Senate Spending Bill, Ukraine Airstrikes, Idaho Firefighter Shootings Up First from NPR · Episode

I’m now reporting for Spokane Public Radio.

When Kootenai County firefighters get ambushed, the country cares. Here’s an update for Up First by @npr.org about what we know (not much) and what authorities are trying to do next.

open.spotify.com/episode/1xvj...

Spokane unveils a new slate of traffic safety initiatives as fatal traffic collisions continue to rise in 2025 Seven people have died in traffic collisions on Spokane city streets so far this year. Four incidents killed pedestrians. Only one of the incidents involved...

I visited the location of all seven traffic fatalities in Spokane so far this year. This is what they looked like.

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

Spokane unveils a new slate of traffic safety initiatives as fatal traffic collisions continue to rise in 2025 Seven people have died in traffic collisions on Spokane city streets so far this year. Four incidents killed pedestrians. Only one of the incidents involved...

The second half of this article is a list of fatal car crashes in Spokane so far this year.

STELLAR reporting and detailed crash analysis from @elizabillingham.bsky.social 👏

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

Spokane's new police chief is reimagining 'use of force' review boards, with input from the Office of Police Ombuds On March 4, 2024, a woman stepped off the sidewalk and onto Sixth Avenue in the Cliff/Cannon neighborhood. According to a report filed by Spokane's...

“It’s new and it’s good. For now,” Spokane Police Ombuds Bart Logue says.

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

Offended by annexation comments and worried about immigration enforcement, Canadian tourists are staying away from Spokane For over a century, the longest international border in the world has been virtually unprotected. The 5,525-mile boundary between the U.S. and Canada is demarcated...

Spokane’s entertainment district is starting to feel the effects of slowed Canadian tourism 🇨🇦 🇺🇸

www.inlander.com/news/offende...

Why the Department of Natural Resources is trading a Spokane forest for a Bellingham grocery store The hundreds of acres just south of Thorpe Road are the largest area of undeveloped land left inside Spokane city limits. They're a travel corridor...

ICYMI: a little more evidence that Joni Mitchell is always right

www.inlander.com/news/why-the...

I was at the National Debate Tournament at 2 am. Here's what you missed. Scenes from the 2025 National Debate Tournament hosted by Gonzaga University in Spokane

I had so much fun writing this. Could’ve been partly bc of sleep deprivation-induced delirium 🙃

www.inlander.com/news/scenes-...

Photos of a few players from the Spokane Velocity & Zephyr for @elizabillingham.bsky.social’s story in @inlander.com about how footballers from around the world ended up playing in Spokane & how they’re changing the game.

1) Andre Lewis - 🇯🇲
2) Mollie Rouse - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
3) Nils Vinyals - 🇪🇸
4) Thais Reiss - 🇧🇷

Will Spokane city voters get the chance to rejoin the region's Aquifer Protection Area? The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie aquifer is the only supply of drinking water for most of Spokane and Kootenai counties. It flows for about 370 square...

The headline I really wanted to run with this was “Aquifer? I Barely Know Her!”

www.inlander.com/news/will-sp...

Spokane City Council could eliminate height restrictions for parts of downtown It's time to start looking up — downtown Spokane could be getting a whole lot taller. On March 24, the Spokane City Council is scheduled...

Ted Mosby would be so proud! 🏗️

www.inlander.com/news/city-co...

Rural revitalization is happening across Eastern Washington. Will federal funding freezes kill the momentum? Rural America covers nearly three-quarters of the country. More than 96% of the land in Washington is rural, and it's home to about 16% of...

Everyone relies on rural! Check out some innovation happening on the Palouse, with or without federal funding 🌾

www.inlander.com/news/rural-r...

Spokane City Council requires city government to incentivize hiring multilingual employees Growing up, Spokane City Council member Lili Navarrete hated her family's Spanish/English dictionary. It was ugly and big, and "it made me work," she says....

ICYMI: Spokane City Hall’s latest efforts to become more language savvy

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

⚡️💪🏻

YES. THANK YOU

In addition to asking important questions, I sometimes ask the *really* important questions:

Scenes from today’s Resident’s March in Spokane, a President’s Day protest against President Donald Trump and his allies concerning recent federal actions concerning issues like immigration, affirmative healthcare and federal employment.

If this isn’t binge worthy, I don’t know what is

📸 Photos by @youngkwak.bsky.social

Spokane's Community Court handles most nonviolent offenses downtown. While arrests increase, founders say improving quality of life is "not an easy fix." A chalkboard in the front of the courtroom has a handwritten message on it. "One step in the right direction: Being HERE." There are plenty...

Citations for pedestrian interference and public camping are up this month.

Most of those tickets assign people to Community Court, one of the five therapeutic courts in Spokane. If you can’t check it out on Monday mornings, you can read my article instead ⬇️

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

Spokane's new community safety sales tax saved 10 jobs at Municipal Court Last year, city voters passed a 0.1% sales tax increase to fund new community safety initiatives. Mayor Lisa Brown's administration planned for about $2 million...

Want to know where your tax dollars are going? 💸

Here’s a quick dive into the jobs that Spokane’s community safety sales tax is funding at Municipal Court’s Community Justice Services.

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

Manufactured home owners are reimagining stable housing as local communities face untenable rent increases Jinny Curtiss' home is beautiful. It has cream siding with forest green trim around the windows. Inside, songbird knickknacks perch atop a vintage wooden hutch...

Recently, I’ve found that digging into local issues and solutions is much more inspiring than obsessing over national news that I have no control over.

This week’s cover story deals with a big problem that’s solved by people working together:

www.inlander.com/news/manufac...

Manufactured home owners are reimagining stable housing as local communities face untenable rent increases Jinny Curtiss' home is beautiful. It has cream siding with forest green trim around the windows. Inside, songbird knickknacks perch atop a vintage wooden hutch...

Read our cover story by @elizabillingham.bsky.social
Manufactured homes are a key affordable option. But homeowners are facing steep rent increases on the land their homes sit on. WA has empowered homeowner co-ops, and a rent cap bill could help even more

www.inlander.com/news/manufac...

Side note: thanks to this story, I think I finally memorized how to spell “paraphernalia.”

Spokane City Council could require downtown shops to provide Narcan to those who buy pipes At least 231 people in Spokane County died from opioid related overdoses in 2024, according to preliminary death certificate data. In September alone, there were...

Earlier this month, Spokane’s mayor proposed a new ordinance that would require convenience stores downtown to give free Narcan to anyone who buys smoking paraphernalia.

If you have thoughts, share them with your City Council rep before they vote on Feb. 3!

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...

Photos by @youngkwak.bsky.social 📸

A sanctioned homeless camp in Colville is closing, but there's nowhere for residents to go. Does the city expect them to disappear? There's a tall chain link fence around the homeless camp in Colville, with green privacy slats somewhat blocking the view to or from the busy...

Colville’s homeless camp is closing, but its evicted residents are just the “tip of the iceberg” of those dealing with housing instability in rural Stevens County.

www.inlander.com/news/a-sanct...

Thank you!! 🫡🫡

NOT WELL ERICK

Photos by @erickdoxey.com 📸

Spokane-area animal shelters are facing financial stress and systemic issues It's a classic Hallmark scene: a box under the Christmas tree shakes, then whimpers. A nose sticks out, then two eyes, then a puppy with...

Insurance premiums are going up across the board. An unlikely victim? Dogs.

www.inlander.com/news/spokane...