Today's headlines:
- The City of Spokane is offering a free permit pre-screening service for wildfire survivors rebuilding damaged homes.
- Two high-profile candidates for Position 4 on the Washington State Supreme Court faced off in a debate last week.
- The Spokane-based Maddie’s Place, a nonprofit recovery nursery for substance-exposed newborns, celebrates its fourth anniversary amid a budget crisis.
- SPR’s Lisa Leinberger visited Spokane’s Community Language Club, which mixes language lessons with cooking and song.
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The City of Spokane will offer a permit pre-screening service for wildfire survivors looking to rebuild.
The city has entered into a partnership with Seattle-based company Permittable.
Barry Alavi is Permittable’s CEO.
BARRY ALAVI: "So this particular platform is an AI-enabled tool for people to examine their packets to make sure they’re administratively complete."
Though Permittable’s costs vary, they usually start at around a hundred dollars for an application packet. But Spokane residents can access the service for free.
Alavi suggested the partnership to the city after watching the wildfires from afar.
BA: "We saw them, we read the news, we watched it on TV, and it’s kind of heartbroken, you know, to see that somebody loses their home. It’s really sad."
Even if they choose to use Permittable, applicants will still submit permit applications directly to the city, which has final approval power.
The Spokane Complex Wildfires damaged or destroyed about 577 structures within the city of Spokane, including 501 single family homes.
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Gas and groceries aren’t the only day-to-day commodities increasing in price in the Northwest. Energy costs are up as well.
There are several reasons for that, says Chelsea Martin from Spokane’s Modern Electric Water Company. Martin spoke last week at a Spokane energy summit.
Chelsea Martin: “The Northwest still has extraordinary energy resources. I don't think that part of the story has changed. What's changing is the cost of maintaining, protecting, and expanding the system around them. Several of the advantages that made electricity extraordinarily affordable here are being squeezed at the same time. And that's why I don't think there's one villain in the story.”
Martin says one of the villains is wildfires.
Chelsea Martin: “20 years ago, most people would have thought of wildfire as an emergency. Today, it is a year-round utility function. We spend money before the fire, through vegetation management, inspections, monitoring, system hardening, and planning. We spend money during the fire, emergency operations, outages, crews, and communications. And we spend money after the fire, restoration, insurance, and liability.”
Martin says utilities are also paying more for equipment and skilled labor to repair aging infrastructure.
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Maddie’s Place in Spokane celebrated its fourth anniversary last week. But the nonprofit says its work is hanging in the balance - because of a lack of funding. And this upcoming legislative session could be the answer to the shortage. S-P-R’s Ember Braun explains what its next steps are.
Maddie’s Place is a care facility that helps substance-exposed newborns and their moms. That includes babies exposed to meth, heroin, and fentanyl.
But the nonprofit says it’s facing a staffing and funding shortage. They can typically hold 16 babies at a time. But right now, they can only hold 8.
Shaun Cross is the president of Maddie’s Place.
CROSS: “That’s been the constant challenge since we started. So you have a chicken and egg, you have to kind of prove your case, improve your value, improve the model, and then try to build enough political support, hopefully bipartisan, year after year after year, to finally the point where the state amends its state medicaid plan to provide for payment of these services.”
Cross says the lack of permanent funding for his team is coming at a crucial time. A Washington State University study for 2022 reports Spokane County’s neonatal abstinence syndrome rate is higher than the state and national average.
Cross says he’s going to keep pushing state lawmakers for permanent funding… and wants to see more care facilities like Maddie’s Place across the country.
I’m Ember Braun reporting.
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Idaho Governor Brad Little signed an executive order Friday that suspends dyed diesel inspections in the state for 30 days.
Dyed diesel is used for agricultural purposes. As a result, it’s exempt from taxes and not usually allowed on highways.
But as shortages have driven up regular diesel prices across the country, President Trump recently opened highway use for dyed diesel. Little’s order comes on the heels of that directive.
During the 30 days inspections will be paused, Little says agencies will review their policies around dyed diesel and recommend reforms.
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The Spokane County treasurer’s office is offering options for residents who prefer to pay their property taxes in person, but can’t make it to the Spokane County Courthouse.
Two of the off-site events will be held at Spokane Valley City Hall. Those will be October 16 and 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The other two will be held at the North Spokane Library. Those will take place October 20 and 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Property taxes are due October 31.
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The Trump administration is using an A-I tool to screen requests for certain procedures for Medicare patients.
Senator Patty Murray is trying to end this new practice.
K-U-O-W’s Eilís O’Neill has more…
The administration is using the tool in six states, including Washington.
On Friday, the senator hosted a roundtable with three doctors, who said … the AI tool routinely denies “prior authorization” for procedures.
And appealing those decisions can take months.
Keren Rosenblum is a doctor in Vancouver, Washington.
ROSENBLUM: “For older adults living with chronic pain, these delays really matter. Every additional week without treatment can mean disrupted sleep, limited mobility, difficulty performing daily activities, and diminished independence.”
Senator Murray introduced a bill to end the use of this AI tool for Medicare patients.
That was voted down .. but she says she’ll keep trying.
I'm Eilís O'Neill reporting.
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STCU will offer free financial aid application help this week. They’ll help students and families fill out the FAFSA from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at its Spokane Valley location on East Sprague.
The event will help students complete a free FAFSA application regardless of whether or not the family is an STCU member.
Attendees should create an account at student aid dot gov before attending. They should review the required financial documents at STCU dot org slash fafsa.
If a student can’t attend the event, they can make an appointment at the credit union starting October 13 at other locations.
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Food and a common language often define a culture. One group in Spokane is hoping to bridge cultural divides by sharing both of those. SPR’s Lisa Leinberger found out more.
Language learners in the Community Language Club mix lessons with cooking and song. Part of the Manzanita House in Spokane, it helps to bring the culture of the language to the students.
TERESA SCHOCK: "Well, everybody likes to eat. So, it’s a great communal connector. And that’s…one of our big objectives, is community. And making relationships. And so, we really wanted to include food."
That is Teresa Schock. She is the community engagement director at Manzanita House and the co-director of the Community Language Club. They have three rooms. One for people learning Arabic, one for beginning Spanish and another for those a little more advanced in Spanish.
TS: "We thought that one of the ways to be more welcoming is to work in the wider Spokane community to help us speak more languages."
Amanda Parrish says that even people with a lot of experience speaking Spanish can get something out of the classes.
AMANDA PARRISH: At one point in my life I felt pretty fluent and conversational in Spanish, but I’ve been out of practice so long that immersing yourself in atmospheres where you can speak Spanish is a great way to get it back.
Spanish and English have a common root language. Spanish and Arabic do, too. They also have common foods.
But for this lesson, they are talking about the ingredients of the meal. In the Arabic class, they are learning the words for parsley, cilantro and potatoes. In the Spanish class, it’s tomatoes and a root vegetable much like a sweet potato, called mahué.
Alejandro Arango speaks English and Spanish. He’s at the club to learn Arabic.
ALEJANDRO ARANGO: "It’s like a little window that opens to an entire new world. Like, yeah, through words and just seeing letters and kind of being able to hear something that is still just very far away from me. But it’s like a little window."
Kelly Kleiderer is taking beginning Spanish with her 13-year-old daughter..
KELLY KLEIDERER: "I think we could all benefit from learning what it feels like to be learning a language and that sense of vulnerability and a little bit of discomfort is healthy for us all to feel sometimes."
Manzanita House has been organizing the Community Language Club for two years. The club meets weekly for 10 weeks in the spring and another 10 in the fall.
The next session of classes could start as soon as March, but Schock recommends checking on manzanitahousespokane.org or following on social media to learn for sure.
Classes are $150 for adults and $75 for children older than 12 who are accompanied by a paying adult.
The classes can have a real-world, practical use later. Arango put into practice what he learned shortly after starting the class.
AA: "I took a Lyft, an Uber, and the driver was from Iraq. So, I said my three, the three words I knew in Arabic, but it made for a special moment, like a connection with another person."
And that connection is the program’s main objective.
I’m Lisa Leinberger, reporting.
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SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio.
Reporting today was contributed by Audrey Nelson, Doug Nadvornick, Lisa Leinberger, KUOW's Eilís O'Neill and Ember Braun, today’s host and producer.
Web support was provided by Anna Gyure Havlek.
