Donald J. Trump will stay on Washington state primary ballots, Thurston County Superior Court Judge, Mary Sue Wilson ruled Thursday morning. Eight Washington residents brought the complaint trying to get the former president removed.Read More
Kitsap County Superior Court has declined to hear a case over whether former president Donald Trump can appear on Washington state ballots. Read More
Emotions flooded the State Reception Room in Olympia Jan. 10 as tribal leaders, Washington lawmakers, and community members came together to witness the unveiling of the maquette of Billy Frank Jr. The maquette, a smaller replica of a 9-foot tall statue of Frank that will go to the National Statuary Hall collection, honors the late champion for Native American treaty Read More
The ticketing counter, bag drop, and agent stations for Alaska Airlines at Sea-Tac International Airport were busy but not crowded late Tuesday morning. Some passengers moved through the lines and onto security, others stood against the wall opposite Alaska's blue and green signs, with their bags sitting closely next to them, scrolling through phones, waiting for a Read More
The United States Forest Service, under the directive of the United States Department of Agriculture, has announced plans to apply consistent standards to the conservation, restoration and maintenance of old-growth across the country’s national forests.
It’s a first of its kind standard that many say is necessary, given threats from climate change and varied management Read More
Rain, flooding, storms – all pretty standard for Western Washington, but sometimes weather patterns spare some areas that have flooded before.
That was the case at the beginning of December, when Western Washington got so much rain that it caused flooding from the Stillaguamish River to the town of Rosburg. Read More
The tide of evictions many predicted, has come.
As the pandemic waned and rental assistance dollars from federal programs like the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dried up, some feared there would be an increase of evictions. Read More
The Skagit County Board of County Commissioners denied an appeal and affirmed the county hearing examiner’s October decision, denying a special use permit for Predators of the Heart (POTH) in Anacortes.
The decision on Dec. 12 came as no surprise to the organization’s executive director, Ashley Carr, who said the organization will appeal this latest decision in superior court. Read More
Since Tacoma voters approved a ballot initiative that introduces new regulations called the Landlord Fairness Code to the Tacoma Municipal Code, there’s been a lot of questions about the initiative.
The City of Tacoma has answered some about the process and what happens next. The Landlord Fairness Code was adopted into the Tacoma Municipal Code and is a city law as of Read More
Whether an organization housing a variety of animals in Anacortes, Washington will continue operating is in the hands of the Skagit County Board of Commissioners — with a decision expected Dec. 12.
The nonprofit, Predators of the Heart, is appealing an October decision by the Skagit County hearing examiner denying POTH a special use permit to house animals the county Read More
The final release of election results for Pierce County showed a victory for those who have been pushing for a set of progressive tenant protections in Tacoma.
“We feel really proud of what we've achieved. It was a real David versus Goliath kind of fight,” said Ty Moore, campaign manager for Tacoma For All, the group behind the initiative.
Citizens’ Initiative Measure Read More
In late autumn on the cusp of cool winter days, snow comes early to Washington when thousands of aloft avians, snow geese, land here in a flurry of white feathers.
“We call it a snow storm, they just will move as one,” said birder Julie Hagen. “It's just this chaotic whirlwind of birds, they move like a cloud and then they just lift up in the air.” Read More
To unionize, Tacoma Art Museum Workers United [TAMWU] needed the majority of its 26 workers to vote yes. After two days of voting in an election overseen by the Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission, the unanimous results came in Thursday evening — 26 in favor of unionizing. Read More
The substation impacted by today’s power outage in Pierce County. (Courtesy: Tacoma Power Staff) Read Thousands of homes and businesses in Pierce County went dark Wednesday morning when the power […]Read More
After Tuesday night’s general election, Tacoma’s Citizens’ Initiative Measure No. 1 was failing by a slight margin. Still, the mood at Real Art Tacoma, where supporters of Measure 1 and City Council candidate Jamika Scott gathered Tuesday night was electric. Read More
Since early Monday morning, hundreds of protestors have been blocking the three road entrances into the Port of Tacoma in an attempt to stop workers from loading a United States military supply vessel, the Cape Orlando, with weapons and military equipment. Read More
Four utilities in Washington state received funding from the U.S Department of Energy to strengthen the electrical grid against future wildfires and ensure reliability to customers. That funding comes from the federal Grid Resilience and Innovations Partnerships Program, which is investing in 58 projects across 44 states. Read More
Every time Hayden Powell sits down to apply for a job, she has to relive an experience she went through over two decades ago, when she was discharged from the military because of her sexual orientation. Read More
All Hallow’s Eve is just around the corner, and the home of the Washington State Governor has some mysteries of the mansion to unveil — just in time for spooky season! Read More
In the Pierce County elections center, a small crowd gathered just outside of the ballot tabulation room on the morning of Oct. 17. With packets in front of them that show expected results and pens ready to catch any mistakes, the observers were there to make sure Pierce County’s ballot counting system is ready for the general election. Read More
After about five years in the works, the Pierce County Council adopted a new Comprehensive Flood Hazard Management Plan that broadens the scope of what kinds of flooding the county will plan for – from coastal to urban flooding.
Angela Angove is the floodplain and watershed services manager with Pierce County Planning and Public Works. She said different types of Read More
In the foothills of Mt. Rainier runs the Carbon, the Puyallup and the White Rivers, meandering through towns and cities, along roadways and near homes, the paint strokes of the natural environment now surrounded by a human-built ecosystem. Once tightly restricted by levees, these rivers are beginning to again flow closer to how they would have, not adhering to the confines Read More
The City of Tacoma is facing a gap in funding, a gap equal to paying for 307 beds in emergency shelters set up across Tacoma.
Tacoma and other area municipalities have recently enacted restrictions or bans on homeless encampments. Read More
The City of Tacoma hearing examiner has upheld the city’s decision to issue a development permit for a mega-warehouse in South Tacoma.
The permit decision was appealed by Seattle nonprofit EarthJustice, on behalf of the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council and 350 Tacoma, which argued that the city and developer hadn’t adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of the Read More
“Radio Free Olympia” is a book about a handful of characters, one of whom, Petr, is raised on the Olympic Peninsula. Without traditional parents, he’s also raised by the landscape. Petr guides readers through folklore of the peninsula by broadcasting spirits on a homemade radio. Reporter Lauren Gallup sat down with Jeffrey Dunn to discuss what inspired this surreal story Read More
There was a breeze, clouds and humidity in the air in West Seattle that hadn’t been there for days on the morning of July 30, as visitors to Alki Beach found seats or meandered down to the shore, waiting.
A little after 11 a.m., as the sun began to break through the gray, the tip of a canoe and its passengers’ paddles could just be seen cutting across the water, the Read More
Autumn has knocked on our doors and crossed our thresholds. With its arrival comes wetter, colder, darker days — perhaps some pumpkin-flavored treats as well — and hopefully, fewer wildfires. Heavy recent rainfall has dropped the wildfire potential outlook down to normal for the Northwest, according to the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook.
So, how did Read More
Washington Rep. Steve Tharinger of the 24th district became intimately acquainted with levee setbacks when he discovered the levee protecting his house on the lower Dungeness River was not only not protecting his house, but harming the ecosystem too.
“I sold my house and the five acres in a barn we had, so that we'd have more room to move that levee back and give the Read More
The 2023 Washington State Book Awards were announced Tuesday, Sept. 26. (Courtesy: The Washington Center for the Book) Listen (Runtime 3:57) Read By Johanna Bejarano and Lauren Gallup The Washington […]Read More
Jason Vander Kooy said the potential for flooding weighs on his mind every November.
Vander Kooy is a dairy farmer — one of many in northwestern Washington. Two years ago, some farmers there dealt with flooding that killed livestock, damaged fields, and overtopped manure lagoons — meaning the basins that store cow waste filled with water and, like a bathtub too full, Read More
The Academic Student Employees (ASE) union at Washington State University has filed a complaint of unfair labor practices against the university, alleging WSU’s unwillingness to bargain with the collective in good faith. Read More
Visible from the smoke they’re emitting, seven fires are burning within the wilderness of Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula. Lightning strikes ignited the fires Aug. 28 and all were burning relatively small until this past weekend, when the Delabarre fire took advantage of hot, dry conditions and took off like a bandit, growing to over 3,500 acres. Read More
For people seeking medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder in some rural Washington communities, there could soon be more options. Recent grant funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been allocated to develop medication-assisted treatment (MAT) at rural clinics. Read More
Homeowners in Whatcom County have been waiting nearly two years for relief from flooding that devastated communities in northwest Washington and parts of Canada — and now, they have to wait even longer.
Federal funding was supposed to come this week for 12 homeowners whose houses were destroyed during the November 2021 flooding. However, it’s been delayed, again. Read More
With the impending closure of the WestRock Paper Mill in Tacoma, about 400 workers could be displaced.
“It's really significant,” said Chelsea Mason-Placek, who is the workforce development director for the Washington State Labor Council. “This is a much larger layoff than we typically see.”Read More
Moss drapes over trees in Olympic National Park like the table dressings of fairies and the blankets of sprites. This place inspires writers — from amateurs to poets to public radio reporters — and welcomes visitors each year into its majesty.
Our national parks tend to do that; be places of awe-inspiring beauty, great adventures through bushwhacking and overnights Read More
WestRock Paper Mill closing in Tacoma — job losses, utility impacts and the end of the Tacoma Aroma?
WestRock, a Georgia-based corrugated packaging company, announced that its paper mill on the Tacoma tideflats will close up shop at the end of September. The mill has been in operation for nearly 100 years, processing wood fibers into paper and emitting sulfurous scents infamous for contributing to the Tacoma Aroma. Read More
Wildfires pose a threat to the energy sector — both the critical infrastructure that generates energy, like dams and wind turbines, and the infrastructure that delivers electricity to consumers, mainly transmission lines.
The Sourdough Fire in Whatcom County has caused two dams that provide power to Seattle to go offline for stretches of multiple days — the Ross and Read More
The Imagination Library of Washington has gifted 1.6 million books to early learners statewide. Dolly Parton began the program in her home state of Tennessee in 1995. Washington created its statewide program in 2022 and on Aug. 15, the country music star celebrated its reach here, with those who made it possible. Read More
A team of search and rescue personnel based out of the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management deployed to Hawaii Friday after President Joe Biden ordered federal aid to the state to help areas impacted by devastating wildfires.
The 45-person FEMA team is made up of emergency responders and other professionals trained in search and rescue from Pierce and King Read More
La autopista estatal 20 había sido cerrada entre Newhalem y Rainy Pass, en el condado de Whatcom, ya que es el principal punto de acceso para los bomberos que trabajan en el incendio de Sourdough. Read More
Scenic State Route 20 which runs through North Cascades National Park is now reopened.
The highway had been closed between Newhalem and Rainy Pass in Whatcom County, as it is the main access point for firefighters working the Sourdough Fire. Mark Enty, public information officer with Northwest Incident Management Team 10, said crews are still working in the area and Read More
Air and ground crews continue to fight the Sourdough fire burning in Whatcom County, which had grown to 1,440 acres as of Monday.
The fire is burning in a remote area where the terrain is rugged and steep, which is why crews are attacking the fire from the sky, said Mark Enty, public information officer for Northwest Incident Management Team 10. Read More
Crews made progress over the weekend on the Eagle Bluff fire burning in Okanogan County. The fire was 80 percent contained on Monday and crews said there has not been new growth for 48 hours. Read More
In South Tacoma, there is about 150 acres of land sitting vacant where dry grasses and trees cover an area that, in part, once served as a rail-yard for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. Read More
On Monday, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) decided to pause an auction of 102 acres of public, forested lands to harvest for timber in King County that had been scheduled for Tuesday.
King County council members wrote a letter to Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and the Board of Natural Resources last week, urging them to defer the auction. Read More
The GEO Group, the operator of a private detention center in Tacoma, has filed a lawsuit against Washington opposing new legislation that would regulate private detention facilities in the state.
With the signing of House Bill 1470 into law in May, the Washington State Department of Health was given the authority to do unannounced inspections of private detention Read More
A major collision on northbound Interstate 5 Wednesday morning caused day-long backups across much of Thurston County.
The incident, between a semi-truck and passenger vehicle, closed all but one of the northbound lanes just past the exit to Mounts Road in DuPont, as crews worked to investigate the collision and then clear the debris and vehicles. Read More
With just over two weeks left before the current United Parcel Service Teamsters contract expires, employees nationwide are preparing to go on strike. If they do, it would be the largest single-employer strike in United States history.
In the Port of Tacoma, over 1,000 UPS employees from three distribution centers could walk off the job Aug. 1st, according to Brett Read More
At Northwest Trek in Eatonville, Washington, there are about 300 northern leopard frogs, named for their spotted skin, swimming around in four tanks and getting ready for their new home.
The frogs are part of a conservation project that Northwest Trek is partnering with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Read More
