Flotilla of state lawsuits targets TikTok
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and more than a dozen of his counterparts around the nation are suing TikTok, alleging the social media platform is harming children’s mental health.
In a statement, Ferguson said Tiktok violated state consumer protections laws by targeting young people to use and eventually become addicted to the site’s video content.
Ferguson contends TikTok misled the public about its safety and content moderation practices despite internal research that indicated potential problems. His lawsuit asks a court to compel TikTok to reveal information he says will bolster his case.
“In short, TikTok intentionally targets youth to keep them on the platform as long as possible without regard for their safety,” Ferguson’s office said. “At the same time, TikTok downplays the risks for its young users. These tactics contradict the company’s public-facing claims that it puts user safety first.”
The lawsuit’s goals including getting the company to stop the practices Ferguson says are unlawful and to implement reforms for screen time limits, age verification and endless scrolling. The suit also seeks civil penalties.
TikTok said it believes the claims in the state suits are inaccurate and misleading.
Cost-of-living adjustments mean more WA households qualify for Avista discounts
Utility company Avista says more of its Washington customers are now eligible for discounted power bills.
Senior Energy Manager Kelsey Solberg told SPR News the company used new data about the cost of living to adjust the criteria to qualify for Avista’s “My Energy Discount Program.”
According to the company, currently, about 52,000 households have signed up.
“We have about a little over 140,000 eligible households in Washington. So it's ‘estimated eligible.’ So we're at about 37% of those that are eligible are actively enrolled," Solberg said. "So we have another 90,000 or so customers that we're still working to reach.”
Most of the feedback that Avista has gotten in the program's first year has been positive, especially about the sign-up process, Solberg said.
"You do not have to provide any paperwork or proof of income," she said. "We go off of whatever your self-attested or self-declared household size and income is to qualify. So it's very, very quick and easy."
Avista customers who are at or below 200% of the federal poverty level or 80% of their county’s median income can now qualify for a discount on their energy bills.
In Spokane County, a single person can make up to $54,800 per year or $4,567 each month and qualify, while a household of four can have a combined income of about $78,300 per year or $6,525 each month and be eligible for a discounted bill.
For Stevens, Ferry, Pend Oreille and Lincoln Counties, the income limits are a bit lower. A household of one can make up to $4,200 per month or $50,400 per year. A household of four can earn a max of $6,000 per month or $72,000 per year.
You can find more about the county-by-county criteria and how to sign up on our website here.
Water quality group takes French recall request to WA’s highest court
A water quality organization is asking the Washington Supreme Court to decide whether its recall election effort against Spokane County Commissioner Al French can move forward.
The Clean Water Accountability Coalition said it believes French should be recalled because he allegedly covered up the extent of PFAS contamination in West Plains groundwater and stymied attempts to secure grant funding to study the problem after the chemicals were detected in 2017.
The group’s request was tossed out by Superior Court Judge Gary Libey last month. Libey wrote that the recall petition was filed too close to the November election, in which French is running for re-election against challenger Molly Marshall.
French has said he did not cover up any PFAS information, and has defended his conduct in the six years that elapsed between the first report of contamination near Spokane International Airport and public disclosure of that report, which came as the result of a public records request. French called the recall petition a “purely political ploy…funded by dark money.”
Knoll Lowney, an attorney representing the Clean Water Accountability Coalition, said Tuesday that the Washington Supreme Court will rule on the group’s petition by the end of this month.
Grand Coulee power switchyards transitioning to BPA oversight
Three power switchyards at Grand Coulee Dam have been transferred from the Bureau of Reclamation to Bonneville Power Administration.
BPA Administrator and CEO John Hairston spoke at the handover event Tuesday, emphasizing the region’s reliance on Grand Coulee and the importance of the partnership.
“Power and transmission demands will grow significantly, and at the same time, the Northwest resource mix is changing, dispatchable carbon emitted resources are being replaced with renewable energy sources, which puts greater demand on flexible resources like hydropower,” Hairston said.
The transfer is expected to reduce overall costs for Bonneville Power Administration on modernization investments and operating and maintenance expenses.
There will be a five-year transition period as BPA preps the switchyards one at a time to their standards to take over operations and maintenance.
WA to update cyanide level regulations
Federal officials have begun re-evaluating Washington state’s regulation of cyanide pollution. The concern is what cyanide can do to endangered species like salmon and orcas.
Though it often features as a poison is spy movies, in the real world, cyanide is used in manufacturing and mining and can wind up polluting waterways.
Back in 2010, federal officials said legal levels of cyanide in Washington waters jeopardized salmon and orcas. This month, attorneys with the Center for Biological Diversity got a federal agency to act.
Now, the Environmental Protection Agency is assessing whether Washington state is protecting endangered species from cyanide poisoning.
State officials say they have tightened the limits on cyanide in fresh water but saltwater limits remain the same.
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Reporting was contributed by Brandon Hollingsworth, Owen Henderson, Monica Carrillo-Casas and John Ryan.