Today’s headlines:
- Washington’s Senate votes to require sheriffs be certified police officers or face expulsion.
- The Washington House says coroners and medical examiners should be allowed to file for PTSD-related workers compensation claims.
- Small rural Inland Northwest churches get money to support cross-denominational work against Christian nationalism.
- Pend Oreille County voters approve the merger of two fire districts.
Plus, as bird species decline across the U.S., one of their greatest allies could be cows. Washington Audubon wants to work with ranchers to preserve and improve habitat for species such as owls and sage grouse. Courtney Flatt from Northwest Public Broadcasting has the story.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Steve Jackson, Eliza Billingham, Monica Carrillo-Casas and Courtney Flatt.
Today's show is hosted and produced by Eliza Billingham.
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TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Eliza Billingham. It’s Friday, February 13, 2026.
On today’s show, Washington’s Senate votes to require sheriffs be certified police officers or face expulsion.
And small rural Inland Northwest churches get money to support cross-denominational work against Christian nationalism.
Plus, as bird species decline across the U.S., one of their greatest allies could be cows. Washington Audubon wants to work with ranchers to preserve habitat for species such as owls and sage grouse.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
The Washington Senate yesterday voted to require sheriffs meet the same state standards as police chiefs and town marshals. That means sheriffs who aren’t certified must take the same training as new officers within nine months of taking the oath of office.
The bill’s sponsor, Democrat John Lovick, is a retired state patrol trooper and former Snohomish County sheriff. He says it’s important to modernize state law to ensure everyone with a badge is properly trained.
LOVICK: “There is no other time that we would allow a decertified officer the power to detain, arrest and take a life. No one who fails to uphold the integrity of the law should enforce it upon others.”
EB: Several Republicans argued the bill represents an abuse of government power. They challenged one provision that would allow the state Criminal Justice Training Commission to remove an elected sheriff if that person no longer meets the qualification standards.
That’s not the state’s role, says Puyallup Senator Chris Gildon.
GILDON: “If voters hire the sheriff, Mr. President, the voters should be able to fire the sheriff, not a commission in Olympia.”
EB: Lovick’s bill passed on party lines.
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The Washington House has passed a bill that would allow county coroners and medical examiners to file workers compensation claims for post traumatic stress disorder.
State law already makes PTSD an occupational disease for first responders in limited cases.
Republican Representative Peter Abbarno of Chehalis says medical examiners and coroners are subjected to some of the most tragic incidents that can trigger PTSD.
ABBARNO: “And especially in small counties, like my own in Lewis County, they respond to horrific events of people they know. House fires, suicides, some of the most graphic situations they are responding to.”
EB: Spokane Valley Republican Suzanne Schmidt voted no, saying she believes Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries is already overwhelmed by PTSD claims. About 20 percent are rejected.
SCHMIDT: “What we see is that L&I is not equipped to manage these claims in an effective way.”
EB: The bill now moves to the state Senate.
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Some small rural churches in the Northwest are banding together against the growth of white nationalism in their communities.
They’re getting extra money to help them work across traditionally held lines.
Mainline Protestant churches like United Methodists and Episcopalians often have long-held but shrinking footholds in rural areas.
Historically, they may have let denominational differences keep them apart.
But Lutheran Bishop Meggan Manlove says a shared vision of Christianity, at least compared to local ultra-conservative churches, is increasingly pushing those denominations together.
MANLOVE: “It's a gospel where we really live into the imago dei—that every person is made in God's image, has dignity, that the God that is preached is one of love and abundance and hospitality for everybody, but especially for the marginalized.”
EB: Manlove oversees a group of progressive Lutheran churches across Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming.
It just got a grant from the Lilly Endowment to coach like-minded churches on working together across denominations.
Manlove says it will help expand the way they care for the most vulnerable in their communities.
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Voters in Pend Oreille County this week approved the merging of two fire districts.
Pend Oreille County Fire District 4 will merge with Fire District 2.
District 2 Chief Christopher Haynes says the idea was created after continuing staffing and budgets issues in Fire District 4 the last couple of years.
Hayne says Fire District 2 will continue providing paramedic services for Fire District 4 and also augment their fire response.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
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[SHORT MUSIC BED]
Bird species are on the decline across the U.S. for all different reasons – they’ve lost habitat. The climate is changing. Food sources are disappearing.
But there’s a new program in Washington that hopes to create more habitat for birds … using ranches. N-W-P-B’s Courtney Flatt starts off the story in Wenatchee.
COURTNEY FLATT: There's a small booth on the edge of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association convention you might not expect: Audubon Washington, the bird people. Seth Hulett mans the table. He’s pitching a program that’s new to the state. Audubon Conservation Ranching.
HULETT: “We can build habitats with grazing.”
CF: In other words, the program uses livestock to improve habitat for birds. Samantha Buma strolls by the Audubon booth. She works at Stayman Flats Ranch near Chelan, Washington.
BUMA: “ Every day I'm out walking with my cows and checking on them.”
CF: She’s also making sure the grass will grow back after they graze it. But that’s not all she sees in the pasture. There are the usual avian suspects: eagles, owls, hawks. And:
BUMA: “We have killdeer and we have a lot of those little birds that always run out in front of the road. What are they called? Quail.”
CF: How will the conservation ranching program work here? In Washington, it will certify land as “bird friendly.” Starting on the Columbia Plateau. On a foggy morning, Hulett drives his truck around Franklin County. He’s surveying birds and looking for potential ranches that might buy-in. That’s the first step. Hulett believes —
HULETT: “ What's good for birds is good for people.”
CF: Maintaining and even improving these habitats will help so many things, he says: the soil, cattle, deer, birds.
Audubon will survey the property for all types of birds and grasses. For each ranch, Hulett will help come up with a customized, three-year management plan.
The plan will help steer cattle to pastures when birds don’t need the land. They’re focusing on several birds they consider priorities in the area. Like sage grouse. They use mating grounds called leks.
HULETT: “ If a landowner is in an area where there are known sage grouse, we want to make sure we're not having the cows in there during the lekking season.”
A third-party group will certify the land every year. That would mean ranchers can add a “bird friendly” sticker to their beef or bison products. On the Columbia Plateau, Hulett says working with private property owners will be key to increasing bird habitat.
HULETT: “If we're going to make a difference, we have to work with the land managers that are on the land and doing the work.”
CF: According to Audubon, the conservation ranching program has ranches certified in 15 states. That covers more than 4 million acres of land.
Unlike other certifications, Audubon pays for everything. The Conservation Ranching program is funded differently in each state. In Washington, the work will be covered by grants.
In central California, rancher Sallie Calhoun signed up for the program as soon as she heard about it. Calhoun owns the 7,600-acre Paicines [pie-SEEN-us ] Ranch, which got certified this past year.
CALHOUN: “We’re managing for life and for biodiversity in every decision that we make.”
CF: The conservation ranching program started in Missouri in 20-17. Calhoun says they’re figuring out how to translate the program’s grazing protocols from what’s used in the Midwest to what works well in California.
Original grazing recommendations didn’t really fit Calhoun’s ranch. So, she says, they’re working on better ideas.
CALHOUN: “We want to show that you can raise cattle and still have a lot of birds.”
CF: California’s program is pretty much at capacity – with 11 enrolled ranches. That’s about 175-thousand acres certified as “bird friendly.” Managers in California say, now, they need more funding to hire more workers.
At the Cattlemen’s Convention in Wenatchee, Hulett sees faces he recognizes. Russ Stingley has a ranch near Ellensburg. The Stingley family has toyed with joining the program.
RUSS STINGLEY: “ I have no objections with this.” HULETT: “Awesome. Yeah. We'll set up a time.”
CF: A quick handshake, and Stingley walks away. Hulett buzzes. He says … that could be Washington’s first ranch to sign up.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
EB: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by …
I’m Eliza Billingham, today’s host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
