Today's headlines:
- Spokane business owners and law enforcement want municipalities to consider aligning with a federal shift to "treatment first" approach to homelessness.
- Federal investigators are looking at commercial-grade ammonia leaks at the Hanford nuclear site.
- Idaho agencies are being asked to cut more spending, bringing the total budget reductions to 5%.
- WSU researchers are working on a robotic apple picker to help orchards combat labor shortages.
- An insurance poll shows that drivers trust themselves with in-car technology more than they trust other drivers on the road.
- Longtime broadcaster Rick Rizzs announced that he’ll give up the mic after the 2026 Mariners season.
And the landscape of emergency, behavioral, elder, and other types of health care can be hard to navigate. We’ll talk with the Nicole Ringgold, the host of the new podcast "Between Here and Help," who hopes to demystify the system in the Methow Valley.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Eliza Billingham, Anna King, Owen Henderson, Doug Nadvornick, and Steve Jackson.
The show is hosted and produced by Owen Henderson.
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TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
OWEN HENDERSON: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Owen Henderson. It’s January 28, 2026.
On today’s show, “housing first” has been a main method of addressing homelessness for years, but the Trump administration wants a “treatment first” approach.
Now, Spokane business and law enforcement leaders say they want local municipalities to align with the feds.
And we look back on the career of 40-year Seattle Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs after his announcement that 2026 will be his last season behind the microphone.
Plus, the landscape of emergency, behavioral, elder, and other types of health care can be hard to navigate. We’ll talk with the host of a new podcast who hopes to demystify the system in the Methow Valley.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Spokane business leaders and law enforcement are trying to put the county in a better position to receive federal housing dollars.
To do that, they’re asking every jurisdiction to verbally agree to a “treatment first” method of addressing homelessness.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: A presidential executive order last July announced that federal housing funds would be redirected towards homelessness assistance programs that have more treatment requirements for people with substance use disorders.
It’s nicknamed the “treatment first” approach, as opposed to the previously popularized “housing first” approach.
Chud Wendle and Sheldon Jackson are both private business owners with long histories of political advocacy.
They’re asking every jurisdiction in Spokane County to sign a memorandum of understanding that expresses support for “treatment first.”
They say there’s no money attached— it’s just messaging that would put the county in a better position to receive funding from the U-S Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels told County Commissioners that despite the shift in verbiage, the MOU’s main focus on getting people housed with the wraparound services they need still fits the region’s priorities.
JOHN NOWELS: “It doesn't want us to stop providing housing, it doesn't want us to start to stop funding housing and put everything over into treatment, that's not the point. But we do believe, as a group of citizens and people who are familiar in these circles, that treatment is an important part, and maybe we need to focus a little bit more as a community on that.”
EB: The cities of Airway Heights, Medical Lake, Deer Park, Millwood and Liberty Lake have already signed on. Conversations are ongoing with Cheney, Spokane Valley, Spokane, and the county.
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
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OH: Federal officials have been looking into commercial-grade ammonia leaks at the Hanford nuclear cleanup site.
Northwest Public Broadcasting’s Anna King has more.
ANNA KING: Enforcement officials from the U.S. Department of Energy came to Hanford last week.
They were looking into the repeated anhydrous ammonia leaks. It’s all happening at the Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant.
That’s according to a source who works at Hanford who asked to remain anonymous to protect their job. Federal reports dated back to at least December of 20-24 show repeated instances of leaks.
Ammonia is used to treat the exhaust that comes out of the plant’s stack. If inhaled in quantity, ammonia can be deadly.
One of the leaks required workers to “take cover,” a report from last July says. The Hanford Field Office of the Department of Energy and Washington State’s Department of Ecology wouldn’t comment.
I’m Anna King.
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OH: Idaho’s top budget writers are asking agencies to cut spending by 2% for the current fiscal year, according to a memo first obtained by our partner Idaho Ed News.
That’s on top of the 3% reduction Governor Little asked for last year.
As with the 3% cut, the latest ask from the chairs of the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee excludes K-12 schools but not higher education.
JFAC’s ranking Democrat told the Idaho Capital Sun these extra cuts will hurt the state this late in the fiscal year and has proposed dipping into Idaho’s rainy day fund to balance the budget.
Agency directors have until noon on Friday to submit their budget reduction plans.
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Washington State University researchers are developing a robotic arm they say could help with a problem facing many northwest orchards.
RYAN DOROSH: “Currently, tree fruit growers in Washington State are undergoing a severe labor shortage. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to find the labor needed to do orchard tasks, specifically harvesting.”
OH: Researcher Ryan Dorosh says with the WSU system, a rudimentary electronic eye targets the fruit, then compressed air extends an arm to pick the apples.
While a human picker averages one apple every 2 seconds, Dorosh says the arm is currently operating at only one every 25 seconds.
But he thinks the system can be tweaked to pick at more than twice that fast.
RD: “It still is slower than your typical human worker. However the benefit of this system is it doesn’t grow tired, and it continue to work thorough the day and in hostile conditions like intense heat and cold.”
OH: He says other competing picking systems are also being developed, but they are much larger and more complicated.
Researchers hope the WSU system can also be modified to perform other tasks, like pruning, flower thinning, and spraying.
Dorosh says he hopes to eventually collaborate with other researchers developing a mobile platform so the system can also move around an orchard.
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A majority of Washington and Oregon drivers report feeling less safe on the road.
JENNIFER HAWTON: “Pacific Northwest residents think today’s drivers are worse than previous generations, despite an increasing reliance on car safety tech.”
OH: That’s Jennifer Hawton from PEMCO Insurance, which conducted the survey.
She says more drivers feel others on the road are too distracted and rely too much on their cars’ tech tools.
JH: “Technology can fail or be distracting, and having those driving skills will keep you safe when that technology fails.”
OH: Hawton says about 70-percent of respondents think it’s important for drivers to be able to navigate their trips without a G-P-S.
Nearly 90-percent say they use their own judgment instead of their cars’ tech when dealing with a road emergency.
But less than half believe other drivers do the same.
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Longtime Seattle baseball broadcaster Rick Rizzs announced yesterday he’ll turn over the microphone after the 2026 season.
SPR’s Doug Nadvornick reports.
DOUG NADVORNICK: Rick Rizzs came to Seattle in 1983 to call Mariner games in the old Kingdome with now-Hall of Fame announcer Dave Niehaus.
Rizzs stayed nine seasons and became known for his sunny disposition. After a Mariner win – and sometimes those were rare -- he shared what he called the “happy totals” when reviewing the game.
Rizzs left for Detroit in 1992 to take over for another legendary broadcaster, Ernie Harwell. His stay in the Motor City lasted only three seasons. Rizzs returned to Seattle for good for the 1995 season, just in time for the Mariners first-ever playoff appearance.
For years, Rizzs was known as the second banana in the broadcast booth. Niehaus got much of the national attention, especially when he was inducted into the broadcasters’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But Niehaus died suddenly after the 2010 season and Rizzs was elevated to the Mariners’ lead radio broadcaster. Now that he’s announced his retirement, some Mariner fans are calling for Rizzs to finally get his own recognition, with induction into the team’s Hall of Fame and perhaps someday a plaque at Cooperstown.
I’m Doug Nadvornick reporting.
OH: This will be Rizzs’s 41st season calling Seattle Mariner games.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
Access to health care can be challenging for many Americans.
But what happens when you’re out skiing in a remote area and need emergency care? And who pays for a flight to transport you to a hospital with the capability to treat you?
Those are just a couple of the questions our next guest is hoping to tackle with her new podcast.
Nicole Ringgold is a 20-year resident of the Methow Valley and the host of “Between Here and Help.”
Nicole, thanks for joining me.
NICOLE RINGGOLD: Thanks for having me.
OH: So let's just start with the basics.What is the central premise of this podcast?
NR: Well, the Methow Valley has an unusually rich ecosystem of health and support services for a rural community from EMS and air medical transport to elder care networks, behavioral health services, housing support, alternative practitioners.
And so this podcast is designed to help residents understand how these pieces fit together, where the gaps are, and try to access help before they're in a crisis.
OH: Well, as I understand it, you don't work in health care. So what made you want to explore these questions around aging and health and emergency response—and through a podcast?
NR: This started because my husband has just stepped into the role as the new executive director for Aero Methow Rescue Service.
And as his spouse, I am witness to many conversations that happened between him and people that we see during community events. And there are a lot of questions that could be answered simply, but there's really no format for that.
And so I'm watching my husband answer the same questions over and over and over. Given that there are so many questions, it seemed like the best way to reach people wasn't just through one article, but through an ongoing conversation between, again, not just Aero Methow, but all the other health services throughout the valley.
And the other part of this is that I have aging parents who are also living here in the valley trying to navigate what that means to stay in their homes as long as possible. So this is my way of stepping up to support.
OH: So you put out the first installment of “Between Here and Help” on January 15th. And for your inaugural episode, you did interview your husband, the new executive director of Aero Methow, in part about how some of these emergency medical services work. What kinds of things did you learn?
NR: That's kind of funny. I've been learning a lot as I've been having conversations with Derek, my husband, since he took on this position more than six months ago at this point. And we started with a list of questions that is information that I've learned over the last six months.
I would say that what I'm learning most, though, is from the other organizations that I've been interviewing for future episodes.
OH: The Methow's a pretty tight-knit place, and I'm curious what kinds of feedback you've gotten so far from other residents about the first episode, the concept of the podcast and where you hope to take it.
NR: Right. Yeah, I sent out an email to quite a large number of entities here throughout the valley, and I sent out a general email inviting people to come have conversations with me.
And there's only been one episode released so far, and I'm astounded at the number of people who've approached me in the grocery store, talked about how helpful it was just to hear that one podcast and they're looking forward to more.
But what I'm really excited about is the number of people who are now emailing me saying that they would like to participate in a future episode.
So I've already created two future episodes. I interviewed Easton Branam, who is the network director for the Methow Valley Elder Care Coordination work.
Essentially, their entity works with their partners within the health care industry that supports elders in our community, trying to help them all move forward in a coordinated way so that their systems aren't overlapping.
I recorded an episode with Methow at Home, some of their volunteers. I have interviews set up with Airlift Northwest, Life Flight and the commissioners for Three Rivers Hospital. All of those are already on my agenda.
It's very exciting to see where this could go, but that's not all. We can go into transportation, access to care. We can talk about environment and public health; we're already talking about elder care, aging in place.
We can go into behavioral and mental health, medical and clinical care. There's so much room for this podcast to expand, and I don't see much of an end to it at this point.
OH: Nicole Ringgold is the host of the new podcast “Between Here and Help.” Nicole, thank you so much for your time.
NR: Yeah, thank you very much for giving me the time.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Eliza Billingham, Anna King, Doug Nadvornick, Steve Jackson and me, Owen Henderson. I’m also the host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
