You fall in love with a person, but you get a package deal. That's one of the big messages of two new novels that ruminate on love and family, particularly the family that's thrust upon you when you happen to mate with one of their kith or kin.Read More
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WSU's vaccine requirement comes with some major exceptions. Medical and religious exemptions have existed for vaccinations on campus for decades, but this time around, WSU is adding a “personal exemption,” and following that announcement, provided some clarity on exactly what that means.Read More
The gates of Disneyland are opening again Friday, to welcome customers for the first time since the resort was closed at the start of the global pandemic. Only California residents will be allowed to visit, and daily crowd sizes will be limited due to safety protocols.Read More
What the struggle over recognition for WSU's Gay Awareness student group shows is some of the similarities between rural and urban LGBTQ rights. Rural areas — especially college towns like Pullman or Moscow — are also queer places. People in cities who were against gay rights used the same tactic as those in Pullman—the public-referendum—to deny housing or employment 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
Nearly 30 retired state, federal and tribal wildlife managers sent a letter Wednesday to Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little asking him to veto a bill backed by agricultural interests that could cut the state’s wolf population by 90%.Read More
At Hanford, a hazardous concoction of radioactive waste and chemicals sits in World War II and Cold War-era tanks. Now one of those old tanks has a serious leak. Read More
Idaho Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger resigned from the Legislature Thursday. It came several hours after the House Ethics Committee recommended suspension and possible expulsion of the Republican lawmaker from Lewiston amid an investigation into a rape accusation from a 19-year-old staffer.Read More
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it is moving to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, based on the evidence of the addictiveness and harm of the products.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to soon roll back the economic reopening of more counties because of rising coronavirus cases. Reverting to Phase 2 would force businesses, museums and churches to reduce indoor capacity.Read More
"America is on the move again," President Biden said in his first joint address to Congress Wednesday night, remarks given amid the coronavirus pandemic. "Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength."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
Federal investigators in Manhattan executed a search warrant Wednesday at Rudy Giuliani's apartment as part of a probe into the former New York City mayor's activities involving Ukraine, his attorney told NPR.Read More
While some Washingtonians appear eager to get vaccinated and get on with their lives, a new poll reveals even some people who are fully vaccinated remain cautious about getting back to normal.Read More
An astronaut who flew on one of the most famous space missions of all time has died. Michael Collins, 90, was part of the three-member crew on Apollo 11, the first lunar landing mission in 1969. Unlike Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, he never walked on the moon. Collins stayed behind and piloted the command module as it circled above. Because of that, Collins is often Read More
Known as “breakthrough infections,” cases in which people test positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated are extremely rare. Public health experts are anxious that these cases not be blown out of proportion and discourage people from getting vaccinated. Yet they also say it’s critical to track and study these cases, because scientists do not fully understand who Read More
The investigation into Lewiston Republican Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger’s conduct began in March, when the intern told a supervisor that the 38-year-old lawmaker raped her at his apartment after the two had dinner at a restaurant. The Boise Police Department has a criminal investigation underway, and the Legislature’s Ethics Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Read More
The new budget bills still have to pass both houses — and House conservatives have killed three major education bills over social justice and critical race theory concerns. But on Monday, the Senate followed the House’s lead, passing a bill addressing “nondiscrimination” in schools and critical race theory. That nondiscrimination bill, now on its way to Gov. Brad Little’s Read More
As the company weighs its options, two Washington state legislators sent a letter Tuesday to U.S. Congress members in Western states, urging them to find a solution to continue the SuperTanker’s operations, which they described as the “biggest and one of the best weapons in battling the catastrophic fires.”Read More
The CDC says people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask when they're outdoors, unless they're in a crowd, such as attending a live performance, sporting event or parade. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or two weeks after the single dose Johnson & Johnson shot.Read More
The state’s new fuel standards will slowly lower the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses coming out of vehicle tailpipes through 2035. That means cleaner technologies biodiesel or renewable natural gas will get a boost over gasoline and diesel.Read More
Washington public schools with Native American-themed team names or mascots have a decision to make now that Gov. Jay Inslee has signed into law a ban on such symbols. The schools have until year's end to find a new mascot or try to win the blessing of a nearby tribe for continued use under an exception.Read More
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to suspend grants to local law enforcement until he's sure that no federal taxpayer money is funding police departments that engage in discrimination, according to a letter obtained by NPR.Read More
Chloé Zhao has won the Oscar for directing Nomadland, becoming the first woman of color to win the award and the second woman to win (Katheryn Bigelow, was the first). Zhao was also the first woman to get four Oscar nominations in a single year, in the Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture categories.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
The number of wolves in Washington state rose strongly last year, according to an annual report from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife released Friday. The rate of increase was more than double what Oregon reported earlier in the week for its wolf population in 2020.Read More
Hester Ford, who was America's oldest person living, died at her home in Charlotte, N.C., on April 17. Ford was at least 115 years old, though some records say she was possibly 116.Read More
Sage grouse in the Columbia Basin are cut off from others in Oregon and southern Idaho, making them unique in their recovery. In 1998, Washington listed its sage grouse as threatened. They now occupy around 8 percent of their historic range in the state.Read More
A special Pentagon panel is recommending a seismic shift in how the U.S. military handles sexual assault cases, saying independent judge advocates, not commanding officers, should decide whether to pursue legal charges in such cases.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday after the panel voted that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, and its benefits outweigh the known risks.Read More
The state of Washington will beef up security around the governor’s executive residence following a major breach of security on January 6, the same day a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.Read More
Across the Northwest, many Latinx families are facing similar barriers to getting vaccinated and other issues. Adding to the complexity is powerful misinformation on social media and by word-of-mouth, the recent health concerns over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and religious reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Read More
Few among us have tried our luck at competitive ski jumping, and there is no shame in that considering these skiers can reach speeds around 60 mph before they take flight. But there's something riveting about the daring sport even for casual onlookers. The Northwest was once a "hotbed" for Nordic jumping as detailed in a new book and a parallel museum exhibit.Read More
As Washington braces for a fourth wave of coronavirus and spread from a more infectious variant, Gov. Jay Inslee is urging residents to continue to follow health rules, and take the vaccine.Read More
Voters will get the chance to decide whether lawmakers in the part-time Idaho Legislature will be able to call special sessions, a power currently limited to governors.Read More
While the issue has pervaded communities for decades, the pandemic has brought renewed attention to the issue, as groups like Stop AAPI Hate have documented upwards of 3,800 incidents — more than a third of which occurred at businesses.Read More
Peeling paint. Cracked buckets. Employees dragging unsealed bags of medical waste. Procedures ignored. Inadequately trained staff. All of these were problems noted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors at the Emergent BioSolutions factory in Baltimore – a facility that is intended to produce materials for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.Read More
The Washington House has approved a bill to institute a seven percent tax on capital gains over $250,000 from the sale of such things as stocks and bonds. The 52 to 46 vote followed an hours-long debate that spanned two days. Read More
On Wednesday, the Seattle Times reported former Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp filed paperwork to run against incumbent Rep. Dan Newhouse. Along with his fellow Washington Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, Newhouse was among 10 House GOP members who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in January. Read More
With the verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin now in for the murder of George Floyd, attention is turning to Congress and whether lawmakers can meet the growing demand from across the nation for meaningful changes to policing.Read More
The new book World Travel: An Irreverent Guide is credited to Anthony Bourdain. But it was not really written by the bestselling author, chef and TV personality who died in 2018.Read More
Recycling works, but it's not magic. As America continues to lead the world in per capita waste production, it's becoming more and more clear that everybody – manufacturers and consumers — "over-believes" in recycling.Read More
Top Washington state legislators want to put a price on carbon to raise money for transportation projects. But with time running out, they can’t agree on the details.Read More
People would be prohibited from openly carrying guns and other weapons at the Capitol and surrounding grounds and at or near permitted public demonstrations across the state under a measure approved Tuesday by the Washington Legislature.Read More
The Washington Legislature on Tuesday approved a measure requiring police to intervene if they see a fellow officer using, or attempting to use, excessive force.Read More
The jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all the counts he faced over the death of George Floyd. The trial has been one of the most closely watched cases in recent memory, setting off a national reckoning on police violence and systemic racism even before the trial commenced.Read More
The U.S. State Department announced plans to expand travel advisories, urging U.S. citizens to stay home as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose "unprecedented risks" around the globe.Read More
In another sign of the rebound in travel, Amtrak and the state transportation departments of Oregon and Washington announced plans to restore a good chunk of the passenger train service that was curtailed due to low ridership in the pandemic.Read More
Nearly a year after the Washington Legislature voted to legalize sports betting, terms have been agreed for the first sportsbook to open. It will be inside one of the two Tulalip tribal casinos alongside Interstate 5 north of Everett.Read More
Walter Mondale, who was known to his friends as "Fritz," endured a landslide loss when he challenged incumbent President Ronald Reagan in 1984. But his most lasting mark may be left on the vice presidency, an office with little stature until Mondale redefined it while serving as former President Jimmy Carter's influential number two.Read More