Sheriff's officials told residents in the town of Lind in eastern Washington to evacuate because of a growing wildfire south of town that was burning homes. The Adams County Sheriff's Office said at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday that all Lind residents needed to evacuate immediately and that abou…
Washington voters will winnow the field of candidates in dozens of races in the state's primary Tuesday. Washington is a vote-by-mail state, and ballots were sent to nearly 4.8 million registered voters weeks ago. Among the races being decided are U.S. Senate, Congress, secretary of state an…
Triple-digit heat is being investigated as the cause of death for four people in Oregon as a sweltering heat wave enveloped the Pacific Northwest and the forecast show no sign of letting up. Portland could break a record for the length of the heat wave this week with near triple-digit temper…
As a heat wave engulfs a large section of the United States, doctors and firefighters are sounding an alarm on an old and stubborn foe: kids falling from windows. Between 3,500 and 5,000 kids, usually between 2 and 5 years old, fall from windows annually in the United States, said Dr. Brian…
The Washington State Department of Health has suspended the license of a doctor on the Olympic Peninsula after he was arrested on charges of rape and taking indecent liberties with patients. KING5 reports court documents say Josiah Hill sexually assaulted three patients at Olympic Medical Ce…
Three Republican challengers are mounting energetic campaigns to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier in Washington’s 8th Congressional District, a key target of GOP efforts to retake control of the House. Army veteran Jesse Jensen ran unsuccessfully against Schrier in 2020. King County C…
A man who took two girls from Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, Washington, supplied them with drugs, forced them to have sex and collected payments for it was sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Assistant U.S. Attorney Pamela Paaso said 34-year-old Johnl Jac…
Watch salesman turned anti-tax initiative promoter Tim Eyman, who was found liable last year for “numerous and particularly egregious” violations of campaign finance law, has been forced to sell his house to help pay millions in fines and debt. The Seattle Times reports a federal bankruptcy judge Thursday approved a resolution requiring Eyman to sell his portion of a Mukilteo house to his ex-wife. The $900,000 will go toward paying over $5.6 million in sanctions and legal fees he owes the state of Washington and creditors. Eyman was fined by a Thurston County judge who found he had enriched himself by laundering political donations. Eyman described the penalties against him as “ridiculously unconstitutional and absurdly excessive."
A MAX light rail train plowed into a barricade in Milwaukie, Oregon, driving over a paved sidewalk and kicking up chunks of concrete. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Clackamas Fire said in a statement that shortly before 8 a.m. Friday, the Orange Line train failed to stop at the end-of-the-line barricade at the Southeast Park Avenue station. Officials said two people had minor injuries and were treated at the train station. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a fired Toppenish High School teacher accused of sexual misconduct with a student. The Yakima Herald-Republic reports Bertha Cerna was charged in Yakima County Superior Court last week with sexual misconduct with a minor and two counts of furnishing liquor to minors. The charges follow a former student telling authorities that Bertha Cerna had sex with him while he was a minor. Cerna and her husband, John Cerna were fired from the school district following an investigation by the school district into a student’s allegations that they had plied her with alcohol. Bertha Cerna told the newspaper she had no comment.
The Snohomish County prosecutor has declined to file charges against a Bothell police officer who shot and killed a man in 2020. Prosecutor Adam Cornell announced the decision almost exactly two years after the officer fatally shot Juan Rene Hummel Jr. Cornell wrote in a memorandum there was insufficient evidence to prove the officer committed a crime. He said a “similarly situated reasonable officer” would have also believed fatal force was necessary. Hummel had a history of mental health issues, including schizophrenia, an online fundraiser created to help with funeral expenses noted. Family described him as loving, playful and selfless.
Sheriff's officials told residents in the town of Lind in eastern Washington to evacuate because of a growing wildfire south of town that was burning homes. The Adams County Sheriff's Office said at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday that all Lind residents needed to evacuate immediately and that about 10 homes had burned. Later Thursday, officials clarified that estimate, saying six homes and eight structures had burned. News outlets reported that the Washington Department of Natural Resources said the fire was expected to pass through town, but the sheriff's office said late Thursday afternoon the fire was starting to calm down. Additional fires near Spokane and Ellensburg were also prompting evacuations.
A federal judge has ruled that the Navy violated the National Environmental Policy Act during its environmental review process for the expansion of the Growler jet fleet at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The ruling said the Navy failed to disclose the basis for greenhouse gas emissions calculations. It also didn't quantify the impact on classroom learning or look at species-specific impacts on birds. It also failed to consider the Navy base in El Centro, California, as an alternative for Growler expansion. The state and the other parties have 30 days to either agree on a remedy or on a briefing schedule to come up with a remedy.
Republican Vincent Cavaleri advances to November general election in Washington's 1st Congressional District.
Democrat Natasha Hill advances to November general election in Washington's 5th Congressional District.
Republican Elizabeth Kreiselmaier advances to November general election in Washington's 6th Congressional District.
The Seattle City Council has voted to end COVID-19 hazard pay for grocery stores. The Seattle Times reports the council voted 5-2 on Tuesday, with Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Teresa Mosqueda absent, to repeal a policy passed in early 2021 which required grocery stores to pay employees an additional $4 per hour in hazard pay. The council had considered lifting this requirement several times since its initial passage, even voting to end hazard pay in December before the spike in the omicron variant and subsequent veto by then-Mayor Jenny Durkan, but ultimately voted to end the requirement Tuesday at the request of Mayor Bruce Harrell.
A 30-year-old woman who abused a Bellingham toddler to death will spend several decades in prison. After a two-hour hearing Tuesday, Whatcom County Superior Court Judge David Freeman sentenced Kamee Nicole Dixon to 34 years in prison. A jury found Dixon guilty in June of homicide by abuse for the 2019 death of 3-year-old Hazel Journey Homan. Dixon’s lawyers argued that the death was a “tragic accident” that occurred after she choked on a breakfast sandwich and the lack of oxygen to her brain resulted in her death. But prosecutors argued that Dixon hit Hazel until the child suffered a traumatic brain injury that resulted in her death.
Democrat Adam Smith advances to November general election in Washington's 9th Congressional District.
Republican Keith Swank advances to November general election in Washington's 10th Congressional District.
Democrat Rick Larsen advances to November general election in Washington's 2nd Congressional District.
Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers advances to November general election in Washington's 5th Congressional District.
Content by Brand Ave. Studios. The annual Amazon Prime Day is here and will offer discounts on many of your favorite things.
Content by Brand Ave. Studios. The annual Amazon Prime Day is coming July 12 and 13, and per usual will offer discounts on many of your favorite things.
Content by Brand Ave. Studios. The annual Amazon Prime Day is coming July 12 and 13, and per usual will offer discounts on many of your favorite things.
Content by Brand Ave. Studios. The annual Amazon Prime Day is coming July 12 and 13, and per usual will offer discounts on many of your favorite things.
Democrat Marilyn Strickland advances to November general election in Washington's 10th Congressional District.
Democrat Derek Kilmer advances to November general election in Washington's 6th Congressional District.
Democrat Kim Schrier advances to November general election in Washington's 8th Congressional District.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act in order to get resources to a fire burning south of The Dalles in Wasco County. The fire sparked Tuesday afternoon near the community of Juniper Flats and was burning in grass, brush, and juniper. It had burned an estimated 1.5 square mile. The Wasco County sheriff issued several evacuations orders, including some telling residents to leave immediately. The Wasco County sheriff had also issued several evacuations orders near the fire, including some telling residents to leave immediately. The governor’s declaration allows the state fire marshal to mobilize firefighters and equipment to help local resources in battling the fire.
A Seattle man charged with felony stalking for allegedly standing outside U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s home and yelling expletives while armed has pleaded not guilty. KING-TV reports a King County Superior Court judge Tuesday set Brett Forsell’s bail at $150,000. The King County Prosecutor’s Office requested $500,000 bail, arguing Forsell is “likely to commit a violent offense if free in the community." Forsell was arrested July 9 after allegedly yelling obscenities and threats outside Jayapal’s Seattle home late at night. In 2016, Jayapal became the first Indian American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Forsell will have to meet several conditions including GPS monitoring if he posts bail.
Former Oregon gubernatorial candidate Nick Kristof says he is getting out of politics and back into journalism. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the longtime New York Times columnist abandoned his post last year to try a run at the state’s highest elected office. His campaign was cut short by residency requirements in Oregon’s constitution. State records show this week he handed off nearly $1 million in unspent political cash, then deactivated his campaign committee. After reimbursing himself for a little more than $2,000 for personal expenses, Kristof donated $990,000 to a new political action committee called Oregon Strong. The new PAC is directed by Kristof’s wife, Sheryl WuDunn, and his former campaign bookkeeper, Elizabeth Wilson.
A member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer caught on camera throwing a pepper spray can and slapping a woman after a protest in Portland, Oregon, has been sentenced to three days in jail. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Multnomah County Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede Monday also sentenced Mackenzie Lewis to three years of probation. A jury previously found Lewis guilty of felony riot in the May 1, 2019, incident. Lewis was one of six men with far-right ties who were indicted by a grand jury reviewing the clash, which started after Lewis and the Patriot Prayer group approached anti-fascists who were gathered at a bar. Three of the men plead guilty to riot charges.
An emergency motion filed over the weekend by Oregon's federal public defender's office alleges physical abuse of inmate at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution by guards who came to the facility from other federal facilities. The court papers cite letters inmates wrote to their attorneys in which the inmates say the guards appear to have targeted those who have filed lawsuits about prison conditions or otherwise complained. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a number of people have filed court papers arguing the conditions inside the facility in Yamhill County constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution.
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