Does the government care about your health? How is the state spending your tax dollars? The Spokane Regional Health District needs more funding to keep residents healthy.

Spokane is currently growing at a rapid rate, adding 20,293 members to our community from 2016 to 2017, according to worldpopulationreview.com, a site focused on the population of different communities around the world. Although a growing community is beneficial to Spokane, there are many persistent problems that occur with growing cities all over the U.S., one of the most pressing being homelessness. On trips to Seattle, I’ve seen giant homeless camps all over town, and it makes areas of Seattle look uncared for. Spokane soon could be headed for the same fate, for I am starting to see more homeless on the streets, sleeping on sidewalks covered in blankets or in tents. It’s a common myth that many homeless people choose to live their life on the streets, but according to spokanecares.org, a website where people can volunteer and help those in need, only 6 percent of homeless people choose to be homeless. That means 94 percent, given the chance, would love to turn their life around, and a tiny-home community provides the perfect opportunity to do so.

Industry requests to lower federal water quality standards are a threat to the public’s safety, putting economic gain over public health and the Spokane River we cherish.

Eastern Washington University celebrated homecoming this year by inviting back to campus the alumni who graduated 50 years ago. More than 100 members of the class of 1968 attended our gala weekend: homecoming parade, football win over the University of Idaho, celebratory luncheon, and an array of festive events. I spoke with many of our guests during that weekend. They shared memories and stories. They talked about how Eastern Washington State College prepared them for their careers: They had gone on to be teachers, accountants, bankers, attorneys, business leaders.