An NPR member station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Today's Headlines: Jan. 31, 2025

Spokane takes SREC disagreement to the legislature

A disagreement about how to fund Spokane County’s emergency communications system went before a House committee in Olympia Thursday.

The current system pulls money from three sources, including a state tax on phone calls. That revenue goes to Spokane Regional Emergency Communications, or SREC (Pronounced "shreck"), which distributes it to its more than 20 partners.

Spokane city officials want a different distribution model. Spokane Democrat Timm Ormsby’s bill would direct a percentage of the revenue directly to the city.

The chair of the House Revenue Committee, Democrat April Berg, told him the bill puts lawmakers in an awkward position.

“A lot of other counties use interlocal agreements and Spokane has decided to ask this august body to adjudicate said dispute,” Berg said in the hearing.

"That’s the long and the short of it and thank you for taking the time to do that," Ormsby replied.

Representatives from several of SHREK’s partner agencies asked the committee to table the bill. They say the current distribution system is equitable, though they also claim it favors the city of Spokane.

Negotiations between SREC and the city have not been fruitful, and the county board has asked the city to leave the county dispatch system. The system now handles Spokane fire calls, but passes along police calls to city dispatchers.

Mayor Lisa Brown acknowledged the city is probably destined to create its own system. She says the bill would help fund that.

"I’m confident with our new public safety leadership with Chief Oberg, who has experience in this area, and with Chief Hall, that we will be able to put together a system that’s very responsive to the needs of the city of Spokane," she said at a press briefing Thursday.

The city will need to have that system ready by the first of next year, Brown said.

Funding freeze and executive orders cause panic, confusion for HIV-support recipients

The Trump Administration’s attempt to freeze funding for many grants and federal programs this week has many of the organizations who rely on those dollars on edge.

"We don't have a guarantee that it's going to be available, but we also don't think it's going to totally go away," Grant Ogren said. He's the executive director of SAN, which supports those living with HIV in the Spokane area.

It also helps people navigate the health system to get access to the medications that prevent their conditions from worsening and keep the virus undetectable and therefore untransmittable.

Ogren said Trump’s executive order to stop a global HIV treatment and prevention program has shaken up a lot of his clients.

"People are panicked, not that they're going to be missing out on services more than the drugs aren't going to be available, which is then 'I'm going to get sicker,'" he told SPR News. "So, those are the calls that I'm getting or the text messages almost every day about 'Do you know if our drugs are still going to be covered?'"

Right now, his organization does have funding for its food pantry and its program to help clients navigate the health system to get care and the medications that suppress the virus.

"Most of our food donations come in from local agencies. So, we don't rely on a lot of federal money for food," he said. "But we rely on federal money for our location and to pay the rent."

Those federal dollars come from the Ryan White Program, which funds groups providing HIV care and support services, not the global HIV treatment program PEPFAR, which Trump halted last week.

Still, the Ryan White Program is mentioned in Project 2025, which some LGBTQ leaders across the country have said makes them nervous about the program’s future.

Ogren said for now, he’s emphasizing to his clients and staff to keep an even keel and take care of each other.

Costco Teamsters may soon strike

Washington state Costco workers who are members of the Teamsters union could go on strike as soon as this Saturday if a new contract is not reached. Their current contract is set to expire Friday, Jan. 31.

Costco union members are seeking better wages, retirement and health care benefits, among other things.

The contract affects 18,000 Costco union members nationwide. Initial worker “practice pickets” have been held in Washington state, California and New York in recent weeks.

The Issaquah, Wash.-based grocery wholesaler operates more than 600 warehouses in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and hundreds more around the world.

Union officials did not disclose which stores may be affected if the strike happens. Costco officials did not immediately respond to an interview request.

WA libraries look to combat rising costs for their digital offerings

Libraries in Washington want the state to find a more affordable way to keep offering e-books and audio-books to readers.

Digital books are sold to libraries on a subscription-model, which could last for 24 months or 24 checkouts. After that, libraries have to buy another subscription, which can be up to five times more expensive than physical copies.

Demand and the price of digital books have increased, but library budgets haven't kept up.

"One of the things that we have kind of come up with as a best path forward is creating a study that brings all of the key players to the table to have a conversation about sort of the reality of what is and is not the situation here," Kiersten Nelson with Seattle Public Library told KNKX public radio.

She said the proposed study would bring authors, publishers and libraries to the table.

The Spokane County Library District had more than a million digital book checkouts in 20-24. That's according to the company that distributes digital content for libraries and schools all over the world.

Canada stops issuing permits for PCT hikers from US

The Pacific Crest Trail is the trek of a lifetime for many.

It's a 2,650-mile hike in the wilderness, from Mexico up the West Coast all the way into British Columbia.

But now, that Northern destination will be much harder to reach.

Canadian officials have stopped issuing permits allowing through-hikers to cross from the U.S. into Canada.

Liz Fallin operates social media sites and services for hikers using the PCT in Washington state, and she's frustrated by this change.

"That means a hiker can hike up from Washington up to the border and up to the monument, and take their picture. Then they have to turn around and go south about 30 miles to Harts Pass," she told KNKX public radio.

The new rules mean hikers will have to enter Canada from an official Point of Entry such as Blaine or Sumas, then trek from that point back onto the trail to complete the journey.

A number of years ago, U.S. Border Control discontinued permits for people hiking from Canada into the U.S.

- - -

Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Owen Henderson, Erik Neumann, Freddy Monares and Lisa Brooks.