Spokane Public Radio

There's still a 2020 census. Pandemic necessitates creativity in state promotion

Give yourself a pat on the back if you have already responded to the 2020 census. Residents of Pacific Northwest states are doing an above average job fulfilling their civic duty. But there is still a long way to go amid a virus pandemic that has forced many adjustments.

Staggering: Record 10 Million File For Unemployment In 2 Weeks

Social Distancing Means Mourners Find New Ways To Cope And Connect

Recent Studio Guest Interviews

Poetry Moment - Recent Poems

Listener Questions About Adapting K-12 Education During The Epidemic

By Anya Kamenetz • 1 hour ago

What Happened Today: Another Unprecedented Jump In Unemployment

By Jim Zarroli • 1 hour ago

How To Play Sports Safely During The Coronavirus Outbreak

By Tom Goldman • 2 hours ago

Listener Questions About COVID-19 Testing

By Rob Stein • 2 hours ago

A Washington inmate fears coronavirus could sweep through his prison like a fire

By Austin Jenkins • 2 hours ago

Arthur Longworth is 35 years into a life without parole sentence for aggravated murder. He’s currently housed in Cell Block A, a medium security unit at the Monroe Correctional Complex, a hundred-year-old prison that’s been featured in movies.

“It’s four tiers high, 40 cells long, which is about as far as you can see, and higher than you’d want to fall if you fell off the fourth tier,” said Longworth, who is an award-winning prison writer.

While he has a single cell, Longworth said many of the six-by-nine cells hold two men. A couple of weeks ago, they were all put on quarantine after a prison staffer tested positive for COVID-19.

Navy Removes Commander Of Aircraft Carrier After He Criticized Coronavirus Response

By Tom Bowman • 2 hours ago

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt has been relieved of his command. The U.S. aircraft carrier has been hit by a major coronavirus outbreak. And in response, the captain of the ship wrote a scathing letter decrying the Navy's response. The letter was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, which led to a very public debacle for Navy officials. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman joins us now with more.

Hey, Tom.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.

A Note From NPR President & CEO John F. Lansing

By Leona Vander Molen • 4 hours ago

Hello Everyone,

Thank you once again for your continued commitment to keeping America informed and connected during an existential crisis that has touched all of us, personally and professionally.

1990 at SPR

By Leona Vander Molen • 4 hours ago

January

Car Talk begins on KPBX in January.

February

South Africa legalizes ANC, frees Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison.

May

Marian McPartland comes to Spokane Public Radio.

June

First Hoopfest held in Spokane.

July

Government Works To Begin Disbursing Loans And Payments Amid Record Unemployment

By Philip Ewing & Barbara Sprunt • 4 hours ago

Updated at 7:37 p.m. ET

The government has gone to work disbursing the billions of dollars Washington has committed to sustain the economy after the deep shock it has undergone in the pandemic, the White House promised on Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Jovita Carranza, head of the Small Business Administration, vowed that some of the first systems for loans or payments would be up and running as soon as Friday.