Sen. Cantwell, Spokane Police Chief say more resources are needed to combat fentanyl movement
Law enforcement officials say they need more tools to stem fentanyl trafficking.
At a hearing of the U.S. Senate Transportation Committee Wednesday, officials shared perspectives from the fight against drug smuggling.
Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall was one of those who testified,
"The investment by the cartels — and make no mistake, this is all cartel-driven — is such that they will completely disassemble a vehicle, a brand new vehicle, put as much narcotics into every single void inside that vehicle, and then assemble it again,” Chief Hall said to the Senate panel.
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, the committee's ranking Democrat, said drug trafficking isn’t just an issue at the country’s borders.
"Fentanyl smuggling happens every day within the borders of our country, on our interstates, on our Amtrak, at our bus terminals, at our airports, in concealed U.S. mail, and we must track the activities of these transportation networks," she said in her opening statement.
Sen. Cantwell is pushing Congress to pass her "Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on U.S. Transportation Networks Act," which would give law enforcement more ways to find the drug during screenings.
Hall said law enforcement officials are catching just a fraction of the illicit substance coming into the U.S., and once it enters, American transportation networks are used to smuggle it around the country.
"It's a capacity issue," Hall said. "There's so much illegal narcotics coming into the country, and so few people doing this work, including lab personnel, law enforcement, even harm reduction agencies that we work with.”
He said access to tools like mobile X-ray sensors and specialized canine units would help law enforcement save lives.
Cantwell also pointed to the vapor identification tool developed by the Pacific Northwest National Lab as one technology that could help officers detect the presence of fentanyl without labor-intensive inspections.
According to the Washington Department of Health, the annual number of opioid overdoses in the state has doubled since 2019 despite a national decline.
NW Federal workers talk about their layoffs and the possible effects
Northwest federal workers who were recently fired from their jobs are voicing concerns about how mass layoffs will affect services that people expect.
During a call with reporters Wednesday organized by Senator Patty Murray’s office, Sam Peterson, who was a park ranger at the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, said his former colleagues will share the duties of maintaining public facilities.
“If this proceeds into the summer, into our busy seasons at national parks, every person is going to have to walk around with a wash cloth and a roll of toilet paper to restock the bathrooms. Every person’s going to have to know where the nearest dumpster is," he said.
Peterson says educational programs developed for visitors may be delayed or cancelled because of lack of personnel to develop them.
He says his firing has not only taken away his income, it has also endangered his living situation. He and his wife, who is a school teacher, live in government housing provided by the Parks Service. They have less than 60 days to find a new home.
Katie Emerson, a program analyst recently laid off at the Bonneville Power Administration says staff cuts at her agency could lead to longer power outages in emergency situations. BPA maintains much of the power grid in the Northwest.
Emerson was one of about 100 agency employees who lost their jobs. She says she worked there for 11 years, though she was finishing a probationary period in her most recent position.
Emerson says she oversaw contract crews who did trades-related work on the Northwest power grid. She says no one else at the agency did what she did.
“The remaining employees are having to pick up the critical workload, workload that they may not have been previously trained on and this is in addition to their current duties, plates that were already full. They’re having to find more room to get this stuff done," she said.
Emerson says the layoffs may leave field crews short handed, leading to later responses in emergency situations and delayed projects designed to improve and stabilize the grid.
Ninth grade program could die without WA legislature intervention
A state program that helps prevent students from dropping out of high school may be in jeopardy if lawmakers don’t step in.
Ninth grade is a pivotal year in a student’s life, as they make the big transition to high school.
Rebecca Dodt has seen this firsthand, as a biology teacher at Everett High School.
"It is 100% make or break. You know, they’ll fail one class — maybe even just because they are missing some skill and were afraid to ask for help — and the entire trajectory of their educational experience is off," she said.
That’s why Dodt is pushing lawmakers to support the bill to take the “Ninth Grade Success” program statewide.
Since her school joined the program three years ago, she’s seen massive academic improvements — and Dodt believes it’s made her a better teacher.
But it might not be able to continue, without state funding to cover the cost of substitute teachers and coaches that help identify and support at-risk students.
Friday is the cutoff for lawmakers to decide whether to advance this bill.
Absentee ballot restriction fails in ID committee
The latest attempt to upend Idaho’s no-excuse absentee ballot law died in a House committee Wednesday morning.
The bill from Rep. Joe Alfieri (R-Coeur d’Alene) would have required a voter to meet certain conditions to get an absentee ballot.
Those include if someone is sick, working, attending school, serving a religious mission, living at a second residence outside of their home county or if they’re 65 or older.
“I want you to have a conscience reason for applying for that absentee ballot rather than saying it’s a convenience factor,” Alfieri said during Wednesday’s House State Affairs Committee hearing.
He said his bill would help to reduce the possibility of voter fraud in Idaho — something elections officials have repeatedly said is not a problem in the state.
Even if it’s not a problem now, Alfieri said this would be a preventative measure.
“When you move into a house you don’t say, ‘Well, Idaho’s got a low crime rate. I don’t need locks on my doors,’” said Alfieri. “Of course you have locks on your doors.”
Most people who testified Wednesday opposed the bill, including Boise resident Mary Ruckh.
“There is absolutely no reason for me or any voter to have to justify how I choose to vote,” she said.
Secretary of State Phil McGrane, who also opposed the bill, said about two-thirds of people who vote using an absentee ballot would meet at least one of the criteria required.
McGrane agreed election integrity is a top priority. But election integrity efforts have to be balanced with voter access.
“I don’t think this legislation achieves the intended result. It doesn’t increase the security of absentee balloting at all. It merely reduces the access to absentee balloting.”
Alfieri’s bill ultimately died on a tie vote.
Federal funding freeze confusion continues to ripple in nonprofit arts spaces
Federal art grants are now tied to President Trump's executive orders that prohibit diversity, equity and inclusion. This is causing organizations in Washington to question whether they qualify for that money.
Funding from the National Endowment for the Arts also now prohibits organizations from promoting gender ideology.
Washington-based Path With Art has received NEA funding to support free art classes for adults recovering from homelessness, addiction and other trauma.
Holly Jacobson is the nonprofit’s executive director. She calls the changes a censorship issue.
"When you cut of or restrict an artist voice or an arts program’s ability to uplift different voices, you’re basically silencing… not just a whole set of people and perspectives – but you’re harming the sector as a whole," she told KNKX public radio.
Amanda Hashegan, executive director for Seattle-based Urban ArtWorks, said her nonprofit's mission prioritizes BIPOC, LGBTQ teens and teens from families that earn low incomes.
"My interpretation of that is that we can't do that anymore," she said. "We, if we want funding from the federal government, we we can't prioritize anybody in that way."
Urban ArtWorks uses federal dollars to support a mural apprenticeship program. It pays teens a $500 stipend to work alongside artists to install public art throughout King County.
In a statement to NPR, the National Endowment for the Arts says it will continue funding projects of all kinds, including “those that engage with individuals whose opportunities to experience and participate in the arts are limited."
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Reporting contributed by Owen Henderson, Doug Nadvornick, Sami West, James Dawson and Freddy Monares.