Today's headlines:
- Spokane City Council is set to consider a measure to enshrine a "right to cooling" for renters.
- Crews make progress in containing the Kartar, Gold Run and Upriver Fires.
- USFS looks to triple timber coming from the Blue Mountains.
- Center for Biological Diversity pushes feds to protect two threatened INW wildflower species.
- NW's yanked observatories to return to ocean after Trump administration backs down.
- Cantwell- and Baumgartner-backed bill meant to make college sports fairer advances.
- US men advance to the World Cup knockout stage while Team Egypt leads its group.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Eliza Billingham, Owen Henderson, April Ehrlich, Rachel Sun, John Ryan, Doug Nadvornick and Izzy Ross.
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 Monday, June 22, 2026.
On today’s show, exactly whose responsibility is it to keep rental homes cool in the summer: landlords’ or tenants’? Spokane City Council is set to consider the issue tonight.
Plus, the U.S. Forest Service has shown some local leaders a proposal to more than triple the timber that could come from the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.
But could the area’s infrastructure actually handle that big of a logging increase?
And a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including two of Washington’s Congressional delegation, is pushing ahead with a bill meant to make college sports fairer.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Spokane is trying to hammer out who is responsible for keeping tenants cool—landlords or the renters themselves?
SPR’s Eliza Billingham reports.
ELIZA BILLINGHAM: Spokane’s proposed “right to cooling” ordinance would require landlords to install cooling mechanisms in all residential properties by 2031.
In the meantime, landlords would need to allow tenants to install portable cooling devices so their bedrooms don’t exceed 80 degrees.
Supporters say this would expand the city’s habitability standards and ensure cooling is as essential as heat.
Opponents include the Rental Housing Association of Washington, Downtown Spokane Partnership, Spokane Homebuilders Association, Washington Multi-Family Housing Association, Spokane Realtors and various private realty groups.
They say this could make housing more expensive, since most of the city’s affordable housing stock was built before 1980 and doesn’t have the proper electrical work to easily add additional cooling.
They also point to a newly minted Washington law that already gives tenants the right to provide portable electronic air conditioners.
City Council is set to hear the first reading of the “right to cooling” ordinance tonight and put it to a vote next week.
I’m Eliza Billingham, reporting.
— — —
OH: Crews are steadily making progress to contain three fires burning across the Inland Northwest.
The Kartar Fire, near Lake Omak on the Colville Reservation, has burned nearly 12,000 acres since it ignited Tuesday.
But officials reported last night that it’s 40% contained.
Shoshone County’s Gold Run Fire and Spokane County’s Upriver Fire are both now a bit bigger than 210 acres and both are now three-quarters contained.
Evacuation levels for the Upriver Fire have now all been downgraded to Level 1.
— — —
The federal government will soon propose ramping up logging in the Blue Mountains area in Oregon and Washington.
Oregon Public Broadcasting's April Ehrlich reports.
APRIL EHRLICH: The U.S. Forest Service hasn't yet published its proposal for the three national forests in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington.
But it shared a draft with some local leaders.
That proposal includes more than tripling the amount of timber that can come out of the Umatilla, Malheur and Wallowa-Whitman national forests.
Mark Webb is executive director of the nonprofit Blue Mountains Forest Partners, which coordinates between loggers and environmentalists.
He doubts those lofty logging goals
MARK WEBB: “In part because the local mill infrastructure can't handle that volume. And it's unlikely that other mills would make the investments to tool up for that.”
AE: Webb also questions whether the forest service has enough staff.
Still, some county leaders hope that these proposed changes might convince mills to expand their capacity—and create more jobs.
I’m April Ehrlich, reporting.
— — —
OH: The Center for Biological Diversity is asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add two Inland Northwest wildflowers to the Endangered Species List.
Gwendolyn McManus works in the organization’s endangered species program.
She says most of the remaining habitat for rough goldenweed and Palouse goldenweed is on small sections of private land.
GWENDOLYN McMANUS: “They're only found in the bunchgrass prairies of the Pacific Northwest, most of which has been lost because it was converted to agriculture.”
OH: McManus says because of federal funding cuts, it could take over a decade for them to be added to the endangered species list.
However, the petition also increases awareness, which she says could help those wildflowers.
McManus says the public can help protect the wildflowers by cleaning their gear before hiking native prairie.
That can prevent the spread of invasive plant seeds like cheatgrass and Russian Thistle.
— — —
The Trump administration is reversing course on its efforts to shut down a network of ocean research stations, including off the Northwest coast.
Researchers were loading the last of six high-tech data collection buoys into a truck in Newport, Ore., Thursday when they got the news.
The stations off Washington’s coast had already been pulled.
Fishermen, who use the weather and condition data collected by the buoys, say the network’s shutdown made their work less safe.
The National Science Foundation says it’s currently planning how to redeploy the stations.
Researchers say that could take several months, leaving large gaps in the data the buoys collect on how oceans are responding to climate change.
— — —
Legislation meant to make college sports more equitable is gaining momentum in Congress.
A Senate committee late last week approved the Protect College Sports Act.
The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell.
Eastern Washington GOP Congressman Michael Baumgartner sponsors the U.S. House version of the measure.
MICHAEL BAUMGARTNER: “It's a system that really can't govern itself, and so it really needs Congress to step in. But I just want to make sure that if there is reform, that it's good for schools like Gonzaga, Eastern Washington University, and Washington State University, and not just solving the problems of Alabama, Michigan, and Ohio State.”
OH: Baumgartner says the legislation is designed to stop the richest programs from creating a system where they get all the media attention and money.
The proposal would also require athletic programs to maintain current levels of rosters and scholarships for women’s and Olympic sports.
One issue the bill doesn’t address: whether college athletes should be considered school employees in the future.
The two biggest college athletic conferences, the SEC and Big Ten, both say they oppose the bill in its current form.
The measure now heads to the Senate floor. The House has yet to act on its version of the legislation.
— — —
The Egyptian National Team currently leads its group in the World Cup after a 3-1 victory over New Zealand yesterday—meaning the Pharaohs may extend their stay in Spokane as the tournament continues.
The U.S. men’s national team is moving on to the next round after defeating Australia Friday 2-0 before a sold-out crowd at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Team USA fan Paolo Hugo was one of thousands of fans in the stadium district for the game.
PAOLO HUGO: “Feeling great! Feeling optimistic. I think we can take it all the way.” [You think we can take it all the way?] “We can take it all the way, yeah, absolutely.”
OH: Australia fan Ishan Shrestha took the loss in stride.
ISHAN SHRESTHA: “Heading into this, we felt confident. Two bad goals at the start of the first half, and then it was kind of downhill from there, so… You know, it is what it is.”
OH: The next game for Team USA is against Turkey Thursday in Los Angeles.
Egypt’s next game is Friday against Iran in Seattle.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Eliza Billingham, April Ehrlich, Rachel Sun, John Ryan, Doug Nadvornick, Izzy Ross and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
