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ON INLANDER.COM

NEWS: Washington State University is focusing on bunk bed safety to prevent students from falling out of windows on campus.

ARTS & CULTURE: Comedian Hannibal Buress is coming to The Knitting Factory on May 11. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 am.

NEWS: The Supreme Court kept DACA alive for a few more months by declining to hear the government's appeal of a decision that left major pieces of the program in place.

IN OTHER NEWS

Joining together
At least nine newspapers in the state have published front-page editorials urging Gov. Jay Inslee to veto a bill that exempts the state Legislature from the Public Records Act. (Seattle Times)

Monroe 'road diet' approved
Despite opposition from many businesses on the street, the Monroe "road diet" is full steam ahead after the Spokane City Council approved a contract to begin work on North Monroe in early April. (Spokesman-Review)

Ennis' defense
The first day of a trial in which former Spokane police Sgt. Gordon Ennis is charged with rape focused instead on how much the victim had to drink that night. (Spokesman-Review)

How to stop school shootings
Gov. Jay Inslee confronted President Donald Trump yesterday, telling him to listen to teachers who are saying they don't want to be armed. Meanwhile, Trump has assured the American people that in the event of a mass school shooting, even if he is unarmed, he will run in to save students from gunfire. (Huffington Post/New York Times)

Six months after a WSU student suffered serious injuries in a fall from a second-story window on campus, the university has released a report with recommendations on how to prevent future falls.

Among the safety changes that WSU will make based on the report: making beds near windows safer.

WSU students falling from balconies or windows has been a problem in recent decades. In the last 21 years, the Inlander has counted more than 30 falls from WSU students. That includes the 18-year-old student who was hospitalized after he fell out of a window at Duncan Dunn Hall in August 2017.

"One accident is too many," says WSU Mary Jo Gonzales, vice president for student affairs, in a statement. "We never want to see a student get hurt."

The report released today, by an independent consultant called "Safety Management Resources Corporation," came in response to the incident in August. Gonzales says WSU wanted an "honest, objective" assessment on the fall risks at WSU.

Overall, the report found that on-campus falls were rare at WSU. And that is true: Of the accidental falls since 2000 resulting in student injury, only four happened on WSU's campus. Most of the falls took place in off-campus houses, like fraternities or sororities. And as WSU spokesman Phil Weiler says, the school doesn't have the authority over fraternity and sorority buildings. With alcohol consumption proving to be a major factor in many of the falls, the university has focused on combating underage drinking.

But the father of the student who fell in 2017 thinks students shouldn't be able to just fall out of windows, no matter if they're drunk or not, according to a Spokesman-Review story in September. The father, Jim Gray, launched a campaign to #fixthewindows at WSU that included a change.org petition and a website called fixthewindows.org.

WSU has said it's restricted in what it can do with windows because of fire codes. The consultant did recommend potential changes to windows that could be made, but Weiler says that's the "only recommendation that we're not pursuing." Instead, the university will focus on making bunk beds or lofted beds safer, since they are often near windows. Today, WSU announced that based on the consultant's recommendations it would implement safety measures that would do just that. Those include:

• Requiring a side rail for bunk or lofted beds, and separating beds from windows
• Inspecting for safety issues after students move into each dormitory room
• A review of university's policies and practices related to bunk or lofted beds
• Continued education and information campaigns on beds, windows and other elevated areas in residence halls and on-campus housing.
  

You can see WSU's news release on the report here, and the consultant's report can be found here.

Hannibal Buress has built a cottage industry out of his comedy, expanding far beyond the standup stage into acting, producing, directing and voiceover work.

Standup remains his sweet spot, though, and he'll bring his tour to Spokane on May 11 for a show at The Knitting Factory. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 am via The Knit's website and ticketweb.com. Ticket prices are $32.50 for standing and $40 for general admission.

Perhaps best known for his roles on Broad City (Lincoln!) and as the co-host of The Eric Andre Show, Buress has also been in a few flicks of late, like Spider-Man: Homecoming and, um, Baywatch.

Watch those if you like, but be sure to hit Netflix to check out some of his standup specials; his Scotland adventures in Hannibal Takes Edinburgh are particularly fun and so is his most recent special Comedy Camisado hit in 2016.

Here's an older clip of the family-friendly variety:

In a dramatic weekend for college basketball off the court, Gonzaga found a way to avoid theatrics and clinch its 19th regular season championship in 21 years.

The Zags rewarded the Brigham Young University Cougars with an anticlimactic drubbing that almost made up for the previous year's finale and sole blemish on the regular season schedule. The final two games of the Gonzaga season felt like the full spectrum of how its 2017-18 season had gone leading up to Thursday's matchup against the San Diego Toreros.

The Zags won an ugly game in the Jenny Craig Pavilion, where — like in other close regular season matchups — they did just enough to win. The back court never had a real opportunity to click, thanks to an off shooting night and a handful of questionable foul calls that left them out of sync.

Perhaps to the uninitiated, a single-digit and hard-fought game against a middling West Coast Conference team would leave questions about whether or not a team ranked six going into the night deserved to hold onto that ranking. But that would ignore the fact that the Toreros are a legitimate defensive team that slows the pace of play to a crawl and has hung tight with practically every team they've matched up with this season.

Then Saturday night happened, and viewers were able to see the potential highs that this team could see in the next six-plus weeks. The back court was on and the Cougars did not have an answer. Josh Perkins and Silas Melson put on a clinic on offense, finding the median of asserting themselves and taking what their opponent gave them. Perkins finished with 14 points and seven assists, while Melson contributed 12 points and three assists.

Zach Norvell, who still is working through his perimeter shot, brought in 15 points thanks to his knack of attacking the basket. When the three guards are able to see the ball go through the basket, the Zags look like a real tournament threat. And beating Saint Mary's and BYU on the road by an average of 13.5 points won't go unnoticed by the committee.

The Zags played great team defense, limiting the damage done by the Cougars' three-headed attack of Yoeli Childs, Elijah Bryant and TJ Haws. Notably, Bryant's dangerous three-point shooting (40 percent on the season) has disappeared when facing the Zags, shooting a combined 2-17 against them.

The results may seem unsurprising due to Gonzaga's track record, but lest we forget that Saint Mary's was the favorite to usurp the Zags a year after they made the national championship. Instead, the Zags could see themselves well into the top 16 of the committee's seeding by the time conference tournaments wrap up.

And there is some poetic justice in all of this going down in front of 19,000 BYU fans who remain unsatisfied with their transition into the WCC.  BYU's six losses this conference play are the most they've dropped since joining.

Even though this team may not be the best team that's graced the Kennel, this certainly feels like one of the best efforts coach Mark Few and his staff have compiled in a tenure known for its consistency. Three starters gone, a lottery-pick freshman nabbed and we're still left with a team that refuses to overlook its obligations.

As top-ranked teams continue to drop and we see more of the fallout and potential suspensions from the FBI investigation, who knows where Gonzaga will land by Selection Sunday. If they win out, it's hard to imagine a result worse than a four seed, while a three seed would not be out of the realm of possibility.

The Zags have put together two of their most complete games against their two biggest adversaries, a good sign for when the competition ramps up. One thing is for sure, it's good to be safe on top.

Hard rock legends Metallica are set to bang some heads at the Spokane Arena on Dec. 2 as part of the platinum-selling band's WorldWired Tour. It will be the band's first Spokane show since 2004, having frequently popped up on the Arena's annual "bucket list" survey of local music fans.

Tickets will be available in two price brackets — $65 and $135 — and each purchase comes with a digital or physical copy of the band's 2016 album Hardwired...to Self-Destruct. Comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Jim Breuer will open the show.

You can buy tickets starting at 10 am on Fri, March 2, through TicketsWest or the Arena's box office. Presale tickets will be available as of tomorrow. See details here.

ON INLANDER.COM

Opaque transparency
The Washington State Legislature quickly pushed through a bill last week to shield some of their own records from disclosure under the state Public Records Act, while opening limited portions of their work to public records requests. Lawmakers sold the bill as increasing transparency, while journalists and open government groups pointed out that it was largely passed in response to a recent court ruling that would've subjected lawmakers to the same disclosure as other public agencies, and that it is far more restrictive than the rules that apply to the smallest city halls in the state.

Eat, share, feed
It's Inlander Restaurant Week, so if you go, remember to share your food pics on social media with #IRWRaveReviews to help out event beneficiary Second Harvest, which is the food bank to the food banks.

IN OTHER NEWS

Taking it to the bank...ruptcy
The Weinstein Company is expected to file for bankruptcy after the company was sued in relation to dozens of allegations of sexual assault and harassment by cofounder Harvey Weinstein. (BBC)

New level of sanctuary
The mayor of Oakland, California, upped the ante on what it means to be a sanctuary city over the weekend when she warned people Immigration and Customs Enforcement might be preparing for raids in the city, effectively giving undocumented immigrants a heads up. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Authoritarian shift
China announced over the weekend that it's getting rid of presidential term limits, marking the largest in recent governmental shifts toward authoritarianism. (New York Times)

More officer involved shootings for Spokane
Last year, Spokane police were involved in more shootings than any other in the past 20 years. (Spokesman-Review)

Pullman schools offer new ways to submit safety tips
Parents and students in Pullman School District can now send in safety tips or concerns through text, phone call, email or online with the SafeSchools Alert program. (Daily Evergreen)

We stick a fork in February this week, and I say good riddance! Bring on spring! But a little cold is no reason to skip out on some of the worthy entertainment options happening around town this week. Here are some highlights of the week ahead:

Monday, Feb. 26

FILM | Monday movies are back at the Magic Lantern, and this week the screening sounds like a killer. Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People explores how African-American photographers have depicted their own communities and culture since the advent of the camera. Here's a look at the film:


WORDS | Award-winning poet and novelist Kevin Powers stops by Gonzaga for a free discussion on how writing can be a way to sort complex human experiences like war. Powers, an Iraq Veteran, was a National Book Award finalist for his novel The Yellow Birds and has also published a volume of poetry, Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting.

Tuesday, Feb. 27

MUSIC | Northwest of Nashville has some new things happening at the start of its third season tonight. Read about it here.

Wednesday, Feb. 28

WORDS | The Power 2 The Poetry group we recently profiled are hosting a poetry slam at Auntie's tonight.

Heading out this weekend to experience all the exciting flavors of Inlander Restaurant Week? Us too.

As you dine, make sure to share your experiences on social media using the event hashtag #IRWRaveReviews to help rack up donations to the event's regional beneficiary, Second Harvest. (Make sure your Instagrams, Facebook posts and Tweets are public so they can be viewed and counted!) Each post shared using the #IRWRaveReviews hashtag will translate to five donated meals to Second Harvest, on behalf of food services provider Sysco.

For those who haven't yet made reservations (do so soon!) or are looking for more local spots to add to their Restaurant Week itinerary, the hashtag is also a great way to get a sneak peek at what other diners are loving on the 100+ menus this year.

You could, if you cherry-picked your examples, make the case that the Washington state Legislature has been pushing for a more transparent government this year.

After all, Sen. Andy Billig's (D-Spokane) campaign finance legislation has passed the Senate. It introduces a number of ways to eliminate the loopholes that allow political donors to hide their donations from public scrutiny.

You could also point to the fact that the Legislature, after claiming for years that it is exempt from the public records rules that applied to nearly every other agency in the state, is proposing bipartisan legislation officially exposing certain legislative records to public scrutiny.

"This is the biggest step forward for transparency in the history of the Legislature," says Billig "In current practice very little is disclosed from the Legislature — under this bill, there will be dramatically increased transparency."

And all that would be true, from a certain point of view.

Yet media outlets and government transparency advocates have been pretty outraged about the direction the Legislature has gone with public disclosure.

For example, that bipartisan public records legislation?

"That’s just a slimy film of transparency," says Toby Nixon, president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. "They’re still hiding a lot of very important substantial records."

In a work session yesterday, Tacoma News Tribune and Bellingham Herald publisher Dave
Zeeck called the records proposal a “traveshamockery.”

Asked by a legislator if the proposal would make Olympia more transparent or less transparent, Zeeck didn't hesitate.

"Less. No question in my mind," Zeeck says. "Less transparent."

Similarly, Nixon called the proposal a "TERRIBLE bill" and an "abomination," urging citizens to "do everything in their power to kill it. And don’t hold back on your disgust."

After all, a Thurston County Superior Court decision determined last month, in response to a lawsuit from numerous media outlets (the Inlander was not a party to the lawsuit), that the law actually doesn't exempt the state Legislature, like it had argued for years.

So in effect,  the Legislature actually closed off numerous records that a court ruled should be available for inspection.

In fact, the language officially removes the Legislature from the Public Records Act, with some exceptions. Correspondence with "constituents" wouldn't be included. It wouldn't include communications between legislative staffers. It wouldn't include communication between legislators negotiating over the bill.

It would only include "final dispositions of disciplinary proceedings" — none of the other investigatory or accusatory records about, say, a sexual harassment accusation would be included.

And while it would allow legislative calendars and emails with official lobbyists, it would keep any emails or calendars from before July secret.

In other words, it continues to shroud the state's biggest legislative body in far more secrecy than, say, the records of Liberty Lake Mayor Steve Peterson or the Airway Heights City Council or the Central Valley School Board.

If the Seattle Times wanted to see communication between legislators about the McCleary compromise, that request would be rejected.

If the Northwest News Network wanted the investigatory notes for a sexual harassment investigation against a legislator, that request would be rejected.

If the Inlander wanted to request all emails from or to state Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, concerning his involvement in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff (we do), that request would be rejected.

Shea himself enthusiastically supported the bill, praising the "balance" it strikes.

"We are committed to transparency and open government," Shea writes in a press release. "The Legislative Public Records Act expands the amount of records available to the public, while preserving the privacy of constituents and whistleblowers." 

Many of these exemptions aren't necessarily a surprise. Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, predicted that a public records bill would pass — but that it might not be broad enough to satisfy the media.

All the local legislators interviewed by the Inlander last year about the public records push, including Sens. Billig and Mike Padden and Riccelli, argued that most changes to how the Washington State Legislature handles public records shouldn't apply to past records.

But the blitzkrieg-quick speed with which this bill was introduced and passed also drew outrage. It represented an unusual end run around the typical procedure, the sort of shortcut normally only used for clear emergencies. There was a work session, but no official committee hearings.

"We believe that this is incontrovertible evidence of the contempt the Legislature has for public participation in the legislative process," Nixon says.

The new law does not allow citizens to challenge denials of records in court. The Legislature would control the records appeal process.

"We’re supposed to believe it’s accountability if an organization gets to review its own work and say it’s fine. It's crazy," Nixon says. "Basically, they can deny any record without any consequence."

The bill could not be undone by referendum. Oh, and you wouldn't be able to challenge the new law in court.

“[People are going to be asking] 'What is it that you’re trying to keep from me? Why can’t I know what’s going on in making this legislation after the fact,”  Zeeck said. “I think you’re running the risk of demonstrating to the people that you’re setting up an imperial legislature.”

Similarly, the exemption for emails between constituents and their legislators leaves open a massive loophole.

“There will be entities who will drop their lobbyists so they can communicate with you in secret,” said Rowland Thompson, director of the Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington.

Some legislators passionately defended the right to private correspondence with their constituents.

“I’m going to do everything I can to protect the privacy of those records,” said Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo. “If you get to read their communication, I have betrayed them. I don’t feel like betraying anybody."

Yet the dark scenario of betrayal Appleton paints is already the scenario faced in every city council and every county commissioner board in the state. The Inlander has made plenty of records requests that have turned up correspondence between council members and constituents.

They are often some of the most illuminating emails about the problems a city is actually facing.

If those privacy concerns are legitimate, Nixon says, the Legislature should address them for all governmental entities, and not just give themselves a special exception. As it stands, he says, the Legislature is "giving the finger" to other levels of government with the same concerns.

Meanwhile, communication about incredibly private information is often already redacted under existing law. To know that, all a legislator would have to do is ask a journalist or a city council member to actually look at the law they're considering exempting themselves from.

"The Lege's sham of a bill, SB 6617, is being sold as a compromise, when it's nothing of the kind," the Tacoma News Tribune's Sean Robinson writes on Twitter. "It's the Legislature walling itself off from accountability, denying you the right to know how lawmakers are being influenced, with no opportunity to seek redress... Do not believe proponents of SB 6617 who say they believe in open government. They don't."

"Quite frankly, the media coverage has been extremely frustrating," WA Sen Andy Billig says. "It has not been informative or balanced in any way."

But to Billig, the bill is a compromise, a step forward for transparency. He argues that if the bill didn't pass, the lawsuit would go to the Supreme Court, which would likely rule for the Legislature.

"Quite frankly, the media coverage has been extremely frustrating," Billig says. "It has not been informative or balanced in any way... The real focus should be that this increased transparency from the [what has been the] practice of the legislature for the last 10 decades."

He suggests that the fact that many media outlets were plaintiffs in the public records lawsuit has skewed their coverage.

The bill passed 41-7 in the Senate and  84 to 14 in the House. In the Spokane area, only Republican Sen. Michael Baumgartner voted against the bill, explaining on Twitter that "it would be better to phase in a uniform standard of public disclosure for all elected officials in the state."

The latest act is not the only way the Legislature has been seeking to redefine the public records request process. 

 SECRET BIRTHDAYS

Yes, at times, public records can be abused. Two years ago, we wrote a cover story about "electronic ambulance chasing," the practice of attorneys and chiropractors who make bulk records requests for car accident reports and use them to hit up victims with direct mail solicitations.

The practice caused local attorney Jim Sweetser to file a lawsuit against the Washington State Patrol, accusing them of violating the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act by disseminating drivers' information. For now, the practice has been put on hold because of an injunction in the case.

But the Legislature hasn't been pushing forward legislation to try to address that. Instead, they're trying to keep birthdays secret.

So while Andy Billig has been fighting for more campaign finance transparency, he's also been a co-sponsor of a bill that exempts public employee dates of birth from public records.

That's not an inconsistency, he argues.

"A maintenance worker on the capital grounds having their birthday disclosed does not seem vital. Knowing who is paying to influence our election is vital," Billig says. "I don’t think those things are in the same neighborhood."

For journalists, birthdays are a small but invaluable resource. We use birthdays to confirm whether the person who shows up in a court record is the same person who works as a legislative aide.

"Without DOBs, I can’t tell the difference between a decades-long prosecutor and a guy convicted of massive real estate fraud," tweets Malheur Enterprise reporter Jayme Fraser. "Or a woman who murdered her kids and a woman who just let her debt get away from her.

But Billig suggests that public employee birth dates being public information is one more reason that somebody might not want to work for the state government. He says that he expects an exception for media outlets to be written into the bill when it passes in the House.

"It is one more reason for people to not work for the state, if they know that their detailed, personally identifiable records are going to be available to anyone who wants them," Billig says. "We want good people working on behalf of the public. We shouldn’t make it more difficult and less attractive for good people to come and work on behalf of Washington."

A less generous explanation, however, is that Democrats are scrambling to help protect the revenue source for some of their largest campaign donors. For years, the Freedom Foundation has been in fights with unions over their ability to send letters to certain public employees explaining that they have a right to not pay union dues.

With the possibility that the Supreme Court will expand the ability of public sector union workers to not pay union dues, the information of who, exactly, is a state employee can be incredibly useful for anti-union organizations.

"I don't think there’s any doubt among lawmakers that this is about the unions trying to protect their cashflow," says the Freedom Foundation's Maxford Nelson.

"The only reason that birthdays are valuable to us, if you get the name and the birthdate of public employees, you can match it against the publicly available voter database," says the Freedom Foundation's Maxford Nelson. "Eliminating birthdays from disclosure would make it much harder for us to send out material to employees about their constitutional rights." 

Speaking of which, another Democratic bill, intended to expand automatic voter registration, features an amendment which would also eliminate birthdays from the voter roll data. That provision never even got a public hearing.

"I don't think there’s any doubt among lawmakers that this is about the unions trying to protect their cash flow," says the Freedom Foundation's Maxford Nelson.

Unions are often among Democrats biggest political contributors. In 2016, Billig received $1,700 from the Washington Federation of State Employees last year and $2,000 from the Washington Education Association. Since 2010, SEIU's committees and PACs have donated more than $10,000 to Billig since 2010 and at least $4,400 from the Teamsters.

But Billig denies his vote was intended to help out unions, arguing that he wanted to protect state employees. He says the donations from unions only represent a small percentage of the overall contributions to his campaigns.

Both journalists and open government advocates scoffed at the argument these bills were related to actually protecting people from identity theft.

"Not one of the ID theft cases filed from 2016 to the present involved the use of public records requests," Robinson, the Tacoma News Tribune reporter, wrote on Twitter.

Nixon also argues that there's absolutely no evidence people are using public records to steal identities.

“It’s like burning down the whole building, from our perspective, because there is a paint chip,” Nixon tells the Seattle Times.

Get a dose of literary medicine from a reading and discussion by best-selling author Anne Lamott on April 28 at the Bing Crosby Theater. Tickets go on sale on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 11 am, and you can get your tickets here.

Lamott will read from her latest book, Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy and do a Q&A at the event. The California-based author has written more than 30 books, including the acclaimed Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life, and is a headliner for EWU's annual Get Lit! Festival, April 23-29.

She is among dozens of other regional and national authors who will attend this year's festival.