Today's headlines:
- National Weather Service issues red flag warnings for much of eastern and central Washington.
- Kootenai County’s coroner is pushing the north Idaho county to consider a total ban on kratom sales.
- Idaho once again has one of the lowest SNAP payment error rates in the country, while Washington could soon be penalized for its rate.
- Washington State University is using basketball to get tribal youth interested in health sciences careers.
- Gonzaga kinesiology lecturer David Smith travels to Spain to compete at the Gay Games, the world’s largest LGBTQ sporting event.
- One of Spokane’s arterial bridges, the Maple Street bridge, will reopen to cars tonight at 8 pm. But from 4 to 6 this afternoon, people are welcome to walk, bike, or roll on the new pavement in a special pedestrian-centric moment.
- The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights celebrates its 30th anniversary and remembers its namesake Bill Wassmuth, a late Coeur d’Alene priest who confronted the Aryan Nations Church.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Eliza Billingham and Doug Nadvornick.
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 Thursday, June 25, 2026.
On today’s show, one local official is pushing Idaho’s third most populous county not to put limited restrictions on kratom: He wants Kootenai County to ban selling the federally unregulated substance entirely.
Plus, Washington State University is capitalizing on the basketball fever that comes with Spokane’s annual Hoopfest, hoping to get tribal youth interested in health sciences careers.
And this weekend is an event some athletes call the Gay Olympics. One Spokane swimmer is heading to Spain to compete with athletes from around the globe during the world’s largest LGBTQ sports event.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings for a large swath of eastern and central Washington this afternoon and evening.
The Spokane Area, Columbia Basin, Palouse, Snake River, Central Cascades Foothills, Okanogan Valley and Colville Reservation will all see windy and dry conditions today—meaning any fires could spread rapidly.
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Kootenai County’s coroner is pushing the county to consider a total ban on kratom sales.
Dr. Duke Johnson says the federally unregulated substance poses too much of a risk for consumers, and is contributing to a rising number of deaths.
DUKE JOHNSON: “We had three deaths in 2021, where kratom was associated, one in 22, one in 23, two in 24, and then four deaths in 2025… And I've also spoken with drug rehab groups from our county who said that the dependency upon kratom has dominated as far as what they're treating now for drug addictions.”
OH: Kootenai County was previously exploring some age and chemical concentration limits to locally control kratom.
Johnson told County Commissioners this week only a total ban on kratom sales makes a difference, citing a national study.
DJ: “In the states that had regulations to try to control kratom, there was no difference in hospitalizations, overdoses, or deaths compared to those states who had no regulations whatsoever…There was a substantial reduction when it was banned.”
OH: Commissioners say all the cities within Kootenai County would need to support a total ban for it to be feasible.
They plan to circulate Johnson’s information to get feedback and create a consistent, countywide policy.
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Idaho has once again scored one of the nation’s lowest food benefit error rates—while Washington sits just above a new threshold for financial penalties.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wednesday released SNAP over- and underpayment data for 2025.
Idaho’s combined 3.85% payment error rate was the second lowest in the US. Washington’s rate last year was 6.98%.
Previously, the federal government paid for all of the food benefits and half the administrative costs.
Starting in October 2027, states that go over a new 6% error threshold will have to chip in for the food benefits.
The higher the error rate, the more the state will have to pay for food benefits.
The nationwide error rate was 10.62%.
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Spokane will turn its attention to basketball this weekend with Hoopfest, and Washington State University is taking advantage.
Its Native American Health Sciences program yesterday started its first Many Medicines Basketball Camp.
Director Jerry Crowshoe says faculty members showed students how doctors, nurses and other providers work together to help basketball players.
JERRY CROWSHOE: “Doctors teach about anatomy and muscle building. Nursing teaches about injury prevention, speech and hearing about brain trauma. Pharmacy about good uses and bad uses of Tylenol, correct ways and proper ways to do those, vitamins and stuff. So every college is contributing to the intellectual component of basketball.”
OH: Then the students went to the gym at Shaw Middle School for hoops instruction from local coaches.
JC: “We're hoping to start bringing these clinics like this basketball clinic to tribal communities, rural communities, so doing volleyball camps in Yakima. You know, we'd love to do these camps in Nez Perce, we'd love to do these camps in Umatilla. And rather than try to bring kids in, we want to take this camp and these messages out to communities.”
OH: The camp continues this afternoon. Nearly a hundred students are participating.
This year, it replaces an annual two-week health sciences session, which drew far fewer students.
Many of the campers will participate in this weekend’s three-on-three basketball tournament in downtown Spokane.
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This weekend, one Spokanite will compete against swimmers from around the globe in the Gay Games in Valencia, Spain.
Formerly known as the “Gay Olympics,” the games are the world’s largest LGBTQ sporting event.
Every four years, athletes of all sexualities and gender identities can compete in sports from track and fencing to rugby and powerlifting.
Gonzaga Kinesiology lecturer David Smith’s first Games were in 2010 in Cologne, Germany.
He says he’s excited to compete again—even against the backdrop of a global rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment.
DAVID SMITH: “Participating in these kind of events, especially now, it's an act of—I call it an act of liberation, an act of resistance, simply by doing sport.”
OH: Smith says the point of the games is inclusion—anyone can compete as their authentic self.
But some sports’ sanctioning bodies ban transgender women from competing, and some countries don’t recognize all gender identities.
So Smith says the Gay Games finds workarounds—like mixed-gender and non-binary-specific competitions—wherever possible.
DS: “This is where Gay Games and events like that can really help to change and influence that worldwide sport policy and sport development on that front to show them, ‘Hey, here's what you're trying to do because of fear and ignorance and misinformation.’ Well, let's actually show you how it's done.”
OH: He says it’s also an opportunity to show the world that sports aren’t only for straight people.
Smith says competing in an inclusive environment can be an opportunity for queer athletes to claim their place in an arena that’s often hostile to their presence.
The Gay Games run June 27 to July 4.
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One of Spokane’s arterial bridges, the Maple Street bridge, will reopen to cars tonight at 8 o’clock after a lengthy grind and overlay process.
But from 4 to 6 this afternoon, people are welcome to walk, bike, or roll on the new pavement in an unusual human-centric moment.
Mayor Lisa Brown says this was a last-minute idea to open up a bridge that isn’t always popular with pedestrians.
LISA BROWN: “It’s kind of a little bit of a cage and it’s not something people would really feel that great about using–of course, people do when they have to. So, this is an opportunity for us just to get out there, see the river from a different vantage point, and celebrate all the different ways that people get around the city.”
OH: Cyclists and pedestrians can access the bridge from the north at Dean Ave and from the south at Second and Pacific.
The Riverside on-ramp on the east side of the bridge will be closed during the event.
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Idaho human rights advocates are remembering Bill Wassmuth.
As SPR’s Doug Nadvornick reports, the late Coeur d’Alene priest is the namesake of a Boise center that celebrated its 30th anniversary this week.
DOUG NADVORNICK: 40 years ago, someone bombed the Catholic rectory in Coeur d’Alene where Father Bill Wassmuth lived. He wasn’t hurt. At the time, he was leading the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and challenging the racist messages coming from the nearby Aryan Nations Church.
Members of the church were convicted of that bombing and a handful of others. Eventually, the work done by the task force and a lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center led to the razing of the Aryan compound.
In 1996, a Boise human rights center honored Wassmuth by re-naming itself after him. It is now directed by Christina Bruce-Bennion.
CHRISTINA BRUCE-BENNION: “He believed very strongly that what the Aryan Nations stood for is not what that community or Idaho in general should be known for. And so the louder they got, the louder he got along with the coalition.”
DN: Last weekend’s celebration didn’t signify any particular anniversary. Bruce-Bennion says it was more of a chance to celebrate Wassmuth’s contributions to human rights in Idaho. The event featured the screening of a short film about his life. Wassmuth died in 2002 after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
I’m Doug Nadvornick reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Eliza Billingham, Doug Nadvornick and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer. Eliza Billingham provides digital support.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
