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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. Police accountability proposals, taxing millionaires and a new Trump appointee from Spokane County. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Read on!
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Presented by SpokeAnna's grant-writing services |
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Pat Bell going to work for Trump USDA |
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The Trump administration looked not to the west side for someone to lead operations in the state for the US Department of Agriculture but to Spokane County. This week, it named Spokane County’s top spokesperson Pat Bell as the head of the Washington Office of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The USDA oversees food programs in the US, and the Washington office doles out farm loans, is in charge of disaster assistance and runs conservation programs in the state. Bell has worked as a staffer for former US Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash, and as a director of special projects for the University of Washington. Read more from The Spokesman’s Nick Gibson here. ~ AH
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Ferguson backs tax on high earners |
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For a short time nearly a century ago, Washington had a progressive income tax that had been approved by voters in an election. But a year after that vote, the state Supreme Court said no: i. Income was property, the high court said, and the Washington Constitution does not allow property to be taxed unequally. So since 1933, the state has been out of step with most other states in refusing to tax income. Now, Governor Bob Ferguson has backed a 9.9% income tax on people who make more than $1 million each year. Read more from The Spokesman’s Mitchell Roland here. ~ AH
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Feds use DOL data to track immigrants |
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The Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) maintains a database of information on drivers that is gathered by the Washington State Patrol (WSP). Through that system, federal agents have located people they want to deport from the country for immigration violations. The University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights, which has been researching ways in which technology is used by the federal government to track immigrants, published a report January 8 titled “Roadside Assist,” which documents at least nine such cases. Washington is a sanctuary state, meaning law enforcement agencies here are not allowed to help the federal government enforce immigration law and this appears to be one of many loopholes in that law. Read the report here. ~ AH
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR |
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RANGE Media is grateful for our sponsors. Become one. |
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CATCH UP ON RANGE NEWS |
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Winter break is behind us and we’re back with a bang! It’s been a busy week here, folks, as we answer emails and catch up on news we missed, all while publishing a few big stories:
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A piece from Aaron Hedge on all the police accountability proposals that will be up for consideration during the upcoming Washington state legislative session.
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A story by Erin Sellers and photojournalist Sandra Rivera on the killing of Minneapolis woman Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, and how the Spokane community is responding.
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A podcast episode where Hedge interviewed Gonzaga professor Joan Braune on Christian nationalism, fascism and some ways people can recognize and intervene against it.
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💌 RANGE is rounding up the news for you every week so you know exactly what's going on
You can support this work by becoming a member for as low as $10/month or $100/year. |
Become a RANGE member |
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(More news below!) |
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THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE EMBARASSING |
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The Good: Hillyard, one of the coolest neighborhoods in Spokane, is getting brand new low-income housing reserved for veterans. These one-bedroom apartments are reserved for homeless veterans, who, once approved, can live in them as long as they like, making a home in Hillyard. ~ ES
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The Bad: Initial reports from the WA Department of Commerce *way* overstated the emission reductions that could be attributed to the Climate Commitment Act after a data entry mistake. This is a bummer for everyone, because it would’ve been rad if the projects actually did reduce emissions by 7.5 million tons, instead of just 78,000 tons… ~ ES
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The Embarrassing: Should Washington schoolgirls have to endure a blood test or a genital inspection to participate in sports? Millionaire hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, his advocacy group Let’s Go Washington and over 400,000 Washingtonians seem to think so. Let’s Go Washington’s newest initiative, which seeks to block trans girls from participating in sports by making medical verification of sex a requirement to participate, received enough signatures to appear on a ballot. ~ ES
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The National: Where do we even start? The US military nabbing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro so Trump can control the oil industry in the country? The New Year’s Eve killing of Californian Keith Porter by an off-duty ICE agent? The Wednesday killing of Minneapolis woman Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross? The two people shot just yesterday afternoon by federal immigration officers in Portland, Oregon? It’s shaping up to be a devastating year. ~ ES
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THINGS YOU CAN DO THIS WEEKEND FOR GOOD & FUN |
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🎨 If you also love to see parking garages used for things besides parking, check out the Downtown Spokane Partnership’s (Second) First Friday event tonight at the Parkade from 5 to 7 pm, where artists will go head-to-head to create artwork live. ~ ES
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🧊 You can join Spokane Indivisible for their “ICE out for Good” protest against ICE this Saturday from 2 to 4 pm at BA Clark Park. ~ ES |
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📽️ For the outdoorsy RANGE readers, consider checking out the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour, playing all weekend long at The Fox Theatre, with ticket sales benefiting local nonprofits like Feast World Kitchen, the Spokane Riverkeepers and the Spokane Symphony. More info and tickets here. ~ ES
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