SPD arrests more than 30 during anti-ICE demonstrations in Spokane
Spokane Police arrested more than 30 people last night who protested a federal immigration attempt to ship two asylum seekers in the city to the ICE detention center in Tacoma.
The event took place near The Podium, outside a building where the two detainees were being held.
One of the men is identified as 21-year-old Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez. He was in a van that a group of protesters tried to block from leaving.
That group included former City Council President Ben Stuckart, who was Alvarez Perez’s legal guardian.
When group members didn’t respond to police calls to disperse, Chief Kevin Hall says officers shot smoke canisters and pepper balls at protesters and the arrests began.
Mayor Lisa Brown invoked a 9:30 p.m. curfew for an area that included the initial protest zone and Riverfront Park, where a second protest was underway.
During a press conference late Wednesday night, she said this week’s protests in Los Angeles were on her mind as she decided how to proceed.
“It was fairly clear to me that if there was no Spokane Police presence that that could be used as a justification for federal National Guard or other federal agents to come in and take control," Brown said.
Hall denied rumors that police shot tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd, saying officers used inert smoke canisters and pepper balls.
"We did use pepper balls, not against individuals. It’s what we call area dispersal, where we shoot it at the feet of individuals. The pepper goes up into the air and it behaves much like pepper spray," he said during the press conference. "We only did that because the crowd refused to move back after multiple, multiple requests to move back and give space for the officers to work."
He said nearly all of the people arrested will face misdemeanor charges.
Before his arrest, former Spokane City Council president Ben Stuckart spent most of yesterday afternoon sitting in front of a bus.
That bus was supposed to take Perez and Joswar Torres to an ICE detention facility in Tacoma around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Perez is a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Venezuela who has been in Spokane about six months.
Three weeks ago, Stuckart became his legal guardian through a Washington law to protect vulnerable youth.
Stuckart says Perez filed all required paperwork and has a scheduled court date.
Stuckart accompanied Perez to his ICE check in yesterday at 411 West Cataldo Ave. He says the meeting lasted about seven minutes, and then federal agents detained Perez.
"I’m going to sit in front of this bus and I don’t want this bus to leave with my friends," he told SPR News before his arrest on Wednesday. "I told everybody I was down here and people if people wanted to join me, they could. Because it’s not morally right, what’s happening.”
About 100 people joined Stuckart throughout the afternoon before a larger demonstration against federal immigration enforcement began in Riverfront Park in the evening and joined the original demonstrators.
Spokane Police say as of 9:00 Wednesday night, no detainees were left inside the building where Perez and Torres were being held.
Health innovation increasing in Spokane as fears over Medicaid cuts loom in among providers
Spokane’s health care system is known for the quality of patient care, but it’s also becoming a better place for medical innovation.
That was one of the themes of a State of Health Care forum Wednesday sponsored by Greater Spokane.
Marcelo Morales, who leads Allele Diagnostics, said Spokane’s medical entrepreneurs have access to five colleges and universities that train people for health care careers, as well as clinicians who care for patients.
"If we work well with our partners at MultiCare, Providence, CHAS, Kootenai, then we can take an idea we think is going to have impact and iterate it and test it and validate it with those leading health care providers. That’s exceptional," he said.
But health care leaders say there are challenges, one of which is the high cost of studying to become a practitioner.
"When we have individuals within the community who are scared about taking on debt, that could be the hindrance from them moving on and taking on that next step in their education," said Jennifer Robinson, the associate vice president for interprofessional education at WSU Spokane.
"The more that we can decrease the cost of education and support students and help them work through some of the challenges within their education so that they persevere is going to be huge," she said.
Panelists also acknowledged the region’s health care system may face some bumps, depending on what happens to federal Medicaid spending under a spending plan moving through Congress.
If there are reductions, they say Spokane will need to work on improving access to care for those who will lose their coverage, as 30% of people in the Spokane area currently rely on subsidized health insurance.
Long-awaited infrastructure project to begin in Chewelah
The Washington State Department of Transportation is on track to begin an improvement project in Stevens County this summer.
The state’s $6.7-million transportation project is expected to begin within the next month.
The Washington State Department of Transportation will start repaving a five-mile stretch from Hafer Road to Sand Canyon Road north of Chewelah.
Shea Suski, who leads WSDOT's “Complete Streets” initiative in eastern Washington, said the project will also include enhancing a one-mile section in the town for pedestrian and bicycle safety.
"As part of that process, we met with the community several times," he said. "We did a workshop to help identify what kind of improvements the community would feel comfortable with for walking and biking along US 395."
Dennis Brown, the design lead for the project, said the project includes speed reductions, chicanes, and traffic islands to slow down traffic.
He told SPR News that feedback from community members and the city council was a big part of the planning process.
"We had a lot of mock ups and sketches of what it might be like, but you never know until you bounce it off the community, so that was really helpful," he said.
Brown said this project will also include a one-mile section of five new rectangular flashing beacons to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Spokane County re-ups medical examiner agreement with Shoshone County
Spokane is the biggest population hub between Seattle and Minneapolis, and that’s not just for people who are living.
Spokane County’s medical examiner’s office contracts with over 15 counties in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, handling thousands of deaths each year. And now, they’re finally fully staffed.
Spokane’s medical examiner just re-upped their contract with Shoshone County in North Idaho this week. It’s a partnership that’s been going on for years.
Instead of medical examiners, Idaho counties have coroners – that is, elected officials who aren’t required to have any medical background.
"Coroner counties for the most part don’t have their own pathologist. Therefore, they have to contract for autopsy services and there’s a shortage of pathologists who do this kind of work," said Spokane County Medical Examiner Veena Singh.
As of last year, she was finally able to hire a fourth pathologist for her office. That’s a major feat in a highly competitive field.
"There are fewer people going into the field than there are leaving the field, like retiring or going into private," Singh told SPR News.
Even with a partial staff for most of last year, Singh’s office handled more than 2200 deaths.
She said her office is already on track to pass that number this year.
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Reporting by Doug Nadvornick, Eliza Billingham, Monica Carrillo-Casas and Owen Henderson.