Uniquely NW News Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

10 Years After White Supremacist Tried To Bomb Spokane’s MLK Parade, Extremism Is More Mainstream

By Scott Leadingham January 17, 2021

The backpack bomb made by Kevin Harpham, of Stevens County, Washington, was discovered on the parade route of Spokane's 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, before it could be detonated. CREDIT: FBI

This week marks 10 years since a white supremacist attempted to bomb the Martin Luther King Junior Day parade through downtown Spokane. The bomb was discovered and defused just in the nick of time. But the effects of extremist ideologies in the region lived on. Journalist Leah Sottile examined that in the podcast Bundyville, from Oregon Public Broadcasting. Leah spoke with Read More

Yakima Journalist Who Lost Her Mom To COVID: Don’t Let Gatherings This Season Take Yours

By Scott Leadingham December 28, 2020

Journalist Emily McCarty and her mother, Mary, who died in November, four days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Courtesy of Emily McCarty/Crosscut

Emily McCarty is a Yakima-based reporter for Crosscut/KCTS. Her mom, Mary, died in a Spokane hospital in November, four days after being diagnosed with COVID-19. McCarty wrote about her mom and her family’s personal experience in an essay titled “I lost my mom to COVID-19. Don’t let the holidays steal yours.” Read More

COVID First Hit Long-Term Care In Puget Sound Region. Now It’s Hitting Home In Rural Areas

By Scott Leadingham December 9, 2020

Tim Killian, a spokesman for Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., prepares to give a daily briefing to reporters on Wednesday. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

Some of the hardest hit places have been long-term care facilities in rural areas like Tonasket in Okanogan County, and in central Washington. At least three care facilities in Grant County have reported outbreaks and deaths since a large wedding near Ritzville last month attended by some care facility staff who later tested positive for COVID-19. But a definitive Read More

Much More Than A Spotted Owl Fight: Northwest ‘Timber Wars’ Of 30 Years Ago Revisited In Podcast

By Scott Leadingham December 3, 2020

A northern spotted owl. CREDIT: Todd Sonflieth/OPB

Here’s a quick game: When you hear, “spotted owl,” what do you think of? If you were in the Northwest in the 1980s and 1990s, you may think of logging and a fight over endangered species versus jobs and lumber towns surviving. But there’s much more background in that fight than you may remember. Read More

As Washington Restaurants Close Indoors Again, Some In Hard-Hit Yakima Say They Won’t

By Scott Leadingham November 24, 2020

Server Luis Velez opens a bottle of wine for customers Mary Graf, left, Sophie Mandel and Andy Peraza, right, shown through a sheet of plastic surrounding the table, on Wednesday, October 21 , 2020, at Spinasse on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Earlier this year, Yakima County was among the worst-hit places for COVID-19 in Washington and the West Coast. It and the Tri-Cities region were among the last counties to open for indoor bar and restaurant service. Now, with another statewide closure, some restaurant operators are pushing back and refusing to close. Read More