One of Feria Linda’s volunteer manicurists works on a vineyard worker’s nails. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:37) Read The Milton-Freewater Community Building looked like the backstage of […]Read More
A sign near the proposed site of the Cottonwood Road development. (Credit: Jenna Heffernan) Listen (Runtime 1:02) Read A group of developers have filed a lawsuit against the city of […]Read More
The city of Walla Walla recently changed its zoning in hopes of encouraging child care centers to open or expand. (Credit: Kids’ Work Chicago Daycare / Flickr Creative Commons) Listen […]Read More
Vineyard workers listen to a presentation from Vital Wines, a nonprofit winery that connects them to health care resources. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 4:05) Read On a […]Read More
Dancers in Walla Walla’s second annual Day of the Dead parade. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 1:06) Read While many cities in the Northwest celebrate Day of the […]Read More
Phuong Brown, a retiree in Walla Walla, received a free heat pump through the Climate Commitment Act. Initiative 2117 aims to repeal the act. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen […]Read More
Sluggish home sales have led to a shortfall in funding for homeless services in Washington. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read In Washington, the slow housing market […]Read More
John Halliday, a speaker and artist, is giving talks about Native American resilience across Washington state. (Courtesy of John Halliday) Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read In the coming weeks, artist John […]Read More
Kommuna Lux, a band from Ukraine, is playing shows throughout the Northwest. (Credit: Natalia Shevtsova / Kommuna Lux) Listen (Runtime :59) Read A band from Ukraine is taking the stage […]Read More
(Credit: Urban Seed Education / Flickr Creative Commons) Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read Last month, the number of opioid overdoses in Walla Walla spiked to 124% more than the local monthly […]Read More
Dina Gilbert is the Walla Walla Symphony’s new music director and conductor. (Credit: Antoine Saito) Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read On Tuesday, the Walla Walla Symphony will raise the curtain on […]Read More
Gentry Thorpe, a cook at the new Denny’s in Walla Walla. He’s grateful for employers that practice second chance hiring. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:41) Read It […]Read More
Holland Gallaway, an agriculture student at Walla Walla Community College, with cattle owned and raised as part of the college’s Farm to Fork program. (Credit: Daniel Biggs / WWCC) watch […]Read More
Sharon Sweeney, left, and Beverly Barksdale, right, are among the Rancho Villa residents who are fighting back against changes made by their park’s new owners. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) […]Read More
The aftermath of one of Walla Walla’s recent suspicious fires. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read They happen late at night, or in the early morning. They’re […]Read More
A preview of the Letitia Carson exhibit at the Whitman Mission. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 1:09) Read Letitia Carson was a pioneer in more ways than one. […]Read More
Liliana Garcia, an eighth grader, holds her phone and Yondr pouch over an unlocking device at Walla Walla’s Pioneer Middle School. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) watch Listen (Runtime 4:16) […]Read More
Betzy and Betsy, two shelter dogs, sniff the grass along Mill Creek in Walla Walla. (Credit: Steve Lenz / Blue Mountain Humane Society) Watch Listen (Runtime 1:04) Read At many […]Read More
The exterior of the Walla Walla County Public Health and Legislative Building, where the county commissioners work. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 1:02) Read On Monday, Walla Walla’s […]Read More
The city of Walla Walla is considering instituting a convenience fee. Residents would pay the fee when they use a credit or debit card to pay for city services. (Credit: […]Read More
An industrial lot in Walla Walla where two fires occurred on Monday. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Read A string of fires broke out in Walla Walla over the past […]Read More
The Walla Walla Downtown Farmers Market is held on Saturdays. (Credit: Downtown Walla Walla Foundation) Read By Susan Shain | NWPB Walla Walla’s Downtown Farmers Market has been running for […]Read More
A crowd studies the exhibit “Sweeter Than the Onions: Stories of Queer Resilience in Walla Walla,” at Whitman College. (Credit: Courtney Flatt, Northwest News Network) Listen (Runtime 3:13) Read The […]Read More
We heard a rumor that Paula Poundstone was heading to our neck of the woods, so NWPB's Thom Kokenge caught up with her to find out what she's up to. Read More
Graduate students Geraldine Diverres and Bernadette Gagnier examine grapevines leaves at the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension of Washington State University, Wednesday, June 23, 2021 in Prosser, Washington. (Credit: Bob […]Read More
Curtis Bearchum, a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, in regalia demonstrating a Native dance. CREDIT: Courtesy of Curtis Bearchum Listen (Runtime 3:35) Read For over 30 […]Read More
Read By Ally Pang When Erin Iverson heard about the proposed removal of books from the Walla Walla High School Library, the high school junior did not initially have a […]Read More
Walla Walla public schools have heard from community members for several months to remove books from the district. In order to continue to respond to complaints the school district developed a new review policyRead More
For generations Marcus Whitman has been widely viewed as an iconic figure from early Pacific Northwest history, a venerated Protestant missionary who was among 13 people killed by the Cayuse tribe near modern-day Walla Walla, Washington, in 1847.Read More
The Billy Frank Jr. statue would replace one of Oregon Trail pioneer Marcus Whitman. The larger-than-life bronze of Whitman has stood in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall for nearly 70 years.Read More
A measure to honor the late Billy Frank Jr. with a statue at the U.S. Capitol cleared the Legislature Monday. On a 44-5 bipartisan vote, the Democratic-led Senate approved the bill that seeks to replace Washington’s Marcus Whitman statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a statue of Frank, a Nisqually tribal member who championed treaty rights.Read More
The south-central region of Washington's 8-region area for coronavirus restrictions can immediately reopen. That news came Sunday from the state Department of Health. It means the counties encompassing Walla Walla, the Tri-Cities, Yakima and Ellensburg can advance to Phase 2.Read More
A winter storm blanketed the Pacific Northwest with ice and snow Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and disrupting travel across the region.Read More
Leaders of seven Northwest tribes testified this week in favor of replacing a statue of Oregon Trail pioneer and missionary Marcus Whitman in the U.S. Capitol. A proposal pending in the Washington Legislature would install a statue of the late Native rights activist Billy Frank, Jr. in Whitman's place of honor.Read More
Cassandra Tate’s recent book on the storied white missionaries sheds light on a poorly understood chapter of our state’s settler past.Read More
In the weeks leading up to the election, residents in five smaller areas around eastern Washington and Oregon spoke about how they were feeling. Now, as people are awaiting results, we checked in with a few.Read More
In total, Anna King saw five sunrises and drove more than 1,000 miles on her way to five towns spanning both sides of the Columbia in eastern Washington and Oregon. She listened hard to the worries and hopes of as many as 100 hundred residents in the region.Read More
This new work, composed by Duncan Neilson, tells the story of Frankenstein's monster from the perspective of the creature himself, with text extracted from Mary Shelly's classic novel. Listen to a special presentation of "The Monster," Saturday, October 31, at 8:00 PM.Read More
Robert Norwood of Walla Walla went to a one-room school then joined the Navy on a whim. After service he enjoyed a rewarding career as a school counselor. He talked to his son, Mike, about his schooling experience for StoryCorps Northwest, recorded virtually.Read More
In 1918 Walla Walla, the chief of police, refused to enforce a state mask mandate. He pointed out that he was going to meet heavy resistance and, anyway, that he had no authority to carry out a state directive, only city ordinances. Still, he also openly defied the instructions of the city’s health officer, J.E. Vanderpool, to follow the state health officer’s guidance.Read More
An iconic, but disappearing American institution -- the drive-in movie theater -- came to the rescue of the senior classes in several Pacific Northwest communities this month. As luck would have it, a drive-in cinema is well suited for a socially-distanced graduation ceremony.Read More
Despite the coronavirus pandemic that closed schools nationwide, students from 46 states and the District of Columbia submitted entries. We've narrowed those down to 25 finalists.Read More
While some elements of a farmers market are allowed — selling food and soap — other parts are not considered an “essential business” under Washington and Idaho’s orders. That means no more live music. No more kids’ activities. No seats. No touching the produce.Read More
Find out what's on the ballot for this election, where to drop off ballots and more. Read More
Flood waters in southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon are starting to recede. But this relatively good news follows days of bad news and inundated towns – along with collapsed bridges, dozens of helicopter rescues and washed-out roads. It’s all caused by recent heavy rainfall and fast-melting snow.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has issued an emergency proclamation for 20 counties as major flooding inundated Washington and Oregon.Read More
Fallen soldiers, outlaws, bankers, a madame, and maybe even a couple of witches all reside in one place now. It isn’t the set up for a bad bar joke, though.
Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla is the earthly home to these and other deceased figures. Read More
Washington's Department of Corrections has agreed to improve conditions for inmates with mental illness at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Under a court-approved settlement reached last week, the agency will open a new minimum- and medium-security unit for these inmates, with the goal of reducing the amount of time they spend locked up in their cells.Read More
New technology could help a wind farm in Eastern Oregon work more efficiently. Officials are voting Friday on the updates to the wind farm. Wind turbines are expected to last about 20 years. Oregon’s Stateline Wind Farm is getting up there – construction started way back in 2001. That’s why the farm’s owners are asking to update part of the facility.Read More
Aisha Fukushima has a story to tell about hip-hop and rap, but it’s not the only story there is. Fukushima, a 2009 graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, returns May 19 to share this story and her world-wide journey as an artist and activist as Whitman’s 2019 commencement speaker. Read More
