Today's headlines:
- The August election in Spokane County has been put to bed. We hear about two of the measures that passed.
- Some of the big fires that have burned the longest in eastern Washington are nearly fully contained.
- Starbucks gives pink slips to a lot of its Northwest employees.
- Audrey Nelson goes to Sandpoint to learn more about how mountain biking has claimed its place in the north Idaho recreation industry.
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Spokane County certified August election results earlier this week. Spokane Transit Authority’s Proposition 1 passed with more than 51% of the vote.
This measure extends a two-tenths of one percent sales tax on retail goods. It would have sunset in December 2028. This approval will help fund STA’s operations until 2048.
STA spokeswoman Carly Cortright says this renewal — and a previously approved six-tenths of one percent tax — maintains the agency's current level of eight-tenths.
CORTRIGHT: Most of it goes to making sure that we’ve got drivers out there driving, that we’ve got fuel in the bus and that we do all of our maintenance in-house.
The tax generates about $30 million a year, which is part of a larger budget that is funded through state and federal grants as well as bus fares.
In addition to regular bus service, STA also operates its paratransit and rideshare programs.
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Spokane County’s library officials got the news they’ve been waiting for.
The library district’s Proposition 1 was formally certified with 53% support.
The levy funds the branches in the county system, not the city of Spokane.
Spokeswoman Jane Baker says the new levy adds 12 cents to the library’s current tax rate, from 33 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value to 45. It means the owner of a $450,000 home will pay an additional $54 per year.
The library says these funds will help increase its digital collection. It will bring in more eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, streaming movies and music as well as online learning resources.
The district will also be able to inspect and fix or replace some of its aging HVAC and climate control systems in its buildings.
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For 32 years, Shalom Ministries has served hot meals in the basement of the former Central United Methodist Church in downtown Spokane.
That ended yesterday.
Zeal Church, the new owner of the building, told Shalom on August 14 that their lease was ending.
Shalom board president Dexter Phillips says the ministry started by serving turkey soup and bread, but have moved beyond just feeding the hungry.
PHILLIPS: We do meals, but we also provide basic clothing and blankets for people in need. And, we are a connecting place.
Those connections include nurses and the CHAS Street Team. Volunteers have also hosted poetry workshops for guests.
Phillips, his staff and volunteers have faith they will find a new location to serve meals. In the meantime, tomorrow morning, volunteers will distribute sack lunches in the alley behind the church.
Zeal Church did not respond to a request for comment.
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Washington’s governor is asking the federal government to give people affected by wildfires extra time to file and pay their income taxes.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Governor Bob Ferguson asks that people be given an extra year to file their 2026 returns. He says people already have enough to deal with, including insurance claims, questions about their living arrangements, loss of important documents. He asked Bessent to consider moving the deadline for people in the seven counties and three Indian nations that are subject to the state’s emergency wildfire declaration.
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Officials say they’ve stopped the advance of the newest Inland Northwest wildfire. The Blyton Landing fire burning northwest of Clarkston has charred about 350 acres. Officials say local crews with the help of some neighboring agencies kept the flames from burning nearby farms.
In another part of eastern Washington, crews are close to fully containing the two major wildfires that have been burning on Colville Indian Reservation. The Modrite fire, burning in eastern Ferry County near the Columbia River, is classified as 98% contained. Dan Trapanese is the incident commander for the team working that fire.
Dan Trapanese: “It seems to be fairly controlled. I would say you're going to see a lot of black across the landscape where the fire has passed. Crews have done great work out there. They've diminished a lot of the smoke that would be in areas where people can actually drive and see.”
Trapanese is also overseeing work at the Kaiser Canyon fire, about 30 miles to the west. It is 90% contained. Firefighters are monitoring for hot spots and smoke and making sure that blackened areas stop from re-igniting. They’re also ready to begin repairing some of the areas that have burned.
Among the hundreds of people working those two fires are Army soldiers from Joint Base Lewis McChord. They’re doing a 30-day deployment.
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Starbucks plans to lay off an additional 224 employees in Washington this fall. More than half are workers who refused to relocate to Starbucks’ new Nashville office.
KUOW’s Monica Nickelsburg has more.
Starbucks said 120 of the laid off workers were given the choice to move to Nashville, and said no.
That’s according to a state filing shared with KUOW.
The layoff is part of Starbucks’ previously announced restructuring under new CEO Brian Niccol.
He was hired in 2024 to course correct the financially stagnating company.
And his “Back to Starbucks” plan has included hundreds of store closures and thousands of layoffs.
Starbucks declined to comment on the additional role eliminations reported Thursday.
The company announced plans to open a Nashville logistics hub back in March.
Monica Nickelsburg, KUOW News.
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Idaho ski resorts aren’t just for skiing anymore. 35 years ago this summer, Schweitzer Mountain Resort offered its first chairlift rides for bicycles. SPR’s Audrey Nelson went back to Sandpoint to learn how summer offerings have grown since then.
TAYLOR OLIVEIRA: All right.
It’s a hot, smoky afternoon at Schweitzer. Lift operator Taylor Oliveira is loading a bike onto the resort’s Great Escape Chairlift. He waits for seven normal chairs to pass. Then he rolls the bike onto a custom chariot.
OLIVERA: Like that. Give it a slap so it doesn’t go anywhere.
Schweitzer was one of the first resorts in the country to offer lift-served mountain biking. Lifties, as they call them, have been loading bikes onto chairs since 1991.
DAN NYLUND: The first year they loaded bikes on the lift, they basically just laid them on the seats and put the safety bar down.
Dan Nylund oversees the resort’s summer bike trail crew. He grew up riding the same trails he now works on. At first, those trails were limited — exclusively rocky and challenging. But over the years, Nylund says, Schweitzer has expanded its offerings.
NYLUND: We’ve been working a lot on building trails that are more flowy and more suitable for a wider variety of riders.
Some of those new riders are kids. Marty Andrews is a ski and bike instructor at Schweitzer. This summer, he’s teaching kids’ camps at the mountain.
MARTY ANDREWS: Previous year we ran a pilot and just ran one week, sold out in two hours. So we said, let’s do it again next year. And we were able to fill four weeks worth of camps.
Andrews has worked at Schweitzer for 20 years. During that time, he’s watched the demand for lift-served mountain biking grow.
And that growth is state-wide. Seven of Idaho’s 19 ski resorts now offer regular summer lift service, including Kellogg’s Silver Mountain. Two more operate bike-equipped lifts sporadically. Most also have some kind of summer programming — like hikes, spa visits or disc golf.
Andrews thinks he knows why.
ANDREWS: I think we’re starting to see winters getting shallower, and so biking can be done a little bit longer. There are a few areas around the US where they’ve stopped doing winter lift service and they’ve transferred over to mountain biking only.
Schweitzer, of course, still offers winter lift service. Taylor Prather is Schweitzer’s marketing and communications manager.
TAYLOR PRATHER: Winter is our bread and butter, right? That’s the reason people come here, and people want to ski and snowboard. But I think there is this desire for accessible adventure, and that’s also a business opportunity for Schweitzer.
Back in the Schweitzer village, the smoky air means it’s a relatively quiet day. Eleven-year-old Aaron Groenke has just gotten back from the trails.
AARON GROENKE: I get, like, a tingle. Like a — but for good feelings. And I’m just ready for the next berm. Always preparing myself.
Aaron’s friend, eleven-year-old Zach Singh, says he loves the moment right before he points his bike downhill.
ZACH SINGH: Honestly, it feels like I’m about to do something awesome.
Even for Idaho’s grown-up bike enthusiasts, it’s clear that feeling never really goes away.
I’m Audrey Nelson, reporting.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Lisa Leinberger, Monica Nickelsburg, Audrey Nelson and Doug Nadvornick, today’s host and producer.
Thanks for listening. This is SPR News.
Web support is provided by Anna Gyure Havlek.
