Spokane is out of funds for county jail fees
The City of Spokane can’t afford to pay what Spokane County is charging for jail beds.
Spokane is currently sitting on two months of unpaid jail bills.
The city contracts with the county to use some of the county jail beds for people charged with misdemeanors.
Since 2007, the city’s been paying for those beds out of the Criminal Justice Assistance Fund, which is filled by state tax revenue.
"This was more than sustainable at the time. The sales taxes were coming in higher than the jail cost, so the fund itself built up a healthy fund balance," Spokane Management and Budget Director Jessica Stratton said during a special budget hearing in mid-July. "Over time, that healthy fund balance became alluring, especially during the financially distressed period that was the pandemic, and this fund was used for other things."
During the COVID pandemic, the city dipped into the fund to pay the police department’s technology contract. Then again, for electronic monitoring costs and court interpreter fees. Finally, it took out more than $6 million for homeless services.
Now, the fund is empty.
Plus, it costs more than $10 million more to operate the jail in 2024 than it did in 2021.
That means every contracting agency’s bill went up.
For Spokane, its annual bill increased from around $4 million to $7.5 million in those three years.
If the city finds a cheaper alternative for jail beds, it would need to give the county 180 days notice before terminating its contract.
Youth jails often close despite roadblocks, leading to higher costs, study shows
When city or county leaders announce plans to close a youth detention center, the process is often met with perceived obstacles like cost, or finding alternatives to incarceration.
A new study co-authored by a professor at the University of Washington shows that most closures actually do end up happening.
The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, tracked proposed closures of youth detention centers from 2010 to 2023, and found that more than 60% were eventually shuttered.
The research is clear on the negative consequences of locking up teenagers who commit crimes, Dr. Ben Danielson said: "Incarceration leads to more incarceration."
And he said the more time a young person stays in detention, the worse things get
"This was a study done several years ago at the university: For everyday that a young person is in detention, they are one percent more likely to come back to detention," Danielson said.
He argued there are well-established alternatives to incarceration such as mentorship and counseling. He also said the lower cost of these programs actually saves taxpayer money.
SRHD pushes greater vaccine uptake with school year approaching
August 1 begins National Immunization Awareness Month in the U.S.
At one time, that may have gone unnoticed.
But with vaccine skepticism becoming more common, public health officials see it as a good chance to address questions about vaccination.
Washington Department of Health statistics show vaccination rates vary widely from county to county, school district to school district.
"We are fortunate to have some community workers that help us develop and get information out to specific communities that may hear misinformation or disinformation," Kayla Myers, immunization program coordinator at the Spokane Regional Health District, said. "And they've been really pivotal in making sure that we maintain that channel of information."
She told SPR News that there is widespread acceptance about some vaccines and hesitation about others.
“DTP, that's the one for pertussis and diphtheria and tetanus, right? MMR, measles, mumps, rubella, people have heard of that," she told SPR News. "So there may be people who are skeptical about those vaccines, but the majority of people are getting those. The ones that people are most skeptical about are COVID and HPV still, unfortunately.”
School begins later this month in many districts.
Myers says the health district plans a back-to-school health clinic at Shaw Middle School on August 27 to provide free immunizations for students.
ID lawmakers get update on Star Card
More than 920,000 Idahoans have gotten their Star Cards after federal officials required enhanced identification for plane travel and visiting federal facilities.
That works out to nearly 60% of eligible residents getting the updated ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act.
State DMV Administrator, Lisa McClellan, told state lawmakers on an interim committee concentrating on federalism that demand skyrocketed earlier this spring.
“We started seeing numbers that we’ve never seen before. We were in the high 40s, 50s, we even hit 60,000 in May, of course, when the deadline was here,” McClellan said.
She said that demand led to significant backlogs at county DMV offices across the state, with many offices entirely halting walk-in appointments.
Residents can still choose to forgo a Star Card and instead use a passport, veteran health ID or another federal identification card to board domestic flights and access federal facilities.
To apply for a Star Card, you need to prove both your identity and Idaho residency. You can find a list of acceptable documents here.
WA hikes penalties for excavation infractions
The penalties have increased for contractors and property owners who violate Washington’s laws that oversee excavation work.
Scott Rukke, the director of pipeline safety for the state Utilities and Transportation Commission, said there were 1,800 cases last year where underground utility pipelines and cables were damaged, and the state levied about 100 penalties.
"Some violations may result in a warning letter. Some result in a penalty, which starts at about $1,000, and work their way up to a maximum, which was $5,000," Rukke said. "But now the maximum is $25,000, so it can be significant if you are a repeat violator.”
The commission has also been given more authority to investigate damage to pipelines and underground cables.
"The operators are required to file a report any time they have a damaged pipeline, and we see every one of those," Rukke said. "In the past, we didn’t have jurisdiction to investigate those. And now we do, so we see them, and are going to act on them, and there’s a good chance you may receive a penalty.”
Excavators are required to call 8-1-1 two days before they dig to give utility companies time to check for underground infrastructure.
Rukke told SPR News the worst incident he remembers in eastern Washington was in 2023: A Palouse-area farmer running a backhoe hit an underground gas pipeline, cutting off gas service to 37,000 customers.
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Reporting by Eliza Billingham, Emil Moffatt, Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson and Steve Jackson.