PNW
What's happening in the Pacific Northwest? For information and details regarding Northwest news, see our articles below.
Grant County Treasurer retires after 4 decades
EPHRATA — For Darryl Pheasant, it’s always been about the details. “He knew how everything worked,” said Grant …
Legislature passes bump stock ban
In a rare victory for advocates of gun control, the Washington legislature sent a bill to Governor Inslee’s desk Tuesday that will ban possession, sale and manufacture of bump fire stocks over the course of the nex…
Voter Rights Act awaits governor's signature
The state House voted Tuesday to implement the Washington Voter Rights Act, which aims to increase the minority representation by breaking up cities and districts into smaller voting blocks.
Dems weaken school mental health care bill
Amidst calls to strengthen school safety in an era of mass shootings, a bill that sought to bring up-to-date lagging school district response plans for student…
Dems sink proposal to add officers to schools
An amendment to the House supplemental budget proposal that would have invested $30 million for school districts to hire resource officers failed to be adopted after Democratic resistance and a vote along party lin…
Lawmakers vote themselves out of public records requests
OLYMPIA — With a speed few in the state capitol have ever seen, lawmakers in the Senate and the House voted within minutes of each other to exempt themselves from public records laws — laws that every other governm…
State House passes bump stock ban
OLYMPIA — The state House voted to ban bump stocks, a stock attachment that allows a semi-automatic rifle to fire in rapid succession.
Lawmakers push through public records exemption
A bill exempting state lawmakers from the Public Records Acts was heard Thursday less than 24 hours after the proposal was made public, bypassing rules and pro…
Privacy vs. accountability in public employees birthdate bill
A proposal that would exempt the birthdates of public employees from public records requests recently passed through the state Senate 25-22, which supporters of the bill say will protect against identity theft.
Bill would put foster parent training online
A bill that would make some training for potential foster parents more easily available is likely to travel from the legislature to the governor’s desk.
Hundreds tune in for telephone town hall
Hundreds of constituents of the 13th Legislative District tuned in to a telephone town hall Monday evening hosted by their local lawmakers.
9th District telephone town hall on Thursday
Constituents of the 9th Legislative District will have an opportunity to talk with their elected officials in the state House of Representatives during a telep…
Senate votes out death penalty
OLYMPIA — The state Senate voted 26-22 to repeal the death penalty Wednesday night, rejecting several Republican amendments without debate to the consternation…
Telephone town hall is Monday
Constituents of the 13th Legislative District will have an opportunity to talk with their elected officials during an hour-long telephone town hall at 6 p.m., …
Dems hit roadblock on statewide individual mandate
OLYMPIA — Some Democratic lawmakers in Washington are looking for a way to replace the Obamacare-era individual mandate for health insurance, which ended as pa…
Bill would end non-criminal juvenile incarceration
OLYMPIA — Democratic lawmakers are pushing a bill that would end juvenile detention in the state for status offenses like truancy or running away, which are only illegal due to the age of the perpetrator.