NEWS BRIEFS: North Idaho College will learn its fate soon

Plus, Washington challenges Trump's attack on birthright citizenship, and Eastern Washington gets millions for affordable housing

click to enlarge NEWS BRIEFS: North Idaho College will learn its fate soon
Erick Doxey photo

After two years of uncertainty, the answer to the question of whether North Idaho College will retain its accreditation is imminent. This week, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, NIC's accrediting body, met Tuesday to hear about what progress the college has made since the commission's October report. That report found that NIC had made progress improving its governance but questioned whether those changes were sustainable. Since then, the community has elected three new trustees to the college's board, replacing the Kootenai County Central Republican Committee-backed majority of Todd Banducci, Mike Waggoner and Greg McKenzie. After the new trustees took office, the board addressed votes of no confidence from faculty and staff and asked NIC's administration to find a way to cut athletic funding by $1.8 million over the next two years. The meeting with the accrediting commission, scheduled to run from Jan. 28-31, is not open to the public. The commission must release its decision on NIC's accreditation within 30 days of the visit. (COLTON RASANEN)

BIRTHRIGHT

Last week, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour of the Western District of Washington put a 14-day temporary restraining order on President Donald Trump's executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. The restraining order stems from a lawsuit filed by Washington, Oregon, Illinois and Arizona seeking to find the executive order unconstitutional. Washington's Attorney General Nick Brown previously told the Inlander after his September debate in Spokane that he would consider bringing such lawsuits against the Trump administration if Washingtonians were negatively impacted by executive actions. Birthright citizenship was established in the U.S. Constitution in 1868 by the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed birthright citizenship through the 14th Amendment in 1898, when it ruled that a man born in San Francisco to Chinese parents was a U.S. citizen. Coughenour writes in the temporary restraining order that "there is a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of their claims that the Executive Order violated the Fourteenth Amendment and Immigration and Nationality Act." (VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ)

OWN IT

Home ownership is one of the clearest paths to stabilized housing and generational wealth. With that in mind, the Washington state Department of Commerce announced on Jan. 23 that it's investing close to $18 million across the state to help create affordable homeownership for 168 low-income households through new construction, down payment assistance or affordability subsidies. Forty-five of those families will be in Eastern Washington. Commerce awarded Spokane Habitat for Humanity $715,000 to help build 11 new houses scattered across Spokane, a project that is expected to cost over $3.7 million. Common Roots Housing Trust in Walla Walla also received $770,000 to help build seven new affordable homes. Other Eastern Washington recipients were awarded other types of funding. The Methow Housing Trust in Okanogan County was awarded $1 million to use as affordability subsidies for nine families, and the Yakima Valley Conference of Governments was awarded $2 million to put toward down payment subsidies for 18 families. (ELIZA BILLINGHAM)


CORRECTION

The Jan. 16 story "Opting for Outpatient" incorrectly identified Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., as part of Providence Health & Services. The hospital is affiliated with Ascension Health, a different Catholic health system.

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