML6BiiTq-5Yw&ref=rangemedia.co) are $20 for general admission. \~ VO 📜🖌️ **Zine it up:** It’s time for the annual celebration of all things zines, artsy self-publication and just plain cool stuff. The Spokane Zine Fest is Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm at the Spokane Central Library and is free this year. There will also be workshops throughout the day and opportunities to create something yourself. More info [here](https://www.instagram.com/spokanezinefest/?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ VO 🏳️‍🌈🤣 **Have some laughs:** Queer improv? Sign us up! (Except Erin, who \*is\* queer but is also allergic to improv theatre). Blue Door Theater and Odyssey Youth Movement are sponsoring a night to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community with performers who are all part of it. The show is for 16+ audiences and on Sunday at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $9-11 and you can get them [here](https://thebluedoortheatre.crowdwork.com/shows/queerprov-5d60be63-1ba5-453e-98b0-f85cadacf575?ref=rangemedia.co). \~ VO ### POD: The Spokane connections to the Seattle Christian nationalist event URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/spokane-seattle-christian-nationalist-mayday-america-tour/ Last updated: 2025-05-30T19:50:31.000Z Val and Aaron explore the networking and marketing tactics — including those of at least one church in Spokane — of the Christian nationalist movement that staged an event in the Cal Anderson Park (named for a gay legislator) in Capitol Hill, Seattle’s historically queer neighborhood, where 23 [protesters](https://www.sgn.org/story/154841/News/Seattle/Cops%20mob%20Trans%2C%20Queers%2C%20and%20allies%20over%20popped%20balloon%20at%20Mayday%20USA%20counterprotest?ref=rangemedia.co) were arrested last weekend. The incident, which took place May 24, has gained national headlines, [spawned more protests/counterprotests](https://www.sgn.org/story/154880/News/Seattle/Seattle%20police%20allow%20Christian%20extremists%20to%20provoke%20Queer%20protesters%2C%20leading%20to%20another%20day%20of%20violence%20and%20arrests%3B%20FBI%20launches%20investigation%20into%20targeted%20violence?ref=rangemedia.co) and drew [the gaze](https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/special-episode-militias-mama-bears-and-the-new-apostolic-reformation/?ref=rangemedia.co) of prominent watchers of Christian supremacy to Seattle. ### Spokane-based real estate company NAI Black urged employees to oppose rent stabilization bill URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/nai-black-workers-no-rent-stabilization/ Last updated: 2025-05-23T19:20:55.000Z Spokane-based real estate agency NAI Black circulated emails among employees in March and April urging them to publicly oppose a [rent stabilization law](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1217&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) that Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law on May 7, according to internal emails RANGE obtained. NAI Black is one of the most prominent real estate developers in the Inland Northwest, meaning the company has a vested interest in curbing rent stabilization laws. Though the series of at least four emails — sent to employees by NAI Black CEO Dave Black and certified property manager Jason Dolloph March 13, March 20, April 2 and April 11 — acknowledge the law is “well-intended,” they claim limits on rent are bad for the economy, and advocate for the state to allow landlords to hike rent as much as they want. The bill, HR 1217, is [now law](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington-law/), but a real estate company asking its employees to oppose rent stabilization is a clear example of an industry trying to exert influence over employees and state lawmaking. The new law, tries to slow the increase in housing costs for Washington renters, which is eating up [more of their income](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington/). In 2023, more than 50% of Spokane renters spent more than 30% of their monthly income on housing costs, and 28.3% spent more than half of their monthly income on housing costs. When income is taken into consideration, the housing landscape in the state gets even worse: to afford a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rate without being considered “rent burdened,” — spending more than 30% of your income on housing — a Washington renter earning the minimum wage would have to [work 83 hours per week](https://nlihc.org/oor/state/wa?ref=rangemedia.co). The NAI Black emails included messages from business lobbying groups, like the Rental Housing Association of Washington (RHAWA). Specifically, the emails argued rent control would dampen the housing market in a state beset by a dramatic homelessness crisis. One email sent March 13 forwarded an anti-rent stabilization campaign message from Melissa Canfield, the deputy director of RHAWA urging recipients to share the campaign in their professional and personal networks, testify against the bill at a Senate hearing scheduled for March 19 and write their lawmakers. Certified property manager Jason Dolloph said in the forwarded message, “Below is another opportunity to voice your opinion on rent control. It only takes a moment for you to be heard.” The Washington law was not “[rent control](https://journalistsresource.org/economics/rent-control-regulation-studies-to-know/?ref=rangemedia.co),” as the term is normally used. The law is a form of “rent stabilization.” It’s not just a semantic difference: rent control caps the amount a landlord can charge for a unit, while rent stabilization caps the percentage a landlord can increase rent over time. This means landlords can still hike rent, but the amount they can do so to a current tenant is limited. In between tenants, however, landlords can hike rent as much as they want, which is where rent stabilization differs significantly from rent control. Still, NAI Black officials maintained the law would hurt the housing market. “Developers build apartments for a profit and for a return on investment,” David Black, who leads several companies that operate under the umbrella of NAI Black, told RANGE. “If they can't get that, they're not gonna build.” NAI Black is a subsidiary of NAI Global, an international real estate firm based in New York City. Black is a third-generation developer whose family is synonymous with the real estate industry in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. His online [profile](https://www.blackrealtymanagement.com/dave-black?ref=rangemedia.co) characterizes him and the company this way: “David R. Black is CEO and a Principal of Black Realty, Inc.; Black Commercial, Inc.; Black Realty Management, Inc., and Black Management Services, Inc, all doing business as NAI Black.” Black said times are tough for landlords, but not all landlords agree. Though some lobbyists did show up at the April 4 legislative hearing to oppose the law, which originated in the state House of Representatives, most of the testimony that day supported it, including that of Roger Jones, a mobile home park manager based in Duvall, Washington. “In my experience, a 5% annual rent increase is more than sufficient to remain profitable in \[the real estate\] industry,” Jones said during his testimony in the Ways & Means Committee. “I’m also a responsible landlord and with full integrity, I can state that for the 65 tenants who rent from me, the affordable housing we provide is crucial, and without it, a vast majority of these individuals would be homeless.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ad_4nxcyndl-yw1undmvf6ssroohzvnlferoci_xdkhhveh6itq8aaympy5eqplmpybgnitrcmhxxy3vuzmx8jhznkc-3nc40auxsvi4u4wz0bb1vhrjldaqglkwhkrklhgciwkdsifvoakeyfuu_hxaxhqo0hwkrbnk0cg.png) *Data generated by the housing tech company Redfin’s* [*rental market comparison tool*](https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/rental-market-data/?ref=rangemedia.co) *show housing in Kootenai County is consistently more expensive than in Spokane County.* Four landlords who rent properties in Seattle, Tacoma and Bothell wrote a [guest column](https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/were-wa-landlords-and-we-agree-with-rent-stabilization/?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Seattle Times* on March 20 urging lawmakers to vote for HB 1217. Black, who forwarded one of the emails on March 20 with no commentary, asserted that regulations on development are driving Eastern Washington developers to Idaho because the latter state doesn’t regulate so strictly. A friendlier regulatory environment for development in Idaho has not translated into lower housing prices for renters, though. According to the real estate tech company Zillow, the median rent in Spokane County, [increased $5](https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/spokane-wa/?ref=rangemedia.co) whereas across the border in Kootenai County, Idaho, costs ballooned by $435. Median household income is slightly higher in Kootenai County, but per-capita income is slightly lower. At the bottom of the labor market, though, the gap grows considerably. The minimum wage in Washington is $16.66 per hour. The minimum wage in Idaho is $7.25 per hour. Proponents of the law argue rent stabilization is needed to keep people from becoming unhoused due to rent increases. In Spokane, the number one cause of eviction proceedings is failure to pay rent. The city of Spokane [released data](https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article%5F3a019124-feab-11ef-a2d5-3f94f5085387.html?ref=rangemedia.co) this year saying more than 7,000 people accessed some form of homeless services in 2024, up from just more than 2,000 people in 2023\. Those numbers reflect more robust counting efforts by the city, but anyone paying attention to conditions in downtown Spokane can witness the housing crisis. HB 1217, which will expire in 2045, does the following: - Mandates that landlords keep rent hikes below 7% plus inflation, three times the national rate of inflation of 2.3% in the last year. - Gives the state attorney general’s office explicit authority to take actions against landlords who violate state rental laws. - Requires the Department of Commerce to assess the rental vulnerability of communities. Among the emails circulated at NAI Black was a message from [Gavin Cooley](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/), the CEO of the Spokane Business Association, which Black forwarded to employees on March 20, reiterating that HB 1217 would worsen the housing crisis. “As citizens and leaders deeply invested in Spokane’s future, it is crucial to address the pressing issue of housing affordability,” according to an email Cooley sent to potential opponents of the law. “House Bill 1217, currently progressing to the State Senate floor, proposes a variety of rental restrictions with the intention of enhancing housing stability. While well-intentioned, in the long run this bill will exacerbate Spokane’s already severe housing crisis and contribute to the very conditions that have led to some of the highest homelessness rates in that nation.” The Canfield email sought to raise $100,000 in funding for an advertising campaign to oppose HB 1217. “Let’s work united to make sure our voices are heard and safeguard the future of housing in Washington state,” Canfield wrote. “Your participation is vital!” Canfield’s campaign message said, “We oppose HB 1217 because it threatens housing availability and exacerbates affordability challenges amid an existing housing crisis in Washington, projected to have a deficit of 1.1 million homes by 2044.” Neither Cooley nor Canfield returned our requests for comment by press time, but we will update the story if they do. Dolloph, the certified property manager who works in the commercial division of NAI Black, told RANGE in a phone interview that there are many costs associated with property management that are not reflected in the inflation rate. He used the example of landlord insurance: “Insurance itself has gone up 30, 40, 50%,” Dolloph said. “And some landlords might be doing more. Taxes go up. Utilities go up.” ### No sick time, no contracts, no breaks: domestic laborer protections fail in state legislature URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/domestic-laborer-bill-fails/ Last updated: 2025-05-22T21:41:17.000Z Despite having a law degree in her home country, when Lis moved to the US 15 years ago, the first job she was able to get was cleaning houses — domestic labor. She didn’t mind the work, but there were serious issues and seemingly no protections for a worker like her. “I was denied going to the restroom — potty breaks. There was no sick time,” Lis said, tearing up as she spoke to RANGE. Back then, she stayed silent, fearing that she would be fired if she spoke up for herself. After a year and a half cleaning houses, Lis — whose last name we’re not using to protect her employment — started nannying and loved it. “It’s a career where I found myself,” she said. “I went to law school in my country, but definitely I wouldn't change that for what I do: a nanny. I love my career.” Since switching to nannying, Lis has been lucky, finding steady employment with families who pay her a fair wage, allow her breaks and give her sick time. But under current state law, they don’t have to. While most workers across Washington enjoy [protections](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-lni-wa-gov/forms-publications/f101-165-909.pdf) like guaranteed breaks, protected leave, worker’s compensation benefits and a minimum wage of [$16.66 an hour](https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/?ref=rangemedia.co), [domestic laborers](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/03/31/domestic-workers-would-gain-new-protections-under-washington-bill/?ref=rangemedia.co) like nannies, house cleaners and gardeners are legally excluded from these protections. Most domestic laborers are considered independent contractors, and current labor law requires them to set their own rates. Rather than empowering workers to advocate to be paid what they’re worth and to set up contracts that are fair to both workers and employers, labor law favors employers, who often hire domestic workers with no contracts, no guaranteed time off, no minimum wage and no protected breaks. This means more than [100,000 domestic laborers](https://domesticemployers.org/chapter/seattle/?ref=rangemedia.co) work in the shadows — many of whom are women, BIPOC and immigrants. During the 2025 Washington state legislative session, domestic laborers from across the state rallied behind [SB 5023](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5023&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co), affectionately called the Domestic Laborers’ Bill of Rights, which sought to “provide labor market protections for domestic workers.” The bill would have eliminated exceptions in existing labor laws to prevent the abuses like the ones Lis suffered when she was cleaning houses. But it failed to pass a final hurdle in the House, leaving workers across the state without protections for yet another year. “Some people don't understand that this is a serious job, a career for many of us that we choose. Sometimes people look at the nanny job like a hobby,” Lis said, ” But it's really serious and very important because without us as nannies, my bosses who work in tech or in accounting, they have high profile jobs and without me they wouldn't be able to go to their jobs every day.” ### What the bill would have done Lis is not alone in having faced poor working conditions throughout her career. Elena E., a nanny over the age of 60 in Everett, said she was passed over for jobs and fired from other jobs because of her age. Claudia V., a nanny in Seattle, said she was fired with no warning or severance after telling the family she nannied for that she was pregnant. Neither of them could file discrimination claims because they were excluded from Washington’s labor laws. Lucia B., a gardener and house cleaner in Yakima, said her employers frequently made comments about her identity as a masculine lesbian, forcing her to lift and carry objects that were too heavy for her to do safely because she “looked like a man.” When that resulted in a serious back injury, Lucia had to continue working, because as a domestic laborer, she had no right to worker’s compensation. Liz F., an undocumented nanny in Bothell, decided not to return to a full-time nannying job when the family went on vacation. Angry that she wouldn’t be returning, the family she worked for demanded she return all the money she had already earned from three weeks of work, threatening to call immigration enforcement if she did not, Liz said. She didn’t see any other options; she returned the money, which put her in an extremely vulnerable economic position. The Domestic Laborers’ Bill of Rights — sponsored in the House by Rep. Monica Stonier (D-49) and the Senate by Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-37) — would have been the law when they faced workplace issues, Elena, Claudia, Lucia and Liz could have had the right to file Labor and Industries (L&I) claims against their employers. Instead, they were left vulnerable. The bill, which defines employers as “hiring entities,” would have: - Imposed requirements on hiring entities to pay domestic laborers minimum wage, provide them meal and rest breaks, have a written contract with them and provide them two weeks notice before terminating their contracts. - Prohibited hiring entities from retaliating against domestic workers for exercising their rights, participating in political speech, organizing or disclosing their immigration status. - Made hiring entities subject to the Washington Law Against Discrimination - Prohibited hiring entities from threatening to inform the government about a laborer’s immigration status - Prohibited hiring entities from recording or monitoring domestic laborers’s private communications, while in the bathroom or changing clothes. - Eliminated exceptions for domestic laborers from certain labor laws. “The policy was not creating new law,” said Hannah Sabio-Howell, the communications director at Working Washington & Fair Work Center, who worked on the lobbying campaign for the bill. “It's just including this historically excluded industry in existing labor law.” ### Bill fails after unexpected slowdowns The bill had progressive support, with nine co-sponsors on the Senate version of the bill and 17 co-sponsors on the House version, including Spokane representatives Timm Ormsby and Natasha Hill. By early March, the bill looked like a lock to pass, moving quickly through the Senate and reaching the final stage in the House. But on April 16, the bill failed to pass the House, in a shock to labor organizers and domestic workers. “I was at work and the kids I nanny were napping. So many of the nannies that have kids the same age, were texting and watching \[the House hearing\] and trying to wait for the good news, but it didn't happen,” Lis said. “It’s unbelievable that still so many years after my experience as a cleaner, I meet people, women, who are also in the same situation that I was back then. And it’s like nothing has changed.” Republicans who argued against the bill in the Senate said it would [create “bureaucratic red tape,](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/03/31/domestic-workers-would-gain-new-protections-under-washington-bill/?ref=rangemedia.co)” and an undue burden for hiring domestic laborers. The last time it was [discussed in the House](https://tvw.org/video/house-appropriations-2025041163/?eventID=2025041163&ref=rangemedia.co), on April 7, the only testimony against the bill was from Rep. Joe Schmick (R-9) who cited confusion with definitions in the bill, though he did not elaborate on what those confusions were. Sabio-Howell thought the bill failed because of Republicans throwing in [oppositional amendments](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5023&Chamber=Senate&Year=2025&ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Get%20Fiscal%20Note-,Amendments,-Columns) — amendments that water down a bill or undermine a bill’s intent that require debate and discussion. That slowed the process down, and the bill didn’t get a vote before the deadline. Estefana, a domestic laborer from King County who campaigned to get the bill passed, felt like it came down to a misunderstanding or devaluing of the work domestic laborers do. “The hardest thing that I saw through this process was making legislators and political identities understand why this was important,” Estefana said. “ At some point, we all need a nanny. We all need a caregiver. We all need a domestic worker, or a house cleaner.” We reached out to the bill’s sponsors, Saldaña and Stonier, to ask if they had any insight on why the bill didn’t pass, but neither responded to requests for comment. We will update this story if they do. ### Following the footsteps A bill like this isn’t unprecedented: [12 other states](https://virginiamercury.com/2024/12/26/why-not-us-nannies-housekeepers-win-labor-protections-in-some-states/?ref=rangemedia.co) have passed similar legislation, including [Oregon](https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/pages/domestic-workers.aspx?ref=rangemedia.co) and [California](https://truthout.org/articles/labor-laws-have-largely-excluded-domestic-workers-a-movement-is-changing-that/?ref=rangemedia.co). It’s not untested in Washington either — in 2019, the city of [Seattle passed](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-seattle-gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/ols%5Fqa%5Fdomestic-workers%5Ffinal%5F10022020.pdf) a nearly identical bill on the countywide level, fought for by the same coalition of workers’ rights organizations backing the state Domestic Laborers’ Bill of Rights. “ I think it's incredibly helpful to look at what happens when workers who've historically been excluded from things like the right to minimum wage, the right to sick time, the right to a fair contract and protections from discriminations finally have those things, like workers in most every other industry,” Sabio-Howell said. “We've seen it be incredibly successful in Seattle.” Dawn Utzik has worked in childcare for 18 years, nannying for 15 of those years. “When I got into nannying, a big portion of \[my pay\] was under the table,” Utzik said. “I was literally paid $10 an hour.” When she moved to King County, she started to get paid more, and had a W2 form so she could report her income, “but I was still not working with a contract,” she said. For a while, Utzik had a stable position with a family she felt respected her, but eventually, it ended when the child she was nannying went back to school. She bounced around for a bit, then went through an agency to find a new job, which ended up being her first contracted position: during that period, the Seattle Domestic Laborers’ Bill of Rights had gone into effect requiring hiring entities to maintain an in-writing contract with workers. This was crucial for Utzik: the family she started working for initially wasn’t giving her breaks from childcare, or paying her for the breaks she couldn’t take as the sole caregiver for a child, but since Utzik knew her rights under the new county law, she provided the family with a copy of the King County law. After that, “ I was given an additional two hours per paycheck, which is a good chunk of money,” Utzik said. “ I worked for them for two and a half years. And it was only because of the bill of rights that I was able to get that.” Now, Utzik is involved in organizing for the statewide Bill of Rights, to ensure that domestic laborers outside of King County can enjoy the same protections she has. “One of the really powerful and beautiful things about that coalition of workers was that they looked around and saw that this is something that workers across the state deserve too,” Sabio-Howell said, pointing to workers like Utzik and Estefana, who also works in King County. They didn’t stop pushing once their rights were guaranteed, instead, continuing to squeeze in bill testimony and media interviews on their breaks or while the children they nannied napped. ### What’s next? That dedication has workers already gearing up to fight even harder for this bill in the next legislative session, Sabio-Howell said. “Ultimately, this state policy came so painfully close but did not clear its final hurdle \[the House floor vote\] because lawmakers did not prioritize the urgency of defending this majority-immigrant, majority-women industry, even at a time when these are the workers on the frontlines of hostile federal policymaking,” Sabio-Howell said. “This coalition of workers will be back next year because correcting this injustice can’t wait. The key to success next year, domestic laborers think, is to ensure that lawmakers and people across the state take the time to really understand their work and why these protections are essential. “ I think that they think that a nanny is just sitting around the house just observing their child,” Utzik said. “ Our real job is we're octopuses. You need to be a chef because you're making lunches. You need to be a teacher because you have to have teachable moments where you're facilitating learning. You need to be playful and get on the ground and play with them. You need to be a librarian and provide books and you need to be a performer because you're singing and dramatic-acting in play. There’s so many different aspects to this job that people are unaware of.” “Domestic workers are essential. We want everybody to know about this law to help us, and to learn a little bit about what it means to be a domestic worker: why it’s important for us to have the same rights as anyone who works in fabric, in the hospital, in any other line of work,” Estefana said. “We work 40 hours, we work overtime and we have to have the right to PTO, the right to have a contract. The right to raise our voices. That’s what we’re trying to do here.” ### Spokane hospital where 12-year-old died endangered other suicidal patients, investigators find URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/providence-hospital-endanger-patients-spokane/ Last updated: 2025-05-21T15:58:00.000Z This story was originally published by [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their [Watchdog Weekly](https://www.investigatewest.org/pnw/NewsletterSubscription/Page?ref=rangemedia.co) newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. A 12-year-old girl who died by suicide at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in April was one of four suicidal patients the Spokane hospital put at risk this year, the Washington Department of Health found last month. Department investigators, who reviewed patient records, security footage and interviewed Sacred Heart staff, found that the hospital had repeatedly violated statewide safety standards by failing to follow its own policies around screening and supervision of patients with suicidal ideation. In the [case of Sarah Niyimbona](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/a-12-year-old-killed-herself-at-a-spokane-hospital-that-recently-closed-its-youth-psychiatric-unit-17870640?ref=rangemedia.co), whose suicide [spurred the state’s investigation](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/wa-health-department-investigating-spokane-hospital-after-girls-suicide-sparked-public-outcry-17883892?ref=rangemedia.co) and [a malpractice lawsuit](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/lawsuit-blames-spokane-hospital-for-12-year-olds-suicide-17889476?ref=rangemedia.co) by her family, investigators also raised alarms over Sacred Heart’s delayed response to her escape from the pediatrics floor. On April 13, Sarah managed to walk out of the unit where she had been staying as a psychiatric patient, walk to a hospital parking garage and jump from the fourth floor. She died in the emergency room from her injuries two hours later. The state’s findings, which InvestigateWest obtained through a public records request, expose a broader pattern of missteps where Sacred Heart staff failed to administer required twice-daily suicide screenings and left at-risk patients unmonitored. One patient had one missed screening, another had 18, and Sarah missed 64 out of 92 screenings she should have received. Another patient hospitalized after a suicide attempt wasn’t screened once in 46 days spent at Sacred Heart. Hospital staff ordered one-on-one supervision of that patient and Sarah to prevent them from harming themselves, but later eliminated that supervision with “no documentation explaining why,” health department investigators found. “Failure to implement policies and procedures, monitor patients with suicidal ideation, and activate emergency responses without delays puts patients at risk for physical and psychological harm, potential adverse outcomes or death,” investigators said in a notice of “immediate jeopardy” issued to the hospital on April 30. State regulators place hospitals in immediate jeopardy to notify them of severe deficiencies that can threaten patients’ lives. Hospitals risk losing Medicare certification if they don’t correct the issues promptly. The Department of Health began its investigation after reading InvestigateWest’s first report about Sarah’s death. The agency lifted Sacred Heart’s immediate jeopardy designation after Providence submitted a corrective action plan, which primarily involves reminding staff of existing policies and confirming their compliance. But health department spokesperson Frank Ameduri said the investigation will continue. Hospital spokesperson Allie Hyams wrote in an emailed statement Friday, "Providence implemented improved protocols and trainings, which included screening all patients for potential suicide risk and responding to situations when patients go missing while hospitalized." Providence has declined several requests for an interview since Sarah's death, which came six months after the hospital [closed its children's psychiatric unit](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/former-staff-at-spokane-youth-psychiatric-unit-blame-providence-for-closure-17784579?ref=rangemedia.co) against objections from staff and community members. “The DOH investigation shows that the systems issues at Sacred Heart have already led to the tragic death of one young patient and endangered others,” said David Keepnews, executive director of the Washington State Nurses Association, who reviewed the immediate jeopardy notice. “The hospital’s response — committing to follow their own policies — should just be an initial step. We hope Sacred Heart will focus on identifying and resolving the systems problems that have led to these dangerous conditions, and avoid pinning blame on individual care team members.” After reviewing the Department of Health findings, Disability Rights Washington Attorney Chloe Merino said "it's all very concerning." The report, she said, raised many questions including where the "sitter" assigned to watch Sarah around the clock was during repeated attempts on her life inside the hospital. Sarah’s sister, Asha Joseph, said the question of why her sitter was removed amid Sarah's turmoil is one that has tortured her family the most. The hospital has not provided an answer, she told InvestigateWest after hearing the findings. "I didn't know. My mom didn't know. We had no clue that they were even taking away the sitter," Joseph said, "and no one could tell us why but I guess that's because there wasn't a reason. No one had one. It's crazy to hear that. And it's unfortunate. She clearly needed it." Since last summer, Sarah had received intermittent care for self-harm and suicidal thoughts at an outpatient center, psychiatric hospital, group home and at Providence Sacred Heart, where she spent her final weeks. Sarah was discharged in February — but returned to Providence's emergency room just two hours later, after overdosing on depression medication, Department of Health records show. A suicide assessment determined she was at high risk for self-harm, which means she "must not be left alone," according to hospital policies. Sarah was assigned a sitter to monitor her around the clock and moved to the general pediatric unit, where two rooms were renovated to care for patients with acute psychiatric needs following the closure of its children's psychiatric unit. Pediatrics staff, who asked for anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, told InvestigateWest they repeatedly raised concerns to hospital managers about the need for additional training and safety measures in the rooms but were ignored. Washington law requires hospitals to develop and follow policies that enable staff to keep patients safe. Sacred Heart’s policy requires patients who are screened as a suicide risk to be assessed twice a day. But Sacred Heart failed to give Sarah and three additional patients suicide screenings as required by the policy, investigators found. Sarah’s self-harm was continuous throughout March and into April. Her care team documented five self-harm attempts in just six days, including an instance where she ran past her sitter and made it to an elevator before staff stopped her. A camera was installed to add remote monitoring in her room. On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, Sarah tried again to leave her room and threatened to harm herself multiple times. Two days later, she was caught trying to swallow a shower cap while taking a shower. The next week, Sarah wrote “a suicide plan that stated they would make everyone think they were okay and not depressed," the health department record said, and she listed multiple ways she could end her own life, including "jump off a high building.” Even so, on April 4, the camera was removed from Sarah's room without an assessment or recommendation from a mental health provider, Department of Health documents show. And four days later, the sitter was also removed without an assessment or documented reason, leaving Sarah without constant supervision for the first time in more than five weeks. Sacred Heart also faltered in its supervision of another patient, who was admitted to the intensive care unit after a suicide attempt, the Department of Health found. That patient had no sitter for the first three days. The next morning, their sitter “was pulled for other duties” and didn’t return until 11 hours later. When constant monitoring of the patient was canceled less than a week later, no reason was documented, investigators found. The day after Sarah's sitter was removed, she told staff that she was feeling isolated and lonely. “The patient remained shut in the room with no call light, television remote, and few belongings,” the report said. Four days later, at 5:30 p.m. Sarah left her room and the unit. She was gone for four minutes before staff noted she was missing, according to investigators' findings. It was another 11 minutes before security issued a missing child alert. A voice blasted Sarah's description over intercoms hospital-wide at 5:45 p.m.: "a 12-year-old female, African American with braided hair wearing a teal top and purple pants." One minute later, Sarah walked onto the fourth floor of a nearby parking garage where she lingered until 6:03 p.m. when security officers spotted her and she jumped. Staff members’ delayed notification to security that Sarah was missing also put the hospital in violation of state health and safety requirements, investigators determined. In a plan of correction responding to investigators’ findings, Neil Apeles, chief nursing officer for Providence Sacred Heart, said the hospital would make renewed efforts to educate workers on their missing child policy, which requires immediate notification to security dispatch. Staff are also required to check all hallways and exits within their own departments. To address deficiencies in the care of suicidal patients, Apeles said, all nurses and behavioral health providers would be required to confirm that they reviewed existing policies around suicide screenings and monitoring requirements. Additionally, department leaders and charge nurses were tasked with daily checks to ensure suicide screenings are completed and that patients are being monitored at “appropriate levels.” ### Washington will pay unemployment benefits to striking workers URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/washington-will-pay-unemployment-benefits-to-striking-workers/ Last updated: 2025-05-20T18:15:14.000Z Labor advocates scored a win on Monday after Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a new law to extend unemployment benefits to striking workers in Washington. The governor’s conference room was packed with advocates and lawmakers who gathered to see Ferguson sign the law with his blue felt tip pen. “Allowing striking workers to access unemployment insurance benefits creates a more level playing field for workers to have the resources they need to effectively bargain for better working conditions,” Ferguson said before putting his signature on [Senate Bill 5041](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5041&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co). The new law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026 and is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2035\. Washington joins New York and New Jersey as the only states that provide such benefits to striking workers. The bill generated controversy during the legislative session, with Republicans and business groups opposing the idea, arguing that it will encourage more workers to go on strike and ​​result in higher costs for businesses. Democrats and labor advocates say this law will disincentivize bad faith behavior by employers and encourage them to engage with their workers. “No one wants to go out on strike,” said April Sims, president of the Washington State Labor Council. “Going out on strike is the absolute last resort, and workers that strike do so because there is simply no other option.” The bill went through several rounds of negotiations over how long workers could collect unemployment insurance. Unemployment insurance is typically available for up to 26 weeks. When the bill first passed the Senate, the benefits would be extended for up to 12 weeks for strikers. But when it passed the House, the threshold was lowered to four weeks. Lawmakers ultimately settled on six weeks. Workers will be eligible for unemployment benefits starting 15 to 21 days after the strike begins, depending on the day the strike starts. If the contract is resolved before that time, benefits will not be issued. The benefits will also be extended to workers affected by an employer-initiated lockout, something labor advocates point to as a tactic businesses use to put pressure on workers during contract negotiations. The state’s Employment Security Department will also be required to submit annual reports to the Legislature with data on the number of strikes in the state and the cost of benefits for striking workers for Washington’s unemployment insurance trust fund, which is [funded by a tax on employers](https://esd.wa.gov/jobs-and-training/labor-market-information/labor-force-and-unemployment/unemployment-insurance-trust-fund?ref=rangemedia.co). ### Block parties for all and a roving meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Board URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/ Last updated: 2025-05-19T18:31:21.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - Block parties could get a whole lot easier (and cheaper) if the Spokane City Council passes the ordinance establishing a summer block party program at tonight’s meeting. - The Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee is getting a presentation on a potential new regional task force to solve the homelessness and opioid crises. - The Bicycle Advisory Board is taking their meeting on the road with a biking meeting! - A flock of Flock security cameras could be installed all across Spokane County. - Will the Country Homes potholes finally be fixed?! Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee (PIES)](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) - [Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) - [Spokane Ombuds Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) - [Bicycle Advisory Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners — [Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) and [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) Sessions - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/block-parties-for-all-and-a-roving-meeting-of-the-bicycle-advisory-board/) ## Bike with RANGE! Thursday, May 22nd at 5:30 pm – City Hall Join urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn, city hall reporter extraordinaire Erin Sellers and (some of) the rest of the RANGE team at Spokane City Hall for a nine mile, party-pace ride to check out south bank bike infrastructure east of downtown – we all know about the Centennial Trail on the north bank, but there are some little-known south bank gems getting city and state investment. The ride should take about 90 minutes max and we’ll end at Brick West Brewing Co for some socializing. ## Spokane City Council 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Settlement, fighting suits Council could approve two consent agenda contracts to continue fighting unlawful death suits against the city: [another $100,000](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/18/legal-fees-continue-to-rise-for-city-of-spokane-as/?ref=rangemedia.co) to fight a suit from the [family](https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/robert-bradley-family-lawsuit-spokane/293-ed7fb2ef-662a-40cb-8ac9-2b92a4bcee87?ref=rangemedia.co) of Robert Bradley, who was shot and killed by Spokane police, bringing the total to $600,000, and another $50,000 in a suit from the estate of Clovy Jamarillo, bringing that total of $200,000\. Later in the meeting, the city is set to approve a $90,000 settlement with Kelli True, for “an incident that occurred on November 13, 2024.” ### Five year plan We covered discussion of Spokane’s plan for homelessness in [an earlier edition ](https://www.rangemedia.co/sta-connect-2035-rolling/)of CIVICS and tonight, council could vote to show their support for the Spokane Regional Continuum of Care’s 2025-2030 5-year Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. It’s an absolute mouthful, but essentially, it’s a guiding document to align Spokane’s approach to the homelessness crisis and ensure it follows guidance from Washington State Department of Commerce and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The plan can be found in full detail starting on page 486. ### Play streets + block parties Tonight could be the night that council makes it easier for you to have block parties this summer. The ordinance would establish a program, running June through Halloween, that would streamline the processes to close non-arterial streets and create car-free spaces to have community activities. One note: it would still require a special event permit to do the street closure, but those fees will be waived for free events that don’t include an intersection and don’t close down more than a block. ### Next week’s sneak peek: This week is relatively chill, and there’s no meeting next week because of Memorial Day, but the week *after* is going to be jam-packed with important items. Here’s a little preview: - A slate of special budget ordinances for police and fire, including replacing Spokane Police Department’s armored vehicle and increasing a [CARES team position](https://my.spokanecity.org/fire/operations/cares/?ref=rangemedia.co) from part-time to full-time in the Fire Department. - A $400,000 settlement with [one of the women](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/aug/23/woman-describes-horrible-rape-by-former-spokane-po/?ref=rangemedia.co) who was sexually assaulted by Spokane Police Officer Nathan Nash, who was [found guilty](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/aug/30/former-spokane-police-officer-found-guilty-acquitt/?ref=rangemedia.co) in 2022 of raping multiple women while on duty in 2019. - Honorarily naming the Post Street Bridge the “Friends of the Falls Memorial Bridge.” More context on that [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/). - First reads on several of Mayor Lisa Brown’s ordinances, which could ban "aggressive solicitation” like panhandling and criminalize homelessness across the city regardless of shelter bed availability. It would also make legal consequences easier to avoid — complying with orders to move or taking offers of shelter or treatment means a person won’t be cited. - A first read on an interim ordinance that would allow “small-scale commercial establishments,” in residential developments: think neighborhood cafes on the bottom floor of new apartment complexes. - A first read on the [ordinance to ban cryptocurrency kiosks](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) within the city of Spokane. - Individual council members can decide during the “special considerations” section of the meeting if they want to sign on to a letter expressing support for the new permanent siting of the American Indian Community Center in Highbridge Park, funded by a state grant and individual donations. The community center has had to move 11 times since its establishment and this permanent home would empower them to continue “providing a wide variety of social services including food distribution, employment and training opportunities, rental assistance, child welfare services, alcohol and drug assessments and mental health programs,” according to the letter. - Also during Special Consideration, council can decide if they want to approve a joint letter in support of the creation of a "Safe & Healthy Spokane Task Force.” (more info on that below.) > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 19, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Presentation: ‘Safe & Healthy Spokane Task Force’ Collaboration on the homelessness and opioid crises in our region could get even more organized as Spokane city, Spokane Valley and Spokane County consider creating a regional task force. If approved, that task force would submit a comprehensive plan to electeds for review with “actionable, cost effective strategies to make our community safer and healthier,” and could result in a countywide ballot measure in 2026 to “fund Action Plan strategies and facility improvements.” Here’s what the task force — which “consists of a diverse array of experts, leaders, and individuals with lived experience in areas including behavioral health, law enforcement, the courts, emergency response, healthcare, business, philanthropy, labor, workforce, and advocacy,” — is supposed to do: - Complete a needs assessment that identifies strengths, gaps and areas for scaling successful programs and builds upon recent justice and behavioral health mapping efforts - Update previous studies and recommendations in light of the current opioid crisis, incorporating best practices from other communities - Engage broad public input to ensure the voices and priorities of the people are heard - Recommend specialized strategies, services and facilities after in depth exploration of specific areas including prevention and diversion; pre/post-incarceration interventions; coordinated case management; efficient intake, booking and case processing; crisis response; therapeutic courts; re-entry approaches; workforce needs; data; and the facilities needed to promote a safe and healthy Spokane - Ensure transparency and accountability in all its operations by meeting in public, providing regular progress reports, maintaining a public facing website - Leverage funding by identifying ways to maximize effective use of taxpayer dollars and integrate existing public and private resources wherever possible. Based upon the Task Force’s recommendations, a County-wide ballot measure could be considered in 2026 to fund action plan strategies and facility improvements, as needed. A couple considerations after reading Deputy City Administrator Maggie Yates’ agenda submission: Will that new ballot measure just end up being jail tax round two, after the last countywide jail tax ballot measure failed in 2023? How will this be different from the Regional Homelessness Authority plans, which [proposed jail as a major solution](https://www.rangemedia.co/regional-homeless-authority-spokane-housing-jail/) and [died out after Mayor Lisa Brown ](https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2024/04/qa-spokane-mayor-lisa-brown-policing-homelessness-and-budgets?ref=rangemedia.co)took office and issue with the funding mechanism? Will this be enough of a regional collaboration for [Gavin Cooley to be able to stop walking](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/) at 5 am every morning? *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Monday, May 19 at 12 pm* *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Public Library Board of Trustees **📚📚📚📚/5 books** ### Summer reading The sun’s coming back and so is the Spokane Public Library’s Summer Reading Club!! It’s listed as “new business,” on their meeting agenda for this week, and they just sent out an email with an overview. If you’re thinking, “silly RANGE, Summer Reading is for kids,” WRONG. In Spokane, it’s for adults too, and you can even win prizes for doing it! Learn more [here](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/summer-reading-club-2025/?ct=AAAAAhQFEQFzFAIGABEFZW1haWwGAQgBsBEBZQgBsBECc3QRFjY4MmI0MDU1MTllY2U2NzU3NzA4MDURAWwKABEIvxEBYxQBDgIIAbA%253D&ref=rangemedia.co). > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/leadership?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 20 at 4:30 pm* > *Shadle Park Library* > *2111 W. Wellesley Ave, Spokane, Washington, 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://www.spokanelibrary.org/live-stream/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Spokane Ombuds Commission **?/5 peppers** The Spokane Office of the Police Ombuds is having a special out-in-community meeting this week, at the West Central Community Center. There’s literally nothing else in the agenda, but maybe this is a chance for West Central folks to learn more about the OPO? *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/ombuds-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co) *Tuesday, May 20 at 5:30 pm* *West Central Community Center* *1603 North Belt Street Spokane WA 99205* *See the most recent meeting* [*here*](https://vimeo.com/showcase/2861364?ref=rangemedia.co). ## Bicycle Advisory Board 🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲/5 bikes ### Bikes for sure It’s [Bike Everywhere Month](https://www.rangemedia.co/bike-everywhere-month-events-meetup-urbanism/), and the Bicycle Advisory Board is getting in on the fun with a special biking meeting tomorrow. They’ll start at 5 pm at City Hall, outside of the Chase Gallery, take a 6 pm midpoint stop (if you want to jump in late) at Hemlock & Dalton, and finish at 7 pm at David’s Pizza. Their full route can be found on page 3 of their agenda. Niche, perhaps in-house joke, but as the Slackbot created by our urbanism columnist and BAB board chair Lauren Pangborn would say: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ad_4nxdjk9j8ggieguqd51mrp_x_c98mfjzuzw0qbru9f6a8xzhnbumxmtdpb4tohuus8oi8jsltbd21eyyqpuh0qkxfoeup4itglrvmjxboj0lkhebxy2ih1yu1pqik3-zuz8rlzk5alwkeyiy3h4ghsq-eyfhv5pksmng8r.png) > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/bicycle-advisory-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 20 at 5 pm* > *City Council Briefing Center* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting%5FNWNlYjdjMDktMGYwMy00NDExLWE1ZTItN2UwYzliMGY1NzI2%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2295fa1d6e-6a27-496e-9117-fc34d9076661%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22c8a149ab-0094-4c4e-b7e3-3633a0ca624f%22%7d&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $14M in state funding for homelessness services Spokane County has been awarded more than $14 million in a grant from the Washington Department Commerce to reduce homelessness, $3.4 million of which will be given to the City of Spokane. There’s not much detail in the presentation documents in the agenda, but the bulk of the money, about $8.4 million, will be dedicated to “homelessness prevention,” meaning paying rent and administering programs that keep people who struggle paying rent in their homes. ### New rescue tech available for sheriff’s office The Spokane County Sheriff has an opportunity to improve its search and rescue technology for free. The office’s Regional Air Support Unit has negotiated an agreement with a company called RECCO to use its “helicopter detector” — deployed from the bottom of search helicopters — and “handheld detector” — which is carried by on-the-ground search crews. The contract would allow the sheriff’s office to use the technology for two years to find people lost in remote parts of Spokane County. RECCO agreed to train sheriff staff on how to use the technology and replace the units if they break. They work by detecting passive signal-emitting devices manufactured by RECCO that can be sewn into hiking, climbing, skiing and other outdoor gear. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 20 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Potential Flock camera locations up for vote [Flock Safety](https://www.flocksafety.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), a Georgia company that makes surveillance cameras, will likely be given the right-of-way to install security cameras at 26 locations throughout Spokane County. Flock’s technology gathers spatial and temporal data across cities, counties, neighborhood, college campuses and other communities to provide a “holistic” analysis of criminal activity. The city and county already use this company’s “[covert cameras](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/27/spokane-police-to-get-eight-pole-mounted-surveilla/?ref=rangemedia.co),” (which activists in [other](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/cameras-cop-city-activist-homes-atlanta?ref=rangemedia.co) [cities](https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/activists-find-camera-inside-mysterious-box-on-power-pole-near-union-organizer-s-home/article%5Fbd66d4d0-3f63-5996-b350-10d4d131475d.html?ref=rangemedia.co) have had planted outside their homes) and license plate readers, which the ACLU [has called](https://denverite.com/2025/05/05/denver-rejects-flock-camera-license-plate-readers/?ref=rangemedia.co) “Orwellian,” for the [extensive amount of data](https://deflock.me/?ref=rangemedia.co) they capture, which can be used to build p[redictive profiles of a person’s frequent travel patterns](https://www.404media.co/license-plate-reader-company-flock-is-building-a-massive-people-lookup-tool-leak-shows/?ref=rangemedia.co). Local advocates in Spokane have been [pushing at the Spokane city level](https://www.change.org/p/petition-to-spokane-city-council-regarding-flock-camera-installation?recruiter=1371274981&recruited%5Fby%5Fid=1964e4e0-17fe-11f0-bb40-0132c70066ca&utm%5Fsource=share%5Fpetition&utm%5Fcampaign=starter%5Fonboarding%5Fshare%5Fsocial&utm%5Fmedium=copylink) to pause the installation of FLOCK cameras. [Here](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1894/files/attachment/16888?ref=rangemedia.co) is a map of the locations proposed, and below is a list of the street corners: - Appleway Avenue and Wellesley Avenue - Bigelow Gulch Road and Havana Street - Brooks Road and Highway 2 - Deno Road, between Trails Road and Hayford Road - Dishman Mica Road, west of State Route 27 - Farwell Road and Pittsburg Street - Gilbert Road and Trent Avenue - Government Way and Houston Rd - Government Way and Greenwood Road - Graves Road and Highway 395 - Grove Road, between 40th Avenue and Thorpe Road - Half Moon Road and Highway 395 - Harvard Road, between Spokane River and Euclid Avenue - Hawthorne Road and Colfax Road - Hawthorne Road and Parksmith Drive - Malloy Prairie, south of I-90 - Market Street and Francis Avenue - Market Street and Freya Street - Market Street and Parksmith Drive - South side of Rutter Parkway - Seven Mile Road, west of Highway 291 - Spotted Road and Highway 395 - Upriver Drive and Argonne Road - Upriver Drive, west of Wellesley Avenue - Westmoreland Road and Highway 2 ### Union agreement up for approval The BOCC is set to mint its [collective bargaining agreement](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1894/files/attachment/17135?ref=rangemedia.co) with the government employees union, Local 1553-S, a $1.5 million agreement that establishes pay rates, holiday, benefits and hours for the next year for Spokane County Workers. ### Liberty Lake requests $500k reimbursement for improving Cataldo Ave The BOCC is set to approve a $589,251.57 reimbursement request from the city of Liberty Lake to replenish funding for an extension of Cataldo Avenue, along I-90. ### Opening bid for $1.2M to Country Homes Blvd. Could the potholes on Country Homes finally be fixed?! The board will likely open a bid for more than $1.2 million in Capital Facilities funding for sewer replacement and road reconstruction on Country Homes Boulevard, mostly from North Cedar Street to Excell Road. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 20 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### $2M roundabout construction would be largest SpoVal project ever The city wants to add a nearly $2 million roundabout to a $347,139.23 road improvement project that would be built by the contractor HDR Engineering, Inc. The roundabout would be near the BNSF railroad at the intersection of Empire Way and Trent Avenue. The agenda item says the amendment to the original project makes it the largest construction effort in the history of the City of Spokane Valley, which was incorporated in 2003. *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) *Tuesday, May 20 at 6 pm* *City Hall* *10210 E Sprague Ave* *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🫑/5 peppers > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 21 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive, Liberty Lake,* > *WA 99019The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### POD: How to be a journalist from prison + union-busting updates URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-how-to-be-a-journalist-from-prison-union-busting-updates/ Last updated: 2025-05-16T22:33:54.000Z This week Erin was flying solo on the radio, but Val and Hedge were there in spirit. First up we had an interview with Hedge and Val talking to incarcerated journalist [Christopher Blackwell](https://www.rangemedia.co/imprisoned-people-can-do-more-than-scare-kids-straight/) on the challenges and rewards of reporting from within the carceral system. After that, Erin pretended to be explaining recent news to a bestie, with updates on rent stabilization, union-busting at Planned Parenthood and the implementation of the Strippers’ Bill of Rights, a piece of legislation passed last year in Washington to guarantee more labor protections for dancers. **Relevant reading:** - [Imprisoned People Can Do More than ‘Scare’ Kids ‘Straight’](https://www.rangemedia.co/imprisoned-people-can-do-more-than-scare-kids-straight/): Scared straight’ programs don’t work. But that doesn’t mean incarcerated people shouldn’t mentor at-risk kids. - [The local Planned Parenthood spent $15,570 on union-busting last year](https://www.rangemedia.co/planned-parenthood-union-busting-contract/): in the last 49 days of 2024, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho spent $317 a day on a union-busting contract. - [The Strippers’ Bill of Rights, one year later](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-strippers-bill-of-rights-labor-protections/): As club owners use a loophole in legislation intended to protect dancers, strippers are finding their own ways to fight back through labor organizing and pop-up shows where they keep all their profits. - [Cap on rent increases across Washington is signed into law](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington-law/); [Rent increase cap proposal heads to Washington governor](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-increase-cap-legislature-governor/); [It’s rough to be a WA renter. A bill that could help is close to passing](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington/). ### I laid myself off this week URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/range-furlough-journalism-funding-local-news/ Last updated: 2026-02-19T17:19:06.000Z **I laid myself off this week.** RANGE is staring down some serious financial hurdles, and I’ve been working long hours for months, losing a lot of sleep, trying to find new funding sources. I haven’t found any yet, and we can’t wait any longer. We probably took too long to make the decision as it is. The newsroom I love so dearly can’t cover its costs, and business math is simple: if you can’t cover your costs, you have to cut them. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on RANGE. I’m hopefully doing the opposite. I hope we’re buying ourselves the time we need to survive. While I’m gone, RANGE is going to keep empowering our community with information. We’re going to keep holding the powerful accountable. We’re going to keep centering the people most affected in our work. I’ll get into this in greater detail later, but the team has already been doing this work for months. I’m also not disillusioned. The money thing sucks, but we’ve been beating the odds since the beginning. It’s surreal to say in a post where I’m basically firing myself, but it’s the truth: I’m more confident in what we’re doing now than I’ve ever been. We’re closer to sustainability now than we ever have been. I believe in our team more than I ever have. I know in my bones that our vision of changing Spokane through radical access to democracy — empowering our communities to fight for their specific and shared needs — is more important today than it was in 2020. I see the impact we’re making in the region. I see the growth of my colleagues as professionals, friends and just people. I see these things and it makes me emotional. I’m crying a little bit right now as I write this, *if you must know*. This doesn’t mean the end of RANGE, and I hope it isn’t the end of my time here. I hope it’s just a brief little furlough and not a permanent pink slip. The money we need to raise to continue is totally doable, and I’m really frustrated with myself that I haven’t been able to make it happen. All I can do is lead the horse to water, though. I can’t make the horse donate $45,000\. I haven’t even found the horse, yet, and so here we are. Either one of us goes now, or all of RANGE goes in a month or two. **Why me?** While the team agonized about making a cut, I was never in doubt about who should go if it came to that. Because of the issues facing us, I’ve had to scale back my editorial role since late January, and the rest of the team has had to step up. This was a little scary for me, because I’m a perfectionist and a control freak, but that’s all my baggage. I wasn’t worried about them, and for the last few months, they’ve demonstrated why: They do [amazing](https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-strippers-bill-of-rights-labor-protections/) [work](https://www.rangemedia.co/planned-parenthood-union-busting-contract/), [day](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-surveillance-immigration-activist-deportation/) [in](https://www.rangemedia.co/incarcerated-people-drug-treatment-mandate/), [day](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) [out](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-law-nyne/), and they’re growing in ways they might not have if I still had my fist on the reins 24/7. Why would I mess with that? That’s my practical reason, but there’s a philosophical reason as well: I knew I wanted RANGE to be a worker-owned cooperative before I knew whether we’d ever be able to afford a second staff member. RANGE needed to be a cooperative because I believe that journalists deserve to own a piece of the newsrooms they bleed for. More importantly for me, though: I have never wanted RANGE to live or die with me. I wanted to build something that will grow with our community long past the time I’m gone from it. I want to retire — I want to go to my grave *—* knowing our city has a newsroom built to center those with the least power, a newsroom that trusts the journalists telling the community’s stories to also make the business decisions that best serve all of Spokane, not just a small clique of owners. I believe that many (possibly most) of the biggest problems in society stem from individual people having too much power, and holding onto that power well past the time they can effectively and compassionately wield it. RANGE should be able to survive one team member leaving, no matter who that person is. **So how doomed is RANGE?** Honestly, it’s not. Or rather, it doesn’t have to be. This is not a huge, structural hole. It’s a short-term cash crisis. We’ve actually weathered an almost identical storm before, and it was our readers who got us through. For all the doom and gloom surrounding journalism as an industry, RANGE has always been just a little bit profitable, even in our first year. It wasn’t an option not to be. Traditional lines of financing aren’t open to worker cooperatives and none of us have family money to lean on. We have always survived membership-to-membership, grant-to-grant. In that context, even having a small profit on the books at the end of the year, doesn’t mean you might not still run out of cash in June. Late spring and summer have always been challenging for us. Most of our grants have come at the beginning or the end of years. Our membership dollars follow the same path. As the weather warms, fewer people open their email, and fewer people become members. 5,000-word investigations of corruption or union-busting or environmental neglect aren’t anyone’s idea of a light beach read. You might remember that I wrote about [our money struggles](https://www.rangemedia.co/save-range-a-press-for-the-people-needs-the-peoples-support/) last August as well. Back then, we had a particular funder back out of support we had been planning on, and that sent us into crisis. I regret to report that shifting philanthropic priorities are now an industry-wide trend: far fewer institutions — from the biggest national philanthropies to regional and local foundations — are funding journalism in 2025 the way they have been for the decade leading up to today. We planned for this. I’ve spent enough of my career doing grant-funded work that I’ve seen this happen before in arts spaces and even in sectors like aid for refugees. It’s why we’ve added a small number of advertisements. It’s why we made that silly/serious [clothing line](https://range-media.square.site/?ref=rangemedia.co). It’s why we’re always hitting you up to become members. **That’s the silver lining here:** the thing that saved us last August is the same thing that can save us today. When we told readers we needed “to dramatically increase our membership,” people listened! We went from being less than 20% reader-funded to over 30%. And one extremely generous donor, who has always wanted to remain anonymous, did something I never imagined: wrote a check for $30,000. I knew we’d get some help. I would have felt irresponsible to expect that much. All told, our community brought in $45,000\. It was easily our most successful membership drive ever, and it kept us alive. That’s also roughly the same amount we need now. **RANGE just turned five years old.** Almost half of businesses fail before they hit that milestone. I couldn’t find statistics for startup newsrooms, but I suspect the number is even higher. RANGE, by contrast, is doing great work and growing in every sense of the word. We’re publishing more than we ever have. We have more members than we’ve ever had. We’re still winning grants. In fact: we have $100,000 of multi-year grants that will pay out starting in September. We just don’t have enough cash to get us through June, July and August. It doesn’t have to all come at once, but it does need to come soon. It doesn’t have to come from our readers, but there’s no one we trust more to come through for us. --- #### Hey, it’s Val, RANGE’s Managing Editor, taking it from here. Laying off the person who hired you is never something I thought I’d be doing, and in the wider journalism industry I’ve experienced, it’s always the opposite — don’t even get me started on the likelihood of a boss volunteering for it. But we’re worker-owned, and that means we all get a vote (even if Luke would’ve found a way to cut his cost to RANGE no matter what). I joined RANGE at 26 years-old fresh off a 20-hour move from Southern California, burned out from daily news in LA County and hopeful for a future for local journalism that would be led by the people doing the work for their communities. I found that future in Spokane at RANGE. I’ve found a home in this city and I’ve found a community here that *cares* about its people. And RANGE has all the right pieces to help it become even better — we just need to survive to get there. **So here’s how you can be part of making Spokane better for everyone.** > **Become a member of RANGE:** This is a recurring membership, either monthly or yearly, that can be as low as $10 each month (cheaper than Netflix!). This helps us anticipate our revenue and plan our costs. Click [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/support-us/) to join. > > **Give a tax-deductible donation:** We’re not a non-profit, but we are fiscally sponsored, so if you have a chunk of money you don’t need, you can give it to the cause and make a big impact. Click [here](https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/DonationPage.aspx?eventid=389157&langpref=en-CA&Referrer=https%3a%2f%2fadmin.e2rm.com%2f&ref=rangemedia.co) to give. > > **Become a sponsor:** If you’re a business owner or organization that needs advertising, we have the space for it! You can sponsor our newsletters or buy display ads on our site. Reach out [here](mailto: ads@rangemedia.co). > > **Buy our merch:** We don’t mean crappy water bottles with our logo on them, we mean shorts with “newsworthy” across the butt and actual cool stuff you’ll want to wear and use. Shop [here](https://range-media.square.site/?ref=rangemedia.co). > > **Tell everyone about us:** We know the economy is in flux at best and in shambles at worst and you have to be able to put food on the table. If you can’t afford to help in a monetary way, you can become a RANGE ambassador and tell your friends on social media and in person to [sign up](https://bit.ly/43l3fYC?ref=rangemedia.co) for our newsletter. (Our recent reader survey showed that 44% of our readers find out about us through word of mouth, so we KNOW y’all are effective!) We know local news is better when the people who make it run the show and when the community we serve is at the center of everything we do. So let’s make it happen together. ### The Strippers’ Bill of Rights, one year later URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/wa-strippers-bill-of-rights-labor-protections/ Last updated: 2025-05-16T00:14:24.000Z When the Strippers’ Bill of Rights was [signed into law](https://www.rangemedia.co/strippers-bill-of-rights-passes-final-hurdle/) by then-Governor Jay Inslee just over a year ago, dancers across the state felt swells of hope. “I was so happy, I cried,” said Kasper, a dancer based out of Seattle. The Strippers’ Bill of Rights was a law championed statewide by the dancer-led organizing group [Strippers Are Workers](https://www.strippersareworkers.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) and designed to codify worker protections for dancers in Washington, where state laws uniquely endangered them. Among those laws is a ban on alcohol in clubs, which incentivized club owners to make the majority of their money by charging dancers predatory fees and back-rent — a practice that could leave dancers indebted to the club they danced at. By all accounts, the bill’s passage was a victory for Washington strippers, who are frequently left out of labor rights conversations while facing an [unfriendly economic landscape](https://www.rangemedia.co/stripper-bill-rights-washington-sb-6105/) — one of the worst in the nation for strippers. “I couldn’t stop smiling. It felt like such a big win,” said River Dreaming, a dancer and who organized with SAW to lobby for the bill. “Washington is such a generally liberal state that it's been so weird that we had the most draconian strip club laws in the entire country. … It was just very heartening to have the bill finally go through.” All that was left was to wait for its implementation, taking full effect until January 1 of this year, which would prohibit those predatory back-rent practices, cap the stage fees clubs could charge dancers at $150 a shift or 30% of the dancer’s earnings for each shift, whichever is less, and create a pathway for clubs to apply for liquor permits, allowing them to add a revenue stream that didn’t rely on charging dancers. When the bill passed, it was “everything we hoped for,” Madison Zack-Wu, SAW’s campaign manager, told RANGE last year. But one year after Inslee signed it into law, dancers say conditions have changed — but in most cases, not for the better, as club owners have found loopholes they can use to maximize their profits at the expense of dancers. ### The ‘revenue sharing’ loophole Clubs don’t pay strippers to perform in Washington. Instead, dancers are independent contractors. Similar to how tattoo artists might rent booth space from a tattoo parlor, or hair stylists rent a chair from a salon, dancers pay the club to use the stage, plus give a cut of their earnings from non-stage services like private or VIP dances. Before the Strippers’ Bill of Rights went into effect, clubs had no limits on the cuts or fees they could collect. Dancers could work a full shift and leave with nothing, or worse: owing money to the club for stage fees they didn’t recoup in tips. The new law was intended to ensure more money for strippers’ services ends up in their g-strings — instead of club owners’ pockets — by capping the amount of “stage fees,” clubs could charge dancers. But club owners found ways around that. Some clubs, like the Deja Vu Showgirls chain in the Seattle area, changed their profit models just prior to the bill’s implementation. Instead of allowing dancers to conduct their business with customers as independent contractors and charging them the fees that were capped by the bill at $150 or 30% of their income, some club owners stopped charging fees at all. Now, those clubs collect the revenue directly from customers and pay the dancers at the end of the night in a model club owners call “revenue sharing.” Since they aren’t technically charging the dancers fees, this loophole lets club owners keep as much of the revenue from dancers’ labor as they want, all without being in violation of the law. “Clubs are doing the things that clubs do, which is trying to have as much power over dancers as possible, trying to profit off the dancers as much as possible,” Zack-Wu said. “That's the reason why we had to pass the bill in the first place, so it’s definitely no surprise there that clubs are still acting like clubs.” The new model also throws a kink in dancers’ usual flow. Normally, if they’re giving a customer a lap dance, or a private service, they’re working to establish a rapport and a vibe, hoping the client will book more lap dances. Under the auspices of “revenue sharing,” customers have to leave the room and pay for each lap dance up front, instead of letting dancers “stack dances,” and settle up afterwards. “It’s harder to sell more dances, which means dancers make less money and clubs make less money,” Zack-Wu said. To her, this reeks of club owners caring more about establishing control over dancers, than just their bottom lines. At least ten dancers in the Seattle area have filed complaints to the Labors and Industries board (L&I) about this new model. So far, the [state has ruled in](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/strippers-bill-of-rights-has-fallen-short-wa-adult-dancers-say/?ref=rangemedia.co) favor of the club owners. If that pattern continues, dancers’ options are limited to legislative appeal or other methods of negotiating with clubs, like collective bargaining, Zack-Wu said. Still, she’s optimistic that L&I might respond differently to a new wave of complaints, eventually moving to close the loophole. “ Implementation does not always go 100% perfectly at first, and I think we're very much experiencing that,” Zack-Wu said. “We're in that transitional phase of finding what works in the bill and finding what doesn't, \[finding\] what clubs are exploiting.” ### ‘Imagine if an article about Starbucks doing this came out.’ The implementation of the revenue sharing model isn’t the only way that club owners have come down on dancers since the bill passed. For Kasper, who dances at Kittens Cabaret in Seattle, Zack-Wu’s comments about club owners trying to keep control rang true. When she went in to sign her annual contract in 2025, she found Frank Colacurcio Jr., a consultant at the club, at Kittens sitting in her meeting with a manager. She recalled him saying: “‘Why do you think this bill passed? Do you think this is, like, actually gonna be good for the club? Why do you think this bill passed? Do you think this is like actually gonna be good for the club? You know, we're gonna have to charge you more, ‘cause now we have to pay the city more.’” (There is no language in the bill that indicates why he would have to pay the city more.) She felt like he was trying to intimidate her; she had been active in SAW and educating her fellow dancers about their rights. Colacurcio Jr. is [banned from running strip clubs](https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/waw/press/2010/sep/colacurcio.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in Washington, but still has a hand in Kittens Cabaret as a consultant (though dancers allege he is the de facto owner.) His dad has also [garnered a reputation](https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/09/30/41507162/strippergate-101-everything-you-need-to-know-about-a-city-council-scandal-from-2003?ref=rangemedia.co) as the strip club “mob boss” of Seattle that’s so infamous that he has a [musical written about ](https://www.thestranger.com/arts/2025/05/09/80049585/seattle-vice-76-the-saga-of-sin?utm%5Fcampaign=feed&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fsource=later-linkinbio)him. Colacurcio Jr. told RANGE that he shares an office with the manager. We read him the questions Kasper remembers him asking, and he said he didn’t “say anything like that. The most I might have asked them is how they felt about \[the bill\].” He had his own feelings on the bill: “I love the safety measures. I felt that was important.” But, since the bill went fully into implementation, the club’s costs have increased, with payroll up by $5,000, which Colacurcio Jr. says is due to increased labor costs after staffing up security to meet [provisions in the bill](https://www.rangemedia.co/stripper-bill-rights-washington-sb-6105/). 2025 has also been less profitable for Kittens than years’ past, in a big way. “No profit at this point in time,” Colacurcio Jr. told RANGE on May 16\. “ My opinion that I gave the owners was, if they can't make a profit by the end of the year, I would shut the place down, personally.” He didn’t solely chalk it up to the bill; he also pointed to economic insecurity from Trump’s tariffs (a trend that sex workers have [noticed nationally](https://rangecrew.slack.com/archives/D05GRLL73HU/p1746422267205639?ref=rangemedia.co)) and drastic increases in rent costs. While the bill set caps on how much clubs could charge dancers for their services, it didn’t put a cap on how much the property owners — who in some cases are different than the club owners — could charge in rent. “If the bill said, landlords can’t raise rent, it would’ve been wonderful, because that would have given us a little bit more stability,” Colacurcio Jr. said. “But you only have two revenues: the dancers and the customers. If you take too much from the customers, they don't spend on the dancers and if you take too much from the dancers, they don't work for you and there's no customers.” Two years ago, Kittens’ rent increased by about 45%, Colacurcio Jr. said. “The crying shame is that property owners know that the zoning's so limited on these clubs that they can charge whatever they want and so they bleed you dry.” Unlike Deja Vu Showgirls, Kittens stuck with the traditional profit model. Clubs that did shift to “revenue sharing” are “within their rights to do that,” said Ben Dimaano, one of the part-owners at Kittens, “But we’re not like that.” He’s heard from dancers they don’t want that model, and from customers that it ruins the “allure,” to have to pay for things upfront, so they’ve continued to charge dancers the stage fees. “ The customers are more of the dancer's customers, but always treat the dancers like your customer,” Colacurcio Jr. added. Though Kittens stuck with the traditional profit model, following the 30% fee cap, Kasper said, they “became way more controlling in other ways, like trying to police what we wear, telling us what to do on stage, telling us how much we can charge for our dances … just sneaky little ways to find control anywhere that they can.” Dimaano confirmed that the club had changed policies on prices, setting a minimum price of $40 that dancers had to charge for lap dances. They also take the maximum allowed by the law, $150, during prime shifts, like weekend evenings, but have a discounted fee at less busy times of the day. Madison Keevy, who also danced at Kittens, had different issues with management. Keevy had been dancing in Washington since 2017, taking to the career quickly because it worked well with her schedule and her disability. She took a break during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but decided to come back to the stage after the Strippers’ Bill of Rights passed, hoping for an accessible workplace with better labor protections. But when she started back up at Kittens, Keevy [told the *Seattle Times*](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/strippers-bill-of-rights-has-fallen-short-wa-adult-dancers-say/?ref=rangemedia.co) she made less than she had before the rules went into place, and perhaps worse: medical accommodations she requested were ignored, resulting in strobe lights repeatedly being played while Keevy was performing. Kasper confirmed the story: Kittens used strobe lights during one of Keevy’s performances, despite knowing it was unsafe for Keevy to dance under them. Dimaano said that the issue with the strobe lights was an “innocent mistake.” He said that Keevy had only notified the DJ, who controls the lights during performances, and not management. If Keevy had notified management, they would have notified the DJ. “ We felt really bad, were really apologetic, the DJ was apologetic,” Dimaano said. “ This happened on a busy, busy Friday night and it was an innocent mistake, and then she just kind of got really upset, like angry.” Keevy said it wasn’t an innocent mistake, because she had disclosed it when she was hired, and it had happened two other times before. After the third time, Keevy tried to dance again and was told she needed to send management medical documentation before she could return. Keevy shared with RANGE the emails she sent notifying management of her condition. Management at the club told Keevy in an email that they had sent her private medical note to “all management and staff members,” instead of just the people who needed to know to prevent strobes being played, like the DJ, which Keevy said violated her medical privacy. Dimaano said that Keevy quit because she didn’t want to come in for an in-person meeting with management — citing fears that there would be strobe lights playing in the club. Keevy said this isn’t true. “I never said I didn’t want to go in because of the strobe light. Obviously I was able to work there for an entire month so that makes no sense,” she said. “The reason I did not go in is because they wouldn’t allow me (to have) a third person to be present.” An email to Keevy from the “Kittens Cabaret” email address started with, “We are sorry to hear that you verbally informed us that you do not want to conduct your business with us anymore,” but states she was “never terminated,” just told she needed to come to the office since the office “handles medical.” Keevy maintains that she’d disclosed her condition upon employment and tried to meet with management, but was told that it needed to be with Dimaano, not just floor managers, and happen during a shift she does not work and has other commitments. She also wasn’t comfortable meeting with Dimaano alone, who she said was aware of her condition and ignored it: the second time strobes were used while she was dancing, Keevy gave him data from her Apple Watch showing that her heart rate was elevated from the strobe usage. He brushed it off, she said. Keevy said she was essentially terminated, because management refused to let her return to work, even after she’d jumped through hoops: providing her doctor’s note and coming back to the club in person. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/1_ad_4nxdo3zscal7rnjrxfizu_69pmu0fp6g1vz-ythumtwdurrzpzw_skbklvgp48ojipak3mz_exkdzrskgqia8_82i2bzjgalivzuygvkhx00stwlsygzyowp8ngmrws8ihd6hguhd9akeykllv2bq6i_vmemeia5flwt3j.png) *Texts between Keevy, who uses the name Winona when she dances, and Dimaano, provided by Keevy.* She no longer dances at Kittens and is seeking other employment. Though Kasper has continued to dance at Kittens, she said the vibe has changed since the bill’s implementation, starting with that initial meeting with Colacurcio Jr. “ The lower down managers are being kind about \[the bill’s implementation\], but the owners are being scary,” Kasper said. “Imagine if an article about Starbucks doing this came out,” she said. And her bottom line is taking a hit too: customers are spending less, and dancers think it’s because they can sense the tension between dancers and managers. “They can tell something’s going on behind the scenes,” Kasper said. “The managers don't wanna help us make money. We don't wanna make them money, we're butting heads and it's ruining the money for everyone.” Kasper said she’s making 50% or less than what she was making in 2024, and has had more “$0 nights,” where she’s left the club making no income, than she’s had in her whole career. “It feels terrible because I chose this job to work for myself, instead of some major corporation, and I will go to work and I'll work my ass off and my feet hurt 'cause I'm wearing huge heels and my arms hurt from pulling myself up on the pole and I have nothing to show for it,” she said. Editor's Note: We have updated this section to reflect comments from Frank Colacurcio Jr. and Ben Dimaano. ### ‘The energy is just palpably dry.” While dancers like Keevy took the bill’s passage as a positive sign to jump back onstage here, other dancers were more skeptical. Since the closure of Spokane’s Deja Vu Showgirls in the fall of 2023, Ashe Ryder — a Spokane-based dancer and SAW advocate — has been competing in stripper competitions and [travel-dancing](https://www.rangemedia.co/strip-club-eastern-washington-closure/), mostly at clubs in Wisconsin and South Dakota. But this summer, she wants to look for work closer to home. “I’m really tired of flying places and the travel woes and being stuck in an airport for hours on end,” Ryder said. Still, despite making her home here, dancing in Washington doesn’t feel like the most economically viable option. Because of restrictive zoning laws, no new clubs have opened to replace Deja Vu Showgirls, which was the last strip club in Eastern Washington. Ryder could travel to Seattle, which is a much closer drive, and perform at clubs there, but the King County license fee for strippers is $170 annually — much more than the $35 Spokane fee. And, Ryder said, she’s heard from friends in the industry that the club environment in Seattle is “tense,” because of hostility from club management towards dancers and organizers. She went to check it out herself, popping into a club in Seattle as a customer, and it was dead, she said. “I think people don’t want to be at the Seattle strip clubs because you walk in and the energy is just palpably dry.” Ryder, who is also involved in organizing with SAW, worries that besides the stage fee loophole, the law had other unintended consequences. While the law created a way for clubs to earn income through liquor licenses instead of dancer labor, Ryder thinks that club owners now just choose to double-dip. “They’re so used to taking and taking from dancers that now they’re like ‘oh, well, now we can serve alcohol \*and\* take as much as we want from the dancers.” Because of what she’s seen and heard of the Washington stripping landscape, Ryder has to make alternate plans. Opening her own club here in Spokane is still her “biggest dream,” — she’s always scrolling commercial real estate and looking downtown for areas with foot traffic — but the zoning laws still make it an unrealistic goal for her right now. Until things change and that dream can become a reality, she’s hoping to dance at Stateline, a strip club just across the state border in Idaho. ### ‘Cutting out the middleman’ Like Ryder, River Dreaming is a Washington-based stripper who primarily dances out-of-state. Also like Ryder, Dreaming considered making a comeback to the Seattle scene, but after scouting potential clubs, they were unimpressed. Instead of dancing out of venues belonging to predatory club owners, Dreaming, who is an organizer with SAW, has found a different way to make the most of the new state laws: by producing their own shows in nightlife venues. Now that it’s legal for venues to have nudity and alcohol in the same place, bars are more open to hosting stripper shows, Dreaming said. “It provides the strip club experience, but cutting out the middleman of the club owners who are well known for being pretty shady and shitty and taking a big percentage of dancers’ income.” At the shows Dreaming produces, dancers get paid $100 each out of ticket sales and average between $150 and $250 in tips. For a single stage set, with no lap dances, dancers can come away making between $250 and $350. “For a lot of Washington dancers, that is a decent or good night working at the strip club, but you’d have to give a lot of lap dances and give quite a bit of money to the club in order to make that much,” Dreaming said. They were inspired to create spaces that paid dancers fairly, and felt welcoming and safe for women and queer people. So far, Dreaming has produced three shows under the banner [Skyclad Studio](http://skycladstudio.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), including a show called “$apphic $pring,” last week at WILDROSE — the oldest lesbian bar in the United States and the only lesbian bar in Seattle. The show sold out, with 15% of ticket profits going to benefit SAW, Dreaming said, and was a massive success. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ad_4nxeiznzvmuero3skne8tghfudas-rjc6xxwtelpr63dhsdnibqbpbpmdnkdkayvwisbhv3uioznmhrp3pmxmqagckj178x-8zdma8qrjguz4hwqvgrwjh_pth4o83kzgoagd5ofmkeykllv2bq6i_vmemeia5flwt3j.jpg) *River Dreaming performing at $apphic $pring with their dance partner Daffodil. (Photo courtesy of Dreaming, taken by Forest Gremlin.*) “ What I heard from the other dancers was that it was very healing for them to be in an environment that celebrated their queerness and their sex worker identity at the same time, because so many strippers are queer,” they said. “In my experience, I feel like at least half of the strippers at any club that I'm working at are queer and we often have to hide that to do our job in clubs where the clientele is predominantly men.” “It felt really good for everybody to be able to just unapologetically express that and get paid and tipped and cheered and adored for those parts of ourselves that we sometimes have to hide or downplay,” Dreaming said. With a few successes under their belt, Dreaming is dreaming even bigger. They want to produce shows at even bigger venues. They want to produce fully nude strip shows, which could result in more tips, as well as help set strippers apart from pole fitness dancers and pole hobbyists. “There's been an issue with hobby pole performers taking up performance spaces and attention and money in the economy for pole shows, and a lot of those people are not gonna be comfortable doing a full nude show, whereas strippers like myself, we're completely used to that. We're happy to do it,” Dreaming said. “A big part of pole dancing from the stripper tradition is using your full nude body as a part of the performance to get more tips. So many pole spins that come from the strip club are about showing off your pussy to the audience.” Dreaming’s production model impressed Ryder, whose only Washington dance experience in the last year was at a stripper show at a non-traditional venue in Seattle. “I think that’s a really cool approach too,” Ryder said. “These fucking club owners are bleeding us dry, so we’ll do our own thing.” ### ‘Out of the underground’ The initial implementation of the Strippers Bill of Right might not have gone according to plan, but dancers across the state are continuing to fight in their own ways: Ryder performed in a fundraiser show at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard to raise funds for SAW, Keevy is lobbying publicly for strippers’ rights and using [her platform](https://www.keevypress.com/consultation?ref=rangemedia.co) to write stories from her intersectional perspective and provide guidance to other dancers on navigating the field with a disability, Kasper is continuing to inform her colleagues of their rights and Dreaming is creating their own safe spaces for dancers to perform. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ad_4nxf0fjofmngxrpkwqopiknyuao96xap4vubkh7hsx7-luz3brchmyg8cwd6nc6kccclejfhwapbdcnngjex-g3f3ic7ngiijflhq600y3pdlvtd9c_y_rsqsi7ifzpfu9xdkvs_megkeykllv2bq6i_vmemeia5flwt3j.jpg) *Ryder performing as a clown in a fundraiser show for SAW at the Tractor Tavern. (Photo taken by Dreaming, provided courtesy of Ryder. )* SAW is going to “keep holding the line against a lot of the criminalizing policy that's been coming out against sex workers, like Seattle’s [Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution](https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2024/09/27/seattle-city-council-passes-soda-and-soap-banishment-laws-despite-public-outcry?ref=rangemedia.co) (SOAP),” Zack-Wu said. And, they just got a grant to do “Know Your Rights” trainings for strippers, which is going to be their focus for the future, Zack Wu said: “Making sure that everyone is educated on their rights and know how to file claims and making sure that in this implementation phase, we are getting all the information we can on how to make the bill work for dancers as intended.” Keevy, Kasper and Zack-Wu all want to see the government step up to ensure the law is protecting dancers as intended, whether that’s with stripper-led audits of clubs, surprise visits from city inspectors to ensure clubs are following regulations, legislators moving to close the loophole that allowed club owners to pivot to the “revenue sharing,” model or complete decriminalization of sex work across the state. Both Ryder and Dreaming long for a day when zoning laws, which are prohibitively restrictive in both Seattle and Spokane County, change for the better. If the old guard of club owners won’t sell the locations that are currently zoned for strip clubs to dancers, the law would have to change to allow new clubs to open. Dreaming would love to see a club that is unionized or collectively-owned by dancers. “If there was an environment like that, I think that it would be a huge hit in the general nightlife community,” Dreaming said. “It would feel like we’re able to come out of the underground where we’re all trying to thrive, but having a hard time.” ### The local Planned Parenthood spent $15,570 on union-busting last year URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/planned-parenthood-union-busting-contract/ Last updated: 2025-05-14T22:45:34.000Z In December, [we broke the news](https://www.rangemedia.co/planned-parenthood-washington-union/) that local Planned Parenthood CEO Karl Eastlund had signed a $425 an hour contract with one of the oldest “labor relations” consultants in the country to persuade his employees not to unionize — the equivalent of 17 medical assistants’ hourly wages. Thanks to Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho’s (PPGWNI) mandatory filing with the Office of Management and Budget, we now know exactly how much they spent in total. In less than 50 days last year — between November 12 and December 31 — PPGWNI spent [$15,570](https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=917163&rptForm=LM10Form&ref=rangemedia.co) on its [contract](https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=900524&rptForm=LM20Form&ref=rangemedia.co) with the Labor Relations Institute (LRI) — sometimes described as “[Corporate America’s Favorite ‘Union Busting’ Firm](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/inside-corporate-americas-favorite-union-busting-firm%5Fn%5F64b92176e4b08cd259dad4f2?ref=rangemedia.co).” The latest filing comes amid ongoing complaints of poor working conditions and low pay, [a recent merger](https://www.rangemedia.co/unionization-labor-rights-planned-parenthood-spokane/) with the only other non-unionized Planned Parenthood affiliate in Washington and continuing unionization efforts from employees. The official wording on the contract with LRI was: “To persuade employees to exercise or not to exercise, or persuade employees as to the manner of exercising, the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.” This sort of vague, noncommittal “bureaucratese” is commonly used in this type of contract, partially because they are required by law to be filed with the National Labor Relations Board — the agency that regulates labor practices and unions, where they become public record. But on LRI’s website, the company speaks a different language. LRI’s site offers free resources for “preventing unionization,” and boasts paid services to help organizations “win the union vote — and ensure you never face one again.” In the footer of the website is a link that says, simply: “Avoid a Union.” The $15,570 number might be insignificant to PPGWNI’s highest-paid staff, but it could be between a third and a half of a full year’s salary for medical assistants at the organization. While Eastlund was compensated [$489,906](https://www.rangemedia.co/unionization-labor-rights-planned-parenthood-spokane/) in 2023 according to data pulled from PPGWNI’s most recently filed nonprofit 990 tax form, on average, medical assistants make between $17 and $25.50 hourly, or roughly $35,000 to $53,040, according to salary band information provided to RANGE by current employees. To put it in further context, what PPGWNI spent on just 49 days of union-busting guidance from LRI cost them $317 each day, which would pay for 12 hours of work per day from a medical assistant making $25 an hour. The contract with LRI is ongoing, with no firm end date or spending cap. If PPGWNI continues to spend $317 a day on the contract, that would amount to $115,705 in all of 2025\. Unless PPGWNI chooses to publicly disclose their spending early, we won’t know for certain how much they’re spending this year until they have to file their 2025 employer report form with the Office of Management and Budget next year. In reporting from late March, we found that PPGWNI was avoiding calls for accountability from major donors, who had given hundreds of thousands of dollars and were horrified to find out Eastlund was engaging in union-busting activities. “The idea that \[staff are\] trying to unionize and \[Eastlund’s\] trying to break that just is not acceptable,” said Karn Nielsen, a major donor who gave $300,000 for the construction of PPGWNI’s Spokane campus, in late March. “I’m appalled at what they’re doing and trying to silence all this.” RANGE called both Eastlund and Lindsay Johnson, PPGWNI’s Chief External Affairs Officer, for comment this afternoon, but received no response. If we hear back, we’ll update the story. ### Could Spokane move to keep ICE out of parks? URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/ Last updated: 2025-05-12T18:41:35.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - Spokane City Council could vote to remove the [racist Monaghan statue](https://www.rangemedia.co/racist-statue-monaghan-spokane-nhpi-community/) as part of traffic safety clean-up downtown. - At the Urban Experience Committee, the council will discuss an ordinance that could give the Parks Department the power to designate some parks property as “non-public,” which would prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from doing arrests without a judicial warrant in city parks. - Mead School District Board of Directors is having a workshop on changes to their transgender students policy, which the state has repeatedly told them is illegal. - Spokane Valley City Council could approve a regional homelessness collaboration with Spokane city and Spokane County. They’re also talking about spending public safety funds “to cover current estimated legal costs associated with Council Member \[Al\] Merkel.” **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - [Urban Experience Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) (Spokane City Council) - [Mead School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners ([Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) and [Legislative](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) Session) - [Central Valley School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - [Spokane School District Board of Directors](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) - [Spokane Airport Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/could-spokane-move-to-keep-ice-out-of-parks/) ## Weekend Reads We republished a few must-reads over the weekend: [a piece from *The Spokesman-Review*](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-youth-providence-death/)on systemic failures resulting in the death of a twelve-year old child at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, and [a column from *The Appeal*](https://www.rangemedia.co/imprisoned-people-can-do-more-than-scare-kids-straight/)on the importance of mentorship from incarcerated people beyond just “scared straight” programs. Got a few extra minutes this Monday morning? Give ‘em a read! ## Spokane City Council 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Carbon Capture, Climate Commitment, say that 5x fast The city has received a $650,000 grant from Washington’s Department of Ecology — which comes from the pool of money generated by the [Climate Commitment Act](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2117-cap-and-trade-ballot-measure-carbon-neutral/)’s carbon credit bidding — to pay for [a carbon capture study](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/16/is-burning-trash-worth-the-cash-spokane-to-use-650/?ref=rangemedia.co) at the Waste-to-Energy facility. This might sound kind of boring, but it’s becoming increasingly necessary: in 2027, the Waste-to-Energy plant will have to start bidding for carbon offset credits itself, which could cost Spokane taxpayers a pretty penny. Spokane has been lobbying the state to give the Waste-to-Energy plant an exemption on having to bid for credits, because the potential alternatives to the plant are much less environmentally friendly, like paying to send our garbage to a landfill in Adams County. The bill to exempt the Waste-to-Energy plant failed this year, which means Spokane is running out of chances at the legislative level. The results of this study could be critical in continuing to push for the credit exemption. ### Monaghan removal, at last? Tonight, council could approve a resolution sponsored by Council Member Kitty Klitzke to authorize the removal of the downtown statue John R. Monaghan, which is accompanied by racist plaques [proclaiming Samoan people](https://www.rangemedia.co/racist-statue-monaghan-spokane-nhpi-community/) as a “savage foe” and [depicting them primitively](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/us/spokane-wa-statue-pacific-islanders-cec/index.html?ref=rangemedia.co). Advocates from the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community here in Spokane have been calling for its removal for quite a while, but there had been no movement since last January, when city council created [a formal process](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/29/new-process-created-to-review-offensive-landmarks-/?ref=rangemedia.co) to review offensive landmarks. Now, the Monaghan family has agreed to move the statue to the family mausoleum, and it’s going to happen in tandem with city construction to make the intersection the statue currently looks over safer. ### Block party summer One of the promises from Mayor Lisa Brown’s [most recent safe streets press conference](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/) could get one step closer to fruition tonight, as council holds a first read on the ordinance to make it easier for neighborhoods to shut down their streets for block parties. Are you already dreaming of partying it up with your neighbors this summer? Because we are! ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Council could approve two consent agenda contracts to continue fighting unlawful death suits against the city: [another $100,000](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/18/legal-fees-continue-to-rise-for-city-of-spokane-as/?ref=rangemedia.co) to fight a suit from Robert Bradley’s [family](https://www.krem.com/article/news/crime/robert-bradley-family-lawsuit-spokane/293-ed7fb2ef-662a-40cb-8ac9-2b92a4bcee87?ref=rangemedia.co), bringing the total to $600,000, and another $50,000 in a suit from the estate of Clovy Jamarillo, bringing that total of $200,000\. Later in the meeting, the city is set to approve a $90,000 settlement with Kelli True, for “an incident that occurred on November 13, 2024.” - The two conservatives on the council, Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart, have an ordinance up for a read that would [reinstate Proposition 1](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/), exactly as it was written in the voter-passed initiative. Council Member Zack Zappone has an amendment, which if approved, could replace Bingle and Cathcart’s ordinance with [the new language put out by Brown’s administration](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/01/mayor-lisa-brown-unveils-replacement-to-anti-homel/?ref=rangemedia.co) — making camping on and obstruction of public property illegal citywide, but with lighter consequences for violations. - The block party ordinance could get approved, as it’s scheduled for a final vote! > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 12, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Urban Experience Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑**/5 peppers** ### Scatter-site update Want to know how the scatter-site shelters across the city are functioning? Zeke Smith, Executive Director of Empire Health Foundation, who has the contract to oversee the implementation of the new scatter-site model, will be giving the monthly update on shelter operations at noon. ### Civil infractions Right now, the city has a fairly complex model for civil infractions with differing levels of civil infractions and associated penalties. An ordinance submitted by Adam McDaniel, Brown’s policy advisor, and sponsored by Council Members Zappone and Paul Dillon, would simplify the city’s civil infraction system. Basically, it would make it so that all civil infractions are the same “level” of infraction, consolidating multiple penalty schedules into a single schedule. McDaniel wrote that this “will improve Code Enforcement and Municipal Court administration and disposition of civil infractions.” ### ICE-B-Gone A new ordinance from Council Member Lili Navarrete’s office is up for discussion today that would create a mechanism the Park Board or Park Director could use to “temporarily or permanently designate portions of park property as non-public.” You might be thinking, “Now, RANGE, more public space is always a good thing! We pay for that with our taxes!” But the agenda sheet says the intent of this particular ordinance is to create a way to stop "warrantless entry by law enforcement.” For example, if a local nonprofit serving refugees or immigrants wanted to hold an event in the parks, that event could be a target for ICE, because it’s in a public space where a judicial warrant wouldn’t be necessary for an arrest. But if the Parks Board could designate that park property as “non-public,” during the event, it would make it illegal for ICE to serve any attendees with non-judicial warrants at the park. The ordinance draft states that, “Permission to access any portion of a city park with a Non-Public designation without a judicial criminal warrant for the purpose of executing federal civil immigration enforcement operations shall only be provided with the express, written approval of the Park Board or Parks Director.” This would put the responsibility on the Parks Director to deny entry to ICE officers without judicial warrants. The ordinance is intended to address safety concerns for the community, the sheet states. If it passes, it could be the city’s next move to go beyond [symbolic support](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-immigration-solidarity-resolution/) of immigrants. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/urban-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 12, at noon* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Mead School District Board of Directors **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Work session - Transgender students policy Mead School Board is having a work session (which means no public comment) this week, and we noticed a few items of interest. They’re continuing to discuss their [transgender student policy](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/), which they were scheduled to vote on April 28\. That vote got suspended after feedback from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). We reached out to OSPI on April 29 to ask what feedback they gave, exactly. “Through this review, OSPI informed Mead that their Transgender Students policy and procedure do not comply with state law, and we required corrective action of adopting WSSDA’s model policy and procedure, as required in RCW 28A.642.080\. The district requested OSPI review the school board’s most recent draft revisions to their policy and procedure, so we provided feedback and reminders about state law by email yesterday,” wrote Katie Hannig, OSPI’s Interim Communications Manager. “We will continue to steadfastly follow the laws of the state of Washington, which provide clear civil rights protections for our transgender and gender-expansive youth that fit inside the protections provided under federal law.” Hannig added that “any corrective actions that are not complete by the end of the Statewide Civil Rights Review will be addressed in OSPI’s report to the Legislature,” so if Mead doesn’t start following state law, stat, OSPI’s going to tell State Legislature, which holds the purse-strings on funding. At this week’s work session, Mead is also scheduled to discuss a “2025/2026 WIAA Participation Resolution.” There’s no additional context or documentation, but we’re curious — after the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) declined to pass transphobic policy amendments, maybe Mead is souring on their membership in the statewide organization… > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 12 at 6 p.m.* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Moving forward with regional homeless collaboration This week, Spokane Valley could sign an interlocal agreement with Spokane city and Spokane Valley to enter into a joint agreement to regionalize homelessness efforts. We covered the agreement in-depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/). ### Merkel drama eating up SpoVal’s top priority The Spokane Valley City Council loves nothing more than the police — they say it during most of their meetings and tend to equate public safety with more uniforms on the street. At least until Al Merkel, a freshman council member who made a name for himself by asking blunt questions of city employees and being accused of harassment in the first two years of his four-year term, came into the picture. The council is proposing to draw $130,000 from its public safety budget — which would have gone toward police vehicle replacements — to defend a lawsuit from Merkel stemming from an investigation the city commissioned into Merkel’s alleged aggressive behavior toward city employees as he came onto the council. The amount is part of budget adjustments the city wants to make, which also include a $350,000 increase in contract attorney fees associated with legal costs relating to the Merkel case. Other items in the $989,764budget appropriations plan include: - “$350,000 increase in contract attorney services in the City Council Department to cover current estimated legal costs associated with Merkel. - $223,200 decrease in salaries, payroll taxes and benefits in the Public Safety Department to help offset legal costs related to Merkel in the City Council Department. - $130,000 decrease in law enforcement vehicle replacements in the Public Safety Department to help offset legal costs related to Merkel in the City Council Department. This represents a reduction of two vehicles being purchased as replacements for current aging patrol vehicles. - $158,064 increase in the Engineering Department related to hiring an additional Right of Way Inspector position that was approved by council at the April 15, 2025 council meeting. This cost increase is offset by increased Right of Way Permit fees as discussed above. - $18,000 increase in the Homeless and Housing Services Division related to the outreach services contract. This contract is being paid through a grant from Spokane County.” > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 13 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### County proposes regional safety task force Commissioners Chris Jordan and Mary Kuney and Sheriff John Nowels have proposed that governments around the region convene a task force focused on solving safety issues in the county. It would be called the Safe and Healthy Spokane Task Force. Local business leaders — including Alicia Barbieri of the Goodale & Barbieri Company, Gavin Cooley of the Spokane Business Alliance and Stacey Cowles of the Cowles Company — wrote a [letter of support](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1946/files/attachment/17109?ref=rangemedia.co) for the effort. ### Millions on table for services for unhoused people The Housing and Community Development Department is anticipating having more than $16 million in federal, state and local funding for programming for unhoused people. George Dahl, the department administrator, will present recommendations for how to allocate that funding between now and 2027\. The recommendations include spending the money between three basic categories: affordable housing, community development and homeless services. ### Liberty Lake requests $500k reimbursement for improving Cataldo Ave The city of Liberty Lake is requesting $589,251.57 from the county to reimburse its spending on an extension of Cataldo Avenue, along I-90 from local infrastructure funding. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 13 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### $1.5M for Elk Chattaroy Road improvements The BOCC will vote whether to award a contract to Versatile Industries, Inc., for $1,595,126.60 to Elk Chattaroy Road from Big Meadows Road to Cowgill Road. The amount is about $1.5 million short of the total project cost, which will mostly be funded by the state of Washington. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 13 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Complete-r streets workshop The Spokane Plan Commission is going to hold a workshop on the Complete Street Ordinance, which hasn’t been updated since it passed in 2011, which Urbanism columnist Lauren Pangborn covered in [a recent piece](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/). “The ordinance ensures that whenever the city is tearing up a road, it is rebuilt with all the master-planned bicycle and pedestrian facilities,” Pangborn wrote. “But the ordinance is showing its age and city officials think it’s due for an update as best practices in the worlds of bike and pedestrian infrastructure have since evolved.” With Jon Snyder, one of the authors of the original ordinance, taking the helm as Spokane’s new Director of Transportation and Sustainability, it looks like there’s finally going to be movement on updating the ordinance, starting with the workshop this week and continuing soon with a public hearing, yet to be scheduled. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, May 14 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 12 at 6 p.m.* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane School District Board of Directors > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://go.boarddocs.com/wa/spokane/Board.nsf/Public?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, May 14 at 6 pm* > *Spokane Public Schools Administration Building* > *200 N. Bernard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FlpbNVwX0S4GNNfxg8KhbeA?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Airport Board > *Agenda* [*here*](https://business.spokaneairports.net/airport-board/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* > *Thursday, May 15 at 9 am* > *Airport Event Center* > *9211 W. McFarlane Road, Spokane, WA 99224 The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82300527060?pwd=fKRHtKcp31qnn8NhnPhzuu8OyyfhA2.1&ref=rangemedia.co). ### Imprisoned People Can Do More than ‘Scare’ Kids ‘Straight’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/imprisoned-people-can-do-more-than-scare-kids-straight/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T14:00:00.000Z *This story was originally [published](https://theappeal.org/prison-mentorship-scared-straight/?ref=rangemedia.co) by* [*The Appeal*](https://theappeal.org/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* In 1978, the Oscar-winning documentary “Scared Straight!” popularized the idea that the best way to prevent young people from incarceration is to scare them. The film focuses on a group of “juvenile delinquents” who get screamed at by hardened prisoners about rape and violence inside adult prisons. The documentary spawned sequels and spinoffs. It remains a cultural touchstone—during Saturday Night Live’s recent 50th Anniversary celebration, stars including Kenan Thompson, Will Ferrell, and Eddie Murphy [parodied the concept](https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/snl50-scared-straight-will-ferrell-eddie-murphy-jason-sudeikis?ref=rangemedia.co). But, in real life, there is no evidence that this approach actually reduces crime. If anything, the program has the opposite effect: At least [three different academic studies](https://www.djj.state.fl.us/content/download/23879/file/scared-straight-%28july-2018%29.pdf?version=2&ref=rangemedia.co) between 2003 and 2013 warned that people who go through Scared Straight programs after an arrest are *more* likely to return to prison. In 2011, activists [petitioned](https://www.change.org/p/demand-ae-tell-the-truth-about-scared-straight?ref=rangemedia.co) A&E to cancel its “Beyond Scared Straight” series, accusing the program of violating a federal law banning kids from entering adult jails. There are [far better ways](https://theappeal.org/prisoners-like-me-mentorship-at-risk-kids/?ref=rangemedia.co) to deter at-risk youth from crime. In recent years, community leaders in Washington state have worked with incarcerated individuals who understand how social rejection, poverty, and unaddressed trauma set up so many young people to fail. “Many students have been traumatized by violence and criminal behavior, which is a reality in communities with very few resources or support groups,” said Shikita Trahan, a high school special education teacher in Seattle who has organized violence-prevention workshops with both perpetrators and victims of crime. Trahan’s workshops offered a space for students to hear from community members with lived experience that resembled their own. One person spoke about the trauma of being shot multiple times. Another discussed the impact of spending nearly 30 years of his life behind bars because of violence. One of the authors of this piece, who is incarcerated, spoke with hundreds of students about the causes and consequences of crime. Over the past two years, students at Trahan’s school have experienced two shootings, including one that took the life of a student. Although the school made counselors available, “most students didn’t feel comfortable speaking to them about their personal struggles, because they don’t know them and can’t relate to them,” said Durron Kirvin, a friend of the student who died. Kirvin said that, even over the phone, he could connect with these types of stories. “When a person is living in the consequences of their choices and can relate to what us young people are going through, it touches us differently,” he said. Anthony Curtis, executive director of the Black Equality Coalition, has connected incarcerated individuals with students at many schools across Washington. “There are people in prison who understand the realities that young people in marginalized communities are confronted with, issues like social acceptance, parents on drugs, neighborhood violence, and the feelings of having no worth,” Curtis said. “Between their stories and lived experience, incarcerated individuals are able to help young people identify those adversities, while offering them tools and insights on how to navigate those adversities without harming themselves or others.” Curtis acknowledged that some people, mostly those who can’t identify with the struggle of our young people, frown on exposing students to convicted criminals. But many parents and other community organizations strongly support it, knowing that their children are learning to make better choices. “Young people appear to be more open, honest, and receptive, because they don’t feel judged by those behind bars,” he said. Community leaders like Trahan and Curtis understand that some incarcerated individuals can help guide young people through the same challenging circumstances they’ve experienced. Carlos Bernardez is a great example. Bernardez, who is currently serving a 35-year sentence for murder at the Washington Corrections Center, spoke with teenagers at a recent community event at the Urban Grace Church in Tacoma, Washington. Over the phone from prison, Bernardez explained to a room full of teenagers how his unaddressed trauma led to his criminal behavior and how the ripple effects of his crime hurt his family and community in unfixable ways. “I know what it’s like trying to fit in as a kid,” Bernardez explained. “I also know what it’s like growing up around gangs, drugs, and violence. And when you are left to process the thoughts and emotions that are generated from these environments, you tend to make unwise, and sometimes harmful decisions.” Bernardez deeply believes in these programs and invests in participating in them. “If someone had stopped to do that for me, I probably wouldn’t have ended up in prison,” he said. “I know if we want to reshape our communities, it will involve all of us—including those who’ve previously caused harm and are now forced to live behind these walls and fences.” [*The Appeal*](http://theappeal.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) *is a nonprofit newsroom that exposes how the U.S. criminal legal system fails to keep people safe and perpetuates harm.* ### Failing Sarah: URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-youth-providence-death/ Last updated: 2025-05-10T12:21:00.000Z **Editor’s note:** *This story includes discussion and descriptions of a child’s suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States.* Sarah Niyimbona was “love, light, talent and potential,” her family remembered in an interview last week. But after months of anguish and loneliness, the 12-year-old girl took her own life on the warm spring evening of April 13 by jumping from the fourth floor of a parking garage at the hospital where she was being treated for mental health challenges. Her death has left her family grief-stricken and angry, and her caregivers at Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital devastated. It also has raised major questions about how a girl with so many warning signs could have left her room. Her mother, Nasra Gertrude, wants to know how Sarah was able to slip out of her monitored hospital room, ride an elevator, walk to the parking garage and jump from the structure near Seventh Avenue and Bernard Street. She recalled being told to hurry to Sacred Heart. When she arrived, she burst into Sarah’s room to hold her child for the last time. “I ask what happened,” Gertrude told The Spokesman-Review. “How come she left the room without anybody seeing her? How come she walk all the way to the elevator without anybody seeing her?” Answers to those questions are at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the Washington state Department of Health and an internal inquiry by Sacred Heart. But such details won’t be publicly disclosed until the investigation concludes, according to DOH. And Providence Sacred Heart leadership has declined interview requests, citing patient privacy laws and a pending lawsuit. News of Sarah’s suicide was first reported by InvestigateWest. Gertrude blames the hospital for Sarah’s death. She had been under its care since January. “I feel like they neglect my daughter and they neglect me. I feel like they were tired seeing Sarah there, so they didn’t care about looking after her all the time,” she said. In a brief statement, Providence wrote: “We are heartbroken about the tragedy that occurred at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Safe, compassionate care is always our top priority. We believe that Sacred Heart Medical Center provides compassionate and thoughtful care to our patients in alignment with our mission and values. We extend our deepest sympathy to the patient’s loved ones.” Attorney Matt Conner, who represents Gertrude, said the family looks forward to seeing the results of the investigation. The DOH issued what’s called an immediate jeopardy notice to Sacred Heart the week of April 28. Immediate jeopardy occurs when a medical provider’s noncompliance has “placed the health and safety of recipients in its care at risk for serious injury, serious harm, serious impairment or death,” according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Hospitals have 23 days to fix conditions that caused CMS to issue an immediate jeopardy notice. In the case of Sacred Heart, investigators said the hospital quickly implemented a safety plan addressing the issues raised. If hospitals fail to fix the problems, CMS can suspend that hospital’s participation status. In the case of Sacred Heart, suspending or ending participation in Medicaid and Medicare would erase 77% of its revenue and cripple the largest health care provider in Eastern Washington. “This was a needless tragedy. We will be initiating litigation shortly,” Conner said Wednesday. ### Sarah’s secret pain Gertrude is a single mother of six children between the ages of 3 and 19\. A native of the Congo, she escaped her home country in the 1990s as a refugee during the genocide in neighboring Rwanda. She lived in Tanzania until immigrating to Spokane in 2010\. She came with no other family except young children. Sarah was born to Gertrude in the United States in 2012\. Her father had not been present in her life and now lives in Kentucky, according to Gertrude. The family lived in a Spokane apartment until displaced by a fire. They eventually moved in 2023 to Cheney where the cost of living is lower. Before the move, Gertrude described Sarah as a happy child. “Sarah loved everybody. She was a friend. She was welcoming. When she sees you, she wants to know where you come from. She wants to know you. Wanted,” she said. But at Cheney Middle School, Sarah complained of being bullied. Children would call her ugly and big. A giraffe. She would fight these students and was suspended several times, according to Gertrude. In a statement, Cheney Public Schools officials said they were “deeply saddened” by Sarah’s death. “As we mourn this loss, we continue to focus on supporting our students, staff, and families throughout our school community,” district spokesperson Jenna Larson said in a statement. Starting last fall, Sarah would often wrap a scarf around her arm. She told her mom it was a fashion statement. One day, Gertrude forced Sarah to remove the scarf, revealing numerous scars from where Sarah had been cutting herself. Gertrude didn’t understand at first. Where she grew up in Africa, she said, the concepts of mental health and being suicidal are not discussed. “Mental health in my country… Maybe it’s there, maybe it is not. I never hear or see a child at Sarah’s age going through depression. I never hear or see anybody who killed themselves,” she said. “So when I see the cutting, I ask ‘What is that?’ And they would try, they would try to explain. It was hard for me to click in my mind that this is something very, very serious.” Gertrude’s 19-year-old daughter, Asha Joseph, said she was shocked by Sarah’s self-harm. Sitting with her mother, she remembered thinking of her sister as a “sweet, optimistic person” who “found the light out of everything.” But she knew her sister needed help and persuaded Gertrude to call 911\. It marked the beginning of the family’s engagement with mental health treatment for children. Within six hours, Gertrude said, Sarah was released from the hospital. Sarah’s self-harm behavior quickly escalated to attempting suicide. According to Gertrude, Sarah was encouraged in this behavior by a 14-year-old girl who lived in the same Cheney apartment complex. After the two attempted to carry out a suicide pact, Sarah was taken back to Sacred Heart and within a few days was admitted to Inland Northwest Behavioral Health, a facility with a 25-bed inpatient psychiatric unit designed for children between the ages of 12 and 17\. After a stay of a week or two at INBH, Sarah returned home. It didn’t take long for Sarah to try again. From October to mid-January, Sarah made “countless” suicide attempts, Gertrude said. “It was just back and forth. She would come home. Maybe stay a week or two. And then she would attempt and go back to the hospital and might be transferred to INBH for a week or two. Then she comes home and it happens again,” she said. Between October 2024 and her April 13 death, Sarah was admitted to Sacred Heart nine times and transferred to Inland Northwest Behavioral Health four times, Gertrude estimated. As her access to ways to hurt herself were restricted, Sarah found other means. At one point, she broke a colored pencil and used the wooden shards to cut away at her arms. She swallowed her mother’s sleeping medication. She stole cough medicine from a gas station. When admitted for care, Sarah shared with her mother that she tried to jump out of windows and often fantasized about jumping out of the large window in her Sacred Heart hospital room. All the while Sarah rotated in and out of the hospital and INBH, Gertrude had to continue working as a full-time home care aid for the elderly to support and care for Sarah and her other children. “I was very scared and tired. I didn’t know what to do,” she said. In January, Sarah was released from another hold at Sacred Heart into Evangeline’s House, a foster care and group home in Spokane run by the Salvation Army. Within two weeks, she attempted suicide by jumping out of a second story window. After that, Gertrude said, Sarah was readmitted to Sacred Heart. Gertrude said she stopped working by March and applied for paid family and medical leave to better take care of her children and visit Sarah more often. During this time, Gertrude said Sarah’s reasons for harming herself often changed. “She would tell me that she does not know why she’s feeling this way. Sometimes she would tell me it is because of friends’ bad influence. Sometimes she will tell me that she wants me home. That I work a lot. Sometimes she’ll say, ‘I want my dad in my life. I want to see my dad when my dad is not in my life,’ ” Gertrude said. Sarah also told her she worried about inflicting financial hardship on the family. Gertrude said Sarah once found several hospital invoices that detailed the cost of treatment. The family’s sudden onslaught of medical bills was a source of great anxiety for the 12-year-old, and Gertrude made it a point to try and hide the medical notifications and assure her that hospital stays and treatment elsewhere would be taken care of by the government. “I would tell her, let me worry about it. I know you need help, and those bills is not your problem at all,” she told Sarah. ### Clamoring for care Sarah’s extended stay at Sacred Heart is the outcome of a mental health system that is failing to match the needs of a growing number of children. Often a safety net for those with nowhere else to turn, hospitals such as Sacred Heart are not set up to care for children needing psychiatric care for weeks or months. “Hospitals are acute settings. The goal in an acute setting is stabilization so that you can step to that next place. Residential inpatient treatment is set up to feel a little more homey. A place where you can be a long time,” said Washington State Hospital Association Director of Behavioral Health Brittany Weiner. Sacred Heart did have its own 24-bed inpatient child psychiatric unit until last year, claiming that a [shortage of child psychiatrists](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/sep/22/spokane-child-psychiatrists-are-in-short-supply-as?ref=rangemedia.co), high costs and a low number of patients made the medical offering unnecessary. The hospital instead agreed to send people who qualify for such care to INBH if they are outside the scope of enhanced outpatient services. During the final months of Sarah’s stay at Sacred Heart, INBH had such bed capacity. But Sarah, it was determined, needed something different. So her care team and mother tried to find Sarah an appropriate facility better able to help her. Such facilities have what are called Children’s Long-Term Inpatient Programs, or “CLIP beds,” [considered the most intensive inpatient psychiatric treatment](https://www.hca.wa.gov/about-hca/programs-and-initiatives/behavioral-health-and-recovery/childrens-long-term-inpatient-program-clip?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=The) available. The average stay at one of these facilities is nine months, but the goal is to return the child to their home as soon as possible. CLIP is a publicly funded Washington state program that is supported by Medicaid, the federal and state government insurance program. “CLIP is a course of psychiatric treatment with a focus on stabilization and skill development/acquisition that aims to reintegrate children and youth back to their homes, families, communities, or long-term supportive environments, as soon as deemed clinically appropriate,” the website reads. These facilities are available to children between the ages of 5 and 17\. Children ages 13 and older can be involuntarily held at a CLIP facility for up to 180 days via a court order. But any child 12 and younger must be voluntarily admitted to the treatment program, which has four facilities in Washington totaling 109 beds. There’s one in Eastern Washington, but Spokane’s Tamarack Center is a small facility with only 16 beds available at any one time. With how limited CLIP beds are, children in need of them often languish for weeks or months awaiting availability. During her three-month stay at Sacred Heart, the hospital’s care team found Sarah an open CLIP bed in one of the facilities in the Seattle area. Though the family was interested, Gertrude said, they passed on the opportunity. Gertrude said she couldn’t arrange for an ambulance and was unable to take Sarah herself because of her responsibility toward her other children. So Sarah continued to stay at Sacred Heart. ### Options run out Sarah’s death has spurred criticism of the decision to close Sacred Heart’s Psychiatric Center for Children and Adolescents, which provided intensive care that may have been more clinically appropriate for Sarah than a stay in a room in the children’s hospital. “This tragic suicide, less than eight months after closing the Providence Sacred Heart Psychiatric Unit for Children and Adolescents, raises major questions about access to the specialized care and treatment that adolescents with mental health issues need and deserve,” said David Keepnews, the executive director of the Washington State Nurses Association, which represents the unionized nurses at Providence. “That unit provided much-needed services to Eastern Washington communities. Serious concerns about closing the unit were voiced by nurses and healthcare workers, community members and, notably, by former patients and their families.” The [decision to close the unit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jul/09/providence-to-close-childrens-inpatient-psychiatri?ref=rangemedia.co) was driven by its high cost amid wider financial challenges at the hospital. Sacred Heart had $175.5 million in operating losses in 2023, according to the state Department of Health, though the children’s psychiatric unit was losing about $2 million a year, per the closure announcement last year. Inland Northwest Behavioral Health is meant to provide capacity for the patients who otherwise would have received care at the Sacred Heart psychiatric center. At the time, INBH spokesperson Jamie Valdez said the organization had the capacity to care for the influx of patients. Sarah was transferred to INBH at least four times with stays from a few days to more than a week, Gertrude said. During Sarah’s three-month stay at Sacred Heart, there was at least one instance when INBH refused to accept Sarah, her mother claims. Gertrude did note Sarah appeared to be improving in the weeks leading up to her death. Sarah’s sister said that she improved the most when she was treated at INBH. “She really enjoyed INBH. They had a lot of kids there. But where she was in Sacred Heart, she did not get to socialize with a lot of kids. It felt like she’s the only person that would always feel constantly alone. She doesn’t have anyone to really talk to her. So it was hard,” Joseph said. Valdez had agreed to an interview this week but changed course and instead emailed a written statement. The spokesperson also noted INBH could not comment on Sarah’s case because of patient privacy laws. ### Sarah’s death For much of her extended stay at Sacred Heart, Sarah had a “designated sitter” who would be in her pediatric hospital room or just outside at all times. About a week before her death, that regimen was changed to someone checking on her every 15 minutes, according to Gertrude. Whenever Gertrude visited Sarah, an alarm would ring when the door opened. Sacred Heart spokeswoman Beth Hegde declined to comment on any specifics surrounding Sarah’s case, but when asked generally about locked rooms in the children’s hospital, she said there are none. Some rooms, she said, are outfitted with door alarms or bed alarms. Gertrude said she last saw Sarah alive when she visited her on April 10\. They spoke again over the phone two days later, on April 12\. During the visit and again during the call, Sarah described frustrations with hospital staff for invading her personal space and expressed a desire to come home. Gertrude said she promised to broach the subject at a meeting about her care the following week. “Mom, I want to come home. I don’t like it here. I’m tired of being here,” Gertrude remembers her daughter saying. The next day, on April 13 at approximately 5:30 p.m., Sarah left her room, rode the elevators and crossed a skybridge to the parking garage where many expectant parents go for easy access to the maternity ward. Moving across the fourth floor, Sarah overlooked the garage’s entrance on Bernard Street. From that southwestern edge, she jumped onto the concrete four stories below. Police tape remnants were still tied to a sign at the parking garage entrance this week. When interviewed for this story more than a week after Sarah’s death, Gertrude said she still did not know which parking garage her daughter jumped from or where she landed. During the interview, she said she perused social media trying to find the location. “I want to know where she jumped, because that place – it’s gonna stay in my heart forever. I want to be taking flowers there all the time,” Gertrude said. Two 911 calls were made in the minutes after Sarah’s fall – both from Sacred Heart security workers. Sarah survived the initial impact and can be heard wheezing in the background of one 911 call. The security guards tell Sarah not to try to stand on her broken body as one cradled her and spoke with a 911 dispatcher. Within minutes, Sarah was taken to Sacred Heart’s emergency room just around the corner. Her mother paused every few words as she cried and described how she held her daughter telling her to wake up, praying to God to heal her. In the days after her suicide, a Providence representative called Gertrude with condolences. Gertrude asked the pressing questions: “How come she left the room without anybody seeing her? How come she walks all the way to the elevator in the open without you seeing her?” She felt some people grew weary of Sarah after all those months, and that perhaps led to carelessness in her oversight. “They haven’t given me any answer at all. I trusted this hospital to take care of my daughter,” she said. “My heart got a little peace. At least I can go to work without receiving a 911 call that Sarah had attempted or was taken to the hospital. At least I can sleep. At least I don’t have to worry about Sarah much because I know she’s in safe hands. I trusted this hospital.” This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a *Creative Commons* license. It was originally published by *The Spokesman-Review* on May 9, 2025. ### POD: The story of migrant arrests in the Spokane area URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-the-story-of-migrant-arrests-in-the-spokane-area/ Last updated: 2025-05-09T22:13:11.000Z This week, Valerie Osier and Aaron Hedge go through many (though certainly not all) of the prominent immigrant arrests carried out by federal agents in the Spokane area since the Trump administration took power and embarked on a dramatic and widespread immigration crackdown. They also chat about the many ethical and journalistic considerations we make when covering these stories. **Relevant reading:** - [Immigration officials are arresting people in Washington and warehousing them in Idaho](https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-spokane-idaho/) - Spokane city [reaffirmed its support](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-immigration-solidarity-resolution/) of the Keep WA working Act - Spokane Valley [did the opposite](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-valley-immigration-policy/) - Ghanaian immigrant, Bismarck Avornu, was [detained after church](https://www.rangemedia.co/they-just-take-people-ghanaian-immigrant-taken-by-ice-after-church-service/); He’s one of few to get [out on bond](https://www.rangemedia.co/migrant-detained-by-ice-back-with-family/) and he shared about what it’s like in the Northwest ICE Processing Center - [ICE agents with no warrant violently arrest](https://www.rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/) migrants in Spokane Valley - Jeison and Cesar Ruiz Rodriguez - Martin Diaz [arrested](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) without warrant. - That arrest revealed to us that ICE is [reportedly surveilling](https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-surveillance-immigration-activist-deportation/) immigration activists ### Cap on rent increases across Washington is signed into law URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington-law/ Last updated: 2025-05-09T19:13:14.000Z *Originally published by Jake Goldstein-Street at [the Washington State Standard](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/05/07/cap-on-rent-increases-across-washington-is-signed-into-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) on May 7, 2025.* Washington landlords can no longer raise rents by more than 10% per year under landmark legislation Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law Wednesday. Effective immediately, [House Bill 1217](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1217&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) caps residential rent hikes during a 12-month period at 7% plus inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower. The limit will last 15 years. The bill also restricts manufactured home rent increases to 5% with no expiration date. “I’m confident that this legislation is going to work for everybody in our state,” Ferguson said Wednesday at Blake House, the first affordable high-rise apartment building constructed in Seattle in half a century, which opened in 2023\. “Too many folks are getting priced out, and we can’t have that, right? That’s not an option.” Rent increases are also prohibited for the first year of a tenancy under the new law. But when a renter moves in, landlords can set the initial rate however they please. New construction is not subject to the cap for its first 12 years. Public housing authorities, low-income developments, and duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in which the owner lives in one of the units are also exempt. Rent hike notices are now required 90 days before they go into effect, up from 60 days under previous law. If a landlord raises rent above the cap without an exemption, the renter must give the landlord a chance to fix the error or can terminate their lease with 20 days’ notice. A tenant or the state attorney general can bring litigation to enforce compliance with the new law. The attorney general can recover up to $7,500 per violation. Democrats believe the limit will give renters greater predictability in one of the most expensive states to live in, while Republicans think it will chill development and force landlords to sell their properties because they can’t keep up with maintenance costs and property taxes. Last month, Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, argued the policy is “going to be devastating for our housing providers, and we need housing providers to be a part of the solution in the housing crisis that we have.” Sean Flynn, the executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Washington, said “today is a tragedy for the industry and for tenants across the state,” adding that the law will lead to higher prices, less supply and worse quality housing. The association is exploring a legal challenge. Flynn also took issue with the emergency clause allowing the bill to go into effect immediately, since the state Department of Commerce hasn’t reported its required calculation showing the maximum allowable rent increase with inflation. The law states Commerce must report that number on June 1. The legislation was part of a [suite of bills](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/03/20/housing-bills-to-watch-as-the-washington-legislative-session-enters-its-final-weeks/?ref=rangemedia.co) Ferguson signed Wednesday, aiming to clear obstacles to construction, increase homeownership opportunities, pave the way for [redevelopment of commercial property into residential](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=1757&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) and provide a modicum of [tax relief](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=1106&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co). Other bills focused on promoting [housing development around transit stops](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=1491&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) and allowing for more [lot splitting](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1096&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) remain to be signed. It was a long road to the governor’s desk for the uber-controversial rent cap proposal. After [clearing the House](https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-stabilization-washington/), the Senate raised the cap from an initial 7% to 10% plus inflation in a [dramatic floor vote](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/10/wa-senate-raises-proposed-cap-on-rent-increases-sending-bill-back-to-house/?ref=rangemedia.co), to the dismay of progressive Democrats. The two chambers then negotiated to come up with [the compromise](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/24/compromise-reached-on-washington-bill-to-cap-rent-increases/?ref=rangemedia.co) that eventually passed [on the final day of the legislative session](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/rent-increase-cap-proposal-heads-to-wa-governor/?ref=rangemedia.co), but not before a [procedural fiasco](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/26/procedural-snag-delays-votes-on-bill-to-cap-washington-rent-increases/?ref=rangemedia.co) delayed the final votes. “Today, we put common sense guardrails on our rental housing market so that hard working families and older adults don’t get unchecked excessive rent increases,” said bill sponsor Sen. Emily Alvarado, D-Seattle. “This law is a good beginning. It’s long overdue, and it’s urgently needed.” Ferguson declined to say if he would’ve preferred the initial 7% cap. The legislation was a [top priority](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/01/10/washington-lawmakers-prepare-to-revive-plan-for-state-cap-on-rent-increases/?ref=rangemedia.co) for many Democrats after a similar bill [stalled in the Senate](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/02/26/plan-for-7-statewide-cap-on-rent-increases-fails-in-washington-legislature/?ref=rangemedia.co) last year. Behind [the scenes](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/30/behind-the-scenes-ferguson-backed-bill-to-cap-rent-increases-for-months/?ref=rangemedia.co), Ferguson’s staff worked with lawmakers for months to get the bill across the finish line. But the governor himself declined to confirm support publicly until last week. No Republicans voted for the bill in either chamber of the Legislature. In the House, five Democrats opposed it on final passage. In the Senate, two Democrats voted against the legislation. ## Other newly signed housing laws ### **Parking** Advocates believe one of the biggest impediments to housing construction in Washington is [local parking requirements](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/01/29/wa-lawmakers-want-to-limit-parking-requirements-for-new-development/?ref=rangemedia.co) that drive up costs and take up valuable space. Now, cities and counties won’t be able to mandate more than one spot for every two units under [Senate Bill 5184](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=5184&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co), also signed Wednesday. They also can’t require builders to include more than one space per single-family home. As for commercial space, jurisdictions can’t force developers to build more than two parking spots per 1,000 square feet. And no parking minimum requirements are allowed for existing buildings being changed from nonresidential to residential, homes under 1,200 square feet, commercial spaces under 3,000 square feet, affordable housing, child care facilities or senior housing. The rules in Senate Bill 5184 don’t affect cities with under 30,000 residents. The law, considered one of the strongest state-level efforts to relax parking requirements in the nation, goes into effect in late July. ### **Condo construction** [House Bill 1403](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1403&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) looks to reduce liability risks for developers of condominiums, which can serve as a path into homeownership for first-time buyers. Builders have shied away from condo construction in the past out of fear of litigation due to the state’s liability laws, seen by some as overly protective of consumers. The bill passed the Legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support. ### ‘For this one day, we won.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/boise-idaho-pride-flag/ Last updated: 2025-05-08T01:43:58.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and Stonewall News Northwest, a newsroom serving the rural LGBTQ+ community of the Pacific Northwest. Learn more about Stonewall News Northwest’s work[ here](https://stonewallnews.net/?ref=rangemedia.co).* For the last 10 years, Boise has proudly flown the Progress Pride flag from its City Hall. But in April of 2025, the Idaho Legislature [passed a law](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/05/06/gop-lawmakers-seek-to-ban-pride-flags-stirring-tensions-with-liberal-cities/?ref=rangemedia.co) that made it illegal to fly any flags that aren’t on a pre-approved list — that included the American flag, the POW-MIA flag and official city flags — on government property. The Pride flag was not on the list. The law, which has no stated penalty for violations, went into effect on April 3, 2025\. For the last month, Boise has defied it by continuing to fly both the Progress Pride flag and a flag supporting organ donors from the pole outside City Hall. This Tuesday though, Boise decided to follow the law — with a little malicious compliance, that is. By a vote of 5-1, the Boise City Council passed a resolution designating the Pride flag, and any other flags they choose to fly, as “official city flags,” putting them in legal compliance with the letter of the law. On the same evening, a state away, Salt Lake City made a similar decision. Like Idaho, the Utah Legislature had also passed a law [banning unsanctioned flags](https://apnews.com/article/boise-salt-lake-city-pride-flags-law-13c8f9f7269d1b33daaa7ef041c6c497?ref=rangemedia.co) in government buildings. But on Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Council debuted three new official city flags that put [the city’s sego lily emblem](https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/05/06/salt-lake-city-adopts-new-banners-sidestepping-pride-flag-ban/?ref=rangemedia.co) on top of the Progress Pride flag, the transgender flag and the Juneteenth flag. And closer to home, also on Tuesday, the city of Bonners Ferry engaged in their own rebellion against the new Idaho flag law. Bonners Ferry sits near the Canadian border, and the city has historically flown the Canadian flag in a show of friendship with their neighbors to the north. The Idaho flag law contains an exception allowing cities to fly other countries’ flags for special occasions, so Bonners Ferry [passed a resolution](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/bonners-ferry-resolution-continue-canadian-flag-state-restrictions/293-1d35b8ac-fcbf-4c03-87cd-6240e8bdfc06?ref=rangemedia.co) designating every single day of the year as a special occasion, so the city can continue to fly the Canadian flag. ### Fighting over the flag Tuesday’s decision by the City Council, which Boise Mayor Lauren McClean supported, was just the latest move in Boise’s ongoing battle with the state to keep flying the Progress Pride flag. Even after the law went into effect, Boise has continually displayed the Pride flag in full view of t[he Capitol building](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/05/06/gop-lawmakers-seek-to-ban-pride-flags-stirring-tensions-with-liberal-cities/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=within%20view%20of%20the%20state%20Capitol). On April 15 — 12 days after the flag law went into effect — Attorney General Raúl Labrador sent McClean [a public letter](https://www.ag.idaho.gov/newsroom/attorney-general-labrador-asks-boise-mayor-to-comply-with-state-law/?ref=rangemedia.co) demanding she take the Pride flag down and threatening to support future legislative action “to deny state tax revenues and other appropriations to the City of Boise or any other governmental entity that does not follow state law.” On April 25, McClean released a statement of her own, refusing to comply with the law. “The Constitutional rights of our residents are not subject to — cannot be subject to — the political whims of legislative disapproval,” McLean wrote, “And we will not step back from them simply because the principles our community cherishes make some in state government uncomfortable.” Read the letter in full below. On Easter Sunday, which happened to fall on Adolf Hitler’s birthday (a date [sometimes used](https://www.adl.org/resources/article/white-supremacist-events-coincide-hitlers-birth-week?ref=rangemedia.co) by white nationalists as a [day of action](https://azmirror.com/briefs/paul-gosar-to-attend-white-nationalist-social-gathering-on-hitlers-birthday/?ref=rangemedia.co)), [conservative](https://www.khq.com/news/organizer-of-open-carry-rally-arrested-for-misdemeanor-warrant/article%5F3699fb08-ea55-11ea-b0a9-9f7ddec9bf87.html?ref=rangemedia.co) [provocateur](https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwest/idaho/article287117220.html?ref=rangemedia.co) [Casey Whalen](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/ammon-bundy-launches-new-antigovernment-organization-takes-coronavirus-restrictions/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=monitors%20extremist%20activity.-,Casey%20Whalen,-%2C%20a%20People%E2%80%99s%20Rights) posted a [video](https://boisedev.com/news/2025/04/21/flag-removal-mclean/?ref=rangemedia.co) of influencer David Pettinger using a ladder to scale the city’s flag pole. Reaching the top, Pettinger covered the Pride flag and [the Donate Life Month flag](https://www.life-source.org/latest/what-is-a-donate-life-flag-raising-ceremony/?ref=rangemedia.co) — which celebrates organ donation — with black garbage bags. Pettinger then added an [Appeal to Heaven](https://apnews.com/article/alito-supreme-court-flags-history-symbol-protest-a5415aeba90e21a86a50f8489fc54b7a?ref=rangemedia.co) flag to the pole, which became a symbol of far-right movements across the country after rioters on January 6, 2021, flew it as they stormed the US Capitol building, temporarily halting the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Later the same day, [McClean herself came to City Hall](https://www.tiktok.com/@pamela.hemphill/video/7495456756357762335?ref=rangemedia.co) to uncover the Pride and Donate Life Month flags and [remove the Appeal to Heaven flag](https://boisedev.com/news/2025/04/21/flag-removal-mclean/?ref=rangemedia.co). Though the Republican-sponsored Idaho bill to ban non-government flags passed the legislature by a large margin, there was a fair bit of fighting in the legislature, too. Queer Idahoans testified against the bill, which they felt targeted the Pride flag. “ All of the images and examples they used during the floor and the committee sessions were showing images of Pride flags,” said [Nikson Mathews](https://www.rangemedia.co/queer-idaho-lgbtqia-legislature-book-bans/), the chair of the Idaho Democratic Queer Caucus and 2024 Idaho House of Representatives [candidate](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/05/16/2024-primaries-to-watch-four-boise-democrats-compete-for-open-seat-in-idaho-house/?ref=rangemedia.co), who advocated against the bill. Even some Republicans, like Representative Lori McCann (R-Lewiston), argued against it. “What it seems like we’re getting to is there’s only one flag that’s objectionable and that’s the rainbow flag we’re seeing,” [she said](https://boisedev.com/news/2025/02/22/flag-restriction-house/?ref=rangemedia.co). “We’re again overreaching our ability here to tell our local cities or our counties what they can and can’t do in their own city and that’s where I say that we have a problem. Our \[Idaho Republican party\] platform clearly defines that we believe in local control, and for that reason I think we are getting way out again in front of our skis.” In an interesting wrinkle, the bill’s lead sponsor, [Heather Scott](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/secret-recording-shows-how-a-right-wing-idaho-lobbyist-tried-to-keep-a-legislator-in-lockstep-17706682?ref=rangemedia.co) (R-Blanchard), has her own rich history with flag fights: a few years ago, she [threatened to sue news outlets](https://www.inlander.com/news/idaho-state-rep-heather-scott-held-a-confederate-flag-for-a-photo-and-shared-it-online-her-husband-just-didnt-want-us-to-do-the-same-25620482?ref=rangemedia.co) for publishing a photo of her posing with the Confederate flag that she’d posted on her campaign website. Her caption read, “I posed with a Confederate flag on a parade float to show that our First Amendment right is one of the most important rights we have." About the bill she sponsored, though, Scott [said](https://boisedev.com/news/2025/02/22/flag-restriction-house/?ref=rangemedia.co) earlier this year, “We don’t want governments to be promoting division, political ideology or any social movements.” ### Queer Boise residents speak out Though advocates lost the fight against the bill in the legislature, some, including Mathews, were in attendance on Tuesday as the Boise City Council voted to make the Progress Pride flag an official flag. The chambers that evening were full — “Standing room only,” Mathews told RANGE — and people protesting the city’s support for queer people congregated in the back. “Some of the people there protesting, got rowdy, got loud, were disruptive,” Mathews said. “They had to be told multiple times to quiet down and let business proceed.” At one point, the city council had to [call a recess](https://boisedev.com/news/2025/05/06/pride-official-resolution/?ref=rangemedia.co) to reestablish order in the chambers. It made for a tense evening, said October, a queer burlesque producer who had a second row seat at the meeting. October, who asked to use her first name only because of concerns for her safety, said the second the bill passed, the room exploded with yelling from the back. Two men in front of her stood and displayed the American flag. “The contrast of being relieved and wanting to be excited in that moment, but it’s hard when you’ve got these people yelling behind you — it’s just a reminder that everything is going to be a fight,” October said. “Everything we want to do, everything we want to accomplish, is going to be a fight.” Despite the protestors, Buck D’Licious, a [queer, transgender drag performer](https://www.rangemedia.co/queer-idaho-lgbtqia-legislature-book-bans/) based out of Boise, felt a lot of solidarity at the meeting. “Walking up to the City Hall steps, I was nervous,” D’Licious said. “But as I walked up, the closer I got, the more I just saw this sea of rainbows and rainbow flags. So many people out there to show their support, even though this wasn't a situation where City Council was taking public comment.” Mathews was struck by the way the tenor of the council members’ discussion centered queer peoples’ experiences. “They spoke about the harm of legislators creating laws like this. They spoke about the harm of targeting the community, and making people feel unsafe and unwelcome, and they were very direct and straightforward and they named the harm,” Mathews said. “That is what I wish all of our elected officials and leaders would do with this legislation because this flag ban bill is terrible.” For D’Licious, who has lived in Idaho their whole life, the vote was an “emotional moment.” “ I almost cried several times during this hearing, but one of the things that the mayor said that really stood out to me was that in order to uphold our values — diversity and this welcoming city, where it’s safe for everyone — sometimes you have to change the system and that is what they're choosing to do now,” D’Licious said. “As a queer person living in Idaho, the past few months have been really hard,” they added. “I haven't felt very safe in my community, in my hometown, in my home state, and so to come to the City Council meeting and to hear our counselors in overwhelming support of upholding Boise city values of inclusion and welcoming and equity and diversity, that was really, really impactful.” It was a refreshing difference from the frustration of lobbying at the state level against an avalanche of anti-queer bills, which Mathews has described as “a painful experience,” during which his personal testimony was often disregarded or disrespected by legislators. Mathews wants allies to “bring that same energy” to harmful legislation at the state level. This session, the Idaho Legislature passed [multiple laws](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/04/21/these-anti-lgbtq-bills-were-introduced-in-2025-idaho-legislative-session-where-does-each-stand/?ref=rangemedia.co) targeting queer people: [HB 270](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/H0270/?ref=rangemedia.co), a new indecent exposure law activists fear will be used to [target transgender people](https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/idaho-governor-signs-bill-criminalizing-public-breast-exposure-and-truck-nuts/?ref=rangemedia.co); [HB59](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/H0059/?ref=rangemedia.co), which [allows healthcare workers to deny medical care](https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/gov-brad-little-signs-bill-to-let-idaho-doctors-refuse-care-if-it-violates-beliefs/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Idaho%20Gov.%20Brad%20Little%20signed,held%20religious%20or%20moral%20beliefs.) on the basis of religion; [HB352](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/H0352/?ref=rangemedia.co), a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that bans any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools; and [two pieces of nonbinding legislation](https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/idaho-house-begins-session-with-legislation-on-same-sex-marriage-boise-state-volleyball/?ref=rangemedia.co) that asked the Supreme Court to end the nationwide legalization of gay marriage, and commended the Boise State University’s volleyball team for refusing to play against a volleyball team with a transgender player. After the meeting ended, October, Mathews and D’Licious celebrated in their own ways. October went to a pole dance class with another person who had attended the meeting. “ We were talking about it at the studio, just like, ‘Damn, we did it.’” Mathews went out with a group of queer people. “We cheered to the decision because you’ve gotta celebrate these moments,” Mathews said. “It’s more than just about a flag. This is about a leader saying ‘No, we’re not gonna do that.’ This is about standing up to what is happening in our country and what is happening in our state.” D’Licious returned home to their wife. “I gave them a huge hug and a kiss, and we had dinner. It was fantastic. It felt like a win, and we haven't had a win in a long time,” they said. “It was just this feeling of elation, even in the face of everything that has happened in the world, in our community and in our state, for this one day, we won.” *Editor's note: this story has been edited to reflect that Boise has been flying the Pride flag all year round, not just in June, for at least the last four years.* ### ICE reportedly surveilled local immigration activist URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/ice-surveillance-immigration-activist-deportation/ Last updated: 2025-05-07T23:11:41.000Z Jennyfer Mesa has suspected ICE agents have been watching her since February. “ We've seen vehicles outside of our house,” Mesa told RANGE in an interview last week. “We're regular people. I live with my husband and my kids, and we're out in the front, gardening and cleaning up like everyone else.” Mesa and her family are regular people, but she is also one of the most prominent advocates for immigrant rights in the Inland Northwest. Under her leadership of Latinos en Spokane (LeS), a nonprofit that has fought for immigrants since 2017, the organization has ramped up its advocacy as President Donald Trump embarked on a massive campaign to deport “millions” of immigrants. LeS organized the May Day march last week during which about 2,000 people protested to support labor rights and immigrants, which Mesa sees as inherently intertwined. She also helped convince the Spokane City Council to pass a resolution affirming its support for Washington’s law that bars local governments from helping federal agents enforce immigration law. On top of that, LeS organizes legal support for immigrants at risk of being deported. Mesa and her family are US citizens. But this week, after his [violent arrest](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) by three federal immigration officers who did not present a warrant, Martin Diaz confirmed Mesa’s fears: immigration officers boasted to him they’d been surveilling Mesa’s home, Diaz said. “My husband called me yesterday and asked me to give her a heads up that her name was mentioned several times while he was being detained by the ICE agents,” Kendall Diaz, Martin’s wife, told RANGE on April 30. Kendall then reached out to Mesa to relay the information. LeS had been helping the Diazes seek legal services when Martin was arrested. The alleged surveillance started taking place in February, when Mesa first noticed cars driving slowly past her house on the street. That also coincides with the timing of ICE’s first attempt to arrest Martin, when an agent had pretended to crash a car into Kendall Diaz’s car, causing a scene that drew her and their roommate out of the house to interrogate them. Martin was not home. Kendall Diaz told Mesa “that when he was in the vehicle, they mentioned my full name, Jennyfer Mesa, and that they were watching my house,” Mesa said. “They also provided my home address to him \[which showed\] that they're monitoring my house.” She said the allegations prompted her to increase security at her home. “We have a heightened awareness,” Mesa said. “We're installing cameras in our house. I gave a heads up to other activists. I have the privilege of being a US citizen, but I know that right now, that could be stripped away for any reason because we're seeing how they're targeting activists and union organizers.” She pointed to [news reports](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrants-in-u-s-legally-and-with-no-criminal-history-caught-up-in-trump-crackdown?ref=rangemedia.co) of Trump administration officials deporting people who are in the US legally, [including citizens](https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/03/politics/what-happens-with-us-citizen-children-caught-up-in-trumps-deportation-push?ref=rangemedia.co). National news reports [also show](https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/31/us/what-we-know-college-activists-immigration-hnk?ref=rangemedia.co) that ICE has been [targeting activists](https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/5/1/how-activists-and-immigrants-in-the-us-can-protect-their-privacy?ref=rangemedia.co) who are legal permanent residents, green card holders and visa holders. ICE spokesperson David Yost declined to comment on this story. #### Part of a trend ICE agents have reportedly [surveilled](https://www.rangemedia.co/they-just-take-people-ghanaian-immigrant-taken-by-ice-after-church-service/) and detained many immigrants living in Spokane since Trump took office after stoking resentment among voters for immigrant communities. Some of these arrests have been violent. Mesa frequently posts videos to Facebook of vehicles she suspects are surveilling Latine people and communities. RANGE [detailed](https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/) Martin Diaz’s arrest on Friday, which took place as part of a broad and brutal campaign by federal agencies under Donald Trump to deport immigrants, many of whom are in the US legally and were not allowed due process as required by the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. Since then, more details have emerged about the 2008 deportation order the Diazes have been trying to have removed by applying for his green card. The order was prompted by a 2007 incident in which Martin pleaded guilty to a third-degree assault charge and was sentenced two months in jail. In 2017, he was convicted of felony domestic violence for assaulting his father-in-law, according to [reporting](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/may/04/ice-arrest-of-spokane-resident-exposes-a-man-witho/?ref=rangemedia.co) in *The Spokesman*. Both charges were filed in the Yakima area. He [was charged](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-man-detained-border-patrol-charges-alleged-attack-agent/293-0fa98eb1-03f1-41ed-aa74-e143827e9a8c?utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fsource=facebook%5FKREM%5F2%5FNews&fbclid=IwY2xjawKIX9ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFUcU52cDBjVk5xZWcwaDlrAR54LD2vjmwmY3mMUNvAHQUzwIQKj0pWyoU4TOlcZe6E4rWb%5F9kCS3cMnSFqDg%5Faem%5FtOLewbwyZ1wRaNJflRFZ0g) with assault after the most recent arrest because he allegedly elbowed one of the arresting agents in the face. Security video shows Diaz exiting his car on Tuesday morning last week and running for the safety of his backyard. Three agents — one in uniform, two in civilian clothes — gave chase and tackled him in his backyard, dragged him into the front yard and arrested him. At no point did any of the agents show a warrant. Federal agents have also had their eyes on LeS headquarters on Monroe Street in North Spokane. As RANGE [reported](https://www.rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/) in March, the office received a series of threatening phone calls in February. “They said, ‘ Hey, who are your funders?’” said Jorge Guerrero, a senior organizer for LeS, in a March interview. “‘How are you guys working? We’re gonna make sure you get audited. We’re gonna make sure that ICE agents show up.’ All ICE agents need is probable cause for something like a call.” Later that week, an agent showed up at LeS’s doorstep wanting in. But LeS had by this time created an appointment-only policy and was keeping its doors locked; the agents were denied entry. After agents were denied entry at LeS headquarters, Guerrero said things calmed down there, but ICE agents seemed to ramp up operations in the community. This development seems to reflect a broader evolution in the Trump administration’s strategy to deport “millions” of immigrants. Initially, federal agents, including some deputized from agencies that don’t normally enforce immigration law, sometimes arrested more than 1,000 people a day. Those numbers fell off, so the agencies started targeting people who are in the US legally — people whose addresses are recorded and who are easy to find. In [one March instance](https://www.rangemedia.co/federal-ice-breaks-windows-arrests-men-without-warrant/), agents with no warrant broke the windows of a truck driven by Jeison and Cesar Ruiz Rodriguez, Nicaraguan immigrants who were on their way to a court hearing. They dragged the men from the car, TASERed Jeison and hit Cesar in the head with the butt of a rifle, Jeison’s wife Kayla Somaribba told RANGE shortly after the arrest. They took them to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, a detention facility where immigrants are processed for deportation. Mesa told RANGE at the May Day march last week that she gets calls every day reporting immigrant arrests often made under the authority of “administrative warrants,” rather than “judicial warrants.” According to the Immigration Law Center, [the former](https://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-Subpoenas-Warrants%5F.pdf?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=An%20administrative%20warrant%20is%20issued%20by%20a,administrative%20warrant%20does%20not%20authorize%20a%20search.&text=An%20administrative%20warrant%20does%20not%20authorize%20a,may%20authorize%20a%20civil%20arrest%20or%20seizure.) is “a formal written document authorizing a law enforcement officer from a designated federal agency, such as an ICE agent from DHS, to make an arrest or a seizure. … Unlike a judicial warrant, an administrative warrant does not authorize a search. Therefore, an ICE agent who has only an administrative warrant may not conduct a search based on the warrant, though, in certain circumstances, the administrative warrant would authorize the agent to make a seizure or arrest.” Mesa said people can refuse to be searched if the agents are only carrying an administrative warrant, whereas a search warrant signed by a judge compels them to consent to a search. ### If you ran Bloomsday, you may have noticed some extra on-course paint. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/bloomsday-course-paint-traffic-safet/ Last updated: 2025-05-07T22:25:24.000Z Sometime in the days leading up to the race, activists painted six locations on the race route with the phrase “Forget Me Not” and a white and blue traffic cone. Each location marks the spot where someone – a pedestrian, a motorcyclist or a driver – had died in a collision. According to the artists/activists, who have chosen to remain anonymous, the markings are intended to educate the public: “It's one thing to say ‘slow down, save lives,’ it's much more impactful to say ‘Someone died *right here*. Don't be one to take someone else's life here.’” Here are the locations, and the crash that happened at each according to [this WSDOT tool](https://remoteapps.wsdot.wa.gov/highwaysafety/collision/data/portal/public/?ref=rangemedia.co) and this [Washington Traffic Commission tool](https://wtsc.wa.gov/dashboards/fatal-crash-map/?ref=rangemedia.co): 1. 72-year-old [Zhilan Chen died just a few months ago](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/26/72-year-old-woman-identified-as-pedestrian-who-was/?ref=rangemedia.co) while crossing Whistalks Way on foot. 2. [Williams Parks died in 2020 while riding a motorcycle](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/sep/17/man-killed-in-west-spokane-motorcycle-accident-sat/?ref=rangemedia.co) on Government Way near Greenwood Road. 3. [An impaired and speeding driver rolled his vehicle in 2022](https://www.khq.com/news/rollover-crash-on-government-way-kills-1/article%5Fcadbd974-6a7f-11ed-8a8d-3335f28cf507.html?ref=rangemedia.co), killing himself, at Government Way and Greenwood Road. 4. [Niket Everett, father of five, was found dead on Pettet Drive near Nora Avenue](https://www.khq.com/news/major-crimes-investigates-after-man-found-dead-in-the-road-in-spokanes-west-central-neighborhood/article%5Fae763f00-93c7-11ee-9d0f-f39fe7d94373.html?ref=rangemedia.co) on an early morning in 2024\. The autopsy found he died as a result of blunt force injuries. Police have no evidence he was hit by a car driver, but the coroner often uses the same description for those who died in car crashes. 5. An impaired driver died near Government Way and River Ridge Boulevard in 2021. 6. An impaired and speeding driver died near Riverside Avenue and Cedar Street (at the northbound onramp to the Maple Street Bridge). Two other locations meet the criteria of traffic deaths on the Bloomsday route, but were not marked due to proximity to a police precinct. 1. A pedestrian died on Riverside Avenue and Wall Street in 2023 after [being hit by a driver](https://www.kxly.com/news/pedestrian-hit-by-vehicle-in-downtown-spokane/article%5Fa0de0c06-0cc2-11ee-b6b2-ef553b0cbaf4.html?ref=rangemedia.co). 2. A pedestrian died on Riverside Avenue and Stevens Street in 2021 after [being struck by a driver](https://www.khq.com/news/pedestrian-hit-by-car-on-riverside-sent-to-hospital-with-serious-injuries/article%5F6bb9daba-b381-11eb-9363-8fc482e18282.html?ref=rangemedia.co). The activists say the action is borne out of frustration with the sluggishness of city bureaucracy. “The lack of memorial and action is part of what pushed locals to take matters into their own hands and create stencils to pay respects to those lost to vehicular violence, and to let their family members and friends know they have not been forgotten,” wrote one of the artists behind the murals in an anonymous email to RANGE. In the case of Whistalks Way and Randolph Road, where Zhilan Chen was killed by a driver, the city had known it was a dangerous location. It’s near Spokane Falls Community College, where students and other residents must cross four high-speed lanes of traffic to reach the college and nearby bus stops. The city has been planning to build an enhanced crosswalk – a “pedestrian hybrid beacon” – [since at least fall of 2023](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/budget/2024/adopted-2024-2029-citywide-capital-improvement-program-page-12.pdf), but it was not built in time to prevent Chen’s death. The crosswalk’s [construction is planned](https://my.spokanecity.org/projects/arterial-pedestrian-hybrid-beacons/?ref=rangemedia.co) for this year’s construction season but could be delayed by equipment lead times. “In the amount of time spent gathering feedback, planning, proposing, and bidding, a dozen or more cheap, [adaptive design projects](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-calming-design-spokane/) could have been implemented to calm traffic and enhance people's experience and safety on Riverside,” wrote one of the artists. “**The longer we wait to implement changes, no matter how small, the more people are seriously injured and killed due to our inaction. The city often fears liability for doing simple pilot projects, but where is the accountability for the current designs actively harming people and making Spokane a dangerous place to live?” \[**emphasis theirs.\] *Note: Just days after the markers were painted, a cyclist was hit by a driver at Nettleton Street and Sharp Avenue, only two blocks off the Bloomsday route. The cyclist was severely injured and the driver fled the scene, according to a Facebook post from a relative of the victim.* ### An urbanist’s guide to Bike Everywhere Month events in Spokane URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/bike-everywhere-month-events-meetup-urbanism/ Last updated: 2025-05-05T21:01:46.000Z Pump up those tires and charge your e-bike batteries. May is Bike Everywhere Month in Washington, and there’s sure to be events regular readers of this urbanism column would be interested in. [Check out the full line up here.](https://www.meetup.com/spokane-bicycle-club-meetup-group/events/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Future Children of the Sun extensions with WSDOT **Tuesday, May 6th at 6 pm - Trailhead at Columbia & Market** A seven-mile ride with officials from WSDOT discussing the future extensions of the Children of the Sun Trail. More info [here](https://www.meetup.com/spokane-bicycle-club-meetup-group/events/306645830/?eventOrigin=group%5Fevents%5Flist&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Pancake Breakfast featuring Marcus Riccelli and city planners **Monday, May 12th from 7 to 9 am - Howard Promenade picnic shelter** Kick off National Bike to Work Week with coffee by Roast House and pancakes courtesy of the Spokane Bicycle Club. Chat with State Senator Marcus Riccelli and Spokane city planners about infrastructure projects. More info [here](https://www.meetup.com/spokane-bicycle-club-meetup-group/events/306789351/?eventOrigin=group%5Fevents%5Flist&ref=rangemedia.co). ## Mayor’s Ride **Wednesday, May 14th from 7:30 to 8:30 am — West Central Community Center** Join Mayor Lisa Brown, representatives from statewide advocacy organization Washington Bikes, city staff, local advocates and other elected officials on a ride from the West Central Community Center to City Hall, where there will be coffee and donuts. More info [here](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/stories/2025/04/29/join-the-mayors-bike-to-work-day-ride/?ref=rangemedia.co). ## National Bike to Work Day Energizer Stations **Friday, May 18th from 7 to 9 am -** [**Various locations**](https://www.spokanebicycleclub.org/page-1858707?ref=rangemedia.co) Swing by a station on your commute, or go out of your way to collect them all. You’ll find friendly faces and snacks at each station. Find me at the Bicycle Advisory Board station at Howard and Mallon! ## Bicycle Advisory Board mobile meeting **Tuesday, May 20th at 5 pm - City Hall** Join me, the other members of the BAB, and city planning staff for a bike ride through West Central, Audubon-Downriver and Emerson Garfield. We’ll make stops at a handful of locations to discuss infrastructure projects. Afterwards, the city will host a casual dinner at David’s Pizza. ## RANGE Urbanism Ride **Thursday, May 22nd at 5:30 pm - City Hall** Lastly, join me and city hall reporter extraordinaire Erin Sellers and the rest of the RANGE team for a [nine mile, party-pace ride](https://felt.com/map/RANGE-Urbanism-Ride-9BTq9CkGBqTmKPqlEFIE9BCuB?loc=47.6681,-117.4087,13.82z&share=1&ref=rangemedia.co) to check out *south bank* bike infrastructure east of downtown – we all know about the Centennial Trail on the north bank, but there are some little-known south bank gems getting city and state investment. The ride should take about 90 minutes max and we’ll end at Brick West Brewing Co for some socializing. ![](https://rangemedia.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Screenshot-2025-05-05-at-1.56.29%E2%80%AFPM.png) *Special shoutout to Sally Phillips and Spokane Bicycle Club for maintaining the full calendar for Bike Everywhere Month and hosting many of these events.* ### New homeless ordinances headed to debate at council committee. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/ Last updated: 2025-05-05T19:09:27.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - The joint Spokane Parks levy and Spokane Public Schools bond proposal could get one step closer to appearing on your ballot this fall as Spokane City Council takes a vote on approving ballot language for the Parks half. - The city council is also scheduled to vote on two urbanist ordinances, one that lays out their goal to reduce car commuter trips by 6% and one that shows which bicycle and pedestrian route improvements are getting prioritized for funding. - Last week, Mayor Lisa Brown announced a sweeping plan for changing homelessness enforcement and services across the city. The council will get their first chance to debate and discuss Brown’s proposals at the Public Safety and Community Heath Committee. **Important meetings this week:** - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/) - [Public Safety and Community Heath Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/) - [Community, Housing, and Human Services Board](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/) - [Liberty Lake City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/new-homeless-ordinances-headed-to-debate-at-council-committee/) ## Spokane City Council 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### More bang for your buck? Spokane Parks and the Spokane Public School District have already announced [their plan to put coordinated joint levy and bond proposals](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-school-district-and-city-parks-partnership-would-fund-innovative-projects-under-new-bond-and-levy-29415065?ref=rangemedia.co) before voters this fall that would pool resources to improve both parks and schools across the city. If both proposals pass, it would bring in [$440 million](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/20/spokane-parks-schools-to-ask-voters-to-approve-amb/?ref=rangemedia.co) over the next 20 years. The parks levy would raise property taxes by 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value and the school bond would raise property taxes by between 6 and 31 cents (an average of 23 cents) per $1,000 of assessed value. Someone owning a $300,000 home could expect to pay an additional $150 a year if both of these proposals pass. It may sound like a big price tag, but the plan has bipartisan support and the schools and parks have [pretty detailed plans](https://www.togetherspokane.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) for what they’d do with your money. Some of the projects that caught our eyes include a new Spokane Public Schools Trades training program on Spokane Community College’s campus, auditorium improvements for the theatre and music kids out there, [three new neighborhood parks](https://www.togetherspokane.org/land-acquisition-and-development-new-neighborhood-parks?ref=rangemedia.co) and upgrades to parks (and [park bathrooms](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/13/spokane-parks-officials-pledge-bathrooms-will-be-c/?ref=rangemedia.co)) across the city. (*Editor's note: this section has been updated to clarify the amount to be charged per $1,000 of assessed value.*) ### Bike networks and commute reduction The city is required to do an update to the citywide Commute Trip Reduction Plan at least once every four years, and tonight council is set to pass the 2025-2029 plan. It’s a lengthy plan, but we were drawn to the section that lays out the issues throwing up barriers to reducing commute trips in the region, including a lack of transit connectivity in the West Plains region, urban sprawl, an uptick in fatal crashes and gaps in the current bicycle/pedestrian network. The city hopes to address those issues over the next five years, and reduce car commutes by 6%. If you want to read the plan in full, it starts on page 296 of the agenda. The city is also planning to adopt the Bicycle Priority Network (BPN) as a guide for updating elements in the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The goal of the BPN is “to identify routes that, with targeted investments, are most likely to provide the optimal biking and rolling experience for safety, user experience and route directness,” so routes on the list are prioritized for city funding. You can read the whole BPN starting on page 371 of the agenda, but here’s a preview of the routes on the network: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ad_4nxetpsbl3_xslus1nbflyafnn-a9o2q5tl29y4egpteiznhhfsjwg50sk_tn-1a9ytns54cmu9qfl_lyayzjoqbug-v6hsazon52to5zsxtkrrp9uw30gwhdhgpvtzyj4q4wnww7keyiy3h4ghsq-eyfhv5pksmng8r.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ad_4nxewwwq_rqepodxgt0nav3ouwt4ddaysgetmpprmld9xygujzzejdxkah5ezirctpwgidwty1dbhcfdqvliwqp961hmuqvylowrdm_i7pftghvkvmfwuvc-zrlz5htxvuiysdldhqwkeyiy3h4ghsq-eyfhv5pksmng8r.png) ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Council could accept a $650,000 grant from the state Department of Ecology — it comes from [Climate Commitment Act funding](https://www.rangemedia.co/initiative-2117-cap-and-trade-ballot-measure-carbon-neutral/) — that would pay for a carbon capture study at the Waste to Energy Facility. - The city could approve the [removal](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) of the [Monaghan statue](https://www.rangemedia.co/racist-statue-monaghan-spokane-nhpi-community/), which would be done in tandem with a traffic safety project to slow speeds at the intersection of Riverside and Monroe where the statue is currently located. - Block parties in your neighborhood could get a whole lot easier! One of the promises from Mayor Lisa Brown’s [most recent safer streets press conferences](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/) is a step closer to fruition as council has a first read of an ordinance that would make it easier for neighborhoods to shut down their streets for block parties. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 5, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Safety & Community Health Committee 🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Our favorite data reports This committee always has the most interesting presentations because it’s where various departments in the city give updates. Sometimes they link their slides in advance so we get a sneak peek, and sometimes they don’t, but here’s a preview on what to expect: - The Office of Police Ombuds is giving a report on their March activities. They’ve had 678 contacts so far in 2025, and received four complaints in March, down from 6 complaints received in March of 2024. - The Spokane Police Department (SPD) is reporting on assets they seized during the first quarter of 2025, police contacts with people violating sit-and-lie laws, strategic initiatives and tickets from the speed and red light cameras. One thing we noticed — violations from the red light cameras were up by 37 from March of 2024\. Speed camera violations were down by 162 tickets, but one camera is still not operational - SPD and Spokane Fire Department are presenting on overtime spending. According to the agenda, SPD is $531,150 under budget and SFD is $290,144 over budget. ### Harm reduction There’s no additional info in the agenda, but the committee will be getting a presentation on Harm Reduction from Dr. Luis Manriquez. The concept of harm reduction has been a bit of a controversial topic on council, with some council members arguing against effective harm reduction measures, like needle exchange sites, and others in favor. Manriquez’s presentation will likely be an interesting watch. ### A new armored vehicle for SPD SPD’s armored vehicle was damaged beyond the point of repair in a crash (we think it’s [this crash](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/20/spokane-police-high-speed-crash-video/74481494007/?ref=rangemedia.co) from 2024?), and they’re looking for the council to approve $430,000 by special budget ordinance to replace it. The last vehicle went out on over 130 calls over the last two years, and SPD says it’s a “de-escalation tool” that brings “safe resolution to high-risk incidents in the community.” ### All the mayor’s homeless ordinances Late last week, Mayor Lisa Brown announced a slate of new homelessness laws (we’re planning on covering them in depth but this reporter got a sinus infection) in response to the fall of [Proposition 1](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/). They still need to come before council for approval, though, where they could face amendments and changes. Here’s a summary: - **HOME Starts Here ordinance**: lays out the city’s support network for people experiencing homelessness. - **Siting and inclement weather activation ordinanc**e: adds a requirement for any new city-owned shelter or shelter receiving over $50,000 of city funding to sign a “Good Neighbor Agreement” with the city and hold an open house or public community meeting prior to opening. It also changes the city’s criteria for opening inclement weather sheltering to be oriented around predicted wind chill and heat indices — how a temperature feels — rather than the predicted actual temperatures. For example, if a temperature was predicted to be 34 degrees but the wind chill is predicted to make it feel lower than 32 degrees, the city would open emergency shelter. - **Obstruction and Unauthorized camping ordinance**: Perhaps the most controversial on the list, this ordinance would repeal the city’s former homelessness-related laws, like sit-and-lie, pedestrian interference and unlawful camping, and replace them with one law encompassing obstruction and unauthorized camping. It would ban obstruction of public property and sidewalks and unauthorized camping on public lands citywide, going a step further than Prop 1 in the geographic respect. However, the remedy is easier: complying with orders to move or taking the city up on a connection to resources like shelters or medication assisted treatment would result in no citation being given. - **Aggressive solicitation ordinance**: bans “aggressive solicitation” citywide. Aggressive solicitation is defined as “to solicit anything of value and intentionally engage in conduct that would likely intimidate a reasonable person, including but not limited to touching, following, persistently soliciting anything of value after being refused, using violent or threatening language or gestures, or taking similar actions to induce compliance with the solicitation.” We anticipate a \*rigorous\* and potentially heated debate around the ordinances, so stay tuned. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-safety-and-community-health/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, May 5, at noon* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Community, Housing, and Human Services Board > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/boards/community-housing-and-human-services-board/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Wednesday, May 7 at 4 pm* > *City Council Briefing Chambers* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *Virtual attendance link included on their agenda when available.* ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Fentanyl ODs endangering youth The city council will hear a presentation from staff addressing the scope of the opioid crisis in Spokane Valley. City staff will give a presentation outlining how the city plans to address the fentanyl crisis in the future. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 7 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Liberty Lake City Council 🌶️/5 peppers ### Most satisfied in Liberty Lake City staff will present the council with an optimistic view of Liberty Lake, just to the east of Spokane. Of the 226 households that took a Community Satisfaction Survey administered by the city earlier this year, 98% said they feel “somewhat satisfied,” according to the report. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.libertylakewa.gov/AgendaCenter?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, May 6 at 7 pm* > *22710 E Country Vista Drive,* > *Liberty Lake,* > *WA 99019* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84556637756?pwd=UWEyRk0rcjIxUXNxbHlJbWZoSFpPZz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### POD: A fun fund drive week + all about the LGBTQIA2S+ ordinance URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-a-fun-fund-drive-week-all-about-the-lgbtqia2s-ordinance/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T20:02:02.000Z It's the [KYRS Fund Drive](https://kyrs.org/?ref=rangemedia.co) this week (go support community radio!), so things were a little wild in the studio! Erin was flying solo, but was joined by two guests. First up was Maeve Griffith, who runs the show Out and About on KYRS and made headlines herself when she transitioned late in her career as a Spokane firefighter. Then, we were joined by Council Member Paul Dillon (and former KYRS DJ) who talked about the LGBTQIA2S+ ordinance that passed this week and some legislation on the horizon. **Relevant reading:** - [‘Be explicit in your advocacy or risk complicity.’](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-law-nyne/) - [4/28/2025 City Council Live Log: 2SLGBTQIA+ Protection Ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-live-post-lgbtq/) ### Local immigrant arrested without warrant. His wife doesn’t know where he’s been taken. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/arrested-without-warrant-migrant-wife/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T19:00:23.000Z Martin Diaz came to the United States with his parents as a toddler in the early 1990s and he’s been here ever since. His entire family lives here. He works in construction and has owned a company in that industry with his wife, Kendall, since 2022. Diaz has been trying to get legal status since he was 18\. Currently, he is trying to get his green card and have a 2008 deportation order removed from his record. His green card petition was approved on April 11\. This is what he needs to do to give him legitimate immigration status in the United States. But as he parked his silver SUV at the curb in front of his North Spokane home on Tuesday at about 8:30 am, he knew he was in danger. Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had been watching him for months and on that day, he noticed unmarked vehicles following him. One of the central ironies of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts is that because Diaz was going through those legal processes — trying to do everything right — immigration authorities knew where he lived. Diaz pulled up to the curb, got out, looked around and sprinted across the lawn for the safety of his backyard, according to security [footage](https://www.facebook.com/100001667569207/videos/pcb.10031756920223127/1037497365007857?locale=ms%5FMY) Kendall Diaz posted to Facebook. A man in a Border Patrol uniform parked a gray SUV and gave chase. Two other men in unmarked vehicles — one a silver truck and the other a dark gray sedan — and plain clothes quickly followed. Martin barely made it to his backyard, opening the gate and entering the patio, but it was not enough. The men — who’d been tailing him that morning in three unmarked vehicles, one in a uniform, two in plain clothes — sprinted behind him, slammed him against the gate and dragged him into his front yard. As Martin screamed, “Get out of my house,” the Diazes’ roommate confronted the agents in the backyard. “This is my house!” the footage shows the roommate yelling. One of the plainclothes officers — a man with dark features, longish surfer hair and a beard that was going white — had lost his baggy shorts in the scuffle, and his butt was exposed. He was hiking the shorts back up as he entered the backyard, yelling at the roommate, “Get back!” “Do not interfere with us right now,” he said, adjusting his waistband and acting like he’d not been pantsed. “He’s got an order of deportation. He’s going.” He told the roommate it was “none of your business.” They showed no warrant but arrested Diaz nonetheless, cuffing him and putting him in one of the unmarked vehicles, to be processed for deportation to Mexico, where he was born. As the agents processed Diaz, the roommate, recording cell phone footage of the arrest, confronted the officers, asking if the older plainclothes officer had a badge number. “We’re working here,” the officer said, showing the roommate his right palm. He did not give a badge number. This wasn’t the first time he had been at the Diaz home: on [February 1](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12MnmUbwgcx/), that same agent had pretended to crash a car into Kendall Diaz’s car, causing a scene that drew her and their roommate out of the house to interrogate them. They’d been there for Martin Diaz, but Martin was not home. David Yost, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told RANGE it was unlikely the agents didn’t have a warrant, but he also said that in some cases agents don’t need one to make an arrest on private property. Sometimes, he said, there is a “foreign warrant,” meaning a warrant that was issued by the government of another country. Yost said the US Attorney’s Office for Eastern Washington may know if there was a warrant for Diaz. Rob Curry, a spokesperson for that office, said it could not comment on active cases. “ I just worked on one of these this morning,” Yost said. “They presented a foreign warrant and that foreign warrant was presented to them following their arrest.” Diaz does not appear to have a criminal record. RANGE searched local court records for Martin Diaz and found one for speeding in 2018. Jennyfer Mesa, the founder of the local immigrant rights advocacy nonprofit Latinos en Spokane (LeS), said the way Martin Diaz was arrested was illegal but par for the course with ICE detentions in Spokane. “​​ They need a judicial warrant signed by a judge to arrest you,” she said in an interview. “What we've seen is that they're providing administrative warrants that don't have the jurisdiction. … They have no rule of law.” She said people have a responsibility to oppose such abuses of power. “These are tests to our community to see how far we're going to go,” Mesa said. “We need elected officials to stand up. We need the police to provide additional safety because this is militarization in our community. This is very dangerous. We're living in a really difficult time where if we don't fight back, a lot of more people are gonna be detained and families are gonna continue to be separated.” Diaz’s immigration attorney, William Frick, did not return two phone calls requesting comment. ### Happening everywhere This same kind of thing has been playing out across the country: federal agents, many of them [newly deputized](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/23/trump-deputizes-federal-agents-arrest-immigrants/77914576007/?ref=rangemedia.co) by the Trump administration from other departments not traditionally used for immigration enforcement and wearing civilian clothing, nab people from yards, churches, university parking lots and grocery stores. Martin Diaz’s arrest happened as President Donald Trump is administering a brutal, ongoing crackdown on immigrants, many of whom [have been](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/podcasts/the-daily/family-separation-2-0.html?ref=rangemedia.co) in the country for decades and have no criminal records. The administration is even deporting people who are in the United States [legally](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrants-in-u-s-legally-and-with-no-criminal-history-caught-up-in-trump-crackdown?ref=rangemedia.co), including [American citizens](https://newrepublic.com/post/194664/republicans-kill-amendment-stop-ice-deporting-us-citizens?ref=rangemedia.co), which congressional Republicans recently voted in support of. Trump is not only deporting them, but disappearing many of them to [draconian prisons](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-records-show-about-migrants-sent-to-salvadoran-prison-60-minutes-transcript/?ref=rangemedia.co) and camps in Latin America and [Guantanamo Bay](https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/americas/venezuela-guantanamo-detainee-deported-trump-intl-latam?ref=rangemedia.co), Cuba, where a military prison is run by the US Navy. Some of the people sent away are [small children](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g8yj2n33yo?ref=rangemedia.co), including one who was battling cancer and accessing life-saving health care in the United States. Many of these people were denied any sort of [legal process](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/28/trump-immigration-100days-due-process-00307435?ref=rangemedia.co) — a right established for all people in the [Fifth Amendment](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fifth%5Famendment?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Self%2DIncrimination%20The%20Fifth%20Amendment%20also%20protects%20criminal,believes%20answering%20the%20question%20may%20be%20self%2Dincriminatory.) of the US Constitution. Mesa said the same is happening across the Spokane area. “ I get calls every single day about a detained person, asking what they can do to get them released, where they are,” Mesa told RANGE. “Because once they're detained in Spokane, sometimes they don't even announce their whereabouts for 24, 72 hours. We've been helping people file police reports because they register them as missing. … They don't know if it was a vigilante or if it was ICE. They're in police uniforms or sometimes they're just dressed up as casual people.” Diaz was taken to the Kootenai County Jail, which has an operating agreement with ICE to house detained immigrants when federal facilities are too full. Many people arrested in Washington [have been](https://www.rangemedia.co/immigration-arrests-spokane-idaho/) held there because Washington state law bars local governments from helping enforce federal immigration law. As of press time, the jail listed Martin Diaz on its inmate roster, but those records often lag, so it’s uncertain where he is at any given moment. Diaz’s wife Kendall said she does not know where he is now, but she thinks he’s still at the jail. He will likely be sent to an ICE detention facility when space opens up. Mesa of LeS said during a May Day march for immigrant and labor rights on May 1, that this cuts against due process rights, saying legal cases should be processed in the places where people live. “We demand a full stop of Washington state residents being transported to the Kootenai Detention Center,” she said as the march stopped in front of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office before a crowd of about 2,000 protestors. “Washington residents deserve to have their legal processes in Washington state.” RANGE asked Yost for whatever information he could give about Diaz’s case, providing his full name and the circumstances of his immigration, which we got from documents provided by Diaz’s wife. But he said it would take a long time to gather specific information about Diaz without his Alien Registration Number, an identification number issued to everyone who tries to come to the United States from another country. It helps the government track immigrants. He did not answer detailed emailed questions about whether Diaz’s arrest followed ICE policy. ### ‘I’m very mad, and I’m very scared’ Kendall Diaz, an American citizen, does not know what might happen to her husband. She was not at home when he was arrested. She’s been trying to help him get legal status since they were married six years ago. On May 1, she stood framed by the front doors of the ICE Detention Center near Riverfront Park where her husband was processed. She faced the same crowd of 2,000 Spokanites Mesa had spoken to — they’d marched from the Sheriff’s Office to the ICE facility — and told the story of her husband’s arrest. “I haven't heard from him in two days,” she said. “I don't know exactly where he is. It's believed he's in Kootenai County, which is not safe for a brown man. They have been using my tax dollars to take my husband from my home.” She recognized the scope of the problem. “I'm not the only one,” she said. “This is happening all over our community. They're being ripped out of their homes, off their jobs, out of their trucks. Families are being destroyed.” She thanked the crowd for being there. “It is your responsibility to stand with me,” she said. “I appreciate every single one of you being here. It brought tears to my eyes just seeing how many community members came here and said that immigrants matter. That’s a big deal to my husband. That's a big deal to me, and I appreciate each and every single one of you.” In a phone interview with RANGE the day before the march, Kendall Diaz said, “I’m very mad, and I’m very scared.” She said she and Martin had been trying to get him a green card for years. The first time they applied, she said, the government sent their paperwork to the wrong address, and they were in the dark about his status for three years. They later reapplied and Martin had been determined eligible for a green card last year. But when Trump was elected, they anticipated being targeted and scrambled to make sure the federal government was processing his case. They recently received a letter dated April 11 saying the government was processing his petition to have his deportation order removed. Martin Diaz’s friend Jorge Guerrero, who is a senior organizer for LeS, had introduced Kendall to the crowd. Guerrero has known Martin Diaz since 2009 when they started classes at Spokane Community College together. After his remarks, he told RANGE Martin Diaz recently bought a bus at an auction to transport a group of alcoholics to a treatment retreat they would otherwise not have had access to. “Martin is a really kind-hearted person,” Guerrero said, pronouncing his name Mar-teen. “He helps everybody. He has helped me in the past, so I testify about that.” Martin Diaz was going to drive the people to the retreat next month. Now, that probably won’t happen, but Guerrero said he hopes he can fill in for his friend. ### Deleting LGBTQIA+ identity in North Idaho schools URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/lgbtqia-identity-north-idaho-west-bonner-school-district-discrimination/ Last updated: 2026-06-02T23:25:19.000Z The West Bonner County School District has eliminated protections for queer students from its policies that are supposed to comply with federal rules. On its second reading of [policy 3280](https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/2136?meeting=681343&ref=rangemedia.co), which outlines equal education opportunities and nondiscrimination, the district’s Board of Trustees voted on April 16 to strike the words “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” from the document. The policy still protects “...race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, ethnicity, age, language barrier, religious beliefs, physical and mental handicap or disability, economic or social conditions, or actual or potential marital or parental status or status as a homeless child.” Trustee Kathy Nash said the wording regarding gender identity and sexual orientation in school district policy is, “no longer required.” West Bonner, which is just over the border in North Idaho, joins several eastern Washington school districts in moves aimed at LGBTQIA+ students: Mead School District trustees [are mulling](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) a “Transgender Students” policy that, among other things, would bar transgender students from using the facilities of the gender they identify with. Meanwhile, Central Valley School District trustees [decided this week](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) to draft a [Title IX complaint](https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/apr/29/central-valley-school-board-drafts-title-ix-complaint-against-the-state-over-transgender-sports/?ref=rangemedia.co) against the state over including transgender students in sports. (Mead’s school board [delayed voting](https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/mead-school-district-no-vote-transgender-student-policy-changes/293-1678b954-80fc-4fe5-aea1-140b1645a4bc?ref=rangemedia.co) on their policy change this week in favor of holding more community discussion.) In August 2024, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an [executive order](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/gov-idaho-gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/eo-2024-08.pdf) opposing changes to then-President Joe Biden’s final rule for Title IX earlier last year. Because of the rule, the [U.S. Department of Education](https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-final-title-ix-regulations-providing-vital-protections-against-sex-discrimination/?ref=rangemedia.co) added protections for LGBTQIA+ students from discrimination in schools.The final rule sought to protect against discrimination “based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.” Little’s executive order directed the Idaho State Board of Education to: - Guarantee every female student in Idaho is provided equal opportunity in sports and school to the fullest extent, as guaranteed to them under the original Title IX rules and Idaho law. - Work with the State Department of Education to ensure Idaho public schools are following all of Idaho’s laws related to fairness in women’s sports and continue to update all public schools as the legal challenges to the new Title IX rules unfold. Though the executive order was couched by Little and his administration as protecting women’s and girls' sports in public schools and universities, critics and LGBTQIA+ activists have pointed out the orders discriminate against transgender youth. In 2020, Little signed [House Bill 500](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2020/legislation/h0500/?ref=rangemedia.co) into law, which restricts transgender women from competing in women’s sports in Idaho. Idaho was [one of 26 states](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/more-half-states-sue-block-biden-title-ix-rule-protecting-lgbtq-students?ref=rangemedia.co) that sued the Biden administration over the Title IX changes and blocked it from taking immediate effect. So far in 2025, at least 10 pieces of [anti-LGBTQ legislation](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/04/21/these-anti-lgbtq-bills-were-introduced-in-2025-idaho-legislative-session-where-does-each-stand/?ref=rangemedia.co) have been brought before the Idaho Legislature. Three have been signed into state law by Little, including: - [House Bill 41](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/H0041/?ref=rangemedia.co), which prohibits public schools from displaying flags that represent political, religious or ideological views within school property. - [House Bill 96](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/h0096/?ref=rangemedia.co), which restricts state and local government entities in Idaho to only display official domestic government and military flags. Schools, colleges and universities are exempt. - [House Bill 264](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2025/legislation/h0264/?ref=rangemedia.co), which directs state correctional facilities, colleges and universities and domestic violence shelters to designate multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms and dorm rooms “for the exclusive use by either females or males.” The bill says those facilities must only be used by “members of that sex.” There was little discussion regarding Policy 3280 at the April school board meeting, except for Trustee Vice Chair Margaret Hall, who did not openly support LGBTQIA+ West Bonner students, but voiced concerns for students facing harassment and discrimination. “I hope it’s obvious to all of us that we have to protect all children no matter what our own personal beliefs may be,” Hall said. For more information on LGBTQ+ events in Idaho, go to [www.nipridealliance.com](https://www.nipridealliance.com/?ref=rangemedia.co). *Sophia Mattice-Aldous is a Murrow News Fellow working directly with newsrooms at RANGE Media and The Newport Miner Newspapers through a program administered by Washington State University. Her reporting is available for use via Creative Commons with credit.* ### Rent increase cap proposal heads to Washington governor URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/rent-increase-cap-legislature-governor/ Last updated: 2025-04-30T17:59:28.000Z *This story was originally [published](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/rent-increase-cap-proposal-heads-to-wa-governor/?ref=rangemedia.co) by The Washington State Standard, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics. Learn more [here](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/?ref=rangemedia.co).* Washington is poised to limit annual residential rent increases with legislation now headed to the governor’s desk. The House and Senate on Sunday, the last day of the legislative session, passed the [rent increase limit](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/03/10/rent-increase-cap-approved-by-washington-house/?ref=rangemedia.co) at 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower. Landlords could still set rent however they please when a tenancy begins. Rent increases for manufactured homes are limited to 5% under House Bill 1217\. While the rent cap policy on traditional homes would expire after 15 years, the manufactured home rule wouldn’t lapse. The final version was a compromise after moderate Democrats in the Senate wouldn’t go along with the initial 7% cap, without inflation, the House had approved. Landlords also couldn’t raise rents in the first year of a tenancy under the proposed law. If a landlord violates the provisions, tenants or the state attorney general could bring litigation. Buildings owned by nonprofits or public housing authorities would be exempt from the limits. The same goes for duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes if the owner lives in one of the units, as well as new construction for its first dozen years. Republicans argue the bill will chill development and price landlords out of the business. Most Democrats say it’ll give renters a modicum of predictability as they deal with the high cost of living. The Senate approved the bill on a 27-20 vote, with Democratic Sens. Annette Cleveland and Sharon Shewmake joining Republicans in opposition. The House vote was 54-44\. Five Democratic representatives opposed the final bill. It was a long and windy road to Sunday’s votes. After stalling in the Senate last year, lawmakers came into 2025 energized to enshrine [House Bill 1217](https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=1217&Year=2025&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co) into law. But after passing the House, the Senate, [in dramatic fashion](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/10/wa-senate-raises-proposed-cap-on-rent-increases-sending-bill-back-to-house/?ref=rangemedia.co), lifted the cap from the initial 7% to 10% plus inflation and exempted many single-family homes entirely, moves advocates said “gutted” the proposal. In negotiations, Democrats in both chambers [agreed to excise](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/24/compromise-reached-on-washington-bill-to-cap-rent-increases/?ref=rangemedia.co) the carveout and find a middle ground on the limit. But when the new iteration landed on the Senate floor Friday night, lawmakers were thwarted by a procedural snafu that delayed votes a couple more days. The compromise frustrated advocates, but they said it was better than nothing. “Even a 7% rent increase will force some people to move, disrupting their lives and their communities, and some will have no option but to move into cars, shelters, or tents,” said Michele Thomas, of the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. “But this bill makes a first step towards sensible protections against egregious predatory rent increases.” Gov. Bob Ferguson has repeatedly declined to weigh in on the legislation. He told reporters Friday that he recognizes “the different perspectives that different folks within the caucuses have, and so we’re trying to be helpful on that and I feel optimistic that they’re going to work something out,” but stopped short of saying what he hoped that resolution would be. Once the bill reaches his desk, Ferguson has 20 days, excluding Sundays, to act on it. If he signs, the policy would go into effect immediately. ### ‘Be explicit in your advocacy or risk complicity.’ URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-law-nyne/ Last updated: 2025-04-30T01:26:55.000Z *This story was written in partnership between RANGE and Stonewall News Northwest, a newsroom serving the rural LGBTQ+ community of the Pacific Northwest. Learn more about Stonewall News Northwest’s work[ here](https://stonewallnews.net/?ref=rangemedia.co).* Nyne Bar & Bistro opened up on a rare Monday evening this week for something a little different than their usual fare. There were no drag performers, karaoke hosts or DJs. Instead, there was a single microphone onstage in front of a projector screen. At 6 pm, the projector flickered alive, and Matt Danielson and Jeff DeBray gave opening remarks as the Spokane City Council meeting livestream started to play behind them. Danielson and DeBray, from Spokane Pride and Fuse Washington respectively, were two of the organizers behind the event, a watch party for dozens of Spokane queer folks and their allies to gather and testify in support of the council’s ordinance to declare Spokane a Shield City and grant additional protections for the LGBTQIA2S+ community in the city. Spectrum Center, Trans Spokane and Odyssey Youth Movement were also involved, with Spectrum holding training sessions over the last two weeks to teach people how to testify. As Council President Betsy Wilkerson read the council’s rules on the screen behind him, Danielson blew a kiss to the room and the meeting began. For two and a half hours, people waited as council voted on other items, and then heard testimony on the LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance. Some of them testified from Nyne, stepping up to the microphone onstage when it was their turn and returning to their tables to the applause of the room. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ad_4nxci9mczoxqdtykkqbamvkahimhi9bq_yxewf4ojmy0wmiqdgia5onnl5xyyiuyanrzblalrial7b01tlc887geuoalrtnzmxzdchqhi-nztvh1aitzmmmojp3to4s5xeiochu94sg.png) *The stage where people watching from Nyne could testify. Photo by Erin Sellers.* When detractors of the ordinance testified, making transphobic claims like calling queer people “confused,” comparing homosexuality to bestiality (like [former Spokane County GOP chairperson Cynthia Zapotocky](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/28/spokane-city-council-approves-law-mirroring-state-/?ref=rangemedia.co)) or insinuating that the ordinance was Satanic because it was numbered C36667 — see the 666 in the middle of the number — the watchers at Nyne booed, jeered and corrected false statistics. Across the county, the school board at [Mead School District was discussing a transphobic policy](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) that could require teachers to out transgender students to their parents, and members of the Central Valley School Board were drafting [a Title IX complaint](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/28/central-valley-school-board-drafts-title-ix-compla/?ref=rangemedia.co) against Washington to the Trump administration because of the state’s trans-inclusive sports policy. But at Nyne and at Spokane City Hall, queer people scored a victory: about two and a half hours after the meeting had begun, the council voted 5-2 to pass the LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance, affirming queer peoples’ rights in the city. Nyne erupted into cheers, with people shouting, clinking their glasses and celebrating loudly. ### What the ordinance does We covered it in depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-city-queer-lgbtq/), but here’s a refresher on what exactly the ordinance does now that it’s passed: - Created a Shield Law for Spokane, which means that no city resources will be used to assist in investigating or detaining an individual for exercising their rights, which include seeking gender-affirming care. This clarifies city-specific protection, in addition to the state’s standing Shield Law, which queer community leaders have asked for amid concerns about Governor Bob Ferguson’s commitment to the LGBTQIA2S+ community. - Replaced outdated language in the city’s Human Rights code, defining gender-affirming care in the city’s glossary and added “Two Spirit” — an indigenous queer identity — to the LGBTQIA2S+ community definition. - Prohibits the city from collecting or disseminating information about anyone’s sex assigned at birth, unless it’s related to a criminal investigation. - Guarantees health insurance for city employees and their families will cover reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare, as well as care for HIV+ people. - Created an LGTBQIA2S+ liaison officer position at the Spokane Police Department who will act as a point of contact and build trust with the community. - Requires the city to conduct regular review of policies and practices to ensure they’re equitable and affirming for LGBTQIA2S+ people. - Directs the city to collaborate with LGBTQIA2S+ leaders and event organizers to ensure public safety and well-being for community members and event attendees. ### What does it cost? One argument expressed against the ordinance was that it wastes taxpayer dollars. Even Council President Betsy Wilkerson expressed nervousness about the sticker price of the ordinance, which she said was around $400,000 every year. But Council Member Paul Dillon, who proposed the ordinance, said that an HR department analysis of the costs associated with the ordinance found it would be “budget neutral” and that it currently costs Spokane taxpayers no additional dollars. That roughly $400,000 cost would only come into play in a worst case scenario, like if the state stopped covering some of the costs of insurance coverage and left the city committed to paying for gender-affirming, reproductive and HIV healthcare. Even if the state did remove coverage and Spokane was on the hook for the cost, to Dillon, “it’s worth every goddamn penny.” “Saving a life is worth it,” Dillon said. “A right isn’t a right unless you can access it.” ### The testimony The ordinance brought out one of the largest crowds of the year to council, rivaled only by the community support of [the resolution to reaffirm Spokane’s commitment to the Keep Washington Working Act](https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-immigration-solidarity-resolution/). Over 67 people had signed up to testify on the ordinance, so many that the council voted to limit testimony to two minutes each instead of the usual three. For hours, people shared vulnerable stories with the council, speaking about their experiences as queer people living in Spokane. Jacob Schwartz, a board member of Spokane Pride who testified from Nyne, said that he’d built his life here in Spokane, growing up here, working here and worshipping here “as a proud gay Christian.” He said that without support from queer community here, he “wouldn’t be alive today.” He thanked the council for bringing the ordinance forward. “My younger self needed you, our youth needs you now, and we are here to stay,” Schwartz finished. At Nyne, he was met with cheers. Evee Polanski, a frequent testifier at city meetings, spoke about the culture of fear that had been created by President Donald Trump’s barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ policies. “We’re seeing how these national policies have a real impact locally: they create stress, anxiety and fear for our community,” Polanski said. “You’ve probably noticed the sheer amount of people doing their testimonies virtually because of the fear it causes.” In the wake of chaotic and cruel federal policymaking, Polanski said, “it is important that our local city government prepares and puts protections in place, like this ordinance that provides safety and freedom for all of our community members, in particular, our LGBT community members that are currently under attack.” While testimony is old hat for Schwartz and Polanski, who are associated with progressive organizations doing advocacy work, for other queer people, it was their first time stepping up to the dais to share their stories. Alexander, who asked to use his first name, showed up to the April 21 meeting, where council held their first reading of the ordinance. The room was much emptier than it was this week, and Alexander felt “terrified,” and alone, like he might be the only trans person in the room that day. When he showed up to a full room at City Hall on Monday, Alexander was heartened. It was a big step for him to speak publicly about his experience as a trans person. “I live a pretty quiet, introverted life and I didn't think that it was important for me to talk about who I am or my personal experience previously, to be completely honest,” Alexander told RANGE in an interview this week. “ But with tensions being as high as they are and my community being as persecuted as it is, I think that it's really important for everyone to step up a little bit.” “ In places like Spokane where it's such a melting pot of religious and political and cultural backgrounds, I think that it's important for people to say who they are, so everyone knows who they're working with, who they're friends with, who provides them services, and who is their friendly neighbor,” Alexander said. Alexander wasn’t the only person who had never testified before and turned out just for this ordinance. There were allies at the meeting too, people like Jason S., who said he didn’t even know what council district he lived in. “I’ve always been a passive supporter, I’ve never shown up. I’ve never stood up, but it’s time to show my support for the vulnerable members of this community,” Jason S. said. “To the members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, you have more friends than you know. And to the friends that they didn’t know they had, it’s time for you to stand up.” Alexander found Jason’s testimony especially moving. “ When there's such a vocal, hateful portion of the population, it's really important to know that there are very quiet people out there who support you, who don't hate you,” Alexander said. “You have to be explicit in your advocacy or risk complicity. That is a big part of why I wanted to provide my testimonies and a big part of why I so deeply appreciate allies providing theirs.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ad_4nxftxj9s4sv0nc3y1kzqcig8bk-li4hptx5ado93thslai6i6jepbobhjfkvez6dx0col_f7da6lywkv5jh-34zvlgtjcisuck-z2snnxta_hdwnbzvgfxtrgsbrurtryr1qzny1ua.png) *Progress Pride flags blowing in the wind outside Nyne. Photo by Erin Sellers.* ### Celebrating in community The second the ordinance passed, the livestream at Nyne was turned off so people could celebrate, buying each other drinks, congratulating each other and complimenting those who took the mic to testify. Soon, people who had been watching from City Hall began to trickle in, met with applause as they joined the group. Someone put on a playlist of queer pop music. Chappell Roan was blasting in the background 45 minutes later when Council Members Lili Navarrete, Paul Dillon and Zack Zappone, three of the five council members who had voted in favor of the ordinance, showed up at the bar to celebrate with the community, joined by some city staffers, too. On Tuesday, nearly a full 24 hours after the ordinance passed, Alexander feels “fantastic.” “2025 has been very difficult for me. It has been very difficult for my partner, and for my friends, in the face of all the bigotry that has been at the forefront of the media,” Alexander said. “I don’t want to not believe in people and everything that has been happening has honestly hurt my faith in humanity a little bit.” “But I don’t want to be passive and I don’t want to be cynical. I want to fight and surround myself with cool people and care for others in the way that I want to be cared for. This ordinance felt like doing that in a real way,” he said. “I think that it felt like a very much needed win. Probably the first big win for me in 2025.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ad_4nxdrfxoigda8vlmwekv3kfumu6gwhsshw2xpmzvt14jyxtt93v70q3o48m_ceehkicw3rvdbnpe7mizutqarziyxeso4mwiidjo_ast-mfklh9aoxp9pzmeban_ikaloqrfi3vbffg.png) *A flag draped over the bathroom door at Nyne that reads “Love Wins.” Photo by Erin Sellers.* For anyone who, like Alexander, has been feeling down or “doubting their place in this nation and in this community,” Alexander wanted to give a piece of advice: “Step up instead of stepping back, because helping people really does help yourself, and caring for other people is caring for yourself.” ### 4/28/2025 City Council Live Log: 2SLGBTQIA+ Protection Ordinance URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/city-council-live-post-lgbtq/ Last updated: 2025-04-29T03:47:17.000Z Note: There may be small typos and errors. We were typing this live, and posted immediately after the meeting ended. Down at Nyne! It’s open on a rare Monday for a special occasion – providing a safe space for queer people + allies to testify in support of the [LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance.](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-city-queer-lgbtq/) There’s a very decent turnout, lots of folks getting food and drinks, and the meeting is playing on a projector screen. Jeff from Fuse and Matt Danielson from Pride gave opening remarks to remind people what the ordinance does. The meeting started behind them and Matt blew a kiss to the room. Council President Betsy Wilkerson is read the land acknowledgement and they’re off with Poetry at the Podium. Angela is reading a poem that opened with lines about an old Prius and ended with Angela sharing lines about identifying as a butch lesbian. Over 50 people signed up to testify on the Pride item btw so this is going to be a long night. 6:08: The board and commission appointments They’re appointing people to the Climate and Sustainability Board and Justin Haller is testifying about how climate change isn’t real. He says the existence of beachfront property for sale is proof climate change isn’t real. Lots of laughter from the room at Nyne as Haller testifies. He made reference to a Steve Martin movie, talked about intelligence being wasted. Someone from the room called his comments “a circlejerk.” Board and commission appointments passed unanimously. 6:10 The Consent Agenda Haller is back. The room said, “he’s back,” with more laughter. He asked what he was testifying on. Wilkerson said, “The consent agenda.” Haller is angry about the parks levy. “What are we getting for that money?” “Parks.” said someone at Nyne. Haller doesn’t know where the money is going, he says it’s a blank check. Haller, if you read this, here’s the plan. “He doesn’t know how to read!” someone exclaimed as Haller talked about how no one uses the libraries. Haller is talking about potholes in bike lanes. A reminder: Haller once [hit someone with his bike while yelling “Hot Pizza!”](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/oct/18/woman-sues-hot-pizza-bicyclist-who-crashed-into-he/?ref=rangemedia.co) Derek Azarro is testifying against the levy, I think, but quickly pivoted to talking about how the city spends too much money on Jewels Helping Hands’ services for homeless shelters. Azarro also said Mayor Lisa Brown has done nothing to address fentanyl or homelessness and wants them to reinstate Prop 1\. He specifically called out Zappone, but Zappone actually voted for council to consider Prop 1 last week. Consent agenda passed unanimously. 6:15 - [Emergency ordinance for siting of off-premises alcohol](https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/) This was discussed at committee and they voted at agenda review to add it to their list to vote on tonight - because it’s an emergency, it doesn’t have to follow ordinary protocol. Hulings is testifying on this ordinance. He’s in opposition to it because it “pretends off premise alcohol outlets are the real threat to our parks, schools,” etc. The city is actually being destroyed by fentanyl, meth and illegal drugs, he said. He doesn’t like that they wrote the ordinance is to protect low-income and non-white neighborhoods because over 80% of Spokane is white “it’s not these others.” It’s worth noting that Hulings identifies as a member of the minority. He also used to identify as a[ member of the Proud Boys.](https://www.inlander.com/news/how-spokanes-downtown-bar-scene-is-reacting-to-a-local-chapter-of-proud-boys-15109837?ref=rangemedia.co) On to council commentary for the emergency ordinance. Council Member Jonathan Bingle is in favor of the ordinance - he says that this came out of a conversation he and Council Member Paul Dillon had about how liquor stores opening near shelters is predatory. He sees this as a different conversation from Prop 1 and “a good step for Spokane.” Bingle also says they’re capable of working on more than one issue at once. Dillon said that there is a clear connection with alcohol related crimes because when there wasn’t an alcohol impact area, there was a 64% increase in alcohol-related crimes. And, because this is an interim ordinance, the community will have a chance to provide more feedback. Bingle and Dillon want to see this ordinance go further and prevent off-premise alcohol sales near treatment services and shelters. Wilkerson said she’s heard from a young man in her circle that these off-premise alcohol locations, like gas stations, are where “a lot of drugs are exchanged and sold … it is a magnet.” She wants to support community safety and pass this. The ordinance passed unanimously. 6:23 Public Hearing On to public hearings on land vacations. Mr. Brown, who advises the city on these issues, is offering some context. This doesn’t seem to be controversial at all. The owner of the land wants it vacated, the city approves. It’s near a railroad but the railroad offered no input. It passed 7-0\. Hearing is closed. 6:26: ORD C36670 Cathcart and Klitzke collaborated on this ordinance, which helps the city recoup costs of the services it provides. There was no commentary from the audience. Cathcart and Klitzke appreciate each other, they want common sense fee schedules and a stable budget. The ordinance passed 7-0. 6:28 ORD C36667 , LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance There was cheering at Nyne as the ordinance was announced. Wilkerson proposed cutting testimony time to 60 seconds because so many people signed up. Cathcart said they should keep it at three minutes because people prepared. Dillon and Klitzke want to compromise at two minutes. That passed 5-2\. Everyone will get two minutes to testify. IC is up first. IC has lived in North Spokane his whole life. For most of his life he’s been able to go about his life and just “be a normal guy.” Normally, he keeps his identity as trans to himself, which he normally keeps to himself. Every time the “trans bomb” is dropped, it changes how he’s seen, IC says. Now, he lives in extreme fear and he wants to live in a city where he knows the government supports him. Abby is up, urging the city to support trans people. “I still love my city, unfortunately it seems sometimes the feeling isn’t mutual.” Abby has been met with ignorance and hate, moving through the world as a trans person. “We’re your coworkers, your classmates your friends and your family and most of all we’re your neighbors just as we were yesterday and we will be tomorrow,” Abby said. “So please pass this ordinance to protect you neighbors.” Ev is up now. Ev moved from the midwest and has experienced harassment. Ev just wants to focus on “raising our kid to be a good, kind person.” Passing this ordinance would show that the city believes in safety and rights of all people. “We need you to know that we’re under attack and we need to know that you’ll do whatever you can to ensure our constitutional rights,” Ev said. The room here at Nyne clapped. Rebecca Edwards is up now, asking council to vote yes on the ordinance. Two years ago, Rebecca’s family moved to Spokane from Idaho because her transgender son was refused life-saving medical care in Idaho. Here, Rebecca’s family has found dignity, protection and “a welcoming spirit.” With the vandalism of the crosswalk, Bingle’s proposed amendments to this ordinance and increased threats from the federal government, Rebecca’s family is feeling more fear. This ordinance would be a way to give “real protections, real care and real safety for people just trying to live their lives.” Kaya, from District 1, is urging council to vote yes. Kaya is speaking to people who disagree with queer people’s lifestyles: we are a country founded on agency, freedom and liberty, including those whose lifestyles you disagree with, as long as no one is getting hurt, Kaya said. “When it comes to ordinance like this, we have to ask, what do we have to lose and what do we have to gain. Spokane has everything to gain from passing this ordinance,” Kaya said. There’s a pressure for queer people to leave for Seattle, but Spokane is home, and everyone deserves to feel safe to live here, Kaya said. Erin C. is testifying now, and she finds it “wild” that adults think her son’s medical information is any of their business. Right now, all of her son’s peers are getting excited for college and her son has to think about whether the state the college is in is safe. The room here at Nyne seems moved. “I hope to God that if somebody that you love comes out as trans or gay, that they are surrounded by the community and love that they deserve,” Erin said. Dante is here in support of the ordinance. They received gender-affirming care here in Spokane and the first thought they had after waking up in the recovery room was “this feels so right.” Not living in physical and mental discomfort makes them a better community member, they said. “Anyone who has known me over the years can attest to how dramatically my life has improved since one year ago,” Dante said. Gender-affirming care saves lives, but sometimes it’s “not that dramatic.” They served without gender-affirming care but they shouldn’t have to survive - they should be empowered to thrive. Dr. Alfonso Olivia, a plastic and reconstruction surgeon is speaking. He’s getting boos: he says he swore an oath to do no harm and treating kids with hormones or surgeries is doing harm. Sounds like someone in the audience at City Hallis protesting because Wilkerson told them to sit down. Sounds like there’s something happening in the audience. A point of order got called. There’s standing, coughing, foot-bouncing, Dillon said, which is elevating the tension in the room. He asked everyone to please take a breath so they can get through tonight and let people speak without interruption because that’s democracy. The surgeon finished by saying all his comments were just about minors not adults. To clarify, his “special clinical interests” according to his website are: breast augmentation, breast reduction, breast lift, tummy tuck, liposuction and hand reconstruction Emily, a healthcare worker and member of the community, is testifying. A friend of Emily’s said they were considering going back into the closet because they felt “unsupported and unsure about access to life-saving gender affirming care they need.” John Alder is in favor of the ordinance. “We are all God’s children and we deserve nothing but love,” Alder said. He wants to see the whole city take this attitude and volunteer to help the community. “We’re here to stay,” he finished. Whooping and clapping here at Nyne. Haller is back. He pointed out that the ordinance number had three 6’s in it which he finds “interesting.” He says there’s already laws against discrimination and he doesn’t care what adults do in the bedroom, but he's a“left-handed red headed Pisces," and he doesn't harp on that . “There’s males and there’s female and there’s everything else that’s confused and it’s really sad,” Haller said. People laughed. He blamed queerness on brainwashing from the school system and says he has two family members who were “indoctrinated” into “thinking they’re something they’re not” by the schools. “There’s two genders and that’s it.” Jacqueline Swanson, from Spokane Valley, is here in support for ordinance “3666….7.” Comedic timing queen. She said she’s gotten reproductive care here and it’s allowed her to not just survive, but thrive. She said she’s not part of the queer community but everyone deserves to feel safes and protected and “live authentically.” Dallas from Cheney is a “proud, gay HIV+ male” who was born and raised in District 1 and went to Rogers High School (where Bingle went). He is in full support of the ordinance because it protects people who are currently “under political and hate-filled attacks” Time check, it’s 6:56 here and Dallas said, “If LGBTQIA scares you more than Nazis, you may want to sit with that.” He is grateful that this would create a shield law. “Discrimination, harassment and hate are not core values that Spokane represents,” Dallas said. “What part of love thy neighbor is confusing?” Shiva is a queer community member and is in support of the ordinance because it “would finally acknowledge indigenous identities.” Shiva also supports the aspect of the ordinance that keeps the city from collecting sex assigned at birth info and the provision ensuring gender-affirming healthcare for all. Tim Stickney is testifying in “personal and private capacity.” Tim said that as people assert their freedom, they are told they’re perverse by people who “claim the benefit of biology without understanding the diversity of humanity.” Tim said Pam Bondi called queer people an “infestation,” and the attacks from the federal government only highlight how much the city needs this ordinance. Anita was born and raised here in Spokane and raised a son here. Anita provides legal support to marginalized people, including LGBTQ+ people, women, homeless people and survivors of domestic violence, and is in support of the ordinance. This ordinance would be align the city’s values with the state’s, Anita said. “In these uncertain and divisive times, it is imperative that we stand united in support of our most vulnerable,” Anita said. “Spokane has the opportunity to lead by example and set a precedent.” Anita began to talk about raising a transgender son but ran out of time. Cassandra, a retired marine and the VP of Spokane Pride, is getting cheers here from Nyne. Codifying support for the marginalized is critically important, Cassandra said, “because it allows people like me to get medical insurance that covers things like gender-affirming care, which the VA no longer will no longer provide.” Cassandra said it’s fortunate that the majority of the council voted against Bingle’s “poison pill” amendments. Jason S. wants to see council support queer people. Jason has alaways been a “passive supporter” but supporting queer people doesn’t work if people don’t show up and. “I’ve never stood up but it’s time I show up,” Jason said. Jason is speaking for people who felt unsafe coming. To the queer ocmmunity, “you have morwe firends than you know and to those friends that they don’t know they hgad, it is really time for you to stand up.” Jonathan Meyersberg is in support of these “crucial” protections because some in Spokane don’t want queer people to exist. “A Spokane without the 2SLGBTQIA community is a weaker Spokane,” Jonathan said. Only 1% of people regret gender-affirming care, Jonathan said, so why take that choice away. Time check: 7:10. Trans people are also concerned for the safety of women, Jonathan said. But queer peoples’ existence threatens no one. Bingle has lost Jonathan’s vote. (I really have to pee.) Gretchen is back. She doesn’t think Trumps EO’s actually fail to provide equal access to sports. Citing some made-up statistics, Gretchen says most of America agrees that transgender women shouldn’t be able to compete in women’s sports (she used different words.) Gretchen said that Caitlyn Jenner agrees with her. (Caitlyn Jenner also hit a woman with her car.) Gretchen is citing UK supreme court decision. We tuned Gretchen out, sorry. Stephanie, testifying from Nyne, is in support. “i want trans kids to have the opportunity to become trans adults. Hate doesn’t protect anyone. “Please please please vote yes.” Cynthia Zapotocky is not a supporter of political segregation and she thinks that supporting queer people is segregation by calling LGTBQ+ people a “favored class.” “What does the plus even mean?” She also compared queerness to bestiality. Lots of boos and commentary from Nyne. Anne Martin from Greater Spokane Progress is urging council to support the ordinance. Anne said the ordinance provides key support as “hate is present throughout the city.” “We must do all we can to protect 2SLGTBQIA+ community members,” Anne said. She got cheers and a whoop. Will Hulings is back. He is, shocker, against the ordinance because it’s actually about “hatred for President Donald J Trump.” People laughed here, Hulings said people were laughing behind him. Hulings says “nobody is special, especially someone who all they care about is who they sleep with or what their gender is.” Hulings says the council is blinded by their hatred of Trump and their “obsession with the - I’m not even going to say it - LGBTQ cult and transgender ideology that they can’t even see the destruction they’re causing.” “This guy is so funny,” someone said here. Emily Fletcher, is testifying from here at Nyne. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes community feel like home and for me it’s knowing that I belong here and that my neighbors and I look out for each other.” Emily says that this ordinance communicates that the city honors Two-Spirit identities and is committed to healthcare, reproductive care and HIV treatment. “It’s not just words, it creates real protections,” Emily said. 7:22 The ordinance “makes Spokane a community that protects each other, even if the federal government doesn’t,” Emily said. Sunshine Wiggins said when she was homeless they used to bring in transgender people to the domestic violence shelter and that used to bother her, but then they brought in a trans person who was violently abused, and so she understands why transgender people need the shelter. Her daughter is married to a woman and she doesn’t think anybody “should ever be hurt for whatever they want to believe in.” Sarah Cooper says trans friends and family make our community “a better place to live.” Sarah wants the council to support the queer community. “Ordinances like this make a real positive difference in the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals,” Sarah said, citing statistics from the Trevor Project that showed transgender teens in states with discriminatory laws were more likely to die by suicide. “Spokane is an amazing community and I’m thankful to be here and a part of the trans community,” Sarah said. “We need to show up and give city level protections for the exceptional individuals and families who live here.” Taylor Dickerson, a grad student from EWU and member of the community is “proud to live in Spokane, a city that values freedom, community and dignity for all.” “Both my eduction and my lived experience tell me the same truth: access to affirming healthcare saves lives,” Taylor said. “My friends, coworkers, classmates, and clients all rely on access to reproductive and gender-affirming care.” Colton Gerard said people see him as just another straight guy, but he is a gay man who was assigned female at birth. Today, he stands before council “seven years sober and in the best health of my ligfe surrounded by a community that loves me.” Gender-affirming care saved his life, made him a better community member, and empowered him in his career. “The queer agenda stands for the ability for queer childrento grow into happy healthy queer adults,” Colton said. He wants to see the council support basic human rights, and “to vote like you want to save lives.” Christian Alcott, a 52-year old transplant to District 2, wants the city to know that “I’m not now or have ever been confused.” Christian, who transitioned at the age of 46, moved back to Spokane because he loved it so much when he lived here the first time. “I just wish that I was half as bold and brave as the youth that I see on a daily basis here in Spokane.” Christian is an Army veteran who was failed in high school by a homophobic teacher who failed him for writing a paper on “Homosexuality and Mass Media.” He’s spent nearly 30 years working in the mental health field with adults and queer youth. He ran out of time. Robin Wood, from District 2, is a mother, a grandmother, and “an advocate for the LGBTQ community.” Robin has been marching in Pride since 1922 and it “tok real courage in those days to support the community publicly.” These days, it’s taking bravery again, Robin said, because we’re “becoming a Christofascist nation.” We have to protect trans people and prevent them from being outed without their consent, Robin said. Robin is thrilled to see Two-Spirit people be added to the city code. Jeff DeBray, Eastern WA director of Fuse WA, is here representing 6k people in Spokane. “I’m calling in today from Nyne BAr and Bistro joined by dozens of queer community members and allies who believe in a Spokane where we all belong,” Jeff said. This ordinance is about people. “Real people in Spokane who you love and who have elected you to represent them.” The laws we pass and the messages we send matter, as we see increased rates of death by suicide and homelessness in LGBTQ+ youth, Jeff said. Jeff isn’t just here as a member of Fuse, he’s also here as a queer person. He came out in Spokane in 2022, and since coming out, he’s gained so much and his life is so much better. He ran out of time. Sky, a 13 year old demigirl who falls under the transgender umbrella, came out in 2022\. “I felt safe here,” Sky said. “Please vote to give people a sense of safety so they don’t have the fear of losing their rights as human beings.” Joshua Awesome is reading a poem about how children deserve to run free and play without fitting into rigid lines. Justin, who lives in District 2, moved to Spokane to attend Whitworth and raise a family. “No community is perfect but my family and I call Spokane home,” Justin said. “It breaks my heart that right now across our country and in this community many transgender and other queer people don’t feel safe and don’t feel welcome where they live.” Justin says trans people deserve the right to exist free from violence and harassment. “I believe Spokane is willing to stand up for our trans neighbors,” Justin wants every trans kid in the city to feel safe and wants everyone to support queer families. Lis Moore from PJALS is in support of the ordinance. It should be easy and simple to support this “in the name of freedom,” Moore said. Queer people have always modeled freedom and liberation, Moore said, listing Two-Spirit people and trans icons like Marsha P Gender. Z, who moved to Spokane in 2005, originally thought the ordinance was redundant but as the federal government perpetuates a sea of “legislated fearmongering and discrimination,” this ordinance is necessary. “I ask that you affirm this community is welcome,” Z said. “I want to continue being a happy and supported part of this city,” Dream thanked the council members who brought this ordinance forward. When Dream saw Olivia's written comments included in the agenda, they thought, “what the fuck.” Wilkerson said she would not tolerate profanity. Dream continued by stating that regardless of gender identity, it’s illegal to assault people in the bathroom, and actually, trans women are more likely to be assaulted in the bathrooms. KJ said “we are watching this country shift fast and dangerously.” Over 850 anti 2SLGBTQIA+ bills have been filed across the country, KJ said. This ordinance will protect people “when others will not,” KJ said. “It says, we will not be silent.” “This moment is about more than changing words on paper,” KJ said. “It’s about standing up and declaring that 2SLGBTQIA+ people are not expendable, that our lives are not bargaining chips that Spokane will not be a city that turns it’s back on us when we need it most.” Evee, an indigenous gender-nonconfirming queer community member is in support of the ordinance. “We’re seeing how these national policies have a real impact locally as well.” Evee wants to see the city government prepare and put protections in place that “provide safety and freedom for all of our community members, in particular our LGBTQ community members that are currently under attack.” 7:56\. Jacob Schwartz, from District 1, is testifying from Nyne. Jacob is a proud, gay Christian. Jacob is in support of the ordinance because he wants to see transgender kids “grow into adults.” Jacob is highlighting queer people from history: Alan Turing, who was persecuted by the state. (He talked really fast and I missed the rest of the list) but he said without his queer community and allies, he “wouldn’t be alive today.” “My younger self needed you, our youth needs you now, and we are here to stay,” Jacob finished. Hayley Olson, a bisexual woman, is tesitfying from Nyne. Hayley has a condition that would make pregnancy “a death sentence” was refused a hysterectomy. “Now imagine if a cis gender woman like me had this much trouble with reproductive healthcare, how hard must it be for people who are trans?” Hayley said. “There is no liber-T or uni-T without trans rights,” Hayley finished. Courtney Anderson is testifying from Nyne in support of the ordinance. “Elon Musk has receive gender affirming care,” Anderson said, citing photos that show Musk has received hair plugs and jaw reconstruction. “Gender affirming care also includes IVF and other assistance.” Anderson was born with cancer and the treatment that resulted in survival also made parts of her body that control her hormones not work properly, so she has to take hormones. That is also gender affirming care, she said. Anderson also has to take progesterone to ensure she doesn’t get another cancer diagnosis, which is also gender-affirming care. Society’s “narrow focus” on gender-affirming care limits access to care, she said, preventing people from living in dignity. The room exploded. Heather wants to see Spokane become a Shield City for queer people. “I’m worried about everyone but I’m most worried about the children in this community,” Heather said, as children are being denied identity markers that match their genders. Heather wants to see Spokane be a shelter for queer people and specifically queer youth. “I’m encouraged to hear so many people tonight also share that sentiment.” Jamie is also in support of the ordinance, pointing to the city’s motto. Jamie says “Spokane is a city that genuinely cares for its citizens and works to keep all safe.” By protecting queer peoples’ data about their sex assigned at birth, by protecting access to healthcare, by creating a framework for the police to work with the queer community, everyone would benefit. Andrea, testifying from here at Nyne, says it’s a shame that an ordinance like this is necessary, but it is. Andrea wants to see them vote yes. Dr. Pam Kohlmeier, who ran for office this year, is an emergency physician. She’s in strong support of this ordinance, and she lost her transgender, nonbinary child to suicide a few years ago. “Gender-affirming care saves lives. Privacy of their medical records saves lives,” Pam said. “If we can’t save lives, what quality of life do we have?” She asked that the council pass the ordinance unanimously. Race Broom has been queer and lived in Spokane their whole life. The ordinance is about giving queer people the “same common decency as cis and heterosexual people,” they said. “Just remember when you vote, kids lives are at stake. To my community, stay loud, stay proud.” Alexander, who spoke for the very first time last week in support of the ordinance, is speaking now to address the opposition who fear kids will regret transitioning. Alexander said that surveys have found a very low percentage of people regret transition. Gender affirming surgery has a much, much lower regret rate than knee replacement surgery. “You are 20 times more likely to regret getting your knee replaced than a trans person is to get a double mastectomy," Alexander said. “I am trans. I love my quiet, beautifully mundane life.” Alexander wants to see everyone have access to what Alexander has. Emi Schwartz, from district 2, is proud that her council members are in support of this ordinance. “Your job is to represent the ideals and values of Spokanites and Spokanites have shown up tonight to tell you what our values and ideals are,” Emi said. Carol is back to testify against the ordinance. “It is 0.5% of the population that identifies as transgender,” Carol said. She’s more worried about “the female population of Spokane.” She’s getting boos here. “The trans people who testified tonight talk about wanting to feel safe,” Carol said. “So do women.” She wants the city to stop supporting transgender women so that we don’t lose federal funds, and talked about DEI. Not giving Carol any more direct quotes. It’s 8:16 and public testimony is over. Council testimony. Dillon up first. He thanked the intern that helped draft the ordinance and the constituents and organizations who helped guide the ordinance - Spectrum Center, Odyssey Youth, Spokane Pride, INBA, Trans Spokane and many more. Dillon said it’s long overdue to update the Human Rights code of the city and to mirror the state’s shield law so “it’s there for future councils and future mayors.” “I believe that a world without trans people has ever existed and it never will. That’s the bottom line in really wanting to get this moving forward,” Dillon said. “This ordinance is really about joy it’s about our commitment in affirmation to being a safe and welcoming city,” Dillon wants to reiterate that “love will always win.” They actually missed one person who was signed up to testify online. The council is letting Wyatt speak. Wyatt is engaged and wants to only use local businesses for their wedding. Wyatt works downtown, spends time with friends downtown, and feels safe downtown, but they’ve been called slurs at work by people who have been emboldened by federal politics. “I think this is an incredible city and this ordinance will show people that hate is not welcome here,” Wyatt said. “When I came out as transgender I lost my family, my mom, my dad, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins and every friend I ever knew but it’s been worth it because I found community here in Spokane.” 8:22\. Back to council commentary. CM Kitty Klitzke wanted to thank everyone for the excellent testimony and for bringing humanity to the issue. “Freedom, prviacye, bodily autonomy, medical privacy saves lives. This needs to catch on in institutions, corporations, insurance companies and all over.” CM Lili Navarrete said it’s important to ensure Christian nationalist can’t “use our country’s laws to impose their narrow beliefs on others.” The federal government is discriminating in the name of religion, she said, erasing the stories of Navajo Code talkers, painting over the DC Black Lives Matter mural and detaining people with no due process. “Are we not the land of the free?” Navarrete said. “Ask yourselves, are we really the land of the free? Those not affected yet by fascist ruling that’s happening right now. Just wait.” Navarrete is proud to vote yes on the ordinance. “I will always take justice for all and i will not see anyone’s identity be erased,” she said. Huge applause here at Nyne. Bingle said he has cards at council so that anyone can go get coffee with him. He thinks people misunderstand his position on the issue. He’s trying to explain his amendments and he thinks taxpayer dollars shouldn’t go to gender affirming care. He says he’s cool with “live and let live.” Bingle says he believes in trans peoples’ existence because “he has lived his entire life trying to stand up for the broken, the marginalized and those who don’t have a vote.” However, he’s going to vote against the ordinance. Zappone thanked everyone was brave enough to come out and testify. I missed a a lot of his testimony because the crowd is lively here. Wilkerson said she is currently caring for someone going through gender-affirming care and she hopes that other employers support it. People are talking in chambers/interrupting her. She said she doesn’t interrupt anyone. “If you would let me finish, I will be voting for this, but I just have financial reservations for the impact of our city.” The ordinance passed 5-2 with Cathcart and Bingle and voting no. Applause in the room. And we’re leaving the meeting. Cheer around the room. Jacob Schwartz is at the mic, “I want to remind everyone that we are here to stay!” Time to stay and celebrate! I’m not live documenting this, going to enjoy the community vibes. Signing off, ES. ### Transphobia in two school districts URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/transphobia-in-two-local-school-districts/ Last updated: 2025-04-28T18:26:27.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - Spokane City Council could pass a shield law and other protections for 2SLGBTQ+ people in Spokane. - Mead School District is voting on a “Transgender Students” policy that could require teachers to out transgender students to their parents and establish “sex-segregated bathrooms.” - Central Valley School District might file a Title IX complaint to the federal government against the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association for their inclusion policies for transgender students. - The Spokane Public Library is hosting a series of educational events teaching Spokanites how to consume less water. - Spokane County will vote whether to raise Sheriff John Nowels’ pay from $205,434.90 per year to $236,339.85. - The Board of County Commissioners will continue discussions to form a task force to study the impact and possible solutions for the “forever chemicals” contamination that has plagued many West Plains residents for years. - Spokane County will likely hire a Dallas software developer to manage and analyze the massive amount of data recorded and held on sheriff’s deputies body cameras. Important meetings this week: - Spokane City Council - Spokane Housing Authority Board - Mead School District Board of Directors - Central Valley School District Board of Directors - Board of Spokane County Commissioners (Briefing and Legislative Session) - Spokane Valley City Council - Thirsty Thursday at Spokane Public Library ## Spokane City Council 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Vote for a shield city There’s really only one big item on tonight’s agenda: the Spokane City Council could enshrine citywide protections for queer people by passing the LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance. We’ve covered it [in depth](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-city-queer-lgbtq/), but here’s a review on what the ordinance would do: - Create a Shield Law for Spokane, which means that no city resources will be used to assist in investigating or detaining an individual for exercising their rights, which include seeking gender-affirming care. This clarifies city-specific protection, in addition to the state’s standing Shield Law, which queer community leaders have asked for amid concerns about Governor Bob Ferguson’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community. - Clean up outdated language in the city’s Human Rights code, defining gender affirming care in the city’s glossary and adding “Two Spirit” — an indigenous queer identity — to the LGBTQIA2S+ community definitions. - Prohibit the city from collecting or disseminating information about anyone’s sex assigned at birth, unless it’s related to a criminal investigation. - Guarantee health insurance for city employees and their families will cover reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare, as well as care for people who are HIV+. - Direct the Spokane Police Department to maintain an LGTBQIA2S+ liaison officer to act as a point of contact and build trust with the community. - Require the city to conduct regular review of policies and practices to ensure they’re equitable and affirming for LGBTQIA2S+ people. - Direct the city to collaborate with LGBTQIA2S+ leaders and event organizers to ensure public safety and well-being for community members and event attendees. ### Next week’s sneak peek: - Spokane Parks and the Spokane Public School District have already announced [their plan to put coordinated joint levy proposals](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokane-school-district-and-city-parks-partnership-would-fund-innovative-projects-under-new-bond-and-levy-29415065?ref=rangemedia.co) before voters this fall that would pool resources to improve both parks and schools across the city. Next week, council could officially approve the resolution that would put the Parks half of the proposal on the ballot in November. - We’ll dive into more details in next week’s CIVICS, but council is set to approve updates to the citywide Commute Trip Reduction Plan.They’re also scheduled to adopt the Bicycle Priority Network as a guide for updating elements in the city’s Comprehensive Plan, so it’ll probably be a good meeting for urbanist readers to attend. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 28, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Finance and Administration Committee ### A new regional approach to homelessness? Draft plans for a new regional approach to homelessness are starting to come before our government bodies. Last week, Spokane Valley City Council [reviewed a potential agreement ](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/)with the city of Spokane and the county. This week, the same draft will be discussed at the Finance and Administration committee. Under this proposal, Spokane, Spokane Valley and Spokane County would have regular joint meetings, shared data collection, a joint Point-in-Time count to estimate the region’s homeless population and a coordinated inclement weather response. ### Childcare program One of Spokane’s early ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding projects was a contract with Community-Minded Enterprises to distribute childcare subsidies for Spokane residents and retention bonuses to childcare facilities. The contract is ending in a few days, and folks who administered the program are coming to committee to give the council a retrospective on the program and its accomplishments over the last two years. ### No booze by kids, parks or people in recovery Council will discuss an emergency interim ordinance proposed by Mayor Lisa Brown’s office and sponsored by Council President Betsy Wilkerson and Council Member Paul Dillon and that, if approved, would prohibit any new “off-premises alcohol outlets” from opening within 500 feet of schools, early learning programs, community centers, libraries, parks or treatment facilities. An “off-premises alcohol outlet” is defined as a business that sells liquor meant to be consumed off-site, like a liquor store or convenience store. It doesn’t apply to grocery stores, bars, hotels or pharmacies. Because the ordinance is interim, it would only be in effect for one year. With the quick nature of an emergency ordinance and an interim timeline, we do have to wonder if this is intended to stop a specific new alcohol outlet. ### Bad news for crypto bros and scammers One of the most interesting items in the committee agenda today is a proposal from Dillon to ban cryptocurrency kiosks from operating in the city. If you were like us, you might wonder, do we even have those here? Yes, yes we do: there are about 20 “Bitcoin ATMs” located at grocery stores across the city. The Spokane Police Department noticed an increase in scams from these kiosks, “reporting several scams daily which resulted in three suicides that have been associated with victims losing lifesavings,” according to the agenda. Across the state, victims of cryptocurrency scams, sometimes through kiosks, have lost $141,756,936 as of 2023\. This ordinance is intended to protect consumers from these scams. ### Bringing back Proposition 1, part two? Council Member Michael Cathcart is pitching an ordinance to bring back Proposition 1, which banned camping in most of the city. Since the Washington State Supreme Court’s [overturn of the voter initiative](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/) rested on the idea that it went beyond the bounds of voter power and encroached into authority that belonged to the council, Cathcart wants to reflect the will of about 75% of voters, who wanted to ban camping within 1,000 feet of parks, schools and daycares — which ended up being most of the city. Last week, Cathcart was joined by Council Members Jonathan Bingle and Zack Zappone in a vote to allow the council to consider an emergency ordinance that would get Prop 1 back on the books as soon as possible. That failed, with all the progressives but Zappone voting against it. This ordinance from Cathcart goes through the normal timeline and doesn’t require majority support to be considered, though it would require the majority vote to pass, a move at least Dillon and Council Member Kitty Klitzke [have said](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/21/spokane-city-council-declines-to-reinstate-prop-1-/?ref=rangemedia.co) they aren’t open to at the moment. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/finance-and-administration/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 28, at noon* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Housing Authority Board ​​🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Public hearing for $35M in SpoVal housing The board will host a public hearing for a proposal to issue $35 million in bonds to build a 240-unit apartment complex in Spokane Valley located at 9910 East Appleway Boulevard. Some of the units would be dedicated to low-income housing. The funds would be loaned to SHA Appleway LLLP, to buy the property and build the complex. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanehousing.org/events/category/board-meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 28 at 3:30 pm* > *Meeting Room 25 W. Nora Ave, Spokane, WA 99205* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting%5FMDcxY2E3MzAtMmIzZS00MGIyLThkYTItMTBjODNmMjZmNGJk%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522c6358b3c-a829-4635-879a-955668a3b9bf%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522d109d975-8dae-4cbb-90af-c5450d6669bd%2522%257d&data=05%7C01%7Carollins%40spokanehousing.org%7C241019c87a7e4c9ffe6908db819734e4%7Cc6358b3ca8294635879a955668a3b9bf%7C0%7C0%7C638246258645990011%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Ma0C3sMFciahiSLWweYYx3qM899Tbw6pev5NBYBZaFQ%3D&reserved=0&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Mead School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### Mead wants “sex-segregation” On a night that Spokane could pass additional protections for queer people, Mead School District will hold a final vote onis contemplating passing a “Transgender Students” policy that would replace a previous nondiscrimination policy with one that violates state law. There are a lot of issues with the policy — which has changed a little since we [covered it a few weeks ago](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-protections-trans-mead-central-valley-school-district-wiaa/) — besides just being blatantly illegal and transphobic. First, it would suggest that school principals within the district set up meetings with any transgender students where their parents “should be involved if at all possible,” which could force students to out themselves to their parents if they want accommodations at school. It also states that if students ask to use any other name than their legal name, that would be included in the electronic records system parents can access. It also doesn’t require teachers to use a students’ correct pronouns, because that would be “compelled speech,” instead stating teachers will use students’ preferred name in place of pronouns — though it’s unclear why they wouldn’t consider use of names to be “compelled speech.” The old policy said private information about a student’s gender identity shouldn’t be disclosed to their parents, other students or third parties. This new draft strikes “their parents,” which means teachers would be able to disclose that information to parents whether the student consents or not. The old policy kept it simple, stating that students could use the bathroom that best aligned with their gender identity. This new policy states that students deserve to have “biological sex-segregated bathrooms,” so transgender students will be given access to “alternative restrooms.” It does state the school can’t require transgender students to actually use those alternative restrooms, so it’s unclear if they just wouldn’t enforce their “biological sex-segregation” or if they somehow expect trans kids to hold it all day long. Locker room access is going to be addressed on a “case-by-case basis.” First, they state they’ll follow OSPI’s guidance about locker rooms, which is to let students use the room that best aligns with their gender, but then they immediately follow it by stating they need to consider the needs of the “student population as a whole” and transgender students could be directed to other “reasonable alternatives” like a restroom stall, a curtained-off area of the locker room or a teacher’s office. Finally, for any overnight field trips, room assignments would be made by sex assigned at birth. If Mead passes this policy, which violates state laws, it’s unclear what would happen to their budget, where state funding makes up nearly 80% of all their funds. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.mead354.org/about-us/board-of-directors/board-meeting-agendas-minutes-and-briefs?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 28 at 6 pm* > *Union Event Center* > *12509 N. Market St. Bldg. D, Mead, WA 99021* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://mead354-org.zoom.us/j/88591274801?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Central Valley School District Board of Directors 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers ### CVSD wants to discriminate against transgender students Last week, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) announced that they [did not pass](https://www.king5.com/article/sports/high-school/wiaa-proposal-ban-trans-athletes-girls-sports-fails/281-f3f4a722-cad3-41da-8b2d-cbc62396de24?ref=rangemedia.co) a series of amendments to statewide athletic policy that would have barred transgender students from participating in athletics — which would have been [against state law](https://www.kuow.org/stories/proposal-to-limit-transgender-athletes-participation-in-sports-blocked-in-washington-state?ref=rangemedia.co). Both Mead and CVSD had publicly supported those amendments. Now, after the amendments failed to pass, CVSD is considering filing a Title IX complaint to the federal government against Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the WIAA, claiming policies that include transgender students are “leading to sex-based discrimination.” If they vote to send the draft in the agenda, the CVSD school district would “respectfully request URGENT federal intervention.” They say that OSPI is out of compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order (which is not a law) to ban transgender women and girls from women’s sports, which could prevent them receiving over $12 million in federal funding. The agenda cites the Trump administration’s finding that the state of Maine was out of Title IX compliance for its inclusion of transgender athletes — which was followed by a lawsuit by the federal government against Maine [filed earlier this month](https://apnews.com/article/maine-education-department-transgender-athletes-pam-bondi-5b5c8d0022233fae5ec60efc9fa5394f?ref=rangemedia.co). Tonight, CVSD is just planning to hold a “Roundtable Discussion” on filing the Title IX complaint, but we’re unsure if this requires a vote beforehand, or if they’re just going to discuss it tonight and then file it. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.cvsd.org/apps/pages/BoardBulletin?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 28 at 6 pm* > *Learning and Teaching Center (district office)* > *Board Room at 2218 N Molter Rd, Liberty Lake* > *Watch via Zoom* [*here*](https://cvsd-org.zoom.us/j/89172238620?pwd=d05mZ1ZyWlVvUWhpU3hIZ3o4eTM4dz09&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session 🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Ongoing discussion on PFAS task force County Commissioner Chris Jordan has requested ongoing talks to form a task force that would study “forever chemicals” contamination in the drinking water of hundreds of West Plains wells between Spokane and Airway Heights. The talks started in October and aim to determine a scope of work for the task force, which will likely include: - Exploring the various filtration systems, present and under development, for efficiency and cost. - Exploring bringing a new source of water to the West Plains and working with the appropriate agency(s) to implement. - Exploring technological advances on removing PFAS from an aquifer. - Identifying funding sources for filtration systems to include in-house or Point-of-Entry Treatment systems. Work with the applying agency to develop requests and pursue funding. - Performing a census of the impacted area An initial roster of people the county may appoint to the task force: - Commissioner Jordan - County Commissioner Al French - Spokane County Health Officer Frank Velasquez or a designee from the Spokane Regional Health District - Eastern Washington University geology professor Chad Pritchard - Airway Heights City Manager Albert Tripp - Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown - Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson - West Plains Water Coalition founder John Hancock ### City of Spokane agreement would provide millions for opioid services The county is set to work with the city of Spokane to establish three new opioid crisis responder teams and create more facilities for managing substance use disorder, projects that will total $2.65 million in new resources for the drug crisis. The teams will perform medical assessments on people in crisis and refer them to care. The new facilities would provide 24 new beds in the Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services (STARS) and Sobering Triage and Transition (STaT) Services. Those services “include same day appointments, walk-ins, first dosing and law enforcement/first responder drop-offs.” The bulk of the money — $2 million — will come from opioid settlement funds from wide-ranging litigation against companies that manufactured or distributed the addictive drugs. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 29 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️🌶️/5 peppers** ### Potential raise for the sheriff Taxpayers currently pay Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels $205,434.90 per year. The commissioners will vote Tuesday whether to increase that to $236,339.85, which would bring the salary in line with the Spokane County prosecutor. ### Committees for aquifer protection ballot measure The BOCC will discuss setting a committee to weigh pros and cons for a county ballot measure that would renew the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer Protection Area, a taxing district that protects water for 500,000 Eastern Washingtonians. There will be three committee members who research arguments for the renewal, and three who research arguments against it. (The protection district does not include the West Plains aquifers, which do not have their own similar protection district, even though many people drink from it.) ### $400k for sheriff body cams Last year the county received about $400,000 from the federal government to maintain and analyze body camera footage recorded by Sheriff’s deputies through September 2027\. The department is recommending the BOCC award the money to Polis Solutions, a Dallas, Texas, software maker. ### Fixing up the off-roading park entry The BOCC will vote whether to award Spokane construction company Zetin Contractors more than $500,000 to improve the entry to one of the county’s Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Parks. The agenda item does not specify which park will receive the services, but the entrance to the Airway Heights ORV Park [is scheduled](https://www.spokanecounty.gov/5725/Airway-Heights-ORV-Park-Phase-1-Renovati?ref=rangemedia.co) for renovations. ### Board appointments The board is set to appoint the following people to various boards: - Lonnie Scott as the Town of Spangle representative on the Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee. - Larry Howes and David Crosby to the Spokane County Board of Equalization, and - Brooke Baker Spink as a Spokane County representative on the Joint Spokane County & City of Spokane Airport Board > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 29 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Policy for city park security cameras The council will vote on rules for how the city can use security cameras they plan to install in city parks, which are funded by federal funds that came from the American Rescue Plan. The rules are listed in the agenda item as follows: - Security cameras shall be placed so as to limit views of adjacent properties - Security cameras shall be used for public safety and security purposes - Traffic cameras may be used for traffic management purposes - The city shall keep a record of users who access the cameras - Footage shall not be provided to third parties except as required for installation and maintenance, for the public safety and security purposes included in the resolution and as required by law, and - The city retains the footage for 30 days, unless needed for an investigation or other purpose where the footage needs to be kept for a longer period of time. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Tuesday, April 29 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Spokane Public Library ### Transform your lawn at Thirsty Thursday Spokanites are notorious for using far more water than people who live elsewhere in the United States. In 2023, the figure was about 330 gallons per person per day, according to city data. The average American: 82 gallons per person per day, [according to](https://www.epa.gov/watersense/statistics-and-facts?ref=rangemedia.co) the Environmental Protection Agency. “Summertime outdoor watering consumes more than 80% of our residential water usage in Spokane, and often, homeowners are watering their grass 2-3 times over what they need,” said Will Rettig, City of Spokane Water Efficiency Specialist in a press release. “Overwatering is not only wasteful, but it also doesn’t benefit us or our landscape; potentially damaging plant health and wasting money.” So the Spokane Public Library is hosting a series of events starting May 1 to help people conserve water as the climate warms and the local watershed is stressed by a larger population. Find information about each event here: - [May 1: Green Grass Done Right](https://events.spokanelibrary.org/event/13271060?ref=rangemedia.co) - [May 8: Controlling Your Controller](https://events.spokanelibrary.org/event/13271155?ref=rangemedia.co) - [May 15: Smart Lawn Care](https://events.spokanelibrary.org/event/13271183?ref=rangemedia.co) - [May 22: Green Without Grass](https://events.spokanelibrary.org/event/13271223?ref=rangemedia.co) ### POD: 'A Christmas joint' URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/pod-a-christmas-joint/ Last updated: 2025-04-25T22:44:24.000Z Erin and Aaron chatted through three segments: an in-depth discussion on Aaron's recent story with incarcerated writer Kevin Light-Roth on a treatment program for incarcerated individuals seeking early release, a rapidfire "We Doomscroll So You Don't Have to" segment listing some big headlines from this week, and an update on the case of Teresa Borrenpohl, the woman dragged out of the CDA Town Hall earlier this year. Relevant reading: - [Want out of prison early? Navigate the drug treatment labyrinth](https://www.rangemedia.co/incarcerated-people-drug-treatment-mandate/): Dept. of Corrections says people who tested positive for illicit substances decades ago still require treatment if they want early release. Some of them don’t even have a history of addiction, but the prison’s behavioral health contractor places the inmates into their treatment program anyway. - Doomscroll rapid headlines: [Ban the Address passed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/21/spokane-outlaws-discriminating-against-homeless-jo/?ref=rangemedia.co), [unemployment insurance for striking workers](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/wa-house-and-senate-reach-deal-on-unemployment-benefits-for-striking-workers/?ref=rangemedia.co) is headed to Gov. Ferguson's desk and next week the Spokane City Council will vote on [an ordinance to protect LGBTQIA2S+ people](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-city-queer-lgbtq/). - Teresa Borrenpohl update: [our initial coverage](https://www.rangemedia.co/cda-woman-dragged-sheriff-republican-town-hall/), recent coverage by The Spokesman on the [noninvestigation](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/23/kootenai-co-sheriff-unlikely-to-face-investigation/?ref=rangemedia.co) into the sheriff, [Borrenpohl's lawsuit](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/21/teresa-borrenpohl-files-complaint-against-sheriff-/?ref=rangemedia.co) and the [charges filed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/17/charges-filed-against-security-team-at-wild-cda-to/?ref=rangemedia.co) against the private security firm members. ### A 12-year-old killed herself at a Spokane hospital that recently closed its youth psychiatric unit URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/providence-hospital-youth-suicide/ Last updated: 2025-04-23T20:13:34.000Z This story was originally published by [InvestigateWest](https://www.investigatewest.org/?ref=rangemedia.co), a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their [Watchdog Weekly](https://www.investigatewest.org/pnw/NewsletterSubscription/Page?ref=rangemedia.co) newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Reach Whitney Bryen at 208-918-2458 or whitney@investigatewest.org. Reach Kaylee Tornay at 503-877-4108 or kaylee@investigatewest.org. **EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988\. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.** A 12-year-old girl died by suicide this month after workers say she was left unsupervised at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she was waiting for a long-term psychiatric placement. Sarah June Niyimbona, who had been receiving intermittent psychiatric care for self-harm and suicide attempts at the hospital over the last eight months, slipped out of her room without triggering the alarm and left the pediatric floor alone around 5:30 p.m. on April 13, according to a family member and three employees involved in her care. She then walked a quarter mile to the fourth floor of a parking structure on the hospital campus and jumped, dying two hours later in the emergency room. "We're confused how this could happen," Sarah’s sister Asha Joseph said. "We also want to know why there wasn't anyone there at the moment, why there was nobody watching her and how she was able to leave. We don't really know anything. We don't have any of the answers." Spokane's Providence Sacred Heart has not released any information about Sarah’s death to the public. In response to InvestigateWest's request for an interview, Providence spokeswoman Beth Hegde sent a statement by email: “We extend our sympathy to the family and loved ones affected by this tragic situation." Providence refused to provide any additional information, citing privacy laws. Sarah’s death, pieced together through interviews with health care providers and family, 911 calls, and a hospital report submitted to the state’s health department, comes just six months after the hospital closed its Psychiatric Center for Children and Adolescents. That decision [was made over the objections](https://www.investigatewest.org/investigatewest-reports/former-staff-at-spokane-youth-psychiatric-unit-blame-providence-for-closure-17784579?ref=rangemedia.co) of staff and community members concerned about a lack of beds for youth in need of inpatient mental health care. In February 2024, hospital executives wrote in a state grant application that the center, despite losing $2 million a year, provided lifesaving care to children and teens, and that nearby facilities would struggle to fill the gap if it closed. After closing the center, however, Sacred Heart CEO Susan Stacey minimized the impact, saying a for-profit facility in Spokane was ready to meet the demand. Now, critics of the closure said Sarah’s death is an example of the harm they feared would come from the decision. “When Sacred Heart closed its adolescent psychiatric unit just months ago, nurses, physicians, community members, and former patients and their families warned about the impact this would have on services for this highly vulnerable population,” said David Keepnews, executive director of the Washington State Nurses Association. “WSNA expressed concern about a decision that was based on the financial bottom line at the expense of the community’s needs.” “We said this is what was going to happen,” said Kaili Timperley, a former nurse in the children’s psychiatric unit. “We said their plan was not an adequate plan. You can’t just put these kids in a medical room and expect everything to be OK. It’s why we tried to fight against it and get the word out.” Youth who have threatened or attempted self-harm continue to languish in Sacred Heart’s emergency department and in the general pediatrics floor, where the hospital converted two rooms into new psychiatric beds last fall. Pediatric staff said those rooms are less equipped than the shuttered psychiatric center to serve children who are flight risks or suicidal. Unlike the psychiatric center that had at least two sets of locked doors, the doors to the general pediatric unit do not lock from the inside, making it easier for a child to leave undetected. And pediatrics staff now tasked with caring for psychiatric patients in the new rooms received no additional training on how to treat and protect these patients, according to a pediatric nurse who requested anonymity due to employment concerns. That same nurse said staff had repeatedly raised alarms about Sarah’s safety. The girl spent most of her time on the pediatrics floor confined to her room, experiencing almost no peer interactions and less therapeutic care than patients received in the former psychiatric center, members of her care team said. Staff and Sarah’s family said they are most confounded by the decision to leave her unsupervised. For months, as she continued to make threats and attempts at self-harm, Sarah had had at least one “sitter,” a designated person assigned to monitor her around the clock to make sure she didn’t leave or hurt herself, staff and her sister said. Earlier in her stay, she had had two, including a remote sitter who monitored her through a camera in her room. The camera had been removed a few weeks prior. Then, in early April, when the girl was writing in her journal that she couldn’t wait to return home, the hospital removed her in-person sitter, too. Days later, she was dead. As codes relaying the final attempts to save Sarah’s life were announced over the hospital intercom, pediatric nurses stopped trying to care for their patients and sat at the nurses station together and cried. “That's where this frustration and feeling of helplessness is really coming from,” said a nurse who helped care for Sarah in the pediatric unit. “We did try to speak up. We did try to say, ‘This isn’t safe. We cannot take away the security because she’s going to hurt herself.’” Joseph, her 19-year-old sister, said Sacred Heart has provided few answers regarding Sarah’s death. "It felt like, in a way, the hospital is kind of trying to, I don't know, cover up something or hide something," Joseph said. "It just doesn't make sense. There's really no information on anything." Sacred Heart staff members said they felt intense pressure in the days after Sarah’s death to keep quiet. In a hospital-wide email on the night of her death, employees were instructed to refrain from posting about the incident or commenting on posts about it on social media. “We know that the hospital is obligated to conduct their own investigation and root cause analysis,” said Keepnews, the nurses union executive director. “But we also think that the family, our members, and the community will need to know what went wrong and to be assured that steps will be taken to prevent a horrific tragedy like this from happening again.” Isolated in Room 350, Sarah spent the last three months of her life watching "Friends" reruns and writing in her journal that was covered in rainbow drawings. Staff who worked in the unit said Sarah was frustrated and bored. She couldn't change the television channel or draw as often as she liked because the television remote and colored pencils were safety hazards. In her final days after her sitter was removed, an alarm on her door blared down the hall each time she opened it to ask for water, food or to go to the bathroom. One staff member called Sarah’s care dehumanizing. "These are the people who are supposed to be helping her," Joseph said. "And so hearing from her that these are the people who are making it harder for her was very, very hard for me to just take that in, and I was very angry about that." Joseph described her sister as sassy and outspoken. The third of six kids, Sarah was great at math, loved to dance and helped with an afterschool program at her little brother's elementary school. "She was very selfless," Joseph said. "Like, right now, a lot of her friends are reaching out to me and just letting me know how, if they had any trouble in school, Sarah was always the first person to just be there to stand up for them." Sarah completed her first year of middle school in May and spent much of the summer isolating herself in her room, Joseph said. After being bullied at school and on social media, Sarah became extremely moody and was sad most of the time. The first time she harmed herself, Joseph rode with her in an ambulance from their home in Cheney to the emergency room at Providence Sacred Heart where Sarah was discharged about six hours later. Then it happened again. And again. "It became frequent for her to leave the house, and then she'd usually call the authorities herself saying she wanted to harm herself," Joseph said. "She'd act really positive and normal, like, 'I'm going for a walk' or 'taking out the trash,' and then we'd get a call saying she was on the way to the hospital." Sarah was in and out of care. She cycled between the emergency room, Inland Northwest Behavioral Health, Frontier Behavioral Health and a group home called Evangeline's House until January when she was moved to the general pediatric unit at Providence Sacred Heart. It isn’t clear what Sarah’s doctors planned for her next step in care. Her family and staff who cared for her said she had shown improvements during the last month. Pediatrics employees said the hospital was seeking a placement for her in the Children’s Long-term Inpatient Program, Washington’s most intensive psychiatric treatment for children. But spaces are severely limited, and finding a bed can take months. Now, Joseph said her family is requesting her sister’s medical records to better understand what happened to her in Sacred Heart’s care. They’re looking for a lawyer, too. But this week, the family is taking time to grieve. Family, school children and community members filled the Riplinger Funeral Home in Cheney Tuesday morning to remember Sarah. They sang a South African hymn, prayed and listened as Joseph, standing next to a white casket with pink trim, spoke about her sister before saying goodbye for the last time. *InvestigateWest is part of the* [*Mental Health Parity Collaborative*](https://mentalhealthjournalism.org/parity-collaborative/?ref=rangemedia.co)*, a group of newsrooms that are covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The partners on this project include The Carter Center and newsrooms in select states across the country.* ### Want out of prison early? Navigate the drug treatment labyrinth. URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/incarcerated-people-drug-treatment-mandate/ Last updated: 2025-04-22T19:08:52.000Z *Editor’s note: Kevin Light-Roth is an incarcerated freelance journalist. He and RANGE’s Aaron Hedge partnered on this story in order to interview people on both sides of the bars.* Amid a national crisis in which drug overdoses kill nearly [110,000 people](https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Overall%2C%20drug%20overdose%20deaths%20rose,overdose%20deaths%20reported%20in%202022.) each year, incarcerated people applying for an early release program in Washington prisons must go through drug treatment — even if they haven’t used drugs in years or decades. It took 25 hard years for Thomas Mullin-Coston to get to this point: sitting in his counselor's office at Washington Corrections Center in Shelton in the spring of 2023, working out the details of his release plan. Incarcerated since age 19, Mullin-Coston was 44 years old and finally eligible for [Graduated Reentry](https://doc.wa.gov/corrections/community/graduated-reentry.htm?ref=rangemedia.co), a transitional release program where incarcerated people nearing the end of their sentences can transfer from a long-term facility to a minimum custody work camp, then to a work release center in their community and finally, home. He was eager to get going. But after answering a few questions — things like where he would live when he got out and what he would do for work — his counselor uncorked a surprise. "We were having this conversation about me getting out," Mullin-Coston said. "Then she stopped and said before I could go anywhere I had to do a chemical dependency assessment. I thought she was playing around." It seemed silly: Mullin-Coston hadn’t done drugs for years and had no history of addiction. But the requirement was no prank. Acting in direct response to the opioid crisis, the Washington legislature in 2023 passed [SB 5502](https://app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/?BillNumber=5502&Year=2023&Initiative=false&ref=rangemedia.co), a law requiring every person applying for Graduated Reentry — or GRE — to first submit to a substance use disorder evaluation and complete any treatment program the evaluation called for. The new screening mandate applied to all incarcerated people, even those who had never done drugs. Unless he wanted to spend another year in prison, there was no way around it. He resented being forced into an assessment he didn't need and initially refused to participate for several months after the meeting with his counselor, "but I couldn't do GRE without it, so I agreed. I was thinking I don't have drug issues anyway and I won't have to go." Early one morning in the spring of 2024, Mullin-Coston said he sat for an assessment with a substance use disorder specialist from [American Behavioral Health Services](https://americanbehavioralhealth.net/?ref=rangemedia.co) (ABHS), a private company contracted by the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to assess and treat incarcerated people for addiction issues. "This lady came in the interview room and told me, ‘just be honest,’" Mullin-Coston said. "She kept saying it's hard to assess me because my drug use was as a teen and now I'm in my 40s." The ABHS counselor had reviewed his prison disciplinary file prior to their appointment, Mullin-Coston said, and honed in on a urine analysis (UA) test he had failed well over a decade before. "She kept bringing up the dirty UA from 2009\. I told her I smoked a joint socially at Christmas,” he said. (Illicit marijuana is readily available in Washington prisons, according to a DOC spokesperson). “My grandma made me promise to stop smoking weed at that point, and I did. I told this to the counselor. And based on that, she scored me high enough to place me in chemical dependency treatment,” different forms of which are administered by ABHS and the DOC’s Substance Abuse Recovery Unit (SARU). ABHS CEO Tony Prentice said assertions that ABHS ever screened incarcerated people for its programming are “factually wrong,” insisting that that DOC, which runs state prisons, makes the referrals. He said ABHS operates only in facilities separate from prisons, one of which is in Spokane. “ABHS only provides Intensive Inpatient Treatment for those who come to our agency,” Prentice wrote in an email to RANGE. “We do not control who comes or when they come, we simply provide treatment for those deemed medically necessary. … I'd like to make sure those accusations are refuted on the record. DOC controls the GRE program, we only provide treatment.” But RANGE spoke with three people who said they were referred to ABHS for treatment by ABHS employees. And the company’s contract with the state specifies that ABHS is supposed to do the screenings. Page 13 of [the contract](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WgMyWiLYGZ%5FZG2ifp5MmP9y9A7O5Vj30/view?ref=rangemedia.co) states, “The Contractor \[ABHS\] will complete chemical dependency screenings, intakes, TB tests, and chemical dependency treatment, which shall consist of group and individual counseling for offenders referred by the Department (DOC).” The contract also says the state will pay ABHS $23 an hour for individual intensive outpatient (IOP) care; $15 an hour is the group rate. If the places in the programs are not filled, ABHS does not get paid. ### Filling seats Kelly Olson, a member of the Lived Experience Team, a citizen advisory board for the Women's Division of the Department of Corrections, said a woman who had no addiction issues "had to fake her substance use" to advance through the program. She was forced to invent stories about drug use that never happened, Olson said, and ABHS counselors refused to let her graduate unless she claimed to be "getting better". Jim Kopriva, a spokesperson for DOC, told RANGE that the Substance Abuse Recovery Unit (SARU), an arm of DOC, normally assesses incarcerated people for chemical dependency for GRE, but in some cases that work is “contracted out.” He did not know whether ABHS is ever asked to perform GRE substance abuse screenings. When asked how much he expects ABHS to make from its contract with the state, Prentice declined to comment, but the contract lays it out — and the company stands to make a considerable profit. For ABHS, the exclusive private contractor that provides chemical dependency services in Washington's prisons, the law created an opportunity to expand its business. That expansion can be clearly seen in the amount of new money the company is set to receive — in 2022, ABHS made $6.7 million from its contract with DOC. In 2024, its first full year of operation since SB 5502 went into effect, the company could make as much as $9.1 million, according to the contract. But the money won't be dispensed automatically — in order to be eligible for the full payment, ABHS must fill the maximum number of seats in its treatment groups, and keep them filled at all times. "So what happens if you don't have enough guys to fill a class?" Maltman said. "You give up your money? They're not doing that. They'll use \[SB 5502\] to put guys in chemical dependency that don't belong there. Then they get paid still." SB 5502 was designed to save lives. When the law went into effect in July of 2023, incarcerated people who had not previously had access to chemical dependency treatment suddenly could get help. (Senator Chris Gildon, the sponsor of SB 5502, did not return a request for comment.) The law requires DOC to publish the number of incarcerated people who go through the treatment that law mandates for GRE. With 21 total months of [data available](https://www.doc.wa.gov/corrections/community/graduated-reentry.htm?ref=rangemedia.co#data), we compared the periods from July 2023 through March 2024 and July 2024 to March 2025\. During that period, people referred to IOP — which Prentice said ABHS does not perform — increased from 1,284 to 2,192, an increase of 70%. For inpatient treatment — which Prentice said is the only type of care ABHS provides — the increase was more modest, from 847 patients to 934, a jump of less than 10%. Jim Hoag, a substance use disorder professional at Kitsap Recovery Center who supervises drug court and behavioral health sentencing alternative programs, said counselors at ABHS are weaponizing a loophole in assessment guidelines known as "forced sobriety," which allows a counselor to ignore lengthy periods of sobriety so long as they occurred in custody or a similar "controlled environment". "Time in prison doesn't count as clean time," Hoag said. "If someone had a drug and alcohol problem prior to incarceration but has been in prison 10 years clean, the 10 years don't count. That's how they get away with it. But it doesn't make sense." Typically, only addiction behaviors that occurred in the previous 12 months can be considered, Hoag said. "Every single person who takes an evaluation has to take chemical dependency," said Steve Maltman, who has since been released. "I've never seen one person at \[the Washington Corrections Center\] take an evaluation and not have to do treatment." Maltman said he went through an ABHS assessment at Washington Corrections Center around the same time as Mullin-Coston, and like Mullin-Coston, was recommended for intensive treatment despite having been clean for several years. "I had possession charges back in the day and that's what \[the ABHS counselor\] wanted to talk about,” Maltman said. “And the fact that I tried cocaine one time when I was 16\. I told her I was a drug dealer, not a drug addict. I haven't even drank in six years. But she scored me at the highest level there is. This is their thing now. If you had a dirty UA in prison or you ever had a possession charge, they jam you into chemical dependency." Like Mullin-Coston, Maltman was told by a counselor that if he refused to participate in treatment, his application for GRE would not be processed and he would spend additional time in prison. ### ‘People openly use in prisons’ DOC spokesperson Kopriva said screening processes use a rigorous methodology established by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). He denied that incarcerated people are referred to ABHS who don’t need treatment. He added that, if anything, DOC is not sending enough people to be treated for substance use disorder. “It's a much bigger problem than we currently have resources to solve is to equip people as they leave prison,” Kopriva said. “I don't think we're doing enough. There's no way that we are responding to the degree of acuity of care that people need to deal with addiction. Prisons are not totally clean — people openly use in prisons. It's a constant crisis of contraband coming in.” Mullin-Coston also calls the notion that prisons are a drug-free "controlled environment" absurd. "Anyone who tries to say there's no drugs in prison has obviously never been here," Mullin-Coston said. He pointed out that not only are drugs readily available in prisons, they are available in such quantities that incarcerated people often overdose. Data from the Washington Department of Corrections support his position: in 2023, the most recent year for which DOC provides statistics, there were 771 reported incidents involving drug contraband. DOC spokesperson Kopriva said that in the last year, about 350 incarcerated people were given Narcan, which reverses opioid overdoses. Thirty-four percent of unexpected deaths in DOC custody were drug-related. Kopriva argued that sober time in prison does not rehabilitate people: he cited ASAM, which he said developed the criteria under which people are referred for treatment. ”Are prisons necessarily a therapeutic indicator? Is good behavior in prisons in terms of weaning off addiction a sustainable treatment? It is not. It is under total confinement and supervision,” he said. “… It doesn't count.” ### If you can’t do the time, you’ve gotta do the treatment Another incarcerated man, Damen Bachman, took an assessment with an ABHS counselor at Stafford Creek Corrections Center and had an all but identical experience to those of Maltman and Mullin-Coston. "I told her I drank a little when I was out," Bachman said. "But I've been locked up for 20 years. I don't drink, I don't crave alcohol. My crime had nothing to do with drugs." Bachman had once tested positive for marijuana, though, and that quickly became the counselor's focus. "I had a dirty UA in 2011 or 2012 and that was what the whole thing turned into. I said, ‘Look, it was pot. Never meth, never heroin. You've tested me 20 or 30 times, you know what I've been doing.’ None of that shit mattered. She gave me the highest designation and the worst recommendation she could." Hoag described the process of assessing a client for chemical dependency issues as essentially indistinguishable from assessing a client for other mental health issues like schizophrenia and personality disorders. "It's all covered in the DSM \[Diagnostics and Statistics Manual\]," Hoag said. "Whether it's mental health or substance use disorder, it's all diagnosed from the same book." During an assessment, Hoag explained, a substance use counselor uses a specific set of diagnostic criteria to determine whether a client meets the clinical definition of addiction. Criteria include a variety of addiction indicators, such as risky behavior associated with use, efforts to reduce use and the frequency of use. When a client meets the definition for substance use disorder, the counselor assigns a level of care based on how the client scores across six dimensions of environmental and psychosocial factors. IOP — intensive outpatient treatment — is the second highest level of care, reserved for people who are in the throes of serious addiction to hard drugs or are drinking in a dangerously heavy way. When it comes to those who have no history at all of drug use, Hoag said, forcing them into treatment "shouldn't be happening." He points out that substance use disorder treatment is recognized under federal law as a form of medical treatment, and that under the law, even prisoners have the right to refuse medical care. Hoag suggested that the way to combat widespread misdiagnoses is for people who are improperly diagnosed to rely on the law to protect them and opt out. But for those who refuse to play along with an ABHS assessment — however improper it might be — the consequences can be dire. Olson described how women she works with have been traumatized by the experience of being forced into treatment programs they don't need and having their release derailed as a result. One woman, Olson said, was two weeks from getting out when she was told her release date had been canceled. "They said she could either do a treatment program or take an infraction and lose good time," Olson said. "Either way you can't go home. She still has a hard time even talking about it. She cries every time." Just as problematic is the way forced treatment can disrupt programming incarcerated people actually need, Olson said. "I've seen people one or two classes away from a college degree forced to drop out of school to do IOP." Olson is formerly incarcerated herself and recalls with painful clarity the stress of getting released. The strain is tremendous, she said, not just on the person reentering the community, but on her family and support network as well. To have a planned release date arbitrarily canceled devastates everyone involved and exponentially amplifies their stress. The state should be flooding a person with resources and support at that point, she said, not throwing them into uncertainty. ### Participants down on the program According to those who have gone through the ABHS treatment curriculum, the program does little even for people with legitimate substance use issues. "We played hangman on the whiteboard," Maltman said. "We played board games. You can do coloring books. Sometimes there would be an hour, hour and a half with nothing to do." Kopriva could not discuss individual cases, but responding to this, he said there are four different levels of treatment ranging from outpatient care to medical monitoring of addiction. “They might have some coursework that would qualify them for Level 2, outpatient, an hour a day, a couple hours a week kind of thing for skills as part of their kind of reentering,” Kopriva said. But sources RANGE spoke with maintained some treatment programs for GRE were not very useful. "The program was a laughingstock," said Bachman, who completed treatment at Washington Corrections Center in May. "It was daycare for idiots. Half the time we sat there and stared into space." In group therapy sessions, Maltman said, the presence of so many people who didn't share a history of drug addiction created a stifling atmosphere for those who did suffer from substance use disorder. "Some guys never participated,” Maltman said. “They never spoke. It changes the mood in the room and makes guys who really are addicts not want to open up." He went on to say there were several in his IOP cohort "who never did drugs in their life. They were arguing every day that they shouldn't be there. The counselor would say, ‘I don't make that call.’ And I hear them. I shouldn't have been there either. But I tried to stay out of the way and not make anybody who wanted to take the class uncomfortable." It is critical that the clients in an SUD therapy group believe the room is "safe and secure" and free of judgment, Hoag said. Heading a therapy session, his first goal is to "create a relaxed atmosphere, an environment where you're willing to learn" and where clients can open up about intensely personal experiences. Clients have to be comfortable enough to be emotionally honest, but the awareness that there are people in the room who may not be empathetic or who may repeat what's been revealed in the group can easily disrupt that comfort. It can be an impediment to treatment, Hoag said. ### Cash for care people say they don’t need For a law that was supposed to improve access to treatment, Mullin-Coston said, these sorts of outcomes are tragic. He even considers the ABHS treatment program a criminal enterprise. "What's going on is they take somebody that doesn't have a condition, but they lie and say he does and they charge the state money for treating him for something they know he doesn't have,” he said. “What if they did that with cancer? Took money for treating people who don't have it? If I did something like that I'd get charged with a crime. It's fraud." Prentice categorically denied that ABHS refers incarcerated people to the company’s treatment programs. He did not respond to RANGE’s question about the contract requirements. Hoag stops shy of calling the practices of ABHS criminal. His opinion of the company's conduct, however, is unequivocal. "I'm not a lawyer," Hoag said. "I can't say whether it amounts to fraud. But I will say that it's unethical." Nearly a year after the release plan meeting with his counselor, Thomas Mullin-Coston is waiting to begin an intensive 12-week treatment program. "At this point I just want to do it to get it over with. It's not going to do anything for me. It's just going to take three months out of my life that I could be doing something to prep for release. It's just ridiculous when you have someone who clearly doesn't have a drug problem. And I definitely feel like there are people who really need this program and are passed over because they're not as close to getting out." This happened to Blake Young, who came to prison 20 years ago and has grappled with addiction throughout his incarceration. Young said he reached out to ABHS staff at Washington Corrections Center "on multiple occasions," requesting a spot in the chemical dependency program. But 20 years remain on Young's term. He said ABHS counselors cited a policy that prohibits prisoners with long sentences from participating in treatment and turned him down. Seeking treatment was a major step for Young, who said pride has always held him back from enrolling in a program. Being denied access left him feeling hopeless and adrift. "For someone like me, it's hard to ask for help or lean on people," Young said. "Now when I finally do it I get shot down." Kopriva said that though he’s not aware of a specific policy that denies treatment to people in the middle of a long sentence, but he did say the DOC lacks the resources to treat everyone in Washington prisons who struggle with substance abuse. So, even though some incarcerated people struggle with addiction throughout their incarceration, the agency concentrates the resources it does have on people at the beginning or end of a sentence. Kopriva said DOC sees those as the most crucial periods of treatment needs. ”You have most people going through withdrawal if they were supporting an active addiction on the outside,” Kopriva said. “Those first few weeks of intake when you're getting people through the worst of withdrawal, and they're acclimatizing to a new and obviously very stressful, challenging environment and personal situation. … It’s also critical on the other side, preparing people for release into the outside world without the structures that have supported the sobriety that are maintained in prison because they won't have that very soon.” Still, Kopriva said, many people overdose and die shortly after they are released. A [report](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36283246/?ref=rangemedia.co) from the journal *Drug and Alcohol Dependence*, said that between 2014 and 2019, at least 862 people died of overdose deaths after release, most with them within two weeks of release. A person close to Young said he was discovered in his cell on January 24 — after RANGE had interviewed him — so intoxicated that he was sent to Washington Corrections Center’s Health Services. The incident prompted a lockdown of several hours, during which the population of Washington Corrections Center could not leave their cells or access common areas. Mullin-Coston said the combination of enrollment quotas built into the ABHS contract and mandatory assessments built into the law creates massive incentive and opportunity for ABHS. Until someone takes a hard look at what the company is doing, he said, money intended to help people will be diverted and squandered. "If they're being told they have to refer seven out of 10 or whatever to get their money, of course they're going to recommend people who don't need to be there. Here I am, sitting in some healing circle — a guy who quit smoking weed 15 years ago. I'm just another ass in the chair keeping money flowing to the program." *See previous RANGE* *prison coverage [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/prison-reform-legislation-washington-fiscal-notes/) and [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/they-cant-go-home-because-they-didnt-commit-enough-crime/).* *Correction: The Washington Corrections Center is in Shelton, not Tacoma.* ### Spokane could become the first city to 'Ban the Address' URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/ Last updated: 2025-04-21T18:07:43.000Z Welcome to CIVICS, where we break down the week’s municipal meetings throughout the Inland Northwest, so you can keep track of and fight for the issues you care about. Here are highlights of what’s coming up: - Spokane could become the first city in the nation to ban employers from discriminating against job candidates for not having a permanent address with a vote on the “Ban the Address” ordinance tonight. They’re also doing a first read of the LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance. - The city’s Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee is discussing the upcoming removal of the Monaghan statue, which has caused strife for the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community in Spokane. - The Spokane County Board of Commissioners is set to issue a ballot initiative that, if approved, will renew the tax that funds a protection district for the local aquifer that provide water to most Eastern Washingtonians. - The Spokane Plan Commission discusses a mysterious new name for the Post Street Bridge, which will honor the late Senator John Moyer and his group Friends of the Falls, - Spokane Valley City Council isn’t scheduled to discuss or vote on it yet, but their agenda contains an interesting proposal for regional homelessness collaboration between the valley, the city and the county. Important meetings this week: - [Spokane City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) - [Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) - [Spokane Plan Commission](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) - Board of Spokane County Commissioners ([Briefing](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) and [Legislative Session](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/)) - [Spokane Valley City Council](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-might-ban-the-address/) ## Spokane City Council 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Ban the Address Tonight, Spokane could become the first city to pass a [Ban the Address](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-protections-trans-mead-central-valley-school-district-wiaa/) policy, which would prohibit employers from discriminating against job candidates for not having a permanent address or listing a PO Box or shelter as their address during the hiring process. Sarah Golabek-Goldman, whose [research](https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/ban-the-address-combating-employment-discrimination-against-the-homeless?ref=rangemedia.co) into discrimination against unhoused people was used to support the creation of the ordinance, sent an email to the city council last week, letting them know they’d be “the first in the country to explicitly prohibit address-based discrimination in employment applications.” This ordinance has bipartisan support, with conservative council member Michael Cathcart joining progressives Lili Navarrete and Paul Dillon as ordinance sponsors. Here’s exactly what protections are outlined in the ordinance: - Forbids employers from requiring an applicant to provide an address or residence history until after granting a provisional offer of employment - Forbids employers from asking any question about housing status in an application, interview or other communication prior to granting a provisional offer of employment. - Forbids employers from rejecting an applicant solely because they don’t have a physical residence, list a PO Box or list a shelter, unless housing status has “legitimate relation to the primary duties of the job.” - Definitively states that “No person may be disqualified from employment with the City due solely, or in part, to their housing status unless it directly relates to the job position sought.” ### First read for LGBTQIA2S+ ordinance You’re going to want to buckle up for this one — it’s where the spice meter prediction comes from. Tonight, the council will hold the first reading of their [LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance](https://www.rangemedia.co/public-meetings-on-break/), which we covered in depth [here](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-city-queer-lgbtq/). This item is so spicy it has already been spurring debate; during last week’s open forum, people used their two minutes of talking time to rail at the council for daring to enshrine protections for queer people (one line that stuck out was “Do you really want to die on the hill of transgender?”) We have to imagine it’s only going to get worse tonight, when the ordinance is actually scheduled for discussion. As we covered in our piece last week, queer people are nervous to go to City Hall in person tonight because of all the hate that’ll likely be expressed, and are holding alternate gatherings to give virtual testimony, so if you’re queer and looking for a chiller space to watch council, check that info [here](https://www.instagram.com/p/DIVZWymRC5y/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==). ### Opioid spending One piece of criticism about the Ban the Address ordinance we heard from conservative commenters last week is that the council is wasting time protecting people from employment discrimination when they should instead be tackling the opioid epidemic. We have some great news: councilthey can do both! This week, council is voting on a special budget ordinance to spend opioid settlement funds earlier than originally anticipated. The plan for spending is the same as when [we covered this in committee](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-protections-trans-mead-central-valley-school-district-wiaa/), but in case you missed it, here’s a review: - $350,000 to expand operations at the Spokane Regional Health District medication assisted treatment program so they can meet walk-in demand and be available as a drop off location for first responders who have contacts with people in need that might be ready for treatment. These dollars will also be matched by $350,000 from Spokane County for a total of $700,000. - $500,000 for an additional 12 beds at Spokane Treatment and Recovery Services, a sobering facility that already serves as a drop-off point for first responders like the Behavioral Response Unit. This will also be matched with $500,000 from the county, but it’s unclear if that would help pay for those 12 beds or add an additional 12. - $500,000 to “support the planning and launch of culturally specific, behavioral health treatment.” This chunk of funding would go to remedying local healthcare inequities for BIPOC patients seeking treatment for opioid use. According to the agenda notes, while Black patients suffer similar rates of opioid use disorder, they are less likely to receive a prescription for buprenorphine — one of the options for medication assisted treatment — than their white counterparts. - $139,388 to hire a dedicated analyst to measure the efficacy of the city’s opioid spending by tracking overdose rates, overdose deaths and other metrics. ### Next week’s sneak peek: There’s not much on the agenda for next week, *except* the final vote on the LGBTQIA2S+ protection ordinance, and to be honest, we’re willing to bet that item alone is going to be enough to put the spice meter to at at least ⅘ peppers. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycouncil/meetings/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 21, at 6 pm* > *808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ## Public Infrastructure, Environment, and Sustainability Committee **🌶️🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Monaghan moves to the mausoleum? We covered this in Wide RANGE (our Friday newsletter for subscribers) and now the news is out for everyone: The downtown statue of John R. Monaghan accompanied with racist plaques proclaiming [Samoan people as a “savage foe”](https://www.rangemedia.co/racist-statue-monaghan-spokane-nhpi-community/) and [depicting them primitively](https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/us/spokane-wa-statue-pacific-islanders-cec/index.html?ref=rangemedia.co) is likely moving to a new final resting place: the family mausoleum. Advocates from the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community here in Spokane have been calling for its removal for quite a while, but there had been no movement since last January, when city council created [a formal process](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jan/29/new-process-created-to-review-offensive-landmarks-/?ref=rangemedia.co) to review offensive landmarks. Until now: the city council is discussing a resolution sponsored by Council Member Kitty Klitzke to authorize the statue’s removal, which will likely happen during construction for a safe streets project to slow traffic on Monroe. ### No turn on red now! Government rarely works quickly, but they’re sure speeding towards the “no turn on red” [commitment made during Mayor Lisa Brown’s press conference](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/) last week: today, council will be discussing a resolution to support “no turn on red” policies at intersections in the Riverside Neighborhood. A list of which specific intersections will be affected isn’t actually listed in the resolution or supporting agenda documents, though, so we have no way of knowing how expansive this actually is. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-and-sustainability/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Monday, April 21 at 12 pm* > *Council Chambers in the Lower Level of City Hall.* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 9920* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://my.spokanecity.org/citycable5/live/?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Plan Commission **🌶️🫑/5 peppers** ### Post-Post Street Bridge Our beloved Post St. Bridge — the famous background of our City Hall reporter’s walk-and-talk TikToks — could be getting a new name, though it isn’t stated what exactly that new name will be. Two former mayors and current mayor Brown sent letters in support of changing the bridge’s name to honor the late Senator John Moyer and his group Friends of the Falls, who were instrumental in killing a proposed Lincoln Street Bridge — which would’ve blocked the Post Street Bridge’s beautiful view of the Falls. “Rather than merely opposing a construction project, it was this positive vision that inspired hundreds of citizens to coalesce around the proposition that the community was better served by preserving access to the river and enhancing views of the Falls,” wrote Steve Faust, a local attorney. We couldn’t find the proposed new name anywhere in the agenda, just that it would be in honor of Moyer and the Friends of the Falls, so stay tuned. > *Agenda* [*here*](https://my.spokanecity.org/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/?ref=rangemedia.co)[](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/commissions/plan-commission/agendas/2023/10/plan-agenda-2023-10-11.pdf) > *Wednesday, April 23 at 2 pm* > *Council Briefing Center* > *808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://spokanecity.webex.com/wbxmjs/joinservice/sites/spokanecity/meeting/download/9d321e6717f3476e9565b354e901e59a?siteurl=spokanecity&MTID=meb2c17c456d66fcc3dc72ce2afecc703&ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Briefing Session 🌶️**/5 peppers** ### Branding for comprehensive plan The county is developing its plan for how to grow in the next 20 years — one of the most essential functions of a local government. It’s called the “Comprehensive Plan.” An extremely important part of that work is communicating the project to people of Spokane County, and that includes branding. So the Planning Department is asking the BOCC to approve a new logo to represent the Comprehensive Plan. The proposed logo depicts buildings over a skyline silhouette of the county building, the iconic Riverfront Park Pavilion and the Riverfront Park clocktower. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 1 at 9 am* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Board of Spokane County Commissioners Legislative Session **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Chopper contract renewal The Spokane County Sheriff wants to ink a $500,000 contract with Bell Textron to be the sole contractor to perform maintenance on the department’s Bell 505 helicopter. ### Aquifer protection up for vote The BOCC will soon need to renew the law that protects the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which provides drinking water to half a million Eastern Washingtonians, and [most of us in Spokane County](https://www.spokanecounty.org/1219/Spokane-Valley-Rathdrum-Prairie-Aquifer?ref=rangemedia.co). The Public Works Department is asking the board to appoint a committee to make the case for the ballot measure. The protection district is paid for by a local tax that will expire this year. The current fee for the protection district collects about $1.5 million in property fees. Notably, the Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer is separate from the West Plains aquifers, which are contaminated with “forever chemicals” that are thought to cause cancer. The West Plains aquifers are not represented by a protection district. > *Agenda* [*here* ](https://spokanecowa.portal.civicclerk.com/?ref=rangemedia.co) > *Tuesday, April 1 at 2 pm* > *Public Works Building Lower Level, Commissioners’ Hearing Room* > *1026 W. Broadway Ave, Spokane, WA 99260* > *The meeting is also live streamed* [*here.*](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85674845677?ref=rangemedia.co) ## Spokane Valley City Council **🌶️/5 peppers** ### Regional homelessness efforts The [Regional Homelessness Authority](https://www.rangemedia.co/regional-homeless-authority-spokane-housing-jail/) — the 2023 plan to form a body to tackle homelessness in the region — has been dead for a while (in large part due to [Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown’](https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2024/04/qa-spokane-mayor-lisa-brown-policing-homelessness-and-budgets?ref=rangemedia.co)s concerns that it would spend a lot of [Spokane’s money](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/spokaneunite-com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/funding-options-reviewed-draft-recommended-funding-base.pdf) while Spokane would hold very few [board seats](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/spokaneunite-com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/draft-governing-board-11-16.pdf)), but a formal regional collaborative effort could be back on the table. Spokane Valley’s agenda includes information on a potential “Interlocal agreement for a collective regional effort centered on the 5-year plan to end homelessness.” Under this proposal, Spokane City, Spokane Valley and Spokane County would have regular joint meetings, shared data collection, a joint Point-in-Time count to estimate the region’s homeless population and a coordinated inclement weather response. We have to wonder, would this level of regional collaboration be enough to satisfy critics like Spokane Business Association’s Gavin Cooley so he can [stop walking at 5 am every morning](https://www.rangemedia.co/crisis-walk-gavin-cooley-sba/)? > *Agenda* [*here*](https://www.spokanevalleywa.gov/129/Agendas-Minutes-Videos?ref=rangemedia.co) *when available* > *Tuesday, February 4 at 6 pm* > *City Hall* > *10210 E Sprague Ave* > *Spokane Valley, Washington 99206* > *Virtual attendance* [*here*](https://spokanevalley.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=3&event%5Fid=568&meta%5Fid=83544&ref=rangemedia.co)*.* ### POD: We Doomscroll so you don't have to URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/podcasts/podcast-spokane-doomscroll-local-news-prop-1/ Last updated: 2025-04-18T18:57:27.000Z Luke and Erin got together for what might become a regular segment: “I Doomscroll so you don’t have to,” where Erin caught Luke up on all the big local news from this week. The Washington Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Spokane’s voter-approved Prop 1, which made camping illegal in most of the city, new safe streets measures and an ordinance to make the city safer for queer and trans people were on the docket for discussion this week. **Relevant reading:** - [Spokane Prop 1 overturned by Washington Supreme Court](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/): Camping ban ballot initiative “exceeds the proper scope of the local initiative power,” court decided this morning. - [Spokane could soon become a shield city for queer people](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-shield-city-queer-lgbtq/): 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. - [The people want safer streets — and the electeds are listening](https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/): 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. ### The people want safer streets — and the electeds are listening URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/traffic-safety-laws-enforcement-right-turn-red-downtown-spokane/ Last updated: 2025-04-18T18:44:01.000Z 20\. That’s the number of people who died on Spokane streets in 2024 alone. An additional 102 were seriously injured. Tragically, these numbers are on the rise, nearly doubled from 2019, when 10 people died and 62 were seriously injured. In the first three and half months of 2025, six people have already been killed. Two of those people were pedestrians. Spokanites have had enough: safe streets advocates have been pressuring the city administration for more action for [over a year](https://www.rangemedia.co/lisa-brown-traffic-safety-spokane/), and across the city, [16 of 29 neighborhood councils](https://www.inlander.com/news/neighborhood-council-leaders-provide-insight-on-their-vibrant-collaborative-and-growing-corners-of-spokane-28710404?ref=rangemedia.co) listed walkability, speeding, traffic calming and similar topics in their lists of top concerns. At a press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Lisa Brown, members of her administration and city council members stood on the asphalt at Post Street and Main Avenue in front of Riverpark Square (giving this columnist false hope that [the long-dead Main Avenue lane reconfiguration](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/aug/28/main-avenue-road-diet-downtown-gets-city-council-n/?ref=rangemedia.co) had at last been revived) to announce a slate of plans and policies aimed at making Spokane streets safer for all road users. “Spokane, we see you, we hear you,” Council President Betsy Wilkerson said. “We want to keep you safe.” Here’s the rundown on a few of the new traffic safety policies the city’s going to start implementing. ### No turn on red ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/35/e7/35e7a6d5-1d7d-405c-9ee3-dce92dfd190f/content/images/rangemedia-co/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ad_4nxed4neykvhwg54j6dbnxdpoqfrgozkqoz1gwh_xwzjooiperleuccxobbi6q7_br-ccsysw6i8yqs54snkdt9sqjuq4vr6_11apsrhxy4kjwocjnwtc8kme3s5ha2itn-ypllxvakeybqloorjyor2s25gst2yia7nq.jpg) Eagle-eyed observers might spot a spiffy new “no turn on red,” sign posted behind Brown, a clue to what officials were about to announce: the expansion of right (and left in the case of one-way streets) turn on red prohibitions on Main Avenue. Intersections with the new signs forbid drivers from turning on red, giving pedestrians more time and comfort while crossing. Right turns on red are particularly dangerous because driver attention is focused on the traffic coming from the left, rather than pedestrians crossing parallel or perpendicular to the driver’s car. Banning turns on red isn’t a novel idea: Seattle has at least [173 intersections](https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/02/21/no-turn-on-red-new-intersections?ref=rangemedia.co) where turns on red are prohibited and both the city of Spokane and Spokane County already have a handful. A [study](https://ite.ygsclicbook.com/pubs/itejournal/2022/may-2022/live/index.html?ref=rangemedia.co#p=42) of no turn on red restrictions in Washington DC found that vehicle-to-vehicle collisions dropped a whopping 97%, and the failure of drivers to yield to pedestrians dropped by 92%. Notably, the press conference took place just six blocks west of where community advocate Janet Mann [was killed](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/12/author-foster-advocate-and-ridpath-visionary-janet/?ref=rangemedia.co) by a driver who turned against a red light. The city plans to expand the list of intersections where turns on red are prohibited in the coming years, focusing on intersections with high pedestrian traffic. Additionally, the city is rolling out [Leading Pedestrian Interval](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/highways-dot-gov/sites/fhwa-dot-gov/files/leading%5Fpedestrian%5Finterval%5F1.pdf) signal timing, which turns the crosswalk sign to “Walk” a few seconds before the corresponding stop light turns green to increase the visibility of pedestrians, to roughly a dozen intersections. ### Returning streets to the people Next, city officials announced a program meant to ease closing of non-arterial streets for neighborhood block parties and community gatherings. The press conference was a little short on details, but a later release added more information: “The Spokane City Council will also soon consider a proposal to establish a Play Streets Program. This program will make it easier for neighbors to temporarily close non-arterial streets to provide car-free safe spaces for neighborhood play and community activities, such as block parties. This program will begin in June and run through Halloween.” This columnist hopes it will ease the burden felt by the volunteer creators of [Summer Parkways](https://summerparkways.com/?ref=rangemedia.co), an annual community event coming up on June 17th which closes a four-mile loop of South Hill streets so individuals of all ages can walk, bike, or skate in a safe, car-free environment. ### At long last, the traffic unit Mayor Woodward’s budget for 2024 (passed in 2023) included a plan to [spend $1.8 million](https://www.inlander.com/news/spokanes-mayor-proposes-using-money-raised-by-traffic-camera-tickets-to-pay-for-police-but-city-council-members-say-shes-just-trying-to-sh-26938971?ref=rangemedia.co) from the Traffic Calming Fund to stand up a previously-disbanded Spokane Police Department unit focused on traffic enforcement. [Budget disagreements and staffing shortages](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/dec/02/getting-there-disagreements-flare-again-over-how-t/?ref=rangemedia.co) led to a delay in creating the unit, despite [potential funding](https://my.spokanecity.org/news/releases/2024/07/08/mayor-brown-proposes-one-tenth-of-1-percent-for-community-safety/?ref=rangemedia.co#:~:text=Monday%2C%20July%208%2C%202024%20at,will%20go%20to%20Spokane%20County.) coming from the Community Safety Sales Tax, passed by voters in 2024. But today Chief of Police Kevin Hall announced that four officers will begin full-time work on traffic enforcement and education and three more would be focused on DUI enforcement. Currently, traffic enforcement is done by officers who can be (and are) called away from that job to address other calls, so having four dedicated officers should result in a more consistent enforcement effort. ### Complete-r streets Spokane’s [complete streets](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/opendata/policies/eo-2011-0003.pdf) ordinance was originally passed in 2011 after years of work by a few familiar faces: then-council member, now [Director of Transportation and Sustainability Jon Snyder](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-transportation-cabinet-position-brown-snyder/); then-legislative assistant, now-council member Paul Dillon; and then-organizer, now-council member Kitty Klitzke. The ordinance ensures that whenever the city is tearing up a road, it is rebuilt with all the master-planned bicycle and pedestrian facilities. But the ordinance is showing its age and city officials think it’s due for an update as [best](https://nacto.org/latest/nacto-launches-new-urban-bikeway-design-guide-for-the-next-generation-of-innovative-cycling-infrastructure/?ref=rangemedia.co) [practices](https://tooledesign.com/insights/2024/12/the-new-aashto-bike-guide-is-here/?ref=rangemedia.co) in the worlds of bike and pedestrian infrastructure have since evolved. ### More automated red light and speed cameras According to Hall, speed is the most common denominator in fatal and serious injury crashes in Spokane. The good news: automated red light and speed cameras are shown to [decrease speeds and crashes.](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/www-nyc-gov/html/dot/downloads/speed-camera-report-page-5.pdf) As [RANGE reported last year](https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-top-10-dangerous-intersections-urbanism-traffic-safety/), the intersection at Mission Avenue and Greene Street sees more crashes than any other intersection in the city. City officials have been talking about installing red light cameras at the intersection for [nearly a year](https://www.kxly.com/news/more-red-light-and-speed-check-cameras-could-be-coming-to-spokane-streets/article%5Fca645ef0-238b-11ef-8541-c7532c421139.html?ref=rangemedia.co), but today they announced the cameras will be installed in June. And as the city builds up its judicial labor force to handle the increased volume in tickets, city officials say even more red light and speed cameras will be installed, though the process takes about nine months from ideation to completion. ### Why crashes happen and what can be done The final item on the press conference agenda was the creation of a Traffic Fatality Review team. The cross-functional team will consist of “police, fire, streets, engineering, planning and human services staff” and will identify root causes of fatal crashes in order to recommend mitigation efforts. The pilot program will run for a year and meet quarterly. The team sounds a bit like the [Strong Towns Crash Analysis Studio](https://www.strongtowns.org/crashmodel?ref=rangemedia.co), which teaches advocates and city staff to find root causes beyond driver error. Spoiler alert: the Studio has found that the most common root cause of the crashes they’ve examined is what they call [“High-Speed Road Design in Urban Areas”](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static1-squarespace-com/static/53dd6676e4b0fedfbc26ea91/t/67111a97f65707067e7f0b37/1729174174470/beyond%5Fblame%5Fsafer%5Fstreets%5Freport%5F2024-page-5.pdf), which means that drivers speed because these urban roads *feel* like ones you can safely drive excessively fast on – wide lanes, unused shoulders and wide [clear zones](https://highways.dot.gov/safety/rwd/provide-safe-recovery/clear-zones/clear-zones?ref=rangemedia.co) contribute to that feeling, and therefore contribute to the crashes killing and injuring our neighbors. ### Other initiatives and policies not mentioned today that will contribute to safer streets - [Traffic calming cycle 12 projects](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/bcc/committees/public-infrastructure-environment-sustainability/agendas/2024/10/pies-agenda-2024-10-21-page-84.pdf) will be built in 2025, including three rectangular [rapid flashing beacons](https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/rectangular-rapid-flashing-beacons-rrfb?ref=rangemedia.co) - A batch of [quick-build projects](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/neighborhoods/programs/trafficcalming/2025/cycle-13-traffic-calming-projects-resolution-2025-0005-page-7.pdf) are going in - Four additional [pedestrian hybrid beacons](https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/pedestrian-hybrid-beacons?ref=rangemedia.co) will be built in 2025 - The [West Central Infrastructure](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/projects/west-central-infrastructure-project/west-central-infrastructure-project-final-report.pdf) project will bring a slate of traffic calming mini-projects to the neighborhood - New bike lanes on [Lincoln Street](https://www.cityofspokanepublicplans.com/projects/13250/details/lincoln-street-pedestrian-bike-safety-re-bid-2023112?ref=rangemedia.co) and [Maxwell Avenue](https://www.cityofspokanepublicplans.com/projects/13259/details/maxwell-from-pettet-to-walnut-wsdot-bike-ped-2023111?ref=rangemedia.co) - Extensions of the [Sunset Path](https://www.rangemedia.co/content/files/static-spokanecity-org/documents/budget/2025/draft-2025-2030-citywide-capital-improvement-program-page-218.pdf) and the [Children of the Sun Trail](https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-projects/us-395-nsc-spokane-river-crossing?ref=rangemedia.co) - [Francis Scott Elementary](https://www.cityofspokanepublicplans.com/projects/13217/details/scott-elementary-safe-routes-to-school-srts-2023120?ref=rangemedia.co) safe routes to school improvements - [Stevens Elementary](https://www.cityofspokanepublicplans.com/projects/13205/details/stevens-elementary-walk-route-2023110?ref=rangemedia.co) safe routes to school improvements ### Other initiatives not mentioned- a footnote from RANGE’s City Hall reporter Despite celebrating the launch of new bike lockers at a press conference much like this one nearly a year ago, the bike lockers in front of City Hall are still not available to the public — much to this reporter’s endless chagrin. City communications director Erin Hut told us on Wednesday that they may have been overly optimistic about the quick rollout of the bike lockers. They’re working on a way to supply power to the bike lockers so they can be operated electronically, like through an app. This would make them able to be used by the public — right now, there’s one guy on city staff with a key who lets people on an approved list in and out of the lockers, which is not super feasible to expand to the public. Hut said when there’s an update on the bike lockers, we’ll be her first call, so you’ll know when we do! \~ ES **If you’re reading this, you might enjoy an urbanism-themed bike ride hosted by Lauren and city hall reporter Erin Sellers on May 22nd at 5:30 pm. We’ll check out a handful of infrastructure and building projects, then end at Brick West Brewing for some social time.** ### Spokane Prop 1 overturned by Washington Supreme Court URL: https://www.rangemedia.co/spokane-prop-1-overturned-by-washington-supreme-court/ Last updated: 2025-04-17T17:30:43.000Z In a victory for local housing and homeless advocates this morning, the Washington State Supreme Court overturned Proposition 1, the ballot initiative that banned camping in most of Spokane by making it illegal to camp within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and day care centers. The proposition was [spearheaded by local attorney Brian Hansen](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/may/04/citizens-initiative-seeks-to-outlaw-homeless-camps/?ref=rangemedia.co), [bankrolled by Larry Stone](https://www.rangemedia.co/larry-stone-is-bankrolling-the-anti-camping-initiative/) and passed by about 75% of Spokane voters in 2023\. But the law wasn’t enforced immediately, due to concerns among city administrators that it could be considered cruel and unusual punishment under the federal court ruling *Martin v. Boise* — which prohibited cities from enforcing anti-camping laws against unhoused people unless there were shelter beds available to house the people who would be impacted by the law. The city began [enforcing Prop 1](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/aug/15/spokanes-proposition-1-is-now-being-enforced/?ref=rangemedia.co) after the United States Supreme court overturned Martin v. Boise in 2024, leading to a [massive increase in citations](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/dec/15/despite-criticism-of-the-citys-handling-of-homeles/?ref=rangemedia.co) for crimes intrinsically linked to homelessness, such as pedestrian interference and unlawful camping. In August 2023, before the initiative could even appear on voters’ ballots, local homelessness service providers Julie Garcia of Jewels Helping Hands and Ben Stuckart of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium [filed a joint lawsuit](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/state-supreme-court-agrees-to-take-up-case-against-spokane-camping-ban/?ref=rangemedia.co) against Hansen, who wrote Prop 1, asking for it to be removed from the ballot. That request was denied by a state superior court judge. The appellate courts also [sided with Hansen](https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/court-of-appeals-division-iii/2023/39924-9.html?ref=rangemedia.co). In the summer of 2024, the Washington State Supreme Court agreed to take up Garcia and Stuckart’s case — to evaluate whether it was legal to put the measure as written before voters. It’s been nearly a year since then, and Garcia said she had become “nervous that it just was gonna go to the wayside.” But this morning, the court issued its ruling, declaring that the initiative should have never been on the ballot at all, because it “exceeds the proper scope of the local initiative power.” Functionally, this means that Proposition 1 is overturned and no longer enforceable. Mayor Lisa Brown's office did not immediately respond to a request but just minutes after our story went live she sent release stating that "the Washington State Supreme Court’s decision regarding Proposition 1 offers important clarity on the legal boundaries of local initiative powers and reinforces the distinction between legislative and administrative actions." "The City’s unlawful camping ordinance, which pre-dated Proposition 1, remains in effect and is being enforced as demonstrated by Spokane Police Department data. We know that enforcement alone is not going to solve homelessness," Brown wrote. "Our legal team is currently reviewing the Court’s opinion in detail, and we will be working together to thoughtfully chart a path forward that reflects the Court’s guidance, as well as the best interests of our community." Brian Hansen told RANGE that “this is not the outcome I was hoping the measure would receive from the state’s highest court.” “The true judicial branches of this state — that being all the courts below the state Supreme Court, they did their job,” Hansen said. “The state Supreme Court, unfortunately, is a political beast, and I’m saddened to say that because I am a product of this state’s law schools and I took pride in the fact.” The court’s decision rested primarily on its finding that the ballot measure was more administrative than legislative in nature. Hansen isn’t sure if he plans to push the legislative issue further. “That might be an exercise in futility, a kabuki dance, if you will, to take that route,” Hansen said this morning. “ I think the more effective route is to implore our city council to listen to the will of 75% of its constituents and pass a city ordinance that codifies the purpose and intent of this legislation or this proposition.” Reached by phone this morning, Garcia and Stuckart were elated — “Still in shock,” Garcia said. “ This means that the court still matters, law still matters and that we can help change things for the better,” Garcia said. “ It's just a start on what needs to be done for the criminalization of homelessness, but it's a good step in that direction. Stuckart, a former city council member, said this was “a great win for the rule of law,” and for local government. “Our argument was that local bodies had already made a decision on camping and where it should be banned. It was a compromise decision between everybody in local government and this initiative tried to subvert that,” Stuckart said. “ I just think we need to let legislators and our local government come to collaborative decisions on where things like camping should be banned.” “Just because you personally aren't happy doesn't mean you should go out and spend hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars running an initiative,” Stuckart added, obliquely referring to Hansen, Stone and other funders. Garcia sees this legal win as a victory for the unhoused people she serves through street outreach and the scatter site shelters she manages. “It is not necessarily that I disagree that people should not sleep next to schools or daycares. I agree that nobody, not just people experiencing homelessness, that nobody should exist in those spaces,” Garcia said. “But if we tell people where they can’t go, we have to have somewhere for them to go. Otherwise all we do is take away their right to exist.” The court ruling can be viewed in full here. [ 4-17-25 JHH & Ben Stuckart v Brian Hansen ](https://www.scribd.com/document/851004911/4-17-25-JHH-Ben-Stuckart-v-Brian-Hansen?ref=rangemedia.co#from%5Fembed "View 4-17-25 JHH & Ben Stuckart v Brian Hansen on Scribd") by [ Valerie Osier ](https://www.scribd.com/user/626235289/Valerie-Osier?ref=rangemedia.co#from%5Fembed "View Valerie Osier's profile on Scribd") _Truncated after 5 MiB. Use `/sitemap.xml` for the complete archive of public content._