SCOTUS Grants Pass Ruling creates uncertainty in Spokane
Friday’s Supreme Court ruling in the Grants Pass case makes it easier for cities in the West to enforce bans on camping and sleeping in public places, but its exact effects in Spokane aren’t yet clear.
Last November, voters in Spokane approved a measure called Proposition One, which bans camping and sleeping in more than half of the city’s land area. But its enforcement has been on hold while the Supreme Court considered the Grants Pass case.
On paper, Friday’s ruling seems to clear the way for enforcing Proposition One.
Julie Garcia, a prominent voice in the city’s homelessness discourse, says today will be business as usual for her advocacy group Jewels Helping Hands. She’s waiting to see what the city does next.
“On the ground, we don’t have a lot of ability to change these kinds of things," Garcia told SPR. "It all depends on how the people who have positions of power choose to enforce this new ruling.”
Garcia said she hopes the city and homeless service providers can reach an approach that follows the law and helps people without shelter, and is respectful to homeless people and the larger community.
Meanwhile, Garcia and Low Income Housing Consortium head Ben Stuckart are challenging Proposition One in state court. An oral hearing has been scheduled for September.
Spokane athletes compete for spot on U.S. Paralympic team
The U.S. Olympic track and field team has now been determined for the Summer Olympic Games that will begin later this month in Paris. In about two weeks, Para-athletes will compete for spots in their version of the Summer Games, also in Paris.
SPR spoke to several Spokane athletes hoping to qualify for the chance to represent their country.
At the Bigfoot Twilight meet at Spokane Falls Community College, David Greig watches two of his athletes compete in the long jump. It’s Lindi Marcusen’s turn on the runway.
Greig is the track and field coach for ParaSport Spokane. Marcusen is one of the athletes who will be going to the Paralympic qualifying meet in Florida.
“We’ve got shot putters, discus throwers. We have wheelchair racers, long jumpers, sprinters,” Grieg said.
Marcusen is a sprinter in addition to her long jumping. Greig thinks she has a good chance of making the U.S. team. He’s also bullish about the chances of fellow sprinter Taylor Swanson and wheelchair racer Bob Hunt, both of whom won medals at the ParaPan American Games in Chile last November.
In the Olympic trials that just concluded in Eugene, Oregon, the top three athletes advance to the Olympics. Greig says it’s not that simple in the Paralympics because the number of athletes invited is capped by the International Olympic Committee.
The athletes will have a good idea of who will be going to Paris, Grieg said.
"I believe the team is announced on the 21st, so we’ll have a good idea and then the public announcement will come out a couple days later," he continued. "Some athletes will be real excited and can’t really tell a lot of people.”
The Paralympic Games will take place in Paris August 28 to September 8.
WA maternal care bill may not fill rural needs
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and other lawmakers recently introduced a bill to try to sustain maternity wards in rural hospitals, but the additional funding might not be enough.
Doctor Rebecca Pfaff knows what she’s passionate about.
“Delivering babies makes my heart sing," Pfaff said. "I love delivering babies, it brings me great, unabiding joy.”
But Pfaff works for a hospital that doesn’t have a dedicated labor and delivery unit open. Forks Community Hospital goes on and off diverting patients to other hospitals.
That means staff can’t guarantee any obstetrics services beyond emergency care. The bill that Senator Cantwell and others brought forward would increase Medicaid reimbursements for maternity care.
Pfaff and other providers say that would help. Staff also needs continued specialty training to make sure labor is safe for mother and child.
WA Women's Commission kicks off pay equity tour
A state-wide tour to draw attention to the gender gap in pay equity is making its way around Washington.
The Washington State Women’s Commission’s Activate 3.8 campaign launched on Friday in Olympia, with the aim of raising awareness and generating solutions to get the state’s 3.8 million women paid the same amount as their male counterparts.
The National Partnership for Women and Families found that women in Washington made $18,400 less in average wages than men in 2022, the second largest gender-based wage discrepancy in the nation.
The tour’s next stop is Spokane, on July 27.
Reporting contributed by Brandon Hollingsworth, Doug Nadvornick, Lauren Gallup and Owen Henderson.