Deb Haaland, the former Democratic congresswoman, made history Monday by becoming the first indigenous interior secretary. She's promising to begin repairing a legacy of broken treaties and abuses committed by the federal government toward tribes. It's one pillar of a long and ambitious to-do list of reforms the administration is planning at the sprawling agency that is Read More
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While the set-up for the men's teams included a number of power racks with Olympic bars and weights, the women were provided with a set of dumbbells and yoga mats for the three weeks they will be in the tournament bubble. The post created another sort of March Madness.Read More
Although authorities have said it's too early to declare the attack a hate crime, they said the gunman's actions — relying on the suspect's own words — were not racially motivated, but driven by a sex addiction. He confessed to officers that in committing the acts he wanted to "eliminate" a "temptation."Read More
There have been many fine films over the past several years about characters struggling with the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, like Away From Her, Still Alice and the recent Colin Firth/Stanley Tucci drama Supernova. But few of them have gone as deeply and unnervingly into the recesses of a deteriorating mind as The Father, a powerful new chamber drama built Read More
With March Madness getting into full swing this weekend, it's a safe bet that some area fans want to wager on their favored teams in the NCAA basketball tournament. Placing a legal bet on college basketball is virtually impossible in the Pacific Northwest for the time being, though there are changes afoot.Read More
Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, conducted what may be the most extensive investigation yet of the Sackler family, exploring whether they committed crimes or financial improprieties, but the company has kept most of its findings secret.Read More
Without emergency hires, the Moses Lake School District would not have the staffing necessary to comply with the Washington State Department of Health’s reopening guidelines, according to district Superintendent Dr. Joshua Meek. They are essential to the district's reopening, he said.Read More
The conductor Mary Terey-Smith made music history here in the Pacific Northwest, as a result of a political revolution half a world away. This Hungarian-born music talent, student of Kodaly at the legendary Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, hadn’t been out in the working world very long when the 1956 Hungarian Revolution turned her into a refugee.Read More
The increasing number of lawmakers out sick with the coronavirus has legislative leaders in the conservative state worried they may not be able to finish business in a timely fashion.Read More
Asian Americans and their allies are calling for solidarity and a push against discrimination and racist violence after a gunman killed eight people at three Atlanta-area spas Tuesday. Most of the victims were women of Asian descent.Read More
Four people were killed in the shooting at Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, Ga., the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday. They have been identified as Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan and Daoyou Feng. The sole survivor, Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, remains hospitalized with injuries.Read More
LISTEN BY CARRIE JOHNSON Christopher Wray is only the eighth director to lead the FBI — and the only one whose appointment was announced on Twitter. For the past 3 […]Read More
Washington’s eviction moratorium will be extended through June and two million more Washingtonians will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine beginning March 31.Read More
Washington’s improving fiscal picture isn’t an anomaly. A recent New York Times analysis shows that nearly half of states saw their revenues increase from April to December of last year. And many more experienced only slight declines. A key factor was federal aid that allowed even laid off workers to keep spending. Now, more federal money is headed to states from the Read More
Six women of Asian descent are among the dead, raising suspicions of a hate crime. Long claims race did not play a role in his decision to target the businesses, police said, relaying details from questioning the gunman.Read More
The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will spend $10 billion to expand testing for schools, to aid in the president's goal to get schools open once again.Read More
The company that makes Aplets and Cotlets, the famous jellied fruit candy from central Washington, is calling it quits this June. Served up for Christmas and family reunions alike, the gelatinous apple and apricot treat studded with walnuts was famous far beyond Washington’s borders. Read More
At least eight people were killed and several others injured in a series of shootings at three spas in the Atlanta metro region Tuesday. A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with all three shootings, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Read More
Cattle rustling is as old as the West. And a recent $225 million alleged cattle heist involving Easterday Ranches and Tyson Fresh Meats in Washington is one of the largest cases in U.S. history. And that case, like others nowadays, happened on paper, not on the range.Read More
A new report by the U.S. intelligence community on Tuesday says Russia sought to help former President Donald Trump in last year's presidential election. But the document also emphasized there was no indication Russia or any other country attempted to alter actual votes.Read More
Children have now received their first doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, as the company studies the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for kids ages 6 months to less than 12 years old.Read More
The U.S. government had 4,276 unaccompanied migrant children in custody as of Sunday, according to a Department of Homeland Security document obtained by NPR. The children are spending an average of 117 hours in detention facilities, far longer than the 72 hours allowed by law.Read More
This coming Sunday, March 21, will mark one year since the U.S. and Canada closed their shared border to nonessential crossings due to the pandemic. It's anybody's guess when the border might reopen for discretionary trips. In the meantime, every weekend rain or shine, Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington, becomes a happening meetup point for couples and families Read More
Wildlife officials in Washington have said British Columbia and U.S. federal and state agencies will work together to track, trap and eradicate Asian giant hornets in the Pacific Northwest.Read More
The Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriages, no matter how stable or positive the couples' relationships are, the Vatican said on Monday. The message, approved by Pope Francis, came in response to questions about whether the church should reflect the increasing social and legal acceptance of same-sex unions.Read More
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted 10-2 along party lines with both Democratic representatives opposed to advance the measure that’s a reworked version of previous legislation that banned mask mandates at medical facilities. The new bill allows hospitals and other healthcare facilities to require masks.Read More
The Senate voted 51-40 Monday to confirm the Democratic Congresswoman to lead the Interior Department, an agency that will play a crucial role in the Biden administration's ambitious efforts to combat climate change and conserve nature.Read More
Two men have been arrested for allegedly spraying a chemical on Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and two other law enforcement officers, during the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Sicknick died one day later; officials have recently said they're still determining what factors might have led to his death.Read More
As pianist Mahani Teave was poised to launch her international career, she remembered the moment when the first piano arrived on her remote island. It was 1992, she was nine years old and the instrument landed on Rapa Nui, or Easter Island as it was named by Europeans. Best known for its mysterious, sentinel-like stone statues, the island lies some 2000 miles off the coast Read More
This month marks one year since the coronavirus pandemic swiftly upended daily life in the United States. In 2020, March brought about emergency declarations and indefinite school closures, followed by record unemployment claims and dozens of stay-at-home orders. By the end of the month, millions of people were either told to stay inside under lockdown or continue carrying Read More
For advocates of drug policy reform and those in the world of criminal defense, the ruling “was a much-needed nail in the coffin on the war on drugs,” said Ali Hohman, director of legal services at the Washington Defender Association. Meanwhile, many prosecutors, law enforcement officials and lawmakers are nervous about its implications.Read More
The Justice Department says it expects to charge at least 100 more people in connection with the storming of the Capitol, describing the investigation into the deadly attack as one of the biggest in U.S. history.Read More
The Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously on Friday to approve the record settlement, which stems from a federal civil rights suit filed in July against the city and four former police officers over Floyd's fatal arrest.Read More
Smaller, faster-melting snowpack could deplete water supplies, increase wildfire risk and invite invasive species. The Cascades might reach that point earlier.Read More
All public schools in Washington will be required to offer students an in-person learning option starting next month — with school districts having to meet an average of at least 30% weekly in-class instruction by April 19 — under an emergency proclamation Gov. Jay Inslee said he will sign next week.Read More
Salmon survive best when the water is cooler along the coast and warmer farther out. Colder La Niña conditions have also led to higher salmon counts. Right now, that’s exactly what’s happening. But things will likely change over the summer.Read More
BY FRANCO ORDOÑEZ & JOHN BURNETT A record number of migrant children and teenagers are being held in warehouse-like detention facilities run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection near the […]Read More
Residents of the Northwest will have to set their clocks ahead by an hour this weekend to move onto daylight saving time. The Oregon and Washington legislatures voted nearly two years ago to stay on daylight time year-round -- joined later by Idaho and British Columbia -- but still the biannual time change ritual and associated grumbling persists.Read More
President Biden is aiming for the country to begin to find a degree of normalcy and begin to move on from the coronavirus pandemic by the July 4th holiday, Biden announced in his first prime-time address Thursday night from the White House on the one-year anniversary of the pandemic.Read More
It's the news many have been waiting for. Starting March 22, all 39 Washington counties will advance to Phase 3 under a revised COVID-19 reopening plan Gov. Jay Inslee unveiled on Thursday.Read More
A woman who works as an aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the governor aggressively groped her in the governor's official residence late last year, making her at least the sixth woman to accuse him of inappropriate sexual conduct.Read More
This year, state legislators have introduced 35 bills restricting transgender girls and women — that is, girls and women who were not assigned as female at birth — from playing on girls' and women's sports teams, according to LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans. That's up from 29 bills last year and only 2 in 2019.Read More
Jeannie Eylar says Pullman Regional Hospital began vaccinating its more than 500 employees around Christmas. Eylar is the hospital’s chief nursing officer. By mid-January, she says about 50% had received their shots. She and her colleagues set a goal of inoculating 75% by March 1.Read More
Two whistleblowers assert that a Justice Department official improperly injected politics into the hiring process during his waning days in the Trump administration, according to a new filing obtained by NPR.Read More
Deepening polarization is eroding faith in the electoral and democratic process on which our democracy depends. What can we do to cultivate mutual respect, repair damaged relationships, and reweave a civic fabric frayed from years of growing division? Read More
Doctors treating COVID-19 patients early in the pandemic often reached for antibiotics. But those drugs were not helpful in most cases, and overuse of antibiotics is a serious concern.Read More
What more is there to say about Frida Kahlo? She died in 1954 at age 47. By now she's a cottage industry. Her face (that unibrow, the red lips, the scores of self portraits) reproduced on mugs, matchbooks, pandemic masks, of course tote bags.Read More
Washington’s 105-day legislative session has crossed the halfway point and a key deadline for policy (non-budget) bills to clear their chamber of origin has passed. Majority Democrats are moving swiftly to enact a pandemic-era agenda focused on issues like tax reform, police accountability, racial equity and global climate change. Minority Republicans, meanwhile, are Read More
Idaho lawmakers fearing foreign participation in the Powerball lottery killed legislation on Wednesday that would have allowed the game with huge jackpots to continue in the state after a run of more than 30 years.Read More
A new chapter of Merrick Garland's long career in the law has opened after the Senate voted to pave the way for him to serve as attorney general.Read More