After Buzzfeed, Gannett and Verizon's media group announced job losses this week, journalists across the country banded together to offer support. Read More
Business & Economy
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
Gasoline prices have been dropping steadily for months; they're averaging right around $2.25 per gallon nationally. Enjoy, but don't get used to them, analysts say.Read More
The economy added 312,000 jobs in December — topping analysts' expectations of 180,000 jobs added. Unemployment climbed as more people felt confident enough to quit their jobs and look for new ones.Read More
There are already federal and state laws that try to shrink the pay gap among genders. But this new Oregon state law expands gender protections to include things like race, religion, marital status or age.Read More
The cost of lift tickets at Mt. Hood Meadows in Oregon will rise and fall daily based on demand. What the ski industry calls "dynamic pricing" was pioneered by major resorts in Colorado, Utah and California. It has been slow to spread to the Northwest.Read More
A pipeline explosion in British Columbia risks cutting off the flow of Canadian natural gas to Washington, and companies are urging customers to conserve.Read More
Construction begins soon in eastern Oregon for the first commercial-scale "torrefaction" facility in the country. If you don't know what that word means, you're in good company. But the process itself isn't all that exotic. Think of how your coffee beans get crispy.Read More
The jobless rate last month was the lowest since 1969, though the economy added a less-than-expected 134,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Wage growth slowed to a 2.8 percent rate. Read More
Does the neighborhood you grow up in determine how far you move up the economic ladder? A new online data tool being made public Monday finds a strong correlation between where people are raised and their chances of achieving the American dream.Read More
Dairy workers and members of the United Farm Workers union boarded a coach bus on their way to Seattle this week. It’s all for the start of a five-day fast to bring awareness to their Darigold Dozen campaign against the Ruby Ridge Dairy near Pasco. Read More
Some winemakers are calling it the “beerification” of wine. Many Northwest winemakers are trying to make wine a little less fussy by putting it in aluminum cans.Read More
U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to reduce operating hours at a border crossing between Danville, and Grand Forks, British Columbia, and residents in Ferry County, Washington aren’t pleased. Read More
The Supreme Court ruled June 21 that states can collect state sales taxes from online retailers on consumer purchases. The decision overruled a decades-old precedent that had protected out-of-state sellers from being required to collect such taxes.Read More
Renewable energy developers are showing interest in converting public grazing lands in sunny central Washington into large solar farms. The state Department of Natural Resources says around 15 companies have expressed interest in long-term leases of public rangeland properties, primarily in Klickitat County but also in Yakima, Grant, Douglas and Kittitas counties.Read More
So how do you convince a Chinese customer to pay a bit extra for already-expensive fresh Northwest cherries this summer?Read More
In the wake of the Me Too movement, a sexual harassment and retaliation case at a large fruit company brings the issue closer to home in Wenatchee. Stemilt Growers, a leader in Washington’s apple and cherry industry, has agreed to pay nearly $100,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former employee.Read More
New tariffs on exports to China could have a big impact on Washington state. Tariffs went into effect Monday on 128 American products, including fruit, pork and metal pipes, in retaliation for proposed U.S. tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.Read More
Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation say they’ve revived funding for an expired federal aid program that provided money to rural counties whose economies relied heavily on federal timber harvesting.Read More
Washington lawmakers vowed to protect net neutrality after the Federal Communications Commission rolled back the Obama-era regulations. Now that effort is making progress.Read More
The Dow rebounded Friday, closing up more than 300 points. But the index lost about 5 percent for the week as the markets focused on inflation and ballooning government debt.Read More
Uber and Lyft drivers may soon have to undergo tougher background checks in Washington state. Lawmakers are considering a proposal that would require drivers to pass a fingerprint background check before being allowed to operate.Read More
The slow-moving landslide on Rattlesnake Ridge in Washington's Yakima Valley points to a larger problem plaguing the region: affordable housing. When residents were told to move away from their homes in the slide area, there were few places to go.Read More
A regulatory snafu in Washington has industrial hemp farmers in limbo over planting a crop in 2018. Some of them are looking to shift acreage to Oregon.Read More
As the Pacific Northwest economy booms, it’s using a lot of concrete to build buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Making all that concrete is a big part of our carbon footprint, and it all comes from one plant: Ash Grove in south Seattle. Read More
The James Beard Foundation recently announced five nationwide winners of its prestigious awards in the America’s Classics category. One is right here in the Northwest, tucked away in the hills of Central Washington. The tamales are, well, award-winning (and delicious).Read More
A quartet of companies from the Seattle area have raised tens of millions of dollars by tapping into a hot tech trend: virtual currency and digital coins. These token sales are largely unregulated and are sparking increasingly frequent government warnings.Read More
Oregon is suing the agro-chemical company Monsanto to help clean up toxic chemicals in the environment. The Attorney General’s Office filed suit last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.Read More
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is following the lead of American Airlines, Southwest and dozens of other large companies in awarding $1,000 bonuses to its workers tied to the recent Republican-led tax cut.Read More
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded federal marijuana guidelines this week. Washington state officials are calling the Trump administration's decision "backwards" and "disappointing." Read More
County governments are pushing back against Washington state over who should pay for certain services. The counties are upset the state has imposed a number of requirements on county government without additional funding. Read More
Advocates for single-payer health care in the U.S. often look to Canada as a model. But some American doctors practicing there wonder whether the U.S. is ready to call health care a right. Read More
