Today's headlines:
- We’ll have our morning roundup of the major wildfires burning in eastern Washington and north Idaho.
- Idaho officials are considering increasing the fee forest landowners pay to fund the state’s wildfire protection programs.
- More long-term drought is expected in Washington’s Columbia Basin.
- We’ll visit with Jennifer Morton, a Republican running for the Washington state House in the Sixth District.
- Those stories and more, coming up on SPR News Today.
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Crews fighting wildfires in the Inland Northwest are bracing for wind and lightning today. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings and fire weather watches for at least the next three days.
Today, the worry is that lightning will start new fires and then gusty winds will spread them.
The two major fires burning in northeast Spokane continue to grow larger.
The Kaiser Canyon Fire that has threatened Nespelem crossed the 80,000 acre threshold yesterday. Fire officials say the intense heat and gusty winds led to two small spot fires. Crews have tried to contain those. Planes have been dropping water on the hotspots. Firefighters are building containment lines and trying to anticipate the direction the fire will go. Level 2 and 3 evacuation orders remain in place.
To the east, more than 500 people are working at the Modrite fire near Inchelium. Crews are working to secure different parts of the fire. Jeremiah Miller, the fire’s operations sections chief, says air tankers are trying to provide help from above, but the lingering smoke is making that difficult.
“We have to have good visibility. The type of flying that we’re asking our pilots to do is extremely dangerous, so we really need good visibility in there to work with our air assets and we just really haven’t really been getting that, especially early in the day when the smoke just kind of hangs in there," he said.
The Modrite fire has charred about 9,000 acres. Miller says fire bosses are pulling crews from that fire and assigning them to work on a smaller nearby blaze, called the Wilmont fire, which is burning on a steep slope
A community meeting will be held at the Inchelium Community Center tonight at 6 pm.
A new fire broke out late last night in Grant County. The state says it's sending firefighters, water scooping planes and helicopters to stop the Railroad fire burning near the town of Beverly. Officials estimate it's burning about 750 acres of grass and sage brush and threatening homes, crops and electric infrastructure. Level 1 and 3 evacuations are in place.
In north Idaho, crews are getting closer to fully containing the Turner fire in Boundary County. Level 2 – or prepare to go – evacuation orders are still in place. But officials have been optimistic this week about the progress they’re making there.
On the Upper Smith fire, northwest of Bonners Ferry, the progress has been slower because of the steep terrain and heavy fuels. Officials say they’re getting close to containing the fire on some of the perimeter, but in other areas, they have to be patient. That fire has now burned about a thousand acres.
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Idaho officials have postponed a fee increase that would help the state fund its wildfire protection programs.
Private forest landowners pay what’s called a forest protection assessment. It’s an annual property tax to cover the costs of the training and employing wildland firefighters, among other things.
Landowners pay at least $15 if they own 25 acres or fewer or a flat $40 fee if their land contains a home.
State forester Julia Lauch says the Department of Lands proposes to increase that fee to $90. The goal is to fully fund the costs of these programs.
"These parcels are typically, they typically present the greatest suppression complexity and require additional firefighting resources to respond to incidents, protect lives and property, and suppress the fires,” she said.
Lauch presented her case this week to the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners.
Committee member Raul Labrador, the state’s attorney general, proposed a tiered set of fees. He said a landowner with a big house should pay more than a property owner with a smaller structure.
The board said it needs more time to consider the fee increase and postponed a vote until its August meeting.
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A draft water supply forecast predicts that in the future, the Columbia Basin will have less water available in the summer and early fall. Courtney Flatt from Northwest Public Broadcasting reports.
Every five years, Washington’s Department of Ecology must forecast changes in water needs and supplies – and what that could mean for people and wildlife. By looking 20 years ahead, they hope to help communities plan for long-term water needs.
Sasha McLarty — a professor at Washington State University — led the research team. She says there are things that can be done to help groundwater – like having some people use surface water instead. But:
“Without those actions, groundwater levels are on the whole going down across Eastern Washington.”
The forecast also predicts multi-year droughts could get worse as the climate continues to change.
Public comments on the draft can be submitted through the end of the month.
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A major immigration detention center in Tacoma is fighting to block state health inspections. That’s despite a recent court order. State Government reporter Sarah Mizes-Tan has more.
The detention center has been locked in a court battle with the state. Geo Group, the private contractor that runs the jail, has refused for years to let health officials examine conditions inside.
Earlier this month, a judge ordered Geo Group to allow the inspections. But the company got a judge to pause that order, pushing the deadline for health inspections until next month.
The state has received thousands of complaints over unsanitary living conditions in the jail.
Geo Group did not comment for this story, but has said in the past that the state does not have the authority to regulate a federal contractor. The company wants Washington state officials to get clearance from the federal government first.
A U.S. appeals judge has until August 7 to determine if GEO Group will get more time to postpone health inspections.
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Two of the candidates hoping to represent Spokane in the state legislature in Olympia next year are already elected officials. We’ll talk with one, Alan Nolan, tomorrow during this podcast.
The other is Airway Heights City Councilwoman Jennifer Morton. Morton is a Republican and an Air Force veteran who now works for Providence Health Care.
Jennifer Morton: I think my campaign is focused on three priorities, which is public safety, affordability, and accountability.
Public safety is foundational to any thriving community and I believe law enforcement has really been on the defense for some time now, not just in our community, but across the nation. My desire would be to be able to provide more resources to law enforcement and our first responders. And also, a safe community allows businesses to thrive as well and that's part of that. And so that would be public safety. So find a way to increase really the number of police, of law enforcement on the ground.
And that also includes addressing the crime issue, the drug addiction, the mental health issue that we are seeing on the street through the homelessness crisis. Being able to provide preventive programs and facilities to address these issues.
So my focus would be treatment first, and then housing for secondary and so that's my first priority.
My second priority is affordability. Like any Washingtonian, you've gone to the gas pump and you've seen the cost of gas, but that also includes housing. It includes groceries and anything else that you can think of. And I just, I don't think it's right.
Washingtonians, they work really hard for their money, and they're not getting ahead because just the cost of just living, affordability is rising and I think there's something that can be done on our end as legislators, and I'd love to be a part of bringing a solution to that for the 6th District.
The third is accountability, which is, I believe that our government needs to be accountable with the taxpayer dollars that they receive, that they need to remember that every tax dollar that they're spending, it's a taxpayer has worked really hard for that tax dollar and they need to be responsible. We need to see more responsible budgeting, which we're not seeing.
We're currently in a deficit and so I would love the opportunity to be able to bring transparency when it comes to budgeting and being accountable with the taxpayer dollars and just remembering that we serve the people, the government serves the people, and I think Olympia has forgotten about that.
DN: I'm curious about what kind of leader you feel like you are and as a, especially as a state rep, as a city council person. How do you get people to go along with what you're trying to, where you're trying to push them?
JM: Yeah. So I'm a pretty even-keeled person and I'm open and receptive to all kinds of ideas, but I think having a good understanding what it is that you're trying to convince people, that you are wanting them to do. So I would say just presenting your case, presenting your facts, presenting your idea in a way that's persuasive to individuals, but also knowing that there's politics, it's really a gray zone. There needs to be lots of flexibility. You can't be a person who thinks inside the box and that's not me. I don't think inside the box.
I'm always looking for ways to accomplish something and it might not be the specific path that I would use, but that's why it's so important to be receptive and open to other people's ideas and opinions to get ultimately to that place that you're wanting to go.
Jennifer Morton is one of six candidates running for the Washington state House of Representatives in the Sixth District. The top two in the August 4 primary will advance to the November general election. Tomorrow, we’ll hear from another candidate in that race, Alan Nolan.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting was contributed by Courtney Flatt, Sarah Mizes-Tan and Doug Nadvornick.
Doug Nadvornick hosts and produces the show.
Web support was provided by Anna Gyure Havlek.
