iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

If you want more information on methodology (beyond good ole fashioned calling politicians and asking if they used AI), that's all down at the link below:

Why we sicced the world class AI-detector Pangram on Spokane

And why we (mostly) trust the results

This investigation is part of a larger series looking at the proliferation of AI-generated content in Spokane feeds. You can read the whole package here:

Spokane AI Slop: *Contains Artificial Ingredients

Columns. Politics. Activism. Journalism. Your feeds are being invaded with AI-generated content, even at the local level.

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It’s a warning to every journalist willing to accept an email answer from a politician — it used to be that reporters didn’t know if it was a candidate responding in writing or a PR flack. Now, we don’t know if the response is even human.

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RANGE asked politicians questions and according to the world's best AI detector, artificial intelligence answered. AI has begun to eat into our political rhetoric, dominating campaign sites, seeping into candidate announcements and infecting social media. Read more about campaigns' new ghostwriter:

RANGE asked Spokane politicians questions — AI answered

Politicians have fallen in love with their new ghostwriter: ChatGPT

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*1,000,000 A fully human typo made by fully human shit poster @merrywanderer.bsky.social

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And stay tuned for more! This is an ongoing series with more 100% human generated writing coming down the pipeline. You can find and follow the series' page + participate in a reader survey about AI feelings at the link below.

Spokane AI Slop: *Contains Artificial Ingredients

Columns. Politics. Activism. Journalism. Your feeds are being invaded with AI-generated content, even at the local level.

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If you're curious about the methodology, Pangram's effectiveness and why we decided to this, click here:

Why we sicced the world class AI-detector Pangram on Spokane

And why we (mostly) trust the results

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In response to this discovery, our team has worked together to draft our own AI policy that governs our usage, as well as guest submissions. Read now:

RANGE Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy

From transcriptions to data extraction, here's how we use AI in our work and where we draw the line.

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The Spokesman isn't alone. We found Ai-Generated guest submissions in the Inlander, The Washington State Standard (which officially had a policy prohibiting it) and yes, even RANGE.

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“We are happily considering an AI policy for our guest opinions section, especially after hearing the concerns that RANGE brought to our attention," Lindsey Treffry, Spokesman-Review Managing Editor told RANGE.

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There were only two Spokesman columns with significant AI prose in 2024. In 2025, that number leapt to 34. This year? There's been 58, with more than a quarter of the year left to go.

public.tableau.com

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Pangram vs. The Spokesman Guest Opinion Page

Columns flagging for AI included pieces from Gonzaga President Katia Passerini, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Sharonda Amamilo, Former Spokane Mayor David Condon, Spokane Business Association President Gavin Cooley and climate change activist and Gonzaga professor Brian Henning.

docs.google.com

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AI slop is invading Spokane op-ed pages. RANGE tested over 1,00,000 locally published words using Pangram, the world's best AI detector, and found that half of the guest op-eds in the Spokesman are now heavily AI-written:

AI slop is invading Spokane op-ed pages

Half of the guest op-eds in the Spokesman are now heavily AI-written

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 28/09/2026

We got a little déjà vu in CIVICS this week because the Spokane City Council will also soon be considering a new 0.1% public safety sales tax. This is a separate tax from the one the Spokane County Commission is considering for county law enforcement costs.

Spokane city may join county in adding new law enforcement tax

The 0.1% sales tax would go toward a ‘Community Safety Campus’ and is separate from the one county commissioners are considering

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 25/09/2026

How many data center developers are eyeing Spokane? What resources might they impact? What are politics driving the conversation? We explain the most important dynamics of the local data center debate.

Spokane-area data center proposals, explained

The data center saga in Spokane County has grown into one of the biggest local stories over the last several months as developers court local officials. Here’s what you need to know.

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 21/09/2026

Here's what's happening at municipal meetings this week: a possible new sales tax for county law enforcement, plus, Climate Commitment compliance could cost you about $3 a month with the new Waste-to-Energy plant fee proposal. Deets 👇

Possible new sales tax for county law enforcement

Plus, Climate Commitment compliance could cost you about $3 a month with the new Waste-to-Energy plant fee proposal.

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 18/09/2026

Remember the slate of voter initiatives run by conservative PAC Let's Go WA back in 2024? Well, the only one that voters passed, the “Stop the Gas Ban” initiative, has just been overturned by the state Supreme Court. The initiative had passed narrowly by 51.7% of voters.

WA high court tosses natural gas measure approved by voters

Justices, in a 6-3 decision, found Initiative 2066 unconstitutional because it dealt with multiple unrelated subjects

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 17/09/2026

Spokane School District's test scores continue to trail the county and state averages. But some local educators say that these proficiency scores don't tell the whole story about student progress. RANGE took a look at the data. Read more here:

Spokane educators say there's more to lagging test scores

State data shows Spokane students still trailing state and county averages. Some educators say proficiency scores miss the progress that kids in schools are making.

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 16/09/2026

Prophecy, spiritual warfare and controversy: Zeal Church claims it is saving souls on the streets of downtown Spokane, but it kicked out a ministry that fed the unhoused and split with another that affirmed queer people. Who is this new church?

Prophecy, spiritual warfare and controversy

Zeal Church claims it is saving souls on the streets of downtown Spokane, but it kicked out a ministry that fed the unhoused and split with another that affirmed queer people. Who is this new church?

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 15/09/2026

The recipes come straight from Colombia, specifically from her brother, who owns a bakery there and taught them to her while he was visiting the same summer she started selling the baked goods.

Colombian baked goods just like ‘back home’

How a Colombian vendor built a small business making baked goods you won’t find anywhere else in Spokane.

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 15/09/2026

Diana Alejandra Sanders bakes Colombian goods you can’t find anywhere else in Spokane, like roscones, fluffy bread rolls known as mojicones, and a sweet and savory cheesy bread called pan agridulce.

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 14/09/2026

CIVICS: Public hearing alert: he first public hearing on data center regulations is on Tuesday and a work session will be on Thursday. Plus: transit riders on the STA board at long last?

Public hearing alert: It’s time to give your input on data centers

The first public hearing on data center regulations is on Tuesday and a work session will be on Thursday. Plus: transit riders on the STA board at long last?

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RANGE Media @rangemedia.co · 11/09/2026

Last week, Washington's DNR recommended the Thorpe Natural Area for legislative funding — a win for conservation advocates. But some in Latah Valley say the area's key issues remain: tunnels too narrow for emergencies, a fire station that's just a converted house. Read here: thorpe.rangemedia.co

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She's also trotting out her background, putting herself through college, working as a deputy prosecutor to prosecute child offenders. She was starting to get at the Epstein files but ran out of time. Dinman ended the debate as someone shouted "Yeah Where are those Epstein files??"

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Conroy agrees they're not enemies. "But we have very different ideas of what we'd do in Congress." He's had two years to put rural hospitals at risk by cutting Medicaid, ruining the trade landscape and hurting students, she said. "That's not what we need."

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"As you do this job, I would just ask everyone to think, we're all Americans at the end of the day," he said. "We're not enemies, we're all Americans at the end of the day,"

"I love Eastern WA," Baumgartner said. He's describing his background - volunteering with the Jesuits, then getting his masters at Harvard, and working in Afghanistan.

Closing statements. Baumgartner first.

Conroy: "it's hurtful to have people using AI to make you uglier, make you say something you didn't say ... people oughta be able to trust what they see and there's less and less confidence in that now."

Baumgartner said that was a static image. He's opposed to video that make it seem like people are doing something they're not are wrong, like what's happening to James Talarico.

Baumgartner says he's concerned that campaigns are using AI to put words in peoples mouths and that should be banned. Dinman is asking a follow up of Baumgartner sharing an AI generated political campaign of Nate Powell. How does that line up?

Conroy said she knows this tech can be good for medical diagnoses, but now she opens up her phone and doesn't have a choice about whether or not AI is involved and there was a reason tech bros stood by Trump.

aumgartner says he proposed legislation that would protect communities from having a data center forced into it "None of us want to be living under robot overlords," he said, but there are benefits to this tech and we're in an arms race with China. "These need to be community led conversations."

Conroy says concern is warranted and the Spokane river ran dry. "It's terrifying." She's grateful "Avista let us all know there was a potential user that was going to use more water.." (The Spokesman actually broke that story before Avista fessed up" She also condemned Al French

Next question: data centers. Should Congress get involved with the data center question?

Conroy says "you heard him. he doesn't want parents and their kids and their doctors to make decisions. I'm not a doctor. I don't play one on tv, neither does he." those decisions should be left up to doctors, and a lot of people use gender affirming care, she says.

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Baumgartner is again talking about "survivors" who were "duped, coerced or just made a bad decision" about transitioning young and he wants Congress to make sure no child goes through a "coerced sexual transition."

Conroy does think parents should have a say in minor care, but by and large they already do. She's talking about ectopic pregnancy deaths doubling which is tragic.

Same question to Conroy. She thinks Congress should stop Pete Hegseth from injecting minors in the military with testosterone, but other than that it's not Congress' job to get between doctors and patients.

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He's heard from "survivors" who had physical body parts removed, he says, and they shouldn't be allowed to "get something cut off" or get drugs.

New question: should Congress restrict gender affirming care for minors? Baumgartner said yes. No one should be able to make that decision under the age of 18. "The teenage years can be so confusing," he said.

Baumgartner said another cool thing Congress did is remove a requirement for mobile homes to have chassis which will bring costs down and allow more housing. There was also a bill to create more low income housing, he says.

Dinman asked Conroy if she has any ideas for the working family that aren't just undoing something Trump did and returning to status quo. A couple seconds of quiet. But she says she wants a federal minimum wage that pays people enough to live.

Baumgartner said gas is cheaper in Idaho because of a ver foolish law - the Climate Commitment Act - and Olympia could rescind that and help gas prices. He's proud of Congress and the support they've given and that the Farm Bureau supports him.

Conroy said the no tax on overtime or tips aren't tax cuts, but a temporary relief that expires in two years. The child accounts are application only and not automatically granted, and vouchers cut funding for public schools

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They also passed a $1700 education voucher credit that students can use, but governors have to opt in and Gov Bob Ferguson doesn't.

Baumgartner said Congress has done a lot to make life more affordable for the working people. Outrage from the audience. "One of my favorite things we've done is create child investment accounts," he said.