Today's headlines:
- Washington State University medical students want to help non-English speakers communicate with their health care providers.
- Law enforcement organizations say they're worried local officers, not immigration agents, will end up being punished by a mask ban moving through the Washington legislature.
- Months after passing a $130 million bond, Sandpoint considers asking voters to pass a local sales tax—all in the name of saving its crumbling infrastructure.
- While Spokane considers banning immigration detention facilities, one suburban town has already taken the step.
And SPR's Murrow News Fellow, Monica Carrillo-Casas, brings us the story of a Venezuelan man who brought his passion for wood carving with him to Spokane after leaving his home country.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Monica Carrillo-Casas, Amy Radil, Eliza Billingham and Gustavo Sagrero.
Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
Owen Henderson hosts and produces the show.
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TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
OWEN HENDERSON: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Owen Henderson. It’s Thursday, February 19, 2026.
On today’s show, medical students at Washington State University are helping to launch a program to help decrease language barriers for non-English speakers seeking health care.
Plus, Sandpoint is considering adding a sales tax to pay for infrastructure updates so residents and visitors both help shoulder the rebuilding costs.
And we hear the story of a Venezuelan man who brought his passion for wood carving with him to Spokane after fleeing his home.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Washington State University medical students are looking to help non-English speakers overcome language barriers with their health care providers.
SPR’s rural affairs reporter and Murrow News Fellow Monica Carrillo-Casas tells us how they hope to accomplish that.
MONICA CARRILLO-CASAS: Carmella Crooks and Victoria Caldera, both Venezuelan, are leading a pilot project that would help increase the number of certified medical interpreters.
Caldera says they were inspired by their own experiences.
VICTORIA CALDERA: “I worked in an emergency room. It was predominantly Latino, Spanish speaking, and I had parents who were running to me and not the doctor or the nurse, even though I was just described like I just took notes for the doctor to tell me things — but they trusted me because it was very clear that Spanish was my native language and that I understood the culture.”
MCC: Luis Manriquez, the university’s director of community health equity, says the student-led effort is backed by WSU and Nuestras Raíces.
Even though the university is providing institutional support, certification costs are being covered by Waters Meet Foundation, which will fund 10 students, and Nuestras Raices, which will cover three.
LUIS MANRIQUEZ: “So many times, even though there's a desire to provide interpretation for people at the point in time for the appointment, like there isn't someone there, or there isn't someone available, and so then, you know, they have to try to do the best they can and use a family member and, that's not the standard of care, right? That's not the standard that we're teaching our students.”
MCC: Manriquez says if the students’ pilot project is successful, the university may explore ways to formally integrate it into the medical school curriculum.
He says the 13 students will start a six-month training period in May.
I’m Monica Carrillo-Casas reporting.
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OH: Organizations representing police in Washington say they fear “unintended consequences” from state lawmakers’ proposed ban on face masks.
They say the ban seems aimed at federal immigration agents but could penalize local officers who need masks in hazardous weather, for example.
Jeff DeVere is a lobbyist for the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, a labor organization.
JEFF DeVERE: “Frankly we do not like this bill. This was aimed at another group of folks, not at our local law enforcement officers who do this right every day.”
OH: DeVere says his group is working on an amendment. It would allow state regulators to update the exceptions to the mask ban for health and safety reasons.
The House Community Safety Committee heard the bill yesterday after it passed the state Senate last month.
The measure already contains exceptions for certain protective gear and for officers working undercover.
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Last year, Sandpoint voters approved a 130 million dollar bond—probably the biggest bond measure in Idaho history—to replace its wastewater treatment plant.
They may now be asked to decide whether to impose another local tax to continue paying for infrastructure updates.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: Sandpoint mayor Jeremy Grimm wants to ask voters to pass a 1% non-property sales tax so that Sandpoint tourists have to help shoulder the costs to rehab the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
He proposes that 40% of the tax revenue go towards sewer utility upgrades, including the new wastewater plant. The larger 60% portion would go towards road improvements.
JEREMY GRIMM: “It’s literally every day I’m sending someone an email saying ‘We don’t have money to fix your road.’”
Grimm says that sales tax revenue could help offset an increase in utility fees, which are otherwise at risk of climbing to around $200 a month for Sandpoint residents. If residents and visitors are both contributing tax dollars, that could decrease monthly water bills for year round property owners.
EB: Grimm had originally hoped to get the proposal to voters in a special spring ballot.
But Sandpoint city council voted last night to postpone until the fall.
They want to make sure voters have the most information possible on personal financial impacts and how the money could be spent.
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
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OH: The Department of Homeland Security is looking to expand its presence in Washington State.
But as KUOW’s Gustavo Sagrero reports, some cities are hoping that won’t happen.
GUSTAVO SAGRERO: Seattle and Spokane are two big cities that have just started thinking about bans on detention facilities in their jurisdiction. But one of the first cities to actually do it is in the suburbs.
City of SeaTac’s Joe Vinson, was one of the council members that voted to pass its detention facility moratorium last week. With what land the city has, he wanted to make sure building homes is the focus, instead of federal priorities of locking up immigrants.
JOE VINSON: “The city of Sea TAC has historically always lobbied for local control. And has done its best to advocate for our community, for our residents.”
GS: Vinson says many of the residents of SeaTac are rideshare, and other gig workers. Over half of the population of SeaTac are people born in a different country who later became citizens of the U.S.
The moratorium expires in early August of this year.
I'm Gustavo Sagrero reporting
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: A Venezuelan woodsculptor is carving out his community in the Pacific Northwest, years after leaving his country's tense political climate.
SPR’s rural affairs reporter and Murrow News Fellow Monica Carrillo-Casas brings us his story.
MCC: Every day after working as a financial analyst, Luis Perez goes to his garage to look for his next project.
Maybe a bear or a mysterious-looking fox. Because Perez doesn’t just build with wood—he turns it into art.
Perez says his love for woodsculpting started during his teenage years back in Venezuela.
LUIS PEREZ: “Empezó esto como un hobby, como un relax. Todavía sigue siendo un hobby me relaja mucho.” (It started as a hobby, to relax. To this day it still relaxes me.)
His dad took on lots of different hobbies and often taught Perez what he learned, including woodsculpting. Perez says this helped him bond with his dad. And he didn’t mind it, since he loved to learn, he says.
Perez credits his dad’s techniques, jokingly saying he's the reason why he still has all his fingers.
He says his move from Venezuela to Spokane didn’t change his love of carving.
Perez’s move came after years of growing hardship in Venezuela. He says by 2016, just a few years after Nicolás Maduro became president, the country was facing severe economic issues and frequent protests.
That’s when Perez and his wife and kids decided to apply for the Diversity Visa Program.
LP: “Nos dieron visa de inmigrante a los cuatro estando allá en Venezuela y de allá llegamos directos acá a empezar de cero” (The four of us got our visa approved in Venezuela and came directly here and started from scratch.)
MCC: The Diversity Visa program was created under the Immigration Act of 1990 and began issuing visas in 1995.
Designed as a lottery system, it selects up to 50,000 immigrants each year through a randomized, computer-based process.
The program was paused this past December by the Department of Homeland Security. But in the past, approved applicants got their visas within a year.
LP: “Todas las empresas cerraron, nos vimos obligados porque tengo dos hijos, ellos no tenían culpa alguna de lo que estaba sucediendo y— bueno—por el futuro de nuestros hijos decidimos emigrar acá.” (Businesses were closing so we felt obligated to leave because our kids weren’t at fault for what was happening. For the future of our kids, we decided to migrate).
MCC: After their 2018 arrival, Perez transformed their garage. Now, it often smells like fresh wood and sawdust, just like it once did in his home in Venezuela.
About the size of a small bedroom, his garage-turned-woodshop overflows with the tools of his craft.
Every corner holds something essential, from blades that slice cleanly through wood to sanders that soften sharp edges.
While he says he tries not to spend too much time in his woodshop, he often finds himself working on projects throughout the week. Some items, like a crucifix, could take a day, while others take weeks to complete.
Since migrating to Spokane, the Pacific Northwest has become the inspiration behind many of his pieces.
He says Blue Pine wood is one of his favorites to recreate the cloudy skies of Spokane.
LP: “Dios nos dio cinco sentidos y es muy bonito dejar algo hecho con tus cinco sentidos.” (God gave us five senses and I think it’s beautiful to leave something done with your five senses.)
MCC: Perez and his daughter, who is now an architect, bounce ideas off of each other throughout the week.
Perez says he goes to local markets to showcase his art, including ones hosted by Latinos en Spokane and high schools.
He says his art is his way of leaving a legacy behind to his community.
I’m Monica Carrillo-Casas reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Monica Carrillo-Casas, Amy Radil, Eliza Billingham and Gustavo Sagrero.
I’m Owen Henderson, your host and producer. Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
