Washington on Friday became the second state in the Pacific Northwest in as many days to announce emergency rules that provide farmworkers and others who work outdoors more protection from hot weather in the wake of an extreme heat wave that is believed to have killed hundreds of people.Read More
The story of some Native American Scouts and their complicated reasons for working with the United States government. Read More
Wolf poachers go mostly undiscovered — but that hasn’t stopped nonprofit organizations from putting up significant cash rewards for information about these incidents. While rewards generally don’t lead to convictions, Defenders of Wildlife’s Gwen Dobbs says reward offers in cases of wildlife poaching can help raise public awareness, “hopefully serving as a deterrent Read More
Former President Donald Trump is suing Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube over their suspensions of his accounts after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in January.Read More
Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon's CEO on Monday, exactly 27 years since he started the e-commerce giant in a garage in West Bellevue, Wash.Read More
As education culture wars consumed the Statehouse this spring, the running joke was that Idaho educators were scrambling to Google to figure out what “critical race theory” is. Things aren’t much different now. So, think of this as summer school.Read More
The Supreme Court on Friday declined to take up the case of a Tri-Cities florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding, leaving in place a decision that she broke state anti-discrimination laws.Read More
List of some Northwest Fourth of July events in 2021.Read More
As forecasters warned of a record-breaking heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada last weekend, officials set up cooling centers, distributed water to the homeless and took other steps. Still, hundreds of people are believed to have died from Friday to Tuesday.Read More
Fifteen months after Washington state's first “stay at home” order was issued in response to the coronavirus, businesses across the state are now allowed to return to pre-pandemic operations.Read More
Avista says it plans to cut power to parts of its coverage area Tuesday as a way to reduce demand for power. Spokane saw rolling outages Monday, and will likely see more on Tuesday. Residents of the Tri-Cities region have been warned they could also see outages this week for up to four hours at a time.Read More
On the Monday after the release of In the Heights, its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda posted not a congratulatory note but an apology. Over the weekend, the conversation around colorism and In the Heights reached a fever pitch as more viewers began to wonder why there weren't any dark-skinned Afro-Latinos in any of the leading roles to represent a place as diverse as Read More
Cities were reminding residents where pools, splash pads and cooling centers were available and urging people to stay hydrated, check on their neighbors and avoid strenuous activities. The National Weather Service in Coeur d’Alene said this week's weather “will likely be one of the most extreme and prolonged heat waves in the recorded history of the Inland Northwest.”Read More
A major heat wave is hitting the Northwest. Heat and its long-term effects kills more people in the U.S. than any other weather-related issue. Now is the time to prepare. Here are some steps you can take to get ready: Read More
The “Task Force to Examine Indoctrination in Idaho Education” reconvened Thursday — in a meeting marked by a rocky start, a tense middle and a slow end.Read More
Leaders of Indigenous groups in Canada said Thursday investigators have found hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children — a discovery that follows last month's report of 215 bodies found at another school.Read More
The National Interagency Fire Center said Tuesday that it’s the second earliest it reached what it calls preparedness level 4 on the 1-5 scale since 1990. It’s also only the fourth time in the last 20 years that it has reached the level 4 in June.Read More
Idaho’s public colleges and universities have lost more than 5,000 students since the pandemic. t’s not worst-case scenario stuff. The 18-month dropoff was 8.7%, but administrators feared a 20% decrease.Read More
Idaho’s ever-growing budget surplus is trending toward a record-shattering and mind-boggling $800 million. The big reason: Individual income tax collections are ahead of forecasts by a whopping $452.2 million. We’ll know the exact surplus sometime after June 30, when the state closes the books on the 2020-21 budget year.Read More
Scientists have found a dead Asian giant hornet north of Seattle, the first so-called murder hornet discovered in the country this year, federal and state investigators said Wednesday.Read More
A national expert on race and extremism said a recent spate of attacks on “critical race theory” in Idaho are part of a growing effort by conservative Republicans to exploit anxiety and engage voters in upcoming elections.Read More
It was designed as an innovative way to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, but Washington’s new “joints for jabs” program is off to a rough start. Officials announced Monday that the state’s nearly 500 licensed marijuana retailers could begin hosting vaccine clinics and offering a single, free pre-rolled marijuana cigarette to any 21-plus adult who received a shot there.Read More
Mainstream Idaho Republicans, who have dominated the state for three decades and would be considered far right in many states, have themselves become targets, including protests at lawmakers’ homes. They fear disinformation and intimidation is driving the changes in the rural Western state.Read More
The state Liquor and Cannabis Board is calling the effort the “Joints for Jabs” program. The board says licensed adult-use marijuana retail shops can give away a single pre-rolled joint to anyone over 21 who gets a shot at an on-site vaccine clinic held by July 12.Read More
Smoke forecasting is notoriously hard to do, but a new tool from the state Department of Ecology may help us anticipate hazardous air five days in the future.Read More
While Washington’s system has been strained for years, state officials and disability rights advocates say it effectively ground to a halt during the pandemic.Read More
Washington is the latest state to offer prizes to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announcing a series of giveaways that includes lottery drawings totaling $2 million, college tuition assistance, airline tickets and game systems.Read More
For anyone who somehow missed last week’s news, the lieutenant governor made the most of her brief stint as acting governor. With Gov. Brad Little in Nashville, Tenn., for a Republican Governors Association conference, McGeachin issued an executive order rescinding local mask mandates. McGeachin said she wanted to keep kids from being forced to wear a mask — at least in Read More
The Whitman County prosecutor has filed criminal charges against 15 current or former members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Washington State University following the death of a student from alcohol poisoning.Read More
For generations Marcus Whitman has been widely viewed as an iconic figure from early Pacific Northwest history, a venerated Protestant missionary who was among 13 people killed by the Cayuse tribe near modern-day Walla Walla, Washington, in 1847.Read More
Seven apple varieties previously believed to be lost or extinct have been found in eastern Washington, including several on land near the communities of Pullman, Colfax and Moscow.Read More
For the Skagit Valley Chorale in northwest Washington, the return has highlighted a philosophical split within the group. The choir experienced one of the first and most famous superspreader events in the country, at a rehearsal on March 10, 2020.Read More
Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.Read More
Idaho Governor Overturns Mask Ban From His Own Lt. Governor, Calls It ‘Self-Serving Political Stunt’
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Friday issued an executive order repealing a mask mandate prohibition put in place while he was out of the state by the lieutenant governor, describing her actions as a tyrannical abuse of power and an “irresponsible, self-serving political stunt.”Read More
In this Past as Prologue essay, WSU Professor Karen Phoenix explains the history of the shipping container and its Spokane ties. Read More
The university will offer a three-year revenue guarantee to Alaska Airlines, under a contract that could bring back flights between Boise and Pullman, Wash. Under the agreement, approved by the State Board of Education Thursday, the flights could resume as early as Aug. 8.Read More
The Washington state attorney general on Thursday charged two Tacoma police officers with murder and one with manslaughter in the death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who died after repeatedly telling them he couldn’t breathe as he was being restrained.Read More
While acting as governor in Gov. Brad Little’s absence on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin issued an executive order prohibiting mask mandates issued by the state or its “political subdivisions,” including public schools, counties, cities and public health districts. It also extends to state boards, commissions, departments and divisions.Read More
A former sergeant in the Washington State Patrol was stripped of his state peace officer certification on Wednesday over allegations he carried out a sexual affair with a woman while on duty, including two encounters a state hearings panel deemed nonconsensual.Read More
Wildlife advocates are pressing the Biden administration to revive federal protections for gray wolves across the Northern Rockies after Republican lawmakers in Idaho and Montana made it much easier to kill the predators.Read More
The state's new accountability laws might not have happened without the advocacy of people whose family members were killed by police.Read More
Some top agriculture groups are upset with Washington Gov. Inslee because farm workers were not covered in last week’s announcement that fully vaccinated employees do not have to wear a mask or socially distance at work.Read More
Help for Washington renters and homeowners is on the way as the state’s eviction moratorium is set to expire June 30.Read More
Anti-government activist Ammon Bundy is running to be Idaho’s next governor, according to documents filed Friday with the Secretary of State’s office.Read More
An online lending platform called Kabbage sent 378 pandemic loans worth $7 million to fake companies (mostly farms) with names like “Deely Nuts” and “Beefy King.”Read More
Scientists in Idaho this summer plan to remove the 62,000-pound stainless steel lid on one of the world’s most powerful nuclear test reactors for a rare internal overhaul.Read More
Five counties voted in favor of leaving Oregon in Tuesday elections, the latest push by a coalition that wants a large chunk of Oregon to join Idaho instead. That border shift is not likely to happen anytime soon.Read More
Ending months of speculation, Republican Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin officially entered the governor’s race Wednesday. McGeachin’s entry into the gubernatorial race sets up a potential showdown, and clash of ideologies, in the May 2022 GOP primary.Read More
Just about every indicator of drought is flashing red across the western U.S. after a dry winter and warm early spring. The snowpack is at less than half of normal in much of the region. Reservoirs are being drawn down, river levels are dropping and soils are drying out.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the Climate Commitment Act, environmental justice legislation, a clean fuels standard and bills related to reducing Washington’s single-use plastic waste and hydrofluorocarbon pollution.Read More