Latest news with #Yaeger
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spokane Valley passes 'not a sanctuary city' resolution meant to show allegiance to Trump
Apr. 2—The Spokane Valley City Council voted Tuesday to reaffirm the municipality is "not a sanctuary city," in what was likely the most well-attended and raucous meeting of the year. Tuesday's meeting at Spokane Valley City Hall had two banner issues on the agenda that drew supporters and detractors from across the Inland Northwest: a public hearing on a public safety sales tax the council is considering and a vote on a resolution seeking to reiterate the city's stance on immigration for a federal audience. The latter item, approved in a 5-2 vote, replaces an invalid 2016 resolution approved by the council before state legislators passed the Keep Washington Working Act, which supporters said sought to prevent disruptions to the state's economic sectors that largely rely on immigrant labor, like agriculture. Councilman Ben Wick and Deputy Mayor Tim Hattenburg were the two nay votes. In passing the act, the Washington Legislature determined it is not the primary purpose of law enforcement, and a misuse of local resources, to enforce federal immigration law. Local police departments and sheriff's offices are only allowed to assist or share information with federal agents in limited circumstances since the law took effect in 2019. While its previous iteration was more direct in compelling the city's police force, which is contracted from the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, to assist federal forces with immigration enforcement, the resolution will not lead to any practical changes in how city staff members or sheriff's office deputies within city limits conduct their duties, said Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb and Undersheriff Dave Ellis, chief of the Spokane Valley Police Department. Instead, its purpose was to send a message to President Donald Trump that the council does not agree with the state's sanctuary law, said Councilwoman Jessica Yaeger, the board member who brought the resolution forward. "Quite frankly, it's because we put grants out there all the time, and what it means is we will not have money that comes to this city, in this state, because we are a sanctuary state," Yaeger said. Yaeger said she and fellow council members Laura Padden and Mayor Pam Haley were discussing the resolution with White House officials in their advocacy visit to the nation's capital last week, and that without it, the city "will not get millions upon millions of dollars for the roads you drive on, for other grants that come to our city that actually feed hungry mouths." The majority of residents at the meeting, hailing from within Spokane Valley's borders and from neighboring towns, testified in opposition to the resolution. They voiced concerns that the measure would condone discrimination against immigrants and people of color residing and working in Spokane Valley, and is naked political posturing and could lead to a costly legal battle. Haley had to make multiple warnings that she would end public comment if decorum was not upheld as the crowd clapped, snapped and laughed, at times, during the meeting. "I can tell you that there is great fear already among the immigrants and refugees who are here legally," said Christi Armstrong, executive director of World Relief Spokane. "... World Relief wants to be a part of the solution, but I just think that putting those words that Spokane Valley is not a sanctuary city is really, really hurtful." Yaeger admonished members of the public who said or insinuated the resolution would send the wrong message to marginalized communities, stating that they were the ones who brought "skin color" up and that she was trying to protect young women and "prevent an issue like Laken Riley." The 22-year-old was murdered in Athens, Georgia, by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, and has become the namesake of a federal law seeking to tighten detention requirements for immigrants who commit crimes. Her death has become a rallying cry among conservatives critical of the prior administration's handling of immigration and border security. Yaeger also decried those same speakers for the lack of positive statements and "standing up to thank us" for code changes the council is considering to crack down on illicit massage parlors and sex trafficking. "How can you guys say that you're defending women and defending minorities when these women are being sex-trafficked and raped every day of their lives," Yaeger said. Councilman Al Merkel said while he does not support the resolution since it lacks any real teeth and is a "complete political waste of time," he heard from multiple Valley residents ahead of the meeting who desired it, so he voted in favor. "I'm saddened to hear that we were discussing this with the White House, because if this is what the White House thinks we spend our time on, that's a little disappointing," Merkel said. He added that his mother is from Honduras and said he doesn't believe racism is driving immigration policy. He said would have preferred an ordinance that allowed for more enforcement. Haley pushed back on Yaeger's characterization of the resolution's timing and purpose, saying she did not think it had "anything to do with politics," and was simply an update to the resolution to correct the sections invalidated by the Keep Washington Working Act. "It has to do with making our resolution that was passed in 2016 comply with both the federal law, which has changed, and the state law, which has also changed since then," Haley said. "This particular resolution allows us to comply with both. It doesn't give a directive to our police to do anything."
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Funding a challenge for some Adams Co. projects
Mar. 20—RITZVILLE — The second phase of a project to upgrade Schoonover Road that Adams County officials thought had received federal funding may not be getting it after all. A rules revision that allowed four bridges over the East Low Canal to qualify for complete federal funding also may have been eliminated. Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger said federal funding is still allocated for two bridges across the canal and the first phase of the Schoonover Road project, between Rosenoff Road and Rehn Road. Commissioner Dan Blankenship said county officials worked on securing funding for about 18 months and thought they had it. "Back to the drawing board and start over," Blankenship said. "It's a little disappointing." Yaeger said funding for the second phase of Schoonover Road, about $2 million, was on a list of projects requested by former Representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. "This extension project made it on the appropriations project list but all projects on that list were not funded," Yaeger wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. The first phase of the Schoonover Road project is scheduled to start in late June and be completed by October. The total cost is about $3.13 million. Blankenship said the request was included in appropriations packages that were awaiting a final vote by Congress, but Congressional leaders didn't vote on the bill. They opted to pass a continuing resolution instead. "Any new requests that were in those appropriations bills disappeared like they never happened," Blankenship said. That also meant the end of a request from Washington Senator Patty Murray to change the requirements for a program that would've paid for work on the four bridges, he said. Extending the bridges is the first step to widening the canal. That would allow the conversion of farms in the Odessa area to surface water for irrigation; currently, those farms use groundwater. The goal is to reduce water use from the aquifer that supplies water to the Columbia Basin, according to earlier interviews with officials from the Columbia Basin Development League. Murray had requested the change so that the four remaining bridges would qualify for a different funding source. That program would not have required any matching money from Adams County. "That all disappeared as well," Blankenship said. All the bridges that require widening are northeast of Othello, and funding was secured for two of them. Sackman Road will be the first one upgraded. Cost is about $4.8 million, and work will start after the irrigation season ends in October. Design is complete for the new bridge, which will span the canal without piers in the water. It will be supported by abutments anchored to shore instead. The abutments and the bridge deck will be precast and assembled onsite. The bridge deck is made of precast panels that will be installed separately and joined with concrete and a tie system.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Bridge and two Adams Co. roads scheduled for work in 2025
Feb. 26—RITZVILLE — Sections of two Adams County roads were closed on an emergency basis following wet and windy weather. Others are subject to closure as spring approaches. The section of Longmeier Road between Franz and Lee roads was closed, along with Lauer Road from Franz to Harder roads. Public Works Director Todd O'Brien told Adams County Commissioners Tuesday that some roads will not be passable while the ground is thawing but not dry. A map of road closures is available on the public works website. Bigger projects are planned once the weather warms up enough for construction. Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger said one project started last fall and is still ongoing. Construction — or in this case, reconstruction — began in October 2024 on a section of Lind-Hatton Road. Yaeger said in an earlier interview that the section under construction is about five miles north of State Route 26 between South Damon Road and Phillips Road to the BNSF railroad crossing. The section of road under construction was closed over the winter. The work did stop over the winter; it's scheduled to start in March 2025, with the entire project taking through June 2026, Yaeger wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. The cost for that section of the rebuild is about $3.12 million. Major work is planned on Schoonover Road about eight miles west of Ritzville. Among other places, it links Ritzville and Odessa. The first phase is scheduled to start in late June and be completed by October. "This is a reconstruction that is widening (the road), with a new subbase and surfacing with asphalt, drainage facilities and safety rail where needed," Yaeger said. The project cost is about $3.13 million. Adams County officials will start work in late October on the bridge at Sackman Road near Othello. It's part of a much larger project to rebuild bridges in Adams County to allow widening of the East Low Canal. Yaeger said the work will start once the canal is drained for the winter and should be completed by spring 2026. Cost is about $4.8 million. The new bridge will span the canal without piers in the water, instead being supported by abutments, called girders, anchored to the shore. The abutment and the bridge deck will be precast and assembled onsite. The bridge deck is made of precast panels which will be installed separately and then joined with concrete and a tie system. Rebuilding bridges along the canal is part of the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Project, which involves Adams and Grant counties, the Columbia Basin Development League, other organizations and federal and state agencies. Sara Higgins, CBDL president, said in an earlier interview that the goal is to end the reliance on groundwater wells for irrigation in the Odessa region of the Columbia Basin Project. Irrigators in that section have been using groundwater wells since the 1960s when the development of the overall project stopped, which has put pressure on the underlying aquifer. The project involves widening two bridges in Grant County and six in Adams County. The remaining five bridges in Adams County are along the canal northwest of Othello on Providence Road, Booker Road, Herman Road, Foley Road and Cunningham Road.
