Number of WA federal workers filing for unemployment spikes
Amid a surge of federal firings nationwide, 362 federal employees in Washington state have filed for unemployment since President Trump took office.
That’s according to a report from the state Employment Security Department.
It’s nearly 200 more than had applied for unemployment at this point last year.
Emily Conner was a grant management specialist with the Federal Transit Administration before last Friday.
She told KUOW public radio that cuts may mean local transit agencies won’t get federal grant money.
"I really just don't know how people are going to be able to get the work done. We never had any time at FTA to sit idle in any way, shape or form," Conner said. "And I just don't think that there's going to be any way that the people left are going to be able to pick up all of the work that had to be dropped when this firing happened."
Other firings hit the Hanford nuclear cleanup site, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
NIC continues to climb out of its sanctions following board elections
After two years of the highest level of sanctioning from its accreditation organization, North Idaho College’s standing improved Monday.
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities reduced NIC’s sanction from "show cause" — the last step before accreditation is removed — to probation, and it granted the school a one-year extension to bring its last remaining issues into compliance.
The sanctions were initially set after a period of governing board dysfunction, including an attempt to fire college President Nick Swayne without cause.
“While we still have work to do, this is a step in the right direction,” Swayne said in a statement.
In its letter to NIC, NWCCU noted that the school had made significant progress on the issues responsible for its sanctioning over the past seven months.
After years of conflict between the board of trustees and the college, the community elected a new, more moderate board majority in November's elections, replacing a bloc of candidates endorsed by the Kootenai Republican County Central Committee.
"We’re happy they recognized all the efforts and good work being done at NIC," Swayne said in the statement. "We look forward to putting this completely behind us."
Breast cancer screening accessibility bill clears ID House
Idaho House lawmakers easily passed a bill Monday requiring insurance companies cover enhanced breast cancer screenings for high-risk patients.
Coverage for the extra screenings would apply to patients with a family history of breast cancer, a genetic predisposition or those with dense breast tissue. An enhanced screening could include a breast MRI.
That’s the imaging Republican Rep. Faye Thompson underwent 10 years ago. It revealed three extra tumors a 3D mammogram and ultrasound didn’t detect.
"Without this early detection, I would not be here today," Thompson said. "It’s very expensive and the fact that insurance companies don’t help cover this is, I think, very, very sad."
Supporters of the bill say the newly covered screenings would save insurance companies money in the long run. Cancer treatments can run hundreds of thousands of dollars or more per patient.
Six Republicans voted against the bill, which now heads to the state Senate.
ID legislature considers restricting drug legalization powers
Any effort to legalize a particular drug in Idaho would have to go through the legislature.
That’s what supporters envision under a proposed constitutional amendment heading to the House floor.
The measure from Republican Representative Bruce Skaug would require two-thirds of the House and Senate to legalize any drug, like marijuana.
"It’s not going to stop all drugs from coming in by keeping them illegal," Skaug said. "Our drug laws don’t keep addictions from happening, but it’s a lot better than legalizing them."
If approved, the proposed amendment would block the ability of citizens to legalize a drug through the ballot initiative process.
A similar measure in 2021 passed the Senate, but failed to get out of a House committee.
Watch for falling trees today in the Inland Northwest
Weather forecasters expect another round of rain and wind today in eastern Washington and north Idaho. The winds are expected to remain in the 30-to-50-mile-an-hour range for several hours before leaving.
Andy Brown from the National Weather Service says that could lead to power outages and other danger.
“Because of the saturated ground from all the snow melt and recent rain, there is likely a heightened potential for trees to come down. This is one of those big unknowns that we don’t know exactly how trees will respond to increased winds after all of this," he said.
Brown says rivers and creeks may rise again briefly today after lowering yesterday. He says Latah/Hangman Creek likely reached its highest peak in nearly 30 years on Monday morning.
- - -
Reporting contributed by Scott Greenstone, Owen Henderson, James Dawson and Doug Nadvornick.