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Seeds We Choose to Plant

There’s a difference between fighting for something and fighting against someone. Outsiders say we must choose bloodshed or revenge. Eastern Washington knows better: we choose the path of neighbors who plan to live together tomorrow.

The Autism Registry Gambit: WA-5 Families as Pawns in RFK Jr.'s Profit Scheme

Spokane families sought autism diagnoses to access care, but now fear their data could fuel marketing for RFK Jr.’s allies. His plan to reshape the USPSTF could mandate coverage for unproven treatments, turning vital services into profit for his business network.

When Ideology Subverts Education: The Cost of Political Agendas in Central Valley Schools

Central Valley’s school board has shifted from education to ideology. Under Pam Orebaugh, lawsuits, “Biblical governance,” and voucher schemes mirror a national playbook that drains resources and divides communities. The choice ahead: schools for students, or battlegrounds for politics.

Spokane as Ground Zero in the National War on 'Housing First'

How Spokane became ground zero for a far-right experiment: dismantle Housing First, reward encampment bans, and call it public safety. We follow the money, the mandates, and the lives on the line.

Vital Wines and the Vineyards Rewriting the Ethics of Washington Winemaking

In Washington’s wine country, a nonprofit winery is redefining what it means to care for the people behind the harvest. Vital Wines doesn’t just bottle vintages, it funds healthcare, restores dignity, and transforms vineyards into communities of care.

The Plot They Almost Pulled Off

When Congress tried to slip a “judicial gag rule” into H.R. 1, it nearly succeeded. Section 70302 would have blocked courts from enforcing rulings against the President — and Rep. Baumgartner helped it get there.

The Day the Airwaves Were Cut: Public Media Just Lost Its Lifeline in Rural Washington

UPDATE – July 17: Today, the U.S. Senate followed the House in voting to slash funding for NPR, PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The final blow came despite months of warnings from journalists, educators, and rural broadcasters who know exactly what’s at stake. With this vote, Congress

Far-Right Policy. Local Waters. One Line of Defense.

PFAS levels 5,000% above normal. EPA partners vanishing. And a river still carrying the burden. As federal enforcement fades, Spokane’s defenders are left fighting upstream — against policy rollbacks, toxic runoff, and a system designed to look away.

He Said It Was About Energy Security. Then He Cut the Power to the Future.

Farmers in Lincoln and Columbia Counties were building a clean energy future — until H.R. 1 cut the legs out from under them. What Rep. Baumgartner voted for is already stalling projects and driving up rural energy costs.

This Is Our Country Too

A Fourth of July Reflection from WA‑5 On this day, across hills and valleys, city blocks and gravel roads, the sky above Eastern Washington fills with the sound of memory. Flags wave in Republic and Rosalia, in Pullman and Pomeroy. In Spokane’s Riverfront Park, families gather by the

This Land Is Us: A Rural County Fought Back Against Washington, D.C. and Won

Where Neighbors Still Show Up At the Republic Library on a weekday morning, someone is always stopping by. A teacher drops off flyers for the summer reading program. A teenager scrolls through job listings on the public Wi-Fi. Children gather around bins of Legos and puzzles while quiet conversation drifts

Birthright Citizenship Makes Washington Strong

One Birth, Two Futures In a quiet delivery room in Spokane, a baby enters the world. Same nurses, same hospital, same breath drawn into life, as all other babies born here. But under a new federal order, that baby’s right to be American now depends not on where they

The Ground We Tend Together

On a soft June morning in Spokane’s Peaceful Valley, the garden is already awake. Dew glints on strawberry leaves. A robin skips between rows of kale. And in a corner of the community plot, not far from the river, two children lift the lid of a cedar box. Steam

The Quiet Liquidation: What the Land-Sale Bill Reveals About America’s Vanishing Stewardship

A Premonition in the Pines At the northeastern edge of Washington State lies the Salmo-Priest Wilderness, untouched and elemental. It is one of the last places where the original ecology of the Inland Northwest still breathes: ancient cedars, grizzly bears, the rare echo of woodland caribou. For tribal communities, it