Today's headlines:
- Washington's legislature enters its final week. What are the most pressing issues?
- A WSU researcher is looking into how toxic chemicals impact future generations of rats. He’s finding a much longer trail of effects than originally thought.
- New research finds when guns are taken from people accused of domestic violence, the number of crimes they commit overall goes down.
- Washington hasn't gotten enough snow this winter. Orchard owners without senior water rights may not be able to irrigate.
- It is a big day — and week — for Inland Northwest college basketball teams that still have dreams of making their national tournaments. We’ll have a rundown of which teams will be on the court today.
- Eliza Billingham visits Spokane’s newest shelter for people who are unhoused.
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Washington’s legislature enters the final week of its 2026 session.
Most of the attention will be focused on final passage of a supplemental budget and whether Democrats will approve an income tax on the state’s wealthiest citizens. Governor Bob Ferguson says changes in the tax and where its proceeds would be distribution are acceptable to him. He says he will sign it if it passes.
Of interest to Spokane, the Senate last week approved a bill that gives Spokane’s waste-to-energy plant some extra time to develop a plan to lower its carbon emissions to satisfy the state. Spokane will be given a temporary reprieve from having to buy carbon credits to offset emissions. Those are scheduled to go into effect next year, but will be postponed if the governor signs the bill.
A WSU researcher has been looking into how toxic chemicals impact future generations of rats. SPR’s Steve Jackson reports he has published a new study that shows the impacts last for much longer than previously thought.
Earlier tests by biologist Michael Skinner involved exposing pregnant female rats to a fungicide used on fruit crops. That showed negative impacts 10 generations down the road, even though it was an ancestor that got the original exposure.
Now, using the same chemical, Skinner has traced the negative impacts to kidneys, prostate, testes and ovaries out to 20 generations after exposure.
Michael Skinner: “And in the 17th and 18th generation, we started to see significant impacts on the females’ ability to maintain the pregnancy.”
Skinner says at that point, either the mothers or pups started to die at the later stage of pregnancy.
He says previous studies have involved 50 environmental toxins, such as pesticides and fungicides, and in every case, all of them resulted in trans-generational effects.
I’m Steve Jackson reporting.
New research from the University of Washington shows when guns are taken from people accused of domestic violence…the number of crimes they commit OVERALL goes down.
Anna Marie Yanny from KNKX has more.
There are laws meant to protect domestic violence survivors by prohibiting their alleged abusers from possessing firearms. But researchers say that doesn’t always happen.
Ellyson: “If you don't have someone kind of following up on this, you're basically relying on an honor system”
That’s Alice Ellyson. She’s an assistant professor at UW. And she recently published a study that found once a unit in King County was created to enforce those firearm rules...crimes committed by alleged abusers went DOWN.
For example…instances of cyberstalking and stolen property dropped.
Ellyson: “The work of the unit essentially reduced crime by about 27 percentage points, and that even when crimes were committed, the severity of those crimes was lower.”’
To find this, Ellyson’s team reviewed over 6,000 domestic violence protection orders and arrest data from before and after the unit existed.
I'm Anna Marie Yanny, reporting
Low snowpack across Washington could impact orchards this summer. Renee Diaz from Northwest Public Broadcasting talks to a professor about how this could impact tree fruit.
There’s not enough snow in Washington this year, according to Washington’s Department of Ecology. This winter continues to be warm and wet.
Lee Kalcsits is an associate professor at Washington State University’s Tree Fruit Extension Center in Wenatchee.
He says snowpack in the Cascade Mountains typically melts gradually throughout the summer, which supplies rivers with water needed for irrigation.
KALCSITS: “ There's no areas of Washington state right now where the snowpack is, even approaching normal. Without that snow in the late summer, we run outta water.”
He says irrigation restrictions have occurred in past low-snow years.
In severe cases, orchards without senior water rights may not receive enough water.
I’m Renee Diaz reporting.
Reneé Dìaz reports for NWPB and The Wenatchee World as a Murrow News Fellow.
Several Inland Northwest college basketball teams are in action today as they chase their place in the Big Dance.
Both Gonzaga teams play in the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas. The women’s team plays Santa Clara in the league semifinals this afternoon at 2:30. The winner will play either Oregon State or Loyola Marymount in the final tomorrow.
The Zag men will play Oregon State tonight at 6. The winner will move on to the final round game against either St. Mary’s or Santa Clara.
Both Washington State teams were eliminated in the West Coast Conference tournament last weekend.
In the Big Sky tournament in Boise today, the Eastern Washington University women play Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals at 1:30. The winner will move on to the semifinals against Montana State tomorrow.
The Eastern men play tonight at 7 against Weber State. The winner moves on to play Idaho tomorrow. The Vandals upset Montana State, 78-74, last night.
The Whitworth men lost their first round game in the NCAA Division III tournament Friday to Trinity University of Texas.
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The city of Spokane recently opened its newest homeless shelter in the North Hill neighborhood.
As SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports, it’s filling a gap that has unexpectedly emerged in the city’s “scattered site” shelter model.
BILLINGHAM: The Aurora Center has been operating out of North Hill Christian Church for two weeks now. It’s a shelter for Spokanites in the LGBTQ community who don’t have homes. Seven bunk beds line a purple room in the church basement.
Cookies and fruit in the opposite hallway await neighbors, who are welcome to drop into an open house to learn about the shelter. It’s been almost the full hour, and only three people have shown up.
Staff are here from Jewels Helping Hands, which is the nonprofit operating the shelter. The pastor of the congregation is here, too.
SNOW: I am Pastor Chris Snow at North Hill Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
BILLINGHAM: The church has served as an admin building for Jewels Helping Hands since last summer. When Jewels and the city came to Snow asking if his church would host a shelter specifically for the LGBTQ community, he was immediately interested.
SNOW: “I believe it fits completely within our mission, which is to build a whole community, breaking down barriers. And we've done a lot of work over the past 10 to 12 years identifying barriers for people who want to be part of community, but are told no…Once this opportunity came up, it was a question of how can we be most supportive and most welcoming.”
The Aurora Center is part of Spokane’s scattered site model, which locates small homeless shelters in neighborhoods across the city. But this idea, which often partners with churches, can accidentally exclude queer people who need a safe place to stay.
SNOW: “A lot of these shelter systems in Spokane and actually all across our country are faith based, they are somewhat dependent upon that organization's faith and statements of faith. So there are some organizations that require attendance to a chapel service. There's requirements of being told what to believe, other places where you're told if you're gay, you're inherently evil, you're inherently flawed, you're inherently broken. And having a space like this that tells a community that has heard from too many churches that they are wrong, broken, whatever, that you are safe here, you're welcome here. And I actively make myself seen whenever I'm in the building, one to make sure people know I'm here. My two to say, hey, I'm the pastor. I want you here. I want you to feel safe here. And conveying that message is important to me.”
BILLINGHAM: The church is on the corner of Post and Wellesley. Commuters driving home probably don’t realize they’re passing a homeless shelter. Snow says neighbors haven’t taken too much notice, either.
SNOW: We received only one negative comment, which to me was somewhat surprising. And since I also live in the neighborhood, I've gotten to know the neighbors fairly well, which I think is also helpful that I'm not just someone who drives in every day.
BILLINGHAM: A neighbor did ask if the nonprofit does background checks, to see if a shelter guest has a violent or sexually violent record. They don’t, in part because most people who need shelter don’t have I-Ds.
Snow says he also doesn’t do background checks on the people driving into the neighborhood for church every weekend. The shelter has the same lack of barriers as Sunday morning services. He says, in any scenario, awareness and attention is key to keeping everyone safe.
Snow encourages more churches to consider whether hosting unhoused people is as core to their calling as hosting worship services.
SNOW: I would invite them to consider what their mission is, first and foremost, and how operating any type of shelter might fit into that mission. Most churches will preach on Sundays about housing the homeless if they're reading through certain gospels in certain texts. And I would invite them to consider how their space might be used to address the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized in our community.
BILLINGHAM: As for the people who live near a proposed shelter, he asks them to consider whether it could be not just a neutral addition, but a net gain for everyone.
SNOW: I would encourage neighbors to first talk with the leadership of whatever church organization that is considering being a site. But also not give in to those first instincts of, oh, homeless are coming into our community. That means we're going to see more trash and more crime in our neighborhood. Instead, think about, first, individuals who have no safe place to go at night too often are going to have a safe place to be. And look for the opportunities to make those connections to be community. I have already seen just this past week a number of our guests here didn't want to just sit around. They wanted to do something. So they took upon themselves to clean up around the neighborhood because they want to give back. That’s a very human thing to do that we can all identify with. You want to take care of the place you are and the place where you feel safe. And so giving back honors that.
BILLINGHAM: I’m Eliza Billingham reporting.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Steve Jackson, Anna Marie Yanny, Reneé Dìaz, and Eliza Billingham.
Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
Doug Nadvornick hosted and produced this show.
