TACOMA — Vaccines and the swarm of Delta cases that overwhelmed the state’s hospitals this summer have created some level of COVID-19 immune response among an estimated 61.5 percent to 65.7 percent of Washington state’s population.
SEATTLE — Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Gov. Jay Inslee are setting the wheels in motion to begin a regionwide assessment of dam breaching on the Lower Snake River.
SPOKANE — The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is looking to hire deputies, and its recruitment strategy includes telling potential applicants that they do not need a COVID-19 vaccine to work.
BELLINGHAM — As interest in the future of the curtailed Intalco Works aluminum smelter heats up, one potential path to be considered is whether the Port of Bellingham or Whatcom County government would purchase the property and lease it as a way to persuade a company to reopen the facility.
White Pass plans to double the size of its High Camp lodge and build a new guest services building to better accommodate growing crowds at the ski area.
YAKIMA — Monica Lewinsky said she is the only person over 40 who doesn’t want to feel 20 again.
SPOKANE — Unless they chicken out, the Spokane County Commissioners will soon approve a code change allowing residents in low-density residential areas to raise hens.
SPOKANE — Sun Country Airlines is launching new nonstop service between Minneapolis and Spokane.
EDMONDS — Hundreds of students in a Snohomish County school will switch to remote learning Wednesday after 26 students tested positive for coronavirus in the last 10 days, forcing the school to shut down.
OLYMPIA — About 3% of the 63,000 Washington state workers subject to Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate have left their jobs or were terminated as this week’s deadline passed.
SEATTLE — Tech-industry experts, city planners and even Gov. Jay Inslee have touted self-driving cars as a panacea, cutting congestion and vehicle emissions while reducing collisions.
FERNDALE — The curtailed Intalco Works aluminum smelter near Ferndale could have a new owner, leading to hundreds of living-wage jobs returning to the facility.
KENNEWICK — Kennewick is starting to look at choosing new mascots for two of its high schools as a deadline set by a new state law nears.
SEATTLE — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office has filed two misdemeanor criminal charges against Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer over his controversial January confrontation with a Black newspaper carrier.
OLYMPIA — As the vaccination deadline for thousands of workers in Washington state arrived Monday, officials warned that those who quit or get fired over Gov. Jay Inslee’s mandate for state government employees, health care workers and others shouldn’t count on receiving jobless benefits.
KENNEWICK — A requirement that most health care workers in Washington state be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Monday Oct. 18 could actually help with Kadlec Regional Medical Center staffing issues, said its chief executive, Reza Kaleel.
SEATTLE — The state’s COVID-19 vaccination deadline for thousands of employees arrives at the end of Monday, pushing health care facilities throughout Washington to scramble to sort through remaining compliance records and take stock of potential service cuts.
OLYMPIA — A last-ditch effort to halt Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for state employees and health care workers was rejected Monday morning by a judge who ruled that Inslee has acted within his legal authority.
OLYMPIA — Oh, the things some people will do for their giant pumpkins.
SEATTLE — Pacific Northwest food producers stung by extreme heat will be eligible for disaster relief in a $10 billion package included in legislation now signed into law.
SPOKANE — When Emily Gwinn decided she wanted to get back into the workforce a year after her third child was born, one big question loomed: Who would care for her kids while she was at work?
SPOKANE — A massive male cougar that was captured and tagged by biologists in 2018 was legally killed by a hunter on Sept. 9 in Eastern Washington.
SPOKANE — Dozens of statues associated with racial injustice have been removed from public spaces across the country since last year, and some people hope a controversial one in downtown Spokane is next.
EVERETT — Waving signs like “coercion is not consent,” and “stop the mandate,” some 200 Boeing Co. employees and others staged a protest on Friday over the planemaker’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for U.S. workers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former Boeing Co. chief technical pilot, accused of deceiving federal regulators evaluating the company’s 737 MAX jet, was charged with fraud on Friday, pleaded not guilty and was released, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in northern Texas said.
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee said thanks to the more than 91% vaccination and exemption rate among state employees, essential state services should be relatively unaffected as the vaccination deadline passes on Monday.
SEATTLE — Starting Friday, Seattle again started enforcing parking laws that require vehicles to move from a spot on a public street after 72 hours, but only against abandoned vehicles or ones the city deems “unsafe.”
Spokane County sets record with $1.3 billion in new construction in 2021: 'Demand was just enormous'
SPOKANE — Spokane County set a record this year with $1.3 billion in new construction. But builders say you have to look deeper to understand the whole story.
SPOKANE — Amazon began operations Thursday at its newest air-cargo hub at Spokane International Airport, becoming only the second facility of its kind in the state of Washington.
RICHLAND — Richland school leaders promised thousands of parents this week that classes will continue in-person on Monday.
SEATTLE — Seattle and Tacoma port authorities said this week it’s “all hands on deck” as they work to address cargo ship congestion in Puget Sound.
OLYMPIA — A Facebook representative provided false testimony in a lawsuit that accuses the social media giant of violating state campaign finance laws, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson alleges in court filings.
YAKIMA — Help for Washington families with kids in child care expanded earlier this month, but local child care providers said many people still do not know about the changes and only some have seen the effects.
OLYMPIA — Coronavirus cases in Washington are down across all age groups, including school-age children, the state Department of Health said Wednesday.
BOISE, Idaho — With the pandemic in its 19th month, Idaho intensive care units still have high numbers of COVID-19 patients.
SEATTLE — Two new Seattle tenant protections will become law without Mayor Jenny Durkan's blessing.
RICHLAND — Fred Meyer workers in Richland could become the first grocery store employees in Eastern Washington in recent memory to join a union through an election, according to United Food and Commercial Workers.
SEATTLE — With an Oct. 18 deadline looming, nearly 90% of Washington state government employees subject to Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate have complied with the order, according to data released Monday.
YAKIMA — A group of immigrant rights activists chanted “Si Se Puede” (yes you can) Monday in downtown Yakima, calling for the Biden administration to fulfill its promise to immigrants.
GOLDENDALE — An alternative energy project planned near Goldendale threatens a sacred Yakama Nation ceremonial site, according to Yakama leaders.
PASCO — Franklin County has another chance to argue that Latinos are being fairly represented in county commissioner elections.
SEATTLE — While the vast majority of Washington hospital workers have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, rural hospitals are seeing much lower immunization rates among workers, according to a new survey of hospitals and health systems.
SEATTLE — Amazon will allow many tech and corporate workers to continue working remotely indefinitely, as long as they are able to commute to the office when necessary, according to a blog posted Monday.
SEATTLE — When COVID-19 made its way inside her mother’s nursing home, Pam Gould and her relatives resorted to talking to the 94-year-old on window visits.
SPOKANE — By almost any conceivable measure, this summer’s lengthy and extreme drought led to historic lows in the production and quality of the region’s signature cash crop.
SPOKANE — Since the outbreak of two deadly drought-related wildlife diseases in August, there have been more than 500 reports of sick or dead deer in Eastern Washington.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week was a decidedly bad one for Facebook, as the social media giant faced the dual crises of a server outage on Monday and a whistleblower detailing to senators a day later how the company has knowingly chosen profits over protecting children and curbing misinformati…
SPOKANE — Long-term care facilities could face critical staffing shortages this fall as Gov. Inslee's vaccine mandate takes hold Oct. 18.
SEATTLE — After months of short-staffing, unanswered job listings and ghosted interviews, some Seattle-area employers say they're seeing more job seekers since the extra $300-a-week in federal pandemic jobless benefits ended Sept. 4.
Kayla Barron is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime around the globe — nearly 3,000 times.
