This is Northwest Public Broadcasting's Weekly News Now I'm Tracci Dial.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We begin in Idaho this week.

There is a lot to cover in the upcoming elections.

For Idahoans this November, they'll vote on ranked choice voting and open primaries.

A quick rundown of all that... All candidates show up on a ballot all in the same primary.

The top four candidates move forward, and then it's tallied by rank.

So voters rank each candidate in order of preference.

Now, this is being done in other parts of the world and the United States.

We talked with Luke Mayville with Idahoans for Open Primaries.

“So many voters do not feel that they have a voice because we have this restrictive closed primary election system that really only allows a small group of voters to choose who has power in our state.” Right now, Idaho's is a closed primary system.

This will be on the ballot this fall as Proposition One.

Opponents, like the Idaho Freedom Foundation, say there are problems with the system.

You can read more about it and hear from Mayville, and the Freedom foundation, at NWPB.org.

Oregon and Nevada are also voting on ranked choice voting this year.

After more than six years of negotiations, the U.S. and Canada have figured out some key points of a modernized Columbia River Treaty.

It's meant to provide flood control and a consistent river flow for hydropower.

But updates to the 1960s era treaty aren't solid yet.

We can expect amendments from both countries soon.

A third prong to the treaty now is the environment.

This full story and a timeline of when we'll learn more about potential changes is up on the website.

Now it's time to meet the Northwest's newest California Sea Lion pup at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

Pepper, we're told, is a spicy and playful pup.

And that's according to Jen DeGroot, the curator of marine mammals and birds at the zoo.

“She's hitting kind of a one month milestone and starting to grow in size and in her capabilities of maneuvering in the water and on land.

It's been a really exciting time for us here.

Pepper's parents were both rescued off the California coast as stranded pups.

When they couldn't go back to the wild, Point Defiance took them in.

Peppers mom was recommended for breeding by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums as part of the Sea Lion Species Survival Plan.

More, as always, is online, on Instagram, on Facebook and YouTube.

I'm Tracci Dial with your NWPB Weekly News Now.

Thanks for joining us.