Today's headlines:
- The B and O Fire destroys homes and burns 2,500 acres in Okanogan County.
- A federal judge orders Washington inspectors be let into the Northwest ICE Processing Center, the subject of numerous health complaints.
- Bacterial outbreaks, hospitalizations and investigations haven't slowed demand for raw milk in Idaho.
- Many fewer sockeye salmon return to Upper Columbia River, surprising biologists.
- SPS begins updating sports fields in newest phase of Together Spokane projects.
Plus, we round out our series of conversations with people looking to represent Spokane in Olympia in the seat being vacated by Rep. Timm Ormsby. SPR's Doug Nadvornick speaks with the fourth and final candidate is Natalie Poulson, the race’s only Republican.
And stay tuned after that conversation for a special announcement and a peek behind the curtain in the SPR newsroom.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Owen Henderson, Lauren Paterson, Courtney Flatt 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 Friday, July 10, 2026.
On today’s show, officials say a nearly 2,500-acre fire in Okanogan County has already destroyed homes since its discovery yesterday afternoon.
Plus, why are so few sockeye returning to the Upper Columbia River this year?
And we round out our series of conversations with people looking to represent Spokane in Olympia.
The fourth and final candidate is Natalie Poulson, the race’s only Republican.
Lastly, stick around after that conversation for a special announcement and a peek behind the curtain of the Spokane Public Radio newsroom.
All that and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
[FADE OUT THEME]
Level 3—Go Now—evacuation orders are in effect west of Conconully Highway as the B and O Fire continues near the town of Okanogan.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the blaze has so far burned nearly 2,500 acres since its discovery yesterday and threatens 250 structures.
Okanogan County officials say Spring Coulee Road, Conconully Highway, Danker Cut Off Road, Glover Lane, Salmon Creek Road, Dry Coulee Road and Woods Hill Road are all closed.
County Emergency Management reports homes and outbuildings have been lost but says officials don’t yet have an estimate on how many.
There’s an evacuation shelter at the Omak Community Presbyterian Church and an animal shelter at the County Fairgrounds.
Find the latest information on Okanogan County Emergency Management’s active incidents page.
— — —
A federal judge says GEO Group has to let state health officials inspect most areas of a Tacoma immigration detention center.
The judge yesterday sided with Washington in its months-long legal fight to get inspectors into the privately-run Northwest ICE Processing Center.
But the court orders don’t apply to the medical and administrative areas of the facility that are run by ICE.
The detention center is the subject of numerous health and safety complaints.
The court orders take effect in two weeks, giving GEO time to appeal the preliminary injunctions.
— — —
Idaho health officials are continuing to investigate two bacterial outbreaks tied to people drinking raw milk.
Officials say one of the associated dairies is in north Idaho but have given no further information.
As Lauren Paterson reports, officials say more than 100 people have gotten sick—including several who have been hospitalized.
LAUREN PATERSON: At the farmer’s market in Kooskia, Idaho, Christopher Clugston mans his raw milk and cheese stand. Although he’s only been in business about a year, he has plenty of customers.
CHRISTOPHER CLUGSTON: “Almost more than we can keep up with most of the time, especially when it comes to the cheese, down here at the market, we always sell out before the end of the market.”
LP: But unpasteurized dairy products can harbor dangerous bacteria, such as e. Coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Listeria. The state of Idaho does not require raw milk to be tested for pathogens before going to market.
Since the Department of Health and Welfare’s initial announcement last month, there are 111 people in Idaho who have been sickened with campylobacteriosis—a bacterial stomach infection—from drinking raw milk. Eleven were hospitalized.
A spokesperson for the department said they have no plans for new guidance or restrictions on raw milk.
For Boise State Public Radio, I’m Lauren Paterson.
— — —
OH: Drastically fewer sockeye salmon are returning to the Upper Columbia River than expected.
That’s why Washington isn’t allowing sockeye fishing this season there.
Fishery managers say they’re shocked at how few sockeye have swum past Bonneville Dam since June.
They thought around 275,000 sockeye would return to their spawning grounds. This year, that number’s closer to 80,000.
Chad Jackson is a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
CHAD JACKSON: “It seems that it has something to do in the freshwater environment from the spawning grounds through the Columbia River.”
That means ocean conditions likely aren’t the reason these fish are returning in such low numbers.
He says sockeye naturally have booms and busts. But with this few fish…
CJ: “ The concern is what's gonna get back to the spawning grounds and what kind of juveniles are they going to produce in the future that will result in a future adult run back.”
OH: It’ll take some time before they understand what happened.
Jackson says perhaps either too few fish spawned four years ago or their young fish had to compete for food and didn’t make it to the ocean.
— — —
A new round of projects funded by last year’s Together Spokane bond issue has begun.
Construction crews are pulling up grass from outdoor sports fields at Shadle Park and Rogers High Schools.
They’ll replace it with all-weather turf, says Superintendent Adam Swinyard.
ADAM SWINYARD: “We are modernizing an all-weather field so that we can go later into the night with practices with more teams and more kids. We can go deeper into the fall and continue using the space. We can go earlier in the spring.”
OH: Rogers will receive synthetic turf infields on its baseball and softball diamonds.
Shadle will get a new baseball infield and dugout and new turf and lights at its football and soccer field.
Swinyard says all should be ready for the fall sports season.
The fields will also be available for community use.
This, Swinyard says, is phase one of the turf and lights project. Future phases will target Spokane’s other public high schools.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
Affordability and taxes are near the top of the agenda for Spokane legislative candidate Natalie Poulson.
Poulson is one of four candidates—and the only Republican—running in next month’s primary to replace longtime Spokane legislator Timm Ormsby.
She spoke with SPR’s Doug Nadvornick for the final installment in our series of House of Representatives Legislative District 3 candidate conversations.
NATALIE POULSON: I am definitely the change that the Legislative District 3 needs. I'm gonna be very different than what they've seen before. And it's time that we sit down at the table across the aisle and have conversations. I definitely wanna get away from party politics.
Yes, I'm a Republican and I'm gonna be talking to lots of people that have lots of different views and we need to come together with, like I said, that commonality. What can we agree on? And then we'll work really hard on the things that we don't agree and we'll do the best we can.
DOUG NADVORNICK: Are you tough enough to tell your party bosses who say you need to vote this way on a particular issue to say, no, I don't think that works the best for Spokane in my district.
NP: Yeah, I think I've shown that by just even going against the mask mandate and being able to stand for what was right, which was kids, and I do think I can stand for what's right.
DN: Let me ask you to tell that story for those who aren't familiar with the story.
NP: Back in 2021, I did a one day peaceful mask protest. I gotta give you a little bit of background if I'm gonna tell the story and the background is I exhausted efforts of bringing awareness that we were losing some of our kids. I was a social emotional teacher and I was watching kids deteriorate and it was very hard to watch. I was watching young kids lose language, and so I did a lot of research.
I actually presented 47 mask studies of ineffectiveness in children, all done by the CDC and the NIH, presented it to Spokane school board and they didn't do anything about it. So I decided to do the next step of a peaceful protest. I, at the time, was fired after a few years. It's public records, you can look at the details. I'm officially resigned and I did the hard thing. I stood for kids when nobody else would and at this point was right.
DN: So if you become a legislator, what sort of influence do you want to have?
NP: I definitely want to influence affordability. Our families, and I'm one of those working families, it is just becoming unaffordable. The taxes are out of control. I definitely feel like we need to look at our budget and live within our means, meaning the state. I do as a personal, you know, my own personal house, I have to budget my household spending, so I think it's time that the state does the same with our tax dollars.
DN: Are there taxes that you in particular are bothered by?
NP: I think it's a matter of coming down and looking at it in a way that we're looking at the outcome. What taxes are we doing? What's the outcome of those taxes? What programs are they going into? What's the outcome of those programs?
So I think it just comes down to really taking a look at what is happening, in addition to we got to start looking at revenue streams. Obviously our sales tax is not providing the revenue that we need, so it's time to come back to the drawing board and look and really have conversations about what is best for Washington state.
DN: So you want to look at the whole, I mean, when you talk about sales taxes, transportation taxes, the whole nine yards is what you're looking at?
NP: Absolutely, don't you think it's time? I mean, as a taxpayer, when we're paying really a really high amount of taxes, it's expensive for us to put gas in our car, it's expensive to buy groceries, our housing, even my property taxes are out of control. So let's look at that.
We have had, what was it, $33 billion budget, and now we're at over $80 billion. Let's start talking about why has it increased so much? We even had [former Democratic Governor Christine] Gregoire talk about it, to where, why is it increased so excessively? What are we doing? And then we've gone from a surplus to a deficit. So again, let's really sit down and find out what's going on.
OH: Natalie Poulson is the only Republican candidate in the race for Washington’s Third Legislative District to replace longtime Spokane Representative Timm Ormsby.
She faces three Democrats in the August primary.
You can find conversations with all four of the candidates right now on our website, Spokane Public Radio dot org.
— — —
DN: I'm Doug Nadvornick with news to report. This is Owen's last day at Spokane Public Radio. I’m very sad about that.
For the last two years, Owen's voice has cheerfully greeted you as you wake up and prepare for your day.
Many of you have called or even written to say how much you enjoy hearing him. So I think it would be interesting for people to know what your day looks like when you get in the morning and when.
OH: When is the first question I get a lot, and the answer is 4 a.m. I get to the station at 4 a.m. and turn off the alarm.
And then from there, it's a series of preparing the forecasts for our 20,000 square mile listening area, putting together the stories from the reporters here at SPR and our partner stations in the Northwest News Network and at Boise State Public Radio and writing stories about things that broke overnight and editing all those together, getting ready for the newscasts of the morning.
And then once Morning Edition starts, I'm not just sitting around when you aren't hearing me. I'm recording and writing and mixing and editing our daily podcast, SPR News Today.
I'm putting things on the website. I'm paying attention to see if the latest fire has grown. All that to say, there's a lot that goes on in the studio when you aren't hearing me on the air.
DN: So Owen came to us two years ago from Illinois Public Media. That's the station at the University of Illinois, his alma mater. And he learned very quickly here.
And in the process, he taught us in the newsroom a lot of things. A year or so ago, he pitched an idea that's probably going to be his legacy here. And it's turned to something on our website and in your podcast feeds every morning. What is that?
OH: SPR News Today. It's our weekday podcast. My friends wanted to know, ‘Where can I hear you? I don't listen to the radio.’
And I thought, ‘here's an opportunity for us to reach a whole new demographic of people who may not know about Spokane Public Radio's long history, but do want to know about the news of the Inland Northwest.’
And so I pitched this idea of a daily podcast with the stories that go on air also going out as a podcast to you, our fearless news director.
And after a few tweaks and a few trial runs, we launched it officially at the start of this year. And it's been going out every day since then, more or less.
I'm just really grateful that I got the opportunity. There's a lot of stations where a new guy having an idea doesn't necessarily mean that idea is going to happen.
DN: So that's one of Owen's talents. He also earned the title of managing editor, which means he oversees the day-to-day operations. He coordinates coverage with our partner stations.
He contributes interviews to Inland Journal and to Morning Edition. He posts stories on our website. He creates graphics for the web.
He edits my stories and our reporter stories. He has been a trusted colleague, and I'm going to miss our day-to-day interactions. What's next for you?
OH: What's next for me is also missing our day-to-day interactions, but I will be moving on not too far away to KUOW, our partner station in Seattle.
That means I will still be part of the Northwest News Network, and three, you hear stories from them often on our airwaves, and so my voice may not actually be disappearing entirely from Spokane Public Radio.
DN: Let's hope not. You and Monica Carrillo-Casas, who's working for OPB. So what are you going to remember about this place? You came from Illinois. You've been all over the country. What are you going to remember about us?
OH: Two big things jump to mind immediately. One is, of course, the people. I mean, working with you, working with all of the different people at the station that I've had the pleasure of working with over my time here. I'm really going to miss that, and the other thing about the Inland Northwest is just how beautiful it is here.
I come from Illinois, largely, and nature there mostly means cornfields. I've gotten the chance to get out to lots of different parts of our listening area. I was up in the Metow Valley last weekend. I was down at the Idaho-Montana border a few weekends ago. I was up in Boundary County a few weeks before that, and that's certainly something I am going to miss.
DN: Owen Henderson, Spokane Public Radio's Morning Edition host. Thank you for being my colleague.
OH: Thank you, Doug.
[SHORT MUSIC BED]
SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Lauren Paterson, Courtney Flatt, Doug Nadvornick and me, Owen Henderson.
I’m also your host and producer.
For the final time, thanks for listening, and have a good weekend.
It’s SPR.
