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RANGE's NEWS Year Resolutions
Episode 8 • 3rd January 2025 • RANGE • Range
00:00:00 00:53:23

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The whole gang discusses our news year resolutions, including but not limited to: striving for better work-life balance, engaging more deeply with community, and doing more labor, rural and culture reporting.

00:00 Intro

01:03 Holiday Break Recap

04:33 Personal and Team Goals for the Year

06:39 Labor Reporting and Community Engagement

21:05 Connecting community desires with coverage

27:38 Focusing on police accountability

30:02 Forever Chemicals

31:19 Rural reporting, union busting, and rural union busting reporting

38:22 Engaging with Art and Culture

40:24 Once more re: community connections and support

48:28 Final Thoughts

Transcripts

Luke:

to KYRS Medical Lake Spokane.

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This is Free Range, a co

production of KYRS and Range Media.

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to KYRS Medical

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Lake Spokane.

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This is Free Range, a co production

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of KYRS and Range Media.

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Aaron Hedge: I'm

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Luke: your host, here with Aaron

Sellers, my co host, and the whole

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rest of the team.

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We have one last pre

recorded show for you before

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returning to our normal live in studio

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setup.

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But today we're in our office and we

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got the whole crew together

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to talk about News

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Year

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Resolutions.

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Right?

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Valerie Osier: Cringe.

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So

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Aaron Hedge: So clever.

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Luke: also joining Aaron and

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I are Aaron Hedge,

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Our newly full

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time

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Valerie Osier: reporter,

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Um.

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Aaron Hedge: stoked

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to be

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here.

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Erin Sellers: Yay.

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Luke: Chief

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Liberty State Correspondent,

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And,

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audience and

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business manager, Val Osher as

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well.

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first of all, guys, I've been very

out of the loop for a couple of weeks

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for reasons we'll talk about, but I

will not go on and on about, cause

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I really just want to get

this season of life past

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me.

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Aaron Hedge: Did you,

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was

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Luke: But, uh, what did you

guys do with your break?

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Did you have fun?

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was it restful, stressful?

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How are

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we feeling?

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Erin Sellers: I'm still

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on break, so you can ask me

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that in two

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Luke: two days.

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Yeah, we should say we are, we did not

pre record this like before our break.

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we have a conflict this afternoon.

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We're recording this about four hours

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before this is going to go

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live.

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Valerie Osier: is

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Luke: but has it been restful so far?

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Are you looking forward

to your birthday weekend,

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Erin Sellers: Yes, yeah, I'm going

out to a cabin in the woods to do

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nothing and be away from my phone.

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And actually going to spend some

time with our good buddy, Nate

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Sanford.

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Luke: Oh.

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Valerie Osier: Fun.

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Luke: of the Inlander, now at

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the Seattle, no

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not

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Seattle Times, KUOW.

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Valerie Osier: KNKX

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Erin Sellers: At Cascade PBS.

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He's

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more of a fellow,

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just like our

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Sophia.

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Aaron Hedge: Yes.

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Luke: be talking

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about Sophia a little

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bit

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later on.

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Val, what about you?

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You said you

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did not do any work for

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like

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two

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Valerie Osier: weeks.

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Yeah, it

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was really awesome.

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I didn't open my laptop at all.

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Um, You

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Luke: did still take

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a couple

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calls

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from

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Valerie Osier: me

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I did take some calls from

you, and then said, go away.

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Um, and it was pretty relaxing.

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I

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Luke: uh,

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Aaron Hedge: uh,

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Valerie Osier: worked on

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my house a bit, and hung out with friends,

and I did a little solstice ritual

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with some friends, and that was fun.

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Really?

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Yeah, we just like lit candles and stuff.

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Yeah.

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It was very cool.

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Aaron Hedge: about

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Luke: What about you, Aaron

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Hedge?

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Aaron Hedge: books, which I had not

done since I graduated from my MFA in

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June of last

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year.

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June two years

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ago.

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Erin Sellers: Not

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Valerie Osier: Not

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any

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Aaron Hedge: full books.

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I like,

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paid attention

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to

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these books.

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It was nice.

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Luke: That's

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Aaron Hedge: It was really relaxing.

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Valerie Osier: What

was your favorite book?

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Aaron Hedge: The Island

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of Dr.

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Moreau.

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Yeah.

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Luke: Who wrote that

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Valerie Osier: one again?

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Is she

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well?

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Yeah, Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Luke: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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because I

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never read the book, but I

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saw the pretty bad

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nineties movie

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Aaron Hedge: The,

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the book is

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a a little more gruesome

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than than the movie really,

because it's surgery instead of

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gene editing.

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Luke: Fascinating.

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Oh, I got really, really

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sick before the break, um, and I won't.

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Aaron Hedge: won't

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Luke: Uh, I won't

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bother

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people with

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the details,

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but

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it was

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brutal.

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These guys got some of

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the details, so I

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don't,

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And then I like, I

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don't

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Valerie Osier: know,

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Luke: my middle

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aged body was falling

apart a little bit, so

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I don't feel like I got a

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vacation

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per se.

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I

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did get good time with family though,

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and I got to

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catch up with some friends and I got to

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see a few good movies.

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And I think all

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of these things are

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going to tie into

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my

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personal

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resolutions

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for,

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What we do

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at

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range for the next year.

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the small amount of

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time I got with

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friends

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and family and stuff

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solidified what

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I've been wanting to do going into 2025

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with at

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least my part of range, So, um,

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yeah, I'm glad all

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everyone's

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feeling

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pretty happy.

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We're going to

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pretend

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Aaron's not here right now.

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Sellers

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because you are

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technically still on

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break.

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But,

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Erin Sellers: yes,

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please

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don't

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email

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me

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if you

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hear this podcast.

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no phone calls yet.

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Aaron Hedge: You

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Luke: You got

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to get

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the, you got to get

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to inbox zero after

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vacation, not before.

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It's

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like you're setting yourself

up for disappointment

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Erin Sellers: 808,

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so.

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Valerie Osier: Oof, that's brutal.

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Luke: right, so,

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news year

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resolutions.

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Do you

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want to go first Sellers?

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Erin Sellers: Sure, Alright.

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Alright,

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Luke: Alright, so we're going

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to just

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do this, what are our personal

journalistic and then some

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team goals for the year.

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So this is an informal pitch, What

are our personal journalistic goals

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and our team goals for the year?

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And,

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you know,

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aspirations for Spokane.

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Sellers, go

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first.

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Erin Sellers: Well, my big like

personal personal goal for this year is

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to buy a condo, which is just

like a personal resolution.

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But I also feel like it

relates to my work because

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it feels like a decision to.

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,

permanently be a part of the Spokane community

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and invest in it

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and,

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you know,

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do the range mission

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of like, live here, work here,

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be

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in community here, write from

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here.

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Um,

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as a writer

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though,

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breaks make me ambitious.

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Um, I was not taking calls

from Luke, I was calling

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Luke to be like, hey.

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Valerie Osier: started it?

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Geez.

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Erin Sellers: Not

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on

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purpose.

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I was at home with very minimal internet

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and

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I was

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just

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like stewing over all of the things

that I wanted to do when I came back.

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Small Potatoes is following this Planned

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Parenthood story

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out to its

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logical end.

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We've got some, some more coverage planned

and the story made a pretty big splash

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locally, but I feel like we haven't.

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been able to get it to the part

of the conversation about the

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national context

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around Planned

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Parenthood union busting

which isn't just happening

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here.

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it's

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happening

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in lots of

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places.

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Luke: the reporting we were

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doing, you and I, Sellers, before I

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got sick, and then you

carried it admirably across

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the

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finish

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line,

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uh, was,

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this is not the first time

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the affiliates associated with the Broad

Planned Parenthood have union busted.

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It's happened a couple other times.

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it

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got local coverage in all of

those cases, but it hasn't

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really gotten national coverage.

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And it seems like there's,

this is now the fourth, third

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or fourth affiliate, at

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least third, but I think

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fourth.

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Erin Sellers: it's

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hard to tell 'cause a lot of news outlets

don't dive in really deep on what's

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going on with the behind the scenes of

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unionization.

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So you'll see an article that's

like, oh, after long fight

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Planned Parenthood unionize.

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But you read the article

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and there's no real

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context as to

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. what, what made it a long fight,

like what was going on behind

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the scenes.

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And, I feel like we're uniquely

positioned to do that kind of labor

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reporting, which is one of my bigger

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new year news, news year resolutions

is to do more labor reporting.

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And I love my city government

coverage for all of you who read

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it and read my live skeets or

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tweets.

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That's not like going

away, but I want to spend

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a little bit more dedicated time.

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running down labor stories,

whether that's Like,

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one a month

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Luke: yeah,

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Aaron Hedge: doing

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follow

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Erin Sellers: ups

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to stuff and just kind of

making sure we carve out that

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because, look, there have been times

when we've broken a big story and

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everybody else has jumped to follow

us and write more coverage on that.

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like

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you've had like a story almost

straight up stolen by TV outlets.

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I noticed

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that with this one, nobody else cared.

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Like it was a big story for us,

a huge story with our analytics,

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and there was no TV news stations.

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The spokesman didn't run any follow ups,

nobody else locally cared about labor.

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And so I feel like we need to

like really carve out that, that

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niche.

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I,

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Valerie Osier: I, I

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Luke: this so hard.

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It's think part of want to do

with feeling like a journalist

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again, which we'll get to.

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in, a second is, is connecting with

labor even know if I've told any of you

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this story, but before there was anybody

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else at range except me when the Davenport

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sold.

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For like 32 million dollars or

something and there was a two week long

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Ticker tape parade in the

media for the worthy family who

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you know renovated the original Davenport

and then built the other stuff around

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it

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Aaron Hedge: It

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was

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Luke: like, you know, hooray for

business people and then a couple weeks

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later

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Kxly had just like a really short

story about how they had settled

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Aaron Hedge: on

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Valerie Osier: a

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Luke: theft

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dispute for

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that was just one of their catering

teams for a specific two year

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period of time, and they settled for

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3 million.

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So

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one tenth of the value they sold that

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company for was

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Accounted for in this,

this wage theft settlement.

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Valerie Osier: And

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Luke: That went

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over like a lead balloon.

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Like nobody even commented on

it other than that one little

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story.

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And we weren't in a place to

do deep reporting yet at range.

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And

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it's really, really bothered me

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that

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we have lots of business reporting.

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We still have a business journal

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in this

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town.

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So people are covering business all the

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time.

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Nobody covers

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labor.

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Yeah.

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So I think that's definitely something we

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need to

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do.

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Valerie Osier: need

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Erin Sellers: Yeah.

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Um.

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Valerie Osier: So

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Erin Sellers: more labor stories,

I went home for Christmas and

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my dad told me he's a range

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subscriber,

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which

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is very cute

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cause they don't

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live

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here.

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And most of what I write is like hyper

local only matters to people in Spokane.

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But he told me that his favorite story

of mine from the last year was one

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that I wrote with Lauren Pangborn,

the top 10 dangerous intersections.

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And he said that it wasn't boring.

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Like it grabbed his attention, even

though ostensibly a story about, uh,

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10 intersections in the city you don't

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live

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in.

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is probably pretty boring, but

he really liked it and liked

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the ways that we integrated

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embeds

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and the format was, we weren't

restricted, and I think being

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able to,

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do that.

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to

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really lean into the fact

that we are digital media.

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We don't

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publish physically

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figuring out.

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I, one of my first stories back is

going to be using like a map that, , our

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friend Kai built for us and just really

trying to lean into not just like using

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these tools,

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but sometimes building stories around

these tools and the ways that we

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can utilize digital media in a way that

other people can't to make boring things.

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Interesting.

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Um,

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I

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want to throw another politic role.

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That

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was fun.

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I want to throw, Luke and I

have been talking back and forth

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about a May Day party, , and I

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want to

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moderate city council election debates

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because,

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I

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don't know, like I cover city

government just as religiously as

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the spokesman reporter does and

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maybe more so

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than the Inlander, although

it's not an incredibly fair

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comparison because Eliza is pretty

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new, And we have three city council

members up for election, and I

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don't want range to get shut out of

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those

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debates, that legitimacy.

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And also I think there's

space for us to do kind of fun

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stuff.

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Like, we've got our two candidates,

we're all eating progressively spicier

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food

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and the

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questions are

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getting more

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aggressive.

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Valerie Osier: Holla on

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Aaron Hedge: so we

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Erin Sellers: get like a cool local

chef to like make little bites

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that

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Valerie Osier: are like

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Erin Sellers: spicier.

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And you know, we go from like, Oh,

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So and so, tell me about your family

and why you ran for office and then by

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the last plate it's like, Okay, so two

years ago you said XYZ and you know,

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Jonathan Bingo, you've always made

a point to say you're here for your

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district, but you took a month off this

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summer and also spent a

ton of time campaigning.

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Like, how were you balancing

the needs of the people in

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your district while you were

also running for another

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office?

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like, how do you make that case that you

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were?

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Luke: get spicy

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with it.

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Erin Sellers: Yeah.

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Aaron Hedge: I

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Luke: like

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that.

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Valerie Osier: questions.

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Erin Sellers: Spicier and

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spicier questions.

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And track a bill through

Washington leg sesh.

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Some of my, I was looking back

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at my work from last year and two of my

favorite stories were on bills that were

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moving through

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the legislative session.

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There was one on the Keep Our

Care Act and one on, , the act

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proposed by

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strippers or workers.

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One passed, one failed.

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And just tracking the local

Spokane impact because there's

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not a lot of Reporters looking

at stuff in Olympia and how it.

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affects Eastern Washington.

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And even , the spokesman's

Olympia reporter lives in Olympia.

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They don't live in Eastern Washington.

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There's, there's like no

designated Eastern Washington,

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,

ledge

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sesh reporters.

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At least that I can think

of, correct me if I'm wrong.

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But,

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Valerie Osier: Yeah.

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Erin Sellers: figuring out how

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these big

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statewide things actually impact the

people on this side of the state is really

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important to

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me.

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Valerie Osier: And

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Luke: And we've

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got, kind of for the first time

in a long time, we've got our,

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at least the district three

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representatives, two of them are new.

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Well, one, Richelli

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is moving from the House to the Senate,

so he's in a new position there.

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and

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and Natasha Hill is going to be a new

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,

legislator

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in the

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House.

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And also it's going to be a bad

budget year in terms of like there's

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not much is going to get through

because of the projected deficit.

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And so

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I think there's more opportunity

for east side voices to get drowned

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out,

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Valerie Osier: over

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other

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Luke: other

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priorities in years like

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this.

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Yeah,

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Erin Sellers: Yeah, so

those are, that's my

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list.

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Luke: That's

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great.

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Alright, , up next,

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Val.

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Aaron Hedge: next,

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Valerie Osier: Ooh, um, okay, so

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my personal but slightly related

to range, uh, goals are to trust my

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:

intuition more and um, I'm coming in

544

:

strong.

545

:

Um,

546

:

Erin Sellers: woo woo,

547

:

Valerie Osier: it is very woo woo.

548

:

But, um, also setting boundaries

for work life balance.

549

:

Um,

550

:

I

551

:

really love my job, but

I need more brain space.

552

:

Um, like in general.

553

:

So,

554

:

Luke: I think,

555

:

Valerie Osier: um, I think, you know,

556

:

taking, you know,

557

:

Aaron Hedge: know,

558

:

Valerie Osier: being off when I'm off,

you know, um, is a good habit to have.

559

:

Um, um, maybe get to inbox zero every day.

560

:

Um, or at least really close to it.

561

:

I'm really bad at email and I hate email.

562

:

And, if you've emailed us and haven't

gotten a response, I'm really sorry.

563

:

it

564

:

Luke: is very precise ADHD goals.

565

:

So continue.

566

:

Valerie Osier: Um, and then, I want to

567

:

read more classic books and, nonfiction.

568

:

I just put that H.

569

:

G.

570

:

Wells book that Hedge just read on

571

:

my TBR.

572

:

I read a hundred, 141 books

573

:

this year.

574

:

they're, they were all

575

:

audio books.

576

:

So don't be like, impressed that I

always have a nose in a book because

577

:

I'm usually like knitting while I'm

578

:

Luke: listening

579

:

Valerie Osier: or coloring.

580

:

Um, but I did meet my goal

of having 10 percent of those

581

:

be nonfiction.

582

:

Um, so this year I want to make 10

percent of the fiction books I read be

583

:

classics and 20 percent of my total books

584

:

read to be nonfiction.

585

:

Um,

586

:

are you,

587

:

Luke: do

588

:

you have a spreadsheet

to make sure you can

589

:

hit

590

:

these percentages?

591

:

Valerie Osier: Yeah, I have an app.

592

:

Uh, I use Storygraph as an app.

593

:

Um, and it gives you like percentage

594

:

breakdowns and like

graphs and all that stuff.

595

:

It's great.

596

:

Um, I also want to watch more movies

and TV shows so that Luke's, Luke

597

:

stops yelling at me for

not getting his references.

598

:

Luke: That'd

599

:

be

600

:

Aaron Hedge: Um.

601

:

Luke: help me too, actually.

602

:

Yeah.

603

:

Yeah.

604

:

Um, a

605

:

couple

606

:

Aaron Hedge: A

607

:

couple weeks

608

:

Erin Sellers: ago

609

:

on the

610

:

radio we

611

:

were talking about

612

:

how you.

613

:

Independently

614

:

invented

615

:

time

616

:

as a flat circle, um,

617

:

and

618

:

didn't

619

:

understand Luke and i's

620

:

HBO

621

:

reference.

622

:

Luke: Yeah.

623

:

The, yeah.

624

:

Our True Detective or Friedrich Nietzsche.

625

:

.

.Yeah.

626

:

Valerie Osier: Nietzsche.

627

:

Luke: yeah,

628

:

one of those

629

:

20% of your nonfiction books could be,

630

:

um,

631

:

being

632

:

in time or one

633

:

of, no, that's Heger.

634

:

um,

635

:

but

636

:

Valerie Osier: Bowling alone.

637

:

Luke: but, well, bowling

alone is on the list too, but,

638

:

uh.

639

:

Like, thus break Zarathustra or something.

640

:

Valerie Osier: Luke has been,

uh, yeah, it's on my list.

641

:

Erin Sellers: I was going to be

really upset if you put Hedges

642

:

book on your list, but not

643

:

Luke: mine.

644

:

Valerie Osier: Definitely

645

:

put your book on my list.

646

:

Um, and Luke has been nagging

at me to watch this Netflix

647

:

documentary, uh, called,

648

:

What is

649

:

it?

650

:

Luke: Join or Die.

651

:

Valerie Osier: Join or Die.

652

:

Um, and I, it's based

653

:

off a book and I was like, can I

654

:

just read the book?

655

:

And he, and then I saw

it at the library and

656

:

it's a 19 hour audio book, But

I think out of spite, I'm gonna

657

:

listen to the audio book instead

658

:

of watch the movie.

659

:

Luke: Which just

660

:

makes me want to,

661

:

we should

662

:

put

663

:

some

664

:

sort

665

:

of like child

666

:

devices

667

:

on these windows because every time

668

:

Erin Sellers: says something

669

:

Valerie Osier: uh,

670

:

also

671

:

Luke: something like that.

672

:

I just want to jump

673

:

out

674

:

this

675

:

Valerie Osier: window.

676

:

Luke: Um.

677

:

Valerie Osier: so

678

:

Luke: all right.

679

:

Work, work, work goals though.

680

:

I think it actually would, this

thing though with your personal

681

:

life values, it ties into what

682

:

I've been thinking

683

:

about a lot when I wasn't, you

684

:

know, comatose over break

685

:

with my illness.

686

:

Um, it does really resonate,

not just the work life balance,

687

:

but

688

:

We spend so much

689

:

time thinking about the

immediacy of the news that's

690

:

happening

691

:

in our

692

:

area.

693

:

I

694

:

got a chance, I don't wanna spoil my own,

um, reflection, but I got a chance to

695

:

like,

696

:

engage in some non

journalistic media and it left

697

:

me

698

:

feeling hungry for more

of that, but also making

699

:

me feel like it gave me

700

:

some ideas for stuff to do as well.

701

:

So I think that disengagement

702

:

like that

703

:

isn't

704

:

just a personal

705

:

self

706

:

thing.

707

:

It, it

708

:

also.

709

:

Aaron Hedge: and I

710

:

Luke: Tends to

711

:

make

712

:

you ready to, do your job, too.

713

:

You

714

:

Valerie Osier: Yeah.

715

:

And I want more like, disengagement, not

716

:

dissociation.

717

:

There's like, a big tendency in our

culture to like, zone out, like,

718

:

watching TV or even listening to a book.

719

:

Like I do it too.

720

:

Aaron Hedge: um,

721

:

Valerie Osier: where you're just

watching that media or consuming that

722

:

media, um, as a way to dissociate from

your like regular life or your regular

723

:

stressors.

724

:

So like kind of

725

:

savoring that

726

:

art

727

:

better, I think is a, is a

728

:

good goal.

729

:

Luke: I like it.

730

:

Valerie Osier: Um,

731

:

so work, work goals.

732

:

Um, I really want us

to do more explainers.

733

:

Um,

734

:

uh, we have had this thing

called Encyclopedia Spokanica.

735

:

It's something that

we've been wanting to do.

736

:

Um,

737

:

Luke: I like

738

:

this.

739

:

Valerie Osier: I

740

:

got an email from a reader, uh,

before break, um, who became

741

:

a member, and they were asking

742

:

some specific questions about, like, how

743

:

to, um, like, talk to their

representatives and stuff.

744

:

And I was like, oh wait, we

have, we have some explainers.

745

:

We did this.

746

:

We did this work.

747

:

And

748

:

I was able to pull, like, four

or five articles from this

749

:

year explaining how to connect to your

representatives at the state level,

750

:

the county level, and the city level.

751

:

And I was really proud to just like have

752

:

that in,

753

:

in the

754

:

Luke: stock.

755

:

Yeah,

756

:

totally.

757

:

Valerie Osier: So that's one

thing I really want us to do.

758

:

And

759

:

then, um, more community events.

760

:

Um, Aaron

761

:

has proven that they're

really, really, really good at.

762

:

having

763

:

cool events and making them happen.

764

:

Um, and so maybe like we can figure

out ticketed events so we can do even

765

:

cooler stuff, um, that supports it.

766

:

And, and I think that would be very cool.

767

:

Aaron Hedge: Um,

768

:

Valerie Osier: this is kind of boring,

but, uh, very important for our existence.

769

:

Um, I'm now the, uh, business

operations manager for range,

770

:

um, title, actual title TBD.

771

:

But, um, But I really want to flesh

out our strategic plan and have us like

772

:

stick to it, but also leave room for,

773

:

Aaron Hedge: you

774

:

know,

775

:

But

776

:

Valerie Osier: leave room

for like new and emerging

777

:

ideas that we have because so many

778

:

things,

779

:

like the news just happens, you know,

um, and then we get ideas from that.

780

:

And, um, I want us to

781

:

be flexible and nimble enough

to jump on those opportunities

782

:

to serve our community.

783

:

in real time, but also not get distracted

784

:

from the overall goal of like,

785

:

making sure range can afford to exist.

786

:

Luke: Yeah,

787

:

Valerie Osier: Um, being able

to get like our paycheck,

788

:

Luke: Yeah

789

:

Valerie Osier: um,

790

:

so that we can live.

791

:

Um, so making us stay on course.

792

:

Um, I'd really like us to

get our documenters program

793

:

relaunched, um, with community

partners to make sure it's sustainable.

794

:

Um, we have some, community partners,

795

:

um,

796

:

Aaron Hedge: Able

797

:

Valerie Osier: Like we're

working out ways, um, that

798

:

they can help us operationally.

799

:

Luke: hmm

800

:

Valerie Osier: Um, And now

we just need to, to raise

801

:

funding for, um, actually

paying documenters.

802

:

So that is in progress, um,

but I really would like to get

803

:

that, uh, relaunched this year so

that we can continue to do that

804

:

Aaron Hedge: like

805

:

Valerie Osier: serving our community

806

:

and teaching people how to access

this information and helping

807

:

people have a little side hustle.

808

:

and

809

:

also,

810

:

we're

811

:

Erin Sellers: really

812

:

lucky to have Hedge full time,

813

:

but

814

:

there's

815

:

only two of us, so

816

:

that leaves a lot of meetings

817

:

nobody is

818

:

going

819

:

to.

820

:

Valerie Osier: Yes.

821

:

Luke: sure.

822

:

Yeah.

823

:

Valerie Osier: Um,

824

:

and then I also have a

825

:

really fun idea, um, for

creating community spaces that,

826

:

um, could really revolutionize our

community and kind of use the best

827

:

model of Documenters.

828

:

Um, so I want to figure out like

829

:

grants or ways to make that, happen.

830

:

um, and maybe tie it into our

Documenters program somehow.

831

:

Um, that might not be this year.

832

:

Erin Sellers: year.

833

:

Laughter.

834

:

Luke: That Bowling Alone book

835

:

and Join or Die

836

:

movie

837

:

that we were

838

:

just

839

:

mentioning a couple minutes

ago is directly connected

840

:

to Val's desire for community

841

:

spaces.

842

:

And this is where

843

:

the, uh,

844

:

Aaron Hedge: The

845

:

Valerie Osier: Kali

846

:

Luke: to colleague

847

:

terrorism

848

:

that happens when I'm suggesting

a movie that's only 90

849

:

minutes

850

:

long.

851

:

It would be a quick watch.

852

:

You could probably watch

it while you're making

853

:

dinner.

854

:

Uh,

855

:

and

856

:

Erin Sellers: If I want

to watch an, or listen to

857

:

Luke: listen to it.

858

:

Yeah, you'd

859

:

rather watch, you'd rather listen to

860

:

a 19

861

:

hour

862

:

audio

863

:

book than

864

:

just the 90 minute thing that I

865

:

suggested you listen to.

866

:

But whatever.

867

:

Do whatever you want.

868

:

I don't

869

:

care.

870

:

Aaron Hedge: I

871

:

Erin Sellers: thinking about your, your,

872

:

um,

873

:

idea for this yesterday.

874

:

Cause I

875

:

posted

876

:

on like Blue

877

:

sky.

878

:

What do you want, like folks, what

do you want to see out of journalism?

879

:

And somebody was

880

:

like, I want to see more on

881

:

gatherings of all sorts.

882

:

Where and when

883

:

are people

884

:

meeting

885

:

and for what?

886

:

how are people building

and supporting their

887

:

communities?

888

:

And then they went on to be like

gatherings, like all sorts of

889

:

things, club meetings, yard sales,

890

:

debates, exhibitions, crafts fairs,

guerrilla gardening, street cleanups.

891

:

Like everyone would benefit from

more gatherings and knowledge about

892

:

gatherings

893

:

that have been planned.

894

:

And

895

:

I think

896

:

a lot of people going

897

:

into 2025 are thinking, hopefully

more intentionally about

898

:

community

899

:

and being

900

:

in space

901

:

with people.

902

:

And how we like show up

and help our neighbors and

903

:

meet

904

:

our neighbors

905

:

and engage with our

906

:

community

907

:

both civically and socially.

908

:

So

909

:

I think it's like the right time for

910

:

something like that.

911

:

so,

912

:

Valerie Osier: uh,

913

:

That

914

:

is a big desire, uh, putting

it out there into the universe.

915

:

Um, not in a woo woo way, but in a like

916

:

Erin Sellers: Just

917

:

lean

918

:

Valerie Osier: into it.

919

:

Okay, I'll lean into

920

:

Luke: into the woo woo.

921

:

Now, so this is

922

:

Aaron Hedge: woo.

923

:

Valerie Osier: putting it out to

924

:

Luke: being broadcast.

925

:

Valerie Osier: so You

926

:

Luke: so you are putting

927

:

it

928

:

out into

929

:

the universe in the form of radio

930

:

waves.

931

:

Valerie Osier: waves.

932

:

Yes, I see.

933

:

Um, and then I also want us to get

to I want to get us up to a point

934

:

with revenue that we can give our

reporters well deserved raises.

935

:

Um

936

:

That's like my

937

:

goal for this, like a

really big goal for me.

938

:

And it's, um, really high

priority because I want to make

939

:

like, we all have living wages.

940

:

Um, but I want to make sure that

941

:

we all have thriving wages and that we

942

:

can really, you know, all be part of

our community without worrying about

943

:

bills

944

:

or anything like

945

:

That Um, and like, I know that, um,

946

:

like having a living or a thriving

wage, like enables me to volunteer, you

947

:

know, on Saturdays and not think about

like getting a second job or whatever.

948

:

And, um, I, I just really

want that for everybody.

949

:

Aaron Hedge: Um,

950

:

Valerie Osier: so that means like

advertising revenue, membership and

951

:

donations and merch and all that stuff.

952

:

and then I also want to

get us grants for growth.

953

:

So

954

:

Aaron Hedge: to

955

:

Valerie Osier: able to like hire

dedicated community outreach people

956

:

and, dedicated advertising people, um,

957

:

person, one person each probably.

958

:

Um, and being able to sustain

ourselves for the longterm.

959

:

That's great.

960

:

Luke: That's great.

961

:

Valerie Osier: my

962

:

goals.

963

:

Luke: Really looking forward to that.

964

:

Um,

965

:

Valerie Osier: Thankful to

966

:

Luke: And thankful to you, Val, for taking

over the part of my job that I really

967

:

realized was slowly

968

:

killing me.

969

:

And so, let's also be mindful of the, of

970

:

whether or not it starts

971

:

slowly killing

972

:

you as well.

973

:

But,

974

:

um, no, it's part of what

975

:

I'm

976

:

hopeful for

977

:

is,

978

:

um, Literally only possible because

you're taking on more of that role.

979

:

So I

980

:

really appreciate that.

981

:

Um, it's going to make my year a lot

982

:

more fun.

983

:

I

984

:

think.

985

:

Valerie Osier: Um,

986

:

all right,

987

:

Luke: all right, hedge.

988

:

Valerie Osier: I like the nerdy stuff.

989

:

Luke: Yeah.

990

:

we got a little bit less than 25 minutes

991

:

left.

992

:

Uh, so

993

:

hedge

994

:

hit it.

995

:

You are full time as

996

:

of yesterday.

997

:

Valerie Osier: Woo.

998

:

So we

999

:

Luke: should

:

00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:14,500

say that

:

00:25:14,666 --> 00:25:18,536

Aaron Hedge: I was halftime for

:

00:25:18,826 --> 00:25:20,496

most of:

:

00:25:20,539 --> 00:25:20,909

Erin Sellers: You weren't

:

00:25:20,979 --> 00:25:21,459

actually

:

00:25:21,459 --> 00:25:22,689

working halftime though.

:

00:25:22,829 --> 00:25:23,329

You were

:

00:25:23,706 --> 00:25:24,386

Aaron Hedge: Uh, I

:

00:25:24,386 --> 00:25:24,616

don't know what you

:

00:25:24,616 --> 00:25:24,866

mean.

:

00:25:25,181 --> 00:25:25,261

Valerie Osier: not.

:

00:25:25,296 --> 00:25:25,506

Aaron Hedge: not

:

00:25:25,506 --> 00:25:25,596

up.

:

00:25:25,659 --> 00:25:27,581

Luke: We told him

:

00:25:27,581 --> 00:25:31,425

to only work out on a

:

00:25:31,526 --> 00:25:31,906

Aaron Hedge: was 20

:

00:25:31,906 --> 00:25:32,126

hours

:

00:25:32,146 --> 00:25:32,266

Valerie Osier: week.

:

00:25:32,266 --> 00:25:34,456

We told him to only work that long.

:

00:25:34,576 --> 00:25:34,786

it was a

:

00:25:34,793 --> 00:25:36,206

Aaron Hedge: was a flat 20 hours

:

00:25:36,206 --> 00:25:36,276

a

:

00:25:36,316 --> 00:25:36,646

Valerie Osier: week.

:

00:25:36,651 --> 00:25:36,901

Mm-hmm

:

00:25:37,186 --> 00:25:37,726

.

Aaron Hedge: Nothing

:

00:25:37,726 --> 00:25:38,056

more.

:

00:25:38,056 --> 00:25:38,434

Yeah.

:

00:25:38,434 --> 00:25:39,946

But now you're full

:

00:25:40,051 --> 00:25:40,441

Valerie Osier: full time.

:

00:25:40,702 --> 00:25:45,993

Aaron Hedge: really excited about that,

um, and I'll tell you why in terms of my

:

00:25:45,993 --> 00:25:47,676

job here in a second.

:

00:25:47,946 --> 00:25:50,616

But I guess to start

with my personal goals,

:

00:25:51,696 --> 00:25:52,416

um,

:

00:25:54,211 --> 00:25:54,766

My first

:

00:25:54,766 --> 00:25:58,966

one is I, I like to rollerblade

and I wanna do that more than I did

:

00:25:59,146 --> 00:26:00,046

last year.

:

00:26:00,196 --> 00:26:00,826

Um,

:

00:26:00,885 --> 00:26:01,965

Luke: I love it so much, man.

:

00:26:01,995 --> 00:26:02,315

I want

:

00:26:02,315 --> 00:26:03,465

to know, you

:

00:26:03,465 --> 00:26:05,405

got to start like videoing yourself

:

00:26:05,405 --> 00:26:07,295

rollerblading or at

least like, let me know

:

00:26:07,305 --> 00:26:09,755

when you're going to be

rollerblading past an area.

:

00:26:09,775 --> 00:26:09,955

Cause I

:

00:26:09,955 --> 00:26:10,725

want to just like

:

00:26:11,115 --> 00:26:13,185

see you in the world

with a big smile on your

:

00:26:13,185 --> 00:26:13,785

face.

:

00:26:13,785 --> 00:26:17,534

And

:

00:26:17,535 --> 00:26:17,755

for anyone who

:

00:26:17,791 --> 00:26:18,181

Valerie Osier: who hasn't

:

00:26:18,181 --> 00:26:20,941

seen Hedges rollerblades,

they're very like,

:

00:26:21,611 --> 00:26:22,201

Ken.

:

00:26:22,526 --> 00:26:24,946

Like Barbie Ken rollerblades.

:

00:26:25,247 --> 00:26:27,161

Erin Sellers: to roll with it.

:

00:26:27,161 --> 00:26:28,118

Um, and

:

00:26:28,276 --> 00:26:29,566

Valerie Osier: And they're so amazing.

:

00:26:29,576 --> 00:26:30,826

And I love them so much.

:

00:26:30,876 --> 00:26:31,316

So

:

00:26:31,361 --> 00:26:32,261

Aaron Hedge: That's how God intended

:

00:26:32,261 --> 00:26:32,801

rollerblades.

:

00:26:32,903 --> 00:26:34,339

Erin Sellers: to become closer

:

00:26:34,751 --> 00:26:36,501

Aaron Hedge: Um, And

:

00:26:36,501 --> 00:26:38,831

I want to, like, slightly more serious, I

:

00:26:38,831 --> 00:26:39,531

want to become

:

00:26:39,581 --> 00:26:41,611

closer and more intentional in my

:

00:26:41,611 --> 00:26:43,201

relationships with my friends.

:

00:26:43,341 --> 00:26:43,801

Um,

:

00:26:43,831 --> 00:26:45,321

my first two years in Spokane

:

00:26:45,331 --> 00:26:46,251

was spent in a dark

:

00:26:46,331 --> 00:26:48,031

corner of a room working on an MFA.

:

00:26:48,031 --> 00:26:48,271

Hey.

:

00:26:48,366 --> 00:26:49,126

Valerie Osier: And

:

00:26:49,391 --> 00:26:49,501

Aaron Hedge: And

:

00:26:49,501 --> 00:26:51,321

I don't really think I developed, I

:

00:26:51,321 --> 00:26:52,081

have, I have good

:

00:26:52,081 --> 00:26:54,621

friends from that program, but I

:

00:26:54,674 --> 00:26:54,834

Erin Sellers: they're

:

00:26:55,681 --> 00:26:55,991

Aaron Hedge: I want to

:

00:26:55,991 --> 00:26:56,901

make more friends in

:

00:26:56,901 --> 00:26:57,611

the community

:

00:26:57,881 --> 00:27:00,001

and be a better

:

00:27:00,001 --> 00:27:00,561

friend.

:

00:27:01,551 --> 00:27:02,121

Valerie Osier: Um.

:

00:27:03,656 --> 00:27:03,896

Aaron Hedge: And

:

00:27:03,906 --> 00:27:06,796

a little bit of a segue into

the, from the personal into the

:

00:27:06,796 --> 00:27:08,606

professional is I want to be

:

00:27:08,606 --> 00:27:11,546

like more creative, intentional

and intentional in my,

:

00:27:11,696 --> 00:27:12,056

like, I

:

00:27:12,086 --> 00:27:12,656

just want to become a

:

00:27:12,666 --> 00:27:16,216

better writer, um, in

terms of like the craft

:

00:27:16,216 --> 00:27:17,576

of putting words together.

:

00:27:17,686 --> 00:27:23,826

Uh, I've been reading a lot over the break

of creative essays and in journals like

:

00:27:23,826 --> 00:27:24,616

N plus one and the,

:

00:27:24,796 --> 00:27:27,276

and the baffler and that

writing is just incredible

:

00:27:27,276 --> 00:27:27,516

and

:

00:27:28,006 --> 00:27:28,806

was inspiring.

:

00:27:28,816 --> 00:27:31,306

And I want to try to move

toward that if I can.

:

00:27:32,146 --> 00:27:32,276

In

:

00:27:32,276 --> 00:27:33,576

personal writing and in professional

:

00:27:33,576 --> 00:27:35,286

writing, uh, that gets published.

:

00:27:35,286 --> 00:27:39,436

Um,

:

00:27:39,616 --> 00:27:41,366

the rest of my goals for the year

:

00:27:41,386 --> 00:27:43,766

are kind of like individual stories.

:

00:27:44,036 --> 00:27:47,816

Um, and the first story that,

that I'm, the first story that

:

00:27:47,816 --> 00:27:48,896

I'm going to be working on

:

00:27:49,116 --> 00:27:52,466

this year involves, and

this should publish fairly

:

00:27:52,466 --> 00:27:54,106

soon, um,

:

00:27:54,166 --> 00:27:56,006

involves police accountability and

:

00:27:56,036 --> 00:27:57,396

deadly force review boards at

:

00:27:57,396 --> 00:27:59,366

the Spokane police department and there's

:

00:28:01,476 --> 00:28:01,706

There's a

:

00:28:01,706 --> 00:28:04,176

lot of, there's a lot

of undercurrent to that.

:

00:28:04,176 --> 00:28:08,572

There's a lot of, uh, legislation that's

been proposed by advocacy organizations.

:

00:28:09,229 --> 00:28:12,509

And I think one of the, one of the

main things that I want to track is

:

00:28:13,199 --> 00:28:17,479

there's a bill that would establish an

office of independent prosecutions.

:

00:28:17,479 --> 00:28:21,339

there is currently, , an office of

independent investigations at the state

:

00:28:21,339 --> 00:28:22,819

and they're ramping up their efforts.

:

00:28:23,679 --> 00:28:28,324

They're pretty new and small and they're

only doing, a few investigations here

:

00:28:28,324 --> 00:28:29,819

and there to kind of test the waters.

:

00:28:31,334 --> 00:28:36,004

But their process is when they finish

an investigation, they send the

:

00:28:36,004 --> 00:28:38,304

results of it to the local prosecutor.

:

00:28:38,334 --> 00:28:42,964

Um, and there have been a number

of police killings here in Spokane.

:

00:28:42,964 --> 00:28:48,034

We're consistently in the top 10, uh,

police departments in the country for

:

00:28:48,158 --> 00:28:48,328

Luke: for

:

00:28:49,084 --> 00:28:50,044

Aaron Hedge: police violence

:

00:28:50,138 --> 00:28:50,748

Luke: per capita.

:

00:28:50,974 --> 00:28:51,364

Aaron Hedge: capita.

:

00:28:51,364 --> 00:28:51,684

Yeah.

:

00:28:52,272 --> 00:28:53,542

There's a woman I've been talking to.

:

00:28:53,542 --> 00:28:54,672

Her name's Debbie Novak.

:

00:28:54,682 --> 00:28:58,092

She's a, she's an advocate for police

accountability and her son, David,

:

00:28:58,092 --> 00:29:01,312

s killed by Spokane police in:

:

00:29:01,422 --> 00:29:04,162

Um, and the officer was never prosecuted.

:

00:29:04,162 --> 00:29:06,342

In fact, he was promoted recently,

:

00:29:06,409 --> 00:29:07,239

to detective.

:

00:29:07,289 --> 00:29:08,864

And, currently

:

00:29:08,874 --> 00:29:11,914

if the Office of Independent

Investigations sends, um,

:

00:29:12,493 --> 00:29:12,965

Luke: their results

:

00:29:13,094 --> 00:29:15,564

Aaron Hedge: back to a local

prosecutor who's already, already

:

00:29:15,564 --> 00:29:18,104

declined to prosecute a case.

:

00:29:18,653 --> 00:29:20,743

Luke: it's unlikely that they

would like change their mind.

:

00:29:20,884 --> 00:29:23,014

Aaron Hedge: yeah, which, which was, yeah.

:

00:29:23,014 --> 00:29:25,184

And that was the case with David is, uh,

:

00:29:26,194 --> 00:29:26,464

The

:

00:29:26,474 --> 00:29:29,604

county prosecutor, Larry Haskell,

declined to prosecute him.

:

00:29:30,084 --> 00:29:30,314

But if

:

00:29:30,314 --> 00:29:34,011

there's an office of independent

prosecutions, their recommendations

:

00:29:34,011 --> 00:29:36,981

will go to that state office

rather than a, than a.

:

00:29:37,586 --> 00:29:37,786

Then a.

:

00:29:37,786 --> 00:29:42,986

local prosecutor who probably has ties

to the local, whatever agency it was.

:

00:29:43,866 --> 00:29:44,166

Um,

:

00:29:44,186 --> 00:29:47,066

so that's, that's a really

interesting like slate of stories

:

00:29:47,126 --> 00:29:49,586

Luke: Once we get, once you get a

little, let's, we should have, we'll

:

00:29:49,586 --> 00:29:52,806

have you back on the, on the show to

talk a little bit more about that.

:

00:29:52,806 --> 00:29:55,836

I've got about a million questions

and we don't have a ton of time for

:

00:29:55,836 --> 00:29:57,390

that, but that feels like a big one.

:

00:29:58,029 --> 00:30:00,676

Um, for all the reasons you

underlined in the few more.

:

00:30:00,676 --> 00:30:02,716

So I'm really glad we're

hopping on that story.

:

00:30:02,866 --> 00:30:04,116

Um, really?

:

00:30:05,736 --> 00:30:06,416

What's next for you?

:

00:30:06,476 --> 00:30:06,846

Yeah.

:

00:30:07,176 --> 00:30:07,615

Um.

:

00:30:08,396 --> 00:30:10,276

Aaron Hedge: one thing I'm

going to be keeping my eye on is

:

00:30:10,286 --> 00:30:11,036

something that I've already done.

:

00:30:11,086 --> 00:30:15,920

A lot of reporting on is How

governments from the local to the

:

00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:20,260

federal are going to be getting

clean water to West Plains residents

:

00:30:20,329 --> 00:30:20,995

Luke: who have been,

:

00:30:21,930 --> 00:30:22,280

Aaron Hedge: many of

:

00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:27,190

whom have been drinking, uh, forever

chemicals basically out of the aquifer

:

00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,360

for, you know, a number of years.

:

00:30:29,430 --> 00:30:35,172

Um, and this contamination came

from the two airports out in Airway

:

00:30:35,172 --> 00:30:38,302

Heights, Fairchild Air Force Base

and Spokane International Airport.

:

00:30:38,510 --> 00:30:44,674

and the Department of Ecology is,

basically like forcing SIA, uh, the

:

00:30:44,674 --> 00:30:49,094

International Airport to, uh, To go

through a state remediation process

:

00:30:49,094 --> 00:30:53,774

where it cleans up its contamination

and part of that might entail like

:

00:30:53,774 --> 00:30:58,354

getting clean water to folks But we're

not really sure How that's gonna look

:

00:30:59,174 --> 00:31:00,034

there's also

:

00:31:01,114 --> 00:31:04,974

the county wants to form a task force

that can look into that and That

:

00:31:04,974 --> 00:31:08,784

would add to existing efforts the

EPA and the Department of Ecology and

:

00:31:08,784 --> 00:31:12,464

Fairchild are all providing water to

some people But it doesn't look It

:

00:31:12,464 --> 00:31:15,454

doesn't catch everybody and there's

still a lot of people who are suffering.

:

00:31:15,494 --> 00:31:18,264

Um, and that's a, that's a huge story.

:

00:31:18,324 --> 00:31:22,274

Uh, and I'll be, I'll be looking

closely at that as it evolves.

:

00:31:22,643 --> 00:31:22,923

Luke: Yeah.

:

00:31:25,834 --> 00:31:29,094

Aaron Hedge: and then I guess more

generally, I guess if I'm, if I'm being

:

00:31:29,094 --> 00:31:34,064

really ambitious, I think I'd love to

start looking more closely at rural

:

00:31:34,064 --> 00:31:38,064

communities, just generally, um, things

that are, stories that are happening and,

:

00:31:38,064 --> 00:31:40,949

um, Towns out kind of in the hinterlands.

:

00:31:40,959 --> 00:31:47,589

Um, I've been talking to a person out

in, who lives in Chihuahua, who, uh,

:

00:31:47,909 --> 00:31:51,929

who's aware of a bunch of stories out

there that nobody really knows about.

:

00:31:51,929 --> 00:31:55,259

Cause the, the local publications

don't really have the resources

:

00:31:55,259 --> 00:31:57,709

to, to, report on that stuff.

:

00:31:57,739 --> 00:31:58,619

And I think that,

:

00:32:00,479 --> 00:32:00,549

I

:

00:32:00,549 --> 00:32:04,389

think that, you know, if, if we have the

capacity at range, like that's, that's

:

00:32:04,389 --> 00:32:06,609

a space that we could try to occupy.

:

00:32:07,194 --> 00:32:08,784

So that's one thing that

I'm really interested in.

:

00:32:09,015 --> 00:32:09,503

Luke: interested in.

:

00:32:09,503 --> 00:32:14,043

Stephens County specifically, I keep

hearing rumors and, you know, rumors

:

00:32:14,043 --> 00:32:17,443

of rumors about some pretty wild

stuff happening in the individual

:

00:32:17,443 --> 00:32:21,533

towns, but at the county and then

Private people doing wild stuff too.

:

00:32:21,533 --> 00:32:24,233

And so, yeah, it's, and you're right.

:

00:32:24,233 --> 00:32:25,953

It's, you know, there, there are a couple.

:

00:32:28,198 --> 00:32:28,548

That's one of our

:

00:32:28,548 --> 00:32:29,018

colleagues

:

00:32:29,018 --> 00:32:29,508

just on

:

00:32:29,933 --> 00:32:31,143

Erin Sellers: Not on TikTok!

:

00:32:31,183 --> 00:32:32,153

Not on TikTok!

:

00:32:32,203 --> 00:32:32,423

The

:

00:32:32,433 --> 00:32:33,163

stripper's bill of

:

00:32:33,163 --> 00:32:34,863

rights that I followed last Ledge

:

00:32:34,873 --> 00:32:35,473

Sess just

:

00:32:35,473 --> 00:32:36,353

went into effect

:

00:32:36,438 --> 00:32:36,898

Luke: today.

:

00:32:36,958 --> 00:32:37,538

Oh wow.

:

00:32:37,538 --> 00:32:38,108

The post,

:

00:32:38,293 --> 00:32:38,663

Erin Sellers: like,

:

00:32:39,013 --> 00:32:43,743

That I was trying to repost on Ranger's

social media to be like, we covered this.

:

00:32:43,753 --> 00:32:45,363

I was doing work stuff,

but I didn't know that

:

00:32:45,363 --> 00:32:47,293

it had like a loud music

:

00:32:47,293 --> 00:32:48,353

attached to it.

:

00:32:49,489 --> 00:32:49,519

Valerie Osier: It's

:

00:32:49,598 --> 00:32:50,188

Luke: very cool.

:

00:32:50,208 --> 00:32:50,798

Strippers bill of

:

00:32:50,798 --> 00:32:51,338

Rights goes

:

00:32:51,338 --> 00:32:51,988

into effect.

:

00:32:51,988 --> 00:32:53,458

We covered that extensively.

:

00:32:54,178 --> 00:32:57,308

And, we've, we should say that we

already have a partnership, not

:

00:32:57,308 --> 00:33:01,178

in Stevens County, but in Ponderay

County with the Newport Minor and as

:

00:33:01,178 --> 00:33:03,128

part of , the WSU Murrow Fellowship.

:

00:33:03,708 --> 00:33:08,718

Um, we've a colleague whose name people

have seen in the paper but probably we

:

00:33:08,718 --> 00:33:10,528

haven't even done the, Hey, I'm Sophia.

:

00:33:10,598 --> 00:33:14,638

Her name is Sophia Mattis Aldis, and

she's been working up in Newport.

:

00:33:15,248 --> 00:33:15,988

For

:

00:33:16,078 --> 00:33:16,698

a few months

:

00:33:16,698 --> 00:33:21,228

now, had a couple of bylines with

us, but this year we're going to um,

:

00:33:21,248 --> 00:33:26,038

deepening that partnership and making

she gets more bylines in range as well.

:

00:33:26,068 --> 00:33:29,368

And, and I think to your point, Hedge,

part of what we're thinking about

:

00:33:29,378 --> 00:33:35,018

through all of this yeah, being that

maybe deeper investigative conduit

:

00:33:35,038 --> 00:33:38,832

for smaller publications that , you

know, still have a weekly presence in

:

00:33:38,832 --> 00:33:40,192

their communities, but probably don't

:

00:33:40,202 --> 00:33:41,530

have the capacity.

:

00:33:42,357 --> 00:33:44,957

because the weekly grind

is a grind , to go deeper.

:

00:33:44,957 --> 00:33:46,217

And so, , that's a

:

00:33:46,217 --> 00:33:50,327

partnership we're going to be exploring

more deeply with the Newport miner

:

00:33:50,637 --> 00:33:52,817

and they cover West Bonner

County, Idaho as well.

:

00:33:52,847 --> 00:33:53,347

So getting

:

00:33:53,347 --> 00:33:54,367

into that like west

:

00:33:54,367 --> 00:33:55,827

of Sandpoint where we've

:

00:33:55,827 --> 00:33:57,047

done some reporting.

:

00:33:57,457 --> 00:33:59,137

Hedge, you've done some reporting as well.

:

00:33:59,657 --> 00:34:01,556

, and then also seeing what we can do

:

00:34:01,819 --> 00:34:02,347

Valerie Osier: in, Stevens

:

00:34:04,342 --> 00:34:04,922

Luke: It's really great.

:

00:34:04,922 --> 00:34:07,542

I think we take as Spokanites,

those of us who live in the

:

00:34:07,542 --> 00:34:09,052

city, we take for granted the

:

00:34:09,052 --> 00:34:10,062

idea that we are the

:

00:34:10,062 --> 00:34:11,302

cultural center of this.

:

00:34:11,302 --> 00:34:14,431

And so people that live in

Chihuahua are forced to get Spokane

:

00:34:14,442 --> 00:34:14,891

news.

:

00:34:15,192 --> 00:34:17,552

And I sometimes think people in

Colville, Chihuahua, Newport,

:

00:34:17,572 --> 00:34:18,831

Chattaroa, where I grew up, like,

:

00:34:19,371 --> 00:34:21,242

they know as much about Spokane as

:

00:34:21,242 --> 00:34:21,621

any

:

00:34:21,692 --> 00:34:22,976

individual Spokanite does.

:

00:34:22,976 --> 00:34:25,846

but the reason we're a

cultural hub is because

:

00:34:25,866 --> 00:34:29,311

all these You know, areas

feed us, literally feed us.

:

00:34:29,341 --> 00:34:31,710

Like people come down to shop in

our stores and stuff cause they

:

00:34:31,710 --> 00:34:32,321

don't exist.

:

00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:33,301

And

:

00:34:33,541 --> 00:34:38,301

it's part of this big agrarian

area and lawn resource area

:

00:34:38,331 --> 00:34:38,641

that

:

00:34:38,922 --> 00:34:40,563

has fed our local economy since.

:

00:34:40,873 --> 00:34:45,824

Spokane began, and I feel like we,

no media right now, us very much

:

00:34:45,824 --> 00:34:48,964

included, does a good enough job of

covering what's going on in those areas.

:

00:34:48,974 --> 00:34:50,264

Like, Spokane should

:

00:34:50,264 --> 00:34:50,563

know

:

00:34:50,623 --> 00:34:55,833

as much about its rural areas as

rural folks are kind of forced

:

00:34:55,833 --> 00:34:57,204

to know about Spokane, I think.

:

00:34:58,404 --> 00:35:02,634

it'll, that might, may never happen,

you know, like, getting totally, like,

:

00:35:02,664 --> 00:35:07,504

super dialed in on every little area

of our rural communities, but it's

:

00:35:07,504 --> 00:35:09,654

certainly an aspiration of ours, so

I'm really glad you're tackling that.

:

00:35:10,118 --> 00:35:11,408

One last thing you said here

:

00:35:11,408 --> 00:35:14,348

before we jumped to me though, and

I don't even know anything about

:

00:35:14,348 --> 00:35:17,978

this, you just threw it in our document,

union busting and fire districts.

:

00:35:18,248 --> 00:35:18,728

What's going on with

:

00:35:18,728 --> 00:35:19,088

that?

:

00:35:19,438 --> 00:35:20,228

Erin Sellers: Or are we scooping

:

00:35:20,244 --> 00:35:20,264

Valerie Osier: you?

:

00:35:21,052 --> 00:35:24,664

Aaron Hedge: Well, so I, we've, we've

got some, we've got, we've got some

:

00:35:24,664 --> 00:35:28,164

tips recently about some union busting

activities that have happened in

:

00:35:28,164 --> 00:35:33,524

some fire districts up in the, in the

rural areas of Eastern Washington.

:

00:35:33,584 --> 00:35:38,449

And like, Obviously, um, Aaron

Sellers has done some excellent

:

00:35:38,449 --> 00:35:40,269

reporting on, on union busting here.

:

00:35:41,449 --> 00:35:44,929

That stuff's happening everywhere, um,

including in rural communities and,

:

00:35:45,079 --> 00:35:46,939

and I'd like to dive into that too.

:

00:35:47,891 --> 00:35:48,311

Luke: It's awesome.

:

00:35:48,321 --> 00:35:50,141

Yeah, I think we, take for granted.

:

00:35:50,141 --> 00:35:52,391

I mean, one of the things that I'm

kind of preoccupied by is like,

:

00:35:52,391 --> 00:35:53,421

what does it mean to be working

:

00:35:53,979 --> 00:35:54,581

Aaron Hedge: where do.

:

00:35:54,741 --> 00:35:55,091

Luke: And where

:

00:35:55,091 --> 00:35:56,771

to where do working class?

:

00:35:56,771 --> 00:35:57,841

people do their work?

:

00:35:57,891 --> 00:36:01,211

You know, and that was

such a big narrative.

:

00:36:01,951 --> 00:36:05,631

For the last few national elections,

you know, whether or not working

:

00:36:05,631 --> 00:36:08,511

class people were, we're not voting

for Trump or Biden or Harris.

:

00:36:09,321 --> 00:36:13,041

And I don't even feel like we really

have a good working definition

:

00:36:13,041 --> 00:36:14,641

of what working class is anymore.

:

00:36:14,801 --> 00:36:18,411

And so maybe I'll just like start sliding

into what I was going to talk about.

:

00:36:18,411 --> 00:36:21,371

One of those is that getting a little more

:

00:36:21,741 --> 00:36:26,381

thinki in different parts of

what we do with about 10 minutes

:

00:36:26,381 --> 00:36:28,141

left to go on the broadcast here

:

00:36:28,791 --> 00:36:29,291

about

:

00:36:29,332 --> 00:36:30,032

Valerie Osier: it's 15.

:

00:36:30,102 --> 00:36:31,222

I started about 55.

:

00:36:31,426 --> 00:36:32,396

Luke: Oh, okay.

:

00:36:32,396 --> 00:36:33,346

So we got about 15 minutes, great.

:

00:36:34,166 --> 00:36:37,806

Um, so it's just like, okay,

we were talking about this

:

00:36:37,806 --> 00:36:39,076

news that's happening to us.

:

00:36:39,076 --> 00:36:40,746

Like this is what's happening.

:

00:36:40,876 --> 00:36:42,556

Um, what ought to be happening?

:

00:36:42,556 --> 00:36:44,086

What do people think we need?

:

00:36:44,176 --> 00:36:45,889

Where do people think we need to go next?

:

00:36:46,536 --> 00:36:49,626

, in order to make Spokane the

place that people want, want

:

00:36:49,626 --> 00:36:50,676

to live and spend their lives.

:

00:36:51,476 --> 00:36:54,686

, and the people who are committed

to living here and maybe, can't

:

00:36:54,696 --> 00:36:58,236

leave even if they want to because

they're, a certain socioeconomic

:

00:36:58,246 --> 00:37:03,313

bracket, like making sure they have

the tools they need to fight for, more.

:

00:37:03,573 --> 00:37:07,433

I think going back to the personal for a

second, I want to live more in the world.

:

00:37:07,633 --> 00:37:09,463

I want to connect more

deeply with community.

:

00:37:09,463 --> 00:37:10,943

This is what we preach at range.

:

00:37:10,943 --> 00:37:13,873

And I think of all four of us,

I've been kind of the worst at it.

:

00:37:14,703 --> 00:37:18,583

I think partially, As we already

talked about, I had a role here that

:

00:37:19,063 --> 00:37:23,936

forced me to do a bunch of little

business tasks and stuff that had

:

00:37:23,936 --> 00:37:26,046

experience in, but don't love doing.

:

00:37:26,706 --> 00:37:28,806

And, and I think in general, just

:

00:37:28,806 --> 00:37:32,896

as a human, I never, and not because

I felt unsafe or because I'm walking

:

00:37:32,896 --> 00:37:33,916

around with a mask all the time.

:

00:37:33,916 --> 00:37:37,566

I just don't feel like I ever

came out of my cocoon after COVID.

:

00:37:37,586 --> 00:37:40,686

We're like two or three

years past the worst of it.

:

00:37:40,696 --> 00:37:42,416

And I feel like I just got in a rut.

:

00:37:42,526 --> 00:37:46,886

And so even though I was super sick for

most of the break, I did get some time

:

00:37:46,886 --> 00:37:51,206

to just go out and have, like you were

saying Val, just everybody here actually

:

00:37:51,216 --> 00:37:54,936

has said some version of like spending

time with friends, spending time with

:

00:37:54,936 --> 00:38:00,776

loved ones, seeing movies, not because

there's something in it for range, but

:

00:38:00,776 --> 00:38:05,866

just because I wanted to see what all

the fuss is about with baby girl and, uh,

:

00:38:06,136 --> 00:38:07,066

the Bob Dylan movie.

:

00:38:07,386 --> 00:38:08,466

A complete unknown.

:

00:38:08,642 --> 00:38:09,038

Valerie Osier: going to

:

00:38:10,206 --> 00:38:11,046

Luke: That's next.

:

00:38:11,046 --> 00:38:13,416

I'm definitely doing, we're,

we've had to, our friend group

:

00:38:13,416 --> 00:38:15,576

has had to negotiate Nosferatu.

:

00:38:15,606 --> 00:38:19,296

'cause there are some very anti horror

folks in my , movie friend group.

:

00:38:19,846 --> 00:38:24,311

,

The most vehemently anti horror movie friend is gonna be out of town this week.

:

00:38:24,466 --> 00:38:24,646

So

:

00:38:24,646 --> 00:38:24,736

we're

:

00:38:24,850 --> 00:38:25,946

Valerie Osier: probably

going to see it this

:

00:38:25,996 --> 00:38:27,016

Luke: we don't, whatever.

:

00:38:27,016 --> 00:38:27,406

So.

:

00:38:28,141 --> 00:38:32,011

Because, you know, I started my

career not as a news reporter, but

:

00:38:32,011 --> 00:38:34,511

as a culture writer and columnist.

:

00:38:34,561 --> 00:38:34,972

And

:

00:38:36,011 --> 00:38:39,291

I'd kind of forgotten or turned

off that part of my brain where

:

00:38:39,301 --> 00:38:41,061

I'm like, I'm watching fiction.

:

00:38:41,081 --> 00:38:45,251

I'm watching a movie and it's making

me reflect on the world, which is

:

00:38:45,251 --> 00:38:46,681

what good art is supposed to do.

:

00:38:46,681 --> 00:38:49,473

And I want to reconnect with

that part of my life you

:

00:38:49,473 --> 00:38:50,573

know, it sometimes feels like.

:

00:38:51,008 --> 00:38:55,218

Everything in the world is reducible

to what we see on social media,

:

00:38:55,228 --> 00:38:58,198

but there is art still being made

in the world for God's sake and

:

00:38:58,198 --> 00:39:00,048

we should be engaging with it.

:

00:39:00,658 --> 00:39:03,848

, so yeah, that's my big plan for

myself this year and I think it's

:

00:39:03,848 --> 00:39:07,878

going to pay dividends for the

work I do at range is just to get

:

00:39:07,878 --> 00:39:12,558

out of my head more, get off social

media, more experience, what the world

:

00:39:12,578 --> 00:39:14,918

has to offer in a more concrete way, have

:

00:39:15,223 --> 00:39:15,893

more

:

00:39:16,041 --> 00:39:20,641

time to just have conversations with

people, sources or not in real life.

:

00:39:22,074 --> 00:39:24,974

we did hang out as a team, everybody

except Val, cause she was sick.

:

00:39:24,974 --> 00:39:27,844

We would just like went and got tea

and ended up talking about work a

:

00:39:27,844 --> 00:39:31,653

little bit over the break, but also

just, talked about random things, life.

:

00:39:31,693 --> 00:39:32,678

And , that's I think

:

00:39:32,678 --> 00:39:36,428

where the real juice happens sometimes,

and I'm excited to do more of that.

:

00:39:36,908 --> 00:39:40,253

Um, specifically then also the

way I get news is way, way, way

:

00:39:40,253 --> 00:39:41,573

too informed by social media.

:

00:39:41,583 --> 00:39:44,593

I'm feeling like it's just

such a toxic, all the platforms

:

00:39:44,593 --> 00:39:45,833

are toxic to some degree.

:

00:39:45,833 --> 00:39:51,033

and no matter whether they're toxic or

not, they're an intermediary between

:

00:39:51,033 --> 00:39:54,023

real human connection, which is the

connection we find when we're in

:

00:39:54,023 --> 00:39:56,233

physical space together with each other.

:

00:39:56,557 --> 00:40:00,187

I just bumped into this

person at a holiday party.

:

00:40:00,227 --> 00:40:02,927

There's somebody in town who's

like, I feel like I know you

:

00:40:02,937 --> 00:40:03,917

because we're friends on Facebook.

:

00:40:04,027 --> 00:40:05,797

And they could tell me

everything about myself.

:

00:40:05,797 --> 00:40:08,567

And I was like, I'm getting to know

this person for the first time.

:

00:40:09,417 --> 00:40:13,117

But of course, what I put on

Facebook is not actually me.

:

00:40:13,437 --> 00:40:14,963

That's not who I am.

:

00:40:14,963 --> 00:40:19,471

And it made me think that, I'm excited

for people to get to, you know, I'm

:

00:40:19,471 --> 00:40:23,001

excited to get to know people outside

of their social media presence because

:

00:40:23,341 --> 00:40:26,741

we really don't learn very much from

what we choose, what each individual

:

00:40:26,741 --> 00:40:28,581

person chooses to put on social media.

:

00:40:30,031 --> 00:40:33,261

Like we've decided to just like not

advertise on social media anymore because

:

00:40:33,261 --> 00:40:37,001

it hasn't kind of been working for us,

but we have these limited resources that I

:

00:40:37,011 --> 00:40:40,881

think we want to devote to more community

organizing type audience development.

:

00:40:41,751 --> 00:40:46,251

And I just don't want to keep giving

money to people that I think are

:

00:40:46,391 --> 00:40:50,241

intentionally or inadvertently

destroying the social fabric.

:

00:40:50,241 --> 00:40:51,878

Uh,

:

00:40:52,621 --> 00:40:57,021

So yeah, more in converse, in person

conversations with people Um and kind

:

00:40:57,021 --> 00:40:58,781

of being less I don't know if it's

:

00:40:58,781 --> 00:41:03,191

unfair of myself to call this

transactional but like I'm so busy,

:

00:41:03,271 --> 00:41:06,141

I only really get to justify hanging

out with people when I feel like

:

00:41:06,141 --> 00:41:07,951

there's a productive end to it.

:

00:41:08,021 --> 00:41:10,801

And I just want to have more of that

in my life, of just being like, I'm

:

00:41:10,801 --> 00:41:15,311

hanging out with sellers because we

both want to go see this weirdo horror

:

00:41:15,311 --> 00:41:17,041

movie that we hear good things about.

:

00:41:17,631 --> 00:41:19,021

Or, you know, my friends or my

:

00:41:19,539 --> 00:41:21,359

Erin Sellers: things about Or, you

:

00:41:21,359 --> 00:41:22,723

know, my friends

:

00:41:23,191 --> 00:41:23,301

Luke: I

:

00:41:23,301 --> 00:41:27,311

had you, I had already gone

by the time you invited

:

00:41:27,501 --> 00:41:33,131

Erin Sellers: I had a hard time

by the time you invited me.

:

00:41:33,131 --> 00:41:34,667

Well look, for

:

00:41:34,691 --> 00:41:35,071

Luke: I might have,

:

00:41:35,178 --> 00:41:36,202

Erin Sellers: me accountable.

:

00:41:36,202 --> 00:41:37,226

I'm listening

:

00:41:37,231 --> 00:41:37,381

Valerie Osier: Well

:

00:41:37,391 --> 00:41:38,851

Luke: look, thank you for

holding me accountable.

:

00:41:38,881 --> 00:41:39,511

I'm listening and

:

00:41:39,785 --> 00:41:40,297

Erin Sellers: mean

:

00:41:40,621 --> 00:41:43,301

Luke: I, so, yeah, I mean this, I, yeah.

:

00:41:44,021 --> 00:41:45,861

I, that is a very good point.

:

00:41:47,846 --> 00:41:51,166

And I even thought about, like,

I had a little movie nerd meetup

:

00:41:51,206 --> 00:41:52,806

group on, like, literally on meetup.

:

00:41:52,806 --> 00:41:54,586

com that I did a few years ago.

:

00:41:54,966 --> 00:41:56,406

I was like, do we want to do that?

:

00:41:56,816 --> 00:41:57,126

Very

:

00:41:57,126 --> 00:41:57,606

millennial.

:

00:41:57,701 --> 00:41:59,251

Erin Sellers: Get everybody on letterboxd.

:

00:41:59,306 --> 00:41:59,686

Luke: Yeah,

:

00:41:59,696 --> 00:42:02,526

but it's like, no, actually what I

want to do is, that, that would be a

:

00:42:02,526 --> 00:42:04,136

version of trying to make it productive.

:

00:42:04,306 --> 00:42:07,116

And it's like, doesn't mean that I don't

want to talk about movies with people and

:

00:42:07,116 --> 00:42:11,146

maybe even talk about them on the podcast

or something or on the radio show, but

:

00:42:11,213 --> 00:42:12,693

I really want to make it about people.

:

00:42:12,809 --> 00:42:14,079

This is not productive time.

:

00:42:14,079 --> 00:42:20,329

This is like human connection and, uh,

insight time, I guess, or whatever.

:

00:42:20,958 --> 00:42:21,228

all right.

:

00:42:21,258 --> 00:42:25,238

What final thing we got about 10

minutes left here and we can wrap up.

:

00:42:25,828 --> 00:42:26,528

Um,

:

00:42:26,704 --> 00:42:30,114

Valerie Osier: Does the show that we

send have to be 55 minutes, right?

:

00:42:30,504 --> 00:42:30,674

Total?

:

00:42:30,758 --> 00:42:31,878

Luke: Basically, yeah.

:

00:42:32,058 --> 00:42:32,878

Erin Sellers: in here we've

:

00:42:32,888 --> 00:42:35,118

Luke: There's a little bit of,

there's wearable room, so I got

:

00:42:35,118 --> 00:42:36,898

to get editing, but, um, um,

:

00:42:38,728 --> 00:42:43,942

I want to figure out how to get more

ideas in range, which is, my vision

:

00:42:43,942 --> 00:42:46,408

for this is explicitly not opinion,

:

00:42:47,068 --> 00:42:47,218

And

:

00:42:47,218 --> 00:42:52,548

certainly not just like, Lauren Pangborn,

our urbanism and transit columnist,

:

00:42:52,548 --> 00:42:56,328

I'm not talking about like a person who

loves transit and wants to write transit

:

00:42:56,328 --> 00:42:59,218

columns, I'm talking about the kind of

opinion columnist where you're like,

:

00:42:59,958 --> 00:43:05,398

writing about Syria one week and about

PFOS on the West Plains the next week.

:

00:43:05,408 --> 00:43:08,188

You know, like that's not the kind

of opinion I've ever wanted to do.

:

00:43:08,658 --> 00:43:13,388

And I really don't want it to, I want it

to be more focused around subject matter

:

00:43:13,388 --> 00:43:19,788

experts, maybe even academics who are,

who can use their specific expertise to

:

00:43:19,788 --> 00:43:25,788

help curate a conversation around, okay,

here is, is what's happening in Spokane.

:

00:43:25,798 --> 00:43:28,138

Here's where we're at, how ought we.

:

00:43:29,138 --> 00:43:29,818

respond to it.

:

00:43:29,858 --> 00:43:31,648

What are the ways we, in

which we should respond?

:

00:43:32,298 --> 00:43:34,378

Erin Sellers: Kind of like

that Matt Anderson piece we put

:

00:43:34,378 --> 00:43:34,738

out.

:

00:43:34,768 --> 00:43:40,128

Luke: yeah, the Matt Anderson piece in,

in like a non 4, 000 word version of that.

:

00:43:40,128 --> 00:43:40,848

But yeah, yeah.

:

00:43:40,848 --> 00:43:43,488

and, that Matt Anderson piece

actually got a lot of traction.

:

00:43:43,754 --> 00:43:44,150

Erin Sellers: You know, I'd

:

00:43:44,150 --> 00:43:49,260

really like to see this include,

like, lived experience folks as well.

:

00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,770

Because I do think, like, there's

a ton of value to the academic

:

00:43:52,820 --> 00:43:55,620

perspective of, like, Okay, here's

what's worked places, here's what

:

00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:56,630

hasn't worked places.

:

00:43:57,020 --> 00:44:00,250

Here's maybe why Houston

worked and why Spokane's not.

:

00:44:00,260 --> 00:44:00,430

Or,

:

00:44:00,678 --> 00:44:00,918

that's

:

00:44:01,072 --> 00:44:02,322

Luke: San Diego imploded.

:

00:44:02,848 --> 00:44:05,438

Erin Sellers: But also, like, I'd love

to hear the first person narrative

:

00:44:05,438 --> 00:44:09,048

of the guy who got arrested for

pedestrian interference while eating a

:

00:44:09,048 --> 00:44:10,998

burrito for breakfast on the sidewalk.

:

00:44:11,038 --> 00:44:11,518

you know?

:

00:44:11,528 --> 00:44:16,018

Like, What was that guy's experience with

the system and how did we end up here?

:

00:44:16,682 --> 00:44:20,442

Luke: Well, and I, I've been, I'm, I am

definitely thinking a lot about academics.

:

00:44:20,482 --> 00:44:23,412

Cause there's probably

like 300 professors or 400.

:

00:44:23,413 --> 00:44:25,332

There's like, there's just so many people.

:

00:44:25,342 --> 00:44:26,862

We have like seven colleges in

:

00:44:27,088 --> 00:44:27,798

Erin Sellers: and

:

00:44:27,832 --> 00:44:29,912

Luke: and all of these folks

would be like, Oh, I'm a political

:

00:44:29,912 --> 00:44:31,012

science professor looking

:

00:44:31,012 --> 00:44:31,422

at

:

00:44:32,252 --> 00:44:34,465

presidential elections in the:

:

00:44:34,465 --> 00:44:37,302

It's like, you've spent

your, like, why not?

:

00:44:37,564 --> 00:44:41,881

Why not spend a little time doing like,

you know, Applied research or applied,

:

00:44:41,901 --> 00:44:46,171

you know, sort of talking about Spokane,

you know, it's with some fraction of your

:

00:44:46,171 --> 00:44:50,141

time But then the other piece to your

point Erin is the conversation we had

:

00:44:50,701 --> 00:44:53,791

About the rental tool a couple weeks

ago on the or a few weeks ago now

:

00:44:53,801 --> 00:44:55,931

on the on the radio show with Johnny

:

00:44:56,138 --> 00:44:56,395

Valerie Osier: I

:

00:44:56,476 --> 00:44:56,716

Erin Sellers: Can I

:

00:44:56,766 --> 00:44:59,676

add that to my new year's resolution

is to get that off the ground.

:

00:44:59,729 --> 00:44:59,986

Valerie Osier: ground?

:

00:45:00,216 --> 00:45:00,686

Luke: Oh, no,

:

00:45:00,686 --> 00:45:02,046

that's definitely, that's on mine too.

:

00:45:02,066 --> 00:45:02,296

Yeah.

:

00:45:02,296 --> 00:45:05,636

So that's one of them is getting that,

um, getting that tool built and actually

:

00:45:05,636 --> 00:45:11,216

seeing how well just building these little

tools for folks how well it works and how

:

00:45:11,236 --> 00:45:12,106

much people like it.

:

00:45:12,106 --> 00:45:14,766

Cause that's definitely, that's

definitely on our, that's on my list too.

:

00:45:15,436 --> 00:45:16,146

Um, but yeah,

:

00:45:16,146 --> 00:45:16,596

Johnny

:

00:45:16,606 --> 00:45:22,936

is a renter and had some really great

insight, um, and really great questions

:

00:45:22,976 --> 00:45:27,286

that we then were able to ask that,

sort of made this theoretical tool idea

:

00:45:27,286 --> 00:45:30,556

that we have better and we couldn't, it

wouldn't have been as good without her.

:

00:45:30,736 --> 00:45:32,136

Um, so yeah, I

:

00:45:32,136 --> 00:45:32,466

think lived

:

00:45:32,466 --> 00:45:34,676

experience is a huge

piece of that as well.

:

00:45:35,366 --> 00:45:39,646

Um, I don't know how to do this

yet exactly, but I really would

:

00:45:39,646 --> 00:45:43,106

like range to be a space where

culture writing happens as well.

:

00:45:44,041 --> 00:45:48,011

Probably not like the event driven

stuff you see in the Inlander and the

:

00:45:48,011 --> 00:45:53,028

Spokesman, but we wouldn't exclude stuff

that was tied to events, but we learn

:

00:45:53,108 --> 00:45:56,908

about ourselves as people and we

talk about art and culture and I

:

00:45:56,908 --> 00:46:00,127

think there's a real, space for

more contemplative culture writing.

:

00:46:00,202 --> 00:46:00,342

that

:

00:46:00,342 --> 00:46:01,432

we could do a pretty good job with.

:

00:46:01,668 --> 00:46:02,928

Erin Sellers: I'm excited about that.

:

00:46:03,048 --> 00:46:03,348

Um,

:

00:46:03,348 --> 00:46:03,558

my

:

00:46:03,558 --> 00:46:04,938

ran Fair piece, which I think like

:

00:46:04,938 --> 00:46:06,468

10 total people read, was also

:

00:46:06,468 --> 00:46:06,618

one

:

00:46:06,716 --> 00:46:07,097

Valerie Osier: my favorite

:

00:46:07,248 --> 00:46:08,118

Erin Sellers: stories that I've written.

:

00:46:08,122 --> 00:46:08,262

Luke: written.

:

00:46:08,262 --> 00:46:08,892

it was a great piece.

:

00:46:09,002 --> 00:46:09,573

Valerie Osier: a great piece.

:

00:46:10,488 --> 00:46:11,568

Erin Sellers: I don't

know, I think there's

:

00:46:11,808 --> 00:46:15,798

interesting spaces to write

about where politics intersect

:

00:46:15,858 --> 00:46:17,898

with, like culture for sure.

:

00:46:18,078 --> 00:46:20,388

You know, what's the punk scene here?

:

00:46:20,883 --> 00:46:24,583

What's like the subculture movements

that are happening in Spokane?

:

00:46:24,813 --> 00:46:28,463

I just met this gal who was like

a burlesque dancer in Walla Walla.

:

00:46:29,143 --> 00:46:33,313

Um, and a friend of mine brought up

this really interesting conversation

:

00:46:33,323 --> 00:46:39,078

about like, yeah, this town is full of

talent that has nowhere to, , perform

:

00:46:39,098 --> 00:46:40,918

or, , when they are performing,

:

00:46:40,918 --> 00:46:41,808

it's for like wine

:

00:46:41,818 --> 00:46:43,188

tourists, and not for,

:

00:46:43,217 --> 00:46:43,467

Luke: like,

:

00:46:43,477 --> 00:46:43,607

community.

:

00:46:43,607 --> 00:46:44,277

In Walla Walla,

:

00:46:44,768 --> 00:46:45,278

Erin Sellers: Yeah.

:

00:46:45,278 --> 00:46:49,108

and so thinking about like, who are

the cool people in Spokane doing

:

00:46:49,108 --> 00:46:53,358

cool, weird things like you with

Terrain 17 years ago or whatever.

:

00:46:53,358 --> 00:46:53,698

And

:

00:46:53,817 --> 00:46:53,977

Luke: Yeah.

:

00:46:54,498 --> 00:46:57,128

Erin Sellers: there's just so much

of that, that, you know, I love the

:

00:46:57,128 --> 00:47:01,258

Inlander, but usually they catch

things right after they get cool.

:

00:47:01,273 --> 00:47:03,343

And not before they get cool.

:

00:47:03,613 --> 00:47:05,993

Luke: Well, and because they're a

weekly focused on, I mean, and this

:

00:47:06,003 --> 00:47:08,983

is like, these are conversations

we had for the longest time.

:

00:47:08,993 --> 00:47:11,943

When I was at the Inlander,

it's like we have such limited

:

00:47:11,943 --> 00:47:13,303

space, which isn't a problem for

:

00:47:14,158 --> 00:47:17,068

And when I was at the Inlander,

it was like we are this sort of,

:

00:47:17,178 --> 00:47:18,448

here's what to do with your week.

:

00:47:18,458 --> 00:47:19,588

Here's how you shape your week.

:

00:47:19,588 --> 00:47:20,768

And so that really led

:

00:47:20,768 --> 00:47:26,198

to us, um, biasing toward event

driven stuff, which for a weekly paper

:

00:47:26,238 --> 00:47:30,088

is, you know, an arts and culture

paper is a really smart thing to

:

00:47:30,088 --> 00:47:30,558

do.

:

00:47:31,378 --> 00:47:32,748

I don't want to compete with that.

:

00:47:32,879 --> 00:47:33,334

Valerie Osier: That's

:

00:47:33,469 --> 00:47:33,699

Erin Sellers: can

:

00:47:33,788 --> 00:47:34,928

Luke: Yeah, exactly.

:

00:47:35,298 --> 00:47:36,128

Yeah, totally.

:

00:47:36,598 --> 00:47:37,268

Um,

:

00:47:38,308 --> 00:47:40,718

And I think in short, my goal,

and I actually hope all three of

:

00:47:40,718 --> 00:47:42,573

you hold me accountable to this.

:

00:47:42,889 --> 00:47:45,928

Uh, I just want to feel

like a journalist again.

:

00:47:46,038 --> 00:47:49,208

I got a little emotional on

the phone with one of you.

:

00:47:49,208 --> 00:47:51,508

I can't remember who was Val or Aaron.

:

00:47:51,558 --> 00:47:54,528

Yeah, about like I

:

00:47:54,538 --> 00:47:55,638

started this thing

:

00:47:55,825 --> 00:47:58,585

partially to figure out if I

could be a journalist again.

:

00:47:58,650 --> 00:47:58,940

and

:

00:48:00,090 --> 00:48:00,660

survive.

:

00:48:00,885 --> 00:48:05,045

and part of my self realization

the last few months is that I've,

:

00:48:05,655 --> 00:48:06,235

I'm mostly

:

00:48:06,235 --> 00:48:10,035

not doing journalism while I'm trying

to, you know, while we're all trying

:

00:48:10,035 --> 00:48:13,875

to build this thing, that's, you

know, a sustainable, fun, beautiful

:

00:48:13,905 --> 00:48:17,165

place to spend your entire career

theoretically as a journalist,

:

00:48:17,165 --> 00:48:18,335

if you want to stay in Spokane.

:

00:48:18,335 --> 00:48:21,050

And I'm not getting enough of that myself.

:

00:48:21,845 --> 00:48:24,700

And especially now that

Val's going to be.

:

00:48:24,853 --> 00:48:27,283

taking a significant amount

of the business duties.

:

00:48:27,363 --> 00:48:29,513

I have nobody to blame

but myself if I don't

:

00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:30,448

Valerie Osier: don't feel like

:

00:48:30,523 --> 00:48:31,103

Luke: end of this year.

:

00:48:31,103 --> 00:48:33,753

so I want everybody to hold

me accountable to that.

:

00:48:34,256 --> 00:48:34,696

all right.

:

00:48:34,726 --> 00:48:35,736

Any final thoughts?

:

00:48:35,736 --> 00:48:36,896

We got a couple minutes.

:

00:48:36,906 --> 00:48:40,046

Then I'm going to have to edit a little

bit out so we can go a little bit long

:

00:48:40,066 --> 00:48:41,616

just to make sure we got some buffer.

:

00:48:41,616 --> 00:48:41,976

But

:

00:48:43,801 --> 00:48:44,571

Erin Sellers: think there's a lot of

:

00:48:44,581 --> 00:48:48,351

people who are really excited

about range that we can do a

:

00:48:48,351 --> 00:48:50,521

better job of like tapping into,

:

00:48:51,021 --> 00:48:51,221

Like

:

00:48:51,221 --> 00:48:52,541

folks who reach out about

:

00:48:52,541 --> 00:48:54,921

freelancing, folks who

reach out about like,

:

00:48:55,371 --> 00:48:58,931

Oh, I've got this idea or like I

could help with podcasts or I want to

:

00:48:58,931 --> 00:49:01,461

talk about this or I have data skills

:

00:49:01,461 --> 00:49:01,751

And

:

00:49:02,291 --> 00:49:04,181

it's really hard for me to ask for help.

:

00:49:04,181 --> 00:49:07,101

Like this story with

Kai, I feel so bad about

:

00:49:07,101 --> 00:49:07,401

like

:

00:49:07,741 --> 00:49:09,891

asking him to do something for free.

:

00:49:10,691 --> 00:49:11,031

And

:

00:49:11,041 --> 00:49:15,141

we do have some, some money now for

freelancers, but also I think being

:

00:49:15,171 --> 00:49:19,191

okay with like those partnerships

that aren't transactional And like,

:

00:49:20,331 --> 00:49:20,871

I don't know.

:

00:49:21,231 --> 00:49:23,461

And I am really excited to work more with

:

00:49:23,521 --> 00:49:26,331

Lauren and have like a regular columnist.

:

00:49:27,061 --> 00:49:27,571

Luke: Um,

:

00:49:27,701 --> 00:49:27,911

Erin Sellers: that

:

00:49:27,911 --> 00:49:31,011

story that I was talking about was like a

partnership, which is weird to write, like

:

00:49:31,011 --> 00:49:33,481

a partnership between a

journalist and a columnist.

:

00:49:33,491 --> 00:49:33,821

But

:

00:49:34,231 --> 00:49:34,361

I

:

00:49:34,381 --> 00:49:34,891

think we did a

:

00:49:34,891 --> 00:49:35,321

good job

:

00:49:35,321 --> 00:49:38,601

of striking that balance

between like voicey and actually

:

00:49:38,601 --> 00:49:40,291

like fact driven informative.

:

00:49:40,801 --> 00:49:43,641

Um, and I had a great

time working with her.

:

00:49:43,641 --> 00:49:43,981

So,

:

00:49:45,091 --> 00:49:46,241

Oh, and games!

:

00:49:46,401 --> 00:49:48,761

Range games, with Sarah and Johnny.

:

00:49:48,831 --> 00:49:49,481

Um,

:

00:49:50,151 --> 00:49:51,251

which is another thing

:

00:49:51,251 --> 00:49:52,041

we're working on.

:

00:49:52,041 --> 00:49:54,941

is like, Getting people more embedded in

:

00:49:54,941 --> 00:49:58,131

range and getting range more

embedded in the community in

:

00:49:58,131 --> 00:49:59,601

like a fun, quirky,

:

00:49:59,806 --> 00:50:00,686

Luke: cool kind

:

00:50:00,686 --> 00:50:02,126

of way.

:

00:50:02,126 --> 00:50:02,846

I

:

00:50:02,846 --> 00:50:03,566

don't

:

00:50:03,601 --> 00:50:04,061

Erin Sellers: know.

:

00:50:04,061 --> 00:50:06,791

And I mean, Sarah, I have

to give her her flowers.

:

00:50:06,801 --> 00:50:07,351

Sarah's had

:

00:50:07,351 --> 00:50:07,761

City.

:

00:50:08,001 --> 00:50:08,501

She was like

:

00:50:08,511 --> 00:50:10,141

the person that, um,

:

00:50:10,156 --> 00:50:10,826

Luke: helped me

:

00:50:10,826 --> 00:50:11,161

come

:

00:50:11,161 --> 00:50:11,831

up with

:

00:50:11,871 --> 00:50:13,111

Erin Sellers: City Hall bingo.

:

00:50:13,661 --> 00:50:19,461

Uh, and I think her and Johnny sit and do

the Inlander crossword like every week.

:

00:50:19,511 --> 00:50:19,531

Yeah.

:

00:50:19,991 --> 00:50:20,661

Um,

:

00:50:20,952 --> 00:50:21,642

Valerie Osier: That's so cute.

:

00:50:21,652 --> 00:50:22,522

It's very cute.

:

00:50:22,591 --> 00:50:23,691

Erin Sellers: They sit down at this local

:

00:50:23,691 --> 00:50:25,841

coffee shop and they do

their crossword together.

:

00:50:25,841 --> 00:50:26,381

I love them.

:

00:50:26,501 --> 00:50:31,691

And they were like, what if we could

write our own games and have it be like

:

00:50:31,731 --> 00:50:34,081

embedded in range, but also in community.

:

00:50:34,081 --> 00:50:37,171

So like maybe a clue for like a crossword

:

00:50:37,171 --> 00:50:39,531

would be like a local business

and then that local business

:

00:50:39,561 --> 00:50:40,761

gives folks like a 10 percent

:

00:50:40,761 --> 00:50:42,111

discount if they show their

:

00:50:42,401 --> 00:50:43,721

completed crossword.

:

00:50:43,731 --> 00:50:46,001

And, and that way you're

like, you're reading

:

00:50:46,001 --> 00:50:49,041

the news you're engaging

with range But also

:

00:50:49,041 --> 00:50:50,061

you're supporting a local

:

00:50:50,071 --> 00:50:50,601

business.

:

00:50:50,601 --> 00:50:52,001

They're getting connected

:

00:50:52,082 --> 00:50:52,382

Valerie Osier: just

:

00:50:52,481 --> 00:50:54,281

Erin Sellers: it just

creates more of a network

:

00:50:54,762 --> 00:51:00,072

Valerie Osier: page 42 Bookstore like

leads a like local business mingo

:

00:51:00,072 --> 00:51:02,162

thing that we could probably tap into.

:

00:51:02,376 --> 00:51:02,716

Luke: Yeah.

:

00:51:03,522 --> 00:51:05,612

Valerie Osier: Or see if they want

to partner with us on something.

:

00:51:05,626 --> 00:51:06,926

Erin Sellers: Yeah, definitely

:

00:51:07,016 --> 00:51:08,436

Um, I need to figure out how to

:

00:51:08,436 --> 00:51:09,026

do embeds

:

00:51:09,026 --> 00:51:09,826

on the website though.

:

00:51:09,826 --> 00:51:11,676

Cause I think that would

be cool to be able to

:

00:51:11,806 --> 00:51:13,546

like complete it on the website.

:

00:51:13,756 --> 00:51:13,876

They

:

00:51:13,876 --> 00:51:17,276

want to do some like, you know, like

New York Times strands, different

:

00:51:17,276 --> 00:51:20,076

versions of like, not just crosswords,

:

00:51:21,376 --> 00:51:23,816

yeah, I think that that

would be really cool.

:

00:51:23,816 --> 00:51:24,046

and just

:

00:51:24,046 --> 00:51:28,076

like working with more people

and getting more voices in range,

:

00:51:28,136 --> 00:51:31,266

um, more regular editing support

:

00:51:31,472 --> 00:51:31,722

Valerie Osier: Yeah,

:

00:51:31,811 --> 00:51:31,916

Luke: that's

:

00:51:32,872 --> 00:51:35,422

Valerie Osier: that's why

it's other goal is to get us

:

00:51:35,911 --> 00:51:37,141

Luke: There's more support in general.

:

00:51:37,482 --> 00:51:38,072

Valerie Osier: editors.

:

00:51:38,211 --> 00:51:42,221

Luke: Yeah, Uh, Val and

Hedge, any final thoughts?

:

00:51:44,027 --> 00:51:47,597

Aaron Hedge: I like the idea of, this

isn't an original thought, but just

:

00:51:47,597 --> 00:51:50,787

like, piggybacking off of Sellers.

:

00:51:51,077 --> 00:51:56,770

Like, I think it's not only useful,

but also kind of incumbent on

:

00:51:58,033 --> 00:51:58,133

who

:

00:51:58,133 --> 00:52:00,313

don't want to ask for help

to lean on their community a

:

00:52:00,443 --> 00:52:00,773

little bit.

:

00:52:00,783 --> 00:52:02,835

Because if we don't do that,

:

00:52:03,475 --> 00:52:05,875

like it just contributes to this, like,

:

00:52:06,318 --> 00:52:06,646

Luke: we're

:

00:52:06,687 --> 00:52:07,997

Aaron Hedge: getting,

we're getting less help.

:

00:52:08,622 --> 00:52:13,592

that we could get, which makes our

work not as robust as it could be.

:

00:52:14,041 --> 00:52:14,321

Luke: Yeah.

:

00:52:14,782 --> 00:52:18,032

Aaron Hedge: And it also, I think,

contributes to this, like, kind

:

00:52:18,032 --> 00:52:22,742

of notion of the news industry

as like a hermetically sealed

:

00:52:22,977 --> 00:52:23,707

Valerie Osier: Mm hmm.

:

00:52:23,772 --> 00:52:23,922

Aaron Hedge: or

:

00:52:24,401 --> 00:52:24,831

Luke: For sure.

:

00:52:24,872 --> 00:52:27,222

Aaron Hedge: that's like not

accessible to the public.

:

00:52:27,972 --> 00:52:30,652

so it like, I'm really into that sellers.

:

00:52:31,292 --> 00:52:31,752

That's cool.

:

00:52:32,241 --> 00:52:32,441

Luke: All right.

:

00:52:32,441 --> 00:52:33,501

We should probably close out.

:

00:52:33,541 --> 00:52:35,321

That was a good, good thing to end on.

:

00:52:35,781 --> 00:52:37,171

That is our time for this week.

:

00:52:37,241 --> 00:52:38,621

Um, Aaron, you want to play us out?

:

00:52:39,089 --> 00:52:41,066

Erin Sellers: Do you have

questions about local government?

:

00:52:41,296 --> 00:52:44,176

Wondering who to complain to about

an issue in your neighborhood?

:

00:52:44,566 --> 00:52:48,286

Which agency governs certain things

or why something is happening?

:

00:52:48,336 --> 00:52:49,276

How much it costs?

:

00:52:49,899 --> 00:52:50,412

at freerange

:

00:52:50,412 --> 00:52:52,106

at kyrs.

:

00:52:52,116 --> 00:52:54,636

org with your questions, and we'll

try and answer them next week.

:

00:52:55,366 --> 00:52:57,846

Luke: Free Range is a weekly news

and public affairs program presented

:

00:52:57,856 --> 00:53:01,296

by Range Media and produced by

Range Media and KYRS Community

:

00:53:01,296 --> 00:53:04,766

Radio, KYRS, Medical Lake, Spokane.

:

00:53:05,226 --> 00:53:05,456

See you

:

00:53:05,456 --> 00:53:06,176

next week, everyone.

:

00:53:06,436 --> 00:53:06,666

Bye.

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