Latest news with #EasternWashington
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Washington State's Cedric Coward opts for NBA draft over Duke transfer
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington State guard Cedric Coward, who intended on transferring to Duke, will instead keep his name in the 2025 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Saturday. Coward, 21, averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in six games for the Cougars last season before his year ended prematurely due to a partially torn shoulder labrum. The 6-foot-6 Coward also shot 40% from 3-point range last season, his first with Washington State. Coward started his collegiate career at Division III Willamette in 2021 and then transferred to Eastern Washington, where he spent two seasons. Coward was a Big Sky All-First Team member in 2024. The Fresno, California, native is the projected No. 30 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, per ESPN's latest mock draft. ___ AP CBB: Andrew Destin, The Associated Press
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Baumgartner, Newhouse help House pass Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' after GOP state lawmakers warn of Medicaid cuts
May 23—WASHINGTON — Two Republicans from central and Eastern Washington voted on Thursday to pass President Donald Trump's signature bill to cut taxes and boost spending on immigration enforcement, after their fellow GOP lawmakers who represent the same areas in Olympia warned against the legislation's cuts to Medicaid. Reps. Michael Baumgartner of Spokane and Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside helped narrowly pass what Trump has dubbed "One Big, Beautiful Bill" — now the legislation's official name — by a vote of 215-214. Two of their GOP colleagues voted no, another slept through the vote after the House pulled an all-nighter to rush the bill through before its Memorial Day recess, and one Republican voted "present," lamenting that the bill doesn't do enough to reduce the federal budget deficit. The package would make permanent the sweeping tax cuts Republicans passed during the first Trump administration in 2017, which are set to expire at the end of the year, and it includes additional short-term tax cuts that would further reduce government revenue. "This bill delivers the largest tax cut in American history, saving the average American $5,000 a year and cutting taxes by 15% for working families," Baumgartner said in a statement. "In Eastern Washington, it protects 467,500 taxpayers from a looming 25% tax hike and increases funding for much needed technology to bolster border security. It's not a silver bullet for D.C.'s $7 trillion spending problem, but it's a strong start, and a major win for Eastern Washington." According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, the average taxpayer in Baumgartner's 5th congressional district would see their taxes increase in 2026 by nearly $2,400 and in Newhouse's 4th congressional district by more than $2,000 if Congress doesn't act by year's end. Those tax hikes would be higher in districts west of the Cascades. If Republicans succeed in passing a bill by Dec. 31, they will keep tax rates largely flat, with some additional tax cuts for tips, overtime wages and other provisions Trump promised during his campaign. GOP leaders have made contradictory claims that making the 2017 tax law permanent represents a historic tax cut and effectively costs nothing, because extending the existing tax cuts would keep government revenue on its current trajectory. To pay for the additional tax cuts and spending, the bill would cut spending on Medicaid by imposing new restrictions intended to prevent unauthorized immigrants and young, able-bodied Americans from receiving the government-funded health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that provides information to lawmakers, estimates that the legislation would result in at least 8.6 million people losing their health insurance. When the Affordable Care Act was passed fifteen years ago states were allowed to expand Medicaid coverage up to individuals at 138% of the federal poverty line. About 90% of that cost is covered by the federal government. Under the new bill, states would not receive that 90% back of what they spend. Instead, the federal government would provide states with a lump sum based on their population per capita, regardless of the state's actual Medicaid costs. This change could significantly shift the cost of Medicaid expansion to the states, incentivizing them to roll back the Obamacare expansion or cut spending elsewhere to cover the costs. That Medicaid expansion reimbursement would also be cut an additional 10% to states that provide Medicaid coverage to undocumented immigrants. As of last year, undocumented immigrants in Washington are eligible for Medicaid if their income is under 138% of the federal poverty line. The expansion is fully funded by the state, but the new bill would still cut Medicaid reimbursement across the board if Washington state does not remove Medicaid eligibility for undocumented immigrants. In a letter to Washington's entire congressional delegation on Wednesday, 23 Republican state lawmakers asked their federal counterparts to protect Medicaid for the state's residents. Like Idaho and many other states, Washington expanded Medicaid to cover more people after Congress passed the Affordable Care Act of 2010. "If federal funding for the expansion population is cut or federal financing is reduced, Washington will have to use significant state funds to fill the gap," the GOP lawmakers wrote. "Without federal funding, we will be forced to make further cuts to health care, endangering local health care organizations and eliminating coverage for many constituents." Noting that a quarter of Washingtonians are enrolled in the state's Medicaid plan, Apple Health, the state legislators said they support the goal of rooting out "waste, fraud and abuse" but warned that Washington "will be among the states hardest hit by Medicaid losses," partly because the federal government contributes a relatively small portion of the state's Medicaid budget. "We urge you to protect Medicaid," they wrote. "We can't afford to lose local health care resources, and our rural communities will not be able to ride out the economic shockwaves that are sure to follow if this program is significantly cut. Simply put, we cannot lose another rural hospital or clinic, nor another long-term care facility. We depend on a stable health care system, and we're counting on your leadership to ensure Medicaid's survival." Letter co-signer Leonard Christian said he signed the letter to protect the rural hospitals in his rural state Senate district in Eastern Washington. "Our hospitals are already suffering with the biggest tax increase ever in state history, and so the hospitals are already in pretty bad shape," said the Republican. "If we cut Medicaid as well, the reality is many of our rural hospitals would close pretty quickly. They're hanging on by a thread." While Christian wants to see a smaller federal government, he believes Congress should look elsewhere. "When it comes to lives and having hospitals be available for folks, there's other things we need to be looking at cutting before this," he said. Christian also criticized state Democratic leaders who have made undocumented immigrants eligible for Medicaid — saying the policy has put strain on an already fragile health care system. "We're just continually piling more people on a system that's already in trouble. The state's been irresponsible in this for many years," he said. The more than 1,000-page House bill contains a wide range of GOP priorities, headlined by a major spending boost for border security and immigration enforcement. It includes $46.5 billion for construction of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, $45 billion for immigrant detention facilities and $4 billion to hire more Customs and Border Patrol officers. It also increases spending on the military by $150 billion, including $25 billion to start building a new missile defense system Trump has dubbed the "Golden Dome," combining his admiration for Israel's Iron Dome system with his personal affinity for gold. And it would raise the nation's borrowing limit by $4 trillion, allowing the government to avoid defaulting on its debt, which now exceeds $36 trillion. To offset that additional spending and the new tax cuts, the legislation aims to cut costs by rolling back Biden-era energy policies and reducing spending on Medicaid and SNAP, the nutritional assistance commonly known as food stamps. Estimates published Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office projected that the bill would increase the deficit by $3.8 trillion through 2034, and would cause a decrease in resources for the lowest-income 10% of Americans and an increase in resources for the highest-earning 10%. Facing opposition from Democrats and even some Republicans to cutting health care and food aid for low-income Americans while enacting tax cuts that would benefit the nation's highest earners, GOP leaders scaled back their initial plans for Medicaid. They landed on a set of restrictions intended to remove unauthorized immigrants and young, able-bodied Americans from the government-funded health insurance program. Democrats and other opponents of the Medicaid reforms say the new requirements are onerous and will result in more people losing their health insurance. In a call with reporters on Wednesday, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., spoke alongside CEOs of rural hospitals in Asotin and Klickitat counties who warned that cutting Medicaid funding could force some hospitals to close. "The House Republicans are now trying to cobble together what I believe is a serious attack on Medicaid," Cantwell said. "It undermines the program by shifting the burden to the states and making the entire healthcare system more expensive. When you think about it, if you cut Medicaid, and you cut people on Medicaid, they're not going to stop having health care needs. They're just going to go to a more expensive, unfunded setting to get that care." Republicans counter that their bill will preserve Medicaid for those who need it most while cutting costs. In a statement on Thursday, Newhouse said he had voted "to restore fiscal sanity in the federal government." "We have made real, common-sense reforms to strengthen the integrity of Medicaid, protecting the program for low-income families, seniors, and those with disabilities," he said. "By implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, and preventing those here illegally from accessing the program, we are protecting Medicaid for those who truly need it most." In a Thursday press conference Governor Bob Ferguson called the bill passed by Congress "cruel and harmful." "Our state will change in fundamental ways if this goes forward," the Democrat said. "As governor, obviously we're doing everything we can to persuade the Senate to walk back from the brink of an action that would have truly dire consequences for many thousands of Washingtonians." According to Ferguson, the bill would cost Washington state approximately $2 billion in federal funds in the next four years if it is passed. At least 200,000 out of 2 million Washington Medicaid recipients would lose their coverage by the end of next year, he said. Ferguson did not say how his office calculated this initial projection. "Hospitals will close in Washington state, in rural parts of our state, and in urban parts of our state. You can just take that to the bank. That's going to happen," he said. Harborview Medical Center CEO Sommer Kleweno Walley said the Seattle hospital could close parts of its operations if the bill were passed. Harborview, our Board of Trustees and our King County elected officials will have to have some incredibly difficult conversations about what parts of Harborview can stay open and what parts we have to rethink," she said at the Governor's press conference of the level 1 trauma center. The bill now goes to the Senate, where the GOP majority plans to make changes before sending it back to the House, using a procedure called budget reconciliation to sidestep the Senate's usual 60-vote supermajority requirement and overcome universal opposition from Democrats. If both chambers can pass the same version of the bill, it will go to Trump's desk to become law. Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Patriots under-the-radar rookie WR gets Julian Edelman comparison
Patriots under-the-radar rookie WR gets Julian Edelman comparison New England Patriots undrafted rookie wide receiver Efton Chism III turned heads on the football field at Tuesday's open OTAs practice. Chism is an under-the-radar player who fits the mold as a Josh McDaniels-type receiver. He's scrappy in the slot with quick footwork and sudden change of direction to consistently find separation. "The guy who stood out to me today was Efton Chism, and it wasn't because he had this amazing connection with Drake Maye," NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry told Tom Curran on "Patriots Talk Podcast". "I don't think Drake Maye threw him a pass in competitive periods. He looked really quick to me. This is the undrafted rookie out of Eastern Washington. He decelerates at a very rapid rate. He'll be running a crosser, catch it and stop on a dime and create separation for himself in that kind of way." Curran then responded by calling Chism's stop-and-go play a Julian Edelman kind of move. It's easy to see how a player like Chism could fly under the radar considering the Patriots currently have 12 receivers on their roster. However, it might not take people long to get on board with the idea that the former Eastern Washington standout is a serious contender for a roster spot. Chism's three-year rookie deal with New England includes $234,000 in guaranteed base salary. As ESPN's Mike Reiss noted, that's the richest deal of all of the Patriots' undrafted rookies, and it has more guarantees than any of the team's seventh-round draft picks. The Patriots handing out that kind of deal shouldn't be taken lightly. They obviously viewed Chism highly coming out of college. It's understandable considering that he has broken multiple records previously held by former All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp in college. He broke Kupp's single-season receptions record at Eastern Washington with 120 receptions last season, and he also broke the record for receptions in consecutive games (53) in the Big Sky and FCS conferences. Everyone loves a good underdog story, and Chism's could be the next to unfold in New England. Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'It's necessary for a community to thrive': Rural newspapers refocus their publications as news deserts grow
May 18—On the front page of a recent issue of the Newport Miner, three stories captured daily life in a small Washington town: local schools embracing artificial intelligence, citywide sewer maintenance and a police response to a fleeing suspect. Michelle Nedved, publisher of the Miner for the past 22 years, said these types of community stories have remained central to the paper's mission. What's changed, she said, is how the paper is reaching its readers in an era of social media and the rapid change of technology. "We've made some improvements in technology. We're branching out into digital advertising, which I think that community newspapers, especially, have really resisted. But you have to meet people where they're at, and if we can hook them on the internet and then bring them to print — then that's the ultimate goal," Nedved said. The Statesman-Examiner, the Newport Miner and the Columbia Basin Herald — three rural newspapers in Eastern Washington — have adapted their strategies to stay relevant and remain essential sources of trusted local news. "I think that we're finally joining the 21st century," Nedved said. Rising news deserts Gabriel Cruden, owner and publisher of several newspapers in Eastern Washington, including the Statesman-Examiner, Deer Park Tribune and the North Columbia Monthly, said the rise of the internet plays a major role in the growing number of what are called "news deserts," particularly in small towns. "There are so many sources for news and information, but most of it is not dialed into that specific local area," Cruden said. "A lot of people may largely get their local information from places like Facebook, and that's not being disseminated according to journalism standards." Cruden began working at the Statesman-Examiner in the late 1990s, right out of high school, before leaving for college and exploring other careers. But after watching local papers struggle to survive and seeing the lack of local news in the area, he took a leap of faith and purchased the Statesman Examiner and Deer Park Tribune last year. "The newspapers were still being published weekly, just a few pages, very few ads, minimal reporting, and not to the print quality one would expect from contemporary printing technology. Subscribers had dropped off, with more on the way out," Cruden said. "The Deer Park Tribune had closed its Deer Park office and was run entirely out of the Colville office." He said they've gained more than 450 subscribers for the Statesman-Examiner and a couple dozen for the Deer Park Tribune since he took ownership. He added they are in the process of reopening an office in Deer Park. "It's taken off. We've got such an overwhelmingly positive response from the community," Cruden said. "So many people are happy to have their newspaper back." Other newspapers, however, haven't been so fortunate. According to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism's State of Local News Project, the number of local news deserts expanded in the U.S. last year as 127 newspapers closed their doors. This leaves nearly 55 million people with limited to no access to their local news, according to the 2024 report. More than 7,000 newspaper jobs vanished between 2022 and 2023, compared to a few hundred the year before, the report also states. Just 124 miles away from Spokane, the Grant County Journal closed its doors in 2023 after 116 years of local community reporting. R. Hans Miller, managing editor at the Columbia Basin Herald, said even though the Journal was doing important journalism, the paper struggled because it didn't go digital. "The folks that owned it, they wanted to retire, and they didn't want anyone else to have something that they'd built and change it into something they couldn't recognize," Miller said. "And I really think, looking at it, in my own opinion, that part of the problem was they kept with black -and -white photography. They didn't go digital, and so it didn't grow into what it had the potential to be." Since the Grant County Journal closed, Miller said they have added a full page of coverage in Ephrata on Thursdays, when the Journal used to publish, but the loss is still felt. "I miss the Journal," Miller said. "We've been covering the city of Ephrata for more than 90 years now, but at the same time, that was their home paper. It's a different feeling when the newspaper from 20 miles away is doing the coverage for you." At the Miner, Nedved said the newsroom has undergone major technological changes since she started in 2003, trying to keep up with technological advancements. She said she saw roles once dedicated to proofreading replaced by online tools, and page layouts that were once physically assembled with waxers are now submitted digitally as PDFs. Still, the paper's mission hasn't wavered — even as news deserts grow. "I think that people look to the newspaper now for different things than they did when I started, mostly because of the internet. Things like breaking news, sports scores people can get online immediately," Nedved said. "What we're trying to do now is find the deeper story and talk to more people, and talk more about how and what municipalities are doing affects people's daily lives." Embracing changes Almost three years ago, the Columbia Basin Herald launched a podcast called "Studio Basin," where reporters recap the week's most important stories. While some episodes haven't gained much traction, Miller said others have drawn interest from listeners across the state. He said the podcast typically attracts anywhere from a few hundred to just over 700 listeners. "If we talk about the Moses Lake School District, that's gonna be one that gets listened to a little bit more," Miller said. "If we have (Wiley Allred), the football coach from Royal City, which has a long tradition of state championships, people from all over the state will listen to that one. So that's a good avenue for us to just engage with people a little bit more." The podcast is just one example of how the Columbia Basin Herald, with a newsroom of five reporters, is embracing technology to expand its reach. Miller also said he's been on the lookout for reporters with digital expertise. "When I look to hire people coming in, I'm looking for design skills. I need someone who can put together an infographic for their own story. I need someone who can put together a podcast," Miller said. At the Statesman-Examiner, Cruden said they're also investing in the future by offering unpaid internships to high school and college students interested in journalism. Currently, the paper has five high school reporting interns: two in Colville, one in Kettle Falls, one in Newport and another in Northport. Depending on the school partnership, students may also earn credit for their work. "We also had a college intern over the winter, who grew up in Colville and went away to college in Prague in the Czech Republic," Cruden said. "She is going to be graduating this year and talking about coming back and working for us, so it's that organic process of just really growing within community, building a reputation and consistently showing up." Meanwhile, the Newport Miner continues efforts to boost readership in Pend Oreille County and North Idaho through occasional subscription drives, including sending free copies of the paper for a month to certain mail routes and to people who aren't currently subscribed. "We send free copies of the newspaper to everybody on certain mail routes, because there's a lot of people out there who don't think about the newspaper anymore, and we believe if they got it in their hands, they would see how beneficial it is and how entertaining it is and interesting it is," Nedved said. She said in the past couple of weeks that they've been sending out free copies, they've gained a handful of subscribers. Nedved added that witnessing support for local journalism has helped the paper grow — even bringing back former reporters to the newsroom. Sophia Mattice-Aldous returned to the Miner as part of the Murrow News Fellowship, a Washington State University program for early-career journalists. Mattice-Aldous splits her time between the Miner and RANGE Media in Spokane covering rural issues, Nedved said. "That shows people still value community journalism — and that it's necessary for a community to thrive," she said. Cruden echoed that sentiment, noting that rural communities often have deep-rooted traditions in local events like sports and theater. He believes that when a newspaper and its community invest in each other, the impact can be long-lasting. "I was just at a ribbon-cutting, and right after, people came up to me and said, 'Thank you so much for bringing back our newspaper,' " Cruden said. "It's a difficult path to walk — regaining trust, especially in today's politically charged environment where civil discourse can be hard to find. But stepping into that space and doing the work — it's something I take seriously."
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How NBA Draft prospect Cedric Coward is modeling his game after Kobe Bryant
How NBA Draft prospect Cedric Coward is modeling his game after Kobe Bryant | The Kevin O'Connor Show Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor is joined by the former Washington State guard to discuss the versatility in his game at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, IL. Hear the full conversation on 'The Kevin O'Connor Show' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript But how would you describe your overall overall basketball game to somebody who's never watched you play? Advertisement Uh, versatile, uh, jack of all trades, Swiss Army knife, whatever term you want to use for all around. And just overall winner, I think a lot of people when they see me play for the first time, understand the amount of versatility I have on the court. When you watch me play, you can't look at him and be like, OK, well, he plays offense but not defense, because that's not what I predicate my game off. He plays defense but doesn't rebound, like. I don't think you can look at one area in my game, but he doesn't do that, like at all, you know, and there's, I gotta work on everything. When you talk about what I can get better at, everything. Advertisement You can always master and perfect everything as you, like you said, that goes to striving for greatness. At the end of the day, when I describe my game to people and what separates me is It sure will and kind of dog mentality I have and being able to be all around. We know you can shoot. We saw you do that at Washington State. We saw you do that at Eastern Washington, but the postgame shot 68% out of the post year last year at Eastern Washington, small sample last year at Washington State you were 8 of 9 from the post as well. You're 6'6, you know, roughly with shoes, 6'7 with shoes. Have you always had kind of a low postgame or is that something that coaches wanted to get out of you? Advertisement I mean. Not really. I think like a little bit because my favorite player of all time is Kobe, you know, Kobe had a postgame, but Kobe, clearly practiced that but yeah, and I think that that's where it comes from, but I didn't really like add it to my game until I got to Eastern Washington because Coach Riley, like the way their offense runs, we predicate on hunting mismatches. And for me, when I first got to Eastern Washington, I wasn't a guard. I was more of a forward, you know, plugging guy, you know what I mean like. I, I guarded, I played a lot bigger than what I was, I can say that. But yeah, but what 67 rebounds a game. Advertisement I don't know I don't know something like that, but. I played more of a big man role, quote unquote, more of a like a 4 role, my first year at Eastern. So when I was working out, I was up there with the bigs. I was bruising the whole time. So it taught me how to, you know, use finesse in the post, also use physicality. So now when I go up against the guards, especially people smaller than me, it's, it's, it's, I'm not gonna say easy, but It, it is easy in a way, you know.
