Budget cuts + rising pandemic costs + zero federal relief = a school funding crisis. Back in May, school funding experts predicted a looming financial disaster for the nation's K-12 schools.Read More
Northwest News
The state Agriculture Department had spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking devices to Asian giant hornets, which can deliver painful stings to people and spit venom but are the biggest threat to honeybees that farmers depend on to pollinate crops.Read More
The fight over salmon and dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers could be headed back to the courtroom. Conservation and fishing groups say the federal government’s newest plans to manage dams and protect salmon is inadequate. Now, they’re ready to sue.Read More
State and local election officials in Washington said Thursday that election systems here are secure and haven’t been hacked. Those assurances follow multiple reports in recent days of efforts by foreign actors to interfere with the upcoming national election.Read More
The two Puget Sound-region Democrats running to be Washington’s next lieutenant governor had the chance to distinguish themselves in a statewide debate Thursday night. Washington’s election system advances the top-two vote getters from the primary to the general election. Read More
State elections officials said Idahoans should not worry about the security of their ballot if they vote absentee. Idaho has used the same basic absentee voting procedures since 1972. So the process is not new to elections officials, even though they are expecting a significant increase in absentee ballots due to the pandemic.Read More
In a year that seems all about the presidential election, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening down the ballot. In Washington, all nine statewide elected positions are up this year. But some of the fiercest action, and biggest spending, is happening in state legislative races.Read More
How the world’s greatest public health organization was brought to its knees by a virus, the president and the capitulation of its own leaders, causing damage that could last much longer than the coronavirus.Read More
Many homeowners who lost everything in a wildfire had no idea they were at risk. Only two states require disclosing wildfire risk to buyers in the house hunting process.Read More
Since 2011, Washington has been an all vote-by-mail state. This year, ballots will be mailed out no later than October 16. They must be returned to an official ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on Election Day or postmarked by that day. Election officials recommend voters use one of the nearly 500 official ballot drop boxes or voter centers statewide. Read More
The governor issued more restrictions on Tuesday, Oct. 20, for higher education campuses. It comes as the University of Washington struggles to contain an outbreak among its fraternities and sororities. There have been outbreaks in Whitman County, home of Washington State University, as well. Whitman County announced three more COVID-19 deaths Tuesday. The county had not Read More
Two new peer-reviewed studies are showing a sharp drop in mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drop is seen in all groups, including older patients and those with underlying conditions, suggesting that physicians are getting better at helping patients survive their illness.Read More
All told, the U of I reported fall enrollment of 10,791, a 9.5 percent decrease. But in a Tuesday news release, the university said the decrease was “reasonable,” given students’ reluctance to enroll or return to campus during the pandemic. The U of I reopened in August with a blend of face-to-face and online learning, and has continued face-to-face learning despite Read More
If there was a meme for this race, it would be Jay Inslee wearing a face mask next to an image of Loren Culp without a mask. While Inslee has been evangelizing about masks, Culp has been holding mostly maskless outdoor rallies across the state. Those rallies are a symbol of the defiant nature of Culp’s campaign and his live-and-let-live political philosophy.Read More
Bill Blair, Canada's public safety minister, tweeted on Monday, "We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until November 21st, 2020. Our decisions will continue to be based on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe."Read More
Like most colleges, the University of Idaho in Moscow is dealing with how to control rising coronavirus cases around campus. Recent cases connected to the University’s Greek system have made the school push for more testing. Unlike nearby Washington State University in Pullman, the UI has a hybrid in-person and virtual model this fall semester.Read More
Researchers in Washington have lost track of an Asian giant hornet they were following — a stinging setback in the pursuit to eradicate an invasive species that threatens to decimate North American bee populations.Read More
A majority of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, men and women from across the country, of all ages and races, are expecting some or many attempts to block people from voting, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, conducted less than a month before Election Day. In November 2016, 57 percent of registered voters anticipated attempts to thwart voting; that Read More
The justices will hear oral arguments Nov. 30, increasing the potential for Trump to try to omit unauthorized immigrants from the census numbers used to reallocate House seats during his current term.Read More
Tens of thousands of Americans die every year from gun suicide, and some of hardest-hit areas spend the least on prevention. In the Idaho Panhandle, some small-town residents are stepping in where the government has failed.Read More
For more than half a century, Republicans have had a lock on Washington’s Secretary of State’s office. This year, Democrats hope to end that five decade run by unseating incumbent Kim Wyman who’s seeking a third term.Read More
At around 18,000 members, the Okanogan Highlands Fire Watch group continues to provide what members call valuable and lifesaving information. People post evacuation notices, fire maps and recovery resources throughout fire season. Daniel Pratt started the group in 2015 during another particularly bad fire season for Okanogan County.Read More
On Thursday, the state Supreme Court struck down Initiative 976, a measure Washington voters approved last November to reduce the cost of annual vehicle licensing fees. The measure has been on hold for nearly a year as legal challenges worked their way through the court system.Read More
Reinoehl, 48, died in the street from gunshot wounds to his head and torso. The shots were fired by two Pierce County sheriff’s deputies, a Lakewood police officer and a Washington State Department of Corrections employee — all deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service and serving on a Tacoma-based fugitive task force, a common and standard procedure among local-federal Read More
New data from the CDC show more than 19,000 Americans died from drug overdoses during the first three months of 2020 with the country on pace to set a grim new record.Read More
Larry Clott helped to lay the foundation for disabilities rights in the United States. He spoke with his daughter about a car accident that made him a quadriplegic, and how he came to fight for disability rights in this episode of StoryCorps Northwest, recorded virtually.Read More
The nomination has become a political lightning rod as Democrats charge that Republicans are rushing it to get Barrett confirmed before the Nov. 3 election. Democrats say the seat should be filled by the next president.Read More
The coronavirus pandemic and a controversial sex education mandate are casting a shadow over the race for Washington state education chief in the November election.Read More
The groups, often at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to dams and hydropower, say climate change has created a need to hear each other out. Even when it comes to tough issues. Read More
In a statement Tuesday to the public radio Northwest News Network and the Associated Press, the executive director of the lieutenant governor's office, Kristina Brown, said Democrat Cyrus Habib began his leave on Sept. 1 and notified both Inslee and Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig at that time.Read More
No more Washington counties will be in Phase 1 of the state’s four-phase reopening plan. Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday that Chelan, Douglas, Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties could advance to Phase 2.Read More
Nathan Apodaca, from Idaho, got on his longboard to get to work. He rode right into social media stardom while lip syncing to Fleetwood Mac and drinking cran-raspberry juice. Now Northwest berry producers are singing a happy tune.Read More
The Senate Judiciary Committee begins its second day of hearings Tuesday on President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Barrett, 48, would replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the high court.Read More
The book is called “Journey of the Freckled Indian.” It tells the story of a young girl called Freckles who gets bullied by her classmates after sharing that she’s Native American. Author Alyssa London says it’s loosely based on her experience growing up in Bothell and sharing her Tlingit heritage in a show and tell.Read More
A study on judicial diversity, which ended in July 2020, shows that Trump-appointed judges are 85% white and 76% men – the least diverse group of federal judges seen since Ronald Reagan.Read More
Nathan Apodaca, 37, of Idaho Falls, recorded a laid-back video while riding a skateboard downhill and drinking Cran-Raspberry juice. The Internet went wild and streamed Fleetwood Mac.Read More
Conservation groups are vowing to again challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s decision not to add wolverines to the Endangered Species List. There are likely fewer than 300 wolverines across its habitat across the Mountain West, which includes populations in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, where 90 percent of their habitat is on federally managed lands and wilderness areas.Read More
The Kennewick Irrigation District, or KID, wants to flood 400 acres of land for a new reservoir. It’d take at least eight to 10 years to design, permit and build. A project on this scale hasn’t been built in the Yakima Basin since the 1930’s. And this 65-acre pumpkin farm is in the way. Read More
Malden is a tiny farming town amidst eastern Washington's "oceans of wheat fields" in Whitman County. Or it was. The 2020 wildfire season is a grim reminder that disasters unfairly hit the poor and the elderly. Thousands of people on the West Coast still lack even temporary housing.Read More
ICYMI: Stream the night three of our four debates for races that impact the Benton Franklin Counties. #NWPBVote2020Read More
The governor said in a news conference Wednesday that he’s concerned about housing insecurity during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Read More
Larry Clott discusses his car accident and how he felt about his nurse in this StoryCorps Northwest episode. It originally aired on NWPB’s Morning Edition on Oct. 7, 2020. It was recorded as part of NWPB’s 2020 partnership with StoryCorps.Read More
Washington voters got their first glimpse of how the two candidates for Washington governor feel about the same issues at the same time. Two-term Gov. Jay Inslee met with his Republican challenger, Republic police chief Loren Culp, Wednesday night for a one-hour debate.Read More
Washington state libraries, theaters and some youth sports will now have fewer restrictions during certain stages of re-opening. It’s part of Gov. Jay Inslee’s revised plan announced Tuesday afternoon.Read More
hite House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday that he and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are discussing potential stand-alone bills for aid to airlines, small businesses and Americans. He said the Trump administration was "still willing to be engaged" on piecemeal aid bills, though it was not optimistic about a comprehensive aid bill.Read More
As part of the law enforcement response to a Sept. 26 Proud Boys rally in North Portland, the U.S. Marshals deputized most of the bureau’s rapid response team, the officers responsible for policing protests. But the 56 deputations extend through the end of the year, well beyond the weekend rally.Read More
Coronavirus cases are rising at the University of Idaho, but face-to-face classes will continue. The University of Idaho reported another 116 new coronavirus cases on campus last week. The outbreak still seems to be centered on fraternity and sorority houses.Read More
President Trump walked out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday evening, planning on receiving the remainder of his treatment for COVID-19 at the White House.Read More
When he applied to be a police officer 10 years ago, Loren Culp was 49. He had no experience in law enforcement, but said the job would fulfill a childhood dream. Six years later, the former construction business owner was promoted to police chief in Republic, a town of 1,100 people in northeastern Washington. In that role, Culp has managed a department that, at its peak, Read More
The fires in Washington are largely under control now, but the state has been experiencing dangerous, even deadly, wildfires for years, something Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee says are only made worse by climate change.Read More
