The nation still sees more than 20,000 new cases on average a day, a number that's barely budged for weeks. Forecasters say we're looking at tens of thousands more deaths this summer.Read More
Northwest News
This moment of protest for racial justice is perhaps more poignant in Pasco, where five years ago the city reeled from its most high profile police shooting. The killing of Antonio Zambrano-Montes and the fallout after have marked this city, in murals and memorials, in police interactions and protests.Read More
The Spokane Interstate Fair and Benton-Franklin Fair and Rodeo joined more than 40 others that have canceled this year. In all, Washington has 65 state and county fairs every summer and fall. Read More
Unlike during the Great Recession, when the budget was largely balanced through spending cuts, this time around majority Democrats and their allies, like labor unions, are already signaling that tax increases are almost certain to be part of any solution. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has announced his state will move to the final phase of its reopening strategy, beginning Saturday. Visitors can go see loved ones in those facilities. Night clubs and large sporting venues can reopen. Non-essential travel can continue to areas that are accepting visitors and which don’t have coronavirus transmission problems.Read More
President Trump sharply criticizes officials' response in Seattle: "Take back your city NOW. If you don't do it, I will."Read More
Manuel Ellis' death was ruled a homicide by the Pierce County medical examiner. It was caused by a lack of oxygen due to physical restraint. Records reviewed by KNKX Public Radio show Ellis said he couldn’t breathe within two minutes of making contact with officers.Read More
The Fed leaves interest rates near zero as expected, and promises to use all of its tools to support the economy. Officials project unemployment above 9% at the end of this year.Read More
As anti-racism protests continue, people with guns are now coming to them. Rampant rumors of antifa violence draw some; others say they are protecting protesters.Read More
A U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee on Tuesday asked federal lands officials about the nation’s readiness for wildfire season. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) warned that, with the calendar moving to mid-June, there isn’t much time left to prepare.Read More
Impaired driving citations dropped sharply across Oregon and Washington this spring during the coronavirus pandemic. There are multiple possible explanations for the decline, but people drinking and using drugs less does not appear to be a likely one.Read More
There's growing evidence of high rates of death from COVID-19 for a population that doesn't get a lot of attention: people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.Read More
Idaho’s signature gathering window was interrupted in mid-March due to coronavirus restrictions. Now, Reclaim Idaho hopes to put a public school funding initiative on the November ballot by asking a federal judge for extra time to collect signatures.Read More
The EPA does not require companies to notify federal regulators if the pandemic interferes with pollution monitoring or reporting. That leaves states alone on the front lines of pollution control.Read More
Nearly half of black Americans have very little or no confidence that police officers in their community treat people with different skin colors the same, according to the latest PBS NewsHour-NPR-Marist poll. But overall, only 18 percent of Americans take that view — an illustration in itself that people of different races are living different realities in the United States.Read More
The committee tasked with marking U.S. business cycles says the economy peaked in February and has since been in a recession triggered by the pandemic. But it says the recession could be short-lived.Read More
At least one person was injured Sunday as a car drove into a crowd during a peaceful protest in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The Seattle Fire Department said the victim was a 27-year-old male who was shot and taken to a hospital in stable condition.Read More
It’s been a rough couple of months for outdoor recreation businesses – from mountaineering and rock climbing guides to river rafting, sea kayaking, mountain biking guides and private campgrounds. Outdoor recreation brings in big bucks to the Northwest — especially to many of the rural communities that act as gateways to the great outdoors.Read More
Protesters against systemic racism and police brutality have been met with an arsenal of 'less than lethal' weapons which can still seriously injure, sicken, and sometimes kill.Read More
Frustration with long delays in getting jobless benefits is boiling over into a lawsuit against the Washington State Employment Security Department. Attorneys representing two laid off workers and the nonprofit Unemployment Law Project filed the case directly with the state Supreme Court on Friday.Read More
Organizers for this Sunday’s rally say they are waiting to announce a location because of threats. Read More
The lights have dimmed for a couple of months at the historic Liberty Theater in Dayton, Washington, due to the coronavirus. But its manager has plans to reopen the doors this summer.Read More
The name of Manuel Ellis is now being added to the list of black people who died in police custody, after an autopsy report ruled his death in Tacoma was a homicide. And in an echo of the George Floyd case, Ellis was heard saying he "can't breathe," as he was being restrained.Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed several would-be initiative campaigns in Oregon because organizers can’t send canvassers out to gather the tens of thousands of signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot.Read More
Retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, who resigned as President Trump's defense secretary nearly a year-and-a-half ago over policy differences, has issued an extraordinary critique of the White House's handling of nationwide unrest, saying Trump has sought to divide Americans, and warning against "militarizing our response" to the protests.Read More
Nine rural counties are eligible to apply to the state Secretary of Health this week to move to the next stage in Gov. Jay Inslee's four-phase reopening plan. Lincoln, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Columbia and Wahkiakum counties wasted no time and submitted the necessary paperwork and letters of support on Wednesday to advance from Phase 2 to Phase 3.Read More
Online misinformation is fueling a backlash in some places against coronavirus containment strategies such as contact tracing and isolation. Some health officials have even received violent threats.Read More
A study of more than 800 health workers, first responders and others finds that taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 is no better than a placebo in preventing the illness.Read More
The matchups have been set for Idaho’s November election. Results were announced Tuesday night in the state’s first all-mail primary election.Read More
A getaway to the seashore is back in the realm of possibility as many coastal Oregon and Washington towns relax closure orders on tourist lodgings and vacation rentals.Read More
A well-funded and elaborate social media disinformation campaign played out online Sunday night, experts say, showing how polarization creates situations where lies go viral.Read More
Oregon and Washington have joined 26 states and cities in suing the Trump administration over a new rule that weakens emission standards for cars and trucks.Read More
"He did not pray. He did not offer a word of balm or condolence to those who are grieving," says the bishop who oversees the church. Washington's mayor was more direct: "Shameful!"Read More
Among the main targets are requirements such as signing a ballot envelope, or getting a witness or notary to sign it. Small details matter a lot and could affect the outcome in November.Read More
A Cessna commuter plane retrofitted in Washington state has taken the crown of biggest all-electric airplane now flying. Redmond, Washington-based electric motor maker MagniX teamed up with flight testing contractor AeroTEC to convert a 10-passenger, single engine Cessna 208B Grand Caravan to fly on battery power.Read More
When COVID-19 struck, the theatre in Pullman was preparing its final show of the season, Thoroughly Modern Millie. Associate director Michael Todd says it had even hired actress Sandrinne Edstrom to come from New York for a couple of months to play the lead role. When the show was postponed, Ms. Edstrom was quarantined in Pullman. Still is. So they made the best of it.Read More
Deforestation, climate change and the disturbances it can exacerbate – like wildfires, extreme droughts and insect outbreaks – are decimating old growth forests across the globe. That means forests worldwide are filling in with younger and shorter trees, according to a new study.Read More
Spokane joined a list of cities across the Northwest and the nation on Sunday, with thousands of marchers protesting police treatment of black people and other groups, sparked most recently by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.Read More
As the coronavirus pandemic continues across the world, local health officials in Washington are beginning to employ a power given to them by state law that allows to keep contagious people in quarantine.Read More
Residents of Chelan and Douglas counties have filed lawsuits against Gov. Jay Inslee, demanding an injunction on his emergency measures to address coronavirus in Washington.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee's stay-at-home order will end at midnight on May 31. Instead, state officials will use a phased plan outlined at the beginning of the month to govern county-by-county reopening permissions.Read More
A nearly 100-year-old historical marker has been mysteriously stolen from Washington's Capitol Campus and, with no leads on who took it, the state patrol is now asking the public for help solving the crime.Read More
Dr. Ming Lin was let go in March from a hospital in Bellingham, Wash., after posting criticisms and suggestions on social media. The ACLU is helping him sue for damages and job reinstatement. Read More
Idaho Governor Brad Little announced Thursday his state is ready to move on to the next phase of its coronavirus reopening plan, beginning Saturday, May 30.Read More
Marcus Aaron Luke was a leader on his varsity track team, and also a senior at Pendleton High School. Now, like seniors everywhere, he’s missing a traditional graduation. But the city’s famous Round-Up grounds have a fix.Read More
The Trump administration is rushing to finalize some of its biggest environmental rollbacks ahead of November's election. Some affected groups say they're too distracted by the pandemic to engage.Read More
Parents from low-income homes are twice as likely to say remote learning is going poorly or very poorly, and 1 in 3 of all parents say they are "very concerned" about children falling behind. Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is allowing religious services to resume – but with restrictions. In Phase 1 counties, outdoor services with up to 100 people are now allowed. In counties approved for Phase 2, indoor services are allowed at 25-percent capacity or with fewer than 50 people, whichever is less.Read More
Many Washington counties have qualified to move on to Phase 2 and reopen certain businesses ahead of others. More than 20 already have. But Kittitas just got approved – after being one of the first counties to qualify. Read More
The work by researchers at Portland State University and the University of Oregon, published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, offers a solution to a common problem that arises when using radiocarbon dating to determine the past activity of faults.Read More
