Spokane City Council approves ‘safe streets’ resolution
Spokane’s city council is moving the city closer to installing protections for pedestrians and cyclists on city roads.
At its meeting this week, the council gave unanimous approval to a resolution asking Mayor Lisa Brown to direct the Public Works Department to implement adaptive design strategies for transportation infrastructure.
During the discussion, Councilmember Paul Dillon said protecting foot and bicycle traffic can’t wait.
“When you look at that trend over the last eight years, over 51 pedestrian deaths in this city. What are we doing here?” Dillon said. “This is urgent.”
Some of the proposed strategies include barriers to protect bike lanes and raised crosswalks.
Under the resolution, every council district would get at least one pilot program to create traffic islands or extend curbs.
The changes would be paid for with money from the city’s existing Traffic Calming Measures Fund.
Critics said the city shouldn’t spend money on non-permanent solutions, but resolution sponsor Zack Zappone argued it’s better to try something and then change tactics as the city collects data, which adaptive strategies allow for.
“This says, ‘Let's try something and maybe it will have that impact or maybe it won't, and we can adjust from there,’” Zappone said.
According to data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, 2023 saw the highest number of pedestrian deaths in more than three decades.
Idaho libraries prepare for new law
As the July 1 starting date for a new state law draws near, Idaho librarians are adjusting their shelves and bracing for uncertainty.
The law, HB 710, is part of a nationwide conservative legislative wave aimed at public and school libraries. It opens Idaho libraries to the possibility of civil penalties over material some consider harmful to children.
An informal survey conducted by Idaho Ed News found libraries are trying to prepare for the law’s fallout in various ways, from issuing waiver documents to parents, to meeting with lawyers, to reconsidering summer reading programs.
One small library in Valley County, lacking the staff, money and space to radically rearrange its books, simply declared its entire collection as adult. Parents will need to sign a form that requires different levels of parental participation in their child’s library access.
East Bonner Library District interim director Vanessa Velez said HB 710 has also dealt a morale blow to Idaho librarians. She told Ed News the law “criminalizes [her] profession” and ultimately may be a waste of time and taxpayer money.
Spokane County probation officials say it's time to replace its reporting system
Spokane County probation officials want to avoid going back to the old days of sharing information.
Probation Manager Lonnie Tortorelli told county commissioners Tuesday that the online reporting system shared by the city, county and 55 community agencies is badly in need of a replacement. She said city officials want to go instead with a more secure, cloud-based system.
Tortorelli asked the elected officials for permission to develop an agreement with the city.
"Why do we have to do it now? Because the city’s going to get rid of it. The city’s going to get rid of the current system and we will have nothing," she said. "We will have to go back to snail mail and faxes and phone calls because it’s going to go away. We will not have a choice.”
Tortorelli says the cost to her office of partnering in a new system would be about $75,000 next year, and $50,000 in subsequent years.
She said her office would have to hire another person to two to handle the extra paperwork.
The commissioners didn’t take a vote, but voiced informal support for the request.
Washington gets biggest chunk of federal infrastructure grants
Nearly $90 million dollars in federal grant money is coming to Washington for a variety of infrastructure projects.
The grants, administered under a program called RAISE, will help pay for pedestrian paths, affordable housing, bike lanes, wastewater treatment, roundabouts and safer crosswalks.
While this year’s tranche of money is going exclusively to projects in western Washington, Spokane-area projects have benefited from previous rounds of funding. The list includes $21.7 million for a project to rebuild a portion of Pines Road to above a railroad line in Spokane Valley and $22.8 million for safety improvements on roads that serve Spokane International Airport.
The RAISE grants are an updated version of a grant program created in 2009 as part of the federal government’s response to the Great Recession.
Montana group raises awareness of abortion access in the state
An advocacy group in Montana has put up ten billboards across the state – including next to the Idaho border – letting people know abortions and contraception are still legal there.
One billboard shows a father and a mother, with their two kids, wearing cowboy hats and looking towards a mountain range. On it a message reads quote “Our Freedom is precious.”
One of them is located in Stevensville, a small town between Missoula and the Idaho border. Montanans for Choice Director Nicole Smith says the goal is to let people know abortions in the region are still available.
“Right now Montana is a bit of a sea of access in our region, with Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota all enacting almost total abortion bans," she said. "So we want our neighbors from those surrounding states and folks from really across the country to know that they're welcome here.”
In 2023, the Montana legislature passed nine anti-abortion laws but lawsuits have prevented them from going into effect. Smith says the goal of the campaign it to combat misinformation, especially in rural communities.
“Our message is simple. Just trying to say, listen, you have really no barriers in your way other, unfortunately, than geography in Montana,” she said.
Under Idaho Code, physicians are banned from providing abortions except in narrow circumstances but it is not illegal for Idahoans to travel out-of-state to seek care.
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Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Brandon Hollingsworth, Doug Nadvornick, Sadie Dittenber and Julie Luchetta.