Inside Olympia

Recent studies show Washingtonians are dying in traffic fatalities at an alarming rate -- plus throwing out 38 million pounds of trash each year onto Washington's roads and public spaces. Host Austin Jenkins interviews Shelly Baldwin, director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, and Amber Smith-Jones, State Litter Prevention Coordinator with the Washington Department of Ecology.

An exit interview with now-Kitsap County Commissioner Christine Rolfes, who recently stepped down from the State Senate, where she led the state-budget-writing Ways and Means Committee. And, the new Ranking Republican on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, Representative Chris Corry.

The Washington Department of Corrections recently announced plans to close Larch Corrections Center near Vancouver. In addition, the department is pursing major changes in the use of solitary confinement, and wants to remodel Washington prisons based on prisons in Norway. A full-hour, in-depth interview with Washington Department of Corrections Secretary Cheryl Strange.

In-depth interviews with Mark Vasconi, director of the Washington Statewide Broadband Office, and Melodi Pazolt and Scott Tankersley on the state's new Apple Health "Housing as Health Care" program.

A full-hour in-depth interview with Washington's Adjutant General, Bret Daugherty, who commands the Washington National Guard.

State Representative Drew Stokesbary of Auburn recently was chosen by his colleagues to serve as leader of minority Republicans in the State House of Representatives. We discuss his plans as leader, and how he plans to work with majority Democrats. Stokesbary steps into the role filled until recently by State Representative JT Wilcox of Yelm. In our exit interview with Wilcox, we explore his decision to step down, and look back at his more than five years as House Republican leader.

Beginning in July, an estimated three million Washington workers will have an average of $24 per month deducted from their paychecks to help provide them care in their old age. The "WA Cares Fund" is a first-in-the-nation state operated long-term care insurance program. Host Austin Jenkins sits down with WA Cares Director Benjamin Veghte. Plus, State Actuary Matthew Smith on whether long-term the WA Cares Fund is expected to stay in the black.

What is it like being a new state legislator? How do you learn to navigate the statehouse? How do you get a bill passed? What are the challenges and opportunities that come with being new? And after one session, what are the lessons learned? Host Austin Jenkins interviews first-term State Representatives April Connors of the Tri-Cities, Travis Couture of Allyn, Sharlett Mena of Tacoma, and Julio Cortes of Everett.

In the 15 years from 2005 to 2020, one quarter of the newspapers in the U.S. shut their doors. The closures left 1,800 communities without a newspaper -- so called news deserts. Here in Washington, three daily newspapers and more than two dozen weeklies have shuttered since 2004. And there have been consolidations and buyouts. Today, six of Washington's newspapers are owned by hedge funds. These are among the findings of a lengthy report from the League of Women Voters of Washington on the decline of local news and its impact on democracy. The report examines the crisis, the impacts, the response and looks to the future. Host Austin Jenkins sits down with Lunell Haught, who teaches at Gonzaga University and is the immediate past president of the League of Women Voters of Washington. And Dee Anne Finken, a former reporter for McClatchy newspapers who teaches journalism at Clark College and who co-chaired the local news study.