Amid the upheaval of 2020, Whitman County Watch published nearly 50 independently reported news stories on unexplained resignations, election issues, local police practices and the wide-ranging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we did last year, we again want to review some of our more impactful reporting from the past 12 (long) months and share some operational background for transparency.
Our local coverage found a wider audience this year as other regional news media picked up on stories we first published here. Our analytics show more than 56,000 users visited the site this year, up from about 19,700 in 2019.
Most of the readers registered as from Pullman (nearly 10,500). Another 900 or so readers were based near Colfax while about 3,100 readers came from Moscow.
TOP FIVE STORIES OF 2020
Analytic data list our most-read stories of the year as:
1. Former WSU provost emails describe sexist feedback, administrative power struggles
2. WSU head coach cited for ‘mini-block party’ amid COVID-19 crackdown on gatherings
3. Officials may tighten restrictions if WSU fall reopening sparks COVID-19 surge
4. Healthcare staff say WSU unprepared for fall COVID-19 response, endangering workers
5. Whitcom director resigned amid 911 dispatch staffing ‘crisis,’ union no-confidence votes
Our most-read story, revealing new details regarding the unexplained departure of WSU’s new provost after just two months, received more than 12,000 pageviews and was picked up by several other news outlets. We also broke details on the settlement provided to Montoya following the dispute.
After the story published, WSU announced a review of the matter and hired a Seattle attorney on a $25,000 contract to investigate. The attorney found no evidence of wrongdoing.
LOCAL COVID-19 COVERAGE
Starting with the first Whitman County case, we have looked for ways to help contextualize other local news coverage on the many ripple effects of the pandemic and shutdown. (Like many others, we lost our regular childcare this year and have balanced reporting hours with those needs.)
We reported on early concerns that returning WSU students would spark a local surge in cases. On social media, we have tried to consistently share public health reports on local cases and tracked the rapid spread that put the Pullman area at the top of a New York Times analysis of infection rates in September.
We also looked at how the shutdown hit local businesses and how SEWEDA, the nonprofit overseeing relief funding, struggled to keep up with the sudden demands.
As local government officials trimmed budgets in the face of falling tax revenue, we published in-depth information on the disproportionate impacts on some Pullman city services.
More recently, we have looked at the difficulties of returning students to the classroom in Pullman and the community debate over when to move forward with hybrid instruction.
Several WSU healthcare employees also shared a variety of concerns about the university’s preparation and ongoing practices regarding COVID-19 testing and care. We continue reporting on those developments.
ELECTION PROCEDURES & RACES
While the presidential election dominated national headlines, we continued providing context and coverage on local issues all year long. We reported on the county’s role in a ballot box lawsuit against the state, details of the Lincoln Middle School bond and local campaign disclosure complaints.
Early in 2020, we followed up on a mailing mistake from 2019 that resulted in hundreds of voters getting their ballots sent late. We asked county officials to compare the late ballots against the eventual returns and found that the voters who received late ballots returned them at a much lower rate, dropping from 45 percent to 30 percent turnout.
We published in-depth candidate questionnaires for the county commissioner races and contributed questions to the Northwest Public Broadcasting on-air candidate debate. We also published breaking news updates on election results as tallies were released.
We also reported on the recent history of ballot mixups and omissions in county races. And after the election, we followed up on how things went and outlined local ballot rejections.
POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY
In the wake of George Floyd’s death and renewed calls for police reform, we took an in-depth look at how the Pullman Police Department uses force — finding that just four officers account for nearly half the force actions in the past five years.
The department had conducted investigations into at least seven uses of force, finding them all within policy. During that time, the city also paid out a combined $725,000 to settle three lawsuits over officer use of force.
Our story came out just days before a similar analysis of Pullman Police force in the Spokesman-Review.
In September, we obtained video of a Pullman officer advising partygoers to move inside or to the backyard to avoid tickets for gatherings in violation of public health orders. The police chief later clarified their enforcement protocols and several news outlets, including CNN, picked up the story.
We published many previously undisclosed details about staffing and management problems at the Whitcom regional 911 dispatch center that led to two no-confidence votes against the director and eventually her departure in March.
We were also the first to follow-up on and report the official decertification of former Pullman Sgt. Dan Hargraves in the wake of his alleged sexual misconduct.
After 18 months of reporting across multiple stories, we also published details of the final $435,000 settlement between the City of Colfax and fired Police Chief Rick McNannay in April.
GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY
With our focus on citizen access to public records and open government, we reported on lawsuits against the City of Pullman and the Town of Tekoa for alleged public records violations. An infamous records litigator from Western Washington filed those lawsuits and Pullman settled its case for $10,000.
One of the more fun projects this year was tagging along with the county bridge inspection crew to document their work and compile state bridge inspection data into an interactive map of all 439 bridges in the county.
We have also continued to update our Citizen Guide on obtaining public records, which includes tips and links to local sources of government records.
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many agencies, including the Whitman County Board of County Commissioners, to livestream their meetings for the first time. Commissioners have pledged to continue the practice after the pandemic.
Even when we’re not publishing stories, we continue working to improve records access and citizen oversight. In addition to our reporting, we filed dozens of public records requests, trained student journalists on obtaining records and open meeting law, answered reader questions and advocated increased transparency during calls with local officials.
For our efforts, we were honored to receive a Key Award this year from the Washington Coalition for Open Government, which works at the state level to improve transparency. Find out more about their work here.
FEEDBACK AND SUPPORT
Internally, Whitman County Watch remains a one-person operation (plus moral/financial/technical support from the spouse). Our paid subscribers increased to 33 active subscribers and we received approximately $2,100 (before taxes) in support for the year.
You can find more subscription information here.
In addition to our original reporting, we continue to share public records, audit reports or other breaking news via Twitter and Facebook, posting updates on those accounts that you may not find on our website. We also share news and government updates we that we find relevant to our mission and audience.
Reader news tips and whistleblowers played a large role in helping us break some of our key stories this year. We appreciate the trust those individuals placed in us.
We also value the comments, criticism and other support we have received this year.
Just like last year, much of our work builds off the daily coverage and historical archives of Daily Evergreen, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Pullman Radio News, the Whitman County Gazette, the Lewiston Tribune, KLEW, the Inlander and the Spokesman-Review.
Please continue to support your local journalists.