Sue Lani Madsen

Edwall

Freelance Columnist at The Spokesman-Review

Christ follower, writer, rancher, architect, journalist, volunteer FF/EMT, feminist, fearless child of God & aspire to be eccentric. Retweets not endorsement.

Featured in: Favicon

spokesman.com Favicon

spokanetalksmedia.com Favicon

substack.com Favicon

crosscut.com Favicon

newsbreak.com Favicon

thelens.news Favicon

washingtonexaminer.com Favicon

gazette.com Favicon

thecentersquare.com Favicon

news-journal.com + 100 more

Articles

Drills help people prepare for WA wildfire season

1 week ago | columbiabasinherald.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – When the only way out of a heavily treed neighborhood on a normal weekday is called “Malfunction Junction,” wildfire preparedness is essential. A fire evacuation drill on Saturday morning, May 3, put the intersection of 14th and Lindeke Street in Spokane through a test of emergency systems. According to a post-drill survey, 75% of Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood residents participated in the real-time rollout of evacuation Levels 1, 2 and 3.
Pausing to remember on Memorial Day

1 week ago | suelanimadsen.substack.com | Sue Lani Madsen

This newspaper column was written during a family gathering for our grandson’s high school graduation. As families and friends gather on Memorial Day for fun and festivity, take a moment and pause to remember those who are missing from the table, the generations before us who left a legacy of freedom, and those who lost their lives in service to our country.
Washington state environmental solutions discussed at policy forum in Spokane

2 weeks ago | thecentersquare.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – For the panelists at Thursday’s Washington Policy Center public forum on the future of the state’s environmental policy, collaboration is essential to practicing conservation. “We work with partners we do not always agree with,” said Mike Lithgow, director of policy and outreach for the Kalispel Tribe.
Drills help people prepare for Washington state's real wildfire season

2 weeks ago | thecentersquare.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – When the only way out of a heavily treed neighborhood on a normal weekday is called “Dysfunction Junction,” wildfire preparedness is essential. A fire evacuation drill on Saturday morning, May 5, put the intersection of 14th and Lindeke Street in Spokane through a test of emergency systems. According to a post-drill survey, 75% of Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood residents participated in the real-time rollout of evacuation Levels 1, 2 and 3.
Extremism from the social justice left

3 weeks ago | suelanimadsen.substack.com | Sue Lani Madsen

Summary points:In 2022, then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson knew what domestic terrorism was. In 2024, Ferguson formed the Domestic Extremism and Mass Violence Task Force to study it. In 2025, now Governor Bob Ferguson said “I don’t know exactly what that definition is” and neither does the task force.
Wind turbine equity in WA

1 month ago | suelanimadsen.substack.com | Sue Lani Madsen

Washington is continuing to pursue former Gov. Inslee’s dream of an all-electric future. It will require courageously debating the tradeoffs in community, economic and environmental impacts of energy policy, including facing the tradeoffs required by industrial wind development. Not “wind farms,” calling to mind a bucolic scene of an isolated windmill.
A tiny housing solution to a big problem in Washington state

1 month ago | thecentersquare.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – Tiny houses are poised to be vital in addressing Washington state’s housing affordability crisis. It will take a shift in the “bigger is better” mindset behind the supersizing of American housing over the last century. In 1924, the average floor area of an American home was 777 square feet, providing 179 square feet per person. By 2014, the average house had ballooned to 2,657 square feet and an average of 1,046 square feet per person.
'Our goal is to increase understanding': Amicably solving landlord-tenant disputes

2 months ago | thecentersquare.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – Litigation is traumatic for everyone. A landlord-tenant dispute can be financially devastating for both parties, and alternative dispute resolution services have proven to be a valuable alternative to a courtroom showdown. Many mediation services started or expanded during the pandemic as part of the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program, known in the housing industry as ERPP, a mandatory, statewide program that ended on June 30, 2023.
Washington state’s ambulance deserts and the workforce

2 months ago | thecentersquare.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – Calling 911 is often the first reaction in a medical emergency, whether at home or on the road this summer. It’s our indispensable safety net. But who answers that call? That’s one challenge John Nokes is working on. Nokes, a former paramedic, is working as a rural Emergency Medical Services consultant to the Washington State Department of Health on a five-year federal grant-funded project to improve the sustainability of emergency medical services across the state.
Crowd demands answers from U.S. Rep. Baumgartner at Ritzville town hall event

2 months ago | thecentersquare.com | Sue Lani Madsen

(The Center Square) – Out-of-towners outnumbered local residents at the 5th Congressional District town hall meeting held Monday morning in Ritzville. When asked to estimate the percentage of locals among the 130 or so attendees, Sheriff Dale Wagner responded, “About 2%.”Those whose names were drawn to ask questions identified themselves as coming from Spokane, Cheney and Pullman. U.S. Rep.