In March 2003, a 17-year-old girl from McCleary, Washington was kidnapped, driven to a remote location and raped.Read More
Politics
A former caregiver charged in connection with the 2019 poisoning death of a developmentally disabled woman has been acquitted of third degree felony assault.Read More
Two new laws aimed at reducing mass shootings and cracking down on the proliferation of so-called "ghost guns" go into effect July 1 in Washington. Majority Democrats in the state Legislature passed the new restrictions earlier this year.Read More
Protesters gather in Seattle after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade CREDIT: Casey Martin / KUOW Photo Listen (Runtime 4:16) Read While the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned […]Read More
Mason County Auditor Paddy McGuire has spent nearly two decades helping run elections, including stints as Oregon deputy secretary of state and at the Department of Defense, ensuring military service members overseas could vote.Read More
The top Democrat and the top Republican in the Washington state Senate called Thursday for elected Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, a 78-year-old, six-term Democrat, to resign.Read More
The office of Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has fired a top aide who in February formally complained that Kreidler had bullied him, used crass language and was increasingly “antagonizing staff.”Read More
Breaching the dams would be the best way to remove Snake River salmon runs from the Endangered Species List and the best way to maintain treaty and trust obligations with tribes, according to the report. It could cost from $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion.Read More
Four members of the U.S. Congress recently got a close look at Washington’s Snake River dams.Read More
Since January of this year, more than 900 drivers have failed to stop for a Washington State Patrol trooper trying to pull them over. The patrol and other police agencies around the state say they’ve never seen such blatant disregard for their lights and sirens. The change in driver behavior comes after state lawmakers passed strict new rules on when police can engage in Read More
Some parents with kids in crisis in Washington are making a heart wrenching decision. They’re sending their children to out-of-state therapeutic boarding schools. And taxpayers are picking up the tab. While these are outlier cases, they highlight ongoing gaps in in-state services — gaps that were laid bare during the COVID pandemic.Read More
There are more questions than answers in the case of a missing former foster child from Grays Harbor County. Five-year-old Oakley Carlson has been unaccounted for since February of last year. Police say her parents aren’t cooperating with the investigation. Oakley’s former foster mom questions why Oakley was sent back to live with her parents after more than two years in Read More
Three large opioid distributors will pay the state of Washington $476 million as part of an agreement to end litigation that began more than three years ago.Read More
A Sumner, Washington seafood company that makes imitation crab and other products has been fined $56,000 in connection with a 2021 COVID outbreak that left one employee dead.Read More
In recent years, Washington’s Legislature has grown more diverse. And majority Democrats have emphasized diversity and equity as core values. But now three members of color, out of nearly 30, are stepping down from the Legislature after serving just one full term. One of them describes the legislative work environment as toxic.Read More
Washington’s long-time elected insurance commissioner has used offensive terms in the workplace to describe people of different races and ethnicities, as well as people who are transgender. That’s according to former agency insiders who’ve come forward in recent weeks. Meanwhile, other former employees are giving new accounts of what they say is Commissioner Mike Read More
Election officials continue to battle false accusations of voting fraud / AP Listen NWPB’s Dori Luzzo Gilmour reports on one election official who continues to battle false accusations of voter […]Read More
Mike Kreidler, Washington’s longtime insurance commissioner, is facing allegations that he verbally mistreats staff. Current and former employees say it’s part of a pattern that’s gotten worse in recent months and is contributing to high turnover in the office. Kreidler says he has high standards for his staff, but said he will work to be more careful in how he deals with Read More
The 400-mile Olympic Pipeline carries gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries in northern Washington state, such as BP Cherry Point shown here, to a distribution hub in Portland, Oregon. […]Read More
In an act of labor solidarity, scores of Democratic staffers in the Washington Legislature staged a “sick-out” Wednesday after a bill that would have allowed them to unionize failed to advance before a key cutoff deadline.Read More
In an act of labor solidarity, scores of Democratic staffers in the Washington Legislature staged a “sick-out” Wednesday after a bill that would have allowed them to unionize failed to advance before a key cutoff deadline.Read More
A measure backed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee that would have made it a crime for elected officials and candidates for office to incite lawlessness by making false statements about elections appears to have died in the state Legislature.Read More
As states from Oregon to New York announce plans to end mask mandates, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday announced that he’s lifting outdoor masking requirements and plans to announce next week a date when the face-covering rules for public indoor spaces and schools will be lifted.Read More
Democrats in charge of the Washington Legislature are proposing a new tax on gasoline and diesel fuel destined for Oregon, Idaho and Alaska to partially pay for a cornucopia of highway, transit, rail, bike trail and ferry construction across Washington state. The "exported fuel tax" was included in a transportation spending and revenue package unveiled Tuesday in Olympia.Read More
As the 2022 midterm elections loom, a partisan battle over access to the ballot box continues to be fought in Congress and in state legislatures across the country. Red states are passing new restrictions, while many blue states are making voting more accessible. That includes Washington.Read More
The January 15 volcanic eruption near Tonga was a stark reminder of the threats posed by tsunamis. That's long been a concern in the Pacific Northwest, where thousands of students go to school within reach of a large tsunami.Read More
Washington’s COVID-19 state of emergency is approaching its two-year anniversary. Under current law, the governor has broad emergency powers. But the Legislature is considering new restrictions on that authority.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday signed into law a bill that delays the start of a controversial long-term care benefit program known as WA Cares for 18 months. A second measure signed by Inslee will allow certain workers to opt out of the first-in-the-nation program.Read More
A proposal in the Washington Legislature would make it a crime to use or sell a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. The sponsor says he wants to deter people from even considering the ruse, but he also wants to send a signal to prosecutors to prioritize these cases as a matter of protecting public health.Read More
Firefighters say toxic chemicals in their protective equipment are a big concern and need to be replaced with safer alternatives.Read More
Following widespread criticisms and voter pushback, the Washington state House on Wednesday voted to delay the collection of a new payroll tax to fund a state-run, long-term care insurance program called WA Cares.Read More
A new bill in the Washington Senate aims to stop a controversial policy in Klickitat County, where the sheriff deputized six hound handlers to track and kill any cougars he deemed to be a safety threat.Read More
Washington state senators are trying a new gambit to stop the twice-yearly ritual of changing our clocks from standard time to daylight time and back again. A previous effort to move the whole West Coast onto permanent daylight saving time failed to win requisite congressional support. So now, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers is pushing for Pacific Standard Time to be Read More
Guns and other weapons would be banned from election-related locations and at school board meetings in Washington under a pair of proposals that received a public hearing in the Democratically-controlled state Legislature on Wednesday.Read More
A year ago, a chain link fence, National Guard members and scores of state troopers surrounded the Capitol in an unprecedented show of defensive force. The temporary bulwark and troop deployment was a response to the January 6 pro-Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, a major security breach that same day at the governor’s residence in Olympia and threats by far-right Read More
So much for the best laid plans for Washington’s 2022 legislative session. The highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 has upended what was supposed to be a mostly in-person start to the 60-day session, at least in the House of Representatives.Read More
For the second time, Washington lawmakers are suing Gov. Jay Inslee over his use of the veto pen. In a lawsuit filed Monday in Thurston County Superior Court, the Legislature asserts Inslee exceeded his veto power earlier this year when he line-item vetoed parts of the state transportation budget and eliminated a subsection of a low carbon fuels bill.Read More
Longtime Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen, a Whatcom County Republican, has died following a COVID-19 diagnosis while traveling in El Salvador last month.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Democratic leaders in the Legislature announced Friday a delay in the collection of a payroll tax to pay for a new long-term care insurance benefit for workers.Read More
It's a growing problem in Washington: kids with developmental disabilities and complex behaviors who are stuck in the hospital with no reason for being there. Usually, they end up in the hospital after a crisis or an incident. But once the child is medically cleared to leave, their parents or their group home won't come get them citing inadequate supports to manage the Read More
Fossil fuel use in buildings looks to be the next frontier for climate activists at the state and local level. There's a convergence of activity in the Pacific Northwest aimed at phasing out natural gas furnaces and water heaters. Cities from Eugene to Bellingham have teed up bans on natural gas in new commercial buildings. But natural gas has its defenders, too, who have Read More
In a surprise order Friday morning, the Washington Supreme Court declined to take on the job of drafting new congressional and legislative maps. Instead, the court declared that the state's Redistricting Commission had finished its work on time last month.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday that he would support a delay in the implementation of a new payroll tax to fund a first-in-the-nation long-term care benefit program called WA Cares.Read More
For months, minority Republicans in the Washington Legislature have called for limits on the governor’s emergency powers. But now even some Democrats are expressing concerns about the open-endedness of the COVID-19 state of emergency and the limited role of state lawmakers.Read More
Washington has nine independently elected statewide officeholders. All but one of those elected officials has required their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The holdout was the lone Republican.Read More
For the third time this month, Deschutes Parkway, which curves past Capitol Lake along the edge of Washington’s Capitol Campus, has been closed due to a violent crime.Read More
There are no statewide initiative measures on the ballot this November in Oregon and Washington state. That’s a change from usual, but voters around the region are casting ballots on a variety of newsworthy local initiatives.Read More
Potential candidates to replace Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman are already stepping forward after Wyman, a Republican, announced she will resign next month to take an election security position with the Biden administration. Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, will appoint Wyman's replacement. That could spell the end of a nearly six decades Republican lock on the Read More
Roughly nine in 10 employees of the state of Washington are now vaccinated against COVID-19. Gov. Jay Inslee considers that a huge success and a win for public health. But his vaccine mandate has also led to the departure of hundreds of state employees. Now there are questions about the implications for some state services.Read More
Monday is the deadline for Washington state employees, healthcare and long-term care workers and those working in the education field to be fully vaccinated. Those who aren’t could be out of a job by day’s end. Some of the state employees who face termination got exemptions, but not a workplace accommodation so they could stay on the payroll.Read More
