Today's headlines:
- Transgender Idahoans hope to halt new bathroom law in federal court.
- The trial in a case challenging Idaho's strict abortion ban begins today.
- Gov. Ferguson's office warns WA agencies of another dire budget year.
- As the school year comes to a close, Idaho state superintendent says funding formula needs to change.
- Spokane Public Schools may change start times next fall.
- Spokane considers cracking down on street racing.
Plus, as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues, SPR's Murrow News Fellow Monica Carrillo-Casas brings us the story of one woman who decided to self-deport from Spokane back to her home country of Nicaragua—despite the repressive conditions imposed by the country’s government.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by James Dawson, Owen Henderson, Lauren Paterson, Doug Nadvornick, Eliza Billingham and Monica Carrillo-Casas.
Owen Henderson hosts and produces the show. Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
TRANSCRIPT
[THEME MUSIC]
OWEN HENDERSON: From Spokane Public Radio, it’s SPR News Today.
I’m Owen Henderson. It’s Monday, June 8, 2026.
On today’s show, two Idaho bans are being tested in court. Federal judges are set to weigh in on the state’s latest transgender bathroom law, as well as its abortion restrictions.
Plus, Spokane could see new regulations meant to prevent street racing.
And as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown continues, we hear the story of one woman who decided to self-deport from Spokane back to her home country of Nicaragua—despite the repressive conditions imposed by the country’s government.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
A federal judge will soon decide if Idaho’s latest bathroom ban can take effect at the start of next month.
The law makes it a criminal offense for transgender individuals to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, both in public buildings and private businesses.
ACLU of Idaho attorney Emily Croston represents several plaintiffs.
EMILY CROSTON: “We know that when folks are not able to access restrooms they stop going in public. They’re not able to be in public safely and that impacts the lives of every trans person who is in Idaho.”
OH: Croston argues the law is too vague and constitutionally unenforceable.
Police groups told lawmakers they had similar concerns during public hearings held earlier this year.
And the federal judge seemed skeptical during oral arguments Friday, repeatedly questioning the state’s lawyers over how enforcement would work.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office acknowledges the ban will be difficult to enforce but says that means trans people will be more likely to avoid criminal charges.
Plaintiffs must show they’re likely to win the case on the merits for a court to stop a law from taking effect.
The judge’s opinion is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
— — —
Another federal judge will hear opening arguments today in a challenge to Idaho’s abortion ban.
A doctor specializing in high-risk pregnancies is suing the state, arguing she must be allowed to offer abortion care to patients with serious medical concerns without fearing prosecution.
Idaho currently bans almost all abortions, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest or life-threatening pregnancies.
Doctors who provide abortion outside of those cases can face felony charges and up to five years in prison, as well as losing their medical licenses.
The state Attorney General’s Office argues the constitution doesn’t guarantee a right to abortion.
The trial is expected to run until Friday.
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Washington Governor Bob Ferguson’s office is warning agencies the state is approaching “what will likely be the most challenging budget any of us has yet faced.”
The governor’s budget director wrote to agency heads Friday, saying forecasts show there likely won’t be enough revenue to maintain all current programs, let alone expand them.
And the state won’t see the revenue of its new income tax on high earners until 2029.
The governor is asking agencies to look for potential spending cuts in places where Washington provides services that most states don’t or where it expanded programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This will be the third year in a row state lawmakers have faced a budget deficit.
— — —
As the school year comes to a close, districts are preparing next year’s budgets. Lauren Paterson reports on how Idaho could change the way schools are funded.
LAUREN PATERSON: School funding in Idaho is based mostly on average daily attendance of students, rather than overall enrollment.
Jennifer Swindell is the managing editor of Idaho Education News, and says policies have changed over the decades she’s watched education in the state.
SWINDELL: “We have 77 charter schools in Idaho right now, and 25 years ago, we had none. Charters are a choice, hybrid learning’s a choice.”
LP: Swindell says the current formula isn’t set up for the post-pandemic world of online learning and parents who want to homeschool part time.
And Idaho State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield agrees. She started a listening session tour that kicked off in Boise with events planned around the state to hear from the public about the changes they want in Idaho’s school funding formula.
For Boise State Public Radio News, I’m Lauren Paterson.
OH: The tour stops in Coeur d’Alene June 18, and there’s a virtual meeting June 25.
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School start times may change in Spokane Public Schools next year.
Superintendent Adam Swinyard says the district is studying the question as it makes the transition to operating its own bus system.
Currently, high school begins the day at 8, elementary school at 8:30 and middle school at 9.
Swinyard says the district is investigating whether that’s the right order.
ADAM SWINYARD: “There is pediatric research that would suggest that older kids need to sleep longer, that having younger kids should maybe go earlier in the morning. That's something that a work group that we've had up and going throughout this last school year really evaluated closely, just all the variables that can be considered.”
OH: Swinyard says the district is also trying to determine the most cost-effective timing for bus arrivals and departures.
The school board is scheduled to study the issue this summer and decide about school start times in the fall.
No changes would take effect until the fall of 2027.
— — —
Spokane could decide tonight [MON] to start cracking down on street racing.
SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: Councilmember Paul Dillon has led Spokane’s effort to deter high speed racing on city streets.
PAUL DILLON: “Washington State is one of the top ten states for street racing. And so while the legislature has been trying to look at some different levers to pull, these are some things that I think that we can do locally that will make a difference.”
EB: Dillon’s proposed ordinance defines street racing as excessive speeding for the sake of contest, drifting, or making loud noises.
It would also make racing a traffic infraction with a 500-dollar fine on the first offense, 800-dollar fine on the second, and then 1500-dollar fine on third and subsequent offenses.
Any violation after the third offense would be a gross misdemeanor.
It’s the registered owner of the vehicle who would be charged.
Spokane City Council is set to vote on the proposal tonight [MON].
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: Since President Donald Trump took office, many people have decided to self-deport, fearing detainment or the separation of their families.
But returning to their home countries can have repercussions.
SPR’s Murrow News Fellow Monica Carrillo-Casas has more.
MONICA CARRILLO-CASAS: Fatima spent about 20 days in 2022 traveling from Nicaragua to the U.S. southern border, crossing the Rio Grande on the final stretch.
After turning herself in to Border Patrol, she was held for several days before being cleared to apply for asylum.
But just six months ago, Fatima self-deported back to Nicaragua.
She feared being detained and separated from her 1-year-old. She had a pending asylum case when she left.
We’re only using Fatima’s first name because of the ongoing conflict in her home country and repression by the Nicaraguan government.
FATIMA: “Sometimes you just want to get ahead, especially when you have kids, but we didn’t get that opportunity with everything going on under that administration.”
MCC: Fatima’s journey seeking safety came after years of living under the rule of President Daniel Ortega.
In 2018, protests erupted across Nicaragua over proposed changes to the country’s social security system.
The Nicaraguan government viewed the demonstrations as a threat to its authority and responded with a violent crackdown.
More than 300 protestors were killed. Another 2,000 were injured.
Since then, hundreds of thousands have fled the country. Some have also been exiled, including activists, nuns, bishops and journalists.
Most who fled now reside in Costa Rica, although some have also made their way to the United States and Spain.
SERENA COSGROVE: “The repression continues. It's like this eerie silence. What the Nicaraguan government has been doing is taking away Nicaraguans citizenship, so that, basically, it leaves people without a country.”
MCC: That was Serena Cosgrove, an international studies professor at Seattle University.
Cosgrove often visited Nicaragua as part of a partnership with one of its colleges, Central American University.
The partnership ended in 2023 after the Nicaraguan government accused its university of supporting “terrorism” tied to the 2018 protests.
Cosgrove last visited in 2019 as a guest speaker on global poverty.
She says she stayed in the university’s on-campus housing, where she witnessed firsthand the residents’ fear.
SC: “I remember waking up in the middle of the night because I had heard a coconut drop outside my window and realizing like, ‘Oh my goodness, maybe the police or the paramilitary youth are coming in to make arrests. And I remember that was at two or three in the morning, and I got up, and then a whole number of other people staying at this residence were also up. Like, I wasn't the only one having this worry.”
MCC: And Cosgrove says Nicaragua isn’t the only Latin American country seeing this kind of repression.
SC: “El Salvador is a really interesting case, because Nayib Bukele, the president there, he has over 100,000 young men imprisoned right now because of supposed gang connections. The thing that you got to be really careful with is, yeah, nobody wants a gang member like living next door to them, but just because someone has a tattoo doesn't mean that they need to go to prison. And then what happens is, once those, you know, guys get put in prison that, you know, not a lot of justice being done.”
MCC: In Venezuela similar political repression was happening under President Nicolas Maduro before the Trump administration seized him and brought him to the U.S. to face trial.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country.
In El Salvador, more than a million have left.
Now, under the Trump Administration, Cosgrove says cases like Fatima’s reflect broader shifts affecting migrants who now face possible detainment despite ongoing immigration cases and possible deportations to repressive conditions back home.
SC: “They're literally in between a rock and a hard spot. Because you're choosing between being scared in one place versus being scared in another place.”
MCC: Fatima says she’s grateful to be with her family again, but for now, she says she doesn’t see any change coming to her home country.
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 James Dawson, Lauren Paterson, Doug Nadvornick, Eliza Billingham, Monica Carrillo-Casas and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer. Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
