Today's headlines:
- Washington school districts face risk coverage rate hikes over sex abuse claim payouts.
- Spokane County wants to restart its inmate work crew program, but can potential hosts afford the proposed fee increase?
- A Washington man is being held pre-trial in connection with an alleged plan to attack the White House.
- West Plains residents are beginning to schedule PFAS testing for wells.
- Kootenai Electric Cooperative will start service again in parts of Spokane County.
- Avista wants to raise its rates; AG Nick Brown says it doesn't need the extra money.
- Idaho faces another tough budget year.
- SCRAPS will up its adoption fees to combat rising food, medical costs for its animals.
- NWS issues a Fire Weather Watch for eastern, central WA.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Noel Gasca, Eliza Billingham, Scott Greenstone, Owen Henderson and James Dawson.
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, June 24, 2026.
On today’s show, Washington school districts are seeing their insurance rates for risk management jump. Now, the head of a risk management pool for districts is calling on the state to reform how sexual abuse lawsuits are paid out.
Plus, a Washington man appeared in federal court this week. The FBI alleges he was part of a plot to attack the UFC fight on the White House lawn this month.
And Washington isn’t the only state looking to tighten its budget next year. Idaho’s governor is asking agencies to keep spending requests flat for a second year in a row.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Some school districts in Washington will have to pay an average of 45% more in risk coverage.
As KUOW’s Noel Gasca reports, the rate increases are a result of payouts tied to sex abuse cases.
NOEL GASCA: In 2019, the state legislature changed its statute of limitation laws for sexual abuse.
Deborah Callahan is the CEO of the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool, which provides risk coverage to about 130 districts.
She says since then there have been new abuse claims dating back four decades.
DEBORAH CALLAHAN: “It’s our districts that have to use money that they receive from the state that would normally be going into the classroom for kiddos, that they have to send to us now because the cost of these claims are going up.”
NG: The amount a district could be paying into the pool varies, according to Callahan, but a large district could now have to pay millions.
Instead, she’d like to see the state establish its own victim compensation fund.
I’m Noel Gasca in Seattle.
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OH: Spokane County is trying to restart its work crew program for inmates after it cut the arrangement last budget season.
But to cover the costs of transportation and supervision, Detention Services says it needs to hike the fee from $385 a day per crew to $2,000.
Most potential hosts have told Lieutenant Jason Robison that’s too expensive.
JASON ROBISON: “So when you start looking at a crew of six or seven or eight individuals, but you divide that into $2000 a day, that’s about $30-40 per person per hour. That’s very expensive for unskilled labor.”
OH: Robison told County Commissioners this week that the Spokane County Fair & Expo will be able to pay for a work crew for multiple weeks.
But he says it’s difficult to find consistent opportunities year-round.
The Safe and Healthy Task Force recently included vocational training and re-entry support in its recommendations for a more successful detention and rehabilitation system.
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A Washington man is being held pending trial in connection with a plot to attack the White House on the president’s birthday.
KUOW’s Scott Greenstone has more.
SCOTT GREENSTONE: 21-year-old Belfair resident William Lee Falkner appeared in federal court in Tacoma Monday.
The FBI suspects he was part of an online conspiracy to attack the White House on June 14th during a televised UFC fight.
Court documents say Falkner messaged more than a dozen co-conspirators across the country on the app Telegram.
They allegedly planned to fly drones with explosives into the event, shoot Republican lawmakers, and possibly kill the president.
No attack ever took place after a member of the group was arrested in Ohio. Falkner messaged someone on Instagram that quote- “We all felt something was going wrong.”
Falkner’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to KUOW’s inquiry. No trial date has been set.
I’m Scott Greenstone in Seattle.
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OH: Some Spokane West Plains residents are beginning to schedule PFAS testing for their wells.
GSI Environmental, the consultant on the Spokane Airport “forever chemical” cleanup, began calling households in the interim action area this week to set up the free testing.
The zone sits between South Hayford Road, Thorpe Road, the Spokane River and Hangman Creek.
Washington’s Ecology Department says if testing shows PFAS levels are above safe drinking water standards, households are entitled to well-head treatment systems or connection to city water.
The contamination and groundwater are constantly moving, so Ecology recommends getting wells tested even if they’ve been tested before.
If you’re in the affected area and haven’t completed a survey to sign up for testing, you can visit G-E-G water dot com.
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Kootenai Electric Cooperative will start offering service again in parts of Spokane County.
County engineer Matt Zarecor told commissioners yesterday that the cooperative’s previous franchise contract had expired in 2020.
MATT ZARECOR: “It’s where you would expect—it’s along our border with Idaho. I’m assuming these are places where it’s more efficient for Kootenai Electric to serve than our local utility providers.”
OH: Commissioners will consider the final contract in the coming weeks.
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Avista Utilities has asked Washington to let it increase electric and gas rates by 25% and 10% for most customers over the next four years.
The state Attorney General’s Office says Avista doesn’t need the extra money.
The AG’s office yesterday filed with the state Utilities and Transportation Commission, arguing the rate increases are excessive.
The utility says it needs the increases to pay for wildfire risk reductions and to comply with Washington’s clean energy mandates.
AG Nick Brown says Avista should use some of the money it saves for shareholder dividends rather than increasing customer rates.
We should note that Avista is a financial supporter of SPR.
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As in Washington, Idaho seems to be looking down the barrel of another tight budget year.
James Dawson explains.
JAMES DAWSON: A memo sent to state agencies last month tells directors not to request any new funding without prior approval.
It’s the second year in a row the governor’s office has directed departments to submit so-called “maintenance budgets” despite saying the state’s economy is strong.
Senate Democratic Leader Melissa Wintrow, who sits on the legislature’s budget committee, says another year of flat spending will further erode essential government services.
MELISSA WINTROW: “While the legislature has been cutting income taxes so drastically, it’s just left the very basics that we need and rely on in the lurch.”
JD: Legislative Republicans cut income taxes five years in a row beginning in 2021, forgoing $4 billion in revenue over that time according to the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy.
If there’s any additional tax revenue for the fiscal year, Gov. Little plans to prioritize state employee raises, fire suppression and education.
James Dawson, Boise State Public Radio News.
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OH: Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services will up its adoption fees starting in August.
Executive director Ronnie Schlabs says SCRAPS is struggling to cover the cost of food for the dogs and cats in its care.
SCHLABS: “SCRAPS historically has relied on donations from the community. Those are getting less the last several months just because people are feeling the economy, everybody's budgets are tight, you know, fuel prices skyrocketed. And then we have to go out and buy additional food to someone to make sure they almost can eat. No matter what, at the end of the day, we got to feed them.”
OH: Puppy and dog adoptions will go up by $25, kitten adoptions will go up by $30 dollars, and adult cat adoptions by $10.
Schlabs has also signed an agreement with a large pet food supplier to buy food at an extremely reduced price.
And SCRAPS will also impose a $2 administrative fee for most transactions.
Together, Schlabs expects the changes to generate roughly a million dollars in new revenue, which he says will also help cover rising medical costs.
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Officials report the Garred Road Fire near Grand Coulee is now 27% contained.
State Routes 2 and 17 have reopened in the area, though one road in Sun Lake State Park is still closed.
Evacuation orders have been lowered to Level 1.
The brush fire has burned about 3,400 acres since it was discovered Sunday.
The National Interagency Fire Center reports the fire was human-caused and currently threatens about 165 structures, though none have been destroyed so far.
The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for much of eastern and central Washington tomorrow.
Regions including the Spokane Area, Palouse, Columbia Basin, Colville Reservation and Okanogan Valley will see windier conditions and low humidity.
That means any new or ongoing fires could spread more quickly.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Noel Gasca, Eliza Billingham, Scott Greenstone, James Dawson and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
