Orion Donovan Smith
@orionds.bsky.social
Baltimore resident and DC reporter covering the other Washington for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane. Member of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, Regional Reporters Association board member, Report for America alum, amateur bike mechanic.
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
A “small but growing number” of Spokane’s veterans hospital staff have affixed photos of Alex Pretti, the man killed by border patrol agents in MN, onto their ID badges.
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
'One of our own': Employees, patients at Spokane veterans' hospital honor Alex Pretti, the VA nurse slain in Minneapolis
Employees at Spokane’s veterans’ hospital observed a moment of silence on Monday morning, and some affixed photos of Alex Pretti to their own ID badges in a show of solidarity with the VA nurse shot d...
www.spokesman.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:02 PM
A “small but growing number” of Spokane’s veterans hospital staff have affixed photos of Alex Pretti, the man killed by border patrol agents in MN, onto their ID badges.
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
Veteran and VA employees in Spokane honored Alex Pretti, the slain nurse who worked at the Minneapolis VA, with flowers outside Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and by putting Pretti's photo on their own ID badges.
With @alexdugganreports.bsky.social in today's Spokesman-Review.
With @alexdugganreports.bsky.social in today's Spokesman-Review.
'One of our own': Employees, patients at Spokane veterans' hospital honor Alex Pretti, the VA nurse slain in Minneapolis
Employees at Spokane’s veterans’ hospital observed a moment of silence on Monday morning, and some affixed photos of Alex Pretti to their own ID badges in a show of solidarity with the VA nurse shot d...
www.spokesman.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Veteran and VA employees in Spokane honored Alex Pretti, the slain nurse who worked at the Minneapolis VA, with flowers outside Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and by putting Pretti's photo on their own ID badges.
With @alexdugganreports.bsky.social in today's Spokesman-Review.
With @alexdugganreports.bsky.social in today's Spokesman-Review.
"A small but growing number" of employees at Spokane's VA medical center are putting photos of Alex Pretti, their fellow VA clinician killed by CBP agents in Minneapolis, over their own name badges, one nurse tells me. They began today with a moment of silence.
More to come at spokesman.com
More to come at spokesman.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:18 PM
"A small but growing number" of employees at Spokane's VA medical center are putting photos of Alex Pretti, their fellow VA clinician killed by CBP agents in Minneapolis, over their own name badges, one nurse tells me. They began today with a moment of silence.
More to come at spokesman.com
More to come at spokesman.com
Scoop: Rep. Dan Newhouse won't run for re-election in 2026, leaving Congress after a dozen years representing Central Washington in the House.
One of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, his departure will leave an open seat in Washington's most reliably conservative district.
One of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, his departure will leave an open seat in Washington's most reliably conservative district.
Dan Newhouse won't seek re-election in 2026, retiring after 12 years representing Central Washington in Congress
WASHINGTON – Rep. Dan Newhouse will announce Wednesday that he won't seek re-election and will retire at the end of 2026, stepping down after a dozen years representing Central Washington's 4th Congre...
www.spokesman.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Scoop: Rep. Dan Newhouse won't run for re-election in 2026, leaving Congress after a dozen years representing Central Washington in the House.
One of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, his departure will leave an open seat in Washington's most reliably conservative district.
One of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, his departure will leave an open seat in Washington's most reliably conservative district.
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
Chris Dawson built an empire off a program that gave him massive no-bid contracts in exchange for the promise of uplifting Native Hawaiians. He’s now accused of cheating it to line his own pockets.
Check out my latest with @propublica.org and @civilbeat.bsky.social www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Check out my latest with @propublica.org and @civilbeat.bsky.social www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Lack of Oversight In SBA Program May Take Millions Away From Native Hawaiians
A small business program allowed Christopher Dawson to win big contracts if he promised to uplift Native Hawaiians. Instead, federal prosecutors allege, he used the money to line his own pockets.
www.civilbeat.org
December 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Chris Dawson built an empire off a program that gave him massive no-bid contracts in exchange for the promise of uplifting Native Hawaiians. He’s now accused of cheating it to line his own pockets.
Check out my latest with @propublica.org and @civilbeat.bsky.social www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Check out my latest with @propublica.org and @civilbeat.bsky.social www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/hawa...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
Republicans have seized upon a scandal involving a Native Hawaiian defense contractor to target a civil rights era program meant to help disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal marketplace. www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/frau... (A collab w/ @civilbeat.bsky.social & @propublica.org)
‘Fraud Magnet’? Senator Wants To Halt SBA Contracts Amid Hawaiʻi Case
In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joni Ernst cited a criminal investigation of Christopher Dawson, accused of hijacking small business funding intended to help Native Hawaiians.
civilbeat.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Republicans have seized upon a scandal involving a Native Hawaiian defense contractor to target a civil rights era program meant to help disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal marketplace. www.civilbeat.org/2025/12/frau... (A collab w/ @civilbeat.bsky.social & @propublica.org)
I spoke with Jim Risch, Ryan Zinke & Michael Baumgartner about the U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean & Eastern Pacific.
Sen. Risch said there's "no difference" between drugs & weapons.
Rep. Zinke said the alternative to strikes is "no enforcement."
www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...
Sen. Risch said there's "no difference" between drugs & weapons.
Rep. Zinke said the alternative to strikes is "no enforcement."
www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...
Inland NW Republicans defend Caribbean boat strikes amid bipartisan scrutiny of potential war crimes
WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans from the Inland Northwest have largely stood by the Trump administration this week amid bipartisan scrutiny of U.S. military strikes on small boats allegedly car...
www.spokesman.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I spoke with Jim Risch, Ryan Zinke & Michael Baumgartner about the U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean & Eastern Pacific.
Sen. Risch said there's "no difference" between drugs & weapons.
Rep. Zinke said the alternative to strikes is "no enforcement."
www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...
Sen. Risch said there's "no difference" between drugs & weapons.
Rep. Zinke said the alternative to strikes is "no enforcement."
www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
Not ready for prime time? via @washingtonpost.com and Spokesman-Review @orionds.bsky.social and Desmond Butler wapo.st/3KGIcKC
VA staff flag dangerous errors ahead of new health records expansion
A multibillion-dollar electronic system seeks to boost medical care for veterans across VA’s network. Some medical providers say glitches put patients at risk.
wapo.st
December 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Not ready for prime time? via @washingtonpost.com and Spokesman-Review @orionds.bsky.social and Desmond Butler wapo.st/3KGIcKC
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
This report attributes several deaths of Ohio VA patients in the Columbus area to the glitchy new VA computer system
Five years after the VA launched a new computer system in Spokane, Desmond Butler and I found the $10 billion Oracle EHR is still beset with problems, as the Trump administration gears up to launch it at 13 more hospitals in 2026.
1/
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
1/
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
VA staff flag dangerous errors ahead of new health records expansion
A multibillion-dollar electronic system seeks to boost medical care for veterans across VA’s network. Some users say glitches and errors put patients at risk.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
This report attributes several deaths of Ohio VA patients in the Columbus area to the glitchy new VA computer system
Five years after the VA launched a new computer system in Spokane, Desmond Butler and I found the $10 billion Oracle EHR is still beset with problems, as the Trump administration gears up to launch it at 13 more hospitals in 2026.
1/
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
1/
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
VA staff flag dangerous errors ahead of new health records expansion
A multibillion-dollar electronic system seeks to boost medical care for veterans across VA’s network. Some users say glitches and errors put patients at risk.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Five years after the VA launched a new computer system in Spokane, Desmond Butler and I found the $10 billion Oracle EHR is still beset with problems, as the Trump administration gears up to launch it at 13 more hospitals in 2026.
1/
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
1/
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
'We are alive:' federal workers get hugs, validation in fraught period of shutdown and layoffs
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/03/w...
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/03/w...
‘We are alive:’ federal workers get hugs, validation in fraught period of shutdown and layoffs
WASHINGTON — The poem about vulnerability and persistence was hitting its mark. It could hardly have found a more appropriate audience. “We are alive and we are trying,” Drew Tye Ruby-Howe recited…
www.baltimoresun.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:44 PM
'We are alive:' federal workers get hugs, validation in fraught period of shutdown and layoffs
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/03/w...
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/10/03/w...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
Some news:
The Trump administration notified some AmeriCorps programs this week it was reinstating funding that had been abruptly terminated in April, a sudden about-face that came with no explanation for the reversal or clarity on its scope.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/n...
The Trump administration notified some AmeriCorps programs this week it was reinstating funding that had been abruptly terminated in April, a sudden about-face that came with no explanation for the reversal or clarity on its scope.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/n...
Months after widespread cuts, some AmeriCorps programs receive sudden notice of reinstatement - The Boston Globe
The sudden about-face came with no explanation for the reversal or clarity on its scope.
www.bostonglobe.com
July 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Some news:
The Trump administration notified some AmeriCorps programs this week it was reinstating funding that had been abruptly terminated in April, a sudden about-face that came with no explanation for the reversal or clarity on its scope.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/n...
The Trump administration notified some AmeriCorps programs this week it was reinstating funding that had been abruptly terminated in April, a sudden about-face that came with no explanation for the reversal or clarity on its scope.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/n...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
Senate version of the "big, beautiful bill" would raise the debt limit by $5 trillion, a $1 trillion increase over the $4 trillion included in the House version
www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-ne...
www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-ne...
June 16, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Senate version of the "big, beautiful bill" would raise the debt limit by $5 trillion, a $1 trillion increase over the $4 trillion included in the House version
www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-ne...
www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-ne...
Last week, before Trump ordered ICE to stop targeting farmworkers (as the NYT and others have reported), I talked to several GOP lawmakers about the open secret that U.S. relies heavily on unauthorized migrant workers.
Could Congress finally reform immigration law for them?
Could Congress finally reform immigration law for them?
Republicans in Congress urge Trump to target criminals, not farmworkers, as ICE arrests increase
WASHINGTON – Amid a recent surge in arrests of immigrants allegedly living in the country illegally, some raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have drawn quiet concern from Republicans in...
www.spokesman.com
June 16, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Last week, before Trump ordered ICE to stop targeting farmworkers (as the NYT and others have reported), I talked to several GOP lawmakers about the open secret that U.S. relies heavily on unauthorized migrant workers.
Could Congress finally reform immigration law for them?
Could Congress finally reform immigration law for them?
There's plenty of troubling-to-horrifying stuff going on in the world these days, but this @kashhill.bsky.social story stands out.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
June 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
There's plenty of troubling-to-horrifying stuff going on in the world these days, but this @kashhill.bsky.social story stands out.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...
President Trump wants to boost U.S. mining, commercial fishing and oil/gas drilling. But his administration has closed a Spokane office responsible for protecting workers' safety in those same industries.
I spoke with researchers at NIOSH's Spokane Research Lab whose jobs are in jeopardy.
I spoke with researchers at NIOSH's Spokane Research Lab whose jobs are in jeopardy.
As Trump administration aims to boost mining, drilling and fishing, Spokane office dedicated to workers' safety remains in jeopardy
WASHINGTON – Among the more than 150 executive actions President Donald Trump has taken since assuming office in January are orders that aim to boost oil and gas drilling, mining and commercial fishin...
www.spokesman.com
June 10, 2025 at 12:37 PM
President Trump wants to boost U.S. mining, commercial fishing and oil/gas drilling. But his administration has closed a Spokane office responsible for protecting workers' safety in those same industries.
I spoke with researchers at NIOSH's Spokane Research Lab whose jobs are in jeopardy.
I spoke with researchers at NIOSH's Spokane Research Lab whose jobs are in jeopardy.
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
A music and art festival nestled in an Appalachian river valley wouldn‘t immediately seem like a place where DOGE would be top of mind.
But when I went, I indeed found a community that feels like DOGE is closing in all around.
My dispatch:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/09/n...
But when I went, I indeed found a community that feels like DOGE is closing in all around.
My dispatch:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/09/n...
‘It’s all connected’: In Appalachia, a bustling community struggles under the weight of mounting DOGE cuts - The Boston Globe
The omnipresence of concern illustrated how President Trump’s dramatic efforts to downsize the federal government through DOGE are reverberating around the country.
www.bostonglobe.com
May 9, 2025 at 1:54 PM
A music and art festival nestled in an Appalachian river valley wouldn‘t immediately seem like a place where DOGE would be top of mind.
But when I went, I indeed found a community that feels like DOGE is closing in all around.
My dispatch:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/09/n...
But when I went, I indeed found a community that feels like DOGE is closing in all around.
My dispatch:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/09/n...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
A Prince George's County community is on edge after Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from that Maryland county.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/04/19/a...
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/04/19/a...
A Prince George’s County community is on edge after Abrego Garcia deported
Five weeks after Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison, an immigrant community in Prince George’s County is on edge.
www.baltimoresun.com
April 19, 2025 at 1:26 PM
A Prince George's County community is on edge after Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from that Maryland county.
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/04/19/a...
www.baltimoresun.com/2025/04/19/a...
I'm proud and grateful to work for The Spokesman-Review, a local news outlet with both an illustrious past (second-worst paper in America, per Harry Truman) and a bright future.
They also continue to pay me, even though I'm so bad at social media that I'm posting this a day late.
They also continue to pay me, even though I'm so bad at social media that I'm posting this a day late.
Cowles family plans to donate The Spokesman-Review to local nonprofit
The Cowles family intends to donate The Spokesman-Review to a recently formed Spokane-based community nonprofit organization that plans to continue publishing the newspaper amid the changes and challe...
www.spokesman.com
April 16, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I'm proud and grateful to work for The Spokesman-Review, a local news outlet with both an illustrious past (second-worst paper in America, per Harry Truman) and a bright future.
They also continue to pay me, even though I'm so bad at social media that I'm posting this a day late.
They also continue to pay me, even though I'm so bad at social media that I'm posting this a day late.
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
🧵 1/6 I spoke w/ former State Department folks and foreign policy aids who raised concerns about the Leahy Law being violated with the State Department paying El Salvador $6 million for a year to detain roughly 300 men the U.S. removed.
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-h...
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-h...
U.S. human rights law likely violated in $6M payment for El Salvador prison, experts say
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department is paying El Salvador $6 million to house hundreds of immigrants deported from the United States in an immense and brutal prison there, Centro de Confinamiento d...
www.newsfromthestates.com
April 14, 2025 at 2:48 PM
🧵 1/6 I spoke w/ former State Department folks and foreign policy aids who raised concerns about the Leahy Law being violated with the State Department paying El Salvador $6 million for a year to detain roughly 300 men the U.S. removed.
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-h...
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-h...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
“Oakland…fine me.”
Mariners broadcast some gangsters! 😎
Mariners broadcast some gangsters! 😎
March 28, 2025 at 4:18 AM
“Oakland…fine me.”
Mariners broadcast some gangsters! 😎
Mariners broadcast some gangsters! 😎
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
Still got it! In full uniform, Ichiro Suzuki throws an 84 mph first pitch for the Mariners' #OpeningDay.
March 28, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Still got it! In full uniform, Ichiro Suzuki throws an 84 mph first pitch for the Mariners' #OpeningDay.
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
If successful in their races, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee would be taking on roles with little similarity to their time in Congress — and the likelihood that they will be blamed for anything that goes wrong, even if it isn’t directly their responsibility or fault www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Katie Porter and Barbara Lee are running for executive roles. Did Congress prepare them?
If successful in their races, Porter and Lee would be taking on roles with little similarity to their time in Congress.
www.sfchronicle.com
March 25, 2025 at 2:08 PM
If successful in their races, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee would be taking on roles with little similarity to their time in Congress — and the likelihood that they will be blamed for anything that goes wrong, even if it isn’t directly their responsibility or fault www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
Reposted by Orion Donovan Smith
In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this: Senior Trump officials discussed planning for the U.S. attack on Yemen in a Signal group--and inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
www.theatlantic.com
March 24, 2025 at 4:11 PM
In 25 years of covering national security, I’ve never seen a story like this: Senior Trump officials discussed planning for the U.S. attack on Yemen in a Signal group--and inadvertently added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
This story can be republished under a Creative Commons license thanks to the support of The Spokesman-Review's subscribers and donations from the Spokane community.
We're the smallest paper in the country with a reporter in DC, yet my editors were quick to send me to Chicago for this story.
We're the smallest paper in the country with a reporter in DC, yet my editors were quick to send me to Chicago for this story.
I talked with several of the roughly 1,700 VA employees who were fired in February, supposedly to improve efficiency, and are now being paid not to work as court cases play out.
They include an HVAC technician who likely saved taxpayers >$10 million and a pharmacy worker who helped save $775k.
They include an HVAC technician who likely saved taxpayers >$10 million and a pharmacy worker who helped save $775k.
They were fired in the name of efficiency based on 'a lie.' Now the VA is paying them not to work
NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. – The night before Valentine’s Day, Ricky Noschese and his wife Laurie left their jobs at a military and veterans hospital and stopped to pick up a heart-shaped chocolate cake to s...
www.spokesman.com
March 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
This story can be republished under a Creative Commons license thanks to the support of The Spokesman-Review's subscribers and donations from the Spokane community.
We're the smallest paper in the country with a reporter in DC, yet my editors were quick to send me to Chicago for this story.
We're the smallest paper in the country with a reporter in DC, yet my editors were quick to send me to Chicago for this story.