A federal judge in Eastern Washington granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit that
involves over ten Yakima County dairy producers.Read More
Heritage University will remodel its Kathleen Ross Center building. The university in Toppenish, WA will invest more than $2 million to improve its library and add a new center to help students get into STEM jobs.Read More
The town of Sunnyside, Washington, in the Yakima Valley, looking south toward the Horse Heaven Hills. (Credit: Annie Warren / NWPB) watch Listen (Runtime 1:25) Read The Sunnyside City Council […]Read More
November is Native American Heritage Month. In central Washington, different events celebrate these communities. On Friday, Nov. 22, Heritage University will host the award-winning actor Adam Beach in Toppenish His visit is closing out the university’s events recognizing the Native American communities’ contributions.Read More
Washington state is trying to recruit more providers for several roles in behavioral health care Read More
Candidate Jerrod Sessler, a Republican, and incumbent Dan Newhouse, a Republican, are running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington’s 4th Congressional District position. (Credit: Sessler’s campaign website and […]Read More
The 2024 election is underway, and the candidates' campaigns in central Washington are moving forward.
As part of NWPB’s elections coverage, we surveyed our audience and asked listeners to submit questions they would like our news team to ask candidates. Read More
The 2024 election is underway, and the candidates' campaigns in central Washington are moving forward.
As part of NWPB’s elections coverage, we surveyed our audience and asked them to submit questions they would like our news team to ask candidates. Here are their responses.Read More
Over 500 people participated in El Grito during a Mexican Independence Day event on Saturday. (Credit: Renee Diaz / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:57) Read On Saturday, people gathered at Heritage […]Read More
With Washington's primary election results in, eyes remain on key races throughout the state. On Thursday, the Office of the Secretary of State certified the Aug. 6 Primary results and ordered a statewide manual recount of the Commissioner of Public Lands race.Read More
A cold case victim from nearly 50 years ago has been identified. The Yakima Police Department spoke about the case on July 2. Read More
La Junta del Distrito Escolar de Sunnyside podría ser la próxima jurisdicción en enfrentarse a una demanda por violar la Ley del Derecho al Voto del Estado de Washington. Un grupo notificó al Distrito que el sistema electoral diluye el voto latino y, si esto no se corrige, el Distrito podría terminar en los tribunales.Read More
The Sunnyside School District Board could be the next jurisdiction to face a lawsuit for violating the Washington State Voting Rights Act. A group has notified the District that the election system dilutes the Latino vote, and if it’s not fixed, the District could end up in court.Read More
Un juez federal determinó que este, con algunas adecuaciones, será el nuevo mapa de distritos legislativos de Washington. (Crédito: Imagen tomada de documentos judiciales). LEA Por: Jeanie Lindsey, Northwest News […]Read More
A hearing before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington should help define the future of a Legislative District map in the Yakima Valley. Supporters say the redrawn map proposals could preserve the Latino vote but opponents say it could dilute the native vote.Read More
In Washington, there is only one clinic to treat Long-COVID. It is in Seattle on the west side of the state. Long-COVID haulers in the Yakima Valley face a lack of local resources, diagnosis and information. Some say they feel disconnected from their doctors. This is part three of a collaborative piece with palabra about Long-COVID.Read More
Researchers are looking into Long-COVID in Washington. Nearly half of Latinos were asked whether they have experienced prolonged COVID symptoms and their answers showed they have.Read More
Un grupo de investigadores está estudiando el COVID persistente en el estado de Washington. Ellos preguntaron a pacientes Hispanos y Latinos/a/x/e si habían tenido síntomas de COVID prolongado y sus respuestas demostraron que un poco más del 40 por ciento sí los han padecido. Read More
El valle de Yakima fue una de las regiones más afectadas del país durante la pandemia de COVID. Ahora, los hispanos y latinos de la zona siguen lidiando con los síntomas. Read More
The Yakima Valley was one of the hardest hit regions in the country during the COVID pandemic. Now, Hispanic and Latinos in the area are still dealing with symptoms. N-W-P-B’s Johanna Bejarano worked with Lygia Navarro, a journalist with palabra, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ media outlet. This is a collaborative piece about long COVID in Central Read More
Un juez federal dictaminó que el estado de Washington debe adoptar y promulgar nuevos mapas legislativos para la región del valle de Yakima antes de febrero de 2024. Read More
A Federal Judge has ruled that Washington State must adopt and enact new legislative maps for the Yakima Valley region by February 2024. Read More
In Yakima, some organizations use art to promote mental health. After-school activities and events help people to explore self-expression and creativity to improve their emotional and social well-being. Read More
Ashtyn Harris of Ellensburg ties a small caddis-type fly to her line in the Yakima River Canyon. She watches them in the river area, to decide what to use as […]Read More
Después de 25 años, una biblioteca sobre ruedas vuelve a recorrer el valle de Yakima. Con un moderno bibliobús, las bibliotecas quieren derribar las barreras de acceso a sus servicios y ofrecer experiencias divertidas que unan a las comunidades. Read More
After 25 five years, a library on wheels is driving again through the Yakima Valley. With a modern bookmobile, the libraries want to break down the barriers to accessing their services and provide fun experiences that bring communities together.Read More
El fiscal general del Estado de Washington, Bob Ferguson, dijo que el acuerdo de Ostrom con el Estado resolvía la demanda de derechos civiles contra la empresa por sus acciones injustas, engañosas y discriminatorias contra mujeres y trabajadores locales agrícolas de Washington. Read More
Ostrom Mushroom Farm must pay 3.4 million dollars for discriminating against workers. The Washington state attorney general said Ostrom’s settlement with Washington state resolved the civil rights lawsuit against the company for unfair, deceptive and discriminatory actions against female farmworkers and Washington-based workers. Read More
Los miembros del sindicato de profesores del Yakima Valley Community College no tienen confianza en la presidenta de la institución Linda Kaminski. Los líderes sindicales afirman que la administración no rinde cuentas ni atiende sus quejas. Pero los representantes de la universidad dicen que se han celebrado reuniones con el profesorado y que están trabajando para Read More
Yakima Valley College faculty union members voted no confidence in college president Linda Kaminski. Union leaders say the administration has become unaccountable and is not addressing their complaints. But, college representatives say meetings with faculty have taken place, and they are working to answer their questions.Read More
Al comenzar el mes nacional de concientización sobre los casos de mujeres y personas indígenas desaparecidas y asesinadas (MMIW/P), las familias siguen llamando la atención sobre las barreras y los retos que experimentan al abordar la crisis en Washington.Read More
As the national awareness month on the crisis starts, families continue calling attention to the barriers and challenges they experience when addressing the missing and murdered indigenous women and people MMIW/P crisis in Washington. Read More
La organización sin ánimo de lucro Friends of Toppenish Creek está pidiendo a la Agencia de Protección del Medio Ambiente de EE.UU. (EPA por sus siglas en inglés) que reabra una queja contra la Agencia Regional de Aire Limpio de Yakima (YRCAA en inglés). Read More
Yakima Clean Air Compliance website in Spanish. (Screenshot from the YRCAA website.) Listen (Runtime 1:33) Read A nonprofit organization, Friends of Toppenish Creek, is asking the U.S Environmental Protection Agency […]Read More
Los trabajadores del campo se encuentran entre los más afectados por el estrés y la ansiedad. Investigadores y proveedores de salud afirman que la pandemia aumentó las dificultades económicas y las presiones laborales. Sin embargo, los trabajadores agrícolas no siempre son conscientes de que su trabajo puede afectar a su salud mental. Read More
Farmworkers are among the groups disproportionately affected by stress and anxiety. Researchers and healthcare providers say the pandemic increased economic struggles and job pressures. Still, agricultural workers are not always aware that it could impact their mental health. Read More
Listen (Runtime 0:56) Read Voting rights advocacy groups are helping Hispanic people in Central Washington understand the election process. Some citizens have not voted in past elections because they’ve had […]Read More
Concerns about redistricting in the Yakima Valley may be overshadowed by concerns over low voter turnout amongst Latinos Listen NWPB’s Johanna Bejarano reports on concerns about low voter turnout amongst […]Read More
It’s back to the drawing board for state regulators, after the Washington Court of Appeals ordered the Department of Ecology to rework permits for confined animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs. A panel of judges ruled that current waste discharge permits don’t adequately protect groundwater and don’t take climate change into account.Read More
What started as a slow trickle of people became a flood of cars over Easter weekend at the FEMA vaccination center in Yakima. And as April 15 approaches (when all adults are eligible for vaccination in Washington), some Seattleites are heading East for a coveted Covid-19 shot.Read More
Environmental groups and the Washington dairy industry are unhappy with a state permit that regulates pollutants. The groups made their cases before a state appeals court this week. In 2017, the Washington Department of Ecology issued what’s known as a discharge permit for large dairies or other concentrated animal feeding operations. Read More
So far this month, more than 400 Yakima Valley fruit packing workers have gone on strike, according to Familias Unidas Por La Justicia. The farmworker advocacy group, based in Skagit County, is helping these workers organize committees, negotiate with employers and seek legal advice. Read More
News and information on the COVID-19 pandemic released by state and local governments is primarily in English. And though health districts and emergency management offices translate some of that information into Spanish, immigrant communities in places like the Yakima Valley still struggle to access that information. Read More
Like many decades-old businesses, Yakima and Seattle-based PaintSmith has had experience with layoffs. After the 2008 recession, the company went from 80 employees to just 10. It taught Smith that his company can survive financial downturns. Read More
About 250,000 workers came to the U.S. on H-2A visas last year, the majority of them from Mexico. They've become an increasingly important piece of America's food industry.Read More
As more old orchard land in central Washington is converted into housing developments and schools, there are concerns over legacy pesticides in the soil where children play and families live. That’s especially true in Wenatchee and Yakima. Read More
A delegation of Mexican government officials visited the Yakima Valley Monday to meet with dairy workers, most of whom are Mexican nationals. The group was looking to expand the role of the Mexican government in protecting the rights of workers.Read More
The only Latina candidate running for Yakima City Council appears to have lost her bid. That means Yakima -- the population of which is nearly 50 percent Latinx -- will likely be governed by an all-white council for the first time since 2015.Read More
Tuesday, Nov. 5 is election day, but the city of Yakima is debating what might go on its next ballot in 2020. Councilmembers are considering a proposal to put the establishment of a mayoral position to a vote. The Yakima mayor would replace the city manager’s position and be elected by the city at-large. Read More
Environmental and Latino groups are hosting a clean drinking water forum Saturday, Oct. 26. The goal is to help people learn how they can get their water tested – and why it’s important.Read More
