This week, we’re bringing you a conversation on the state of local journalism. 

This conversation was part of last month’s Grassroots Radio Conference, which was a collaboration between Sprouts Radio, Pacifica Network, and KYRS. 

The panel – which was hosted at the Spokane Public Library – included Luke Baumgarten (RANGE Media) and Stephanie Schubert (Pacifica Network).

From prison, convicted rapist Arlin Jordin has easily evicted tenants for decades. With Washington’s right-to-counsel laws, that’s all changing.

We have two segments this week!

The first segment is from Spokane’s Spiciest candidate forum, featuring District 3 incumbent Zack Zappone and challenger Christopher Savage. Reporter Erin Sellers asked them the spiciest of questions as they powered through even spicier wings!

For the second segment, we had reporter Aaron Hedge read his recent essay – titled “Charlie Kirk’s Pacific Northwest ground game” – out loud, in his own words. You can find the essay linked below:

Charlie Kirk’s Pacific Northwest ground game

20 Questions with District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates

Meet the District 3 Spokane City Council candidates

Spokane's Spiciest Event Livestream (courtesy of KXLY)

This week, we’re back with two segments! 

The first segment is from Spokane's Spiciest candidate forum, featuring District 2 candidates Kate Tellis and Alejandro Barrientos. Reporter Erin Sellers asked them questions as they all powered through some spicy wings! (Keep an eye out for the District 3 segment!)

The second segment includes a conversation between RANGE Producer Pascal and Elina – a local student who participated in the College Success Foundation – about how its programming impacted her. This came after $12 million dollars of state funding – which was around 80% of their budget – was cut in May, Spokane’s College Success Foundation (CSF) office was forced to close in July.

20 Questions with District 2 Spokane City Council candidates

Spokane's Spiciest Event Livestream (courtesy of KXLY)

This week, we’re playing audio from our city council candidate forum, Spokane’s Spiciest!

This episode features candidate Sarah Dixit as reporter Erin Sellers asks her questions! 

Current council member Jonathan Bingle – who is running for re-election – had a prior commitment, so he wasn’t able to participate. You can hear from him in our July 25th episode (linked below).

Keep an eye out for the District 2 and 3 segments!

The POD: A (Conservative) City Council Candidate Forum

Spokane's Spiciest Event Livestream (courtesy of KXLY)

This week, Aaron Hedge flew solo and revisited two of his articles on the “forever chemicals” contamination on the West Plains.

You can read the articles – which were originally published in 2024 – at the links below:

Airport CEO: Lawmakers should ‘wait and see’ before banning toxic PFAS

Community demands solutions as Fairchild reckons with new PFAS contamination rule

As Erin works on an upcoming story about FLOCK cameras — aka Automated License Plate Readers — they and Val talked about all things FLOCK-related. These aren’t the red-light or speeding cameras that issue tickets, these are recording and logging vehicles throughout Spokane County at all times. From the costs to the concerns, these cameras are causing worry in local advocates about surveillance by both ICE and local law enforcement.

Further reading:



• FLOCK camera map – https://deflock.me/
• 404 Media’s FLOCK coverage – https://www.404media.co/tag/flock/

This week, Erin and Val sat down with local organizer hadley morrow to talk about their thoughts on protest safety, filing a complaint with the Office of Police Ombuds (OPO) and community organizing in Spokane.

If you witnessed law enforcement violence at protests in June and want to file an OPO complaint but don’t know where to start, you can email hadley at [email protected] for help.

PLUS: On Tuesday, Aug. 19th at 5:30 PM, the Office of Police Ombuds Commission will be meeting in the City Council Chamber. Like City Council meetings, this is a public meeting with an open forum. Make your voices heard!

Further reading:

Where are the protesters’ phones?

Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests

This week, we’re playing audio from a City Council District 3 candidate forum that was hosted recently by Spokane Braver Angels. Incumbent Zack Zappone and challenger Christopher Savage were asked questions about law enforcement, homelessness, housing, neighborhood infrastructure, political division and leadership styles.

Cody Arguelles, a third candidate running for the seat, couldn’t make it to this debate, but don’t worry! You can read about his platform (along with the other candidates') in our two articles linked below:

Meet the District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates

20 Questions with District 3 Spokane City Council Candidates

This week, Aaron Hedge and intern Clarinne Kirk attended a candidate forum hosted by the East Washington Freedom Alliance at Calvary Spokane, at which conservatives running for city council — District 1 incumbent Jonathan Bingle and District 3 challengers Christopher Savage and Cody Arguelles — pitched the audience on their visions for the direction of the city. We’re playing (mostly) raw audio from that event. 

As a warning, the candidates in this forum do use language and make comments that are harmful to queer and trans communities.