Tacoma For All and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367 announced plans to bring an initiative to Pierce and Thurston county voters next year. The groups are calling the initiative a workers’ bill of rights. Read More
Stories of recovery: Patients talk about pairing medication assisted treatment with provider support
Six years ago, if you had told Jamie Cline that today, she would be the mom of a toddler, working at a doctor’s office and completing her bachelor’s degree, she would have thought you were nuts.
But, she is doing all of those things. On top of all of that, Cline is also nearly six years into recovery from drug addiction. Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Networks Washington officials say after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone Thursday, the state will start to release its stockpile of […]Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Network People running for office in Washington will begin submitting official paperwork next week to get on the ballot – and an unusually high number […]Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Network Prison reforms were among the many issues considered by lawmakers in Olympia this year. But, once again, measures aimed at resentencing and solitary confinement […]Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsay, Northwest News Network Washington’s 60-day legislative session has ended. Spirits were high in Olympia Thursday as lawmakers adjourned “sine die.” Many legislators donned sequin or sparkly accessories, […]Read More
Supporters of the bill, including lawmakers who are firefighters, gathered this week in Olympia to highlight the success of the bill’s passage. (Credit: Lauren Gallup / NWPB) Listen (Runtime :55) […]Read More
By: Jeanie Lindsey, NW News Network With just a few weeks left in this year’s legislative session, Washington lawmakers are starting to unveil budget plans and consider bills in the […]Read More
Emotions flooded the State Reception Room in Olympia Jan. 10 as tribal leaders, Washington lawmakers, and community members came together to witness the unveiling of the maquette of Billy Frank Jr. The maquette, a smaller replica of a 9-foot tall statue of Frank that will go to the National Statuary Hall collection, honors the late champion for Native American treaty Read More
All Hallow’s Eve is just around the corner, and the home of the Washington State Governor has some mysteries of the mansion to unveil — just in time for spooky season! Read More
Attendees gather on the shores of the Snake River at Hells Gate State Park to take place in the All Our Relations flotilla on September 30, 2023. (Credit: Lauren Paterson […]Read More
Jacob Johns speaks at an event September 19, 2023 in Spokane, Washington after unveiling his “Free the Vote” mural. (Credit: Jeff Ferguson) Listen (Runtime :57) Read Jacob Johns is an […]Read More
A major collision on northbound Interstate 5 Wednesday morning caused day-long backups across much of Thurston County.
The incident, between a semi-truck and passenger vehicle, closed all but one of the northbound lanes just past the exit to Mounts Road in DuPont, as crews worked to investigate the collision and then clear the debris and vehicles. Read More
The Olympia School Board plans to vote tonight on whether to begin a reduction in force (RIF) process. School board President Darcy Huffman said it’s likely the board will approve the process, which would mean staff below a certain seniority level could be let go. Read More
The Olympia School District, like others across the state, is facing a budget deficit that could result in layoffs. The district is estimating a shortfall of up to $11.5 million for the 2023-24 school year. Read More
The president of Finland kicked off a five-day visit to the U.S. with a stop in Washington's capital Monday, where he made history as the first foreign head of state to address the State Legislature.Read More
Legislators in Washington state are joining more than a dozen other states that are considering whether to restrict or ban foreign entities from buying farmland. The initial hearing on Olympia's version of the foreign ownership restrictions however drew more criticism than support on Tuesday.Read More
Hundreds gathered outside the Board of Natural Resources meeting in Olympia this week to demand the board make further commitments to forest conservation.Read More
Farmworkers and environmental justice advocates want Washington Governor Jay Inslee to declare a climate emergency in the state.Read More
Christians, Jews, Sikhs and Quakers go to Olympia mosque to show support after explosion. People of many faiths gathered outside the Islamic Center of Olympia before Friday prayers to demonstrate […]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
It was almost a year ago that Athena Fitness in Olympia was facing financial doom. The women-owned business had opened just before the pandemic struck. In August of last year, new COVID restrictions threatened to put the owners out of business. So, what’s happened since?Read More
Attorneys for the family of a self-proclaimed anti-fascist protester who was gunned down by a federal task force outside Olympia last fall say the facts of the case as put forth by investigators “absolutely strain credulity.”Read More
Covering a bill making its way through Olympia that could impact the voting rights of 26,000 people.Read More
Pro-Trump protesters broke through a gate at the Washington state governor’s mansion Wednesday afternoon and dozens of people gathered on the lawn. The crowd, some of whom were armed, touted repeated unfounded allegations of election fraud and it came the same day pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol.Read More
Amid the ongoing pandemic and threats by far-right protesters to "occupy" the Capitol, Washington lawmakers will convene Monday for what will ultimately be a mostly remote 2021 session with a focus on the ongoing response to COVID-19, police reform, addressing climate change and writing a two-year state budget.Read More
For the second Saturday in a row, a gun was fired as groups of protesters from opposing ends of the political spectrum clashed in Olympia. The shooting happened Saturday afternoon at the Capitol visitor’s parking lot, which is located on the edge of a residential neighborhood.Read More
“Unfortunately, I think within the next week it’s going to be a significant rise in COVID-19,” said Dr. Kevin Caserta, the chief medical officer for Providence SW Washington. Already, the two hospitals Caserta oversees, St. Peter and Providence Centralia, have seen a near doubling of COVID patients over the past six to eight weeks – from roughly 25 to nearly 50 today.Read More
It used to be a busy day at the Providence COVID drive-up test site near Olympia was 100 cars. Recently, the site broke a one-day record with 352 drive ups. It's another sign of the “third wave” now underway.Read More
Reinoehl, 48, died in the street from gunshot wounds to his head and torso. The shots were fired by two Pierce County sheriff’s deputies, a Lakewood police officer and a Washington State Department of Corrections employee — all deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service and serving on a Tacoma-based fugitive task force, a common and standard procedure among local-federal Read More
It was common through the 1800s for American school children to attend a one-room schoolhouse. In 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Swanson family in rural north Olympia will attend a one-garage schoolhouse.Read More
On Aug. 3, Gov. Inslee announced new rules for indoor fitness studios and gyms that nearly tripled the required spacing between class participants from six feet to 17 feet. Krueger expressed her frustration in a 4-minute video she posted to Instagram. “I have to say that I am freaking pissed,” she said in the video. “We’re unable to pay our bills with these mandates; that 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
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
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
Over the previous weekend, Dr. Jessica Van Fleet-Green rounded-up 200 masks for her team – a mix of the more protective N95s and standard surgical masks. The donations came from a dental office that’s now closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, two construction contractors and even her father who found two at home. Read More
Several hundred advocates from across the Northwest rallied in Olympia Wednesday demanding protections for immigrants in Washington. According to ICE, agents are forced to conduct arrests in courthouses because state law prohibits local agencies from enforcing immigration law or collaborating with federal authorities. Read More
As of the New Year, no bus fare is needed to ride the Olympia area's Intercity Transit. On Wednesday, the transit agency became the largest in the Pacific Northwest to eliminate fare collection, leapfrogging Corvallis and Missoula which did so earlier. Read More
The state of Washington now finds itself grappling with an issue that’s been front and center in Seattle, Portland and many other cities -- people who are homeless living in dilapidated recreational vehicles parked on public streets.Read More
First, he was caught on store surveillance allegedly stealing a $70 office chair. Now Washington anti-tax activist Tim Eyman has produced his own video. It shows him returning to the scene of the alleged crime.Read More
A suspicious fire early Friday morning destroyed the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Lacey, Washington. If confirmed as arson, this would be the sixth attack on the faith in Thurston County this year.Read More
Fire consumed an abandoned building in the Olympia Brewery Complex in Tumwater early Monday, Oct. 8. The Olympia beer name is now owned by Pabst Brewing Company and brewed under contract by MillerCoors in California, but still distributed widely throughout the Northwest. Read More
The pastor of the Oakville, Washington Assembly of God church said he was trying to protect his family and the public when he drew his concealed pistol and shot a gunman on Father’s Day. David George cried at times as he spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since the shooting.Read More
What caused 44-year-old Tim Day to go on a carjacking and shooting spree on Father’s Day that left one man critically wounded? His former wife of 13 years said Day had a history of mental illness and was prone to bouts of paranoia—often fueled by using meth.Read More
A shooting spree in Tumwater, Wash., near Olympia, ended in a Walmart parking lot when a civilian shot and killed the suspected gunman, police said Sunday evening. At least two people were wounded: a teen-age girl with a minor injuries and a man who was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.Read More
Just south of Washington state Capitol building you’ll find a neighborhood dotted with quaint, historic houses. But you won’t find families with children in many of them. Nearly one-third of the 62 homes found immediately south of the Capitol are owned or used by lobbyists, corporations or unions, according to a review of public records.Read More
Washington’s 60-day legislative session is approaching the halfway mark and majority Democrats are flexing their one-party control of Olympia. That’s especially evident in the state Senate where several priority Democratic bills have been put on a fast track.Read More
Students and staff at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, are teasing out how to define and express issues of racism and oppression on campus almost one year after an annual event there provoked a national conversation on free speech and civil rights.Read More
Olympia State Capitol Building TED S. WARREN / ASSOCIATED PRESS Listen Democrats are declaring victory in a special Washington state Senate race that will give them one-party rule in Olympia. […]Read More
Samantha Kersul is one of more than 170 women who have signed a letter to Washington state’s legislative leadership urging action to address sexual harassment at the Capitol. Kersul says […]Read More
