Today's headlines:
- According to a new survey, Spokane County residents are still listing homelessness and public safety as central concerns.
- The Spokane County Commissioners met yesterday afternoon. They discussed a sales tax increase and a plan to extend the county-wide pause on data centers.
- A proposed Washington state bill would ban transgender athletes from girls’ high school sports. Polling suggests it could pass in November.
- And SPR's Audrey Nelson spoke with Spokane-area administrators and students about Hope Squad. It’s a national suicide prevention program with a foothold in Eastern Washington schools.
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Spokane County residents continue to see homelessness and public safety as their main issues of concern.
That’s one of the takeaways from a new Pulse survey, commissioned by the Greater Spokane economic development agency. It’s the fifth poll the organization has done in the last two years.
Kevin White represents the EMC Research firm in Seattle.
KEVIN WHITE: “Forty-four percent of voters mentioned homelessness as one of their top concerns, followed by 29% mentioning something related to public safety. Those are up, respectively, six points and five points since the spring. And you can see mentions of taxes, mentions of inflation have actually decreased back towards the middle of the pack here.”
Greater Spokane Chief Executive Alisha Benson says these findings are similar to concerns raised in the other four versions of the survey.
ALISHA BENSON: “These are cross-jurisdictional issues and opportunities and challenges. They are going to continue to require collaboration between the public sector, the private sector, business government, our community partners, as we tackle these top priorities for our region.”
Respondents cited stronger enforcement of anti-camping laws as one of the most positive steps in improving Spokane. Still, two-thirds of the 600 respondents believe Spokane’s quality of life is getting worse.
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The Board of Spokane County Commissioners met yesterday afternoon. They held a public hearing to decide whether to raise the sales tax in Spokane County by 0.1%.
By state law, local governments can raise sales tax without voter approval if the funds go to criminal justice programs.
The tax will only apply to purchases made in Spokane County. It includes all 13 municipalities and towns in the county.
Commissioner Amber Waldref said that although the county has tried to rein in costs over the last five years, there is still a deficit.
AMBER WALDREF: "How doe we keep up with costs at a local level? I would rather the state have created a funding source to help fund our criminal justice work, which is actually a function of the state."
If you live in a city that has passed this same tax increase, your sales tax will increase by 0.2%. (An SPR story yesterday had this fact incorrect.)
The Spokane City Council could vote on this tax on October 14.
The county commissioners voted three to one to approve this ordinance. Josh Kerns was the only no vote, and Al French was absent.
The commissioners also set a public hearing yesterday to discuss whether to push the pause on data center applications to June 1, 2027.
The commissioners originally paused these applications until December 15, while the planning commission explored creating an ordinance to regulate the centers.
Commissioner Chris Jordan says the public has clearly asked him and other county commissioners for more time to consider.
CHRIS JORDAN: "I just want to say I think we’ve had some discussion encouraging the planning department for release the latest draft of the draft ordinance, as well as continue to answer the public’s questions that are being asked, and I hope that will continue to happen."
The commissioners’ hearing on this topic will be at 2 p.m. on October 20.
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Washington state voters will decide in November whether to ban transgender girls from girls’ school sports.
The measure is controversial, but polling shows it might pass. Reporter Sarah Mizes-Tan has more.
The initiative would require proof of a student’s birth sex before they could join a girls’ sports team. Opponents say it would be one of the most extreme trans student bans in the country.
New polling from the conservative group behind the initiative shows it passing with 56% of the vote. The poll surveyed about 7,500 people. It also shows a large share of voters are still undecided — 22%.
Different polling from a left-leaning think tank also found that voters could pass the ban. But that research notes that the ban gets less popular once people learn more about it — like how it could require genital exams for all girls looking to play sports.
More than half of states already have trans sports bans on the books.
I’m Sarah Mizes-Tan, reporting.
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In other midterms news, with the November midterms on the horizon, candidate forums are picking up throughout Spokane.
Tonight, Gonzaga University’s Climate Institute will host a conversation featuring candidates for Washington’s 3rd and 6th Legislative Districts and the Spokane County Commission.
Voters will hear from candidates about solutions for climate issues. That discussion starts at 6 p.m. in the Globe Room at Gonzaga’s Cataldo Hall.
Also tonight: The Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium, Black Homeownership Spokane and Habitat for Humanity Spokane will host a candidate forum on housing. The 5:30 p.m. event takes place at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in East Central.
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Washington State University is launching a new partnership with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. It aims to address wildfire-related challenges across the Pacific Northwest.
The goal, according to both institutions, is to create practical solutions and strengthen resilience across the region. The first phase of the partnership involves assessing wildfire challenges. The second phase will focus on developing solutions.
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Washington’s Insurance Commissioner will host a third Spokane workshop for wildfire survivors navigating insurance claims. It’s scheduled for Monday, October 12.
The workshop will cover replacement estimates, debris removal, and individual claim assistance. There will also be time for questions.
The office of the Insurance Commissioner has hosted these monthly workshops since the Spokane Complex Wildfires in August.
Like the other workshops, this one will take place at Spokane Falls Community College, Building 24.
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Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in the U.S. A national organization called Hope Squad is guiding local schools as they tackle the problem. Recently, SPR's Audrey Nelson went to find out more about the program’s work in Eastern Washington.
Kirsten Fuchs believes “suicide” shouldn’t be a dirty word.
KIRSTEN FUCHS: "Everyone has been affected, and it is not scary for us to talk about mental health with young people. They are aware of what's happening in their own brains."
Fuchs is with Education Service District 101, a network of school districts across Eastern Washington. She oversees substance abuse and suicide prevention programs — so she’s witnessed the youth mental health crisis firsthand.
KF: "It sucks being a teen right now in 2026. It sucks being an adult."
According to the most recent data, more than 40% of U.S. high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in the past year. Twenty percent of students seriously considered attempting suicide during that time.
Suicide remains the second leading cause of death for U.S. kids ages 10 to 14.
Collin Treppiedi is a senior at Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane. He says he’s struggled with depression and anxiety for much of his life.
When he was 14 years old, his peers nominated him for a brand-new program: Hope Squad.
COLLIN TREPPIEDI: "Going into my freshman year of high school, it’s the first time we’d ever done it. And the past four years, we’ve been a strong group of kids trying to help with mental health."
Hope Squad is a national, school-based program that teaches students to support peers struggling with their mental health.
Fuchs says nominated students meet regularly with adult advisors to learn skills like active listening, crisis intervention and community building.
KF: "And so we walk them through this really great framework called the Hope Framework. Heads up, offer support, provide information and empower your peers."
A recent Hope Squad retreat in Spokane drew more than 300 middle and high school students from 14 participating schools. Treppiedi and his peers mingled, practiced Hope Squad elevator pitches and listened to a keynote speech on mental health.
Kimber Erickson is the co-founder of Kellen CARES, a mental health nonprofit. She helped bring Hope Squad to Spokane in 2023.
She says the program’s peer-to-peer model impressed her from the start.
KIMBER ERICKSON: "If it’s a staff-based program, I think it’s just not as effective. It doesn't engage the kids as much. It doesn't help those kids that are really struggling know where to go."
But the peer system can be a tough sell. Kirsten Fuchs says she does sometimes hear from parents who worry it places an extra emotional burden on their kids.
KF: “'I don't want my kid to be awake at 3 a.m. talking my friend off the ledge.' And I have to be honest and say they're doing that, they're doing that. But I would rather have a student do that with the tools knowing what they can do."
It’s hard to say for certain — but based on data from referral surveys, Fuchs believes Hope Squad has prevented multiple youth suicides across the region.
She recalls one success story: a middle school boy whose friend sent him a concerning Snapchat message.
KF: "In the middle of the night, you know, just, like, at night, like — and he goes to his mom and says, 'My Hope Squad referral process tells me I'm supposed to do this, Mom.' And he called the crisis line. They got adults involved. And he potentially saved his friend's life. And that’s exactly what we want."
Part of the reason Fuchs is so passionate about this work is because she remembers being a teen dealing with suicidal thoughts.
Back then, she felt like she had no one to talk to, no one who understood her.
Now, she sees it as her responsibility to help today’s teenagers feel differently.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 9-8-8.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Doug Nadvornick, Lisa Leinberger, Sarah Mizes-Tan and Audrey Nelson, today’s host and producer.
