The Columbia River west of the Gorge as it heads toward Portland and out to the Pacific Ocean. (Credit: Amelia Templeton / OPB) WATCH Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read After more […]Read More
Grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. (Courtesy: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Listen (Runtime 0:57) Read Federal officials are considering several possibilities to bring grizzly bears to Washington’s North Cascades. […]Read More
El sol apenas comenzaba a salir sobre el río Columbia en Bridgeport, Washington, cuando un pescador Colville capturó el primer salmón de la temporada.Read More
Ira Stevenson preps salmon filets for the salmon bake after a First Salmon ceremony at Chief Joseph dam in north central Washington. (Credit: Courtney Flatt.) Listen (Runtime 4:04) Read The […]Read More
At Sweet Peas Tea Room in Battle Ground, Washington, the Union Jack will fly proudly for the coronation, May 6 of King Charles III. Owner Sharon Harbeck is hosting a full English tea at the British tea room she and her daughter, Chantelle, have run for six years. Read More
If two British Columbia tailings dams fail, it could spell disaster, according to two reports that analyzed the chances of the dams failing.Read More
There was cheering, celebration and emotional reunions along the northern border on Monday as the U.S. reopened its land and sea crossings to Canadian leisure travelers for the first time in 19 months. The international ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria began sailing again with all of its initial southbound trips sold out. Some border restrictions remain that could Read More
Scores of deaths along the U.S. West Coast and in the Vancouver metro area in Canada are being blamed on an ongoing heat wave that has broken records.Read More
Leaders of Indigenous groups in Canada said Thursday investigators have found hundreds of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children — a discovery that follows last month's report of 215 bodies found at another school.Read More
A local fire chief is warning of a looming "humanitarian crisis" on the peninsula of Point Roberts in northwest Washington state. It's a strange predicament brought on by a money-losing supermarket and pandemic-related restrictions on crossing the U.S.-Canada border.Read More
The United States and Canadian governments confirmed Thursday that pandemic border crossing restrictions will continue for at least another month to June 21. This is the fourteenth month-by-month extension of the closure of the northern border to nonessential crossings. The lengthy closure has been especially wearing on Point Roberts, a community in northwestern Washington Read More
As the story of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Pacific Northwest changes from scarcity to surplus, one northwestern Washington community says it is in a unique position to extend a helping hand across the border.Read More
This coming Sunday, March 21, will mark one year since the U.S. and Canada closed their shared border to nonessential crossings due to the pandemic. It's anybody's guess when the border might reopen for discretionary trips. In the meantime, every weekend rain or shine, Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington, becomes a happening meetup point for couples and families Read More
President Biden welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a delegation of Canadian officials to the White House virtually on Tuesday – saying the U.S. has "no closer friend" than its neighbor to the north.Read More
Canada's government designated the Proud Boys and 12 other extremist groups as terrorist entities on Wednesday, placing the groups on the same list as the Islamic State and al-Qaida.Read More
As part of his ambitious plan to address climate change, President Biden is revoking a key, cross-border presidential permit needed to finish the controversial Keystone XL pipelineRead More
The study by the National Academies of Sciences comes after dozens of U.S. diplomats in Cuba and China complained of migraines, dizziness and memory loss.Read More
The most recent extension of the U.S.-Canada border closure expires this Friday, November 21, but no one expects the restrictions to be lifted then. First implemented in March, the closure of the land and sea border to nonessential crossings have been extended monthly by mutual agreement between Ottawa and the Trump administration.Read More
The film and TV industry in British Columbia is busier than ever in spite of COVID and partly because of COVID. The place sometimes called Hollywood North is benefiting from high demand for new content from networks and streaming services. The much smaller film industries in next door Washington state and Oregon are rebounding more slowly from the region wide shutdown 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
The Port of Bellingham is increasing temporary ferry service to the isolated enclave of Point Roberts, Washington. That community was largely cut off from the U.S. mainland when Canada and the U.S. closed their land border this spring to nonessential crossings to control the spread of the coronavirus.Read More
The months-long closure of the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential crossings has been extended again. The border crossing restrictions will last at least until late September, probably longer, due to the pandemic. The outlook is leading people who used to cross regularly to make major life changes.Read More
U.S. pleasure boats have been sneaking into Canada despite a border shutdown. A group of Canadian retirees is on the lookout for violators from the "petri dish" that is America.Read More
When COVID-19 caused border closures, a woman from British Columbia and her fiancé in Washington were unable to see each other — not even for their wedding.Read More
The U.S. and Canada have extended an order closing their shared border to nonessential traffic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the decision Tuesday, prolonging for a second time an agreement was initially reached in March.Read More
The U.S. and Canada have agreed to keep their shared border closed for nonessential travel to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The decision extends a partial ban implemented last month.Read More
What's behind the "14 days of self-quarantine" guidance after exposure to someone with COVID-19 or after travel from a place with a high number of cases? Think of yourself as a potential incubator.Read More
NPR health reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin reflects on her family's decision to travel to Canada to be closer to extended family during the coronavirus pandemic.Read More
An indigenous-led anti-pipeline protest has shut down a vital cross-continent rail line in Canada, disrupting freight and passenger service and costing millions of dollars in lost revenue, officials say.Read More
The Trans Mountain expansion, which would add more than 600 miles to the pipeline and increase its capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000, has been mired in controversy and legal battles since Canada's cabinet first approved the project in 2016.Read More
If there is a global war for tech talent, right now Canada is winning. And U.S. immigration policies are part of the reason.Read More
Canada's prime minister announced the preliminary finding a day after the Ukrainian plane crash that killed 176 people, including 63 Canadians. Iran denied the assertion, saying it is "impossible."Read More
The crash of a Boeing 737 airliner shortly after takeoff from the Iranian capital hit home in the Pacific Northwest Wednesday. The crash victims include immigrant families just across the U.S. border in British Columbia.Read More
Sixty Iranian-Americans say they were detained at the American border with Canada this weekend, according to CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations. Two other attorneys at the border, unrelated to CAIR, made similar observations. Customs and Border Protection denies those reports.Read More
One day after its historic impeachment votes, the Democratic-led House gave President Donald Trump an overwhelming bipartisan victory Thursday on a renegotiated trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. By a 385-41 vote, the House approved a bill that puts in place terms of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.Read More
Stung by a series of recent scandals, the prime minister is locked in a virtual tie with Andrew Scheer of the opposition Conservative Party ahead of Monday's election. Read More
The movement to “ditch the switch” — the twice-yearly ritual of changing our clocks between daylight and standard time — just got a push from British Columbia, where residents signaled they are keen to join Washington state and Oregon on permanent daylight saving time.Read More
On Friday, jurors heard about the mysterious final days of a young Canadian couple killed in 1987 — as well as the novel method authorities used to finally make an arrest three decades later.Read More
Parliament passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in a move hailed by animal rights activists. Violations are punishable by fines of up to about US$150,000.Read More
A years-long government inquiry says human rights abuses "perpetrated historically and maintained today by the Canadian state" has led to violence against Indigenous women and girls that amounts to genocide.Read More
British Columbia’s Court of Appeal has sided with a Washington man in a decade-long tribal sovereignty case. On Thursday the Court dismissed a second appeal of the sovereign tribal hunting rights case of Rick Desautel, effectively reinstating a tribe the Canadian government declared ‘extinct’ more than six decades ago. Read More
The Northwest and worldwide mountaineering community is mourning the presumed loss of a well-known climber from Spokane. Jess Roskelley was climbing Howse Peak on the Alberta-British Columbia border with two others Tuesday. Read More
On Friday, Canadian regulators endorsed the long-fought oil pipeline, which would bring more oil vessels through Washington state waters. The Canadian government proposal would lengthen the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which would allow the country to ship more oil overseas and bring in higher prices. Now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is widely expected to approve it.Read More
Tribal leaders and members from Washington state crossed the Salish Sea to oppose a pipeline that could bring more oil tankers to waters on both sides of U.S.-Canada border. The Canadian government wants to expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline and triple the flow of oil from Alberta to the Pacific coast.Read More
A pipeline explosion in British Columbia risks cutting off the flow of Canadian natural gas to Washington, and companies are urging customers to conserve.Read More
Dutcher spent five years researching, writing and recording his brilliant and ambitious debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa -- now, it has earned one of Canada's most prestigious prizes.Read More
For nearly a decade, Desautel, who is a U.S. citizen living in Washington, has been making his way through British Columbia’s court system. He’s trying to reinstate his indigenous rights north of the border. His is a case about tribal sovereignty, recognition and reconciliation in Canada.Read More
Amazon customers and other mail-order patrons are turning small towns on the northern border into the P.O. box for Canada.Read More
More than 40 people – many from Washington state – piled into a courtroom in Vancouver, British Columbia Wednesday, Sept. 12, to hear arguments in a long-running case regarding indigenous rights in Canada.Read More
The U.S. State Department will host a town hall meeting in Portland Thursday, Sept. 6, on the renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty. Read More
