Wildfire coverage is becoming more expensive in Washington, thanks in part to more active fire seasons and homeowners living in areas that are vulnerable to fire. We talk with Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer.
"Last session, a law was passed that established a work study group to look at wildfire mitigation and a potential grant program. I co-chair that study group along with Commissioner Upthegrove from DNR, and we are going to be looking at what recommendations we can make in order for people to be better prepared for the wildfire risk in our state. I want to reassure people that we are not like California. We still have a fairly robust property casualty market. We'd like to keep it that way."
Washington’s Department of Corrections promised two years ago to improve the conditions behind bars for transgender inmates. Has progress been made? Owen Henderson talks with Seattle journalist Eilis O'Neill about her reporting on that.
"[Trans people] say that their prescriptions are still lapsing for hormone replacement therapy. So they might get the initial dose, and then they're supposed to get the next bottle of pills or the next injection or whatever it is, and they're not getting those on schedule. That's a problem with medical care more broadly in prisons. A lot of prescriptions are lapsing. People are not getting their next refill at the time that they're supposed to."
Washington conservative initiative sponsor Brian Heywood has announced two new ballot measures aimed at state legislators. We’ll talk with Heywood about what he views as obstacles to getting measures like his on the ballot.
"If you look at what the legislature tried to pull off this last year, they tried to shut us down. They tried to put much, much stricter requirements on the signatures we gathered than anything they put on voting. It was just outrageous. They tried to pass a law that made it harder to sign a signature and more legally risky to gather signatures than it is to vote in an election."
Eliza Billingham takes us to Newport to hear about expansion at the Buddhist Srivasti Abbey.
"We are trying to create peace in a chaotic world... The last year has been more chaotic than when we started building the Buddha Hall... And so our job is to keep on talking about forgiveness, compassion, wisdom, generosity, ethical conduct. That's our job. Doesn't matter how chaotic the world is.”
