U.S. Attorney Waldref to follow Biden out the door
When the president leaves office, so do most of his or her political appointees.
In Spokane this week, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref will hand over the reins of the office she has led since 2021 to her first assistant U.S. attorney, Richard Barker.
Waldref told Spokane Public Radio she has worked to elevate the public profile of her office, especially in Native communities where her attorneys work with local officials to try cases.
“By emphasizing the work that we’re doing and talking so much about, these are the steps we’re taking to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person’s crisis, by helping victims feel safe and coming forward and feel like it’s meaningful, that action will be taken, that we will be able to prosecute those cases, that’s so important to building trust and one of the areas that I’m very proud of," she said.
Waldref’s office prosecutes cases throughout eastern Washington with offices in Spokane and Yakima. During her tenure, it also opened an office in Richland.
Waldref says she’s not sure yet about her next professional position. She plans to take some time to figure that out and volunteer at her children’s school.
Bill to fund new police officers in Washington to receive a hearing
A Washington Senate committee will give a hearing Tuesday to a bill that could lead to policing agencies around the state getting money to hire more officers.
The bill would create a new grant program within the Criminal Justice Training Commission, the agency that teaches and certifies officers.
Spokane Republican Jeff Holy told Spokane Public Radio he wants to seed the program with $100 million.
The bill has multiple sponsors from both parties and the support of the new governor and former attorney general, Bob Ferguson. Ferguson singled out Holy’s bill during his inaugural address last week, saying he wouldn’t sign a budget that doesn’t include that money.
“There’s an awareness with this right now that this is probably good policy. I think there’s going to be more of a serious approach now that we’ve moved into this administration and the odds of something like this passing just went up exponentially," he said.
Holy says the bill would pay for up to 75% of new officers’ salaries for their first three years. The host agencies would match the rest.
Holy is proposing a separate bill that would allow local governments to levy a tenth-of-a-cent sales tax to pay specifically for law enforcement projects.
"This helps fill that gap a little bit so the 25% we’re not covering, they might not have the resources so they’d be able to access the 75%," he said.
The bill will be heard Tuesday by the Senate Law and Justice Committee. It is scheduled for a vote by that committee on Thursday.
Three finalists named as potential Spokane County treasurers
The considerations for who should replace Michael Baumgartner as Spokane County Treasurer have narrowed to three nominees.
In a press release Sunday, the Spokane County Republican Party shared the names and qualifications of the three candidates.
Current Spokane County Chief Deputy Treasurer and 6th Legislative District Representative Mike Volz is on that list.
So is John Christina, who’s a retired Air Force colonel and the current investment and banking officer for the Spokane County Treasurer’s Office.
The name rounding out the list is Robert Miceli — a retired army colonel with 25 years in contracting and programming portfolio management.
The press release also named the five other people nominated during the Saturday party meeting.
Spokane County Commissioners will now pick the Baumgartner’s successor.
Reykdal says ’25 crucial year for public school funding
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal thinks Washington is at another McCleary moment. Without a significant funding boost, he told state lawmakers recently, public schools could be in big trouble.
“It’s our moment now, or we’re going to find districts in serious distress,” Reykdahl said in his annual State of Education address.
In the landmark 2012 McCleary case, the state Supreme Court ruled the legislature had failed to fulfill its constitutional duty to amply fund public schools.
The decision resulted in billions of dollars of new funding for education.
But that progress has fallen off in recent years, Reykdal said, and schools are suffering because of it.
Reykdal has asked the legislature for an additional $3 billion, and has called on the state to create new wealth taxes to cover the funding increase.
But it’s an idea Governor Bob Ferguson has said he opposes, as the state faces a multi-billion-dollar shortfall.
Idaho enviro officials fund project to study and mitigate algae in Panhandle lakes
Idaho environmental authorities are providing some funding to help learn more about how toxic algae blooms are affecting Hayden Lake, in northern Kootenai County.
The Hayden Lake Watershed Improvement District will receive a $356,000 zero-interest loan aimed at slowing the algae growth.
Jade Klinkenbeard of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality told SPR News the initial study will work to identify the source of nutrients that promote algae growth.
“They could come up with some projects that would reduce the phosphorus load, which can also help with the harmful algae,” she said. “So I think the first part of the project will really determine the second part.”
The blue-green algae can cause issues in humans and animals including rashes, diarrhea and coughing.
The money will help a University of Idaho team identify sources of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that promote the algae blooms.
Klinkenbeard said once the sources of the nutrients are better understood, the next step will be to create a plan to develop mitigation strategies.
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Reporting was contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Owen Henderson, Sami West and Steve Jackson.