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37-year-old man accused in Spokane ricin letter scare

SPOKANE, Wash. — A 37-year-old man was arrested Wednesday in connection with a case in which a pair of letters containing the deadly poison ricin were discovered in Spokane last … More →

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Lawyer: Feds investigating Susan Powell case

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — The lawyer for the family of missing Utah woman Susan Powell said Tuesday that even as local police close the …

Police give details in Powell disappearance

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — For the first time, Utah police said Monday they believe Susan Powell’s brother-in-law was “heavily involved” in getting rid of …

Inslee signs $8.7M transportation budget

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee signed off on an $8.7 billion transportation budget Monday that puts money toward maintaining state roadways and continues spending on …

Wall of secrecy around ricin case

SPOKANE, Wash. — The FBI said Monday that no one has been arrested after last week’s discovery of a pair of letters containing the deadly …

Inslee names attorney, Dem activist to state appellate court

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Tri-Cities lawyer and Democratic Party activist George Fearing to the Court of Appeals, Division III, District 2. …

FBI: No arrests in case of Spokane ricin letter

SPOKANE — The FBI says it still has not made any arrests after searching a downtown Spokane apartment as part of an investigation into the …

‘Do-over’ helps hiker reach pinnacle

MOUNT PISGAH, Ore. — As the entourage made its way up toward the 1,520-foot summit on a recent Saturday afternoon, hikers coming down asked questions. …

FBI searches Spokane residences in ricin case

SPOKANE, Wash. — Authorities in hazardous materials suits searched a downtown Spokane apartment Saturday, investigating the recent discovery of a pair of letters containing the …

Oregon timber producers forced to ponder future with fewer logs

O’BRIEN, Ore. — Jennifer Phillippi’s grandparents started producing lumber in this corner of Oregon timber country in 1922, when a man could set up a …

Vancouver hospital’s tiniest-ever baby heads home

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The evidence of Harley Gulliksen’s achievements line the doorway into her hospital room. “Central line in for 47 days and remained infection …

Prison guard killer moved to Walla Walla

EVERETT — Byron Scherf was sentenced to death for killing a corrections officer at the Washington State Reformatory, but he will face the same security …

Afghan witnesses offer chilling accounts of soldier’s rampage

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Sitting on a dirty straw mat on the parched ground of southern Afghanistan, Masooma sank deeper inside a giant black shawl. Hidden …

State proposes rules for pot growing, sales

SEATTLE — Washington residents and out-of-staters could buy an ounce of tested, labeled marijuana, seven days a week, up to 20 hours a day, in …

State set to release draft rules for pot industry

SEATTLE, Wash. — They’ve spent nearly eight months visiting marijuana grow houses, studying the science of getting high and earning nicknames like “the queen of …

Biotech apples may be harbinger for Simplot

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s potato industry is gazing north of the U.S. border to a tiny Canadian apple breeder for a sign of how the …

Inmate who killed guard sentenced to death

EVERETT — A Washington state judge has sentenced an inmate to death for killing a state corrections officer in a prison chapel two years ago. …

VIDEO: Seattle man posted video before dying on highway

PORTLAND — A final video of Richard Swanson shows him smiling and happy to be at the ocean as he prepared to dribble a soccer …

$300,000 damage in Port Angeles bulldozer rampage

PORT ANGELES — Damage is estimated at $300,000 at a subdivision near Port Angeles where a man destroyed three houses with a bulldozer, damaged another …

Man who killed prison guard could face death

EVERETT — The same jury that convicted a Monroe Reformatory inmate of aggravated murder for strangling a prison guard started work Monday in Everett on …

State’s high-risk inmates learning a new way

WALLA WALLA — Six inmates, each shackled and chained to a chair, face the front of a room at the Washington State Penitentiary as two …

State tribes are battling high youth suicide rate

SEATTLE — Suicide stalks Indian Country, claiming more lives of native youth than those in any other population, not only in Washington, but nationally. State …

Pot grows leave massive carbon footprint

SEATTLE — Marijuana growing is not a green industry. Done mostly indoors in Washington, pot production often uses hospital-intensity lamps, air conditioning, dehumidifiers, fans and …

Man damages four homes with bulldozer

SEATTLE, Wash. — A man angry at his neighbors went on a rampage in a bulldozer Friday on the Olympic Peninsula, damaging four homes, knocking …

Seattle debates value of tiny apartments

SEATTLE — Developers in Seattle have been leading the U.S. in building hundreds of tiny apartments — some about the size of a generous parking …

‘Barefoot Bandit’ pleads guilty to burglary

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The young man known as the “Barefoot Bandit” pleaded guilty to burglary Wednesday in a county court, perhaps closing the lengthy …

New school building to honor wartime courage

SEATTLE — As a teenage enlistee during World War II, Chuck Meacham Sr. volunteered for the Marine Raiders, specialized units formed to fight in the …

Inslee signs wrongful conviction compensation law

OLYMPIA — A measure to compensate people who have been wrongfully convicted in Washington state was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jay Inslee. The …

Forest Service beefs up fleet of planes fighting wildfires

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — As the wildfire season ramps up across the West, the U.S. Forest Service is adding bigger, faster planes to its fleet …

Foreign workers’ spouses often are stuck in limbo

SEATTLE — Looking back now, Pallavi Dua admits she wasn’t prepared for the frustration of being surrounded by jobs for which she easily qualified but …

Community in a quandary on how to get legal pot

POINT ROBERTS — Larry Musselwhite wants to open the first, and likely the only, retail pot store in this oddly situated speck of Washington state. …

Do visas for skilled foreigners shut out U.S. tech workers?

SEATTLE — Last year, Mitchell Erickson earned what he believed would be his ticket to a lucrative new career: a bachelor’s degree in computer science …

Strong April jobs report helps ease economic fears

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy showed last month why it remains the envy of industrialized nations: In the face of tax increases and federal spending …

Law officers receive top state honor

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The state’s highest law enforcement honor was awarded Friday to five officers, including a Mount Rainier National Park ranger who was fatally …

Police to review evidence of May Day crimes in Seattle

In the wake of a May Day melee that ended with 17 people arrested and eight police officers injured downtown, Seattle police say they’re reviewing …

Historic totem pole in danger of falling

TACOMA — A 110-year-old carved cedar pole known as the Tacoma Totem Pole is rotting and in danger of falling, so officials are trying to …

Photos: Protesters charged after May Day rally

SEATTLE — Prosecutors started filing charges Thursday against some of the 17 people arrested during a violent May Day protest in Seattle. Six people who …

Accident victim fights to regain control of her limbs

SEATTLE — The first time Jessica Owen spent a day in a wheelchair was in second grade. Her mother wanted her to know at a …

UPS driver honored for 30 years of safe deliveries

SEATTLE — Peggy Larson is too polite to tell us how to drive. But if more of us drove like she does, the roads would …

Inmate’s trial begins in death of prison guard

EVERETT — A convicted rapist accused of strangling a corrections officer to death with an amplifier cord in the prison chapel is standing trial on …

Seattle May Day rally turns violent despite heavy security

SEATTLE — Police used “flash bangs” and pepper spray against some protesters who pelted them with rocks and bottles late Wednesday, as violence erupted during …

DB Cooper parachute packer ID’d as homicide victim

SEATTLE — The man who packed the parachutes used by infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper more than four decades ago has been identified as the victim …

Seattle family speaks out against drunk driving

SEATTLE — A Seattle man who lost his parents and whose wife and infant son were critically injured by a drunk driver is speaking out …

New-on-the-job police dogs trained to ignore pot

BREMERTON — Bremerton police Officer Dahle “Duke” Roessel and his new dog partner, Dusty, combed the rooms of a West Bremerton hotel during a practice …

Proponents of background checks in state to unveil initiative

OLYMPIA — After struggling to sway both state and federal lawmakers, proponents of expanding background checks for gun sales are now exploring whether they will …

Special session begins May 13 for Legislature

OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers adjourned their 105-day legislative session Sunday without coming to an agreement on a new two-year operating budget. Gov. Jay Inslee quickly …

Hospital sends smokers into Wenatchee neighborhood

WENATCHEE — Ever since Central Washington Hospital banned smoking on its Wenatchee campus in February, smokers have made their way to a sidewalk to light …

Some in state oppose hospitals’ proposed Catholic affiliation

Sedro-Woolley, a tiny Skagit County town in the Cascade foothills, was formed in 1898 from a merger of two rival towns — one named for …

Vintage police car turns heads in Seattle

SEATTLE — At a recent scene of a fight on Seattle’s waterfront, most of the gawkers weren’t looking at the handcuffed and yelling suspect or …

Benton-Franklin sees first Latino judge

Five minutes after leaving a meeting with Gov. Jay Inslee in Olympia, Sal Mendoza Jr.’s cellphone rang with a blocked number. Mendoza was so stressed …

Eyman files a ‘Super Bowl’ anti-tax initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Initiative promoter Tim Eyman filed a ballot measure Wednesday to make all tax hikes passed by the Legislature expire after a year. …

Boeing expects early-May restart for 787 deliveries

Boeing reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit even as it scrambled to fix its grounded 787. The company said on Wednesday that deliveries of the 787 …

Governments may push workers to health exchange

OLYMPIA, Wash. — In a move that would capitalize on provisions under President Barack Obama’s health care law but could cost the federal government millions …

Judge considers motions in case of Afghan killings

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD — The U.S. soldier accused of murdering 16 Afghan villagers during a pre-dawn rampage last year appeared in a military courtroom Tuesday …

Five die, including shooter, in Seattle-area rampage

FEDERAL WAY — A man who killed his girlfriend at their Federal Way apartment Sunday night and then killed three others before he was fatally …

Iraq vet pleads guilty to killing fellow soldiers

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — An Army sergeant pleaded guilty Monday to killing four other soldiers and a Navy officer in 2009 at mental health …

Tacoma bar owner faces crackdown for allowing pot use

SEATTLE — Jeff Call knew he was pushing the envelope when he started letting people use marijuana at his rum-and-pizza joint in Tacoma. But he …

Brewers protest proposed beer tax

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Brewers gathered at the Capitol on Friday to protest a House budget proposal that makes permanent a beer tax on large breweries …

FAA approves resumption of Boeing 787 flights

WASHINGTON — Boeing’s beleaguered 787 could be flying again within a week after federal officials approved a fix for its batteries, even though the root …

Photos: Amanda Knox: ’Paralyzed’ with anxiety sometimes

SEATTLE — Amanda Knox says in a new interview that she’s sometimes “paralyzed” with anxiety stemming from the death of her roommate in Italy and …

Pot education for government numbers guy

SEATTLE — Mike Steenhout knows spreadsheets, statistics and bean-counting. He has worked as a budget assistant to the governor, managed local operations for the U.S. …

Holder: Marijuana’s effect on children a factor

WASHINGTON — How it affects children will be one factor the Justice Department weighs as it determines how to respond to the legalization of marijuana …

Wedding plans shake up Kennewick couple’s lives

RICHLAND — In a part of the state where attitudes toward gay and lesbian people are seldom favorable, Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed have lived …

Inslee hails ‘aggressive’ drunken driving bill

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee and a bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a plan Tuesday that would make changes to the state’s impaired driving laws, …

Budget maneuvering dips into funds set aside for schools

SEATTLE — A group of West Seattle High School students spent a recent afternoon practicing how to prepare hospital beds, changing sheets and replacing pillow …

Video: City to remove dead whale from beach

BURIEN, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state town of Burien is posting signs along a Puget Sound beach warning people not to touch or climb …

One dead, one missing day after avalanches near Snoqualmie Pass

SNOQUALMIE PASS — A female snowshoer died hours after she was dug out of an avalanche by fellow hikers, and a man remained missing Sunday, …

Medical question mark arises for state’s pot market

SEATTLE — In a nondescript Seattle building, with a strip mall Starbucks across the street, dozens of marijuana plants sway under electric fans in 79.5-degree …

State GOP counting on Obamacare to balance the budget

OLYMPIA — Republicans were at war over President Barack Obama’s health care law less than a year ago. The Republican state attorney general had joined …

Familiar robins still a mystery to many

SEATLE — The Saturday bird group at Discovery Park hadn’t left the parking lot when they made their first sighting: a pair of robins rooting …

Senate leaders say no to Columbia River Crossing bridge money

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee insists that it is “now or never” on securing $450 million in state money for the replacement of the bridge …

State to issue tougher penalties for digging into utilities

SPOKANE — Digging up buried utility lines may give you the shock of a lifetime. But it will zap your wallet as well. Anyone who …

Historic log stolen

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — A Sedro-Woolley company is offering a $500 reward for the return of a section of a log with tree rings dated back …

Florist headed to court over gay marriage

RICHLAND, Wash. — The lawyer for a Richland florist sued for refusing to provide flowers for a gay marriage hopes to move the state lawsuit …

House budget targets tax breaks

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Democrats in the state House proposed a budget plan Wednesday that would eliminate a variety of tax breaks to help pay for …

Cautious family regrets overlooking window guards

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Becca and Jason Keen Cunningham are careful parents. They got Mr. Yuk stickers from the Washington Poison Center and put them on …

Panel OKs ecosystem plan for fisheries

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — After three years of consideration, West Coast federal fisheries managers on Tuesday unanimously adopted their first ecosystem approach to decisions on …

Corps assesses danger from big quake at 20 NW dams

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is halfway through studies of the threat posed by a major offshore earthquake to its …

It may be April, but don’t put away skis yet

SNOQUALMIE PASS — It was a 6-foot-2 St. Bernard that got me started thinking about what’s so great about spring skiing. I was watching a …

Pension spiking costs the state millions

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a three-part series. LAKEWOOD — By the end of 2009, three veteran managers at Lakewood Fire District 2 …

State weighing compensation for wrongful convictions

OLYMPIA — Alan Northrop anxiously waits outside a Senate committee hearing, his girlfriend rubbing his shoulders and whispering words of support as he prepares to …

Boeing 787 makes final test flight for battery fix

EVERETT — Boeing said its flight of a 787 on Friday should wrap up the testing for its fix of the battery problems that have …

Legislators answer a call to arms for fun, education

LITTLEROCK, Wash. — Republican state Sen. Steve Litzow pointed out his bright orange fleece jacket to other lawmakers Thursday as they approached tables with target …

State eyes rules to ban pot bars

SEATTLE — Washington state officials said Wednesday it’s not OK for bars to allow marijuana use, and they plan to take steps to address that. …

Soldier from Washington charged with killing wife

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Georgia soldier accused of plotting attacks as the leader of an anti-government militia group was charged by the Army on Wednesday …

Senate budget includes cuts, avoids taxes, helps education

OLYMPIA — The Senate on Wednesday unveiled a budget proposal that avoids new taxes by focusing on a series of spending cuts and fund transfers …

House panel rejects push for Facebook passwords

SEATTLE — An amendment that would have allowed bosses to ask for a worker’s Facebook or other social media password during company investigations was withdrawn …

Kalama wine-bottle maker rises from the ashes

KALAMA — Two-foot-long cylinders of glass, still red-hot and glowing, drop once a second into molds at Bennu Glass’ wine-bottling manufacturing facility. By the end …

New law will study how to lower greenhouse gas

SEATTLE — Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Tuesday a bill he championed that would study the best ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under …

Photos: Dozens shimmy and shake to protest dance tax

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Dozens of people protesting a decades-old state tax on dance venues swayed, kicked and twirled to the rhythm of music Monday in …

No Easter bunnies here — just pygmy rabbits on the rebound

EPHRATA — It’s Easter, but don’t mention that famous egg-hiding bunny to pygmy rabbit savior Penny Becker. “This is all about conservation and recovery out …

Ex-Gov. Gardner honored for public, private legacy

TACOMA — Political leaders and hundreds of others gathered Saturday to honor former Gov. Booth Gardner for how he publicly shaped the state and how …

Do state DUI laws go far enough?

OLYMPIA — If you’re shocked that the suspect in last Monday’s fatal crash was even on the road, given his string of drunken-driving arrests and …

Mighty list of Columbia River concerns

WASHINGTON — When President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Columbia River Treaty with Canada as one of his last official acts in January of 1961, global …

Senator insists state unable to afford proposed ‘Dream Act’

OLYMPIA — A key Washington state lawmaker wrote in a Friday editorial that state funds are too scarce to extend need-based college aid to illegal …

Inslee: Schools win, tax breaks go

OLYMPIA — History suggests Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has little chance of pushing through his proposal to pump an additional $1.2 billion into education by …