The Columbian

Northwest

Idaho AG wants high court to let state ban transgender children’s health care

February 21, 2024, 7:13pm Latest News

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to enforce its ban on gender-affirming health care for minors. Read story

WA Cares, if it survives, could benefit people who retire elsewhere

February 21, 2024, 6:40pm Latest News

State legislators are advancing a proposal that would let Washingtonians access benefits through the state’s new long-term care insurance program, WA Cares Fund, even if they left the state for a new job or to retire. Read story

FILE - Kyla Carrillo, center, leads a chant on the steps of the Seattle Police Department's West Precinct as people protest after body camera footage was released of a Seattle police officer joking about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old woman hit and killed in January by officer Kevin Dave in a police cruiser, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Seattle. Prosecutors in Washington state said Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, they will not file felony charges against Seattle police officer, Dave, who struck and killed the graduate student from India while responding to an overdose call..

Seattle police officer who struck Jaahnavi Kandula won’t face charges

February 21, 2024, 4:36pm Latest News

King County prosecutors will not file criminal charges against the Seattle police officer who struck and killed a young woman in a South Lake Union crosswalk while responding to an overdose call in January 2023. Read story

The sun sets over Mock’s Crest viewpoint in Portland. An Oregon bill would lead to earlier sunsets in the summer.

Oregon permanent standard time bill survives after Senate splits

February 21, 2024, 3:03pm Latest News Free

An effort to switch Oregon to permanent standard time will live to see another day after hitting a temporary roadblock on Tuesday when the state Senate split evenly on the bill. Read story

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 awaits inspection at the airline’s hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Jan. 10.

Boeing ousts head of 737 jetliner program weeks after panel blowout on a flight over Oregon

February 21, 2024, 2:07pm Latest News

Boeing said Wednesday that the head of its 737 program is leaving the company in an executive shake-up weeks after a door panel blew out on a flight over Oregon, renewing questions about safety at the company. Read story

FILE - A sign at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is posted near Richland, Wash., on Aug. 14, 2019. Three tribes have devoted decades to returning their ancestral lands in Washington to the days before they became the most radioactively contaminated site in the nation's nuclear weapons complex. But the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe have been left out of negotiations on a major decision affecting the future cleanup of millions of gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks on the reservation.

Part of Hanford nuclear site lab evacuated after ‘extremely dangerous’ chemical discovered

February 21, 2024, 2:04pm Latest News

Part of a large laboratory in the center of the Hanford nuclear reservation site was evacuated about 2:20 p.m. Tuesday over concerns of a dangerous chemical. Read story

Spokane County Fire District 8
A plume of smoke rises from the Gray Fire, which forced evacuation of the city of Medical Lake and closed Interstate 90 west of Spokane in August.

Biden approves disaster declaration for Spokane County fires

February 21, 2024, 11:00am Latest News

President Joe Biden on Tuesday approved a major disaster declaration for the 2023 Spokane County wildfires, ordering federal assistance to help communities recover. Read story

A man does maintenance work between razor wire-topped fences at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe, Wash.

Low wages, high costs: Washington prisoners say they’re being exploited

February 21, 2024, 10:58am Latest News

People incarcerated by Washington have to work for as little as $1 per hour while paying unfair costs to stay healthy and connected with the outside world, says a new report by Columbia Legal Services based partly on survey responses and interviews with dozens of people in the state’s prisons. Read story

BPA lines already installed, seen on Friday, April 2, 2021, would carry the electricity from a proposed solar and wind project in the Horse Heaven Hills.

How an endangered hawk could topple plans for Washington’s largest wind farm

February 21, 2024, 10:47am Latest News

What began as the largest wind project ever proposed in Washington — the Horse Heaven Hills wind farm — will likely soon be cut to a fraction of the original vision. Read story