Spokane, Washington

More than a thousand people gathered at B.A. Clark Park in Spokane for the city's fifth "No Kings" rally, part of an ongoing series of demonstrations against the Trump administration. Attendees carried signs criticizing the president, the economy, tariffs, gas prices, immigration enforcement, the war in Ukraine, and Rep. Michael Baumgartner, while advocacy groups and political campaigns tabled nearby. Organizer Cynthia Hamilton, founder of Spokane Indivisible, said the recurring rallies aim to build community and sustain activist momentum into the November midterms, emphasizing organizing and education alongside protest. The event reflects continued grassroots opposition activity in the lead-up to the midterm elections.

Washington state and local officials are drafting legislation to close "gaps" in the state's arson law, which currently punishes offenders the same regardless of how much destruction they cause. The effort follows a devastating wildfire season that destroyed hundreds of Spokane homes and displaced roughly 65,000 residents, including the Old Trails fire that caused more than $1 billion in damage and left Aaron Farinacci facing first-degree arson charges and a federal indictment.

Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam says current law ties charges to the number of fires set rather than the scale of destruction, meaning an arsonist who burns one building or 100 faces the same single count. He wants an aggravated arson statute similar to those in California and Oregon, which impose harsher penalties based on damage totals or number of structures destroyed. State Sen. Marcus Riccelli plans to sponsor the bill alongside Attorney General Nick Brown's office ahead of the legislative session beginning in January 2027, as part of a broader package of wildfire-related proposals, including a separate rebuilding tax rebate already backed by Gov. Bob Ferguson.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has added nearly $17 billion and three option years to its contract with Oracle Health, extending the deal for a troubled electronic health record system through May 2031 with a maximum payout of almost $27 billion. The original contract, a 10-year, $10 billion sole-source award, went to Cerner (acquired by Oracle in 2022) under the first Trump administration in 2018.

The system was first tested at Spokane's Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in 2020, where implementation problems contributed to thousands of patient-harm incidents, including ten cases the VA classified as catastrophic. After further rollouts and reporting on the harm, the Biden administration paused expansion, with limited exceptions. VA Secretary Doug Collins has since accelerated deployment under the second Trump administration, launching the system at hospitals in Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky in 2025. The VA has not released an official estimate of the project's total taxpayer cost, which includes added infrastructure and outside care for veterans affected by reduced clinic efficiency.

The Hawk fire, which ignited near a hiking trail northwest of Reno, Nevada, over the weekend, forced tens of thousands to evacuate—at one point reaching roughly 90,000 residents under evacuation orders or warnings—and burned over 15,000 acres, with containment reaching 85% this week. Authorities confirmed at least 47 homes destroyed, with the number expected to rise, and six people injured, including three civilians and three firefighters, none life-threatening. Officials say the fire, like most U.S. wildfires, was human-caused, though whether it was intentional remains under investigation. Driven by wind gusts exceeding 40 mph and low humidity, flames spread nearly 6 miles in under 24 hours through dry grass and brush near Somersett, a master-planned community, before jumping Highway 395. Nevada's governor declared an emergency and activated the National Guard; schools closed and two medical facilities evacuated patients.

The fire highlights the risks of Reno's rapid growth—26% population increase since 2010—into fire-prone wildland-urban interface areas, a pattern experts say mirrors destructive fires in California, Washington and elsewhere. More than 800 firefighters battled the blaze, one of several major fires near Reno this season, including the larger Bug and Stallion fires. Experts warn that continued development in these landscapes without hardening measures will keep communities vulnerable to future catastrophic fires.