Today's headlines:
- NWS forecasts critical fire weather in central and eastern Washington.
- PDC data shows Bingle with massive fundraising lead in his run for the state House in District 6. District 3's Jasmin and Kohlmeier have similar contributions despite Jasmin's establishment backing.
- WA Human Rights Commissioner and father of Spokane legislative candidate resigns over antisemitism allegations.
- Waikiki Springs to close for wetland restoration.
- Public comment opens on USFS logging plan for Blue Mountains.
Plus, the first of several conversations with Spokane-area legislative hopefuls. Today, SPR's Doug Nadvornick speaks with Democrat and paratransit driver Donovan DeLeon. He’s one of four candidates vying to replace longtime Spokane Rep. Timm Ormsby.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Steve Jackson, April Ehrlich and Doug Nadvornick.
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 Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
On today’s show, a swath of the northwest stretching from Spokane to Wenatchee and from Oroville to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation are expected to see critical fire weather today and tomorrow.
Plus, the public can now weigh in on a federal plan that could see logging in the Blue Mountains triple.
And the first of several conversations with Spokane-area legislative hopefuls. Today, it’s Democrat and paratransit driver Donovan DeLeon. He’s one of four candidates vying to replace longtime Spokane Representative Timm Ormsby.
Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Much of central and eastern Washington will see critical fire weather today and tomorrow.
The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings today for the Okanogan Valley, Central Cascades Foothills and Western Columbia Basin.
Tomorrow, that warning extends to the Methow Valley, Colville Reservation, Northeast Washington Foothills, Eastern Columbia Basin, Palouse and Spokane Area.
The predicted combination of strong winds, low humidity and high temperatures are expected to increase the risk of fire danger.
And ongoing fires, like a nearly 10,000-acre blaze in Chelan Hills, could spread rapidly.
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Washington’s primary elections are just a month away, and one east side candidate for an empty legislative seat has raised more money than many incumbents across the state, according to public disclosure data.
Former Spokane City Councilmember Jonathan Bingle is running for the West Plains seat being vacated by GOP Representative Jenny Graham.
With more than $120,000 dollars in contributions, Bingle doesn’t just have more money than his two District 6 competitors—he’s raised more than all eight other candidates for both West Plains House seats combined.
In the city of Spokane, two Democrats are neck-and-neck in fundraising.
Governor’s office liaison Luc Jasmin has the backing of many elected Democrats, including Governors Jay Inslee and Bob Ferguson.
But he and emergency room physician Dr. Pam Kohlmeier have both raised about $50,000 as they vie to replace outgoing Representative Timm Ormsby.
And in Spokane Valley, two Republican candidates lead the pack to replace Suzanne Schmidt.
Cidery owner Trent Maier has raised more than $17,000, while Air Force Veteran Hillary Pham has about $15,000.
Ballots for Spokane County voters are expected to be mailed out next week.
The deadline to vote is August 4.
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One of Washington state’s Human Rights Commissioners—and the father of a leading Spokane legislative candidate—has resigned over allegations of antisemitism.
Spokane pastor Luc Jasmin, the father of Luc Jasmin III, came under fire for comments he made last March while discussing a resolution to condemn antisemitism.
Jasmin said he doesn’t <quote> “have anything against the Jewish community” but also said Jewish people are <quote> “always crying” and asked whether the commission was <quote> “under duress” to pass the resolution.
The commission posted the video of that meeting last month, and the comments drew swift condemnation.
In his resignation letter, Jasmin apologized for the remarks.
Gov. Bob Ferguson said on social media he’ll appoint a replacement soon and encouraged those interested in serving on the commission to apply online.
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A popular hiking area north of Spokane will close for a month beginning next week.
The shutdown will give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service time to restore areas of Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve, along the Little Spokane River.
Starting July 15, crews will remove the rocks and sand that used to cap old sewage settling ponds.
That fill has pushed out many native plants.
Wildlife Service biologist Brian Walker says once the fill is removed, teams will re-plant vegetation to restore a wetland.
BRIAN WALKER: “Ten acres of cottonwood and aspen and hawthorn and little pockets of cattails and bullrush, some of those smaller unique features that we typically see on the Spokane River that were wiped out in the ‘50s and ‘60s for this wastewater facility.”
OH: That habitat will support birds, moose and other creatures
BW: “We’ve got close to 10-thousand trees we want to get planted on the site over the next three to five years. We’re going to start that this fall with probably three thousand trees going in and that’s going be an all-volunteer effort.”
OH: The volunteers include members of conservation groups and tribes.
The nature preserve is owned and managed by the Inland Northwest Land Trust.
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The public has through September to weigh in on logging plans in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington.
Oregon Public Broadcasting's April Ehrlich has more.
APRIL EHRLICH: The U.S. Forest Service has published its draft Blue Mountains forest plans, which would triple logging in three national forests.
They include the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman.
Elk hunters say increased logging could create meadows where elk can forage. But…
TRISTAN HENRY: “Forage doesn't mean as much to deer and elk as it could if it doesn't come with security.”
AE: Tristan Henry is with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
He says elk lose a sense of security when loud cars or trucks drive through public lands. They then migrate to private lands, where they might damage crops.
Henry wants these draft forest plans to include limits on mechanized vehicles—something they currently lack.
There are over 23-thousand miles of roads in the Blue Mountains forests—enough to circle the Earth.
I’m April Ehrlich, reporting.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
OH: Between now and Washington’s August 4 primary, SPR News will be sharing conversations with Spokane-area candidates.
This week, SPR’s Doug Nadvornick focuses on state House hopefuls running to replace longtime Third District legislator Timm Ormsby. We start with Democrat Donovan DeLeon.
DN: Donovan DeLeon is a paratransit driver for Spokane Transit. He’s a native of Moscow, Idaho, who bills himself as the only candidate in the race who was born and raised the Inland Northwest.
DeLeon thinks the legislator who replaces Ormsby needs to focus on lowering the cost of living in the district that’s considered the poorest in the state.
DOUG NADVORNICK: What do you think about Washington's tax system?
DONOVAN DeLEON: Well, I think it's really hard to have a tax system that was made in 1933 and apply it to today's economy. I can't think of too many things except for maybe your toilet that might be the same as 1933. So you have to rethink the tax code.
But you can't force it on people. You have to involve the public, have them vote on stuff. Hey, would you rather have this? Would you rather have that? That way they don't feel like they're being left behind. And I think that was the biggest problem with the millionaire tax.
I'm not opposed to millionaires paying the same percentage of taxes as the rest of us. They should. But the thing is, you have to do it in a way where people can understand and they see it as being fair. People want to see fairness in taxation. I think that's extremely important.
But the biggest problem that Washington has with taxation is we claim to be a progressive state. You know, we're considered, oh, we're your most progressive state. But we're not. We rank 49th out of 50th in terms of being the least progressive.
DN: So let's explain that. I think what you're saying is it is among the least for people who are at the poor end of the spectrum, who are paying more of a percentage of their income in taxation. Is that what you're saying?
DD: That's exactly what I'm saying. The people at the very top pay the least percentage of their income and the people at the very bottom pay the most percentage of their income. And that's an upside down system. We need to have a system where we get most of the wealth from the people in this economy that benefit most from the wealth.
If someone's getting 70% of the pie, 10% are getting 70% of the pie, they should be putting in at least 70% of the taxes, right? So we have to be looking at that.
We also have to accept the fact that if we're going to have people working, 50% of the population is only getting two or three percent of the total wealth. We can't expect them to contribute and try to support a system which is keeping them at only two or three percent of the wealth. It doesn't make any sense.
Why would somebody want to support that system? So you have to accept the fact that you're not going to get revenue out of that. You've got to go to the people that have the revenue.
So I would start with reversing our system, making it more progressive. But again, you've got to bring the public with you. You've got to give them some options, you know. Put three or four out there on a ballot, let people weigh and say, okay, I want this one. Then narrow it down to two and then have people go and vote. And that's the tax system they voted for.
And if someone wants to argue against it, you can say, well, this is what the people support. Because I don't believe that people are necessarily opposed to an income tax. They're opposed to an additional income tax. That's the problem. If you could wipe out a lot of these other taxes, then you could go with a more progressive income tax on the top 10%. Not a huge amount, but you could change that balance so it's better.
I also think, look at the small businesses on the border between Idaho and Washington. How many cars go over the border into Idaho? Because we tax things so much over here on the border. Now, I understand we need that revenue and that's important. But can't we make things a little bit more competitive? Can't we, say, change the tax code for counties that are near the border so that maybe it won't impact so much on the overall budget?
But it'll help those small businesses because people are going to drive across the border to save themselves 80 cents on a gallon. They are going to drive across the border to save themselves $2 on a pack of cigarettes, $3 on some alcohol.
So maybe if we could lighten up some of that, it would help some of the smaller businesses and keep revenue. So maybe what you lose in actual percentage, you could make that back up in additional sales. So, and it doesn't always work out exactly that way, but I think that would be a better approach than what we're doing right now.
OH: That’s Democrat Donovan DeLeon, one of four candidates running for District 3 of the Washington House.
The top two finishers in the August primary will, regardless of party, move on to the November election.
Tomorrow, we’ll hear from another Democrat in that race, Luc Jasmin III.
You can find longer versions of these conversations at Spokane Public Radio dot org.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Steve Jackson, April Ehrlich, Doug Nadvornick and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
Thanks for listening.
It’s SPR.
