Spokane City Hall warns employees of job cuts
The city of Spokane informed some workers they may lose their jobs.
Late Friday afternoon, Mayor Lisa Brown's office announced it handed out the notices to 29 employees.
The city said the notices are not official pink slips but are warnings that the positions may be eliminated under certain conditions, such as if the city’s Community Safety Sales Tax fails on the November ballot or the results of union negotiations.
The city said the 29 positions are spread across several departments.
Officials said they’ll support those employees during the time of uncertainty and try to preserve as many positions as possible as they work to balance next year’s budget.
Pandemic prematurely aged teen brains, UW study finds
The stress and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic had tangible effects on teenagers’ brains, according to a new study by University of Washington scientists.
Researchers with the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences looked at brain scans taken before and after the pandemic’s peak.
They found over that time, teens’ brains had aged prematurely: The outer layer of the brain, the cerebral cortex, had thinned much faster than normal.
That may be partly the result of social isolation, and it’s not clear how it might affect the teens’ development, UW research scientist Neva Corrigan said.
"These kids that are coming out of the pandemic lockdowns, their brain is a little bit less plastic," she said. "It has less ability to learn and change, but it also might be a little bit more resilient to the stressors in the environment."
This sped-up thinning is usually associated with trauma, abuse or neglect, Corrigan said.
"It’s thought that this acceleration happens because the brain is protecting itself," she said. "It's making itself less vulnerable to the environment."
The study found that boys had an extra year-and-a-half’s worth of thinning on average, while girls had over four years of thinning.
They say that gap may be due to girls relying more heavily on their social networks than boys do to manage their stress.
Federal money comes for Spokane County veterans' cemetery
The federal government is providing money to the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake to add more spaces for cremated remains.
Cemetery Director Rudy Lopez told SPR News the Department of Veterans Affairs is providing Washington with about $4.2 million, enough to add more than 5,000 cubicles known as columbarium niches.
“Columbariums are placement locations for cremated remains that are above ground. They’re not mausoleums," Lopez said. "This is just a concrete wall with granite niche covers, and they’ve got cavities behind those niche plates or niche covers where we place cremated remains.
Lopez said each columbarium has room for two sets of remains, a veteran and spouse.
The new project will add about 10 years worth of capacity for above ground cremations, he said.
Lopez expects construction on the columbariums to begin this fall with the pouring of concrete. That will cure over the winter.
The rest of the installation will be done next spring. Some landscaping and irrigation work will also be done.
The construction will not affect the cemetery’s regular operations, Lopez said.
Park improvements coming across Spokane County
Spokane County officials last week broke ground on a new park that will serve the West Plains.
The county will spend six million dollars of federal Rescue Plan Act money to develop Camas Meadow Park, County Commission Chair Mary Kuney said
“So look for this project to open by fall 2025 with a softball field, playgrounds, open field space and a community event plaza, features that people of all ages are sure to enjoy,” Kuney said during her State of the County address last week.
She also said the Plantes Ferry Sports Complex in the valley will get some attention.
“Spokane County is investing $5 million on the first phase of a multi-phase project to renovate soccer fields by adding turf, new lighting and additional parking," Kuney said. "We are also seeking additional funds from the state for the next phases of this project.”
Bear Lake Park in the north part of the county and Liberty Lake will get facilities and access improvements.
Overall, she said, the county has allocated nearly $19 million for parks this year.
ID joins WA in considering vape regulations
A coalition of doctors, educators and researchers in Washington wants the state to ban flavored vape products in the state.
Idaho lawmakers are set to consider regulations early next year, as they try to further stem underage use.
A legislative committee this past week took proposals from the tobacco industry, retailers and health officials as it considers an official proposal to introduce next session.
Those ideas include creating a registry of products approved by the Food and Drug Administration that retailers would be allowed to sell. Other ideas include hiking taxes to make them too expensive for teens.
Erin Bennett with the American Heart Association said there’s a simpler path to take.
“I don’t believe we need a new regulatory list, agency or what have you," Bennet said. "We need enforcement and that is where we need to start.”
Since 2020, shops selling any nicotine products must have a permit from the state.
But Bennett believes many stores don’t have these permits and aren’t being inspected by law enforcement.
The committee took no action and will continue to meet later this year.
Post-Oso hazard mapping efforts continue
It’s been more than a decade since the Oso landslide ripped through a Washington river valley, killing 43 people and destroying dozens of homes.
Efforts are still underway to map potential hazard areas around the state.
After Oso, the legislature created a landslides hazard team: five state geologists who use aerial data called LIDAR to study the landscape "so that cities, counties and the public can make smart land use decisions," according to Kate Mickelson, who manages the program.
The team started in the Puget Sound region and have worked their way south, putting an emphasis on people and infrastructure near steep terrain.
A new $300,000 federal grant will allow them to complete their mapping in Clark County over the next two years.
They also stepped up mapping in parts of eastern Washington, where the potential for landslides is intensified by wildfires.
“If we get more collections of that data across the state, we can see what landslides are actually moving and... pinpoint areas that are more susceptible,” Mickelson said.
US Representative Susan Del Bene is now pushing for more federal funding through reauthorization of the National Landslide Preparedness Act, which is set to expire at the end of this month.
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Reporting contributed by Owen Henderson, Gabe Spitzer, Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson and Bellamy Pailthorp.