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How Inequity Gets Built Into America’s Vaccination System

By NWPB News
People wait in line for the COVID-19 vaccine in Paterson, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Some hospitals around the U.S. are facing complaints about favoritism and line-jumping after their board members and donors received COVID-19 vaccinations or offers for inoculations. CREDIT: Seth Wenig/AP
It’s a fact that simply being eligible for a vaccine in America doesn’t mean that you can instantly get one. Yet the ability to get to the front of the line isn’t the same for everyone. ProPublica has found that, whether intentionally or not, some vaccine programs have been designed with inherent barriers that disadvantage many people who are most at risk of dying from the Read More

Washington State Dems Push For Capital Gains In A Year When ‘Tax’ Doesn’t Seem Like A Bad Word

By Austin Jenkins
The Washington Senate chamber sits empty before the start of the legislative session on January 11, 2021. CREDIT: Austin Jenkins/N3
Even as the state of Washington’s revenue picture improves, majority Democrats in the Legislature appear committed to a course that will, one way or another, involve raising taxes this year. Not necessarily to balance a recession-era budget, but instead to reform a tax code they view as regressive and to address gaps and inequities exposed by the global pandemic.Read More

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Faces Sexual Harassment Allegations From 2nd Former Aide

By NPR News
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during the daily media briefing on July 23, 2020 in New York City. A second former aide from his administration has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment from Cuomo. Jeenah Moon/Getty Images
A second former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment that took place last spring as the state was facing a surge in cases and deaths in its fight against the coronavirus. Cuomo says he will now ask New York's attorney general and the state's chief judge to pick an independent investigator to review the accusations against him.Read More

The Showdown Over Higher Education Funding In Idaho Begins At The Statehouse This Week

By NWPB News
Idaho’s four college and university presidents — Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee, University of Idaho President C. Scott Green, Boise State University President Marlene Tromp and Lewis-Clark State College President Cynthia Pemberton — had discussed a possible tuition freeze since spring. Sami Edge/Idaho Education News.
The big battle will center on the four-year schools: Boise State University, the University of Idaho, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College. After JFAC agrees on a number, the higher ed budget will have to get through the House — where hardline conservatives are poised to continue a fight that began last legislative session. It took three tries to get a Read More

Why We’re Drawn To Billie Holliday’s Story

By NPR News
Singer Billie Holiday records her penultimate album "Lady in Satin" at the Columbia Records studio in New York City, in 1957. CREDIT: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
All the lights in the house would go dark. The wait staff would turn still. The audience, often largely white, would either wait, in discomfort, or leave, knowing what was to come. On stage, a single spotlight illuminated the jazz artist’s face. And then Holiday, the glamorous jazz singer, would end her set with “Strange Fruit,” a song of protest against lynchings. There Read More

When ‘The Big One’ Hits The Northwest, What Could You Do With A Few Seconds Warning?

By Tom Banse
A cracked road from an earthquake
Smartphone users who opted in to a test of the West Coast earthquake early warning system got an early taste on Thursday of what is to come. Mobile phones from Seattle to Olympia blared with an alarm for imaginary incoming shaking. The earthquake warning system -- already operational in California -- will launch for the general public in Oregon on March 11 and statewide in Read More

New Monument At Washington State Capitol Will Honor Black Pioneer George Bush And Family

By Austin Jenkins
Black pioneer George Bush's grandson, left, and son, right, stand next to a fanning mill on the family's farm near present day Tumwater, Washington. A monument to George Bush and his family is planned for Washington's Capitol Campus. CREDIT: Washington State Historical Society
Washington’s sprawling Capitol campus features war memorials, a granite monument to fallen police officers, a replica of a Roman-style fountain and a brass sundial. As soon as this summer a new monument will join the collection. It will honor George Bush, Washington’s first Black pioneer, along with his son, William Owen Bush, who was the state’s first Black lawmaker, and Read More

In Spat With Governor, Idaho Lawmakers Want To Eliminate COVID As ‘Emergency’ In State Law

By NWPB News
Senators watch Gov. Brad Little’s 2021 State of the State address from the floor of the Senate chambers. Because of COVID-19 precautions, Little delivered the address remotely instead of in the traditional joint gathering of the House and Senate chambers. CREDIT: Nik Streng/ Idaho EdNews
Lawmakers are angry that Republican Gov. Brad Little took some of those actions to slow the coronavirus. Those actions included a temporary lockdown starting in March when the virus overwhelmed some hospitals with patients and threatened to do so at others. Hospital workers were also getting sick and said they were in danger of running out of protective equipment.Read More

BOOK REVIEW: In ‘Nubia: Real One,’ Trying To Be A Hero When Society Thinks You’re A Threat

By NPR News
Nubia: Real One book cover
Nubia: Real One doesn't take place on Wonder Woman's home island Themyscira, but somewhere in modern-day America — though a modern-day America in which superheroes are a real thing. And Nubia is not an adult woman warrior who knows who and what she is (as she did when she first appeared in 1973's Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #204), no. This is McKinney's take on Nubia for real.Read More

Washington State Lawmakers May Pass New Wealth Taxes This Year. Here’s A Breakdown

By NWPB News
Washington House representatives listen to testimony,, Jan. 24, 2019, before they unanimously voted to approve a code of conduct for the Legislature. CREDIT: TED S. WARREN/AP
Each of the proposals is different. But for many Democrats, as well as others on the political left, the goal is the same: Make the richest Washingtonians pay for COVID-19 relief programs and other services that would help people who are struggling. Democrats also say the state's current tax system is highly regressive, meaning lower-income people pay a larger share of Read More

Black Women Were Vital To The Black Church. Their Stories Are Explored In New PBS Program

By PBS Newshour
Dated between 1905 and 1915, this photo shows Nannie Helen Burroughs holding a banner that reads, “Banner State Woman’s National Baptist Convention.” Photo courtesy of Library of Congress
In his latest documentary series and book, “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song,” Gates examines the cultural institution within Black communities. He explains how the Black Church has played such a vital role in Black liberation, since its beginnings. And along with viewing the Black church through a critical eye and exploring its origin, the new PBS Read More

Why We Can’t Make Vaccine Doses Any Faster

By NWPB News
An empty syringe on a table at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after a care worker received the COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 16, 2020. CREDIT: Brian van der Brug/AP
Vaccine supply chains are extremely specialized and sensitive, relying on expensive machinery, highly trained staff and finicky ingredients. Manufacturers have run into intermittent shortages of key materials, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office; the combination of surging demand and workforce disruptions from the pandemic has caused delays of four to 12 Read More
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