Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday said that 10 additional counties are eligible to apply to loosen some social distancing restrictions in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.Read More
It’s long been known in eastern Washington that Matt Shea is not your typical politician. Now, he won’t be on the ballot for the upcoming August primary. The 4 p.m. candidate filing deadline on Friday came and went with no sign of Shea. Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has instructed the state Department of Health (DOH) to prepare to test all nursing home residents and staff for COVID-19 in the coming weeks, according to the physician leading the state’s testing strategy.Read More
In recent weeks, legislative Republicans have been fiercely critical of Inslee for not moving more aggressively to reopen the economy. They’ve criticized him on social media, joined protests at the Capitol and even filed a lawsuit challenging his emergency powers.Read More
Health officials in Kittitas County have found at least one new positive case of COVID-19: a worker at a Twin City Foods processing plant in Ellensburg. The news came Friday after more than three weeks of no new confirmed cases. That plus the county’s low population made Kittitas County eligible to lift social distancing measures earlier than other parts of the state.Read More
For the second time in a month, opponents of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s extended “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order – many of them openly carrying firearms – rallied at the state Capitol Saturday in an event that brought together sign-waving citizens, conservative state legislators, Republican and Libertarian candidates for public office and members of far-right groups.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
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
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
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
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
“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
Protesters took to the streets and parks in Spokane Wednesday in two events to push back against statewide stay-home measures. One was largely a Tim Eyman campaign event. The other focused on people wanting to be allowed to fish.Read More
While most people and public officials may be complying with Washington's "stay home, stay healthy" orders, not all are. In fact, there’s evidence of growing restlessness with the shutdown of the economy, the skyrocketing job losses and the infringement on normal, daily activities. And in some places there are examples of outright opposition.Read More
Demonstrations from Olympia to Richland in Washington, to Sandpoint to Moscow to Boise in Idaho, have been organized by people flouting social distancing measures put in place for public health and to slow the spread of coronavirus.Read More
On Friday, three of the four legislative caucuses sent the governor a request that he consider allowing a specific set of businesses to reopen, provided they adhere to strict public health guidelines.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has been called “an example of effective crisis leadership.” Not all Washingtonians agree that Inslee has done well — especially the people who want his job.Read More
After weeks of extraordinary efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, Washington state officials are beginning to talk more openly about easing social distancing restrictions and a sequential unlocking of the economy.Read More
Helen Whitener, who is originally from Trinidad, is believed to be only the second Black justice -- and the first Black woman -- to ever serve on the state’s high court, according to a spokesperson for the Supreme Court. Read More
Construction industry advocates are asking Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to allow more home building to continue under his “stay home, stay healthy” order meant to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.Read More
But because of COVID-19, Paddy McGuire said Mason County has closed his building and he doesn’t think in-person registration is a safe idea. So, he asked the governor’s office to use its emergency powers to waive the requirement for this election. The answer back, he said, was “no.”Read More
When the coronavirus outlook got scary and hairy in mid-March, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recruited an outsider to join his crisis management team. He convinced a retired vice admiral to temporarily move cross-country to serve as Washington state's COVID-19 hospital "czar."Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that all Washington K-12 schools will remain closed for the remainder of this school year and will shift to a distance learning model.Read More
In anticipation of state revenues cratering because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday vetoed more than $200 million of new spending from the supplemental budget passed by state lawmakers last month.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that the original 'stay-at-home' order would be extended until at least May 5. There were no additional restrictions or other measure put in place beyond what's already been implemented.Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee is calling on businesses across Washington state to help produce critical medical supplies, such as N95 masks, face shields, and testing supplies. Also, Idaho will go ahead with a May 19 primary -- but switch to an all-vote-by-mail system, like Washington and Oregon already have.Read More
When the governor declared a state of emergency in late February, that allowed for the use of the National Guard. So far the state’s citizen soldiers have played a limited role in supporting the battle against coronavirus. But Inslee’s chief of staff David Postman said Tuesday that may soon change. He says they won’t be playing a law enforcement role or controlling traffic.Read More
The governor outlined a three-tier law enforcement response system for violations of the order, which could amount to a gross misdemeanor. A first offense would result in a warning. But consequences thereafter would become more serious.Read More
Rent is due this week. But with stay-home orders in both Washington and Idaho, shuttered businesses and a troubled economy, some people wonder if they’ll get evicted if they don’t pay. In Washington, a moratorium on evictions gives protection to renters hit hard by the COVID outbreak. Idaho has no such moratorium, but a recent court order may protect them.Read More
Governors and mayors in some parts of the country are requiring them to close like many other businesses. Other officials are letting gun sales continue. Gun rights groups are on the defensive. Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee says people should prepare to stay home beyond the initial April 6 order, as officials work to flatten the COVID-19 curve.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced a stay-at-home order Monday for all Washington residents. The order builds on other "unprecedented steps" that the state has already imposed, including closing schools and public places such as bars and in-house dining services. It's all an effort to reduce in-person physical social interactions.Read More
Coronavirus continues to spread in Washington and Idaho. As of Sunday, March 22, Washington had nearly 2,000 confirmed cases, with at least 95 deaths since the outbreak began. Idaho’s official number stood at 47 cases, with most in Blaine County. Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is not on the verge of issuing a statewide shelter-in-place order, as governors in California and elsewhere have done recently, a top Inslee aide said Friday.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced a slate of measures Wednesday to help the state’s workers, businesses and renters. In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little urged his state’s citizens to impose more discipline on themselves to keep COVID-19 from spreading. Read More
The Courts Open To All Act effectively bans immigration enforcement agents from carrying out arrests inside courts and within one mile of state courthouses — unless they have a judicial warrant. Read More
Gov. Jay Inslee made it official Monday: Any Washington businesses that aren’t essential retailers, such as grocery stores or pharmacies, are shutting down for at least two weeks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.Read More
As the Legislature adjourned Thursday, 60 days felt like a lifetime ago. A surreal “new normal” had taken hold as Washington finds itself in the grips of a global coronavirus pandemic -- which poses a threat not just to the public, but also to the economy and to state revenues.Read More
Pullman and Yakima County declare emergencies. And events with more than 250 people are prohibited in Washington's King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. That's among many updates this week to the expanding COVID-19 outbreak in the Northwest.Read More
"We are contemplating some next steps, particularly to protect our vulnerable populations and our nursing homes and [the] like and we are looking to determine whether mandatory measures are required," Inslee said in an interview Sunday morning with CBS's "Face the Nation."Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday that his emergency powers would allow him to order the cancellation of large public gatherings to control the growing coronavirus outbreak in his state. However, he told reporters during a briefing in Olympia that he does not plan to use that authority at this time.Read More
A patient in King County who tested positive for coronavirus has died, according to state and local public health officials. It's believed to be the first coronavirus death in the U.S. The news prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. Read More
The announcement was met with jubilant cheers from supporters at a campaign event at Yakima’s McCormick Air Center. Eyman said he initially considered running as an independent because initiatives he sponsored in the past — from $30 car-tabs to a ban on affirmative action in 1998 — were nonpartisan. Read More
The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated a severely limited version of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to cap carbon pollution in the state, a decision the Democrat described as a “clarion call” that lawmakers must act on climate change.Read More
When Washington lawmakers convene a short, election year session on Monday, Jan. 13 they’ll confront a range of issues from homelessness to gun control to whether to expel state Rep. Matt Shea.Read More
In a barrier-breaking appointment, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has selected a Whatcom County judge to serve as the first known Native American justice on the state Supreme Court since its founding in 1889.Read More
Eyman says his decision to run is motivated in part by legal efforts to overturn Initiative 976, his car tabs measure that voters just approved.Read More
Govs. Kate Brown, of Oregon, and Jay Inslee, of Washington, met in Vancouver today to announce the first formal steps to develop a finance plan and reevaluate previous studies of replacing the bridge. They are allocating $44 million to the initial effort of what could eventually be a multibillion dollar bridge replacement project.Read More
The chief justice of the Washington state Supreme Court, Mary Fairhurst, will retire in January as she continues to battle her third bout of colon cancer since 2008. Read More
In a letter to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind, Inslee asked that the state increase efforts to change guidelines that dictate when a wolf can be lethally removed.Read More
