Inslee asks for extension to evaluate ‘bomb cyclone’ damage
Gov. Jay Inslee wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend the deadline for the state to submit a disaster declaration request.
In a letter to FEMA associate administrator Anne Bink, Inslee said the requested 30-day extension would give the state more time to evaluate the damage caused by a strong storm system last month. The so-called bomb cyclone that began November 17 produced wind damage, power outages, flooding, landslides and mudslides.
“The local response and recovery efforts associated with these events, along with continued storm systems, have drastically slowed the damage assessment process,” Inslee wrote.
Inslee said more time is needed to find, verify and analyze damage to see if a federal declaration is necessary.
If FEMA grants the governor’s request, the state’s deadline for filing a disaster declaration request would be January 24, 2025.
Vote scheduled for Idaho ban on higher ed DEI programs
The Idaho State Board of Education will vote tomorrow on a proposal that would prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices at four-year colleges and universities.
At its heart, the proposal largely follows others adopted in at least four other Republican-controlled states, aimed at ending DEI programs, training and policies. The board admitted in a summary document that some of resolution’s language was drawn from or inspired by similar legislation in Utah.
Idaho Ed News reported about 700 student comments were submitted during the public comment period. Their opinions reflected the national debate over DEI, but the majority were opposed to the proposed changes.
Two related resolutions will also be considered at the board’s December 18 meeting in Boise. One reiterates that the board holds college and university presidents accountable, and requires universities to develop faculty codes of conduct and conduct reviews of tenured faculty.
The other requires higher education institutions to be politically neutral and to make curriculum information publicly available. Portions of that resolution were taken verbatim from a measure adopted by the Utah Board of Higher Education.
If approved, the resolutions would require colleges and universities to comply by June 30, 2025.
WA updates mandatory reporter training
The state agency responsible for children’s services has adjusted its mandatory reporter training to better clarify potential child abuse and neglect clues and underscore the importance of directing families to relevant resources.
The Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) said Monday that the training was updated to give mandatory reporters a better distinction between instances of intentional abuse and general conditions such as poverty. Mandatory reporters sometimes mistakenly report non-abuse cases as neglect, which doesn’t help families reach the help they may need.
“When poverty or other family circumstances are mistaken for neglect, this creates disparities in reporting, impacting some individuals or groups more than others,” DCYF’s Vickie Ybarra said in a statement. “In Washington, Native American/Alaska Native families, and some communities of color are disproportionality impacted by poverty and the child welfare system.”
The process to adjust the training program has taken two years. It involved DCYF staff, people from the law enforcement and judicial communities, medical experts, Tribal members, parents and others.
According to DCYF, the agency’s intake line received more than 129,000 calls in 2023. Nearly three-quarters came from mandatory reporters. But more than 85,000 reports did not meet the legal threshold for child welfare intervention. DCYF says the updated training aims to help the families in those 85,000 calls by connecting them to the resources appropriate to their real situations.
Little backs Trump on immigration
Idaho Gov. Brad Little and fellow Republicans say they “stand ready to utilize every tool at our disposal” to support Donald Trump in addressing immigration policy and perceived safety threats from undocumented immigrants.
In a joint statement, Little and the Republican governors of 25 states chastised the Biden administration for its immigration enforcement and cheered Trump’s “America First” mindset, which they claimed will “restore law and order at the border.”
The letter did not say whether Little and his colleagues support Trump’s stated proposal to remove millions of undocumented immigrants. Civil liberties groups oppose that plan on legal grounds, and economists have questioned how mass deportations would affect states and industries, such as agriculture and construction, that rely heavily on an immigrant workforce.
37,600 undocumented immigrants lived in Idaho in 2022, according to the American Immigration Council.
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Reporting was contributed by Brandon Hollingsworth.