Northwest Mask Wars And Pandemics: Nothing New For Washington As Politics Of 1918 Return

By NWPB News
Volunteers wearing gauze masks at a street kitchen in Cincinnati serve food to children of families afflicted by the flu pandemic in the winter of 1918-1919.
In 1918 Walla Walla, the chief of police, refused to enforce a state mask mandate. He pointed out that he was going to meet heavy resistance and, anyway, that he had no authority to carry out a state directive, only city ordinances. Still, he also openly defied the instructions of the city’s health officer, J.E. Vanderpool, to follow the state health officer’s guidance. Read More

Washington Settles Lawsuit Over 15-Hour-Per-Day Lockdown For Inmates With Mental Illness

By Austin Jenkins
File photo of a tower at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has named Stephen Sinclair as the state's new secretary of Corrections. WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Washington's Department of Corrections has agreed to improve conditions for inmates with mental illness at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Under a court-approved settlement reached last week, the agency will open a new minimum- and medium-security unit for these inmates, with the goal of reducing the amount of time they spend locked up in their cells. Read More
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