A former WSU football player who left the team after a controversial phone call last year has filed a new lawsuit against Coach Nick Rolovich and the university, alleging they exposed athletes to unnecessary COVID-19 risks, stifled free speech rights and punished the player for speaking out.
Author: Jacob Jones
Jacob Jones has worked as a reporter and photographer for newspapers across Washington state since 2003, covering local government, criminal justice and natural resources. He most recently worked on staff at the Inlander in Spokane and The Daily World in Aberdeen with freelance bylines in the Washington Post, the Spokesman Review, Washington State Magazine and other regional publications. He lives in Pullman. Find more info on our Mission page.
Breakthrough cases rising locally as Delta surge drives new vaccine, masking mandates
Whitman County Public Health says breakthrough cases have made up about 20-25 percent of local confirmed COVID-19 cases in patients 12 and older since the Delta variant moved into the region in late July. Government agencies and private businesses have scrambled this week to head off new outbreaks.
As primary nears, see Pullman City Council candidates’ previous political donations
All four expressed support for downtown revitalization efforts and concerns about affordable housing in a recent forum. Whitman County Watch also checked public political contribution records to see where candidates have previously donated to other candidates or causes.
County officials link low vaccine numbers to student neighborhoods, warn of Delta surge
As COVID-19 cases rise again statewide, county public health officials reported local declines have leveled off in recent weeks and unvaccinated populations remain vulnerable to the increasingly dominant Delta strain. Skidmore also released maps of immunization rates across the county showing areas of low vaccine initiation.
WSU files $63 million lawsuit against its insurance company over COVID-19 losses
Washington State University has filed a $63 million lawsuit against its insurance provider for allegedly failing to pay out proper coverage for financial losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wildfire incident tracking and smoke forecast resources for the Whitman County region
As wildfires and the resulting smoke strike the Inland Northwest again this summer here are a number of online resources for finding reliable fire information as well as checking forecasts on smoke and air quality impacts throughout the region.
Salary commission approves 7 percent raises for county officials, 10 percent for sheriff
A citizen commission voted Tuesday to recommend 7 percent salary increases for most county-level elected officials as well as a 10 percent raise for the sheriff in 2022 to “catch up” after freezing pay rates last year due to the financial upheaval of the pandemic.
Rosalia woman sues former undersheriff, county over alleged abusive relationship
A Rosalia woman has filed a lawsuit against Whitman County and its former longtime undersheriff, alleging she suffered domestic abuse as a result of the undersheriff’s authority and a lack of proper training or policy at the sheriff’s office.
Nearly 180 city council, school board and tax district seats up for election as filing opens
Filing by mail opened this week and online filing runs from 9 a.m. May 17 through 4 p.m. May 21. Most positions do not require filing fees and a 2019 Whitman County Watch analysis of local election data found 80 percent of races in the previous decade went uncontested.
Local companies allege Elevate housing developer failed to pay on previous projects
A California-based development company that has sought approval to annex property and build high-density student housing in Pullman faces multiple claims in court that it allegedly failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to local contractors for previous construction work.