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Business & Economy

Welcome To…Tac-Oly? Hunt Is On For Additional Commercial Airport To Serve Puget Sound Region

By Tom Banse October 30, 2019

The hunt is on for a second major airport to serve Western Washington after Sea-Tac Airport reaches capacity. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3

As many travelers can attest, phenomenal growth at Sea-Tac Airport is pushing against the physical limits of the terminal and airfield. That is why Washington state legislators earlier this year voted to create a siting commission to get the ball rolling on building a new primary airport.Read More

Come For The Fright, Stay For The Community: Haunted Palouse Connects People To Shared Place

By Anna King October 24, 2019

From left, Elena Flansburg, Morgan Lentz, Saralynn De La Cruz, enjoy scaring patrons of Haunted Palouse. CREDIT: Anna King/N3

In Palouse, Wash., farmers, university professors, retirees, conservatives and liberals all work side-by-side to build disturbing sets. “Just talking about our everyday lives at the end of the day, when we're done building for the day,” one volunteers said. “It’s probably brought me a lot closer to with people that I probably wouldn’t have interacted this close with here Read More

Amazon To Expand Data Centers In Northeastern Oregon, Reaping More Tax Breaks

By Tom Banse October 23, 2019

This Amazon data center site outside Boardman is one of seven operating or planned complexes in northeastern Oregon.

Amazon’s ever-expanding footprint in Seattle — and the polarizing growing pains that accompany it — contrasts what’s currently happening in northeastern Oregon.Read More

What Does It Take To Get A New Apple Variety To Market? A Lot. And Cosmic Crisp Shows It

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa October 22, 2019

Even after 20 years of development, there’s still more research to be done on Cosmic Crisp, particularly around ‘green spot,’ pictured above, a cosmetic defect whose causes are not entirely understood by horticulturalist but are likely caused by a calcium deficiency, according to WSU researchers. CREDIT: Enrique Pérez de la Rosa/NWPB

After more than 20 years of development by the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research Commission, the Cosmic Crisp is ready to come to hit store shelves. The goal of new variety is to be attractive to consumers, easy to grow and easy to store over a long period of time.Read More

Idaho Lawmakers Consider Changes To Property Tax And Allocation Ahead Of 2020 Legislative Session

By NWPB News October 21, 2019

File photo. The Idaho statehouse in Boise. CREDIT: Keith Ridler/AP

A panel of lawmakers is examining property tax options amid complaints that taxes are going up with rising property values, while also hearing on Monday concerns from cities and counties that they’re operating on tight budgets.Read More

Prepping For ‘The Big One’: Coastal Hospitals Get Creative With Disaster Planning

By Tom Banse October 17, 2019

Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital facilities director Chris Lemar shows flexible piping designed to withstand earthquake shaking in the new hospital. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3

The state of Oregon is pushing the community hospitals along the Oregon Coast to improve their earthquake resilience. This comes after a state report predicted none of them would be able to sustain operations after the feared Big One -- a magnitude 9 offshore Cascadia earthquake and tsunami.Read More

Those On Social Security Will Get Less Than 2 Percent Cost-Of-Living Increase In 2020

By NWPB News October 14, 2019

The increase amounts to $24 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Thursday by the Social Security Administration. Following a significant boost this year, the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2020 reverts to its pattern of moderate gains.Read More

President Trump Announces Phase One Of Trade Deal With China

By NPR News October 13, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office at the White House October 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced a 'phase one' partial trade deal with China. Win McNamee/Getty Images

As part of the deal, the next round of 30% tariffs will not be imposed. More agriculture trade between the two countries is expected. Read More

U.S. Employers Add 136,000 Jobs; Unemployment Dips To 3.5 Percent

By NPR News October 4, 2019

A worker assembles an industrial valve at Emerson Electric Co.'s factory in Marshalltown, Iowa. The manufacturing sector has seen a slowdown amid the ongoing trade war. CREDIT: Tim Aeppel/Reuters

An index of manufacturing activity released on Tuesday showed the factory sector contracting for the second consecutive month. Factories shed 2,000 jobs in September.Read More

Critical Columbia River Lock To Reopen For Barge Traffic As Northwest Wheat Harvest Finishes Up

By NWPB News September 27, 2019

This Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019 photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows a boat lock on the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River that connects Oregon and Washington at Cascade Locks., Ore. A critical lock has shut down for repairs, meaning barges that shuttle millions of tons of wheat, wood and other inland goods to the Pacific Ocean for transport to Asia can't move. CREDIT: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Twitter

A critical navigation lock on the lower Columbia River is expected to reopen this weekend, between 10 PM Friday and 10 AM Saturday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Read More

1.3 Million More Workers May Be Eligible For Overtime Pay. But There’s A Catch

By NPR News September 24, 2019

A long-awaited update to federal overtime rules means about 1.3 million workers will be entitled to extra pay when they work more than 40 hours a week. But critics say it doesn't go far enough.Read More

Shopping Cart Economics: How Prices Changed At A Walmart In 1 Year

By NPR News September 16, 2019

Products that have changed in price from August 2018 to August 2019.

Since August 2018, NPR has been tracking about 80 items sold at a Georgia Walmart with an eye toward products caught in the trade war. On average, prices rose 3%. Tariffs are one of many factors.Read More

Oil Prices Jump Following Drone Attack On Saudi Oil Facilities

By NPR News September 16, 2019

This image provided on Sunday by the U.S. government and DigitalGlobe and annotated by the source, shows a prestrike overview at Saudi Aramco's Khurais oil field in Buqayq, Saudi Arabia. U.S. government/Digital Globe via AP

It's the largest one-day surge in crude prices in years. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes, but the U.S. says Iran played a key role. Iran denies involvement.Read More

Bonneville Dam Lock Closure Stops Inland Grain Exports To Global Markets

By Anna King September 9, 2019

The Northwest’s soft white wheat harvest is in full swing, but that grain is going nowhere fast. That’s because of an emergency repair to a lock at Bonneville Dam on the Lower Columbia River.Read More

Trump Administration Challenges California And Automakers On Fuel Economy

By NPR News September 7, 2019

Ford Motor Co., BMW, Honda and Volkswagen received letters from the Justice Department about a deal they entered with California earlier this year for reducing vehicle emissions. Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Trump administration says only the federal government can set tailpipe emissions standards. It's the latest move in a months long standoff over efforts to weaken a key Obama-era climate rule.Read More

Google, YouTube To Pay $170 Million Penalty Over Collecting Kids’ Personal Info

By NPR News September 4, 2019

Google and its YouTube subsidiary are settling allegations that YouTube collected personal information from children without their parents' consent, the Federal Trade Commission said.Read More

5 Years In, Washington Regulators Considering Changes To Legal Marijuana Rules

By NWPB News August 27, 2019

Medical marijuana is dispensed in Takoma Park, D.C. in 2014. CREDIT: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/WASHINGTON POST

Five years after Washington launched its pioneering legal marijuana market, officials are proposing an overhaul of the state's industry rules, with plans for boosting minority ownership of pot businesses, paving the way for home deliveries of medical cannabis and letting the smallest growers increase the size of their operations to become more competitive.Read More

Northwest Grocery Store Workers Vote To Approve Strike If Wage Negotiations Collapse

By NWPB News August 26, 2019

Fred Meyer in Hillsboro, Oregon. CREDIT: STEVE MORGAN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Grocery workers from across Oregon and southwest Washington have voted to approve a strike if negotiations with four of the region’s largest supermarket chains deadlock.Read More

‘You Have To Remain An Optimist.’ Northwest Farmers Wrap Wheat Harvest As Prices Depress

By Anna King August 20, 2019

Roger Hsieh and Daniel Berg walk toward a pickup truck in the Horse Heave Hills of south central Washington during wheat harvest this year. CREDIT: NICOLE BERG

Right now, Northwest wheat farmers are wrapping up their harvest in many areas. But across the country, farmers are losing money on every load of that golden grain. Read More

Stock Markets Take Another Hit As The Trade War With China Heats Up

By NPR News August 5, 2019

U.S. stocks nosedived Monday as China's currency fell sharply and raised fears that the U.S.-China trade war would keep escalating. CREDIT: Richard Drew/AP

World stock markets saw sharp sell-offs after China let its currency slide, the latest move in its trade war with the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 767 points, or 2.9%.Read More

Retailers Warn: Get Ready For Higher Prices If New Tariffs Hit Goods From China

By NPR News August 4, 2019

Retailers predict rising prices if President Trump goes through with his threat to add new tariffs to Chinese imports. Meanwhile, the White House announced a deal to boost beef exports.Read More

With Jobs Numbers Like These, It’s Hard To See Why The Economy Is Slowing

By NPR News August 3, 2019

A construction worker lays down shingles on the roof of a new house in Brandon, Miss., on June 19. Construction jobs rose 4,000 in July — below the 18,000 added in June and the 19,000 added in July 2018.CREDIT: Rogelio V. Solis/AP

The U.S. economy is slowing down, but it keeps creating jobs at a healthy pace. Employers added 164,000 jobs last month — as analysts had projected — and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%.Read More

What’s The Toll Of Childhood Cancer? 11 Million Years Of Human Potential Every Year, Study Says

By PBS Newshour July 31, 2019

Four-year-old Niuniu, who has late-stage neuroblastoma, a malignant cancer of the nervous system, sits on a bench while his mother pays his medical bills after getting tested for his fifth round of chemotherapy at Shanghai Children's Hospital in 2013. CREDIT: ALY SONG/REUTERS

What does the world lose when a child gets cancer? Out of 2.2 billion children worldwide, more than 416,500 children are diagnosed and 142,300 are estimated to die from the disease each year. Now researchers have calculated the impact in more defined terms. Childhood cancer’s toll amounts to a total of more than 11 million lost healthy years each year.Read More

Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates For 1st Time Since 2008

By NPR News July 31, 2019

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell has been under pressure from President Trump to cut interest rates. CREDIT: Patrick Semansky/AP

The quarter-point cut signals growing concern at the Federal Reserve about a slowdown in the economy amid the trade war with China. The Fed last cut rates in 2008 and raised them as late as December.Read More

Seattle Woman Charged In Capital One Data Breach Exposing Over 100 Million Customers

By NPR News July 30, 2019

Capitol One, the country's seventh-largest bank, says information was taken from a hack of credit card applications submitted over a 14-year period. CREDIT: Jeff Chiu/AP

Authorities in Seattle have charged Paige A. Thompson, who also goes by the handle "erratic," with a single count of computer fraud. She appeared in court on Monday and is scheduled for a detention hearing on Thursday.Read More

Economists Say Federal Government Is Over-Paying Farmers For Trade Losses

By NPR News July 25, 2019

A worker at the port in Nantong, in China's eastern Jiangsu province, displays soybeans imported from Ukraine. Imports of soybeans from the U.S., once China's biggest supplier, have dropped massively since a trade war between the US and China began in 2018. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Lots of American companies have lost sales since the Trump administration and China embarked on the current cycle of tariff-raising and retaliation. Few, if any, have been compensated as handsomely as farmers.Read More

Boeing May Temporarily Halt 737 Max Production In Wake Of Fleet’s Grounding

By NWPB News July 24, 2019

Boeing 737 Max jets are now being flown to the spacious airport in Moses Lake, Washington, for storage. PAUL WEATHERMAN / BOEING

Boeing's CEO says the company will consider temporarily shutting down production of the 737 Max if the plane's return is significantly delayed beyond the company's October forecast.Read More

Equifax To Pay Up To $700 Million In Data Breach Settlement

By NPR News July 22, 2019

Equifax will pay up to $700 million in a proposed settlement over its 2017 data breach. CREDIT:: Mike Stewart/AP

The credit reporting agency will pay up to $700 million in fines and monetary relief to consumers over a 2017 data breach that affected nearly 150 million people.Read More

What Washington Can’t Tax, Oregon Might

By NWPB News July 6, 2019

Dan’s Tractor Inc. owner Skip Ogden stands at the counter of his southwestern Washington store. CREDIT: Kate Davidson/OPB

On July 1, Washington stopped letting Oregon shoppers skip paying sales tax at the register, with a few exceptions. Some businesses in southwestern Washington fear the change will drive away Oregon customers who won’t want to cross the river to shop when there is no sales tax at home.Read More

Rural Homelessness Is Very Real — But Harder To See And Help

By NPR News July 4, 2019

Homeless residents often live outdoors in tents in rural Kentucky. Rarely pitched out in the open, like this one in Lexington, most are hidden in thick bushes of wooded areas. CREDIT: Mary Meehan/WEKU

Homelessness is often considered an urban phenomenon. But those who work on homeless issues say rural homelessness is a growing problem, too. That's true across the state and across the country. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reported in May that one in three rural Americans say homelessness is a problem in their Read More

Hot Potato! The Science Of Getting Delivery French Fries Right Is Being Honed In Washington

By Anna King July 1, 2019

Food delivery driver Crystal Begallia delivers McDonald’s fries and cheeseburgers to Anna King’s door for a public radio experiment.

Home-delivered fast food is a booming global business, but when it comes to French fries, there’s a hitch. They often get soggy on the ride. So now, top fry-makers are racing to perfect a crispy fry that can survive a 15-minute ride with a food delivery service. Companies right here in the Northwest are frying up a crisp solution to this soggy situation.Read More

A Yield Curve Inversion Just Happened. It’s Done So Before The Last 7 U.S. Recessions

By NPR News July 1, 2019

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange. An economic indicator known as the "yield curve inversion" hit the three-month mark, which has preceded the past 7 U.S. recessions. Richard Drew/AP

An inauspicious milestone was achieved on Sunday: the yield curve remained inverted for three months, which has for almost half a century preceded economic recessions.Read More

1st-Time Homebuyers Are Getting Squeezed Out By Investors

By NPR News June 22, 2019

As investors play a growing role in the housing market, many first-time buyers are having a hard time finding a home. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

Last year, investors accounted for 1 in 5 starter-priced homes, according to data released by CoreLogic on Thursday. The rate of investor purchases of starter homes has been rising and has nearly doubled since 1999.Read More

New Report Says College-Educated Women Will Soon Make Up Majority Of U.S. Labor Force

By NPR News June 20, 2019

In this photo, women fill out job applications at a JobNewsUSA job fair in Miami Lakes, Fla. Lynne Sladky/AP

This year U.S. women who graduated from college will likely make up a majority of adults with degrees in the labor force. The increase could signal greater earning potential for women in the future.Read More

Why The American-Made Shoe Disappeared, And Why It’s So Hard To Bring Back

By NPR News June 19, 2019

Footwear companies face big costs in potential new tariffs on more Chinese imports. Almost all shoes sold in the U.S. are made overseas. Only about 200 factories remain. One man tried to change that.Read More

Cracking The Tab On Summer: Northwest Wine Brands Increasingly Pour Into Cans

By Anna King June 10, 2019

Pallets of 14 Hands canned wines are ready to ship at Columbia Crest winery near Paterson, Wash.

Just in the last year, the wine-in-can category has grown by more than 100 percent across the nation, measured by volume of units sold. The third largest winery in the nation is Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, based in Woodinville, Wash. Now, it’s pouring huge amounts of juice into aluminum cans under its 14 Hands brand. Read More

Apple Capital And Jewel Of Columbia? Hydropower Deal Clears Way For Wenatchee Diamond Making

By Tom Banse June 6, 2019

Lab-created diamonds produced by Diamond Foundry

When you think of made-in-the-Northwest products, diamonds are probably not on your list. But soon, they could be. A contract signed Thursday for Columbia River hydropower clears the way for a foundry to make lab-created diamonds in Wenatchee.Read More

Washington May Extends Overtime Rules To Thousands Of Previously Exempt Workers

By Paige Browning June 6, 2019

Isaiah McDaniel bags groceries into a customer's cloth bags at PCC Natural Market Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008, in Seattle. CREDIT: ELAINE THOMPSON/AP

A sweeping proposal by the state Department of Labor and Industries could grant overtime pay to thousands more workers in Washington. Currently, workers are guaranteed overtime pay if their salary is under $24,000 a year. The proposal would gradually raise that threshold to about $80,000 by 2026.Read More

President Trump Announces New Tariffs On Mexico To Force Cooperation On Illegal Immigration

By NPR News May 30, 2019

President Trump has announced plans to impose escalating tariffs on goods imported from Mexico in an attempt to stop migrants from entering the U.S. over the southern border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection released this photo, taken on Wednesday at El Paso, Texas. CREDIT: AP

President Trump announced that he will begin imposing tariffs on all goods imported from Mexico beginning June 10 unless that country does more to help reduce illegal immigration from Central America.Read More

Oregon Has A Big Oversupply Of Legal Marijuana. Now It’s Curbing Production

By NWPB News May 30, 2019

In this Feb. 7, 2019, file photo, a bud tender shows a top cannabis strain at Serra, a dispensary in Portland, Ore. In an attempt to reduce the marijuana inventory in Oregon, the state is moving toward allowing the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to refuse to issue initial marijuana production licenses, based on supply and demand. CREDIT: RICHARD VOGEL/AP

Oregon is awash in pot, glutted with so much legal weed that if growing were to stop today, it could take more than six years by one estimate to smoke or eat it all. Now, the state is looking to curb production.Read More

U.S. Prepares Tariffs On Additional $300B Of Imported Chinese Goods

By NPR News May 14, 2019

The new U.S. tariffs list includes staples such as rice, along with clocks, watches and other items that weren't previously under threat of new duties. Here, farmers plant rice seeds at a seedlings pool in China's Jiangsu province. Xu Jingbai/VCG via Getty Images

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published a list of Chinese goods that would be hit with new duties, from artists' brushes to watches.Read More

Who Would Pay For President Trump’s New Tariff Hike?

By PBS Newshour May 9, 2019

A new round of tariff possibilities between the U.S. and China could have trickle down consequences to consumers and businesses. CREDIT: Petar Kujundzic/Reuters

If the Trump administration follows through with its plan to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports at midnight Friday, it would likely hurt not only China’s economy but American consumers and businesses, too.Read More

Teachers Begin To See Unfair Student Loans Disappear

By NPR News May 3, 2019

The Department of Education is expanding a fix to its troubled TEACH Grant program, giving millions of dollars of grant money back to public school teachers working in the country's neediest schools.Read More

Washington Lawmakers Revive Tax Break For Electric Vehicle Buyers

By Tom Banse April 30, 2019

Washington legislators revived a lapsed tax incentives for electric car purchases, effective August 1, 2019. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / NW NEWS NETWORK

In their last minute dash to adjournment Sunday, Washington state legislators revived a lapsed sales tax break for buyers of electric cars. The resurrected incentive will be similar in value to a publicly-funded rebate for battery-powered cars that Oregon now offers. A valuable tax break for buyers of fully-electric and plug-in hybrid cars in Washington expired last May.Read More

FAA Certifies Google’s Wing Drone Delivery Company To Operate As An Airline

By NPR News April 24, 2019

The Wing company, a Google spinoff, has won federal approval to operate its drone delivery system as an airline in the U.S. Wing

Wing's drones are made to deliver a wide range of items — including coffee, chocolate and burritos — from local merchants to their customers. Read More

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan Joins 2020 Race With A Populist Pitch To Blue-Collar Voters

By NPR News April 4, 2019

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, delivers remarks on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention in 2016. He is now launching his own campaign for president in 2020. CREDIT: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Democrat announced his decision on ABC's The View, saying he is running to be a champion for manufacturing in a country that has been fractured by trade and outsourcing. Read More

President Trump Seeks More Border Wall Funding In 2020 Budget Proposal

By NPR News March 11, 2019

The House Budget Committee displays copies of President Trump's new budget proposal on Capitol Hill on Monday morning. Presidential budget proposals are typically political documents, with Congress taking the lead to set federal spending levels. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump's 2020 budget proposal, released on Monday, calls for $8.6 billion in new border wall funding, along with increased military spending and deep cuts to domestic programs.Read More

Incentives For Electric Car Buyers? Yes In Oregon, Maybe In Washington

By Tom Banse March 7, 2019

Electric cars parked at the Washington State Capitol. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / N3

Democrats in the Washington Legislature want to revive a tax break for buyers of electric cars, which critics view as wasteful and unnecessary. Meanwhile, a publicly-financed rebate for battery-powered cars in Oregon is finding thousands of takers.Read More

Journalists Raise Money, Post Jobs And Buy Beers For Peers After A Week Of Layoffs

By Scott Leadingham January 26, 2019

After Buzzfeed, Gannett and Verizon's media group announced job losses this week, journalists across the country banded together to offer support. Read More

If This Bill Passes, Low-Income Washington Families Could Get A Sales Tax Refund

By Paige Browning January 25, 2019

Democratic Representative Debra Entenman of Kent speaks in the House of Representatives to honor Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on January 21, 2019. CREDIT: WASHINGTON STATE HOUSE DEMOCRATS »

A new bill in the state legislature would ease the tax burden on working families by giving a chunk of sales tax money back to them.Read More