Trending News

New Northeast Washington Trends Website

New Northeast Washington Trends Website

IPPEA Launches New Trends Site
The Institute for Public Policy is proud to announce the revival and relaunch of the Northeast Washington Trends website, which has been updated and improved to better serve the people of Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties. Northeast Washington trends is supported by...
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Electric Vehicle Population Map - by Postal Code

Electric Vehicle Population Map - by Postal Code

Growing Number of EVs on the Road in Tri-Cities
Are you in the market for a new vehicle? You might want to consider a hybrid. According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation’s Electric Vehicle Fouth Quarter 2023 Report, Washington saw a large increase in its EV market share. The 2023 figure of 18.79% saw a 5.9 pp increase when compared to...
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Young Children in 2020: County Undercounts and Overcounts

Young Children in 2020: County Undercounts and Overcounts

Census Estimates Nationwide Errors in Reporting
In the United States census that is taken every ten years, the group that has been most often undercounted and consistently falls below estimates are young children of ages 0 to 4. For the 2020 census in particular, the Census Bureau has determined that...
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Trends In Action

Utilities

Share of Electricity Consumption by Type

Electricity consumption, which is vital for firms and households, is made possible by a wide variety of fuel sources depending on the unique geologic, economic and even historic features of the region. The Tri Cities is fortunate to have a relative abundance of access to hydroelectric sources and to sources of nuclear power that comprise the bulk of the fuel mix profile for the combined counties. However, the...
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Public Safety

Local Governments’ Budgets Here are Relatively Generous to Law Enforcement

The greater Tri Cities puts a premium on law enforcement. That is the inescapable conclusion of the data presented in Trends 8.3.2, Expenditures on Law Enforcement. In 2023, per-person local expenditures over all the jurisdictions in the two counties with police or sheriffs’ agencies was about $310. (With federal and state grants, the average was...
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Infrastructure

Expenditures on Local Road Maintenance in the Two Counties Relatively Average by One Measure

Road funding comes from three sources: federal, state, and local. Since Benton Franklin Trends focuses measuring activity that is amenable to local decisions, Trends indicator 9.4.2 focuses on the last source. More specifically, at the title explains, the focus is on local budgetary decisions on maintenance. In other words, new road construction undertaken by...
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Welcome Our New Student Interns!

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Drew Dillon

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona 

Major: Economics and Business System Analytics 

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2025 

Post-graduation plans: Find a good job in a new city

After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far: The actual work for sure. What I do for The Insitute does not feel like work most of the time. I enjoy solving the puzzles that come with data analysis and there are lots of puzzles to be solved here. I also really enjoy the people I work with. Dr. Cullen and Dr. Jones are amazing, as well as my fellow interns. We make a great team.

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Kellan Burns

Hometown: Spokane, Washington

Major: Computer Science

Expected Graduation Date: Spring 2025 

Post-graduation plans: Start a career as a software developer

After a few months of working on the Trends project, my favorite thing so far: My favorite thing so far is seeing the real-life meaning of our work. The data we collect often tells a different story from what people expect, and I think it makes people look at the world a bit differently. I've already learned lots here, and I'm excited for this year with Dr. Jones, Dr. Cullen, and the other interns at The Institute.