Today's headlines:
- Renters in Spokane will now get more access to eviction prevention services.
- It's been more than two months since Spokane enacted stricter anti-camping laws. Police chief Kevin Hall says more people are getting treatment or citations, but illegal camping isn't an issue law enforcement can fix.
- The Washington state senate is considering restricting SNAP benefits. Potato chips and candy could lose eligibility.
- A tax conformity bill clears House committee on party lines despite public opposition.
- A bill restricting local antidiscrimination ordinances moves to the Idaho House floor.
Plus, we sit down with Gonzaga Counseling Services Director and licensed therapist Tara Hiller to talk about healthy ways to engage with the news when current events make you feel hopeless or enraged.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Eliza Billingham, Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson and Owen Henderson.
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 Tuesday, February 3, 2026.
On today’s show, Spokane renters will soon get more information and interventions to prevent evictions.
Plus, Idaho’s House of Representatives is set to consider a bill that would align the state’s taxes with federal changes—and could mean even less revenue for a state facing a budget crunch.
And does the news leave you feeling enraged? Hopeless? Drained? We hear from a therapist about what you can do to stay informed without burning out on empathy.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
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Renters in Spokane will now get more information and mediation assistance before an eviction process starts.
Spokane City Council is split, though, over whether that intervention will be helpful.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: A newly passed ordinance says landlords must provide tenants a list of housing resources at any lease signing or notice of rent increase.
It also establishes an eviction prevention program that uses rental assistance dollars to settle disputes instead of going to court.
Barring extreme circumstances, landlords are not able to evict tenants unless they have gone through that pre-filing mediation program.
Councilmember Kitty Klitzke was one of the original sponsors of the ordinance.
KITTY KLITZKE: “I think this will get people help sooner, get them on payment plans and avoid costly court costs for both landlords and tenants and get those landlords paid sooner.”
EB: The ordinance passed 5-2. Council member Michael Cathcart and council president Betsy Wilkerson, who is a landlord herself, voted against it.
BETSY WILKERSON: “There is not a lot of rental assistance money out there… I will not be voting in support of this tonight not because I don't think it's a good idea, but the structure that needs to be in place? I am challenged with that.”
EB: The eviction prevention program is set to start no later than June 1.
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
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OH: Spokane implemented “Safe and Accessible Public Spaces,” its stricter anti-camping enforcement ordinance, last October.
Since then, city police have documented roughly 1,500 related interactions. Most were in downtown Spokane.
Stricter enforcement is coupled with more attempts to get people connected with homeless services instead of jail.
Police Chief Kevin Hall told City Council yesterday, so far, 265 people have accepted services.
KEVIN HALL: “That's 265 more than we ever received previous to the ordinance being implemented.”
OH: But he added that illegal camping and substance use issues aren’t what law enforcement is designed to fix.
KH: “It is incredibly hard to stabilize somebody who does not have a house. Stabilizing when you're living in an alley is nearly impossible. So there are housing issues. There are shelter issues…It's not something the police can fix. This is a public health issue that is better dealt with by public health officials.”
OH: Hall says his officers appreciate the Cannon navigation center, which gives them somewhere to take campers.
But he says shelter beds aren’t enough.
KH: “We're doing the best we can with what I call compassionate policing. But there simply isn't enough housing so that people can go and get stabilized and successfully engage in treatment.”
Hall says as long as someone is living in an alley, stabilization is nearly impossible.
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Three eastern Washington legislators want to ban food stamp recipients from using government benefits to buy sugary foods.
SPR’s Doug Nadvornick reports.
DOUG NADVORNICK: Moses Lake Republican Sen. Judy Warnick proposes to add soft drinks and candy to the list of foods not eligible for SNAP benefits. That list already includes alcohol, tobacco, vitamins and medicines.
Warnick’s bill would require the state to ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture for permission to make the change.
Eighteen states, including Idaho, have already gotten permission. Idaho’s rules banning SNAP candy and soda purchases go into effect February 15.
Mary Long from the Conservative Ladies of Washington testified in support at a Senate committee yesterday.
MARY LONG: “It’s about empowering families with better options, reducing health care burdens on our state and fostering a culture of wellness.”
DN: But most testimony opposed the bill. Several people said restricting options for SNAP recipients won’t do much to reduce America’s obesity problem.
From a business perspective, Molly Pfaffenroth from the Washington Food Industry Association says the move would hurt retailers that stock those foods.
MOLLY PFAFFENROTH: “States that have attempted similar restrictions have already experienced serious problems, including confusion at checkout, and major operational challenges for retailers.”
DN: The bill is co-sponsored by Spokane Valley Sen. Leonard Christian and Ritzville’s Mark Schoesler. It’s scheduled for a vote in the Human Services Committee on Wednesday.
I’m Doug Nadvornick.
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OH: The latest bill to make Idaho conform with federal tax changes received overwhelming opposition in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee yesterday.
But as James Dawson reports, the proposal is heading to the House floor along party lines.
JAMES DAWSON: Estimates show adopting the federal tax changes will cost Idahoans $155 million in the current fiscal year and another $175 million next year.
Critics, like Donna Carlson of Boise, say Idaho’s budget can’t absorb that hit after years of tax cuts. She pushed back on those who say the state needs to cut budgets further.
DONNA CARLSON: “Our so-called spending problem is because we are humans with needs who require services that in many cases only the government can provide.”
JD: Other testifiers worry these potential cuts will affect everything from health care support to education.
Republican Rep. Jeff Ehlers, who sponsors the bill, says these critics should talk to the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee instead.
JEFF EHLERS: “It is not a budget bill. It is not addressing those things. It is about our tax policy and how we conform to the One Big Beautiful Bill.”
JD: However, JFAC does not take public testimony. Ehlers’ bill could get a vote on the House floor later this week.
James Dawson, Boise State Public Radio News.
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OH: Local governments wouldn’t be able ban discrimination on the base of sexual orientation and gender identity under a bill advancing through the Idaho legislature.
A House committee yesterday approved a measure that prevents municipalities from having or enforcing antidiscrimination policies that go further than state law.
Bill sponsor and Nampa Republican Bruce Skaug says antidiscrimination policies are “often weaponized” against religious business owners.
Idaho law currently bans discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin or disability.
The bill now heads to the House floor.
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In recent years, the news has been an increasingly difficult emotional burden to bear for many people.
According to surveys by Reuters, from 2017 to 2024, the proportion of people who said they selectively avoided the news to some degree increased 10% to about 40% overall.
So how do you take care of yourself while staying informed at a time when staying engaged can feel emotionally draining?
With me now to talk about this is Tara Hiller. She's the Director of Counseling Services at Gonzaga University and a licensed mental health counselor.
Tara, thanks for joining me.
TARA HILLER: Sure.
OH: Most of our listeners are here in the Spokane area and the Inland Northwest, and there are lots of people who have personal connections to the news, but sometimes things that are emotionally affecting happen thousands of miles away. So even though we're so physically distant, why do things often have such a deep emotional impact?
TH: Yeah, there's various things that contribute to that. One of the things I've been looking at lately, especially with clients that I'm working with, is the amount of information that we're being sort of inundated with right now. And the kind of information is intense emotional information.
And part of what's happening, I think, is that if we think about the fight or flight system, that system that sort of regulates and puts us in a... when we feel threat, it gets ignited.
But part of what we kind of have to do naturally is level out that reaction. And so being able to disengage from some of that some of the time is really important.
Because if you don't do that, like we have our sympathetic nervous system that's firing, keeping us safe, but our parasympathetic [system], like, calm us.
And so if we don't ever give ourselves an opportunity to have that other system kick in and calm us, what we're doing is many of us, whether we are directly involved or watching it from a distance, are at that heightened level of anxiety, heightened level of fear, which has so many impacts, it ripples through our ability to kind of manage our lives in general.
OH: I've heard some people compare this feeling to something called empathy burnout. I was wondering if you could explain that concept for me and how it ties into this topic.
TH: Yeah, it's this beautiful thing that we have as humans, this ability to go, oh, I can feel potentially what that person's feeling, I can imagine what they're feeling. Maybe we connect it to something actual in our lives.
And so it's in that constant state of caring so much. And then a lot of what empathy is, is feeling a lot of those experiences, literally in our bodies.
And so, again, if you're not leveling that out, you're just in that heightened state of intense emotional dysregulation, basically, where people, they shut down then because it's like, how much can you carry?
And also you tie in when we're having empathy and compassion for people, but we feel kind of hopeless and helpless in that.
OH: What do we do with that? Well, what are some things people can lean into when they're feeling this rage or sadness or hopelessness? What are productive ways to deal with those feelings?
TH: Yeah, first, I would say just acknowledge that the feeling is valid, that I think sometimes people can be like, oh, 'Why? You know, this isn't even happening to me. Why am I so angry? I shouldn't be so, you know...'
They like do a lot of the "should" kind of things. 'I should be dealing with this different,' but it's just a valid response to what's happening.
And so one, just being able to do that, if you can acknowledge it, then you can go, okay, what do I do with that now? And so it's looking for those opportunities to regulate yourself.
One of the things that, you know, I think a lot of people are saying is to disengage some from the doom scrolling, from getting caught in that, like, oh, I've been on this, looking at all this information online for like two hours and where did the time go? And so setting some limits around that.
I think connection with other people is really important. We're wired for connection and we just feel calmer as long as a person's safe and people are safe, that can just help us feel more connected and feel more hopeful.
OH: What are things you notice people leaning into when they're feeling this way that are actually counterproductive?
TH: Yeah, I think a lot of people are dealing with some guilt, especially people maybe who feel from a distance. They feel like I'm not doing enough.
What should I be doing? And so it can end up like that guilt can really shut people down. If we talk about that regulation, you know, that feeling of, okay, I'm exhausted, but I'm wired. I'm like, people oftentimes will resort to really quick fixes for that, you know, whether it's substances, you know, anything that sort of can fix it really fast, which no judgment on that, but it can end up being a pattern that can become pretty debilitating for people.
And then you really can't address anything in the world if you're not really taking good care of yourself.
OH: If it's not too personal to ask, if you find yourself feeling this way, what are the things you like to do just for yourself to cope?
TH: Yeah. Yeah. It's hard. Sometimes it's, you know, I'm a therapist. I don't want to sound too cheesy about it, but I want to notice positive things.
I want to also feed my brain with connection. You know, there's really beautiful people in our world and there's really amazing things that are happening around connection and around people really finding their sense of value and their sense of how am I going to impact the world and also just getting out and moving. You know, everybody was like, oh, go exercise.
You're going to feel better. But it's literally helps balance that system that we were talking about earlier. So just however people want to move their bodies.
And I am a big proponent of laughter, being able to just crack jokes, try to have some of that time that feels a little bit lighter.
OH: Tara Hiller is the Director of Counseling Service at Gonzaga University and a licensed mental health counselor. Thank you so much for coming to the studio and chatting with me.
TH: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Eliza Billingham, Doug Nadvornick, James Dawson and me, Owen Henderson. I’m also the host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
