Nina Shapiro

Living here in many tribal and rural parts of Washington state, even on the fringes of cities including Seattle, Spokane and Leavenworth, means it’s often difficult or impossible to connect to the online world. When the pandemic largely turned the online world into the world for many urbanites, hundreds of thousands of people in Washington were shut out. The federal government has spent billions trying to solve the digital divide — a project many say is as big and necessary as it once was to get electricity into every home — and is on the verge of spending more than ever.