Today's headlines:
- 9 people still unaccounted for after Longview industrial implosion leaves at least 1 dead.
- NW immigrants scramble after rule change means green card applicants may have to leave the U.S.
- DCYF can't deny foster parent licenses based on religious views on LGBTQ issues, per a new settlement.
- WA and ID McClatchy journalists strike over wages, AI.
- WA land managers warn of high fire danger ahead of likely hotter-than-average summer.
- WDFW to kill 1 wolf over livestock attacks.
And we continue our pre-World Cup series. Freddy Monares from partner station KNKX takes a deep dive on why there's a new soccer ball design for each tournament and how the new designs change how the ball plays.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Amanda Linares, Gustavo Sagrero, Owen Henderson, Lauren Gallup, Doug Nadvornick and Freddy Monares.
Owen Henderson hosts and produces the show.
TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
OWEN HENDERSON: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Owen Henderson. It’s Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
On today’s show, recovery operations resume after an industrial accident yesterday at a paper mill in Southwest Washington killed one person and injured at least 10 more.
Plus, thousands of immigrants across the Northwest may now have to leave the U.S. to apply for green cards.
And we continue our pre-World Cup series with a deep dive on why there’s a new soccer ball design for each tournament and how the new designs change how the ball plays.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Recovery operations for the nine people still missing after a chemical tank ruptured in Southwest Washington will resume today.
Officials say crews are working to stabilize the tank and reinforce its structure before making their way further into the Nippon paper mill in Longview.
Cowlitz County Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein spoke to reporters last night.
SCOTT GOLDSTEIN: “We had folks in firefighting gear make entry and then we had folks in hazmat suits make entry and did checks into areas that were dangerous, extremely dangerous. So as I say, there's no belief of rescues that still need to be made.”
OH: Tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous ‘white liquor’ spilled out of the paper mill yesterday.
One person has died and several others were injured.
Officials say there is no ongoing threat to the public.
The cause of the rupture is still under investigation.
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Thousands of immigrants across the Northwest could be affected by new rules at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
As KUOW’s Gustavo Sagrero reports, a policy change indicates many people will now need to leave the country to apply for permanent residency.
GUSTAVO SAGRERO: Immigration attorney Karol Brown was swamped Monday with messages from her clients in the Seattle area.
Many are looking to get green cards through marriage, or a work visa, and had the same lingering questions about how the policy change would affect them—and if they could stay.
KARA BROWN: “‘Is it still available? Is it still possible?’ The confusion, the uncertainty, the upset is real 'cause it's... You're, you're impacting people's lives.”
GS: The new policy from USCIS says the original intent of the law is for people to apply for green cards at a consulate abroad and applications from within the U.S. should only be considered under extraordinary circumstances.
Brown says this upends how the process has worked for decades and will require people to uproot their lives.
A legal challenge is expected.
I'm Gustavo Sagrero reporting.
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OH: Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families can no longer deny prospective foster parents a license solely because of their religious beliefs, including on LGBTQ issues.
Shane and Jennifer DeGross’s foster parent license wasn’t renewed in 2022 because they wouldn’t comply with a requirement to use foster kids’ pronouns and chosen names.
The DeGrosses sued state officials in 2024, alleging the rule violated their First Amendment rights. DCYF settled the federal suit last week.
As part of the agreement, the agency can no longer require foster parents to use specific language about sexuality or gender identity if it conflicts with sincerely held religious beliefs.
DCYF also can’t disqualify foster parents from being considered for specific placements based on the parents’ religious beliefs on marriage, gender or sexuality.
However, the settlement still allows the agency to remove kids from homes or decline to place them in homes based on their specific needs—including with regard to sexuality or gender identity.
Attorneys for the DeGrosses called the agreement a “win-win.”
DCYF says it still allows the agency to ensure LGBTQ youth are placed in safe and supportive environments.
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A group of Washington and Idaho journalists walked off the job yesterday.
They work for The Tacoma News Tribune, The Bellingham Herald, The Olympian, The Tri-City Herald and the Idaho Statesman, all represented by The Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild.
That union held a one-day strike over wages and artificial intelligence use.
Courtney Scott is the Guild’s executive officer.
COURTNEY SCOTT: “We want the community to know is if you want good quality local news about what is happening in your cities, in, in, in the government, right? In your, in your state governments, in your local governments, in your federal government, there has to be wages to keep people in these roles.”
OH: All the journalists on strike work for local newspapers owned by McClatchy Media.
The union has been bargaining with McClatchy for over a year, but the journalists say the company won’t budge on wages.
The union says the company isn’t bargaining in good faith because it isn’t putting decision-makers at the bargaining table.
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The National Weather Service says the Northwest has the best chance among all U.S. regions of having a hotter-than-average summer, so land managers are warning of increased fire danger.
Washington Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove says over the Memorial Day weekend, his agency’s crews responded to about 20 wildfires—most human-caused.
The Department of Natural Resources has classified much of central and south central Washington as a high fire risk.
Much of eastern and northeast Washington are still in the moderate range.
The Spokane and Colville Tribal councils have already decided to ban fireworks this summer.
Cody Desautel is the executive director of the Confederated Colville Tribes.
CODY DESAUTEL: “Largely what we've heard from our membership is support for it. I think they recognize a potentially bad season on the horizon. And so what we've heard so far is good decision. We're glad you did it now.”
OH: Desautel says tribal members are acutely aware of high fire danger, in part because nearly a million acres of tribal land has burned during the last decade.
— — —
Washington Fish and Wildlife officials will kill one wolf north of Colville after repeated livestock attacks.
Fish and Wildlife staff investigated two injured calves and a calf death that occurred within two days last week.
Because the attacks happened within a short period and nonlethal deterrents were already in place, the situation meets the requirements for a lethal removal of a wolf.
The Aladdin Valley in Stevens County is home to several wolf packs, so officials are working to determine which pack was responsible.
Fish and Wildlife says removing one wolf won’t jeopardize wolf recovery in Eastern Washington.
And officials say with the overlap of wolf territory and limited grazing lands, there may be further conflict between livestock and wolves this summer.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
Every World Cup has featured a new soccer ball designed by Adidas that draws reactions from fans and players: everything from disdain to admiration.
A Washington physics professor has studied each soccer ball’s aerodynamics since 2010.
KNKX reporter Freddy Monares reports on how these changes can affect the game, and what’s different about this year’s ball.
FREDDY MONARES: Sports physicist John Goff is at the University of Puget Sound’s soccer field in Tacoma. He’s a visiting professor there, and he’s rummaging through a trash bag filled with FIFA World Cup soccer balls.
JOHN GOFF: “Let's see. We've got Al Rihla that was in Qatar from 2022 and this is the current one, the Trionda.”
FM: Goff has studied how these soccer balls move when they’re kicked since the 2010 World Cup.
He says that ball's surface was too smooth, making its movement unpredictable and hard for goal keepers to track. Like with this point scored against Denmark by Japan.
[ANNOUNCER: “What a strike from Keisuke Honda. That’s probably the best free kick we’ve seen in the FIFA World Cup of 2010.”]
FM: Goff says there wasn’t that much “spin,” or rotation, on that kick. That, combined with the ball’s smoothness caused it to lose speed more than you’d expect.
JG: “And it dropped a little bit on the goalkeeper, and who missed it.”
FM: During those games, players openly criticized the ball’s design, including U.S. men’s backup keeper Marcus Hahnemann. He retired from the Seattle Sounders in 2014.
MARCUS HAHNEMANN: “That one was maybe one of the worst balls I ever played with.”
FM: Players can kick a soccer ball in a particular way that makes it curve left or right in midflight—and when they tried to do that…
MH: “... Sometimes it would go the opposite direction. It just defies physics.”
FM: The 2010 World Cup ball is perhaps the most universally panned. But there have been others people didn’t love, such as the one used during the 2002 games that players said was “too light.”
All this raises the question: why change the ball each world cup? Why not just stick to one that works?
Mike Woitalla is the executive editor at Soccer America, an online publication that covers all things soccer. And he has a theory.
MIKE WOITALLA: “I think they basically want to ramp up the conversation about the ball, because they're trying to sell it.”
FM: This year’s official World Cup match ball goes for $170 on Adidas’ website.
That being said, Woitalla can think of at least one big positive improvement to the world cup ball that changed the game. That was during the 1986 matches.
Adidas switched from leather to a synthetic material that didn’t get heavy from absorbing water.
MW: “I think that was technology that did make a difference, and, of course, made it safer… since this is a sport where people head the ball.”
FM: Hahnemann, the retired keeper, says he does think Adidas is trying to make the game better.
MH: “I don't know if they do, but that's their idea, right? And, you know, they're trying to keep advancing the game.”
FM: Officials with Adidas say they change the ball in part because as soccer evolves, they think the equipment should too.
Solene Stormann helped design the ball for Adidas. She says it’s also an important symbol for each tournament.
SOLENE STORMANN: “And for us, it's also important that every World Cup gets also seen in that way, and that every one carries an own individual story and an own individual signature to it.”
FM: This year’s ball features graphics for the three host countries: a blue star for the U.S., a red maple leaf for Canada and a green eagle for Mexico.
[SOUND OF BALL BEING KICKED]
Back at the soccer field in Tacoma, Physics professor John Goff invited a few University of Puget Sound soccer players to test out this year’s World Cup ball.
JG: “Yeah.. that had a good little back spin on it.”
FM: Goff doesn’t think this year’s ball is going to be the fiasco the 2010 ball was. He says its surface is rougher than its predecessors, which could cause some minor drag.
JG: “My colleagues and I are very interested to see if these balls travel a little less than they have in the past.”
FM: But generally he says, it’s a good, stable ball.
In Tacoma, I’m Freddy Monares.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Amanda Linares, Gustavo Sagrero, Lauren Gallup, Doug Nadvornick, Freddy Monares and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
