Iowa caucus in chaos, Spokane City Council delays vote on Mosquito noise ban, and other headlines

By Josh Kelety

[
          
            
            {
              "name": "Broadstreet - Instory",
              "component": "25846487",
              "insertPoint": "4",
              "requiredCountToDisplay": "4"
            },{
              "name": "Broadstreet - Empower Local",
              "component": "27852456",
              "insertPoint": "8",
              "requiredCountToDisplay": "8"
            },{
              "name": "Broadstreet - Instory",
              "component": "25846487",
              "insertPoint": "12",
              "requiredCountToDisplay": "12"
            },{
              "name": "Broadstreet - Instory - 728x90 / 970x250",
              "component": "27852677",
              "insertPoint": "18",
              "requiredCountToDisplay": "18"
            },{
              "name": "Broadstreet - Instory",
              "component": "25846487",
              "insertPoint": "5th",
              "startingPoint": "23",
              "requiredCountToDisplay": "24",
              "maxInsertions": 100
            }
            
          
        ]

click to enlarge

Iowa caucus in chaos, Spokane City Council delays vote on Mosquito noise ban, and other headlines (2)

Christopher Lee/The New York Times

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a Democratic presidential hopeful, speaks during a forum sponsored by Everytown for Gun Safety and two of its branches, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2019.

ON INLANDER.COM

NATION: YouTube announced on Monday that, for the first time, it plans to remove misleading election-related content that can cause “serious risk of egregious harm.”

CULTURE: We're publishing another poetry issue which will feature work from readers. You can submit up to three poems no more than two pages in length each to poetry@inlander.com by Sunday, March 1.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Iowa caucus meltdown
We still don't know who won the Iowa caucus due to problems reporting the results. An app that party officials were supposed to use to report results failed in numerous instances — precinct chairs also weren't trained on how to property use the app beforehand — as did the party's system for calling in results by telephone. (New York Times)

Shoddy caucus tech
The app that was commissioned by the Iowa Democratic Party to be used in the caucuses was reportedly put together in two months and hadn't been tested on a statewide scale. The app, built by Shadow Inc., is also used by the Nevada Democratic Party, the next state to hold a caucus in the Democratic primary. (New York Times)

Spin it
With a lack of clear results, the Democratic presidential candidates are claiming various degrees of victory as they pivot towards the New Hampshire primary. Pete Buttigieg arguably went the farthest, saying during a CNN interview: “It’s clearly a victory for us." Joe Biden, meanwhile, played down the significance of the Iowa results. (New York Times)

Noise machine vote punt
The Spokane City Council held off voting on a proposal to ban devices that emit high-pitched noises to disperse homeless people near downtown businesses. The council delayed the vote six weeks to solicit more input from the business community. (Spokesman-Review)

Accountability
A new lawsuit filed in Spokane County Superior Court accuses the Mead School District of failing to protect a high school student who was groomed and sexually abused by her Spanish teacher for over a year. (Spokesman-Review)