Water temperatures are expected to increase as the climate warms. Rivers saw a glimpse of what the future could hold five summers ago, when low water flows and hot temperatures killed thousands of salmon.Read More
Northwest News
For the last decade, the Northwest asparagus industry has been challenged by lower-cost imports, labor shortages and increased farming costs. But this year, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the foreign asparagus supply, increasing sales for the Northwest’s crop. Read More
U.S. employers shed a record number of jobs in April, as the unemployment rate climbed to the highest since the Great Depression. The coronavirus crisis has locked down much of the economy.Read More
Tenino, a small town in Thurston County, Washington, has approved a plan to print its own money on strips of wood. Again. It’s a response to the COVID-19 crisis that’s modeled after how the town responded to a prior crisis — the Great Depression.Read More
Dr. Ali Khan, former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the CDC, discusses what the U.S. needs to do to soften the impact of a second wave of COVID-19.Read More
More testing will allow Washington state to relax some social distancing measures, because we'll be able to identify sick people early and keep them isolated. Here's how we can get there.Read More
Administrators in Idaho’s largest districts say they’ve lost touch with up to 5 percent of their students during the transition to remote learning. These families haven’t responded to texts, calls, emails and sometimes home visits from administrators.Read More
A former vaccine expert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) alleges in a whistleblower complaint that he was ousted because his efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic conflicted with those of President Donald Trump and other administration officials.Read More
Given the opportunity to accelerate the restart of shuttered businesses and social activities, six counties in central and eastern Washington wasted no time this week in submitting the necessary paperwork to the state government. Kittitas, Garfield, Columbia, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille County officials hope to hear an answer back from the Washington State Secretary of Read More
It's not just a fever and dry cough. For milder cases of COVID-19, the array of symptoms can include headaches, fatigue, loss of smell and even lesions on the feet known as "COVID toes."Read More
The four Republican lawmakers who are suing are state Reps. Drew MacEwen, Andrew Barkis, Chris Corry and Brandon Vick. Four Washington residents are also part of the lawsuit.Read More
For the last six weeks, if you followed a winding road past the Port of Pasco and the start of a recreational trail, you’d come to a closed gate. A large orange “Emergency Closure” sign tacked to its front. Today, the sign came down, and the gate opened.Read More
Colleges have been careful to leave the door open on their plans for the fall semester. Most experts say it will be anything but normal. Here's a sampling of how it could look.Read More
It was physically and emotionally demanding work made all the more challenging because families weren’t allowed to visit their loved ones. Dr. Luke Hansen said seeing people die in a chaotic emergency room without their families at their side was one of the hardest parts of his time in New York. Read More
Not-so-small companies like Shake Shack and organizations like the LA Lakers were able to get loans that were meant for suffering small businesses. What happened?Read More
With mail-in voting set to grow due to the coronavirus, experts warn that the companies that print ballots could get overwhelmed. One of the country's biggest vendors is ramping up capacity quickly.Read More
More than 100 Washington state parks made the cut to reopen for day use beginning Tuesday, but aficionados of Pacific Coast and Columbia River Gorge getaways will have to wait a while longer.Read More
An unprecedented number of ships have canceled their calls to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. So far this year, there have been 32 canceled international sailings since January 1. That has created the shortage of shipping containers at those Northwest ports.Read More
Hospitals in Washington are starting to act on the permission given them by Gov. Jay Inslee to resume non-essential medical procedures. Some may begin work by or before next week.Read More
Washington's 'stay home' order will extend until at least May 31. On Friday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced the new time frame and that businesses will be able to open over four phases.Read More
Highway rest area dumpsters have been filled to the brim. Recently, Washington Transportation Dept. employees hauled two truckloads of appliances, scrap metal and other junk from the side of State Highway 225, outside Benton City.Read More
For the first time, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has personally responded to an allegation of sexual assault from a former Senate staffer.Read More
Health officials have tested more than 1,000 Tyson Fresh Meats plant workers for COVID-19 in Wallula, Washington, near Pasco. As of Friday afternoon, 111 have tested positive in the plant that slaughters and processes beef products.Read More
Idaho Governor Brad Little kicked off the process Thursday of “re-opening” the state after five weeks of “stay home, stay healthy” measures to help stem the spread of coronavirus.Read More
Across the Northwest, small and mid-sized farms are grappling with a range of challenges brought about by coronavirus.Read More
Getting adequate supplies of personal protective equipment remains a problem in Washington state. The goods are important to protect healthcare workers – and an indication of whether the state can reopen.Read More
A former neighbor recalled to NPR that Tara Reade relayed the same detailed accusation against Biden many years ago. Many Democratic officials say they believe Biden did not assault Reade.Read More
Outdoor enthusiasts in Washington may be looking forward to the reopening of many shuttered state parks and public lands next week. But a few of Washington's most popular state parks could stay closed because the surrounding communities are worried about crowds and renewed disease spread.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday confirmed that his statewide stay-at-home order would be extended beyond its current May 4 end date. Inslee also said the state had new guidelines for health care providers to resume some non-urgent surgical procedures.Read More
The economy contracted in the first quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus began to take its toll and spending dived. It's the first quarterly drop in six years and a likely precursor to a deep recession.Read More
At a time when many of us are going online to do everything from work to school to shopping to health care, the COVID-19 crisis is shining a big light on the haves and have-nots when it comes to the Internet. The federal government estimates upwards of a third of all people in rural America have little or no access to the Internet.Read More
With his current stay home order set to expire in less than a week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday strongly suggested that, even though the COVID-19 peak appears to have passed, he intends to leave in place most of the current restrictions for the foreseeable future.Read More
Idaho nursing homes have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with at least 150 cases reported at 16 different long-term care facilities in the state. So far, at least 26 people at such facilities have died from COVID-19.Read More
In Olympia on Monday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that restrictions on fishing, hunting, hiking and golfing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will begin easing next week on May 5. Inslee also announced most state parks, state forestlands and state-managed boat ramps will reopen on that Tuesday.Read More
In a study recently published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, WSU scientists found that lynx only occupy about 20% of potential habitat in Washington.Read More
Fishing, hunting and golfing can resume on May 5 in Washington, at which time people can also return to state parks and other state lands for day trips, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday.Read More
The Centers for Disease Control now recognizes chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell as symptoms of the disease.Read More
Distance learning, ordering groceries online or applying for unemployment, those are all kind of difficult without a good internet connection. So, at least seven public utilities spanning Washington state are setting up drive-up Wi-Fi hotspots amid the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
Some states are moving forward, but many would be wise to wait, according to experts at the University of Washington. Here's their estimate for each state's safe date to reopen.Read More
In a dramatic example of COVID-19’s impact on the criminal justice system, the number of people in Washington jails has plummeted in recent weeks, ending virtually overnight an overcrowding problem that plagued many facilities for years. Today, a few of the state’s smallest jails are reporting inmate populations in the single digits.Read More
We felt a stroke of luck two weeks ago, when our local theater chain in Tri-Cities handed out bags of popcorn over the weekend. But that night, as we chowed down and watched one of the many movies we’ve streamed recently, we realized we really missed seeing movies with our friends. Little did we know, the Milton-Freewater Drive-IN would fulfill our wish. And that of about Read More
“We are trying to find that right balance of safety and productivity,” Gov. Jay Inslee said, during a news conference announcing the eased construction restrictions. Read More
Coronavirus risk and ongoing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are leading fire departments around the region to rediscover the enduring truth of the idiom, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Read More
The justices, in a 5-4 decision, said that the prisoners who had sued failed to show that the Department of Corrections was not properly addressing the risk of COVID-19.Read More
More than 500 firefighters and EMTs in the Pacific Northwest have been temporarily quarantined after suspected exposure to the coronavirus over the past two months. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Oregon Fire Service Coronavirus Response Team have been monitoring the number of first responders taken out of service. Read More
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has announced a four-stage plan for re-opening the state’s businesses and communities after closures due to the coronavirus. The first stage is scheduled to take effect May 1.Read More
While some elements of a farmers market are allowed — selling food and soap — other parts are not considered an “essential business” under Washington and Idaho’s orders. That means no more live music. No more kids’ activities. No seats. No touching the produce.Read More
The number of people forced out of work during the coronavirus lockdown keeps soaring. Last week, 4.4 million people filed for jobless benefits, boosting the total since last month to 26 million.Read More
Little’s extended stay-at-home order, running through April 30, spells out a few small steps to reopen the economy. Some businesses, previously deemed “nonessential,” will be able to reopen for curbside or delivery service.Read More
Public health experts say finding and isolating coronavirus patients will be key to re-opening public life. That's going to take a lot of work.Read More
