Anwar Peace, a police accountability expert, former chair of the Spokane Human Rights Commission and a current HRC commissioner joined Hedge to discuss the US Marshals arrests of several Spokanites who participated in the June 11 ICE protests.

This week, Luke and Val talked to Katia Jasmin and Thamar Sauveuer of Creole Resources, an organization supporting Haitian immigrants in Spokane, about an emergency fundraiser they launched this week. According to the organization, dozens of Spokane Haitian immigrants with legal work permits were fired from their jobs this week because of the Trump administration’s revocation of the Temporary Protected Status program.

Additional reading:

Uncertainty for Spokane’s Haitian migrants — and for employers

The use of force by law enforcement during the June 11 and 14 protests in Spokane has left our community with lots of questions regarding protesting and immigration rights: what recourse do people have to report excessive uses of force? How does it work when Kootenai County Sheriffs — who explicitly collaborate with ICE —  answer a call for aid from Spokane? Was the Keep WA Working Act violated on June 11 when police escorted the ICE van out? What the heck was that green gas law enforcement used? 

We got the answers to some of those questions and more when Luke and Val sat down with Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall this week. 

This week, Erin and Aaron talk about Erin’s deeply-reported story on a study that implied most unhoused people living on the streets of Spokane shouldn’t be here, and why we need to push back on narratives that undermine community care.

Read the full analysis here.

This week we have a convo between Luke Baumgarten and former City Council President Ben Stuckart, focusing on the June 11 protest at the Spokane Immigration and Customs Enforcement Facility. The protest was sparked by the detention of two young refugees, Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres during a routine check-in with immigration.

Ben shares the emotional and community-driven journey to support and advocate for the detained men, discussing the legal challenges, the supportive roles of various community members, and the broader implications of immigration policies.

01:00 Meet Cesar and Josar and the asylum process

10:00 Challenges and injustices

15:30 Protests and political context

31:00 The spontaneous protest begins

37:30 Arrest and jail conditions

50:31 Solidarity and community support

Read more:

Everything we know about the Spokane ICE protests

Queer BIPOC organizer arrested on their way to Spokane Pride

Faith leaders plan prayer vigil at Spokane ICE Center to support immigrants June 24

This week we talk about the marathon protests in Spokane this week against the ICE detention of two migrants. Luke pops in for a cameo because it was all hands on deck — even unpaid ones.

This week we had a visit from our WSU Murrow Fellow in Newport, Sophia Mattice-Aldous. She and Aaron Hedge discussed her deeply-reported piece on the landscape of opioid overdose in the rural areas of North Idaho and Northwest Washington, highlighted by the tragic story of Jasmine Martin, a 23-year-old who died from an overdose in 2024 while trying to get sober. The conversation delves into the availability of recovery resources, stigmas surrounding addiction, and the complexities of fentanyl use in small communities. Despite their grief, Jasmine's family, particularly her mother Tish and sister Antonia, are actively working to raise awareness and improve access to life-saving measures like Narcan.

Read the story here. 

Val and Aaron explore the networking and marketing tactics — including those of at least one church in Spokane — of the Christian nationalist movement that staged an event in the Cal Anderson Park (named for a gay legislator) in Capitol Hill, Seattle’s historically queer neighborhood, where 23 protesters were arrested last weekend. The incident, which took place May 24, has gained national headlines, spawned more protests/counterprotests and drew the gaze of prominent watchers of Christian supremacy to Seattle.

This week Erin was flying solo on the radio, but Val and Hedge were there in spirit.

We have an interview with Christopher Blackwell, an incarcerated journalist in Washington discussing with Val and Hedge the challenges and dynamics of reporting from prison. The conversation covers a lot of ground: the limited technology available to even type and research stories, the dehumanization of incarcerated folks, how we can build community in prison and outside and more.

Then Erin fills us in on the latest news this week, including an update on union busting at Planned Parenthood, the new rent stabilization laws in Washington and the Strippers' Bill of Rights.

03:20 Interview with Christopher Blackwell Begins

31:59 The official cost of Union Busting at Planned Parenthood

38:46 Rent Stabilization Legislation

45:27 Strippers' Bill of Rights

This week, Valerie Osier and Aaron Hedge go through many (though certainly not all) of the prominent immigrant arrests carried out by federal agents in the Spokane area since the Trump administration took power and embarked on a dramatic and widespread immigration crackdown. They also chat about the many ethical and journalistic considerations we make when covering these stories.

Relevant reading:

• Immigration officials are arresting people in Washington and warehousing them in Idaho
• Spokane city reaffirmed its support of the Keep WA working Act
• Spokane Valley did the opposite
• Ghanaian immigrant, Bismarck Avornu, was detained after church; He’s one of few to get out on bond and he shared about what it’s like in the Northwest ICE Processing Center
• ICE agents with no warrant violently arrest migrants in Spokane Valley - Jeison and Cesar Ruiz Rodriguez
• Martin Diaz arrested without warrant.
• That arrest revealed to us that ICE is reportedly surveilling immigration activists