Bloglander

ON INLANDER.COM

• HEALTHCARE: Everything you need to know about the always-changing healthcare industry.

• NEWS: The election that could have been. Four local elected officials jumped — a bit too soon — at the news of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers' possible cabinet position. Here's what we're missing after Donald Trump went in another direction for Interior Secretary.

IN OTHER NEWS

• It took a Spokane jury 10 hours to convict Roy H. Murry of triple homicide. The anti-government Iraq War vet was accused of killing three members of his estranged wife's family and burning down the house to cover his crime. Murry was convicted despite a lack of much direct evidence linking him to the crime, such as a murder weapon. (Spokesman-Review)

• Help may be on the way for Washington state's dire mental health system. Gov. Jay Inslee wants to pump $300 million into the system, which includes funding for more state and privately contacted beds and additional mental health workers. (Seattle Times)

• Washington state's unemployment rate is down to 5.3 percent — the lowest it's been since the Great Recession. The state saw a net gain of about 3,600 jobs since October. The national unemployment rate is 4.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• If you don't have time to read Ta-Nehisi Coates' most recent essay on America's first black president and what's to come next (you definitely should), consider watching this animated video made from snippets of their conversation where the outgoing president talks about race in America, the power of a family's love and Jell-o molds: