Val was out of town last week, so Erin and Aaron filled her in on the biggest stories she missed: A Ghanaian immigrant detained by ICE who has been allowed to return home to await trial, the scoop on Congressman Michael Baumgartner's first Town Hall in Spokane since Trump's inauguration, a political drama out of Spokane Valley that could impact statewide public record access and a very brief update on a local police accountability advocate's First Amendment case against two regional sheriff's offices. Relevant reading:

• Migrant detained by ICE back with family: RANGE caught up with Bismark Avornu, who’s lived in the Spokane area for 15 years, where he met his wife and is raising two American children, about his 45 days in a Tacoma processing facility.
• Congressman Michael Baumgartner’s Spokane Town Hall: The wildest meeting we’ve ever attended
• How a Washington city’s war with its own council member could chip away at public records access: Legislative proposal would allow agencies to withhold the occupations of whistleblowers in investigations from public records.
• Spokane and Bonner county sheriff’s offices can no longer hide or delete critical Facebook comments after First Amendment concerns, judges rule

Look, I'm not jealous at all, but

last week, Val got to take the whole

2

week to spend time with Family Tour

New York, learn about how artificial

3

intelligence can maybe be ethically used.

4

Anyways, she got a week off of the

news, but that doesn't mean that

5

you're exempt from finding out

all about it when you come back.

6

So Erin Hedge and I sat Val down to run

her through the biggest headlines that

7

she, and maybe you missed last week.

8

Oh man.

9

I hate to interrupt a good song

like that one, but alas, it is

10

3:00 PM and that means you get us.

11

I'm Aaron.

12

This is Free Range, a co-production

of KYRS and Range Media.

13

I'm here today with the other

Erin and our good pal, Valerie,

14

who is back from vacation, which

means she missed a lot of news.

15

It's not very good for a news

editor to take a whole week off.

16

Okay.

17

For half of the week.

18

I was technically working for a

fellowship, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

19

But she wasn't catching up on local news.

20

I was not.

21

And so today we're gonna do a fun

news segment that I like to call.

22

Here's what you missed

last week on Glee, where.

23

I think you can tell which generation

I'm from but he and I who you know, all

24

we do is read the news, write the news.

25

You read a lot more than I do.

26

Eat, sleep, breathe the news.

27

We're gonna fill that in on the

biggest thing she missed last week.

28

And you know what, maybe you

missed those same things too.

29

I know not everybody spends a good hour

of their day every day reading local

30

news, so hopefully we can catch you

up at the same time as we catch up.

31

Val.

32

Woo.

33

All right, hedge.

34

What was the biggest story from

last week that Valerie missed?

35

So, I don't know, I don't know if it

would be considered the biggest story,

36

but there was a story that that I

was able to track down while Valerie

37

was in New York and North Carolina.

38

Right.

39

Well, New York, then North Carolina,

New York, then North Carolina.

40

World's traveler.

41

How was it by the way?

42

Trip?

43

It was great.

44

Good trip.

45

I I saw a Broadway show and possibly

got scammed in Times Square, but

46

we're not gonna talk about that.

47

I am now very knowledgeable

about being in the big city.

48

Glad you have fun, but stuff

happened while you were gone.

49

Including so back in February mm-hmm.

50

I wrote a piece about a man who is an

immigrant to the United States from Ghana.

51

Mm-hmm.

52

Who, he came here and he's

been here for 15 years.

53

He got a couple of degrees at EWU.

54

He's married to an American citizen

who's a she's a Congolese refugee.

55

And they, they found common a common

environment at a church in Spokane Valley.

56

And they, they met there, they

got married and had two kids.

57

And shortly after the Trump administration

came into power, as we all know, like

58

their federal agents have been like

going through communities and detaining

59

folks, and often in like pretty like

brash and frightening circumstances.

60

And so this guy was,

it was on January 26th.

61

He was, he went home from church and

his wife and kids were gonna follow him.

62

They were gonna show up a little later.

63

They were gonna stop at the grocery store.

64

And by the time they got

home, he wasn't there.

65

And come to find out ICE had

detained him and taken him to.

66

The Northwest Ice

Processing Center in Tacoma.

67

Mm-hmm.

68

Which is their big facility in Washington.

69

And yeah.

70

They didn't know what

was gonna happen to him.

71

They thought they thought he was

gonna be processed for deportation.

72

Yeah.

73

I think the last time I was on the show,

what we talked about this story but yeah.

74

Yeah.

75

Or one of the last times.

76

Yeah.

77

And so, but I got, I got a text message

earlier last week, I think it was

78

like Tuesday from a friend of theirs

saying that he'd been released and

79

was back with his family in Spokane.

80

That's amazing and surprising.

81

Yeah.

82

And, and it's I don't think

it's a common experience.

83

Mm-hmm.

84

He, he thinks his name is

Bismarck, ANU, and he's, um mm-hmm.

85

He's a prominent member of his,

his church in Spokane Valley.

86

Mm-hmm.

87

It's a, just it's an

black evangelical church.

88

It's Christian and he,

he preaches a lot there.

89

But he he believes that he was in he was

in a room with about 80 other people.

90

It depended on, on the day,

obviously, 'cause people are

91

being processed in and out.

92

But he estimated to

usually be about 80 people.

93

And he thinks he's the only person who

he encountered who was released on Bond.

94

Wow.

95

And he doesn't, this is just all,

like, all, all the information that I

96

know is from his personal experience.

97

Mm-hmm.

98

I couldn't talk to his lawyer.

99

'cause his lawyer is in the middle of

proceedings that deal with his case.

100

Yeah.

101

But yeah, he, he was.

102

So it was, it is, that

is a surprising thing.

103

Yeah.

104

To happen.

105

Okay.

106

And it's, I think mostly it's because

like his family is lucky enough to,

107

have some resources, some community,

and the rest of the people that

108

he encountered and he encountered

people from all over the world.

109

Mm-hmm.

110

Including a British migrants.

111

A guy from Liberia, just

like people from everywhere.

112

I think he said mainly there

were like folks were Hispanic

113

people from everywhere.

114

Most of 'em don't have those resources.

115

They're immigrants.

116

They don't have a lot of money.

117

Don't have a lot of

necessarily community roots.

118

Mm-hmm.

119

And.

120

He and his wife Julie had had

friends here and they were able

121

to organize a fundraiser for them.

122

Mm-hmm.

123

That's not gonna pay for everything,

but it was enough to raise the

124

$5,000 bond that he was wow.

125

That he was released on $5,000.

126

Mm-hmm.

127

I, I don't know.

128

For some reason I thought

it would be higher.

129

Well, he, he's a little confused by this.

130

Mm-hmm.

131

He doesn't think that he should

have had to pay a bond at all.

132

Yeah.

133

'cause his his lawyer was able

to reopen his Green card case.

134

Okay.

135

And his lawyer went to ICE and, and

said that, she had this, this order

136

from a judge saying that his case was

reopened and they were like, we're

137

not gonna release him without bond.

138

So you had to pay us $5,000.

139

I mean, pay the courts $5,000.

140

But they, they did have those resources,

otherwise he'd still be there.

141

Wow.

142

Do you have any idea of what

i, I guess like what opened up

143

the opportunity to pay bond?

144

Does everybody get the opportunity to pay

bond, it's just that nobody can afford it?

145

Or is it that like, this lawyer got

him the opportunity to pay the bond?

146

I don't know how it would

work in other cases.

147

I do know that the judge, like ICE

was trying to make a case mm-hmm.

148

In, in a courtroom, and this is all

from his descriptions of the mm-hmm.

149

Of the scene in the courtroom.

150

ICE was trying to make a

case that that they wanted to

151

keep, keep him in, in custody.

152

They didn't wanna let him go.

153

And the judge was like, well,

you have to have a reason.

154

And yeah, they were like, okay,

well he represents a flight risk.

155

And the judge was like, the judge looked

at all of the filings in his case and.

156

There is only the one filing

for the one detention.

157

He's doesn't have a criminal record.

158

Yeah.

159

He's, his family's here.

160

No, he's never been

pulled over by the cops.

161

Like he's never had any contact.

162

His Yeah.

163

And his family, American

citizens are here.

164

Yeah.

165

And the judge was like, no, like

he doesn't represent a, a flight

166

risk and you have to let him go.

167

And so, Julie had to, had to post the

bond, but they were able to get him out.

168

And he's been out since I

think he got out on March 12th.

169

Okay.

170

He was in, he was in custody for 45 days.

171

Is there a chance that he can,

that, that, that the courts can find

172

that he was illegally detained and

then he gets that bond money back?

173

Or is that just gone?

174

His, his lawyers are working that out.

175

Okay.

176

I don't know.

177

I don't know a lot of the details

of the legal parts of the case.

178

I'm hoping to follow up with him.

179

Mm-hmm.

180

But it's likely that I won't know

anything until October when he has, he

181

has a, he has a final hearing for his

case on October 12th, so it's gonna

182

be months before we know what kind of

a lot of that information for sure.

183

Protections.

184

Does this guy have to knock it

just picked up by ice again?

185

Mm, that's a good question.

186

He, he seemed confident that

that's not gonna happen because

187

he's been released on this bond.

188

Mm-hmm.

189

Okay.

190

Like they've paid $5,000 so that he can be

free at least until his, his court date.

191

But as we've seen, yeah, the

rules aren't, like federal agents

192

are not following the rules.

193

Right.

194

So I don't, I don't, I don't know, I

don't know the answer to that question.

195

It could, like he could still be

in danger of being detained again.

196

So he was sent to Tacoma, right?

197

Yes.

198

And were all of his hearings in Tacoma.

199

And will he have to go back to

Tacoma to do his further hearings?

200

Yeah.

201

So, so everything took place at this

at the courts in this northwest.

202

Ice Processing Center, which is the,

the formal name of the facility.

203

And yeah, he'll have to go back

for his, his final hearing.

204

Did he share with you any, any information

about the conditions in that facility?

205

I know we also ran a story last

week about another thing you miss.

206

Yes, I saw the headline though.

207

I put it in our newsletter.

208

And about that facility and, and how much

it makes and how much little it pays.

209

The, was he forced to work Yeah.

210

While he was there?

211

No, he didn't work while he was there.

212

Okay.

213

That's, that's the thing that, so,

so we republished a piece mm-hmm.

214

From ProPublica saying that, that

this facility, it focused on, on

215

the Northwest Ice Processing Center.

216

Mm-hmm.

217

But it was just basically about

how the company that runs that

218

facility, which is a private

for-profit group called Geo Group.

219

Mm-hmm.

220

They don't want to pay.

221

Incarcerated people there, the minimum

wage that Washington requires them to

222

pay, so they don't hire them at all.

223

They so, so these, these folks who

are detained there, they don't have

224

an opportunity to make money for the

commissary or, or anything like that.

225

And so.

226

Because before they were just

paying them like $1 a day.

227

It was, and then forcing them to

do, geez, manual labor cleaning

228

the facilities and serving food.

229

And it was a, it was a dollar a week.

230

A dollar a week.

231

Oh my God.

232

It was a dollar a week.

233

And and, and they're, so they're

in li the, that company Geo Group

234

is in litigation with the state of

Washington to try to now circumvent

235

the, I know minimum wage law.

236

So does Washington state's minimum

wage law apply to prisoners as well?

237

Because I thought that was like the

one, like the thing about the like

238

14th Amendment was like, we can't

slave people unless they're in prison.

239

And then therefore now we have

a prison slave labor system.

240

This isn't prison, I

think is the difference.

241

Interesting.

242

And nobody there has been

found guilty of anything.

243

They're just under detainment.

244

Right.

245

So.

246

I guess I'm curious if you're forced

to do a bunch of manual labor at this

247

facility and then, it's found that you

were actually here legally and you get

248

to stay, like you can't pay back, I want

back pay, would they then have to pay you?

249

Yeah.

250

And I think that, I think that's

probably some of what's gonna

251

get worked out in this lawsuit.

252

They've been in litigation for the

state of Washington for three years

253

trying to, trying to sort this out.

254

And they're hiring, they

hire contractors to come in.

255

Mm-hmm.

256

And they pay them the minimum wage, but

it's a lot, it's a much smaller workforce.

257

Mm-hmm.

258

And so, like a lot of the

work just doesn't get done.

259

And the conditions.

260

So, conditions.

261

And one of the interesting things

that was different from the

262

ProPublica story and what I heard

from, from Bismarck was mm-hmm.

263

He actually, he's, he said the one

pleasant thing about, I mean, like

264

he, it was an awful experience.

265

Mm-hmm.

266

Terrifying.

267

Just like he didn't know

what was gonna happen.

268

Yeah.

269

He wasn't free.

270

He couldn't see his family.

271

He could call his wife.

272

I mean, they could,

they could go visit him.

273

Mm-hmm.

274

But he just wasn't free to be with them.

275

And he saw, he saw a lot of really, like

troubling things, which we can get into.

276

But mm-hmm.

277

The one thing, there were descriptions

in, in the ProPublica story about

278

how the, the conditions were

allowed to just get really dirty.

279

Mm-hmm.

280

The facility.

281

And things weren't clean, the trash wasn't

taken out, and that the food is awful.

282

And he had a different experience.

283

He said.

284

He said it was actually like pretty clean.

285

He said he got to see a

doctor as much as he needed.

286

Wow.

287

And he has he has a he has a, he

has a blood pressure condition.

288

He was really bad.

289

That's better than yeah.

290

Spokane tell.

291

Yes.

292

Well, and better than, some of the

national news around these detainments,

293

I think there was like somebody

here on vacation from Europe who

294

had a bad health condition and Yep.

295

Was unable to see a

doctor in entertainment.

296

We also, that's interesting that

Bismarck's experience was better because

297

we also just republished a story like

two weeks or three weeks ago about I

298

think it was a man in a Tacoma facility.

299

Who I think it's the

same person that Aaron.

300

Oh, okay.

301

Gotcha.

302

Gotcha.

303

Yeah, this person like had a,

had a deadly condition, right?

304

It was a, I can't remember exact the

specifics of the, of the condition, but

305

it was like something, if this person

didn't receive treatment, they would die.

306

So, and they didn't have

access to it for, for months.

307

So maybe either conditions are

variable or there might be some like

308

lawsuits or pressure that's causing

them to let people see doctors.

309

I'm wondering if the first guy

Weber published about, his case

310

has been publicized a bit and so

now maybe conditions improved and

311

they got doctors in, at least for

now to try to avoid more lawsuits.

312

Maybe.

313

I mean, that would be, that

would be interesting to know.

314

And that's, that's, that's, that

was the, I think that was one of

315

the harder things about mm-hmm.

316

Doing this story is like, all I had to go

on was Bismarck's personal experience, and

317

it's possible that, maybe, so, so he was

in a part of the facility called B three.

318

It's the, it's the cell blown the.

319

It's not really a cell walk.

320

It's like a like it's an open, it's

an open like bed plan and there's,

321

there's bunk beds and Oh, gotcha.

322

And there's they're all sectioned off.

323

Mm-hmm.

324

And I think it, it it goes through

it goes from like a, through one of

325

the later letters in the alphabet.

326

So there's there's 1500

beds in this facility.

327

Wow.

328

And there were, there were about

80 people in Bismarck's room.

329

And it's po it's, I mean, I guess it's

possible that like conditions in some

330

of the rooms are better than mm-hmm.

331

The conditions in some of the other rooms.

332

But that's I think that's one of the

mysteries that we have right now.

333

'cause we like, I felt really lucky to

talk to him because like he's one of

334

the few people who can like, speak to

this from personal experience, right.

335

One of the few people that's

actually being able to speak about

336

it from outside the facility.

337

Yeah.

338

Facility.

339

Yeah, exactly.

340

Okay, so that's one thing you missed, Val.

341

Yeah, I have one last question.

342

Do we have any did he mention

anything about his, like fellow

343

inmates or like detainees?

344

I'm almost, I don't know, I'm like

jumping to like conspiracies, but I'm

345

almost wondering, like Bismarck had

was a, like he, he wasn't a citizen,

346

but he was like in the process, of

becoming legal and, or like getting

347

his green card and all that stuff.

348

He wasn't here like illegally.

349

And I wonder, and, and we know that ICE

is picking up a lot of people who are in

350

process and following the rules and all

that stuff, and I'm, I'm almost wondering

351

if they're like sectioning them off.

352

I don't know, like by more likely to get

out and therefore talk, I don't know.

353

That's where yeah, that's a

little, I mean, tinfoil hat.

354

Yeah.

355

I can't, I mean, I can't

speak to that specifically.

356

Yeah.

357

But he, he did talk about, some

of his, some of his the people

358

that he was detained with.

359

Mm-hmm.

360

I'm looking at my story there.

361

There's, there was a guy there, there

was a British guy that he talked about

362

who was like, in the middle of the

night, was like, just nabbed by agents

363

in the, in the middle of the night.

364

And he, they were like, you're

going to our facility in Miami.

365

And he was like, why am I doing that?

366

And his family didn't know and

and, and so that was like a

367

really frightening experience.

368

That's, and this is just all

from Bismarck's, like personal

369

perspective, but I mean, things

like that have happened nationally.

370

Like ma kil getting moved to mm-hmm.

371

Louisiana out of mm-hmm.

372

Yeah.

373

Just the way they move people around

and like the difficulty that we

374

had at the beginning of the Trump

administration, even just figuring

375

out mm-hmm Okay, somebody got

picked up, where were they taken?

376

Where are they at?

377

Like having to scroll

through Idaho jail records.

378

Mm-hmm.

379

The whole thing just is so chaotic

and hard to track, and we are

380

people whose jobs it is to be

able to understand these systems.

381

Mm-hmm.

382

So I can't even imagine how family

members feel trying to track this down.

383

Yeah.

384

And, and there, there are

trackers, ICE has a, has a,

385

has a tracking system mm-hmm.

386

For people, but it doesn't

update for two days.

387

Right.

388

And, and so you don't know, there was

another guy his name was Emmanuel,

389

ed Hanham who's from Eritrea.

390

He didn't wanna go back to Eritrea.

391

He had Swedish citizenship.

392

Mm-hmm.

393

He had dual citizenship in

Eritrea and, and Sweden.

394

Mm-hmm.

395

And he was here, he was.

396

Bismarck said he was here, un and he was

undocumented, so he wasn't here legally,

397

but so they were gonna deport him and he

was like, can you deport me to Sweden?

398

And they we're like, no, you're

gonna, you're gonna Africa.

399

And it's, yeah, it's just and and there

were, there were a number of stories Yeah.

400

That were like, that just like

inexplicable, like refusals to,

401

it's like the cruelty is a point,

do what it seems like they could do.

402

Mm-hmm.

403

Yeah.

404

Alright.

405

Okay.

406

So that was a little bit of good news.

407

I mean, it's good that he's out.

408

Mm-hmm.

409

And with his family.

410

Good.

411

That, hi.

412

The conditions he experienced weren't,

as bad as they could have been, but,

413

we're still gonna be following this case.

414

We don't know where he'll end up.

415

Some other wild news you missed this week.

416

Yeah.

417

And on our walk over, I was

shocked to realize that this

418

actually only happened a week ago.

419

Like it feels like it's been a lifetime.

420

We had Michael Congressman

Michael Baumgartners.

421

Mm-hmm.

422

First couple of town halls

since Trump's inauguration.

423

One was in Ritzville, one was in Spokane.

424

He is the representative of Congressional

District number five in Washington.

425

And, a lot of, republicans were on the

record telling freshman legislators like,

426

don't hold town halls just don't do them.

427

They're, they're gonna be,

they're gonna get outta control.

428

They're gonna get wild.

429

People are gonna use them to spin

some kind of political narrative.

430

Don't listen to your constituents.

431

Yes.

432

But to his credit, Baumgartner

has been holding town halls.

433

He said he wants to do one in every

county in his congressional district.

434

Mm-hmm.

435

And I was able to get a press pass to the

one in Spokane, which ended up being sexy.

436

Yeah.

437

I know.

438

They set aside the balcony for us.

439

We were up there with my little, my

little pass and then we got to go

440

to a press conference afterwards.

441

It was actually the first time I've ever

had to use my press pass for something.

442

So that was cool.

443

Gotta dust it off, but I talked

to the Luke a little bit about

444

this on the radio show last week,

so I don't wanna rehash too much.

445

Mm-hmm.

446

But basically.

447

Everybody in that room

was furious with him.

448

There was a lot of

questions about immigration.

449

Mm-hmm.

450

There were questions about,

Elon Musk's influence mm-hmm.

451

About the proper role of Congress and

whether or not Congress is currently

452

letting President Donald Trump

to overrule his authority mm-hmm.

453

In the executive branch and cut things for

which Congress has approved funding for.

454

Mm-hmm.

455

They're supposed to

control the purse strings.

456

Right.

457

They're saying, here we have this

money, spend it on this thing.

458

And what we're seeing over and

over and over again is Trump says,

459

no, I'm not gonna do that thing.

460

I'm not gonna spend that money.

461

Mm-hmm.

462

All of these things are tied up in

core cases, so we're waiting to see

463

how all of this is gonna shake out.

464

Constituents were angry.

465

Yeah.

466

There was so much yelling.

467

I think I heard liar.

468

And the big thing was answer the question.

469

Oh, and this is an opinion, but coming

in it seemed to me like Baumgartner

470

had prepared a couple of stock answers.

471

Mm-hmm.

472

He knew you know mm-hmm.

473

The general issues that

people are frustrated about.

474

And so it seemed like he had these sort

of general stock answers that he was

475

trying to apply to specific questions

that often were very politician.

476

Mm-hmm.

477

Very waffly, very oh, I need to

give you 45 seconds of context.

478

Or why what Joe Biden did was

actually really bad four years ago

479

and whether or not he was going

to actually answer the questions.

480

Mm-hmm.

481

A lot of times he got shouted down

while he was giving context, context,

482

quote unquote, or, he gave his stock

answer, people let him get it out, and

483

then realized that he didn't actually

answer the question they asked.

484

So it just did kind of devolve.

485

I think people.

486

Had a lot of really just

frustrations, a lot of big

487

concerns is Medicaid going away?

488

Mm-hmm.

489

And are we following the rules,

like the actual laws when it

490

comes to detaining people?

491

Because we've seen that maybe, probably

we aren't, like they're just doing

492

things and waiting for the courts to tell

them to stop and sometimes they don't

493

even stop when the courts tell them to.

494

Mm-hmm.

495

Yeah, so there was a lot

of constituent frustration.

496

And then right after Baumgartner goes on

the Jason Rant Show, which is conservative

497

talk radio based out of, I wanna say

Seattle, but definitely West Side.

498

Okay.

499

And Baumgartner says the room

had a bunch of unhinged lunatics.

500

And which was the headline of the

Jason piece Tell was Unhinged Lunatics

501

and he implied that Whitworth's,

so it was held at Whitworth.

502

Okay.

503

Which is like a private college.

504

Mm-hmm.

505

They held it in the big theater.

506

The ticketing system was like, they

had 500 tickets that could be reserved.

507

They told people when

tickets would go live.

508

So you had like 48 hours notice before

the tickets went live to know if

509

you wanted to reserve a seat or not.

510

And then Whitworth, the school set

aside 200 tickets that were supposed

511

to go to Whitworth students and

folks at a retirement community

512

that is right next to Whitworth.

513

Okay.

514

So kind of like, I think it literally

touches the boundary of the school.

515

So they'd given out 500 tickets.

516

Those got snapped up within hours.

517

Mm-hmm.

518

Going live.

519

And Baumgartner on this talk show like

suggested that Whitworth had collaborated

520

with, leftist radicals somehow to ensure

that the room was full of people that

521

he, that weren't Baumgartner supporters.

522

Mm-hmm.

523

At one point somebody asked

him about immigration policies.

524

Mm-hmm.

525

And his response was, how many

people in this room are Trump voters?

526

And I would say maybe like a dozen people.

527

Oh wow.

528

Raised their hands.

529

So he was, I mean, he was right.

530

The room wasn't favorable to him.

531

Mm-hmm.

532

But he seemed to think it was some

kind of conspiracy or like some kind of

533

something with the ticketing system that

allowed people who were not happy with

534

him to claim the majority of those seats.

535

You just gotta change

your cookie preferences.

536

Yeah.

537

Yeah.

538

And there was some reporting from the

spokesman that came out afterwards, and

539

I saw some of this conversation online.

540

There were some local

organizing groups that mm-hmm.

541

I would say are more, I don't know that

I would call them radical leftists or

542

fringe, I think the words Baumgartner

used to me or fringe leftists.

543

Mm.

544

I don't know that I would call

them that as political as to

545

Democrats, beliefs are a spectrum.

546

I would say it's a.

547

Group people who are unhappy

with the way the administration

548

is currently running things.

549

And there was a lot of conversation

like sharing of the ticket link mm-hmm.

550

Of oh, these tickets go

live, like reserve tickets.

551

Mm-hmm.

552

But it was more so just people who are

frustrated and concerned with the way

553

things are currently being ran, doing

like grassroots, community power building.

554

Unless I think it's, it's frustrating to

hear an elected official who is supposed

555

to represent everyone in their area

regardless of a political party say that

556

this room full of 500 people who didn't

like me were not meant to be there.

557

And it's no, those 500 people

are your constituents and you're

558

supposed to listen to them.

559

And it doesn't matter how

the room plays out, it's.

560

It matters like what you're doing

and what you're saying and like how

561

you're actually treating people.

562

Yeah.

563

And he, in the press conference

afterwards, he said something

564

like, this room isn't like the

rest of Eastern Washington.

565

And I also think people who are frustrated

with the way things are being ran

566

are a lot more incentivized mm-hmm.

567

To go to a two hour town hall Yeah.

568

Than people who are happy

with how things are being ran.

569

So if there's, if there's somebody

out there who is thrilled with

570

the way things are going mm-hmm.

571

They're gonna be much less likely to

go to a town hall and be like, hello,

572

Congressman Baumgartner, I am very happy.

573

I have no questions.

574

Keep on keeping on.

575

That's something you can send

in an email or a Facebook post.

576

Well, and.

577

You mentioned that he

had one in Ritzville.

578

Did you say you went

to that one too, or No?

579

I did not.

580

Okay.

581

The spokesman sent a reporter mm-hmm.

582

Who went who, and I read

the, the coverage of that.

583

And it sounded like that room,

even in rural Ritzville mm-hmm.

584

Was pretty unfriendly mm-hmm.

585

To Baumgartner.

586

And to be fair, when I read that article,

they, the spokesman reporter had quoted

587

somebody that I know lives in Spokane.

588

Oh, okay.

589

So I do think there was people mm-hmm.

590

Who maybe didn't get weren't able

to get a ticket to the Spokane one.

591

Those tickets did sell out really fast.

592

Mm-hmm.

593

And there's still his constituents.

594

Yeah.

595

They do live in his district.

596

So I do think there was probably a

few people who drove out to Ritzville.

597

Mm-hmm.

598

But I know there was also folks who

said they were Ritzville residents.

599

Okay.

600

Quoted in the story that were

also worried about the ways that

601

the Trump administration mm-hmm.

602

And.

603

House Republicans mm-hmm.

604

Baumgartner, rubber

stamping things like Yeah.

605

Cuts to VA access like what's going

on with veteran funding mm-hmm.

606

And social security questions.

607

So I think that both

rooms were unfriendly.

608

I think probably also the Spokane

room was more, more unfriendly.

609

There was more people there.

610

Mm-hmm.

611

I don't think that it was

some kind of grand conspiracy.

612

I just think in general, people

who are frustrated are much more

613

likely to be politically active.

614

Yeah.

615

Well, and this has been happening across,

like you mentioned, that uh mm-hmm.

616

Freshmen Congress people are

discouraged from holding their town

617

halls, but some of them have done it.

618

Some, some Republicans have done it.

619

There's, there was a really good

report in CNN and then in the AP

620

too about representative Mike Flood,

who's a Republican from Nebraska.

621

Mm-hmm.

622

Did a big town hall in, in Columbus.

623

And, and the same thing happened there.

624

Mm-hmm.

625

People were just, I mean, these were

people who voted him into office.

626

But they, they, they were, they were

very upset and there was a lot of, of the

627

same, there were, there were a lot of the

same concerns brought up at that event.

628

I have a stupid question.

629

Mm-hmm.

630

For both of you, shoot.

631

Do,

632

are town halls normally discouraged

and or do congress people

633

normally not do town halls ever?

634

Or is this just like a special Trump.

635

Special.

636

I mean.

637

Okay, so the article that I'm

specifically referencing is that

638

Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

639

Mm-hmm.

640

Told, specifically told right

Freshman Republicans Hey, I wouldn't.

641

Right.

642

I, I know locally people had been

frustrated here for a while mm-hmm.

643

With former representative

Kathy McMorris Rogers.

644

Mm-hmm.

645

She didn't hold very many

town halls, they said Oh yeah.

646

And even the ones she did,

it had been like, hard to get

647

tickets, hard to speak at.

648

There was a lot of complaints that

I'd heard from people that felt

649

like Mc Morris Rogers did not engage

with her constituency Interesting.

650

And didn't feel like she had to.

651

Yeah.

652

'cause she was an incumbent

with a lot of power.

653

Mm-hmm.

654

And I think where maybe things change

for freshmen Congress people mm-hmm.

655

Is that yeah.

656

They, they're gonna be an

incumbent in their next

657

election, but they're pretty new.

658

People haven't decided how

they feel about them yet.

659

Yeah.

660

Or, whether or not they think

they're doing a good job.

661

And so they're still trying to build that

relationship with their constituents.

662

And, one of the things that

Baumgartner kept repeating was like.

663

I got a record 61% of the v or a near

record, 61% of the vote, like he did

664

pretty thoroughly trounce his opponent.

665

Mm-hmm.

666

And he was like, I've been in

office, for three months now.

667

Trump's been here since

January 20th, question mark.

668

Mm-hmm.

669

And we're doing what we promised.

670

We are holding to our campaign promises.

671

This is what you voted for.

672

I don't understand why people are

upset because you voted me in.

673

A large margin of people in

eastern Washington voted me in.

674

And by and large I'm

holding to my promises.

675

Mm-hmm.

676

Now, I don't know if that's accurate.

677

I think one of the things that

he had always, he always has said

678

that he's not gonna touch Medicaid.

679

And I think there's some,

he said it was Olympia math.

680

When people say that there's cuts

coming to Medicaid and what's

681

actually happening is that there's

going to be no expansion of Medicaid.

682

But you know, when you look

at the budget and the mm-hmm.

683

Proposed cuts that are on their way

to getting passed, that's not act.

684

There is no way to reach, yeah.

685

The level of the 880 billion that

needs to get cut without cutting

686

Medicaid, without passing more

of that burden onto the states.

687

And I think maybe the argument that

they're gonna try to make is oh, we're

688

gonna reimburse you for less and then

the states are gonna have to cover it.

689

So we're not cutting anything if

stuff gets cut, it's the states.

690

Oh, and this is just me, like

hypothesizing how this is gonna get

691

messaged, but you know, it, it wasn't

one of his campaign promises to cut.

692

Medicaid, at least I don't think so.

693

And on that stage mm-hmm.

694

You said Medicaid's not getting cut.

695

Mm-hmm.

696

But you look at the numbers and it

seems like it's going to mm-hmm.

697

I was in Wallace a few weeks ago.

698

And is that in Idaho or?

699

Yeah, yeah.

700

Yeah.

701

It's just like a tiny

little town up there.

702

It's kind a, it's kind a hippie town, but

lot, lots of, lots of conservative folks

703

are like hanging out up there and no, no.

704

Speak into my, and they I, I talked to

a woman, her name was Carol Lee, and

705

she was, she had voted for Trump, didn't

consider herself like a Trump voter,

706

but was like but had supported him

because basically because of the, the

707

prize of eggs thing, like he's gonna,

he's gonna reduce inflation or whatever.

708

And she was, and this is anecdotal,

but she said a lot, she knew a lot of

709

people who felt the same way and, and she

said people in in her camp are mm-hmm.

710

Horrified about what's going on.

711

Like they, they feel like they,

they've been given a bait and switch.

712

So I wonder, I wonder how

representative that is.

713

Yeah.

714

And these, these town halls make

it, I also know, to me that feels,

715

and I get this is her experience,

but this is so frustrating to me

716

because before the election mm-hmm.

717

We reported on Trump's promises

to carry out mass deportations.

718

Mm-hmm.

719

We reported on Trump's promises

to drastically cut Medicaid,

720

cut the Department of Education.

721

That's just, these are all things that

he said, like he promised parents.

722

No, that's the radical left media.

723

What are you talking about?

724

And this is what's so frustrating to me,

is sometimes I feel like people don't,

725

don't get informed before elections.

726

Oh.

727

And then they're like, I

feel like I've been lied to.

728

And it's were you lied to or were

you just not paying attention?

729

I, I have some sympathy

for this 'cause like.

730

I mean, I don't know, I don't

remember what Carol does for a living.

731

She's a working person.

732

Mm-hmm.

733

We're freaks and we like, we

like our job is to like, know

734

everything that's going on.

735

And so, I, I just think

that, I don't know.

736

Mm-hmm.

737

I, I think that people have a

responsibility to be educated about these

738

things and about what they're voting for.

739

But I also get the idea that

like, I work 40 hours a week.

740

Mm-hmm.

741

And when I'm not working,

I don't want to be.

742

I don't wanna be fixated

on things that are awful.

743

And so, yeah, it's it's a little bit

of like head in the sand syndrome,

744

but like it's both the Democratic

party's absolute abject failure.

745

True to message, true

message to working people.

746

Mm-hmm.

747

And also extremely frustrating for

me to see the Google analytics for

748

Google searches for the word tariff,

like the day after the election.

749

I'm sorry, maybe you should have

Googled this 24 hours earlier.

750

That's better.

751

Yeah, I mean it's funny 'cause like

when I was, I was visiting North

752

Carolina there are, it's, it's a

purple state and I was talking to a

753

friend of my sister's and she mentioned

that her partner had voted for Trump.

754

And I was like, what?

755

'cause I'm like shocked that.

756

The phone's fly.

757

Okay.

758

I was just shocked that somebody

in my sibling circle like

759

would, would vote for Trump.

760

And and then she said, yeah he

had said that if the the other

761

person, I don't know who the other

person was, that's what she said.

762

And I was like, Kamala Harris.

763

And she was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

764

He said if she won that we were

gonna move to the Philippines.

765

And I was like, what?

766

And it, it was just like

a whole I felt like I'm.

767

I went into an alternative universe.

768

Like I, I, because, and then that's it

really set in that we're freaks because

769

obviously we know who the two presidential

candidates are and we're like, it's like

770

our job to read the campaign promises and

watch the press conferences and Right.

771

See what people are actually

saying and promising.

772

But then, and then seeing that and being

like, well, your partner voted for your

773

friend to lose their health insurance.

774

I hate to tell you girl, like

I'm assuming she didn't vote.

775

'cause like I'm, I, I was just my

socks were knocked off and, and I

776

was just reminded that like a lot of

people are just not asking questions.

777

And I think that we as journalists.

778

And maybe this is like

the, the issue of media.

779

I wonder if, is it we're just

telling people a lot of things

780

and I think we need to encourage

people to just ask more questions.

781

Yeah.

782

And so I guess to put a capper on this,

this Baumgartner town hall section mm-hmm.

783

I guess I think about, Baumgartners,

kind of indignation that, I'm

784

just doing what I promised.

785

Mm-hmm.

786

So the only people in this, like his

assumption that the only people in

787

this room who could be mad at him

are people who are, fringe leftists.

788

Mm.

789

So who are, politically

motivated against him.

790

Mm-hmm.

791

And maybe he, maybe there are also people

there though who were not informed, didn't

792

know what his campaign promises were,

and are now shocked and horrified mm-hmm.

793

At what's actually going on.

794

And I don't know if he would listen

to those people, the people who

795

voted for him, who may or may not

be happy with how things are going.

796

Or if they would just get written

off as fringe leftists who don't

797

represent his constituency as well.

798

But I do think that there's, there

is a question there of okay, which

799

of these people voted for me and are

unhappy, and which of these people

800

didn't vote for me and are unhappy?

801

And how much of that matters at all if

I still have to represent all of them?

802

Right.

803

That's what I, that's, I think that's the

key, is like he has to represent all of us

804

and he can't just pretend that the quote

unquote radical leftists don't exist.

805

And even though they're showing

up as 500 at one town hall, like

806

I, it just seems like a cop out.

807

Yeah.

808

So we are going to go to our little break.

809

Mm-hmm.

810

And when we come back, we will

have two or three more little

811

stories to fill Val in on.

812

Woo.

813

I'm learning so much.

814

All right, we are back.

815

I'm Aaron from Free Range.

816

I'm here with Val and Aaron

Hedge, who's stealing my name.

817

Val's went outta town for the last week.

818

Hedge and I are little news

freaks, so we spent a ton of time

819

reading the news, figuring out

the biggest stories Val missed.

820

Mm-hmm.

821

On the first half of our show, we told

Val about a Ghanaian immigrant who was

822

just released from a Tacoma detention

facility and is waiting for trial.

823

And the scoop from Michael Congressman

Michael Baumgartners, town Hall Hedge.

824

You had another big story

you wanted to tell Val about.

825

I am listening.

826

Yeah.

827

So this one this story it overlaps

with a lot of our, coverage

828

areas, and the biggest one is

just like public records access.

829

Mm-hmm.

830

And it was a story that was published on

Friday by Daniel Walters and investigate

831

West about, formerly of the Inlander Yes.

832

Fame friend of range and free range.

833

I don't know the Daniel would say

friend, you might say Strong acquaintance

834

colleague, journalistic colleague.

835

I'm gonna give him a

hug next time I see him.

836

But it's a, it follows the story.

837

It, it's a really interesting angle on

kind of a local scandal that's been just

838

like percolating for a couple of years.

839

Not, well, I guess it's been

like a year and a half ish.

840

Mm-hmm.

841

Maybe a little less.

842

Concerning freshman Spokane Valley

City Council member Al Merkel, who I,

843

I'm just gonna pause you right there.

844

Yeah, go ahead.

845

It was not until I started working at

Range that I realized that we actually

846

call, like first year council members

and Congress people, freshmen and I, I.

847

It just blows my mind that

that's a thing we use anyways.

848

Sorry.

849

Just had to interrupt you there.

850

I wonder if they're called

sophomores in their second year.

851

I think so.

852

I just didn't realize it.

853

Anyways, it's just like a

journalistic lingo thing I feel.

854

Anyways, keep going.

855

So wait, before you

keep doing, keep going.

856

I have a little cut in.

857

Ooh.

858

Poor Val was getting blinded by our

phone flasher and station manager

859

Dana came over to take the call.

860

And we just wanna thank Victor so

much for his support of our show.

861

Aw, thank you.

862

So thanks for listening to KYRS.

863

I was really worried it was an angry call.

864

So mad at us.

865

I think we're so, primed as

journalists to get phone calls

866

from people who are very angry.

867

I've gotten a couple of those this week.

868

So it's always nice when the call

is not somebody who wants to yell.

869

So, thank you, Victor.

870

All right, back to you Hedge.

871

Thanks Victor.

872

Yeah, so, city council member Al

Merkel has he, he built like a, a

873

reputation for himself as mm-hmm.

874

A, he sees himself as pushing back

against what he sees a lot as a lot

875

of waste in the, in the city budget.

876

Mm-hmm.

877

He, he has this, and I've spent a lot of

time with with al a lot of time with him.

878

My favorite Merkel fact is that he used

to drive around in the Merck Mobile.

879

Mm-hmm.

880

Which is like a side by side painted

bright orange, and he blasted vote

881

for Al Merkel from the speakers

while he was driving around.

882

It's a very primitive ORV and he,

he wears, he wears bright colors.

883

He wears an orange dress

shirt under his blazer.

884

He says that is to, i, I can't remember

if I'm quoting him exactly, but like he

885

says, it's like a transparency thing.

886

He wants to be visible.

887

Hmm.

888

And he's he frames himself as

like a transparency in, in local

889

government crusader mm-hmm.

890

And he's always asking tough questions

about of, of city staff, about why

891

they're doing what they're doing

and, and how they plan to spend money

892

and asking for more spec specifics.

893

His background isn't, he was a contract

officer for U-S-A-I-D for a decade.

894

Oh, wow.

895

And so he's lived in countries all

over the world executing contracts

896

for this agency that's now being

gutted by the Trump administration.

897

Oh, ironically, I ta I spoke

with Al recently and asked him

898

about that, and he supports the,

he supports a lot of the cuts.

899

I don't know if he would

get into the specifics.

900

Fascinating.

901

But but he thinks that

that agency is bloated too.

902

And he's he's the only person I've heard

describe himself as a neoconservative.

903

That's not something you

hear in politics very often.

904

That was my next, that was

the next, oh, I'm so sorry.

905

No, that's okay.

906

I'm so sorry.

907

No, it's okay.

908

Yeah, nobody calls himself

a neoconservative anymore

909

except for Al Merkel.

910

But he's is, he is not

liked in his workplace.

911

Mm-hmm.

912

His, the entire city council

cannot stand Al Merkel.

913

And they, one, one of the more senior

members, rod Higgins, describes

914

him as a bull in the China shop.

915

Mm-hmm.

916

Because he's just coming in and he

sees them as, as him as trying to,

917

ruin the city's business or whatever.

918

Mm-hmm.

919

And so there's, there's there, there

was a scandal that cropped up early

920

in his tenure where he was accused

of basically like just bullying and

921

creating a hostile work environment

for a lot of the city staffers.

922

Mm-hmm.

923

He's a big guy.

924

He's, he's, I think he's taller than I am.

925

I'm six foot one, and he's,

he's real heavy set, and he's,

926

he's got a big bushy beard.

927

And I think he, he denies that

he's tried to be intimidating.

928

Mm-hmm.

929

But a lot of people see him that way.

930

Mm-hmm.

931

And he's got, he's got a pretty

like, intense supporter base.

932

Mm-hmm.

933

And so the city commissioned some

investigations into, into the council

934

member, and they, so far they've spent

almost 300 grand on these investigations.

935

Wow.

936

And they've issued some reports and

the reports have redacted the names

937

of his accusers, and he sees that as

going against the spirit of the fourth

938

amendment of the, or maybe this is the

sixth amendment of the cons constitution

939

which everyone guarantees you the

right to confront or face your accuser.

940

Yeah.

941

This is like obviously like a,

like an internal workplace thing.

942

Mm-hmm.

943

It's not, it's not a

criminal investigation.

944

Mm-hmm.

945

So it doesn't totally track, but

but he, he he sees it that way.

946

And so.

947

When, when, when the city release

these investigations, I, I'm just

948

gonna read from Daniel's article.

949

Sure.

950

In February, Markle hit back at the

investigation with an unorthodox t tactic

951

publishing the entire thing online.

952

It took eight months for the

city's public records department

953

to hand over the interview

transcripts from the investigation.

954

He said, well, once he had them,

he uploaded the documents to his

955

campaign website and posted rebuttals.

956

And I'm sure they were itemized.

957

Mm-hmm.

958

I haven't, I haven't read his

rebuttals, but so, so this, this

959

whole kind of debacle that's

happened with council member has

960

bled into the state level mm-hmm.

961

Where the.

962

The representative from Spokane

Valley, Rob Chase, has now introduced

963

legislation that would allow records

custodians to also redact the titles

964

of people named in investigations.

965

Mm.

966

Rather than because in a small city,

city government rather than, yeah.

967

If you see oh, city

manager, that's one person.

968

Yeah.

969

So you know exactly who that is.

970

Mm-hmm.

971

Yeah.

972

Yeah, for sure.

973

And like there, there's ways

to figure it out, like mm-hmm.

974

Just and, and I think like even in

a, in a government that small, even

975

if you redact the, the titles mm-hmm.

976

You can probably, if you're,

if you're savvy enough, you can

977

probably still figure it out.

978

Yeah.

979

The story mentioned like pieces

of testimony from one of the other

980

council members, Pam Haley mm-hmm.

981

Who in her testimony, mentioned

how long she'd been on council

982

and that she owned a daycare.

983

So even if you redact her name

and council member, you now have

984

a statement of her saying, this

is how long I've been on council.

985

In another statement that

says I own a daycare.

986

And that pretty much

limits it to one person.

987

Yep.

988

So then do you start redacting

details from testimony?

989

Well, I think that's the, I think that's

the that's where the tension is here.

990

And I I have trouble with this 'cause I,

I, I, I am concerned about privacy issues.

991

Mm-hmm.

992

And I think that there are

ways to exploit public records,

993

laws to really go after people.

994

Mm-hmm.

995

But I also really, I.

996

Understand and agree with the notion

that was articulated in the piece by some

997

government accountability activists who

were like, once, once you, once you start.

998

Taking things outta public documents.

999

Mm-hmm.

00:43:29,155 --> 00:43:29,905

Like where, where do you stop?

00:43:29,905 --> 00:43:33,390

And, and, and that's the way that

transparency is eroded through mm-hmm.

00:43:33,470 --> 00:43:35,485

Through little allowances.

00:43:35,485 --> 00:43:35,815

Right?

00:43:35,820 --> 00:43:35,990

Yeah.

00:43:35,990 --> 00:43:36,230

Right.

00:43:36,485 --> 00:43:41,405

If it's a Title IX investigation

and we start redacting job titles,

00:43:41,465 --> 00:43:45,275

and like you or I get a Title IX

investigation from the city, I think

00:43:45,275 --> 00:43:50,765

it's a different story if you see that

six different interns accused somebody

00:43:50,765 --> 00:43:56,310

of sexual harassment versus if it was,

somebody in a higher job title mm-hmm.

00:43:56,390 --> 00:43:57,445

Or somebody in a lower job title.

00:43:57,445 --> 00:43:59,185

Like all of these power dynamics mm-hmm.

00:43:59,425 --> 00:44:00,325

Come into play.

00:44:00,535 --> 00:44:03,390

And also the redacting of job

titles and some of the other stuff.

00:44:03,505 --> 00:44:06,495

I know Daniel Walters talked about

how it could make it unclear if

00:44:06,495 --> 00:44:10,675

all of the accusations were coming

from one person versus, three

00:44:10,675 --> 00:44:12,415

different people corroborated.

00:44:13,135 --> 00:44:16,525

Or one person files six complaints,

and you can't tell real quick.

00:44:17,335 --> 00:44:22,135

The, the redacting, are we talking about

redacting just when it's made public

00:44:22,135 --> 00:44:25,945

as a public record or are we talking

about redacting just like in general?

00:44:26,455 --> 00:44:30,145

So the way that Mekel got these

documents is that he submitted

00:44:30,145 --> 00:44:31,525

a public records request.

00:44:31,525 --> 00:44:31,855

Got it.

00:44:31,915 --> 00:44:32,185

Okay.

00:44:32,185 --> 00:44:32,905

For them.

00:44:33,075 --> 00:44:35,775

And the same way, which is wild that

they didn't share the results of the

00:44:35,775 --> 00:44:39,195

investigation with him when he had to go

through this process to get them Yeah.

00:44:39,195 --> 00:44:41,505

Given that it was an

investigation concerning him.

00:44:41,505 --> 00:44:42,475

But that's neither here nor there.

00:44:42,475 --> 00:44:45,865

But I mean, you can share results of

an investigation without sharing all

00:44:45,865 --> 00:44:47,155

of the details of the investigation.

00:44:47,155 --> 00:44:49,436

You could say the results are that

we found you, you guilty or not.

00:44:49,441 --> 00:44:50,365

Well, they did do that.

00:44:50,365 --> 00:44:51,385

He wanted the details.

00:44:51,385 --> 00:44:52,075

He wanted to know exactly.

00:44:52,075 --> 00:44:52,750

You wanted the full report.

00:44:52,750 --> 00:44:52,870

Yeah.

00:44:52,890 --> 00:44:53,550

He was accused of.

00:44:53,650 --> 00:44:53,950

Got it.

00:44:53,980 --> 00:44:54,270

Okay.

00:44:54,505 --> 00:44:56,035

So we do only have four minutes left.

00:44:56,185 --> 00:44:56,275

Mm-hmm.

00:44:56,755 --> 00:45:00,325

So that is the gist of the Merkel story.

00:45:00,325 --> 00:45:02,935

Was there any other high

level important details?

00:45:03,615 --> 00:45:05,565

No, I think that's, I

think it's a, it's a.

00:45:06,135 --> 00:45:09,335

It's a, it's a, it's a spectacle if

you're, if you're interested in city

00:45:09,335 --> 00:45:11,045

hall drama, this is really interesting.

00:45:11,045 --> 00:45:13,595

It's for news and, and the, and the,

the thing that I, that I really liked

00:45:13,595 --> 00:45:17,195

that Daniel did was he he neutralized

those politics a lot by just like

00:45:17,195 --> 00:45:18,785

focusing on the public records angle.

00:45:18,785 --> 00:45:18,875

Mm-hmm.

00:45:18,925 --> 00:45:22,675

This is what really this is how this is

going to affect everybody in Washington.

00:45:22,975 --> 00:45:23,065

Mm-hmm.

00:45:23,575 --> 00:45:23,965

Yeah.

00:45:23,970 --> 00:45:26,755

Which I thought was so, so smart, I think.

00:45:26,755 --> 00:45:26,845

Mm-hmm.

00:45:26,845 --> 00:45:26,995

Me too.

00:45:26,995 --> 00:45:27,715

To, yeah.

00:45:27,805 --> 00:45:31,765

To focus on, okay, we've got this

one wild case, but here's how the

00:45:31,765 --> 00:45:36,025

ramifications of this might impact how

you or I or other journalists across

00:45:36,025 --> 00:45:41,535

the state or other people who may be

either filing a complaint or the person

00:45:41,625 --> 00:45:45,645

who the complaint is about can access

information about their specific cases.

00:45:45,735 --> 00:45:47,445

One quick last question on this.

00:45:47,445 --> 00:45:51,005

How likely is this legislation

to go through this session?

00:45:51,515 --> 00:45:54,215

It's making its way through

and, and actually the story

00:45:54,215 --> 00:45:56,645

doesn't say exactly where it is.

00:45:56,675 --> 00:45:56,945

Mm-hmm.

00:45:57,635 --> 00:46:01,835

It made it seem like it's moving, but

it didn't say likelihood of passage.

00:46:01,835 --> 00:46:04,805

Usually, I think most

new legislation Yeah.

00:46:05,045 --> 00:46:06,605

Has to go through a couple rounds.

00:46:06,665 --> 00:46:06,755

Mm-hmm.

00:46:06,995 --> 00:46:08,615

But I, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:09,210

Okay.

00:46:10,115 --> 00:46:10,595

Okay.

00:46:10,595 --> 00:46:14,135

So, we really only have three

minutes, so I can give you a speed

00:46:14,195 --> 00:46:16,025

round of the last two headlines.

00:46:16,115 --> 00:46:16,595

I'm gonna be really quick.

00:46:16,675 --> 00:46:19,105

The other story I wanted to

highlight was another kind of

00:46:19,105 --> 00:46:21,385

First Amendment concern story.

00:46:21,385 --> 00:46:25,825

A local police accountability

advocate, Jim Lady, had cases against

00:46:25,825 --> 00:46:29,695

both the Spokane and Bonard County

Sheriff's offices who had been

00:46:29,725 --> 00:46:33,685

hiding his comments or deleting his

comments on their Facebook posts.

00:46:33,835 --> 00:46:39,055

Ooh, ladies', comments were usually,

are typically very critical of these.

00:46:39,260 --> 00:46:44,490

Departments at the sheriff's offices

asking questions about the, fatal mm-hmm.

00:46:44,730 --> 00:46:50,430

Police shootings maybe, critical of the

department's use of force policies and

00:46:50,460 --> 00:46:52,530

they were deleting or hiding his comments.

00:46:52,530 --> 00:46:55,050

And I wanna say that ultimately

one of them blocked him from

00:46:55,050 --> 00:46:58,620

commenting at all, although I would

need to double check in the story.

00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:05,500

And his case just got heard by a

judge who ruled that he was right.

00:47:05,530 --> 00:47:10,330

That is a First Amendment concern because

these are public offices, they can turn

00:47:10,330 --> 00:47:14,290

off comments altogether, which is what

the Spokane Police Department different

00:47:14,350 --> 00:47:15,970

than the Sheriff's Office has now done.

00:47:15,970 --> 00:47:16,060

Mm-hmm.

00:47:16,330 --> 00:47:18,550

They've just made it so

that nobody can comment.

00:47:18,970 --> 00:47:23,680

But if you are deleting comments based

off of like how favorable to you they

00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:28,120

are, that is violating freedom of

speech if you're a government entity.

00:47:28,420 --> 00:47:33,040

So lady wants some money and also

these two sheriff's offices got told,

00:47:33,430 --> 00:47:35,200

Hey, no, you can't do that anymore.

00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:38,860

You can't hide comments if they're

critical, if the cops sweet.

00:47:38,980 --> 00:47:39,280

Interesting.

00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,530

So I thought that was some

good news for First Amendment.

00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:42,010

Mm-hmm.

00:47:42,250 --> 00:47:44,800

And I'm gonna hold my last little piece.

00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:45,790

Whoa, sorry.

00:47:45,790 --> 00:47:46,600

We have one minute.

00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:48,610

So I gotta jump into our wrap up.

00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:52,030

I know you and I can go get

coffee and we can talk about it.

00:47:52,580 --> 00:47:53,300

But that's our time.

00:47:53,300 --> 00:47:57,800

This week Free Range is a weekly news

and public affairs program presented

00:47:57,800 --> 00:48:02,810

by Range Media and produced by Range

Media and KYRS Community Radio.

00:48:03,140 --> 00:48:08,240

You're listening to KYRS, medical Lake

Spokane, and we will catch you next week.