The whole RANGE team sat down to discuss how they're approaching news coverage during the Trump administration, ongoing immigration cases they're following and County Commissioner Al French's commitment to divesting his stocks in PFAS chemical manufacturers. Relevant reading linked below!

• Know your immigration rights: Spokane is within 100 miles of a border, which puts our community at greater risk of mass deportations. It’s time to brush up on your rights, and how to protect your neighbors.
• Immigration officials are arresting people in Washington and warehousing them in Idaho: At least four people arrested in Spokane County, one for unlawful border crossing, were transported and held for several days at the Kootenai County Jail.
• ‘Daunting’: Uncertainty in Spokane as Trump threatens local officials who don’t aid deportations, but state law is clear for schools, hospitals and police
• Hundreds of refugees set to resettle in Spokane could be stopped by day-one executive orders from Trump administration.
• ‘Our communities are truly at risk’: Washington advocacy groups urge state leaders to defy federal deportation policies following surprise immigration raids in California.
• Commissioner French pledges to sell family stock in ‘forever chemicals’ manufacturers: The county commissioner, who says the investments belonged to his mother and were willed to him, has been the target of outcry in public meetings over nondisclosure of PFAS contamination.

Do you have questions about local government? Wondering who to complain to about an issue in your neighborhood? Wondering which agency governs certain things? Wondering why something is happening or how much it costs? Email us at freerange@kyrs.org with your questions, and we’ll try and answer them next week!

Hey, it's Aaron.

2

This week on the pod, the whole

crew continues looking at arrests

3

of migrants by federal agents.

4

We talk about the responsibilities of

news organizations like range during

5

national political crises and chew over a

little win for accountability reporting.

6

. This is Free Range, a co

production of KYRS and Range Media.

7

I'm your host, Luke Baumgarten and I'm

joined today, Erin Sellers, our city hall

8

reporter has the day off, or they may

try to jump in here at the last second.

9

They are getting their body inked, if I'm

not saying we support that, but they are

10

putting a tattoo on their body, currently.

11

I don't know, we support tattoos.

12

I mean, I, I'm not saying one way or

the other, because I'm, this is a non

13

partisan tattoo podcast radio show.

14

We thought we actually tacked an essay

that I wrote onto the end of last week's

15

episode when we published it as a podcast.

16

Hey, it's Aaron jumping back in here.

17

If you want to listen to the

essay Luke is referencing, it's

18

at the top of last week's show.

19

But if you already heard it, you

know what we're about to discuss.

20

we're going to be talking

about that essay as a team.

21

You know, what everybody thinks about it.

22

Then we're going to talk about a

conversation Hedge just had today,

23

Aaron Hedge, with the wife of a

Ghanaian migrant who was arrested at

24

home after church somewhere between

the valley and Spokane last week.

25

Deportation proceedings

are underway for him.

26

We're going to speak with his wife.

27

Or speak to Hedge about the

conversation he had with his wife.

28

Her, yeah, earlier today.

29

Wow.

30

Pronounce stuff for me today.

31

Sorry, guys, County Commissioner.

32

Lastly, County Commissioner Al

French in response to reporting.

33

We did range did has promised

to divest his family stock in

34

manufacturers of forever chemicals.

35

Talk about that in greater detail.

36

But as anybody who reads range knows.

37

There are lots of Forever Chemicals

poisoning the water in the West Plains,

38

and Commissioner Al French has been a

long time board member of the airport, the

39

International Airport, where one of the

sources of those Forever Chemical toxins

40

we noticed during the election that he

had a bunch of chemical company stock for

41

chemicals, or companies specifically that

manufacture Forever Chemicals, so Hedge

42

did a great job running that story down

and got got French to promise to share

43

off his stock to sell off that stock.

44

So I guess we start though with

this essay, which I don't really

45

want to be the first person to say

something about because I wrote it.

46

So who wants to start?

47

This is dead air, this is great guys.

48

Okay.

49

Val, you start.

50

Yeah, so I'll start because

I was going through my email.

51

I'm very bad at keeping up with our email.

52

If anybody who has ever

emailed us will probably know.

53

But I was going through a lot of the

responses from our readers and listeners

54

who heard, or who read the, the and it

was just really heartwarming, you know,

55

that we got a lot of positive feedback.

56

A lot of people saying, thank you for

saying this other journalists being really

57

thankful that you know, we're able to and

willing to stand on the side of immigrants

58

and people who don't have power.

59

So That was pretty nice.

60

I just wanted to share that

with the world, I guess.

61

What about you, Edge?

62

When we first started, like, cause

we had, you know, we had a team

63

conversation about this essay over Slack.

64

Luke could stay up all night, just

like Stressing out about, you know,

65

the state of the world out there,

you know, like, the communities

66

that we care about at range are

67

really, really frightened about,

like, you know, just the direction

68

of the United States under a new, a

new Trump administration that is kind

69

of, you know, outsourcing all the

functions of government, government

70

to billionaires who aren't elected.

71

And I think, I think in times like

these, like, news organizations need to

72

be doing some soul searching about how

they are going to respond to it, because

73

the traditional methods of, you

know, objectivity and or traditional

74

notions of objectivity, I guess, just

like do not rise to this occasion.

75

And I think the idea that

we need to be louder.

76

I think that Range should be a publication

that is and lots of publications

77

should be doing this but Range

should be one of those publications.

78

You know, challenging the notion that

that, like, traditional news just isn't

79

Like, you read, you read stories in the

New York Times that characterize Trump's

80

recent announcement that the United States

is going to take over Gaza and not, not,

81

not pointing out that that amounts to

ethnic cleansing, an invasion, yeah.

82

One thing I want to hop in real quick,

because you said something, Hedge that

83

like sparked a thought and it got me

thinking, you said you know, newsrooms

84

need to do soul searching right now, and

it kind of makes me think about the first

85

Trump presidency back in 2016, I was still

in college and I remember, you know, our

86

local paper was going, or was interviewing

student editors at college papers, and I

87

was one of them, and they were asking if

we were worried about our First Amendment

88

rights and you know, being censored by

the president because I think at the

89

time, at the time, he was definitely

going after journalists in general,

90

but then I think this reporter was

looking for like a local college angle.

91

And at the time, I didn't

really feel Is threatened.

92

I mean, also, I was a student reporter.

93

And now, and I think about how newsrooms

responded to the first Trump presidency.

94

There was a lot of people realizing,

oh, gosh, look where we're at now.

95

This is where fake news

and misinformation gets us.

96

It gets people voting

for somebody like this.

97

We really need to.

98

Tamp down on misinformation and, and

fact check and just give people the right

99

information and then they'll make the

right choices, hopefully, and thinking.

100

And then, as a result of the first

presidency, there was something in the

101

journalism industry called the Trump

bump, where, you know, a lot more

102

people were subscribing to their local

news outlets, they were subscribing

103

to national news outlets and there

was a lot more foundation money and

104

philanthropic money going to journalism.

105

And that was like a boon, that was

like a, a boom moment in the journalism

106

industry, and now, I think we're, we're

not gonna see that, and, and the consensus

107

that I get from You know, Blue Sky

and you know, journalism Social media.

108

Yeah, and, and like newsletters that

I follow and stuff is that we're

109

not going to get that this time.

110

It's not that we're alone, because we

have each other and we have our community.

111

But I, I don't think that the

national news and, and the wider

112

journalism industry is going to see

that renewed trust in them anymore.

113

And that's really scary as a local paper.

114

And I think that when you say, like,

we need to do some soul searching.

115

I think that some of that soul searching

is really examining, like, is this quote

116

unquote objective form of journalism the

way that we're ever going to regain trust.

117

Yeah, and I mean, we've answered that

question for ourselves, obviously.

118

I think, the thing that I didn't

put in the essay, because it wasn't

119

quite as poetic as what I did write

about objectivity versus fairness,

120

and I believe this emphatically,

and I will go to my grave, I will

121

take my philosophy degree with me.

122

When you think about what objectivity

means, just the idea that you have to give

123

both sides, or the idea that there are

only two sides is often erroneous, so even

124

the way This dominant medium mode gets

framed is kind of erroneous and overly

125

simplifies basically any, any story you

would need to, like, any story with any

126

level of context has more than two sides.

127

And like, and honestly to, like,

some of the few stories that only

128

really do have two sides are like

stories about sports games, right?

129

Where it's like, the Warriors

versus the Sonics or whatever.

130

It's like, those are two clear sides.

131

And then it's also.

132

I think it's no, it's no big secret or

surprise that We also think about politics

133

in this team sports modality where it's

always Democrats versus Republicans

134

Which is why I wanted to put that line

in the piece about This is not to me

135

anyways about Democrats or Republicans

It doesn't have to be about party at all.

136

Like I've been talking to plenty of

conservative folks plenty of people

137

who have Probably voted for a majority

of Republicans in their life who are

138

also appalled by this and so it's

a moment to me for moral clarity

139

Ruling out over some random principle

that doesn't meet the moment,

140

but at the same time, I think,

objectivity, so even assuming that

141

there are only two sides, right?

142

One of those sides is going to

have more power, and the other

143

side is going to have less power.

144

So, the idea that journalism must be

objective, must give equal time to

145

both sides, in every single instance,

will entrench and reinforce power.

146

Because power, if power gets equal

time with those who don't have

147

power, power is always going to win.

148

Power has, you know, when we talk about,

just as one example, you know, when

149

there's an officer involved shooting in

Spokane, And you want to try to talk to

150

the family where the, of the shooting

victim, you want to talk to the cops.

151

The family is going through the

worst time, the worst day of

152

their life, probably, because

they've lost a loved one.

153

They probably aren't media trained.

154

They certainly aren't media

professionals in almost all cases.

155

They're just normal people who may or

may not even know the rules around,

156

like, whether, like, would talking

to a journalist harm whatever case

157

they might have, you know, later on.

158

Meanwhile, the, the police

have, like, a team of trained

159

communicators to get their story out.

160

An established playbook.

161

Yeah, and an established playbook.

162

And so, when we say the idea of

objectivity, my, that, that's, that is

163

my little philosophical argument for why

journalistic objectivity, by its very

164

nature, entrenches power in all cases.

165

And so, no matter what

else, It can be true.

166

That means you need to

treat people fairly still.

167

We're still giving PIOs the

time they need, but we're

168

also taking the extra time.

169

And that's, at least for me, and I

know this is how you guys do your

170

reporting, it doesn't mean not giving

short shrift to the cop's narrative,

171

or to the mayor's narrative, or to the

power's narrative, but it's taking extra

172

time to understand the, the situation

that normal people find themselves in.

173

And speaking of that Aaron Sellers

just joined us and snuck on in here.

174

Hi, I just got finished getting

a tattoo from my ex girlfriend.

175

Oh, we know, we know.

176

And they do too, they didn't know

the ex girlfriend part, but they

177

knew you were desecrating your body.

178

And so And now you're here.

179

Sellers on the note of like giving

extra time You know, for people who

180

aren't media, media trained this is

something that you do really well when

181

you're talking to vulnerable people

or people who are just Traditionally

182

more disempowered, and could you share

a little bit about, like, your process

183

of working with sources to make sure

you're telling their stories right, and

184

also, like, not betraying their trust?

185

Yeah, I know, I think in one way

I Deeply, I'm sad that I didn't

186

go to J school journalism school.

187

I'm really glad you didn't.

188

But I think, yeah, having not

done that, there's some habits

189

that didn't get ingrained in me.

190

And so the first time that I was writing

about sex workers, I remember thinking

191

like, oh, these, these women have already

had their narratives taken away from

192

them and, like, used to fit one political

point or another in a lot of ways.

193

They're told that they're disempowered,

that they are being trafficked.

194

Like, there are all of these

things that are just put on them.

195

And I was working on a

story about labor rights.

196

And I was interviewing these

women and thinking the whole

197

time, like, Oh, I'm so nervous.

198

I don't want to do the same thing

to them that other people have.

199

Like, I don't want to take their

stories and Tokenize, objectify, yeah.

200

Use their voices to fit whatever

narrative I have in my head.

201

I don't want them to feel like their

stories are out of their own hands.

202

Yeah.

203

And so I did something that was maybe a

little bit non traditional, but that I've

204

kind of kept as a habit in my reporting

since, where when I am talking to sources

205

that might be about things that might be

considered really vulnerable or intimate,

206

or people who might find themselves

frequently having their stories taken

207

out of their own hands, once we do our

interview I take it, I write what I'm

208

gonna write with it, and then before I

turn my draft into an editor, when it

209

might start getting finalized, I will call

back my sources that I've interviewed,

210

and read them their quotes back, and give

them the details that I'm including, and

211

kind of give them a last opportunity,

A, to tell me if I got anything wrong,

212

like is there anything that's inaccurate,

and B, to Make sure that they feel

213

in control of their own stories.

214

Which is not to say that like,

I'm gonna write anything that's

215

untrue or let them change my story

to something that's not true.

216

But if there's a detail that is too

vulnerable or that they said and then once

217

I put it in print, they're like, yeah.

218

I don't want them to be surprised by that.

219

I don't want them to, to kind of

feel like, Oh, well, I said this

220

to a journalist, and now they're

going to take it and do what they

221

want with it, and spin it how they

want, and I don't get a say in that.

222

So, I mean, I, it's nice to get some

positive feedback on that from you,

223

Val, as somebody who did go to J

school, because it always makes me

224

feel a little bit nervous, like I

might be doing something wrong, but.

225

It also doesn't happen

a lot in, like, local.

226

because, you know, there's so much

smaller, but that's, it's pretty standard

227

practice in, in bigger publications,

national magazines and stuff like that.

228

So it's not something Like regular

practice for like a fact checker to call

229

a source and read back, you know, check

quotes and facts and things like that.

230

But I've never been in that environment,

but I'm pretty sure like giving

231

the opportunity to change it or

anything like that is not the norm.

232

But it's something that I've

heard Aaron do in the newsroom,

233

just sitting next to them.

234

And something that, Has only ever

strengthened their reporting and their

235

ability to connect with sources and tell

their stories In a way that empowers

236

them and that's the whole point.

237

Yeah, and I don't want to think about

it from like a self interested framework

238

but there have been times where I've

gotten a call from somebody that's

239

like I got your number from so and so.

240

They said that you handled their story

with a lot of grace and care, and that

241

they felt taken care of and not surprised

by the process in a way that maybe

242

they hadn't with other news outlets.

243

I'm specifically thinking of

my, like, queer in Idaho story.

244

I got calls from people I hadn't

reached out to who were like, hey,

245

so and so told me I could trust you.

246

I have something you might want to hear.

247

And that was It's great for my reporting

to maybe get to talk to people that

248

don't normally talk to the press because

they feel scared by or shut out of that

249

process or worried that they're going

to be portrayed in a way that they

250

were maybe not prepared for as just

like a normal citizen, not a person

251

in power who doesn't, like, I'm not

going to call a city council member and

252

be like, Hey, so you said this in the

meeting, do you still stand by that?

253

Can I publish that?

254

Yeah.

255

But, for like talking to sex workers

or queer people or people of color

256

who might, you know, find their

words twisted by other publications

257

or in other circumstances.

258

Justice involved folks,

unhoused folks, yeah.

259

Yeah.

260

Yeah, it's really good.

261

I think the and I think

Hedge does a similar thing.

262

His, the vulnerable folks he's talking

to are often like Christian nationalists

263

and stuff and then and other folks,

but I, as the I guess the publisher

264

is my title we're going with these

days and I don't even get to do a lot

265

of reporting, but I've had folks from

the community reach out and maybe not

266

necessarily name sellers by name, or

Val by name, or Hedge by name, but say

267

like, hey, we trust you with this story.

268

People have told me you guys

are the people that we should

269

trust with our stories.

270

And it means a lot, and I think that's

also for the work we're trying to do,

271

like the only way we're going to get

it done is by Cause we, we are trying

272

to do something that's like one level.

273

of complexity below, like, standard

municipal journalism, right?

274

Like, we're trying to get to the

grassroots as much as we can, get to

275

impacted people as much as we can,

and try to not use, like, power as a

276

conduit to find those people, right?

277

So, not just not going to the mayor

to find a sympathetic person who

278

might be unhoused for their policy

position, but also not going to a re

279

even, you know, Compassionate Addiction

Treatment or some other organization.

280

Like, not using We're trying to get

our own network of reporting because

281

you know, even small nonprofit like

organizations have power of a sort

282

over the people they, they serve and

we want to do everything we can to

283

get down to that level of the absolute

grassroots, the absolute most impacted.

284

And, and I got to say, I'm, it

seemed like a bigger hill than I

285

knew how to climb when we were kind

of kicking this around as a theory.

286

And now, I honestly don't know

how we would do it any other way.

287

It's been so successful in that way.

288

And it's given us this team of four more,

more stories than we know what to do with.

289

Yeah.

290

It does make me feel bad sometimes

when we get a story pitch from somebody

291

that we've connected with in that way.

292

And I just don't have the time to take it.

293

It's like, you know, we've

built that trust with somebody.

294

They know that they can

tell us their story and that

295

we'll treat it as important.

296

And then not being able to Do it, because

I have like four different things I'm

297

working on is always a hard feeling.

298

If I could have like ten more

reporters, I think we could fix that.

299

Minimum.

300

Val and I were talking about this right

before the show, and you know, she

301

forwarded me a bunch of emails from

people who have stories to tell, like

302

people who've been hurt by systems, like

people who don't have access to power,

303

and we have to respond to them and say,

We, we, we think your story is important,

304

we will report on it if we have the

capacity to, and we don't, we often don't

305

know whether we will or not, and when.

306

Yeah, because it could be that, you

know, you're reporting on something

307

big that gets held up in some way,

like somebody doesn't call you back,

308

or you can't find a way to confirm X,

Y, Z piece of information, and all of

309

a sudden you have like, Free space in

your week to report a story, but we

310

never know when that's going to happen.

311

Journalism is a fluid act.

312

Extremely fluid.

313

Fluid, yeah, fluids.

314

Fluid act.

315

Yeah, that's, there are probably

some less generous ways to put

316

it that are equally accurate.

317

And honestly, we're, we're explicitly

prohibited from Advertising ourselves,

318

but I think what Val was saying about

where there's not going to be a Trump,

319

a national Trump bump the way there was

last time and that that lasted actually

320

the majority of the funding that got kept

range going in the early years was the

321

Trump bump becoming a COVID bump, right?

322

When a lot of There was a lot of

talk about trusted communities and

323

how to get information about the

vaccine and the disease out to people.

324

That led to a second sort of surge of

national funding and, and other sort of

325

ways of getting money to journalists.

326

We were the beneficiaries of that.

327

I think though, like, and this goes for

any independent media you support in

328

the world Because there's not going to

be a big institutional push, that thing

329

in the essay about, like, locking arms

and taking blows for other people and

330

stepping up on the trust that they'll

take blows for you to the extent that

331

you believe in an independent media, that

should be part of your thinking as well.

332

Supporting, in whatever way you can,

the independent media you trust at

333

whatever level, national or local

or hyper local, you trust them at.

334

That's the only way that media is

still going to be around for you.

335

Probably even in the middle of this

thing, let alone the end of this thing.

336

So that's the last thing I'll say.

337

I do have another, maybe less

philosophical essay percolating about,

338

It's how it's going to take this community

to save this community and but I'll

339

save that until I actually write it.

340

It's like half formed in my brain

and I'm waiting for my next night of

341

insomnia to finish writing it, I think.

342

Insomnia slash inspiration.

343

Insomnia slash inspiration.

344

Yeah.

345

No, I, no, I'm going to

try to do it this week.

346

So next topic though, and We've got

about 25 minutes left in the program.

347

We've been talking a lot about

how we're running down stories of

348

federal immigration officials either

harassing or interrogating or, You

349

know, deporting folks, and we've

written one of those stories at this

350

point, we're reporting others, or if

we, we've written more than one, but

351

we're, we're tracking like a dozen.

352

And in a lot of cases people, for

very understandable reasons, not only

353

do they not want to go on the record

anonymously or under a pseudonym,

354

they're just like, I don't even want

to, I feel like I'm such a target, I

355

don't want to even Poke the bear at all.

356

Yeah, even like psychically put

it out in the world or something.

357

And so, but we have had an opportunity

to connect with one new the wife of a man

358

originally from Ghana who was arrested

and is in the process of deportation.

359

He was taken at, from his home right

after church, I think, what, last

360

Sunday or two Sundays ago, Hedge?

361

It was the last Sunday, so I think it

was January 26th, I think was the date,

362

I'm not sure if that's the correct date.

363

Yeah.

364

It was the final Sunday in January.

365

The final Sunday in January, yeah.

366

So about a week and a half ago.

367

But the, from what you told me, Hedge,

the wife said they were waiting, the

368

immigration officials were waiting

there at their home when they got

369

back from church on Sunday morning?

370

So, they left church, which, they,

they go to a Christian church, an

371

evangelical church in, in Spokane

Valley, and they live kind of on the

372

border of Spokane and Spokane Valley.

373

And it's a largely migrant church,

they, they went home separately,

374

so he, he went home ahead of

her, and she had the children.

375

They have two kids.

376

One's an eight month old baby,

and the other's a three year old.

377

He went home ahead of them, and

she was gonna stop at the grocery

378

store to get some food, and she

called him to to see what he wanted.

379

And he didn't answer, which was

unusual for him, according to his wife.

380

And, So she gets home and no one's there.

381

His, his clothes, his church clothes,

which he normally like changes out of

382

right away, were not anywhere in the home.

383

And his cell phone and his

wallet were on the table.

384

And so she was like, she found it strange.

385

She thought maybe he went for a walk.

386

But that was unusual for him.

387

And so she was a little

unsettled by what was going on.

388

The previous week, just to set the

table, he had been applying for his green

389

card for a long time, and the Thursday

before so three days before, he was, his

390

application for the green card was denied.

391

And so

392

He, she gets a call from a number that

she doesn't know, and she normally

393

screens her calls so she didn't answer

it, and he left her a message saying,

394

I think I'm being deported ICE was

at home when I, when I got here, and

395

they're taking me to the ICE facility

in Tacoma and so she, like, immediately

396

tried to call him back, it took him, it

took her a while to get in touch with

397

him he's, he's still there now, nobody

really knows what's gonna happen to him.

398

They have a lawyer who's trying

to find information about the

399

case, but they don't really The

lawyer is ICE is just basically,

400

pun intended, icing everybody out.

401

Like, they don't, They're not

giving anybody information about

402

his case or what they're gonna do.

403

She was able to attend a hearing

about his case in Tacoma.

404

I think a couple of days ago, but

there's really no clarity, like

405

they have, it's all up in the air.

406

She, he was, he had been taking care of

the children and she was going to school.

407

She dropped out of college because,

in the last week, because she needs

408

to be at home with her small children.

409

So it's completely upended their life.

410

She's been in the country, she has

her citizenship, she came, she came

411

in under, she said seven or eight

years ago under a program that was

412

established by the Obama administration.

413

She's Congolese and she spent, she,

her, her family fled in Congo when

414

she was seven years old and she spent

the next 15 years in a camp in Uganda,

415

but she was able to come into the

United States through this program.

416

He came as a student about 15 years ago.

417

He's Ghanaian and he he he he he I'm

not, I'm not sure the exact like,

418

narrative of his status, but I assume

he came in under a student visa and

419

maybe that, that lapsed and he tried to

apply for a green card, but, you know,

420

they've been working at this for years.

421

He's, he's been here for 15 years.

422

And the reason why they knew where to find

him was because he was trying to follow

423

the process and fill out his paperwork.

424

He was following the rules.

425

Follow the rules.

426

Exactly.

427

I've seen lots of stories just on TikTok

and things like that of people saying

428

like, I have been trying to get my papers.

429

I've been trying for years

and it's just been in hold.

430

It's been just like not happening.

431

And.

432

I'm following the steps, but they're,

the process isn't working and now they're

433

either at risk for being deported or are

getting deported and it's so frustrating.

434

I have a kind of a random question that

is it's going to seem super small, but do

435

you know if one, if the, the husband or

the wife was like serving at their church

436

and that's why they drive separately?

437

No, I don't, I don't know the reason

that they came back separately.

438

It sounded when I, when I spoke with

her, and I didn't ask that question

439

it sounded like this was kind of not

something that they normally did.

440

And so I, I don't, I

don't know about that.

441

Just like, I was asking because like

that, you know, might illustrate

442

how connected they are in this

community, you know, they're serving

443

at their church, things like that.

444

She did, she did say that She's

very connected to her church.

445

She's always, she's

always been a Christian.

446

The family, the entire family has always

been Christian and they, I know a lot

447

of people who are in a similar situation

who attend that church and they, like

448

a lot of, a lot of the congregation

has stopped attending the church

449

because they're afraid of what's going

to happen when they leave their home.

450

I mean, I think, I mean, that is

one of the criteria when, when a

451

normal administration is Judging

things like asylum claims or, or

452

not, probably more green card.

453

It's like, how connected are

you to the community you're in?

454

You know, how long have you been here?

455

That's why the conversation

we had with Sam Smith is kind

456

of ringing through my head.

457

I kind of want to re listen to

it so I can kind of commit all

458

the bullet points to memory.

459

Because it was just fascinating how

he was talking about, like, if you

460

have an, a state ID, that should be

what you give to the authorities.

461

If, but it's, Don't give them

your, you know, your non Ameri U.

462

S.

463

passport.

464

Take the, take the citation

for not driving without an I.

465

D.

466

Yeah, or, and, but then if you do, if

you are in the process, and this is

467

what's so kind of I think brutal for

people who are trying to go through

468

the legal path, which is what mm-hmm

. For generations and generations of

469

people, president, after president on a

bipartisan basis from, you know, George W.

470

Bush to to Obama, to Reagan.

471

Like, come in the right way.

472

Mm-hmm . You know, Kamala at the border

during the Biden administration, so we've.

473

That's one of the ways that this

administration is really, it's preying

474

on the people who have, in the past,

it's the lowest hanging fruit, the people

475

who followed the, the bipartisan advice

of generations of federal officials.

476

Just do it come the right way.

477

The people that are doing that

are now the ones being targeted.

478

It's so frustrating for me to see, like,

these dual online narratives of, like,

479

Oh, Trump is only arresting criminals.

480

Like, he's only deporting criminals.

481

If you're not a criminal, you

have nothing to worry about.

482

And it's like, there's A,

yeah, demonstrably false.

483

B, there's like quotas for agents

to meet and the easiest people to

484

find are the people who have been

keeping up to date on their paperwork.

485

I saw a news story from, I want to

say it was Michigan or Wisconsin,

486

about a conservative business

owner who, like, a majority of

487

his employees were undocumented.

488

And he wasn't worried about it because

he was like, they're law abiding people.

489

You know, they are not gonna get

deported and he showed up to work one

490

day and half of his workforce was being

taken away by ICE and he was like this

491

impacts me really negatively like my

business and I just think people don't

492

understand or refuse to to bear witness

and empathize with what's happening until

493

it negatively impacts them and it's so

Frustrating and sad and heartbreaking

494

to watch this happen in real time.

495

Yeah.

496

And to be like frantically trying

to fact check our way out of, like,

497

the rampant misinformation online,

and we're always like four steps

498

behind just trying to catch up.

499

The other thing that I was thinking

about as you were talking, Hedge, is just

500

like how resilient these communities of

people are and these people within those

501

communities are, and it, it reminded me

of the other anecdote that, Sam Smith

502

said that he has a client who's been,

like, on him to, to go through the, the

503

legalization process, the naturalization

process, which he was in the middle of

504

as fast as possible in a way that Sam was

like, dude, I'm going as fast as I can.

505

This is all we can do right now.

506

And then the moment this stuff started

happening a few weeks ago, Sam said he was

507

ready to follow up and start moving on.

508

And the guy was like, no, let's

just slow roll this for a while.

509

Like.

510

Clearly now the, you know, at least

some percentage of people who are

511

in these communities going to church

every Sunday who are, you know, trying,

512

doing everything they can to get their

American citizenship as quickly as

513

they can are now disappearing from the

communities that they enrich so much

514

and then like slowing down on these

ostensibly legal processes because it's

515

very clear that the game has changed and

we're living under a new set of rules.

516

It really, talking about

resiliency, it really,

517

The thing that, one of the things

that really sticks in my head from

518

my conversation with this man's

wife is She has tremendous guilt.

519

Over not having answered the phone when

he called because she was screening

520

her calls Even though that's just

something she's always done and now

521

she sits next to her phone She's been

sitting next to her phone for a week

522

and a half It's all she's been doing.

523

I could hear I could hear the the baby

like Just making noise in the background,

524

very cute little, little sounds.

525

And she was just, and the three year

old is constantly asking where, Like, if

526

Dad's coming home, and she has no idea,

and she doesn't know how to answer that

527

question and she said to me, she said,

I'll just read a quote, she said, He

528

left a voice message, I think I'm going

to be deported, Ice came and picked

529

me up, call me back on this number.

530

At that point, when I listened to

the voice message, And now I'm still

531

living the trauma of missing his call.

532

I keep holding onto the phone.

533

I feel like he's going to call again.

534

I'm going to miss his call.

535

I have to have the pho, I have to leave

the phone with me the whole time just to

536

know that I, that I won't do that again.

537

I feel like I let him down.

538

She was, she grew up

without without a father.

539

And now.

540

She's worried that her children

are gonna grow up without a father.

541

She doesn't know There was a part of

her that, like, a small part of her

542

that, like, just hopes that they'll

deport him quickly so that she knows

543

where he is and when, like, has

some clarity about the situation.

544

Yeah.

545

She doesn't know what she's gonna do if

that happens, but I do think it's eroding

546

people's Mental health and, and the, the

resiliency is, is, is tough right now.

547

Yeah.

548

In some ways, I mean, this is not

anything, it's, it's the best, or the

549

only acceptable of terrible choices

in some cases, but it, The whole thing

550

about a quick deportation would probably

be preferable to, because if she's a

551

citizen, the kids were born here, they're

obviously citizens, like we, I'm on the

552

board of Feast World Kitchen, and we have

lots and lots of the chef family members

553

who, We'll work at feast as a way of

getting money to then go back and visit

554

their relatives in either their home

country or the refugee camp they might

555

be living in, the people that aren't,

that haven't made it to another country.

556

And that's just sort of a fact of life

for a lot of folks and they plan their

557

entire year around it, going back for a

month, you know, saving up all their money

558

to go back to be with their loved ones

for a month before returning to America.

559

So in some ways.

560

And this is, I think, the brutal tragedy

of our immigration system, probably

561

always, but especially right now.

562

It's like, assuming he's still in Tacoma,

he's a five hour drive away, but it

563

would actually be easier for them to be

a family if he were a continent away.

564

It would be more expensive, it

would take an entire day to probably

565

travel there, but that's the reality

we're living through right now,

566

and it's It's one of the saddest

things I can contemplate, I think.

567

Can you come back to the U.

568

S.

569

after you've been deported, or is

it like, there's like a time frame?

570

I think in normal circumstances, and

who knows, you know, once there's a new

571

administration in, if all of the decisions

that were made by this one, because it's,

572

It's pretty clear that, like, deporting

somebody who's in the middle of a green

573

card process and is known to authorities.

574

Who is married to a citizen.

575

Who is married to a citizen is

not standard operating procedure

576

for even our traditionally

pretty broken immigration system.

577

So, I don't know if I can answer that.

578

I don't know if anybody can answer that

question because it depends on I mean, and

579

also the Trump administration is getting

a lot of heat for this, whether they care

580

or whether it matters remains to be seen.

581

They just sent the first flight

of migrants to Guantanamo Bay.

582

So we'll see if they're going

to actually make good on their

583

promise to put 30, 000 people in a

prison that's only ever held 700.

584

So yeah, I think, I don't think we

can answer any of these questions yet.

585

But it would be incumbent on assuming

if, you know, a Democrat were to take

586

power in the next thing, that would also

require the Democrats actually living

587

their, the values they say they have and

actually doing things to undo things and

588

not merely like the Biden administration

did, basically just keeping the, the,

589

the default border policy that Trump

had in place in his first go around.

590

So, you know, This is not to, again, I

really, when I, when I think about this

591

stuff, I am really not trying to demonize

one party over the other because this is

592

a cycle that's been playing out for my

entire life and at some point there needs

593

to be a break in that cycle where we let

some humanity back into our politics.

594

I don't know, I don't know who's

gonna do it first, but it's not

595

looking good for either at the moment.

596

I had a conversation with a high school

history teacher, a social studies teacher,

597

who pointed out, like, we need to be clear

about this, like, the Obama administration

598

deported millions of people.

599

Yeah, and he was called

the Deporter in Chief.

600

Yeah, this, this, this teacher was

like, the first Trump presidency.

601

This teacher said, you know, with all

the chaos and all the new policies and

602

all the, you know, all the complicated,

the more complicated landscape that now

603

exists, and the fact that Trump is so loud

about all of this, he said he, he, bet a

604

friend money that Trump would not be able

to deport as many people as Obama did.

605

Yeah, and I think that's why this, if

there's any silver lining to this, that's

606

not That's well known by, like, a lot of

the community leaders in, like, especially

607

Latine community leaders that I know.

608

Like, this is, this is a topic

of conversation frequently.

609

That it's not, like, one good side

of our political class against the

610

bad side of our political class.

611

If there is a silver lining to take

away from this, it's like we really I

612

wouldn't have thought we could look away

from child separation on the border in

613

the last administration, but hopefully

at some point the, something's gonna

614

be a straw that breaks the back of

this idea that we aren't a, a nation

615

that has always been built on first

enslaved and then eventually extremely

616

cheap labor that we largely now get

from immigrant, you know, migrants.

617

And That if we're ever gonna

do anything about it, we need

618

to really reckon with that.

619

I have been wrestling with

this over the last few weeks.

620

I understand the need to highlight,

like, the Keep Washington Working

621

Act and the, like, need to lean on

that as protections for undocumented

622

people living in Washington.

623

It is also so heartbreaking to see people

act like The only value that undocumented

624

people have is in labor that is far

too cheap and the fact that they can

625

be exploited because of their status.

626

If your economy is reliant on exploiting

people because they do not have the power

627

of citizenship, then there is something

fundamentally wrong with your economy.

628

And I just hope that as folks, you know,

rightfully request that their City and

629

state employees follow state law and

do not collaborate with Border Patrol.

630

They also reckon with the fact that we

have a state that relies on Labor, that

631

it comes inherently from exploitation.

632

Yeah, just take a second to

contemplate that even, I think, in,

633

in this fight, Washington would be

one of the, sort of, the, the states

634

on the side of right or justice.

635

Still, the only way we got that

bill passed is by basically wrapping

636

it in a, in a, this will help

our economy stay afloat better.

637

And that, that really means something.

638

Well, we were wondering if we're

going to need a fourth segment.

639

To get through.

640

We now have five minutes to

get to our third segment.

641

So our answer is we always, we never

have a hard time finding things to talk

642

about, but Lastly, another Hedgebanger.

643

We're usually getting two seller pieces.

644

This is a rare double hedge

week and I'm loving it.

645

It's because all of mine

are waiting for edits.

646

Ooh, that's only one.

647

Two.

648

One of them's not your fault.

649

Okay.

650

I would say you were

looking directly at me.

651

The audience can't see the daggers

that I was being, the ocular daggers

652

I was being stabbed with a second ago.

653

But we noticed in, during the last

election, and we weren't able to run

654

the story down in time, but we noticed

in the PDC filings that, Commissioner

655

French, who has a central role to

play in the, or has played a central

656

role in the ongoing Forever Chemical

PFOS contamination of the West Plains.

657

Not directly with the contamination,

but the decision to not tell the public

658

about it for years after the fact.

659

We noticed in his PDC filings in

the last couple of years, he's, has.

660

stocks in the sorts of chemical

companies that manufacture PFAS.

661

And we just wanted to ask him about that.

662

And so we did that.

663

We partnered with this really cool

national startup investigation room

664

called Sunlight Research Research Center.

665

We're one of their sort

of beta test newsrooms.

666

We're super.

667

Lucky to work with that team, a

bunch of really, really smart people.

668

And they worked with Hedge on

running down this story, so.

669

And we got our first

quote from Al French ever.

670

Not to spoil it, but he actually

talked to us for the first

671

time about this story, so.

672

I think it's to pat us, pat

everybody except me on the back

673

here although I was the only one

who did notice the PDC records,

674

and I actually just looked into it.

675

Yeah, you found, you

found the story, yeah.

676

So maybe we'll, feel free, one of you,

to pat me on the back for once for

677

God's sake, but So yeah, talk to us

about it, Hedge, like, how'd that go?

678

Oh, there we go, I actually got a physical

pat on the back here a second ago.

679

Oh, that was sweet.

680

Yeah, so yeah, Hedge, talk to me about

that, and, and just running down,

681

this is, this is nerdy data stuff

that we usually don't talk about.

682

Yeah, well we wanted to make sure, I

mean, and the the disclosures that you

683

found were pretty clear, like, there

were, there were three companies that

684

Commissioner French had listed in his

campaign filings as having stock in.

685

Keymores Company, DuPont, and Corteva.

686

Keymores and Corteva are both Or have

at one time been subsidiaries of DuPont.

687

But they all have had a hand in, in this

massive, in manufacturing Products that

688

contain forever chemicals, including

the firefighting foam at the airport

689

that was, like, the kind of firefighting

foam that was used at the airport that

690

contaminated the aquifers out there.

691

But also, like, non stick

pans have similar chemicals.

692

Like, very chemically similar chemicals.

693

Yeah, yeah, these

chemicals are everywhere.

694

They're in, like, the laminate on your

On your, on your, you know, kitchen

695

counters, they're in your steering wheel,

they're in the food wrapping that you

696

get in fast food, they're everywhere,

and every person has a little bit of

697

these chemicals in their body, but it's

a lot more concentrated in this, in

698

this firefighting foam, and much more

dangerous levels than, than most products.

699

But you know, the, the airport

700

contaminated the aquifer, which

was connected to a whole bunch of

701

private drinking wells, and also

Airway Heights Drinking water supply.

702

And they didn't tell anybody about it.

703

They didn't let For years.

704

For, for many years until they were

basically forced to by a private

705

citizen who requested those well tests.

706

And so they were forced

to, to disclose this.

707

Commissioner French was on the airport

board and so, and he's been accused of,

708

like, participating in what a lot of

these residents view as a cover up of that

709

contamination, but yeah, he responded to

us saying that he was going to divest,

710

and he was He said these, these stocks had

belonged to his mother and they're in a

711

probate process right now and once they're

released to him, he's going to sell them

712

off for, in favor of other kinds of stock.

713

Yeah, according to him, they were

technically his mother's stock

714

and when she passed away, this is

part of the process of her estate,

715

that he will eventually get them.

716

He said, I do not have the ability

to sell the stocks until they

717

are fully transferred to me.

718

When that happens, I have every intention

to sell the stocks that you refer

719

to as well as others in her estate.

720

Estate and reinvest them

into other companies.

721

So that's it for us today.

722

That's a bit of good muck, Rick, in

journalism, getting at least somebody

723

on the record promising to do something

if not actually doing something.

724

And what we're doing right now, guys,

is we're celebrating the wins when they

725

come through because there's a lot of,

there's a lot of bad, there's not a

726

lot of winning going on, especially for

journalists right now, I don't think.

727

But that feels like a win to me and,

mm-hmm . I don't know, I'd kind of like

728

to end today on a high note, a little bit.

729

Alrighty.

730

That's it for us.

731

. Aaron, you just sat down.

732

Do you want to play us out,

or should I play us out?

733

I don't have the script in front of me.

734

Do you have questions

about local government?

735

Wondering who to complain to about

an issue in your neighborhood?

736

Wondering which agency

governs certain things?

737

Wondering why something is

happening, or how much it costs?

738

Email us at freerange at kyrs.

739

org with your questions, and we'll

try and answer them next week.

740

Bye!

741

Bye!