Let’s Go Washington fined for campaign finance violations
The conservative group behind three initiatives that will appear on Washington’s November ballots has been fined for not properly reporting on some of the processes it used to collect petition signatures.
In a decision released Wednesday, the Washington Public Disclosure Commission said Let’s Go Washington failed to report the money spent by subvendors or confirm that subvendors were used, and that the organization did not furnish documents to state investigators in a timely manner.
In a PDC hearing October 3, Callie Castillo, an attorney representing Let’s Go Washington, said the organization cooperated with the PDC investigation and asked that the matter be dropped.
The Public Disclosure Commission issued two $10,000 fines for the violations. Half of that money must be paid within 30 days. Let’s Go Washington will also have to find out if its signature-gathering contractors used subvendors and report their spending, if any. The other half of the fine is considered suspended, and the group would not have to pay that sum unless they fail to meet the terms of the order.
Under state law, Let’s Go Washington may go back to the PDC for reconsideration or may challenge the fines in court.
In a statement Wednesday evening, conservative hedge fund manager Brian Heywood, Let’s Go Washington’s chief financial backer, criticized the ruling and said he is considering his options. Heywood also said the group launched complaints against half a dozen other organizations based on the standard PDC used to fine Let’s Go Washington.
Nobel winner works at UW
One of the three recipients of this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry works in a glass-enclosed laboratory on the University of Washington campus.
Professor David Baker is a biochemist in the UW School of Medicine and head of the Institute for Protein Design.
For decades, his work has focused on understanding the structure of proteins and on designing synthetic molecules to aid in the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines, and speed up the degradation of plastics.
"I think it’s very exhilarating all the possibility. I am not doing this alone, people coming from all over the world coming here to solve these problems...making the world a better place," Baker spoke told KUOW public radio earlier this year.
Baker was born and raised in Seattle. He joined the UW faculty in 1993.
He'll share the Nobel Prize with two other scientists and receive half of the $1 million prize.
Kohberger trial delayed again
Brian Kohberger’s murder trial is set to begin in August 2025, nearly three years after the crime he’s charged with committing took place.
Kohberger, a former WSU criminology student, is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in Moscow in November 2022. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, a court order moved the 2025 trial date from June to August. Getting to trial has been a lengthy process, beginning with hearings in Latah County, where the murders occurred. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled in September that the trial would be moved to Ada County, which is where Kohberger is now being held.
McGrane explains why Idaho nixed student IDs for voting
Idaho voters are required to show ID when they cast a ballot. Accepted forms include an Idaho driver’s license or ID card, a passport or federal ID, a tribal ID or a concealed weapons license.
But this year, one kind of identification previously allowed — student IDs — is now off-limits for voting.
Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane told Boise State Public Radio why.
“Student IDs aren't issued under the same standards that other IDs are,” McGrane said. “The reason for that is student IDs at most institutions in the state are just printed on desktop ID printing tools and often issued by students themselves. So it just doesn't meet the same standards.”
In the last general election, McGrane says that out of 600,000 Idaho voters, a little more than 100 used their student IDs to cast a ballot.
Idaho offers a free ID card to any U.S. citizen 18 and older who doesn’t have a valid driver’s license. People can get that card at their local county’s DMV office.
Spokane, Stevens, Okanogan Co. projects get grants for riparian restoration
Projects to protect rivers and streams across Washington are getting more than 53 million total dollars in grants from the Department of Ecology, including several in the northeast.
The Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation will be getting more than a million dollars to restore streamflows after wildfires in the Okanogan and Methow watersheds.
Additionally, the Spokane Tribe of Indians is getting more than 400 thousand dollars for Waikiki Spring Creek restoration and fish passage improvement, and the Spokane Conservation District will be getting more than 200 thousand for a project on Marshall Creek.
The department said this will be the largest round of grants yet after the streamflow restoration law passed by the state legislature 6 years ago.
Spokane County ballots mailed early this year
If you’re a Spokane County voter, you might receive your ballot for this November’s election a little earlier than usual this year.
County Auditor Vicki Dalton told The Spokesman Review that her office is sending out ballots sooner than most election cycles because of the holiday for Indigenous People’s Day and Columbus Day that falls in the middle of their usual process.
She also said the postal service is currently experiencing longer delivery periods than it did during the last presidential election.
Ballots should be going into the mail by the end of today.
Dalton said any Spokane County voters who have not received a ballot by the end of business next Friday, Oct. 18, should call the county elections office at (509) 477-2320 to report the issue.
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Reporting was contributed by Brandon Hollingsworth, Deb Wang, Sophia Darlings-Gill and Owen Henderson.