Shower trailer to open behind City Hall in November: WNS-Clean energy advocates hold cautious optimism for NW hydrogen hub, Governments come together to build flood resilience in Nooksack, Sumas watersheds, DNR releases tsunami evacuation maps for Bellingham, six other coastal communities, State Department of Corrections pledges to reduce solitary confinement by 90% over the next five years, Democracy Block, PROMO: BEYOND BARS, Run After Ruling –
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Independent, nonprofit community radio.
KMRE brings you local news for Monday, October 23rd. Good afternoon, I’m ______.
STORY: Shower trailer to open behind City Hall in November
A new shower trailer is opening behind City Hall next month.
The trailer will provide free showers to community members until the Way Station shelter opens next year. The new vehicle will complement the existing shower trailer at the Salvation Army Food Bank, and aims to offer 500 showers each month to 350 people. The trailer has three stalls, with one being ADA-accessible, and also provides basic toiletries.
Starting November 10th, the Opportunity Council’s Homeless Outreach Team will operate the interim shower program at City Hall from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Salvation Army trailer is open on Tuesdays from 9am to 3pm.
STORY: WNS – Clean energy advocates hold cautious optimism for NW hydrogen hub
Last week, the Biden administration announced investments in a hub for hydrogen energy in the Northwest. Clean energy advocates say it could be immensely useful, if done right. Reporter Eric Tegethoff (TEG-it-off) has more.
HYDROGEN AUDIO
STORY: Governments come together to build flood resilience in Nooksack, Sumas watersheds
An international co-operative agreement in flood-risk reduction and salmon habitat restoration for our area has been finalized.
The agreement, called the Transboundary Flood Initiative, was signed by representatives of nine governments, including British Columbia Premier David Eby (EE-bee), Governor Jay Inslee, the Nooksack Indian Tribe, the Lummi Nation and Whatcom County. The signing of the initiative comes after the 2021 flooding of the Nooksack River, which resulted in water spilling into BC’s Fraser Valley and rural Whatcom County. The resulting damages made the flooding one of the most expensive natural disasters in Canadian history.
The initiative’s goals are to manage the flood risk from the Nooksack and Sumas rivers, restore important habitat and ecosystem function for fish and other aquatic species, and to advance cooperation and collaboration with Indigenous governments.
STORY: DNR releases tsunami evacuation maps for Bellingham, six other coastal communities
The Washington Department of Natural Resources has released new tsunami evacuation maps for several coastal communities.
The 7 new maps, which cover areas along the coast of the Olympic Peninsula, show optimal routes and the times it would take to evacuate on foot from tsunami zones. In addition to the maps, new simulation videos were released, showing the extent of possible tsunami flooding and the maximum velocities of currents. Other, older maps exist for Bellingham, the Lummi Reservation, Blaine, and Point Roberts.
The plans come in preparation for “the Big One”, a possible earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone. The fault line reaches from Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California, and could produce an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or greater, with many communities along the coast disastrously underprepared.
The maps are available for viewing on the DNR website.
STORY: State Department of Corrections pledges to reduce solitary confinement by 90% over next five years
The Washington Department of Corrections is pledging to reduce solitary confinement by 90% over the next five years.
The DOC recently released their new Solitary Confinement Transformation Project, which outlines the steps needed to reach the goal of a 90% reduction in solitary confinement use. To accomplish this, the plan recommends improving staffing ratios and training, expanding access to risk-reduction programming, improving alternatives to solitary confinement, and increased opportunities for out-of-cell time for incarcerated individuals in restrictive housing.
The plan would cost an estimated $228 million to implement over the next five years.
STORY: Democracy Block
Election Day is coming up, and to give our listeners more insight into the candidates for office, KMRE will present a series of candidate forums.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll air a new Bellingham-Whatcom League of Women Voters forum every day at 11AM.
Hear the candidates for Whatcom County Executive, Satpal Sidhu & Dan Purdy tomorrow, and the candidates for Whatcom County Sheriff– Doug Chadwick and Donnell (don-NELL) ‘Tank’ Tanksley– on Wednesday.
PROMO: BEYOND BARS
Also– coming up after the 5pm news– join community radio KMRE and Cascadia Daily News in a collaborative exploration of the many aspects of the current Whatcom County jail and the controversy around the push to build a new one.
Today’s ‘Beyond Bars’ interview features David Goldman. When he first arrived in Bellingham, Goldman had been a teacher for almost 20 years in a variety of contexts. He expected the job of Jail Education Program Facilitator and Teacher to be a temporary position. In the ten years he’s been teaching at Whatcom County jail, David Goldman discovered that one foundational experience links most of his students.
GOLDMAN AUDIO
Listen to the whole interview tonight after the 5pm newscast.
WX:
Today will be another cloud, rainy day, with a high of 55° winds around 6 mph. Tonight will have a 50% chance of rain and lows of 43°. The rain will continue into tomorrow, but with a 90% chance. We could see our first snow next week.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers AnThu Nguyen (ANNE-two new-WIN) and Carlos Braga. Tune in to local news on KMRE weekdays at 3, 4 and 5 p-m. For news tips and feedback, send us an email at news@kmre.org or call 360-398-6150. KMRE is a nonprofit community radio station, powered by listener donations. I’m ________________ and thanks for listening.
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Run after ruling–
The Washington State Supreme Court is set to hear a significant case involving the rights of people sheltering in their vehicles.
A growing number of homeless individuals in Washington are living in their vehicles, but they face challenges due to local laws, including bans on vehicle habitation, restrictive parking rules, and towing. These laws often force people to leave their communities, even if they have lived there for a long time.
Jack Potter, a longtime resident of Lacey, was forced to live in his travel trailer due to housing market pressures. Lacey passed a law prohibiting vehicles used as shelter from parking in town for more than four hours, essentially forcing Potter and others out of their community.
Tomorrow, Potter’s case will be heard by the Washington Supreme Court.
