The fact that Spokane City Council member Zack Zappone designed the map that became the council's new boundaries — boundaries that would likely help improve his re-election chances in 2025 — was plenty controversial. But was it illegal? On Friday, we got an actual legal ruling on that question: the new City Council map is legal and can be used in this year's election, but Zappone violated the intent of the city charter. In the future, Superior Court Judge Tony Hazel ruled, council members shouldn't design maps, but the language in the city charter was confusing, the political advantage Zappone got wasn't "ginormous," and the map itself wasn't illegal, he concluded. Council member Michael Cathcart says he's planning to introduce a bill that, among other things, cleans up the charter and gives the mayor an equal amount of power as the council to appoint members of future redistricting boards. (DANIEL WALTERS)
MORE HELP FOR YOUTH
A nonprofit that works with foster youth in Washington can now offer all its programs to school-age foster children statewide. Previously, Treehouse was able to work with more than 6,000 foster youth in the biggest metropolitan areas to provide mentorship on the path to high school graduation, access to free clothing, and school supplies, and help paying for after school activities, tutoring, and summer camp. Now, Treehouse's state contract is expanding, making all of the roughly 11,000 foster youth eligible for its programs. "For the first time in Treehouse's 35-year history, the ability to provide support to a youth in foster care isn't dependent upon their zip code," Treehouse CEO Dawn Rains said in an emailed announcement. "This ensures equitable access to our services across the state, especially in rural counties with fewer community resources. We have been working toward this moment for a long time." (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)
COVID DISPARITIES
A new study published in The Lancet medical journal found that during the COVID pandemic, some American states fared as well as the least affected countries around the world, but others saw death rates comparable to the countries hit hardest by the virus. For example, Washington had the sixth-lowest COVID-related death rate among U.S. states and about the same rate as Switzerland and Germany from January 2020 to July 2022, with Washington reporting 193 deaths per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, some of the hardest-hit states, such as Arizona (539 reported deaths per 100,000), were on par with the highest death rates in the world — found in Russia, Bulgaria and Peru. The study found that deaths were "disproportionately clustered in U.S. states with lower mean years of education, higher poverty rates, limited access to quality health care, and less interpersonal trust — the trust that people report having in one another." (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)
