A hacking incident involving Washington’s court system could affect upwards of a million people. The Administrative Office of the Courts announced that hackers breached its public website sometime last fall or early this year.
An effort to streamline the regulatory process for small hydropower dams is generating a rare moment of bipartisanship in Congress.
The number of coal export terminals under consideration in the Northwest has dropped to three – that’s from a high of six last year.
Dead people and lottery winners are receiving food stamps and other public assistance benefits in Oregon.
The border between the states of Washington and Idaho is like a petri dish for what the minimum wage does to the economy. You might expect that wage gap to send Washington border businesses fleeing over to Idaho, but in some places that's not happening.
Wages are lower in Idaho than they are in most states. That’s often chalked up to Idaho’s rural nature and low cost of living. But recently, the state has lost ground. A federal report shows that Idaho has the largest share of minimum wage workers in the country.
Washington’s special session begins next Monday. But at this point it seems unlikely House and Senate budget negotiators will be close to a deal.
Several forest fires are already burning in Western Washington and crews are mopping up a big one in central Oregon.
Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane is planning a public memorial service for three of its airmen killed in a mid-air explosion over central Asia.
Some environmental groups say they're being unfairly targeted by legislation working its way through the Oregon capitol.
One of the country's leading suppliers of french fries is asking the federal government to approve genetically modified potatoes. The USDA announced the move Friday by the J.R. Simplot Company of Idaho.
The fate of the three crew members on board a crashed Air Force tanker was unknown as of Friday afternoon.
Two Washington state lawmakers are defending their frequent dinners with lobbyists. The meals show up in monthly reports filed with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission.
A swarm of factors is causing heavy losses in honey bee colonies. That's the bottom line of a report issued jointly Thursday by the E-P-A and U-S-D-A.
The State Department is asking Thursday that North Korea free Kenneth Bae, a man from Lynnwood who was sentenced to 15 years hard labor Wednesday. The North Koreans had accused Bae of plotting to overthrow of their government.
Business is bustling at the Richland florist who faces a lawsuit over same-sex marriage. Now, the case has become a focal point of intense debate on social media across the globe.
May Day began peacefully in Seattle with a march for immigration reform, but in the evening, hundreds of protesters clashed with police.
An advocate for medical marijuana in Idaho is fighting to have her three children returned to her, after they were taken when marijuana was found in her home.
A major irrigation canal has sprung a leak in Eastern Washington. That could stress crops across a huge swath of the Columbia Basin.
Fresh statistics from the U.S and Canadian governments show cross-border traffic between British Columbia and the American Northwest surged in the first quarter of 2013.
The president of Gonzaga University has reversed an earlier decision and now says a campus chapter of the Knights of Columbus can receive official club status.
Law enforcement officials say they have increased the level of security for this year’s Bloomsday race in Spokane. More than 50,000 people participate in the 12-K run.
Two federal agencies issued a report in April on factors suspected of causing something called Colony Collapse Disorder. This week, the European Commission put a two-year moratorium on the use of three popular pesticides judged to pose high risk to bees.
The Washington legislature has adjourned after a 105-day session. The final gavels fell just after six o’clock Sunday night.
Advocates for stricter gun laws in Washington state launched a campaign today to take the issue to voters.
A Northwest anthropologist has risked his career in pursuit of what the rest of science considers a myth. Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University is the nation’s lone academic trying to make the scientific case for Bigfoot.
An expected special session of the Washington legislature would mean another freeze on political fundraising.
The head of Alaska Airlines has choice words for the air traffic controller furloughs that started Sunday.
A nearly $1B tax vote in the Washington House Wednesday clears the way for budget negotiations to begin in earnest at the Capitol.
The federal government announced a pilot project April 24 to pre-inspect some trucks before they cross into the U-S from Canada.
The National Teacher of the Year hails from the small Washington town of Zillah.
Shell Oil passed a key test with federal regulators last month in the waters off Anacortes.
In the wine business one good review can mean a lot of money. Now, one of the most prominent wine writers in the Northwest is getting into the wine business himself.
Washington House Democrats are getting praise and scorn for their proposed $1.3B tax package for schools. At a public hearing lawmakers heard tales of hardship from people for and against the tax measure.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee says he would apply a “broad” interpretation to the term “law enforcement” when issuing fictitious driver’s licenses to undercover agents.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee and lawmakers want to move swiftly to crackdown on repeat drunk drivers. But Thursday they got some pushback from judges, prosecutors, civil libertarians and even the restaurant industry.
An ordinance to ban discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people failed in the city council of Pocatello, Idaho, Thursday. The close vote was a setback for gay rights advocates.
The Washington House has voted to allow the Department of Licensing to continue to issue fictitious driver’s licenses to undercover police officers. But with new safeguards. Even so, the vote Tuesday came over the objections of some Republicans.
The Spokane police chief says there will be an increased police presence at the Bloomsday race this year, following the bombing Monday at the Boston marathon.
Utility regulators Tuesday ordered an end to the automatic delivery of White Pages phone books to Washington households. Legislation to do the same in Oregon hasn't gone anywhere.
Hundreds of Northwest runners took part in Monday's Boston Marathon.
The family of a silver miner killed in north Idaho has filed a lawsuit against the Hecla Mining Company. The suit claims the mine managers’ attempt to extract more silver caused the cave-in that killed Larry Marek exactly two years ago Monday.
Idaho Power is asking utility regulators to raise electricity rates by as much as 15 percent, on average, for the year starting in June. That would be the highest cost adjustment to hit customers in more than a decade. Low rainfall and snowpack are partly to blame.
In recent years, the state of Washington has issued nearly 300 fictitious drivers’ licenses to the CIA. That's according to public records initially disclosed, but now withheld, by state officials. The state’s cooperation with the nation's premier spy agency has been a secret for years - unknown to lawmakers and even the governor.
More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. Seventy-six thousand live in Oregon. The National Alzheimer’s Association reports it is now the 6th leading cause of death. A study published in the New York Times last week (4/4/13) found Alzheimer’s to be the costliest malady in the country—more expensive than heart disease or cancer.
Last week, President Obama called for a National Brain Initiative to focus more funding and research toward education and treatment of cognitive disorders. Scientists keep seeking the answers to what makes our brains work and what we can do when they don’t.
There are fewer wolves overall in the West, but Oregon and Washington's wolf populations continue to grow. That's according to the federal government's annual gray wolf tally, released Friday. The count has also revealed the initial effect of a controversial wolf hunting season in Idaho.
More than 60 lobbyists in Washington have been sent warning letters. That’s because they failed to submit monthly reports that detail how much they earned and how much they spent to lobby state lawmakers.
Two more suspects in the assault of a professor at Washington State University in Pullman came forward to police Friday.
One of the most politically sensitive topics in Oregon is up for debate at the state capitol Monday. Lawmakers will hold a hearing on whether to ask Oregon voters to approve a sales tax.
The lawyer for a Richland, Washington florist being sued for refusing to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding says he hopes to move the lawsuit to federal court as a First Amendment case. Attorney Justin D. Bristol says the case is about freedom of speech and freedom of religion, not discrimination.
A supermarket in north Idaho has banned a transgender woman from the store after she used the women's restroom. Police issued Ally Robledo a trespass notice that will make it a misdemeanor for her to enter the store for one year.
Supporters of Washington State’s park system are concerned that the new state budget proposals are too small to keep the parks in good working order.
The largest national championship track meet in the world, the U.S. Olympic team trials is coming back to Track Town USA. The much anticipated announcement happened at the State Capitol in Salem Thursday.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington House Democrats have unveiled a proposed two-year budget that looks a lot like Governor Jay Inslee’s. It would renew expiring tax hikes, close several tax exemptions and put the new money into public schools.
A costly new interstate highway bridge over the Columbia River is spurring brinksmanship in Olympia. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined Democratic Governor Jay Inslee Wednesday to press state lawmakers to commit hundreds of millions dollars to the proposed new toll bridge between Portland and Vancouver, Washington.
SALEM, Ore. – Oregon, like most states, doesn’t allow you to get a drivers’ license if you’re in the country illegally. That may change. As Congress debates immigration reform, Oregon lawmakers are considering a measure that would grant four-year driving privileges to people who otherwise wouldn't qualify for a license. The measure is up for a committee vote Monday.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Recent tragedies in Seattle have triggered an emergency discussion of drunk driving laws. Governor Jay Inslee said Tuesday it’s not acceptable that it takes a fifth DUI in ten years before a driver is charged with a felony.
A collector of World War Two memorabilia has succeeded in a daunting quest... thanks to help from the Japanese government. This veteran from Clarkston, Washington has found the right person to receive a Japanese war flag taken in battle nearly seventy years ago.
MISSION, Ore. – When the Louisville plays Connecticut in the NCAA women’s championship tomorrow , fans in Northwest Indian country will be cheering. That’s because two Native American sisters are leading the Louisville Cardinals and they hail from a reservation in northeast Oregon.
Some Northwest cities and counties are exploring whether to use local or private money to keep their airport control towers open. By mid-June, the federal government plans to close the control towers at 13 small to medium sized airports across the region.
SEATTLE, Wash. – When Washington voters legalized recreational marijuana last fall, they handed the state’s Liquor Control Board a regulatory nightmare. There’s no manual for how to create a safe and legal market for pot – something that’s never been done before.
Stricter guidelines may come to a program that lets undercover police officers in Washington obtain fictitious driver’s licenses. The Washington House could vote soon on a measure that would require additional safeguards to ensure the false IDs are not misused
SALEM, Ore. – Four gun bills could come up for a vote as soon as next week after an emotional four hour hearing at the state capitol in Salem Friday. Oregon lawmakers heard from dozens of people on both sides of the gun debate.
Jazz musicians from around the country gathered Sunday, to honor a musician who didn’t sell a lot of records but influenced three generations of jazz guitarists. John LaChapelle died last month at the age of 91 in Richland, Washington.
A city in the heart of Idaho's Mormon country held a four-hour public hearing Thursday on whether to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians.
SALEM, Ore. - Few issues draw out as many citizen lobbyists as the debate over guns. This year in Salem, a heated conversation about gun legislation is driven largely by ordinary people on both sides of the issue on four bills.
Oregon lawmakers will hear hours of testimony Friday on a slate of bills aimed at curbing gun violence. Supporters of stricter gun laws rallied at the capitol Thursday in advance of the hearing.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a plan to send some nuclear waste from leaky storage tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation to southern New Mexico. Now, New Mexicans are debating whether to reverse course, and accept some of the waste.
Prosecutors in rural Long County Georgia are calling a soldier from Washington State the ringleader of a militia group that plotted cross country attacks. Private Isaac Aguigui of Cashmere is stationed at Fort Stewart Georgia.
RICHLAND, Wash. – Hanford Nuclear Reservation managers are trying to figure out who left a time capsule in the wall of a building there nearly 60 years ago.
Northwest farmers are beginning to harvest the first asparagus of the year this week in southeast Washington. That’s a tad earlier than usual. Growers across the region are keeping an eye on how many asparagus workers show up for the harvest. Last there was a farm-labor shortage.
Pot possession is now legal in Washington. But city and state regulators are drawing the line at marijuana use in bars and coffeeshops.
