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Rachel Spacek joins InvestigateWest as equity and migrant labor reporter
Rachel Spacek, an award-winning bilingual journalist at Idaho’s largest newspaper, is joining InvestigateWest to cover migrant labor and other equity issues across the Pacific Northwest. For the past three years, Spacek has produced distinguished work for the Idaho Statesman, reporting on government, housing and the region’s growing Latino community....
For six years, UW has wrestled with whether to revoke the Ph.D. of one of the Northwest’s most infamous child molesters
Advocates and victims argue the university should do more to hold O’Donnell accountable. In part, it was his position — as a priest and doctoral student — that convinced so many children and parents at Seattle’s St. Paul School and Catholic parish to trust Patrick O’Donnell.
After governor’s push for reforms, a new report details harsh conditions at women’s prison
Spokespeople for Gov. Tina Kotek and the corrections agency declined to answer questions about the allegations of abuse and poor conditions at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville. At Oregon’s only women’s prison, female inmates have seen large black paper cutouts of rats along a hallway’s walls and heard a...
Idaho is losing OB-GYNs after strict abortion ban. But health exceptions unlikely this year.
Doctors, confused about how to practice medicine under Idaho’s abortion ban, pleaded with state legislators for a solution. Idaho, already in a doctor shortage, is losing doctors who specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. In a presentation at the Idaho State Capitol Building on Wednesday, Idaho medical leaders say the...
Idaho governor signs child health watchdog law, calls for broader government oversight role
New law to create independent agency for complaints follows InvestigateWest reporting on child abuse and neglect allegations. Idaho will have a watchdog state government agency to hear complaints about children’s services in foster care, residential treatment facilities and protective supervision. Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed Senate Bill 1380 into...
Inequity, mismanagement beleaguer Oregon’s early learning agency, employees say
Records allege “racist environment” and deep divisions over child care governance. In December 2022, Priscilla Lowells went over her bosses’ heads to alert the incoming Oregon governor of problems in her workplace. “With great courage I send this email in hopes that someone can hear my voice...
Inflation has turned Washington state’s property tax cap into a county budget-killer
Frustrated county officials say state leaders have shunted the state’s financial burden onto local governments. For two decades, Franklin County — an agricultural community of about 100,000 in south-central Washington — has been the fastest-growing county in the state. But lately, county leaders have been scrambling to...
New WA legislation prioritizes human trafficking prosecutions and support for child victims
Almost $700,000 was allocated to support child victims. Washington state lawmakers have passed a bill that takes steps to prosecute more human trafficking cases and fix the state’s “Safe Harbor” law meant to protect child sex trafficking victims. In early March, Washington legislators unanimously passed Senate Bill...
Idaho Legislature commissions investigation of youth treatment homes, passes bills to increase oversight and regulations
Lawmakers cite InvestigateWest series that revealed abuse, neglect at youth facilities. In response to InvestigateWest reporting that uncovered allegations of child abuse and neglect at state-licensed facilities, the Idaho Legislature has commissioned a state watchdog investigation that will examine oversight of Idaho’s youth treatment homes. Rep. Marco Erickson, R-Idaho...
Three award-winning journalists join InvestigateWest
InvestigateWest is thrilled to welcome two full-time reporters and a veteran editor to the team as the nonprofit newsroom aims to fill widening gaps in local investigative reporting, especially in underserved communities across the Pacific Northwest. Whitney Bryen comes to the organization as an investigative reporter from Oklahoma Watch, where...
New report says an Oregon public defender’s poor performance affected 100 clients
The report was triggered by concerns from prosecutors in Jefferson County, who noticed the lawyer was not opening police reports and other evidence files. A public defender in Central Oregon failed to meaningfully represent roughly 100 clients in Crook and Jefferson counties between 2017 and 2020, according to a report released Thursday by the Oregon Justice Resource Center.
State begins rewriting landmark climate program derailed by gas lawsuit
During the next year, the Department of Environmental Quality will work on a new program to limit climate emissions and help vulnerable communities. State environmental regulators are working on rewriting a greenhouse gas reduction program stymied by a gas company lawsuit. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced Monday it...
How child care fared in this year’s Washington state legislative session
Washington lawmakers this year funneled more money and support toward the state’s struggling child care system, looking to give providers a boost and expand access to day care and pre-K programs for families. Some of that money will go to expand mental health consultations for infants and toddlers, increase...
Proposed constitutional amendment to block ranked choice voting fails in Idaho House
Constitutional amendments require the support of two-thirds of the Idaho House and Idaho Senate. A proposed amendment to the Idaho Constitution that sought to block ranked choice voting failed in the Idaho House of Representatives on Monday and won’t appear on the ballot in November. Pushed by Rep. Vito...
Republicans Hatched a Secret Assault on the Voting Rights Act in Washington State
After he helped create the state’s voting maps, a redistricting commissioner quietly worked with national Republican figures to bring a lawsuit against his own work. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Republican...
Idaho House puts bill to redefine ‘terrorism’ on ice
Previous InvestigateWest reporting revealed Bundy ranch militant was instrumental in crafting the bill. Two similar versions of legislation to narrow Idaho’s “Terrorist Control Act” to only apply to those connected to foreign terrorist organizations failed to find enough support to move out of an Idaho House of Representatives committee on Friday.
About 93% of Idaho’s registered Republicans didn’t vote in GOP presidential caucus
The overwhelming majority of Idaho’s registered Republican voters did not participate in Saturday’s Republican Presidential Caucus. And despite Idaho’s status as one of the fastest growing states in the country over the past 10 years, fewer Idaho Republicans voted in Saturday’s GOP caucus than voted in the 2012 GOP caucus.
Most WA courts aren’t requiring convicted sex buyers to pay mandatory fees intended to address trafficking
Report finds $2.5 million in uncollected fees over last decade. When Washington passed a law in 2013 requiring people convicted of buying sex to pay more fees to the courts, Jeri Moomaw had high hopes. It seemed like a win-win to Moomaw. These fees — potentially adding up to hundreds...
Bill enabling Oregon to crack down on child labor heads to Gov. Kotek’s desk
Republican critiques of increased penalties for child labor violations fails to slow momentum. A bill that would empower the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to pursue and keep penalties against employers who violate the state’s child labor laws has passed both chambers of the Oregon Legislature. House Bill...
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