Longtime Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a Whatcom County Republican, has died following a COVID-19 diagnosis while traveling in El Salvador last month.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic leaders in the Legislature announced Friday a delay in the collection of a payroll tax to pay for a new long-term care insurance benefit for workers.Read More
It's a growing problem in Washington: kids with developmental disabilities and complex behaviors who are stuck in the hospital with no reason for being there. Usually, they end up in the hospital after a crisis or an incident. But once the child is medically cleared to leave, their parents or their group home won't come get them citing inadequate supports to manage the Read More
Mysterious bruises. An unreported burn. Two vulnerable clients left alone overnight. These are just some of the complaints that families are leveling against Aacres WA — a troubled residential care provider that gets tens of millions of dollars a year from the state to care for people with developmental disabilities. Now state officials say they’re investigating.Read More
In a surprise order Friday morning, the Washington Supreme Court declined to take on the job of drafting new congressional and legislative maps. Instead, the court declared that the state's Redistricting Commission had finished its work on time last month.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday that he would support a delay in the implementation of a new payroll tax to fund a first-in-the-nation long-term care benefit program called WA Cares.Read More
For months, minority Republicans in the Washington Legislature have called for limits on the governor’s emergency powers. But now even some Democrats are expressing concerns about the open-endedness of the COVID-19 state of emergency and the limited role of state lawmakers.Read More
Washington has nine independently elected statewide officeholders. All but one of those elected officials has required their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The holdout was the lone Republican.Read More
For the third time this month, Deschutes Parkway, which curves past Capitol Lake along the edge of Washington’s Capitol Campus, has been closed due to a violent crime.Read More
Potential candidates to replace Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman are already stepping forward after Wyman, a Republican, announced she will resign next month to take an election security position with the Biden administration. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, will appoint Wyman's replacement. That could spell the end of a nearly six decades Republican lock on the Read More
Washington’s prison population has dropped to levels not seen in nearly a generation. COVID is a major factor, but what’s not clear is whether the downward trend is here to stay.Read More
Roughly nine in 10 employees of the state of Washington are now vaccinated against COVID-19. Gov. Jay Inslee considers that a huge success and a win for public health. But his vaccine mandate has also led to the departure of hundreds of state employees. Now there are questions about the implications for some state services.Read More
Ninety two percent of Washington state employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.Read More
The Washington State Patrol says it’s lost 127 employees as a result of Governor Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. That’s about six percent of the workforce. And it includes more than 70 troopers and other sworn members of the agency.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate has survived an 11th hour court challenge. On Monday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy denied a motion for an injunction to block the mandate from taking effect.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate is now in effect. But it may be several days before we know how many people in state government, health care and education lost their jobs because they didn’t get vaccinated.Read More
Monday is the deadline for Washington state employees, healthcare and long-term care workers and those working in the education field to be fully vaccinated. Those who aren’t could be out of a job by day’s end. Some of the state employees who face termination got exemptions, but not a workplace accommodation so they could stay on the payroll.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced a statewide requirement that attendees at large events show proof of being vaccinated against COVID-19 or proof of a negative test taken in the 72 hours before the event.Read More
It was a challenging summer at Washington’s state-run homes for veterans. Two of the four homes experienced widespread COVID-19 outbreaks. Four veterans died. Now the homes are bracing for another challenge: the potential for a staffing shortage as the governor’s vaccine mandate kicks in.Read More
Since 2000, more than 200 people have died by suicide in Washington and Oregon jails putting the Northwest states above the national average for jail suicides, according to a new report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate covers more than 800-thousand workers in education, state government and healthcare. But there’s one group of hands-on caregivers it doesn’t apply to.Read More
COVID-19 related deaths are trending much higher in Republican counties than in Democratic ones in Washington. That’s according to a new legislative analysis.Read More
It was supposed to be former Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib's legacy — a pair of programs to serve youth with disabilities and youth from marginalized or disadvantaged backgrounds. But Habib's successor cancelled a contract with the nonprofit that operates the programs after identifying what his office called "suspicious financial activity" during Habib's last year in office.Read More
A woman was able to enter the secure grounds of Washington's governor's residence on Wednesday before being stopped by the Washington State Patrol. Gov. Jay Inslee and First Lady Trudi Inslee were not home at the time. The security breach follows a much larger incident on January 6 when a group of pro-Trump supporters forced open a gate and spilled onto the mansion lawn, Read More
Dozens of Washington state troopers, prison correctional officers, ferry workers and other public sector employees have filed a lawsuit in Walla Walla County to try to overturn Gov. Jay Inslee's COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit alleges the mandate is unlawful and unconstitutional.Read More
The Washington Federation of State Employees announced a tentative deal with Gov. Jay Inslee early Saturday morning.Read More
It’s a problem nationally and in the Northwest. Pet owners are having trouble getting access to veterinary services. It’s another example of the fallout from the ongoing pandemic.Read More
Long-term care insurance companies have temporarily halted sales in Washington. The move follows a frenzy of interest in the costly insurance policies prompted by a November 1 deadline to opt out of a new state-run long-term care program.Read More
How bad is the fifth wave of COVID-19? One hospital in Thurston County, Washington is limiting visitors, the intensive care unit is at capacity and elective surgeries and procedures are being delayed.Read More
Following the lead of several other states, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday issued a requirement that state employees along with private health care and long-term care workers get the COVID-19 vaccine or face termination from their jobs.Read More
A new report is sounding the alarm about the state of mental health care in Washington prisons.Read More
Since Democrats re-took the Washington Senate after a special election in 2017, they’ve enacted numerous pro-union bills, along with sweeping policy changes backed by unions. Democrats say their agenda is […]Read More
The Black Members Caucus nearly doubled in size this year and now has nine members. How is the caucus as a whole, and how are the individual members, changing the conversation and narrative around racial equity?Read More
Dry conditions across Washington have prompted the state’s Department of Ecology to declare a drought emergency. Read More
It was almost a year ago that Athena Fitness in Olympia was facing financial doom. The women-owned business had opened just before the pandemic struck. In August of last year, new COVID restrictions threatened to put the owners out of business. So, what’s happened since?Read More
After years of waging appeals, and a last minute petition for a 90 day delay, former Washington state Auditor Troy Kelley has entered a federal prison camp in California to serve his sentence for conviction of possession of stolen property and other crimes.Read More
First a drought. Then record heat. Now Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a statewide wildfire state of emergency. Read More
Renters who are behind on their rent in Washington will get a few more months of protection from eviction. On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a new eviction moratorium that will run through September 30. The current moratorium expires June 30 — the same day the state is set to fully reopen.Read More
In Washington, the working partnership between police and crisis mental health workers is being put to the test. The reason is a new police use of force law.Read More
A former caregiver for people with developmental disabilities has been criminally charged in connection with the 2019 death of a client who ingested a large amount of household cleaning vinegar.Read More
Gone are the State Patrol checkpoints and National Guard troops that were in place for the start of the session in January. A temporary chain-link fence surrounding the domed Legislative Building has also been removed. Yet, security in the seat of state government is still a top-of-mind issue. So is the safety of elected leaders in these polarized times.Read More
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is remembering Thomas’ May 24, 1985 death this week as part of its Centennial Commemoration. Beginning last September, the agency launched a year-long effort to honor all 31 officers who have died in the line of duty since the agency was founded in 1921.Read More
The lawsuit by the Opportunity for All Coalition (OFAC), which successfully fought Seattle’s high-earners income tax in 2017, was filed Thursday in Douglas County Superior Court. The plaintiffs include business owners and farmers who would potentially be subject to the new tax, as well as the Washington Farm Bureau.Read More
Calling it a "moral mandate,” Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed into law a dozen bills that backers hope will improve policing in Washington, reduce the use of deadly force and ensure that when deadly encounters do occur the investigations are thorough and independent.Read More
Under Washington's new Mental Health Sentencing Alternative, judges will have the option to sentence a person to community supervision and treatment in lieu of prison.Read More
For the second time in less than a year, Washington’s Corrections Ombuds (OCO) is warning that the state’s prison system needs to do more to prevent inmate suicides. In a 15-page investigation released Monday, the OCO found that two inmates died by suicide in 2020 after prison staff failed to recognize signs of mental distress and didn’t follow suicide prevention policies.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed into law a new tax on capital gains aimed at the state’s wealthiest residents. But the future of the tax is uncertain.Read More
For the first time in its 40-year history, the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) will be led by a woman. On Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee named Cheryl Strange as the agency’s next secretary.Read More
Just days after the Washington Legislature gave final approval to a new capital gains tax aimed at the state's wealthiest residents, the conservative Freedom Foundation has filed a lawsuit on behalf of five individuals and one couple to overturn the tax. Read More
On Sunday, Democrats adjourned the session having accomplished much of what they set out to do, including passage of a number of sweeping bills that Gov. Jay Inslee, in a statement, called “historic” in nature.Read More
