Summit at Fairchild AFB spotlights hurdles for military families
American military families have some new federal benefits, but many are still struggling to find places to live and enough to eat.
At a military family summit at Fairchild Air Force Base Wednesday, speakers talked about parts of the latest defense authorization bill intended to help families. They include a basic needs allowance available to people at the low end of the income scale. Brooke Blaalid from Blue Star Families, a military family support organization, said the financial benefit helps struggling families in all parts of the military.
“One of the challenges is that military food insecurity does not always correspond neatly to rank and income level, but often occurs in context of specific stressors, such as relocation, spouse unemployment and unexpected expenses,” Blaalid told SPR News.
Fairchild employs people who help families with budgeting, finding new housing or satisfying other needs. The base also has a busy food pantry. Its director said the three-year-old facility serves nearly 200 families. She expects the demand to increase as more people discover it.
Trysha Thompson, of Fairchild’s Military and Family Readiness Center, said social service agencies are working to help families overcome the shame about accepting help.
“We developed a resource of local pantries. Fairchild, of course, is on there. Second Harvest is on there. WIC, SNAP, all that,” Thompson said. “We tried to identify that and refer all of our folks over there to utilize that because when they tap into those pantries and those food services, they free up income, income that can be used, cash that can be used elsewhere.”
The summit also focused on the challenges spouses of military members face when they try to find work, especially after a transfer to a new area.
Border security and fentanyl top meeting between Garland and Idaho law enforcement
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, an Idaho native, visited Boise this week during a tour to meet law enforcement leaders in Western states.
Garland delivered a prepared statement to the media, lauding a 15 percent drop in Idaho’s murder rate last year and recent prosecutorial successes.
“The Justice Department is working in Idaho and across the country to arrest violent felons, to seize and trace guns used in violent crime, to disrupt violent drug trafficking, and to prosecute the individuals and the gangs most responsible for the highest degree of violence,” Garland said.
The Attorney General did not take questions; media were escorted out of the room after his brief remarks.
He then met with Idaho law enforcement officials. Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford said U.S. border security and the fentanyl crisis took center stage once the meeting got going.
“We were maybe ready for a little bit of a polite disagreement,” Clifford told Boise State Public Radio. “But he acknowledged our concerns and said, yes, that's something we need to work on. [Garland] talked about some of the things that they're doing…his trips to Mexico [and] putting pressure on the Mexican government to try and work with us a little bit more to get a hold on some of the cartels and keep fentanyl out of the U.S.”
After Idaho, Garland and Prelogar’s itinerary included Wyoming and North Dakota.
Candidates for WA presidential ballot finalized
Washington voters will have choices other than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for president in November. The Secretary of State’s office says nine other presidential candidates have qualified for the ballot.
The most recognizable name on the list of third party and independent candidates is that of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He’s running on the We the People Party ticket in Washington. He’s a candidate for other parties in other states, as is Cornel West. The Princeton philosopher is on the Justice for All Party ticket in Washington.
Jill Stein is again the Green Party presidential candidate. Chase Oliver is this year’s Libertarian Party candidate.
There are three parties with the words “socialist” or “socialism” in their titles. Rachele Fruit is the nominee of the Socialist Workers Party. Joseph Kishore is representing the Socialist Equality Party. Claudia de la Cruz is the candidate put forth by the Socialism and Liberation Party.
Shiva Ayyadurai is running as an independent candidate.
And Washington natives can claim a native son as a presidential candidate. The Cascade Party of Washington has nominated the former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic. He is its founder and bills the Cascade Party as a centrist political association designed for people who are tired of candidates at the extremes of the major parties.
WA lands commissioner race remains tight
Democrat Dave Upthegrove and Republican Sue Keuhl Pederson are separated by 2,299 votes as their respective campaigns wait to find out whose bid for Washington Commissioner of Public Lands will survive the primary.
A ballot count update released Wednesday evening showed Upthegrove with 392,342 votes, putting him narrowly ahead of Pederson. Pederson was the second-place candidate coming out of the Aug. 6 primary, but Upthegrove edged into second last Friday. Republican Jamie Herrera Buetler, a former southwest Washington congresswoman, maintained her lead over both.
As of Wednesday evening, Herrera Buetler held 22 percent of the ballots counted so far, Upthegrove had 20.89 percent, and Pederson had 20.77 percent.
It wasn’t clear last week that a Democrat would make it into the general election at all. Herrera Buetler and Pederson held the top two spots for nearly three days after the primary. Democratic votes were diluted among five candidates.
The top two candidates from the primary will go on to November’s election, where they will vie to succeed outgoing lands commissioner Hillary Franz. Final results are to be certified August 23.
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Reporting was contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Troy Oppie and Brandon Hollingsworth.